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Welcome to the lightweight LSAT

The lightweight LSAT is a simple, proven, and completely free guide to the Law School Admissions Test.

Who is this guide for?

The lightweight LSAT is designed for students who are frustrated with their current way of approaching the LSAT. It doesn't assume you have any knowledge of the LSAT, but it will be most useful for someone who already has some experience studying.

Additionally, the lightweight LSAT is written for students who are ambitious, aiming for a score over 165. That said, the strategies I suggest here can help anyone, because achieving a top score is a matter of mastering fundamental skills that everyone can learn.

How is the LSAT different than other tests?

Most exams test your knowledge. But the LSAT tests your skills.

Knowledge-based tests are easier to study for. On a knowledge-based test, each wrong answer teaches you a concrete lesson you can apply on future tests. The more question you do, the more you learn.

Example of a knowledge-based lesson

A history exam might ask a question like "When was the US Constitution ratified?"

Suppose you pick answer "(a) 1776". Then you look at the answer key and you see that the correct answer was actually "(b) 1789".

This correct answer provides an immediate and obvious lesson. You can make a flashcard that says "year Constitution ratified" on one side, and "1789" on the other.

Skills-based tests don't repeat themselves; at least not so obviously. On a skill-based test, like the LSAT, you have to dig deeper to learn a useful lesson.

Example of a skill-based lesson

The LSAT asks questions like: "Which of the following would most weaken the argument above?"

Suppose you pick answer "(a) Zebras have stripes." But in fact, the correct answer was "(b) Zebras sometimes do not have stripes."

What can you learn from this mistake? It is unlikely that the next LSAT will ask you about Zebras. Instead, you'll need to revisit the argument to puzzle out why "sometimes not" weakened it.

Ironically, on a skills test, doing more questions can lead to worse results. When you practice in volume, you're likely to practice sloppily, entrenching bad habits. To study well for the LSAT you have to study smarter not harder.

What's different about the lightweight LSAT approach?

Most other test prep systems aim to be complete. They teach you how to handle every possible situation that has ever happened on the LSAT. But when you go to actually take the test, all this knowledge gets in your way.

In contrast, the lightweight LSAT aims to offer you with flexible tools you can actually use on test day. These flexible tools are:

  1. Patterns - memorizing common patterns helps you navigate the test more efficiently.
  2. Skills - practicing fundamental skills helps you approach the test more confidently.

Fundamental LSAT skills

Each section of the LSAT tests a core skill.

Section Primarily tests your ability to...
Reading identify what the author of a short passage is for and against
Reasoning break down arguments by clarifying the facts from the conclusion

Who am I to tell you how to study for the LSAT?

Hi! 👋 I'm Graham. I graduated from Yale Law in 2016, and now work as a community organizer in Alaska.

More relevantly to you, in May 2020, I scored a 180 on the LSAT. To be fair, I got that perfect score after 4 years of teaching the LSAT.

As an LSAT tutor, I helped hundreds of students like you raise their LSAT scores. I also saw what doesn't work, what leads you astray and prevents you from achieving your goals.

This website is my way of giving back. I hope it helps make your LSAT studies less stressful and more effective.

Disclaimer

The LSAC does not approve of this website. And I do not approve of the LSAC.

How do you get the most out of the lightweight LSAT?

This website describes a system that works for my brain. Your brain is different. So you must adapt my system for yourself.

Here are some practical tips for making the the lightweight LSAT work for you:

  • Test out ideas. Try to apply my suggestions one at a time. Use practice questions to run mini-experiments to test whether my recommendations work for you.
  • Start small and slow. Try out new skills on easier questions and without a timer. Gradually add in difficulty and time pressure.
  • Perfect your process. You can't directly control your score, you can only control how you approach each question.
  • Treat your results as information. Learn from your failures and successes, rather than making them into a judgment about your worth as a human being.
  • Aim to be smoother, more reliable, and more confident. Rather than obsessing over your "objective" score, learn to trust your "subjective" sense of competence.
  • Expect non-linear growth, including plateaus, dips, and jumps. You won't hit your personal best every time.
  • Jump around. Explore the parts of this website that most interest you. Ignore anything that doesn't help you. And revisit pages to find nuance you missed the first time.

Note

For copyright reasons, this website does not offer any practice questions. The official source for practice questions is LawHub.

How can you help improve this site?

Your feedback is essential for improving this guide for other students!

This is version 0.7 of the lightweight LSAT. In other words, it's still a rough draft. There's considerable room for improvement.

Please share your confusions, questions, and successes by emailing feedback@lightweightlast.com.

If you're feeling thankful, you can buy me a $5 coffee ☕ or $25 pizza 🍕.