Individual Question Difficulty in Logical Reasoning

In my last post, I discussed question-by-question difficulty in LSAT Logical Reasoning sections. Continuing in that same vein, let’s look inside the statistics a bit further. When you examine the difficulty rating for individual questions and sections, you can make several useful inferences.

The First Question

The first question is always easy or relatively easy (seven of the eight sections under discussion began with a level 1 (easy) question; the other section began with a level 2 (relatively easy) question. In other words, the first question will not be hard. The same is true for the second question.

Question Difficulty for #1 to #10

• The earliest appearance of the first level 4 (difficult) question: question #3
• The earliest appearance of the first level 5 (very difficult) question: question #8
• The latest appearance of the first level 4 or 5 question: question #13
• Minimum number of level 4 (difficult) questions in the first ten: 0
• Maximum number of level 4 (difficult) questions in the first ten: 4
• Minimum number of level 5 (very difficult) questions in the first ten: 0
• Maximum number of level 5 (very difficult) questions in the first ten: 1
• Minimum combined number of level 4 and 5 questions in the first ten: 0
• Maximum combined number of level 4 and 5 questions in the first ten: 4 (the first ten questions of this particular test contained no level 5 questions and four level 1 questions)

Question Difficulty for #16 to #25

The one section notwithstanding, you will probably see one or two level 4 questions in the first ten, and zero or one level 5 questions in the first ten. Compare that to the statistics for questions #16 through #25:

• Minimum number of level 4 (difficult) questions: 1 (this section contained only 24 Questions)
• Maximum number of level 4 (difficult) questions: 4
• Minimum number of level 5 (very difficult) questions: 2
• Maximum number of level 5 (very difficult) questions: 5
• Minimum combined number of level 4 and 5 questions: 4
• Maximum combined number of level 4 and 5 questions: 9 (yes, nine of the ten questions in questions #16 though 25 of this particular section were relatively difficult or difficult)

The point of this information is not to try to predict the exact difficulty of each question you will face. Instead, use this information to understand how difficulty changes throughout the section, and consider how you can use that information to your advantage.

Next week, we’ll take a look at how each LSAT Logical Reasoning section figures into the overall difficulty of the test.