The Loophole in LSAT Logical Reasoning: A Splendidly Comprehensive LSAT Study Guide to Master LSAT Self-Study

Per the headline, my LSAT journey has, until 2 weeks ago, sucked. I started with the full, in-class Blueprint course and, at the end of that, was nowhere near my target score (we're talking 20 points away from it in the 150s). After that, I bought the LSAT Trainer, which was better than the course but I still wasn't really improving as much as I wanted to be. THEN I started using 7Sage which was about as good as the LSAT Trainer. AND THEN I signed up for private tutoring sessions with Powerscore which made me feel less prepared than ever for the LSAT as a whole.Still in the 150s, thinking "wow maybe I'm just not cut out to go to law school," I had a friend, Ellen Cassidy's former tutoring student, who referred me to this book. I am only on Chapter 8 out of 12 and I have already seen a huge improvement in my LR score. I was missing 12-15 before reading it and I'm already down to a -6 (keep in mind, I was missing 12-15 after ALL of the resources listed above). AND I HAVEN'T EVEN READ THE QUESTION TYPES YET!!!Her systems of translation and the CLIR have REALLY helped me understand what it is I'm reading (shout out translation drills) and how to critique the stimuli (shotout the CLIR). Again, this is all even before I've started studying the question types, which has made up almost the entirety of all of the resources I used before Cassidy's book. Now, I realize that the answer isn't actually in the question/answer choices (which is what I've been told by every single LSAT instructor/tutor/resource before), it's actually in the stimulus (hard to believe, I know).All these systems of how to think/approach LR questions are backed by examples that lift you up instead of tearing you down (AKA no weird, misogynistic comments or uncomfortable inuendos like you'd see in Blueprint). Who wouldn't want to read about pumpkin pie and other various desserts and koala's in government as opposed to making uncomfortable examples that covertly insult certain groups of people.Also, this book just LOOKS better. It has these little teal accents everywhere -- it's like drinking mint lemonade on a hot, summer day. With the other resources, I would open a page and just feel super anxious from the start. Nothing about them felt warm, friendly. But if there's any book that is, it's "The Loophole in LR." I know that this review seems super extra but it's not an understatement, anything that helps me improve THIS MUCH on the LSAT deserves this kind of praise. If you're struggling with LR, READ. THIS. BOOK. Looking forward to posting an update once I finish the entire book. Happy studying, LSAT fiends!!!UPDATE: A very long overdue update! After months of studying, I just took the June LSAT this week!!!! Before starting my CLIR and translation drills, I was a minus 12-15 per LR section. Obviously, this made me panic because I know that I can't afford to lose that many points if I want to get 170+. In the last review, I talked about how about a month into "The Loophole in LR" I started to miss -6 consistently on both LR sections. I could feel myself kind of slipping on my CLIR and translations at this point in time so I REALLY made an effort to be sure I was CLIR-ing EVERY. SINGLE. LR. STIMULUS (seriously, I didn't move on to the next question until I formed a CLIR).After about 3 days of CONSISTENT (and I mean CONSISTENT) CLIR drills, I was down to anywhere between -0 to -3 (max, upon review of the 2/3 I always realized that either my CLIR was weak or I really didn't have a good grasp on the translation of the stimulus). Correlation may not equal causation (shout out Causal Reasoning chapter) but I know that there is no way I would've ever hit a -2/-3 on LR without this book (let alone -0). I was able to tackle "this argument is flawed because..." questions super easily because of the countless examples per flaw in the book (these were one of the scariest question types for me at first). I used back-up plans both for prep as well as on actual test day (basically, identifying the back-up plan for each question type/asking the corresponding back-up plan question for every single answer choice) which REALLY helped me understand what the question was asking of me AND what exactly I needed to be looking for in the correct answer (this proved super helpful on all questions types but particularly helpful on Sufficient Assumption and Necessary Assumption questions).About 3 weeks before the June test date, after being super consistent on CLIR, I FINALLY started to hit scores around my ultimate goal score (highest PT score being a 178) -- these. are. the. reasons. why. For future test takers out there, USE THE CLIR AND USE TRANSLATION! Both of these processes will really help you understand how to poke holes in the stimulus regardless of what kind of question stem comes after. Do this repeatedly until you do it almost unconsciously during timed sections (trust me, you WILL get there). And if you're having trouble understanding how to attack question stems, rely on the back-up plans. I am not joking when I say that every most strongly supported question I have ever seen on ANY test has been followed by "does this pretty much have to be true? No. Does this pretty much have to be true? YES." It gets me to the correct answer every time, as long as I do it correctly and consistently. Lastly, know the flaws. Make flashcards using the examples in the book. They are everywhere on the LSAT and, out of all the prep material I've ever used (which is a ton), the descriptions in this book really help them stick. I went in on test day with a much more mellow, calm mindset than before and it was only because I felt like I finally knew all the information that I needed to know to get 170+. It wasn't panic or "FREAK OUT THIS IS SCARY." CLIR-ing, navigating different question stems, and asking the corresponding back-up plans came so naturally and so easily (and 9/10 times my CLIR was in the answer choices which is the best feeling). That change in mindset is seriously the difference between a 150 and a 170+. Best of luck to everyone continuing to study -- keep pushing forward!!!TL;DR -- Want to raise your LSAT score? This. Is. The. Book.

This is the best LSAT book I found BY FAR. Get it!!! I'm so grateful to have found it.I studied for 3-4 months using other materials and found that the more I studied, the worse my score got?? This was confusing and demoralizing, and I was considering canceling my scheduled test. Then, I stumbled upon this book in my last month of studying. It helped me realize I needed to focus less on memorizing question types ("is it a must be true?") and more on reading the passage accurately (and retaining it) on the first try. This shift in attitude helped me break through my plateau. The book has a few excellent reading & retention drills (which I've never seen in any other test prep material) that wildly improved my ability to keep the passage accurately in mind after one read.Ellen also offers a very useful strategy for *predicting* the answer to the LR questions before looking at the answer choices. This strategy worked super well for me. During my practice tests, I counted how often this "prediction" was actually literally the correct answer (or close to it) - it ended up being correct for around 20/25 questions in each section. That's huge and saved me so much time (and stress) looking at answer choices. I ended up taking the April test and got a 175! I felt confident in my LR sections during the test and attribute this largely to Ellen!More about the book:- It helps you improve your reading (and retention)!!!! This was the game changer for me. I'd always thought of myself as a fast and accurate reader, but skimming to save time was causing me to waste time in the answer choices. I'd often end up stuck between two answer choices, because of slight misreads in the passage. Ellen offers two drills to help you read passages accurately and retain them on the first try. I dropped all other studying for two weeks to just do those drills and single-handedly raised my score by 5 points. Her reading drills also helped me finish sections on time! When I took the test, I ended up having extra time on the LR sections (which was a big jump up from previously not finishing sections on time at all).- The book gives you a strategy for decoding the horribly written sentences on the LSAT. I used this to great effect when I hit passages that felt like the passage could have been read two different ways and so I couldn't initially answer the questions.- The book has useful high-level categories for common questions. I found these categories more accurate and less confusing than the categories that 7-Sage or The LSAT Trainer offered.- It helps you recognize common *trap* answer choices. Most other test prep materials I used didn't talk much about answer choices. Having Ellen lay out common incorrect answers helped me feel more confident eliminating.- It helps you find flaws with arguments and guess answers in advance. This saves a lot of time in the answer choices. Other test prep materials also emphasize this, but Ellen's CLIR framework goes one level further in teaching you how to predict answers/find flaws for each of the 4-main types of LR questions. As one simple example: previously, I was trying to find flaws in arguments where I should have been making inferences / diagramming (and I hesitated to make inferences, because I was worried I'd waste time). Learning when to make inferences right off the bat instead of try to figure out what's wrong with the argument saved me time.- I really appreciated Ellen's dedication to understanding the test and test-taker failure modes. I found her tone inspiring and her advice fit me like a glove. It's clear she studies her students to figure out where they need help, then develops generalizable frameworks and strategies. I sometimes felt like other test prep materials were brushing off my lack of understanding - essentially just saying "well the answer is this, okay" or providing explanations that felt like cop outs. When I was stuck, this was frustrating and not helpful. By trying hard to understand the mentality of the student, I felt like Ellen's book was the thing that offered me a concrete and actionable path to a higher score. Thanks, Ellen, for your book, your thoughtfulness about the test, and your all around love of the LSAT!!

Three months into using the Loophole and wow it has been eye-opening and beyond helpful for my LR journey. Currently learning how to hone in my skills for specific question types and improve on timing, especially for those more difficult questions at the end of a section. I might also need to take a step back and revisit the advanced translation drill. Before the Loophole, I used to average -10 to -13 on individual LR sections but now I am averaging -2 to -5!The Loophole an approachable book that requires and encourages your engagement, especially with drills such as the Translation and Advanced Translation drills. I had to push myself to fight against the temptation of just drilling through LR questions. I remember taking around 2 weeks of only doing the Translation drill without answering LR questions, but I'll say with confidence that the practice was crucial for my improvement. Although the RC section is not really part of the Loophole book, I think there are a lot of skills that transfer over, as I have been seeing improvements in my RC section as well (-7 previously on individual RC sections, now down to 2-3 incorrect on RC).Planning to take the LSAT later this year, but I'm gaining confidence in my preparation thanks to the Loophole. :)