UP LAW APTITUDE
EXAMINATION
The UP LAE is divided into
seven parts which is expected to be finished in five hours. Each part is timed
strictly and sometimes even unmanageable to be finished. Don’t worry if you
don’t finish all questions just make sure to try your best to answer them all.
Bring a watch since it might come in handy in taking note of the time.
For English
Grammar:
The English
grammar part of the UP LAE is made up of questions evaluating basic college
English grammar. Most of the questions are fill-in-the-blanks wherein you will
be asked to provide the best word or preposition from the choices given. There
are also questions asking which among the choices has the best sentence
structure or finding errors in sentences. If you are not that confident with
your grammar, I suggest that you start answering your high school English
grammar books for practice (since they are really the books that provide you
the basic rules of English grammar). If you are unsure of a sentence, try
saying it out loud(in your head) and observe if it sounds right. Always keep in
mind that most likely if a sentence sounds right, then it is most probably right.
For Verbal Reasoning:
The Verbal
Analogy part may look simple at first, but it’s actually tricky especially when
it comes to finding relationships with the words. Brush up on your vocabulary
if you would like to gain confidence of knowing more words but this part of LAE
only contains basic college-level words. You just have to keep an eye out for
tricky questions and make sure to follow directions(or the pattern). Make sure
that you would be able to distinguish if the relationships of the words are
either antonyms, synonyms, A is part of B, A is a kind of B, proper nouns to
common nouns, etc. Also, be keen on the parts of speech being used. Sometimes,
even words that you are familiar with might be very difficult to explain when
put in this kind of test.
For Non-Verbal Reasoning:
This is the most fun part because you only need to find patterns among the given sets of pictures, words, or numbers. A tip here would be to avoid overanalyzing and just take the sets of pictures, words, or numbers as it is for you to be able to find the pattern easily. The best way to prepare for this kind of exam is to practice since this can’t really be studied beforehand but the familiarity to such type of questions will help in improving your speed in answering such questions. You can buy some mind teasers in bookstores or you can also find some online.
For Math(Quantitative Reasoning):
Honestly,
the Math part was the most difficult part for me and even for some of my
friends. I guess the Math part measures one’s logical thinking, which is a
required skill for lawyers. Most of the questions during my time were from
geometry and algebra(basic and advanced). There were a few word problems such
as work problems, distance problems, mixture problems, etc. The most difficult
part for me here is the geometry part wherein some questions assume that you
still remember the postulates and theorems you learn in geometry class during
high school(if you are not from a Math-oriented undergraduate course).
Familiarize yourself with geometric formulas(especially solving geometric
problems that include shaded regions) and ways of computing angles. The real
challenge in the Math part is the time. You really have to learn how to solve
fast to finish all items.
For Reading Comprehension:
Just like any other reading comprehension
test, this part is composed of passages which you are asked to read, followed
by questions regarding the passage you just have read. Many of the questions
would be regarding the main idea of the paragraph or the best title that could
be given to the passage. There are also questions asking for a meaning of a
word in the context it is used in the passage. I suggest that while reading the
passages, you try to relax so that you will understand more what you are
reading. Then try to answer the questions with the obvious answers first. Try
to scan through the passage again to look for answers to some questions whose
answers are not that obvious. Personally, I don’t suggest the tip of review
centers that you do away with reading the whole passage and go directly to
answering the questions by just searching the passage for the item being asked
for. For me, it is easier that you at least have a general idea of the passage
and even familiarize yourself with its main arguments. But you can do what is most convenient for
you. Just be mindful of the time(but this is the test that many of the
test-takers did not exhaust the whole allotted time.)
For Logical Reasoning:
This part is mainly composed of logic games and puzzles so if you are quite familiar with them, this part will not be a problem for you. Similar to the non-verbal reasoning part, this part can’t be studied beforehand and the best way to prepare for such exam is to practice. You should familiarize yourself with how logic questions and puzzles are framed and also try to orient yourself with a way of thinking somehow linear to the framework such questions follow. Some types of questions are the “If all zips are zaps, and all zaps are zims, then all zips are zims” question, or that which asks you to determine which should be the next number or letter in a given set, or that which asks you who is the tallest among the four people described. Also familiarize yourself with Einstein’s
logic puzzles which can be searched online(http://brainden.com/einsteins-riddles.htm)
since there are about ten questions(during my time)
that are of this type. Familiarizing yourself with the concept of syllogisms might also help you in this part. If you are having trouble solving the questions in this
part, I suggest that you use the scratch paper(provided by the proctor) to draw
charts so that you can easily visualize the situation described in the
question— This also helps you save time.
For General Knowledge:
This part is somehow the giveaway of the
LAE since this part contains questions relating to literature, pop culture,
music, movies, games, products, logos, etc. And some of the questions are of
everyday knowledge(especially when you keep track with what is happening with
the world). One suggestion I can give for you to prepare for this test(or to at
least have more numbers answered correctly) is to answer the Brain Blitz quiz
booklets found in National Bookstore. Brain Blitz has evolved through years and
has numerous volumes dealing with literature, geography, science, pop culture,
etc. It is a very thin book and handy to bring anywhere.
In this part there are also somehow
subjective types of questions which I still haven’t figure out how it affects the
LAE score. Some people have told me that such questions measure the way of
thinking of a person and your answer to one is interpreted together with your
answer to the other “subjective questions.” But this is not confirmed to be
true so I suggest that you answer this type of questions honestly yet carefully.
END OF EXAM
After the exam, treat yourself by eating or watching a movie or meeting a friend. After all, that’s five hours of mental workout and you deserve a break.
The results will be
out either late January or early February. Don’t stress over this and just hope
for the best. Good luck!
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