All Things LSAT.

Branden Frankel

Branden Frankel is Most Strongly Supported's blog manager. He does indeed wear an Oak Cluster on his hoodie to indicate his rank with respect to other bloggers. If you question the editorial decision making on this blog, he's the fella whose photo you ought to throw darts at.

Branden's writing is influenced generally by current events, mostly regarding science, politics, and the law. Stylistically, Branden thinks of his posts as the Hemmingway of standardized testing -- writing that is at once spare, economical, and lyrical.

Branden's favorite section of the LSAT is Logical Reasoning, and he refers to individual LR questions as "logic snacks." They're yummy, not overfilling like Reading Comp passages or, y'know, crunchy like Logic Games.

When not blogging or teaching the LSAT in the San Fernando Valley, Branden writes books and hangs out with his daughter.

Author Archive:

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How long do I study? (Video, babies, video.)

How should you spend your time? That’s a very broad question. All things being equal, we’d recommend putting in the 10,000 or so hours necessary to master the oboe. Oh, no oboe for you? Fair enough. Not many people drop by Most Strongly Supported to talk unpopular woodwind instruments.

No, instead, they drop by to talk about the LSAT and law school. Regarding the former concern, one of the most common questions we get is, “How long should I study for the LSAT?” Like most other things in life, there’s no one-size-fits-all-answer.

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Happy 5th of July!

I — as well as everyone else who doesn’t work for/with Satan — was reveling in the Independence Day spirit yesterday. Hence, no 4th of July blog post. However, now that it’s 5th of July and we’re back at school/work (meh), it’s time to contemplate the meaning of our proto-Brexit 240 years ago. Since this is a blog aimed largely at future lawyers, an exploration of the Constitution and the practice of Constitutional Law is germane.

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Law School Admissions Webinar This Thursday at 6 pm PST!

You’ve probably heard of Blueprint’s legendary Law School Admissions seminars, which lead you step-by-step through the law school admissions process. You haven’t? What rock are you living under? And what’s it like to live under a rock? Anyway, back to reality. Blueprint offers an easy to understand and easy to execute strategy for putting together a winning law school application, and we throw in some great LSAT info for free.

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Can legal regulations prevent Judgment Day?

First, let me clear up the click bait headline. When I say “Judgment Day,” I’m talking about the idea, most prominently popularized in the Terminator movies, that machines will rise up and enslave or annihilate the human race. We’ll leave the Revelation stuff alone for now — and, as least as far as this blog is concerned probably for all time.

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Logical Reasonings / 1.11.16

A. Here’s GoPro video of the raid that took down El Chapo after six months on the run (and a harrowing encounter with actor Sean Penn). ABC News
B. Apparently the deans of law schools don’t really like US News & World Report or the way they do their rankings. Or at least the dean of University of Nebraska — tied for #56 — doesn’t. The dean of Yale might have a different opinion. Bloomberg
C. The Supreme Court appears poised to strike down a California law requiring teachers to pay representation fees to teachers unions they don’t want to join, characterizing it as compelled speech that violates the teacher’s First Amendment rights. Reuters
D. Ohio sheriff collects drugs from police departments in his county, claiming he’s doing so on the behalf of the DEA. The DEA has never heard of him. Raw Story
E. Police departments use big data to calculate a threat score, including what’s on your social media accounts. Watch out. The Washington Post

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The Starman returns to the heavens.

Most Strongly Supported’s readership skews pretty young — most people studying for the LSAT are college-age or thereabouts — so not all of you know about today’s topic. For those of you who do, get out your tissues. And for those who don’t, here’s a great opportunity to get familiar with a rock legend.

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Logical Reasonings / 1.8.16

A. We’ll just let the headline speak for itself: Man claiming to be Jesus planned to kidnap one of the Obamas’ dogs. CNN
B. Aaaaaaand, doubling down on the weirdness, scientists have outfitted praying mantises with 3D glasses. We really hope that no taxpayer funds were harmed in the making of this nonsense. c|net
C. Want to know what law schools accept the most transfers and which ones lose the most transfers? Click –> Above the Law
D. Netflix catalogues its offerings under thousands of “genre codes.” This will either make choosing what to watch much easier or much harder. We have no idea which. AV Club
E. Here’s every Spielberg film ranked. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is exactly where it ought to be. What about the rest of the list? Vulture

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Logical Reasonings / 1.7.16

A. Google’s Ukrainian-to-Russian translator apparently translated the term “Russian Federation” to “Mordor.” If you are a Tolkien fan and Putin detractor, you will quickly realize that this was no accident. PC Mag
B. Nutty guy files nutty lawsuit against former UFC champ Ronda Rousey, complete with complaint that’s handwritten on college-rule, three-ring binder paper and allegations that Rousey is actually a man and intends to “judo kick [his] head into submission to shut [his] mouth.” Maxim
C. Uber and Lyft are successful ride-hailing apps. Is there a workable lawyer-hailing app on the horizon? Should there be? Huffington Post
D. Here’s a cool photo essay about working in The West Wing. Not the old show; the real thing. Politico
E. Finally, Erwin Chemerinsky – dean of UCI law school and renowned Constitutional scholar – recaps the 2015 hits and misses at the Supreme Court of the United States. ABA Journal

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LSAC to Aspiring Lawyers: Drop Dead

Last week, the eighty-or-so people who took the December LSAT in Santa Barbara received an email from LSAC (the people who administer the LSAT), that their scores had been lost. The basic gist of the story is that UPS lost the packages, which were apparently left in a dropbox, not even at the nearest staffed shipping facility.

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