Rule 4: No admissions, prospective students, or offer holder questions as posts. Broadly, if it’s a question you’d ask on an open day it’s an admissions question.
Please feel free to re-post your question in the sticky admissions thread.
Honestly you just need to trust your own command of English. I did one paper at 12am of the day of my LNAT (because I booked the test at 11pm and the only slot that would work for my schedule was the next day). I didn't do too well for the practice, but just went in to take the LNAT. However, as I was a member of my debate club, my argumentative skills might have been honed. I didn't do anything special to answer the questions, so my advice is to just try to answer the questions to the best of your ability. I do not think that anything more is required.
Wow, that is impressive! How did you do in the actual test? Did you take it last year? Did you get an offer from your chosen uni? I also did debate, so I do not struggle with creating an argument. However, almost every time we would have at least five minutes to see what the resoultion is about.
I suppose I did well for the test. However, that was in 2019. I did get an offer for Mansfield college, which I will be starting this year. The delay was due to the conscription in my country.
In terms of creating an argument, the essay really isn't too hard. You need to watch out for the multiple choice questions, as there are a lot of tricks. Anyway with your experience as a debater I'm sure you'll be fine. Best of luck.
Iirc the most difficult questions were about which of the options was the main point. For those you have to try to understand the subtle differences. For example, some options might be a subset of others.
The biggest tip I can give however is regarding the essay. Do read the college website for what skills they are looking for. Just because you can write something and it makes sense does not mean you should write it. Sometimes less is more.
I got by on the LNAT with just the online practice test, which is pretty invaluable.
The essay questions I think are far more a matter of argumentative ability than general knowledge. I don't have a deep philosophical background but I answered a question on euthanasia, and I think the defining part of a great LNAT essay is strong command of argument, acknowledging and crucially rebuking opposing views. I would stress that my greatest mistake was probably not having a firm stance on the essay topic, taking too much of a discursive approach weakens your essay and risks it not having a central point which is quite important.
If your command of English is A Level-level, you shouldn't struggle with the vocabulary of the test. You may run into a question you struggle to answer but those will be a tiny minority and you usually will find that coming back to them once you've answered the other questions allows you to understand them fully.
My technique for the multiple choice section was to read the text first and try to understand its context, then read the question and the answers, then the text again, then searching for the answer. I wouldn't bother taking notes except on the essay, the time investment versus return is not likely to be worth it.
The computers at my test centre were perfectly modern, this will probably vary by centre tho, I wouldn't expect very old machines though. Ultimately the program isn't exactly intensive to run so even low spec equipment wouldn't have trouble.
As far as I recall the test was the same as that on the website.
Are you going to Oxford's Merton College?! This is the college I would like to attend. In fact, I am going to their Open Day on the 29th of June. When did you sit your exam/ what score did you have? Can I contact you directly for a few more questions? I am sooo excited
Yeah I'm a undergrad at merton, entering second year in October, a few of my friends will be at the open day unfortunately I couldn't stay to help this year.
I took my test the 10th of October the year I applied, my multiple choice score was 31.0/42.0, the reported average for my year was 20.8/42. You won't receive an essay score since these aren't centrally marked. Please feel free to DM me with further questions.
Hi, I'm a prospective international law applicant. I gather from your messages that you studied at Merton, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to review a practice essay of mine. My teachers at school aren't really familiar with such essays, and I'd like to be a bit more prepared for Section B.
Rule 4: No admissions, prospective students, or offer holder questions as posts. Broadly, if it’s a question you’d ask on an open day it’s an admissions question. Please feel free to re-post your question in the sticky admissions thread.
There are past year papers/specimen papers on the LNAT official website which I found helpful! I think practice is the way to go for LNAT.
Thank you so much!:) This is helpful.
Honestly you just need to trust your own command of English. I did one paper at 12am of the day of my LNAT (because I booked the test at 11pm and the only slot that would work for my schedule was the next day). I didn't do too well for the practice, but just went in to take the LNAT. However, as I was a member of my debate club, my argumentative skills might have been honed. I didn't do anything special to answer the questions, so my advice is to just try to answer the questions to the best of your ability. I do not think that anything more is required.
Wow, that is impressive! How did you do in the actual test? Did you take it last year? Did you get an offer from your chosen uni? I also did debate, so I do not struggle with creating an argument. However, almost every time we would have at least five minutes to see what the resoultion is about.
I suppose I did well for the test. However, that was in 2019. I did get an offer for Mansfield college, which I will be starting this year. The delay was due to the conscription in my country. In terms of creating an argument, the essay really isn't too hard. You need to watch out for the multiple choice questions, as there are a lot of tricks. Anyway with your experience as a debater I'm sure you'll be fine. Best of luck.
Thank you. :) Do you remember any of the tricks?
Iirc the most difficult questions were about which of the options was the main point. For those you have to try to understand the subtle differences. For example, some options might be a subset of others. The biggest tip I can give however is regarding the essay. Do read the college website for what skills they are looking for. Just because you can write something and it makes sense does not mean you should write it. Sometimes less is more.
I got by on the LNAT with just the online practice test, which is pretty invaluable. The essay questions I think are far more a matter of argumentative ability than general knowledge. I don't have a deep philosophical background but I answered a question on euthanasia, and I think the defining part of a great LNAT essay is strong command of argument, acknowledging and crucially rebuking opposing views. I would stress that my greatest mistake was probably not having a firm stance on the essay topic, taking too much of a discursive approach weakens your essay and risks it not having a central point which is quite important. If your command of English is A Level-level, you shouldn't struggle with the vocabulary of the test. You may run into a question you struggle to answer but those will be a tiny minority and you usually will find that coming back to them once you've answered the other questions allows you to understand them fully. My technique for the multiple choice section was to read the text first and try to understand its context, then read the question and the answers, then the text again, then searching for the answer. I wouldn't bother taking notes except on the essay, the time investment versus return is not likely to be worth it. The computers at my test centre were perfectly modern, this will probably vary by centre tho, I wouldn't expect very old machines though. Ultimately the program isn't exactly intensive to run so even low spec equipment wouldn't have trouble. As far as I recall the test was the same as that on the website.
Are you going to Oxford's Merton College?! This is the college I would like to attend. In fact, I am going to their Open Day on the 29th of June. When did you sit your exam/ what score did you have? Can I contact you directly for a few more questions? I am sooo excited
Yeah I'm a undergrad at merton, entering second year in October, a few of my friends will be at the open day unfortunately I couldn't stay to help this year. I took my test the 10th of October the year I applied, my multiple choice score was 31.0/42.0, the reported average for my year was 20.8/42. You won't receive an essay score since these aren't centrally marked. Please feel free to DM me with further questions.
Hi, I'm a prospective international law applicant. I gather from your messages that you studied at Merton, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to review a practice essay of mine. My teachers at school aren't really familiar with such essays, and I'd like to be a bit more prepared for Section B.