The Loophole in LSAT Logical Reasoning: A Splendidly Comprehensive LSAT Study Guide to Master LSAT Self-Study Paperback – November 15, 2018

I've been studying for the LSAT for a while now. While I haven't gotten my dream score and I haven't finished studying, I feel that this book has been an invaluable aid in my LSAT journey.I started out with Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer, which was big and daunting (in fairness, you don't have to read the Logic Games sections anymore). I remember chugging through the book and feeling semi-dazed after completing it. I thought I would be ready to take the test after finishing his book, yet I still didn't feel confident when I approached the questions. While I will probably review his section on RC, I found his extensive categorization of different LR questions to be hard to remember and harder to implement.My next phase of studying was with 7Sage. I completed the Foundations course offered by J.Y., and it was certainly informative. I'm grateful for the level of depth that J.Y. went into in his videos. He covered loads of interesting and useful concepts on the test, and he's a really intelligent guy. The problem for me was that it just became a little too theory-heavy, and at some point, after watching hours and hours of his curriculum, my eyes would start to glaze over. It reminded me of watching Zoom lectures during COVID. Even after completing Foundations, I still (!) felt shaky with LR questions. I found myself misreading the stimulus, making simple mistakes, and failing to understand what I was reading.And that's where The Loophole comes in. After poking around on the LSAT subreddit (as one does), I saw Ellen's book recommended by a couple of folks. I was intrigued by the notion of focusing primarily on the stimulus rather than the question stem (the stimulus, after all, is where the majority of information in a given question is contained). As someone who studied English in college, this approach just felt more intuitive to me. I realized that a lot of the trouble that I've been having with LR questions is just understanding what in the world these dense little blocks of cryptic prose are saying, under time pressure! (I can read John Milton or James Joyce, but seriously, some of these LSAT stimuli are infuriating.)I'm currently practicing Translation + CLIR drills. For the uninitiated, this means putting the stimulus into your own words and breaking it down. Ellen describes the CLIR process in an approachable and thoughtful way. While I will transition to taking practice tests soon, these translation drills have been important for me in building confidence in reading and understanding (or at least, attempting to understand) these challenging stimuli. It is worth noting that, while the book does encourage you to write out your translations by hand, the Elemental team now encourages you to time yourself and record yourself speaking out loud. For the monstrous stimuli, I will still jot a few notes down on scratch paper.I found Ellen's book to be highly readable. She uses some funny examples in earlier sections and has (in my opinion) a good sense of humor. Other reviewers have noticed that the margins of the book are rather narrow, such that the text runs rather close to the binding. This can be easily remedied by purchasing and using a wooden book stand (I got mine from H&S on Amazon), which also makes reading more enjoyable in general. While working through The Trainer felt like a slog (a little like Murakami's 1Q84), I didn't feel that way while reading The Loophole. Perhaps it's because I had a foundation already, but it felt much smoother to read and work through. I think the book manages to be informative and clear as well as relatively fun to read, which is something I never thought an LSAT prep book could be.If you're just starting your LSAT journey, or if you've been studying for a while now but are feeling stuck with how to approach LR, you should consider trying The Loophole. I think it's worthwhile to hear Ellen's perspective, and the book is filled with plenty of valuable nuggets, like the CLIR or SW SCCER. Even her breakdown of sufficient-necessary was much easier to understand for me than 7Sage. Plus, there are funny jokes in the margins. Give it a shot.

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.