How to Enhance Your Reasoning Skills for the Law Admission Test (LAT)?

Enhancing your reasoning skills is a key criteria for success in the Law Admission Test because it enables you to write in a coherent and logical manner. It is key to understand what components of your reasoning skills need work and how to improve them. Understand and employing syllogisms in your argument’s framework is a critical method on improving your overall LAT essay score.

Why refining your reasoning skills is important for the LAT?

Reasoning skills are crucial for success in the Law Admission Test (LAT) due to the nature of the UNSW undergraduate Law Program as well as the legal profession and the demands placed on critical thinking and logical analysis. The LAT examines a person's capacity to evaluate arguments, spot logical fallacies, and derive logical conclusions. As these factors require one to be intimately aware of logical and fallacious reasoning it is key that students understand how to spot fallacies as well as what makes a strong argument.

Why does the LAT test my reasoning skills?

The UNSW Law Program requires the ability to analyse legal principles, apply them to specific cases, and construct persuasive arguments. Despite the LAT not being centered around legal matters, the same type of reasoning principles apply. Hence, it is assessed in the LAT. By honing their reasoning skills, prospective law students can enhance their ability to excel in the LAT and lay a solid foundation for their legal education and career. You can learn more about how to navigate the UNSW Law Admission Test by viewing our 'A Student Guide to the UNSW Law Admission Test (LAT)' blog.

How can I improve my reasoning skills?

Keep in mind that your essay will be judged according to the ideas that you provide in response to the prompt. Ensure that they are well-thought out and are not fallacies. You can ensure they do not contain fallacies by using syllogisms.

What are syllogisms?

Syllogisms are a logical argument structure that consists of two premises (statements) and a conclusion. In the case of your essay, the first premise will be your point, the second premise will be your evidence and the conclusion will be your explanation of how the evidence supports your point. As a result, the point that you make will be undeniable. Syllogistic reasoning holds significance as it can be used as a framework for your paragraphs and will enhance the overall validity of the claims that you make. Individuals can develop their syllogistic reasoning skills in order to create conclusions based on logical principles.

How can I improve the strength of a syllogism for the LAT?

The first and easiest way to improve your syllogistic reasoning is to ensure that it is expressed clearly. When you shorten your sentences and use smaller words, the marker will find it easier to read and hence understand your syllogisms embedded in your essay.

The second way is to use simple logical forms. One example is: "All students are mortal. James is a student. Therefore, James is mortal.”

This is known as an Aristotelian syllogism. In this case, the first sentence “all students are mortal” is a general statement. The second sentence “James is a student” is a specific statement that falls under the category of the first sentence. The third sentence is a conclusion that you cannot deny if you accept the first two sentences.

The third way is to ensure that the statements that you establish are accurate. In the LAT, you will be given texts, ensuring you understand the context behind the parts you choose to use as evidence or quotes is key to preventing yourself from misinterpreting them. Misinterpretation of parts of a text is an easy way to weaken your argument as it causes the argument’s foundation to be baseless.

Improving your reasoning skills, particularly by employing syllogistic reasoning will enhance your argument’s validity and structure. This allows you to write more clearly and help your marker understand the points you are making with greater depth. Improving your syllogisms by (1) enhancing the clarity of its expression, (2) using simple logical forms, and (3) expressing accurate premises will entice the marker to give you a higher score for your LAT essays. You can learn more about how to prepare for the UNSW Law Admission Test by attending our two- day intensive Premium Masterclass.