The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is the single most important factor in admission to all ABA-approved law schools, many non-ABA-approved law schools, and most law schools in Canada . It is considered by many to be one of the toughest tests on the planet for graduate school admission. Fortunately, it doesn’t take a genius to get a high score, but it doesn’t hurt either. With a lot of preparation, many students see an increase of 12 or more points on the LSAT.

With summer here, it’s the perfect time of year to study for the LSAT. We asked M, the founder of TestSherpa LSAT Test Preparation, to share his top five LSAT test preparation tips.

LSAT Test Tip #1: Analyze published tests.

“The LSAT is more like a sport than a traditional test,” says TestSherpa’s M. “It doesn’t test knowledge, it tests thinking styles.” According to M, the best way to improve your thinking style to score high on the LSAT is to break up as many tests as you can. Fortunately, LSAC posts past LSAT tests for students to study. There are two things M suggests you do with your published practice tests. First, take them as the actual test and analyze their strengths and weaknesses question by question. If you know your weaknesses, you’ll know where to focus your practice time. Second, spend time trying to see why the test creators wrote the wrong arguments, questions, and answer choices the way they did. Understanding what the test is really assessing and why is the key to navigating the course on test day.

LSAT Test Tip #2: Focus on the assumptions.

Half of the LSAT test, the two logical reasoning sections, deal with argument analysis. The key to understanding arguments is understanding the central assumption of an argument. The central assumption of any argument is like hidden evidence. It is a secret key to unlock the author’s thinking of the plot. Many LSAT questions are based on finding the central assumption, including questions that ask you to find an inference, find the assumption, weaken an argument, strengthen an argument, or describe a flaw in the reasoning.

LSAT Tip #3: Learn the wrong answers.

“The LSAT gives you the same types of wrong answers over and over again, quarter after quarter,” says Mr. Your, You can see an immediate score increase just by being able to eliminate a few common types of wrong answers. “There’s no penalty for wrong answers,” says M, “so if you can eliminate three out of five answer choices, it’s essentially like getting a half point right, even if you don’t know what the actual correct answer is.” If you are currently scoring half of the test correctly and then guessing between the correct answer and another answer that you failed to remove, you would also score another quarter of the test correctly. Getting 75% correct on the test, even through an elimination process, could raise your LSAT score above the 160 level.

LSAT Test Tip #4: Don’t be afraid of games.

Most of the students dread the games section because they have never worked with such a thing in their undergraduate curriculum. But the key to scoring high on the Analytical Reasoning section of the LSAT is practice. “Most of our TestSherpa students start out extremely intimidated by logic games,” says M, “but by the time they finish the course, it becomes their favorite section.”

LSAT Test Tip #5: Don’t ignore the written essay.

Many students don’t pay enough attention to the LSAT written essay because it doesn’t have a score. Unfortunately, it is one of the key factors that can separate you from the rest of the pack. “Students choose their application schools based on their LSAT and GPA scores,” says M. “That means you’ll be in a pile with a bunch of other applicants with similar scores and qualifications. The written essay, along with your personal status of account, work history and some other external factors, are what help you to get out of the giant pile of application folders.