Wednesday, October 9, 2013

For those taking the UP LAE: Exam Tips

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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