1 00:00:19,919 --> 00:00:24,299 So, you sit down, your- your heart is- is absolutely hammering, 2 00:00:24,799 --> 00:00:27,099 and you open up this- this three-digit number. 3 00:00:27,639 --> 00:00:28,859 It- it's a 142. 4 00:00:29,479 --> 00:00:30,779 Or maybe a 138. 5 00:00:31,479 --> 00:00:33,420 And instantly, you feel like... 6 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,699 okay, well, I guess law school is a pipe dream. 7 00:00:38,619 --> 00:00:40,379 I- I see this constantly. 8 00:00:40,879 --> 00:00:45,379 People treat their cold diagnostic score like it's- like it's some sort of genetic 9 00:00:45,439 --> 00:00:48,920 destiny, instead of what it actually is, which is just... 10 00:00:49,539 --> 00:00:51,479 well, what did you call it the other day, Adrian? 11 00:00:51,540 --> 00:00:52,840 A- a single data point? 12 00:00:53,486 --> 00:00:54,267 Exactly. 13 00:00:54,686 --> 00:00:54,907 It's... 14 00:00:55,326 --> 00:00:59,726 your LSAT diagnostic is just a snapshot, one single data point. 15 00:01:00,046 --> 00:01:00,586 That- that's it. 16 00:01:01,387 --> 00:01:06,066 And- and frankly, treating it as some kind of cognitive death sentence is just... 17 00:01:06,087 --> 00:01:07,506 it's logical nonsense. 18 00:01:08,246 --> 00:01:08,966 I- I mean, think about it. 19 00:01:09,507 --> 00:01:13,206 You wouldn't throw someone who has never had a swimming lesson into the- the deep 20 00:01:13,246 --> 00:01:18,746 end of a pool, time them, and then say, "Ah, sorry, your lung capacity is clearly 21 00:01:18,786 --> 00:01:20,366 sub-standard, you're not a swimmer." 22 00:01:21,626 --> 00:01:24,466 But that's exactly what we do on day one with this test. 23 00:01:25,254 --> 00:01:25,914 Right! 24 00:01:26,314 --> 00:01:26,594 It's like... 25 00:01:26,754 --> 00:01:28,974 "Oh, you don't know how to breathe underwater? 26 00:01:29,574 --> 00:01:30,694 No lawyer career for you." 27 00:01:32,154 --> 00:01:35,954 But wait, you- you actually had the opposite experience, right? 28 00:01:36,634 --> 00:01:40,174 Your baseline was- was, what, a 170? 29 00:01:40,819 --> 00:01:41,720 It- it was. 30 00:01:42,159 --> 00:01:45,779 I- I scored a 170 on my very first try. 31 00:01:46,259 --> 00:01:48,039 No- no studying, nothing. 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,019 And- and everybody around me was like, "Oh, Adrian is a natural, 33 00:01:52,259 --> 00:01:53,519 he's- he's built for this." 34 00:01:54,519 --> 00:01:56,439 But here's the ultimate paradox. 35 00:01:57,299 --> 00:01:57,479 I... 36 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,659 well, I actually struggled quite a bit in law school. 37 00:02:01,319 --> 00:02:06,920 The actual- the actual day-to-day work, the- the grind, the- the massive reading 38 00:02:06,959 --> 00:02:07,359 loads... 39 00:02:08,299 --> 00:02:11,199 I didn't have the work ethic because things had always come, 40 00:02:12,260 --> 00:02:13,639 uh, easily to me. 41 00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:19,899 And- and then I spent years as a litigator, and honestly, I- I was 42 00:02:20,079 --> 00:02:21,599 miserable. 43 00:02:21,659 --> 00:02:23,559 So, that 170? 44 00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:27,979 It- it predicted absolutely nothing about my actual capacity for the work, 45 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:30,180 or- or my happiness. 46 00:02:30,859 --> 00:02:31,439 Wow. 47 00:02:32,059 --> 00:02:38,960 So a 170 didn't make you a happy lawyer, and a- a 140 doesn't mean you'll be a bad 48 00:02:39,079 --> 00:02:39,199 one. 49 00:02:39,979 --> 00:02:40,579 It's just... 50 00:02:40,619 --> 00:02:46,079 it's a measure of how much of this specific, weird, logical code you already know. 51 00:02:47,119 --> 00:02:51,039 Which brings us to how we actually look at these- these initial mistakes. 52 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:52,979 You have this concept... 53 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:55,519 the, uh, "Golden Mistake," right? 54 00:02:56,356 --> 00:02:56,836 Yes. 55 00:02:57,236 --> 00:02:58,836 The- the Golden Mistake. 56 00:02:59,536 --> 00:03:04,637 See, when- when a beginner looks at a diagnostic and sees twenty wrong answers, 57 00:03:05,196 --> 00:03:08,456 they see twenty- twenty moments of failure. 58 00:03:09,216 --> 00:03:13,376 But- but as a coach, when I look at those same twenty wrong answers, 59 00:03:14,156 --> 00:03:14,676 I see... 60 00:03:15,257 --> 00:03:16,156 I see a map. 61 00:03:16,996 --> 00:03:22,196 It's- it's a beautiful, structured map of- of repeatable logical flaws. 62 00:03:23,076 --> 00:03:25,757 The- the test-makers, they- they aren't creative. 63 00:03:26,096 --> 00:03:28,576 They- they use the same tricks over and over. 64 00:03:29,316 --> 00:03:33,016 They confuse a- a sufficient condition for a necessary one. 65 00:03:33,617 --> 00:03:36,856 They- they make a causal leap where there's only correlation. 66 00:03:37,856 --> 00:03:42,936 If you get a question wrong because you- you confused "only if" with "if," 67 00:03:43,676 --> 00:03:45,556 that is- that is golden. 68 00:03:46,136 --> 00:03:50,796 That is a concrete, teachable mistake that we can- we can isolate, 69 00:03:50,876 --> 00:03:54,556 study, and- and completely eliminate from your game. 70 00:03:55,316 --> 00:03:59,796 So, instead of thinking "I'm bad at logic," the student should be saying, 71 00:04:00,196 --> 00:04:04,016 "Oh, I- I just don't know how to handle a conditional statement yet." 72 00:04:04,076 --> 00:04:08,796 It- it shifts it from a character flaw to a- a translation error. 73 00:04:08,856 --> 00:04:12,876 It's like realizing you aren't bad at French, you just haven't learned the- the past 74 00:04:12,917 --> 00:04:13,396 tense yet. 75 00:04:14,113 --> 00:04:14,852 Precisely. 76 00:04:15,552 --> 00:04:17,232 It's- it's linguistic. 77 00:04:17,992 --> 00:04:23,192 The LSAT is written in a very specific, hyper-literal dialect of English. 78 00:04:24,432 --> 00:04:27,032 You- you wouldn't expect to speak fluent French on day one, 79 00:04:27,732 --> 00:04:32,572 so why do we expect ourselves to- to translate formal logic perfectly without a 80 00:04:32,612 --> 00:04:33,112 dictionary? 81 00:04:33,817 --> 00:04:39,057 Now, once we- we get past the- the psychological trauma of the diagnostic, 82 00:04:39,697 --> 00:04:41,497 we- we have to talk about strategy. 83 00:04:42,017 --> 00:04:46,077 And- and specifically, how people actually move through the test. 84 00:04:46,757 --> 00:04:49,317 Because right now, the- the environment has changed. 85 00:04:50,197 --> 00:04:55,397 Have you looked at the- the new May/June 2026 UI details for the LawHub platform? 86 00:04:55,882 --> 00:04:56,583 Oh, yes. 87 00:04:56,662 --> 00:05:00,622 The- the update for the 2026-2027 testing cycle. 88 00:05:01,222 --> 00:05:03,023 I- I saw the statement from Susan L. 89 00:05:03,142 --> 00:05:06,062 Krinsky-she's the LSAC Executive Vice President. 90 00:05:06,522 --> 00:05:11,442 She- she confirmed that in the new interface, moving from answer selection to answer 91 00:05:11,503 --> 00:05:14,542 elimination will require an extra click. 92 00:05:15,103 --> 00:05:16,603 An extra click! 93 00:05:17,083 --> 00:05:22,442 Which sounds tiny, but- but if you are rushing, that is a literal physical time 94 00:05:22,503 --> 00:05:22,822 trap. 95 00:05:24,542 --> 00:05:24,962 It is. 96 00:05:25,502 --> 00:05:26,102 It- it really is. 97 00:05:26,583 --> 00:05:30,842 If- if you are one of those test-takers who- who frantically clicks through every 98 00:05:31,002 --> 00:05:37,083 single option, eliminating A, then B, then C, that extra click is going to eat your 99 00:05:37,282 --> 00:05:37,622 lunch. 100 00:05:38,282 --> 00:05:41,423 It- it penalizes the- the hyperactive, panicky clicker. 101 00:05:42,183 --> 00:05:43,503 It- it forces you to be deliberate. 102 00:05:44,263 --> 00:05:49,402 And- and this is why my- my number one rule for- for students in the 130s and 140s 103 00:05:49,482 --> 00:05:49,882 is... 104 00:05:49,942 --> 00:05:53,102 you have absolutely no business finishing the section. 105 00:05:53,923 --> 00:05:54,142 None. 106 00:05:55,341 --> 00:05:56,521 Wait, really? 107 00:05:57,061 --> 00:05:57,401 None? 108 00:05:58,081 --> 00:06:01,941 But- but how do they get points if they don't even look at the last ten questions? 109 00:06:02,629 --> 00:06:05,789 By- by getting the ones they *do* look at right. 110 00:06:06,309 --> 00:06:10,869 See, if- if you're scoring in the 130s, you are likely rushing through all 111 00:06:11,050 --> 00:06:14,989 twenty-five questions and getting, what, maybe eight or nine right? 112 00:06:15,469 --> 00:06:17,609 You're- you're guessing on everything, basically. 113 00:06:18,229 --> 00:06:19,729 So, my- my rule is simple. 114 00:06:20,190 --> 00:06:25,809 If you're in the 130s, you are barred- literally barred- from looking past question 115 00:06:25,889 --> 00:06:26,129 ten. 116 00:06:26,750 --> 00:06:31,029 You spend the entire thirty-five minutes on just those first ten questions. 117 00:06:31,469 --> 00:06:32,689 You- you read them deeply. 118 00:06:32,809 --> 00:06:33,809 You analyze them. 119 00:06:33,849 --> 00:06:35,750 You get- you get nine of them right. 120 00:06:36,430 --> 00:06:36,749 And then? 121 00:06:37,450 --> 00:06:39,969 You just bubble in random guesses for the other fifteen. 122 00:06:40,629 --> 00:06:43,989 Statistically, you'll pick up another three or four points just from guessing. 123 00:06:44,409 --> 00:06:49,270 And- and boom, you've immediately jumped into the 140s without learning a single new 124 00:06:49,329 --> 00:06:49,770 concept. 125 00:06:50,564 --> 00:06:50,884 Huh. 126 00:06:51,504 --> 00:06:51,985 That's... 127 00:06:52,565 --> 00:06:56,664 it's- it's so counterintuitive because we're- we're trained our whole lives to 128 00:06:56,704 --> 00:06:58,304 finish the test. 129 00:06:58,345 --> 00:07:00,145 But- but what about the 140s? 130 00:07:00,604 --> 00:07:03,045 If you're in the 140s, where do you stop? 131 00:07:03,777 --> 00:07:04,757 Question fifteen. 132 00:07:05,477 --> 00:07:07,137 That- that is your hard cap. 133 00:07:07,697 --> 00:07:09,257 You do not look at sixteen. 134 00:07:09,337 --> 00:07:13,338 If you- if you even glance at sixteen, you've failed the strategy. 135 00:07:14,237 --> 00:07:18,117 You give yourself over two minutes per question for those first fifteen. 136 00:07:18,757 --> 00:07:21,277 That- that is a luxurious amount of time on the LSAT. 137 00:07:21,657 --> 00:07:23,697 It- it completely removes the panic. 138 00:07:24,277 --> 00:07:25,837 And again, the remaining ten? 139 00:07:26,597 --> 00:07:27,317 You- you guess. 140 00:07:28,558 --> 00:07:33,777 This- this tiered accuracy strategy works because it aligns with how actual legal 141 00:07:33,837 --> 00:07:34,477 work is done. 142 00:07:35,257 --> 00:07:36,577 Think about a- a deposition. 143 00:07:37,097 --> 00:07:41,357 If- if I'm reviewing a witness statement, I don't- I don't skim it at lightspeed 144 00:07:41,437 --> 00:07:42,837 just to say I finished the page. 145 00:07:43,357 --> 00:07:45,158 I- I read every syllable. 146 00:07:45,577 --> 00:07:46,557 I find the gaps. 147 00:07:47,517 --> 00:07:49,297 Lawyers don't rush, Nora. 148 00:07:50,102 --> 00:07:50,703 Right. 149 00:07:51,022 --> 00:07:56,622 Because a fast lawyer who misses the- the crucial loophole in a contract isn't a 150 00:07:56,722 --> 00:07:59,522 fast lawyer-they're just a- a sued lawyer. 151 00:08:00,622 --> 00:08:02,282 So, the rule is... 152 00:08:02,342 --> 00:08:04,382 speed is a byproduct. 153 00:08:04,442 --> 00:08:05,603 It's- it's not the goal. 154 00:08:06,242 --> 00:08:09,222 The LSAT never rewards the fastest reader. 155 00:08:09,622 --> 00:08:12,343 It- it only rewards the deepest analyzer. 156 00:08:13,022 --> 00:08:16,242 If you- if you master the structure, the speed just... 157 00:08:16,763 --> 00:08:18,882 it just happens naturally later on. 158 00:08:19,444 --> 00:08:20,204 Exactly. 159 00:08:21,125 --> 00:08:23,644 You- you have to earn the right to go fast. 160 00:08:24,264 --> 00:08:28,425 And- and you do that by going incredibly slow first. 161 00:08:29,404 --> 00:08:30,784 Alright, good chatting, Nora. 162 00:08:31,344 --> 00:08:31,724 Talk soon. 163 00:08:32,399 --> 00:08:33,639 Yeah, definitely. 164 00:08:33,719 --> 00:08:34,500 See ya, Adrian.