Tips for PhiLSAT Takers

In 2017, the legal education of the Philippines just got a little fancier with the addition of the Philippine
Law Admission Test (PhiLSAT). The Legal Education Board decided to conduct the exam to screen
future law students and to test their English and math skills. If you’re part of the thousands of Filipinos
who aspire to become a lawyer and who are determined to do something about it, here are my tips on
your first step toward that journey.

1. Know thy English

Three out of the four subtests in the exam deals heavily with your understanding and grasp of the
English language. This is expected, of course, because a good command of the language is of prime
importance in the study and practice of law. It is good to prepare by reviewing basic grammar rules
and uses of punctuations. Here’s a breakdown of the first three sections:

Communications and Language Proficiency

This subtest is heavy on sentence technicalities and parallelism. Take note of the words used, and
remember that commas are important. Every little detail of the sentence is taken into consideration.
My job before as a copy editor definitely helped me with this, making this subtest my highest out of the
four. If you need a reference, there are a lot of books out there, but I recommend Reader’s
Digest’s How to Write and Speak Better and The Chicago Manual of Style. The latter is a very thick
reference, but when it comes to technicalities, it’s a huge help.

Critical Thinking

They say that to be a good lawyer, you need three Ls—law, logic, and language. This subtest deals
with the second element. It tests your analytical and logical skills. In my opinion, this is the most fun
section, but could also easily become the most difficult. To prepare for this, I took IQ exams, prepping
my mind to recognize trick questions and patterns for this kind of exam.

Verbal Reasoning

When I took the PhiLSAT, my biggest mistake was with this section. It’s basically reading
comprehension. You have to read lengthy passages and answer a couple of questions afterward.
What I forgot was that technique often stressed by elementary school teachers—read the questions
first before reading the passage. Don’t make the same mistake.

2. Review basic math

The last subtest is quantitative reasoning. For those who have not solved math problems for a long
time, especially those whose courses are not heavy on math, it is best to review your basic
calculations. You will do a lot of solving here, and calculators are not allowed. Review the basics: long
division, multiplication, and even basic addition and subtraction.

The first part of the exam contains a lot of series problems, i.e., you are asked to find the next number
in the series. Practice doing this by acquainting yourselves with this kind of questions and recognizing
patterns. A simple example is this: What comes next in the series? 36, 33, 30 __. Of course, it’s more
complicated than that, but that’s basically what the first part of the fourth subtest looks like.

The second part is more on problem-solving and reading and analyzing graphs. Make use of available
reviewers for this.

3. Don’t delay

The main problem you have to overcome with PhiLSAT is the time limit. There are two hundred
questions and only three hours to finish them all. This means you only have 0.90 minutes or fifty-
four seconds to answer a question. This leaves little time for doubt or reviewing. And taking into
consideration the nature of the test where there are questions where you have to read long
paragraphs, speed is definitely of importance. Take note that these fifty-four seconds should
include the time it takes for you to shade your answers. PhiLSAT proctors will alert the examinees
to pass the papers when time is up, and random shading is not allowed. It is best to practice speed
reading and shading before taking the exam.

4. Skip ahead

There are no restrictions with the subtest you are answering. The only rule (as far as I know) is that
you have to finish the exam in three hours. You can definitely skip ahead to another subtest if you
wish. The proctors won’t be checking this. In my experience, the proctor will not be going around the
room to check which subtest you are on. So if you think it will take you less time to answer the third or
fourth subtest, go ahead and do that first. Unless, of course, if you are told to do otherwise.
5. Relax

This is my most important tip of all. I know you hear this all the time, but with a time-pressured exam
like the PhiLSAT, you don’t have time to panic. Remember: 54 seconds, including shading. If you
shake and worry in the process, it will cost you. Try taking the exam with a calm mind. This test is a
big deal, but worrying about it won’t help you. Focus on the questions. Ignore the jitters.

For those who are going to take the PhiLSAT, I wish you well, and I wish you the best. My prayer is
that we will all succeed in our chosen profession. See you on the other side someday!
Posted 20th September 2017 by Christine Pia Gerzon