To Diagram or Not to Diagram

Diagramming is essential for the Logic Games section.
As we begin using diagrams to represent conditional relationships, students
often ask how much diagramming they should do on the test. The answer
depends on the individual. In Logical Reasoning, some students diagram much
more than others and the level of your diagramming depends on your comfort
and ability to juggle the ideas mentally. A diagram is exceptionally helpful
because it represents a complex relationship in picture form (think of the old
saying that a picture is a worth a thousand words). Some test takers (including
many high scorers) feel that making the diagram is less work because you do
not need to “remember” the statement, and there is no loss of time because
good diagrammers can diagram almost as fast as they read. Others feel
comfortable enough with the statements to simply juggle them mentally.
Regardless of your preference, at first you must learn how to diagram because
there will likely be problems that you have to diagram during the test (some
LSAT problems contain relationships with eight or more elements and
juggling these elements mentally is challenging to say the least). Once you
establish that you can accurately diagram any statement, then you can
confidently make decisions during the test about whether to diagram a given
problem.