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Using the LSAT to study for the GMAT Part One

This is the first part in a 3-part article on using LSAT questions to study for the GMAT.

Many people feel that the lack of Official Questions released by the GMAT writers is a limitation to studying for two areas of the GMAT in particular: Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. Eventually many GMAT students searching for a source additional high-quality, low-cost questions ask, “Can I use LSAT questions?” This article is designed to offer detailed suggestions concerning the use of LSAT questions to study for the GMAT.

Anyone who has written various types of GMAT questions would have to candidly admit that the two hardest types of questions to really simulate are Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Quantitative questions are not simple to write, but the answer choices do not require the same level of attention in order to effectively distract, yet remain fair, with just one right answer. In addition, reading comprehension requires that the passage be of the correct type and quality. For this reason, quality CR and RC questions can be hard to come by. The LSAT can be used as source of difficult Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning questions if some rules are followed.

1) Know your enemy. For both CR and RC, before you begin using any non-GMAT source for questions you really need to know just what kinds of things to expect on the GMAT - so that you do not waste valuable study time on things that you will not see on the test. For this reason, you should begin your study with high quality GMAT-specific material. This should include the Official Guide (actual questions from past GMAT tests) as well as additional material that helps you to categorize and understand the types of questions you will see on the GMAT. For example the Veritas Prep SWIMMER technique for critical reasoning helps to make sense of the types of CR questions on the GMAT. So, prior to beginning any use of LSAT materials, the Official Guide 12th Ed. and 2nd edition Verbal Review, plus an additional GMAT-specific source should be used first for both Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension.

2) Achieve some success before moving to LSAT questions. Anyone who is really struggling with GMAT questions will not find help in LSAT questions. GMAT questions are more predictable - for example, the main conclusion is very often in the last sentence of an official GMAT question, not always, but this is a good place to start looking. In LSAT questions, this and other things are less predictable. So, until you start getting more than half of GMAT questions right, you should avoid LSAT questions. The point of using LSAT questions is to find high-quality, challenging material.

3) Understand the differences between the LSAT and the GMAT. The differences between these tests go far beyond the fact that one is on paper the other is computerized. One difference is focus. Fully one-half of the total score of the LSAT is determined by critical reasoning (typically 50 questions out of 100 total). On the GMAT Critical Reasoning accounts for only about 1/6 of the score (1/3 or a little less of the verbal section). And LSAT reading comprehension is also based on longer passages and somewhat vaguer questions that on the GMAT.

4) Think of lawyers as “accountants who use words instead of numbers.” This will help you to understand that many LSAT questions turn on one particular word or phrase that is placed (or misplaced) in the stimulus. Law schools really want to know that the students that they accept are sensitive to the tiniest shifts in language, so LSAT questions are usually more “subtle” than GMAT questions. Therefore, do not worry too much if you miss an LSAT question because you overlooked such a tiny shift.

5) Return to GMAT questions as you near your test date. It is a good idea to save some official GMAT questions so that you can study these in the days before your test (or revisit some questions that you have not seen for a while). This is important because GMAT questions follow certain patterns that are not necessarily true of the LSAT. As mentioned above, just look through the GMAT OG 12th edition and see how many times the main conclusion is the last sentence.

6) Look at LSAT questions through the lens of the GMAT. People who use LSAT questions often fall into the trap of treating all LSAT questions equally. Some LSAT questions will be more useful to GMAT study than others. When analyzing LSAT questions that you miss, do not spend too much time on questions that you cannot fit into one of the categories of question on the GMAT. For example, on the LSAT there are reading comprehension questions that rely on two passages and compare these passages. This is not something that you would see on the GMAT.

In the end, it is an individual choice to use LSAT questions or not. Yet some things can be said about the students who would benefit most from LSAT questions: first, a student who is already fairly proficient at Critical Reasoning and/or Reading Comprehension and has already nearly exhausted his/her source of good GMAT-specific questions or, second, a student who is trying to score very well on the verbal and is looking for an additional challenge. These are the students who can probably best use this material.

Happy Studying!

David

Coming Soon:
Part 2 of this article focuses on using LSAT Critical Reasoning questions, with examples of questions that are similar to GMAT questions and of those that are not.

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David Newland, JD, MA, MAE
GMAT Instructor, Tutor, and Author
Veritas Prep