Process of Elimination

The LSAT is known for its tricky questions. Process of elimination is a key strategy for tackling them when you're unsure about the correct answer. But what should you do when you're left uncertain, even after eliminating most options? Here's a breakdown of how to handle those situations effectively.

When You're Unsure

If you find yourself stuck on an LSAT question where you're not confident in any of the answers, it’s still important to trust the process of elimination. In this case, it's okay to go back and review the options you're most uncertain about. For example, if you think answer B seems the most plausible, but you're not entirely convinced, go through the other four choices again. Confirm that they’re definitely wrong before settling on your final choice.

This method isn't about finding a perfect answer but about eliminating the conclusively wrong ones. If you've ruled out four answers, the remaining one is likely the best choice. You may not feel completely sure, but picking the “least bad” option is often the best move.

Building Your Confidence

Your ability to identify wrong answers will improve over time. At first, you might feel unsure, but with more practice, you'll become more adept at spotting flaws in the answers. For example, in a flaw question, there might be an option that describes something the argument simply doesn’t do, such as an untrue conclusion or unsupported reasoning. In these cases, you can eliminate the answer immediately. Similarly, if you're answering a weaken question and one option strengthens the argument, you can eliminate it right away. Even if you don’t fully understand all the answers on your first pass, you should still get a sense of which ones are clearly wrong.

Reviewing Your First Impressions

During your first read-through of the answers, don’t feel the need to understand every option fully. The right answer will often stand out as soon as you see it, but even if it doesn’t, other answers might just feel "off" or overly complicated. You can dismiss these without a second thought. As you go through the process, keep in mind that eliminating all answers is more common than finding two equally strong options. It's fine to feel like none of the answers are perfect. Once you've narrowed down your choices, take a moment to review them again. You might find that you can definitively eliminate some, leaving you with fewer options.

Maximizing Your Practice Materials

Another question our anonymous lister asks Ben and Nathan is what to do when you run out of practice questions. If you've already completed every practice test at least once, you can either focus on drilling specific question types or revisit your practice tests, especially the ones you completed the longest ago.

A second option is to turn on repeat questions in your advanced settings. This allows you to review questions that you’ve already encountered, giving you another opportunity to improve. Drilling individual question types can help you reinforce your skills, but revisiting full tests helps you understand how to manage time and endurance.

Review, Don’t Rush

It's essential not to rush through your practice tests. The key to improving is thorough review. If you’ve "run out" of questions, it's likely that you're not analyzing your mistakes carefully enough. Review each incorrect answer thoroughly and understand why it was wrong. Your goal isn’t to just answer questions but to learn from each one. If you do run out of questions in your current test bank, be sure to check out new tests being added. Practicing with new material can help you push your skills further.

Conclusion

When you're stuck choosing between two answers or unsure about any option, the process of elimination is your best tool. Keep practicing, reviewing your mistakes, and refining your approach, and you’ll gain more confidence in your ability to identify the correct answer when faced with uncertainty. The LSAT doesn’t always require you to get every question right, just to make the best choice from the options given.