Curveballs in Logic Games

Since the June 2014 LSAT is officially released, we can take solace in the notion that, although 99.9% of you bombed that last game completely, better days lie ahead. For one thing, missing every single question on that game only brings your score down to 177, thanks to the exceptionally generous curve on that test. Why was the curve so generous? See the first sentence above. Here’s the funny thing about exceptionally brutal games: they are unlikely to significantly derail your score, even if you totally bombed them. Your raw score is only meaningful in comparison to everyone else’s, so as long as everyone else was just as stumped as you were, you’re good. Remember this next time you come across a game (or a RC passage) that makes you think about nothing but murder.

Curveballs in Logic Games — and on the LSAT in general — are becoming the new normal. Both Pattern and Circular Games are having a comeback (see our discussion of the February 2014 LSAT), while new oddities are catching on (see, e.g. sequencing/conditional rules, the Rule Substitution Question, etc.).  It’s partly your fault, of course: Logic Games are the most “learnable” section on the test, and y’all are getting pretty good at them. Contrary to popular belief, the LSAC is not some mean, soul-crushing institution on a mission to keep you out of Yale. On the contrary: by dialing up the difficulty of their Logic Games section, they are trying to ensure a fair and balanced test that consistently measures everyone’s ability to succeed in law school (whether they took a prep course or not). A killer game is not a slap on the face; it’s a pat on the back.

Here’s the catch, though: if you took a PowerScore course or read our revised 2014 Logic Games Bible, you knew to expect the unexpected. For you, there were no curveballs. We cover both Circular and Pattern games extensively in our courses and other publications, and prepare our students with the conceptual understanding necessary to attack any logic game that comes their way, be it Sequencing, Linear, Grouping, Circular, Pattern, Profile Charting, or any variation (or combination) thereof.

In the next series of blog posts, I will delve deeper into both Pattern and Circular games, providing examples and explanations for each type. The goal is to wipe that stunned look off your face next time you see a curveball coming at you. Staring, mind you, is hardly the best line of defense.