Many LSAT students believe that taking notes is critical to active reading. Nathan and Ben disagree. This week, the guys encourage listeners to drop their note-taking crutches and to engage with the LSAT on a more immediate level. Later, they discuss one-on-one LSAT tutoring, score cancellation, and falling URM enrollment at Harvard Law School.

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1:31 - Downward Trend - Ben and Nathan provide a simple fix for falling scores: do fewer questions. The guys also instruct listener Nicole to avoid overanalyzing her performance on specific question types.

10:36 - Taking Notes - Nathan and Ben explain why note-taking can be counterproductive on the LSAT.

16:43 - Pearls vs. Turds - When taking practice tests, is it OK to flag questions to review later?

25:53 - One-on-One Tutoring - Ben and Nathan discuss what a focused and productive LSAT tutoring session looks like.

33:47 - Scheduling Your Attempts - When you’re happy with your practice test scores, take each successive LSAT until you’re happy with your official score. There’s no need to space out your official attempts.

46:16 - Undergraduate Transcripts - Listener Alex considers excluding a community college transcript from their law school applications. Nathan and Ben urge Alex to disclose all information required by the Credential Assembly Service.

52:07 - Score Cancellation - In almost all cases, Ben and Nathan advise students not to cancel an official LSAT score. But listener Emma might be the exception to the rule.

55:37 - URM Enrollment - The Harvard Crimson reports that enrollment of students of color has dropped eight percent at Harvard Law School.

1:00:13 - Word of the Week - Law schools often arrogate prestige.

Since the LSAT dropped Logic Games, anxious test takers have feared the rise of more “formal logic” questions in Logical Reasoning. So far, no significant changes to LR have been disclosed. No matter what happens, every LR question is perfectly solvable with some careful reading and common sense—no diagramming required. Need proof? This week, Ben and Nathan make quick work of a Must Be True question that’s chock full of conditional logic. But first, they help a burnt-out student build a sustainable study plan. They compare the benefits of national and regional law schools. And they offer words of hope to low-GPA splitters.

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5:04 - Application Fee Waivers - Law schools often waive their application fees. Just ask them.

8:52 - Scoring 160 - Nathan and Ben prove that it’s possible to score 160 while only attempting 18 questions per section. It pays to slow down and focus on accuracy.

16:18 - Burnout - Listener Will considers taking a few months off to recover from LSAT burnout. Ben and Nathan advise Will to instead dial back his study to one or two quality hours per day.

23:50 - Confusing Language - Nathan and Ben share some tips for navigating confusing language on the LSAT.

32:20 - Small Town, Big School? - LSAT Demon student Will plans to set up shop as a probate lawyer in a small town. Should Will pursue law schools in the T14? Or is he better off attending a regional school?

41:15 - Academic Renewal - Ben and Nathan encourage an anonymous listener to persist in their efforts to scrub an F from their undergraduate transcript.

46:56 - Hope for Splitters - Listener Grace went to law school for free despite her low GPA.

50:13 - Don’t Diagram - Reports of more “formal logic” questions on recent LSATs are likely exaggerated. Regardless, you can solve any Logical Reasoning question without diagramming by reading carefully and engaging your common sense. Nathan and Ben demonstrate on a Must Be True question from PrepTest 123.

1:10:41 - Tips from a Departing Demon - LSAT Demon student Braden says: “Take the time to really understand each question, and you will get faster. Don’t try to go faster without understanding. That’s why I improved when I started digging into the RC passage.”

1:11:27 - Word of the Week - Treat your official LSAT with the same insouciance that you would a practice test.

If you’ve hit a score plateau, you might feel like you’re spinning your wheels—stuck in place despite your best attempts to make forward progress. How do you regain traction? This week, Nathan and Ben advise a discouraged student to ease up on the gas pedal and take it one question at a time. Later, the guys address the problem of tuition inflation in higher education. They frame law school as a trade school. And they tackle a Necessary Assumption question from PrepTest 135.

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2:39 - Stuck in a Plateau - Ben and Nathan guide listener Michael away from untimed practice tests and suggest a better way to review his mistakes.

14:48 - $81,000 Tuition - The guys shake their heads at Cornell Law School’s astronomical tuition.

24:03 - Student Loan Forgiveness - According to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, “the CBO estimates that a quarter of new student debt issued next year—$22.1 billion—will get written off.” Nathan and Ben consider the failures of the student loan system and suggest ways to reign in the cost of higher education.

39:59 - Law Is a Trade - Listener Ben seeks a steady job in the law. The guys advise Ben to rethink his motivation for pursuing a legal career.

45:49 - Logical Reasoning: Necessary Assumption - The guys attempt a Necessary Assumption question from PrepTest 135. Try the question yourself. Then, listen to Ben and Nathan’s explanation.

54:31 - Tips from a Departing Demon - LSAT Demon student Senyo affirms the Demon way: “Read carefully, evaluate the argument (or think about the set of facts) before looking at the actual question, try to predict the answer, take as much time as you need to answer the question, review anything that gives you trouble, and do not move on until you fully understand it.”

56:46 - Word of the Week - The LSAT student was miraculously unfazed by their skirling neighbor.