Return to Blog Homepage

LSAT Pairings Weirder Than Kanye West & Paul McCartney

BPPgreg-lsat-blog-mccartney-west-combinations
In case you missed it amongst New Year’s celebration and study anxiety, Kanye West dropped a new song just as the calendar rolled over to 2015. That alone would normally be huge news, but “Only One” is not only a brand new Kanye jam (and Kim K’s favorite, no less) it also features none other than Paul McCartney, and apparently is the first in what will be a “prolific musical collaboration between these two legendary artists.”

If you’re like me, the byline Kanye West (feat. Paul McCartney) makes you do a quadruple take. But after thinking about it a little bit more, it’s a pairing that makes some sense. Both are defining artists in their respective genres, and both have a long history of interesting collaboration – I highly recommend checking out Sir Paul’s strange grifter partnership with Michael Jackson and Kanye’s awesomely weird music video starring Zach Galifianakis.

Plus, we in the LSAT biz see weirder combinations than PaulYe every day. Here are three of the stranger collaborations you’ll encounter as you study for the February LSAT.

Logic (feat. Inherently Stupid Premises)
With only one organization administering the LSAT for the last several decades and the need for hundreds of new questions every year, not every question is going to be gold. Occasionally you’re going to be asked to apply logic to a scenario that seems fundamentally illogical. I recall coming across one Logical Reasoning question with a setup something like “Anyone who thinks moisturizers are not important for beautiful skin should consider what happens to the earth, the skin of the world, in times of drought.”

WUT.

As a test-taker, you have to assume that this premise is true and answer the question as logically as you can. But as a human? Feel free to practice your quadruple take.

A Multiple Choice Test (feat. A Writing Section)
It’s been said many times before, but the essay section of the LSAT is stupid. This is a standardized multiple choice exam, people. How is that compatible with a short essay that’s ungraded (and usually unread)? They go together about as well as Brad Paisely and LL Cool J – a truly awkward musical collaboration that McCartney and West can’t even touch.

The Year 2015 (feat. Number Two Pencils)
How is this still one of LSAC’s requirements on test day? I understand why they don’t allow cell phones, and are worried about digital watches. Cheating is a legitimate concern. But the mechanical pencil has been around since 1822. There’s no reason test-takers should have to worry about re-sharpening, and this requirement (along with more serious problems like their disability policies) is one of the reasons LSAC seems laughably out of touch. If they really want to curb plummeting test numbers, maybe they should make like the cutest Beatle and get with the times.