Every time "unless" makes you reread, the clock keeps going
LSAT Flashcards: The Short List is 200 phone-size flashcards for the logic words and the named flaws, the ones I'd still drill. Try 3 of them below, front first.
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If you don't think the $7 was well spent, email [email protected] within 30 days and I'll refund all of it. You don't need a reason, and the flashcards PDF is yours to keep.
Instant PDF download. Question on the front, answer on the back, and it opens on your phone.
By Steve Schwartz. I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005. Cited by Reuters, the WSJ, and the NYT.
Answer these out loud first
Card 1, the little words
"The car won't start without the key. You've got the key."
Does the car start?
Card 2, name the flaw
"Kids with bigger feet spell better than kids with smaller feet. So big feet help with spelling."
What's it missing?
Card 3, how the answers say it
"Takes for granted that a benefit found in one group would also appear in a quite different group."
Say it in plain English.
Say all 3 before you look. The backs are just below.
The backs
Card 1.
You can't tell.
Why:The rule says no key means no start. It never says a key is enough. The battery could be dead.
Card 2.
A third factor. Older kids have bigger feet and spell better, so age could explain both.
Right answer:Says the argument overlooks that something else could be behind both.
Card 3.
It assumes what worked for these people will work for those people.
Example:This workout helped teen swimmers, so it'll help retired truck drivers.
If one of those took you a second, it's worth having automatic. The deck has 197 more like them.
Get the flashcards for $730-day money-back guarantee, any reason
Instant PDF download. Question on the front, answer on the back, and it opens on your phone.
Why I'd drill these and not much else
Look, I tell most people to skip LSAT flashcards. The LSAT isn't a memorization test, and cards don't do the practice for you.
But you get it when somebody explains it, and then you're alone with the question and it's gone. You hit "except" and stop to translate. Or you're down to 2 answers and can't name what's wrong with either one, and the flaw only shows up in review, too late for that question. That's the short list I'd drill, the logic words and the named flaws, so you aren't working them out with the clock running.
If you just started, this is the language every video assumes you speak. And honestly, 500-page LSAT textbooks suck. You don't need one to find out what "unless" does.
What's inside
200 cards in 7 parts. You drill each idea in different sentences, so you aren't just remembering one example. Every back has the answer plus at least one short note, like the trap or the tell.
- The little words. Unless, except, until, without, enough vs required, only, no and none, and and or.
- If-then rules. Flipping a rule, chains, does it follow.
- All, most, some, none. The opposite of "all" isn't "none," it's "not all."
- Name the flaw. Enough vs required, cause and effect, bad samples, attacking the wrong thing, bad evidence, numbers, bad comparisons.
- How the answers say it. Stiff flaw-answer language in plain English, and the wrong answers you keep meeting.
- What the question wants. EXCEPT stems and reworded stems.
- Reading words. How the author feels, what the author is doing, words that signal a turn.
How to use it
Go one part at a time. Say the answer out loud before you swipe, because it's too easy to tell yourself you knew it, and keep a list of the cards you missed. The next day, drill only that list. Then go do practice questions and watch for the words.
You still have to do the practice, of course. I'd just rather it go to the reasoning than to the word "unless."
Students who raised their scores with us
"Once I finally slowed down and took my time, the speed came automatically."
Natalie B., 147 to 170
"It wasn't until I got deeper into the Socratic Review Method that I finally understood why I was getting questions wrong."
Judy W., 161 to 171
Individual results vary.
About me
I'm Steve Schwartz. I've been coaching the LSAT since 2005. I started at 152 on my own LSAT and finished at 175.
I don't think anybody should be working out the logic words and the named flaws with the clock running, so I put together a deck for that short list and left the rest to practice.
Reuters, Law.com, the WSJ, the NYT, The Atlantic, US News, the ABA Journal, and Above the Law have cited me.
FAQ
The LSAT changes in August 2027. Should I wait?
I wouldn't. The question types and the scoring stay put, so "unless" will still mean "if not."
I'm brand new. Is this too hard?
No. Sufficient just means enough, and necessary just means required. I'd rather you meet words like that on a card, with nothing timed, than in the middle of a question.
How do I get it, and does it work on a phone?
It's an instant PDF download. The pages are phone-size, question page then answer page, so a swipe flips the card.
If you're going to drill anything for the LSAT, I'd drill these
You can flip your first card tonight.
If you don't think the $7 was well spent, email [email protected] within 30 days and I'll refund all of it. You don't need a reason, and the flashcards PDF is yours to keep.
30-day money-back guarantee, any reason