(Part 2) Top products from r/LSAT

Blackistheonlycolor, I largely agree with this post but I would like to share a few thoughts.

Self Study is THE way to prepare for the LSAT. I think an LSAT course is only a good option if you need more help grasping the basics than self study is providing.

The books that PhiPsiSciFi provided are certainly good, but I think there are a few changes which could maximize your prep. My book recommendation list would be:

• The Logic Games Bible $45
  
• Manhattan 3-book set $82
  
• Cambridge LR 1-20 $47
  
• Cambridge LR 21-40 $60
  
• Cambridge RC 1-20 $32
  
• Cambridge RC 21-40 $40
  
• Cambridge Complete LG Set PDF $90
  
• PTs 52-61 $20
  
• PTs 62-71 $22
  
• LSAT SuperPrep $17
  
• [LSAT PT 72] (http://www.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-PrepTest-72-PrepTests-ebook/dp/B00MXDVYS4/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412298868&sr=1-2&keywords=LSAT+72) $6
  
  Total is $461. Now I realize that is significantly more money that the list given above, but if you can swing it, you will get a lot more bang for your buck. The Manhattan LSAT books tend to be a little bit better than the Powerscore ones. The Powerscore Logic Games Bible is certainly a great asset to have, which is why I included it here, but the LR Bible doesn't flow as well as Manhattan's and the RC Bible is nowhere near as good. The next big difference is that my list includes PTs 1-40 only as drills instead of complete tests. The earlier tests are quite a bit different than the modern LSAT, so while you won't get an extremely representative score by taking the full PTs, you can get improve by having the questions broken down into drills. That said, if there was anything you wanted to take off this list, The Cambridge LR 1-20 and RC 1-20 aren't 100% necessary. They are certainly nice to have, but you can only realistically do so many drills and it will be better to do the more modern ones found in PTs 21-40. But if you are planning to study for 6+ months, get 1-20 as well as 21-40. You will want to get all of the Logic Games though. Personally, I think PDF works better because you will want to re-print several of them to complete multiple times. You will also want to re-do every logic game section from tests 40+, which isn't really necessary for the LR and RC sections.
  The rest of my list is pretty much the same. I added PT 72 and you will want to get 73 when that comes out too. Overall, you will get 24 PTs from my suggestions (20 from the two books, 3 from SuperPrep, and PT 72. Obviously you hit 25 if you get PT 73 as well) which should be plenty. If you needed anymore buy the individual PTs from 41 up. I know this is a good bit of money, but it is soooo much cheaper than any reputable LSAT Course and it is more effective too.

When I said "51 onward" I was referring to PrepTest 51 and onward. PrepTest, commonly abbreviated as PT are previously administered LSATs. Every LSAT is released as such, except for those pertaining to the February administration. The most recent PrepTest is number 77, which corresponds to the LSAT that was administered in December of 2015. Each PrepTest contains the four officially scored sections of the LSAT plus the writing sample question, it however does not include the experimental section as this would compromise future LSATs. When you purchase the LSAT PrepTest volumes, you do not receive explanations, only an answer key and percentile conversion chart to each exam. However, the LSAC has released a book called SuperPrep II which includes 3 PrepTests, of which is there not only an answer key, but official explanations to each and every question, explaining why the right answer to each is the, well right answer. Although the LSAC does not have an explanation for all of their PrepTests published, there are many forums, websites and even published books which will do so for you. For example, The Princeton Review will be shortly releasing "LSAT Decoded" which will explain all of the answers in corresponding LSATs(PrepTests) I listed the following books that I purchased and recommend. Go to your local bookstore and read a couple pages of the Prep Company's book and see if their method of teaching works for you, if not, find another. Lastly, I would like to say that it is of absolutely no trouble for myself, I am more than happy to help, and thus I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour! :D

I posted the links to the books I bought and have been enjoying, please take caution before purchasing it from these links, as I posted the Amazon Canadian links as I live in Canada. Anyway, I believe either the Kaplan Premier 2016-2017 or LSAT trainer are an absolute must, although you could get away with not getting a prep company strategy set, I strongly encourage getting at the very least a comprehensive all in one. Any more questions or concerns about anything related to the LSAT please feel free to send me a message/reply.

http://www.amazon.ca/10-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0986045519/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-2&keywords=LSAT

http://www.amazon.ca/Official-LSAT-SuperPrep-II-Champion/dp/0990718689/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-10&keywords=LSAT

http://www.amazon.ca/Actual-Official-PrepTests-Comparative-Reading/dp/0984636005/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253768&sr=8-9&keywords=LSAT

http://www.amazon.ca/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1457253799&sr=8-3&keywords=LSAT

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1937707784?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1937707776?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0990718697?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0986045543?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0986086231?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

Much of the logic required for the test is shared among sections, so studying for one helps the others. Also, each section tends to require a slow progression because you are basically changing how you think, so a lot of people recommend intertwining the three to some extent.

Logic games are usually the quickest to improve on, so a lot of people start with more of a focus there. This allows you to shape your mind to LSAT faster and can help with the other sections. It also gives you a sense of progress and accomplishment.

Reading comprehension and logical reasoning are basically how well you pay attention to what you read and how you logically connect the provided information, so how fast and to what extent you pick those sections up depends on how well you build those skills. Sometimes that takes days to see drastic improvement (I had a student go from the mid-teens to the mid-twenties on RC in a day because he changed to a more effective approach), but often it takes months (usually because one is just practicing instead of changing what he or she is doing wrong).

First, I recommend that you take a practice test. You can access June 2007 for free. This will help you to determine what needs the most work. You will eventually want to buy at least some of the official preptests (all are good, but newer is more relevant and therefore more important):

• PrepTest 77
  
• PrepTest 76
  
• PrepTest 75
  
• PrepTest 74
  
• PrepTest 73
  
• PrepTest 72
  
• PrepTests 62-71
  
• PrepTests 52-61
  
• PrepTests 29-38
  
• PrepTests 19-28
  
• PrepTests 7, 9-16, 18
  
• 10 Real LSATs Grouped by Question Type: Manhattan LSAT Practice Book
  
  Then, I suggest working with a set of prep books or online lessons. A lot of people like 7Sage, the LSAT Trainer, and PowerScore, but there are other options as well.
  
  Three pieces of advice:
  
  1.) Don't blow through all of your practice tests - even though there are 77 of them - a lot of people who start early tend to run out. That leads to:
  
  2.) Don't take a lot of practice tests early. Your job is not to practice your current (bad) habits; instead, it is to identify what aspects of your approach you are doing wrong and make a conscious effort to fix them. You will get much more out of slow, untimed, exhaustive, reflective study than out of plowing through lots of practice tests expecting something to change. If you are not improving yourself, do not just continue to take practice tests - instead:
  
  3.) Don't be afraid to look into a tutor. An experienced one can usually diagnose issues and sometimes that is more efficient and effective than working through it on your own, especially when you are stuck and struggling to improve. That can be expensive sometimes, but it can also be the reason why you get into your target school and/or the reason why you get a scholarship (my prep, many years ago, paid for itself many times over).
  
  Good luck!

Hey u/wowmuchinfo, don't worry too much about previous knowledge of the law! The LSAT is a test of analytical, reading, and logic skills. There's tons of helpful information in this sub's sidebar, including this Intro to the LSAT,

What system of studying makes most sense will depend on what your style of learning is. Given that the test is now administered on a digital tablet, I would recommend some kind of online study course (I used 7sage and personally loved it, but other programs out there include the LSAT demon, and some others discussed on this past post). There are also free prep tests and resources from LSAC and Khan Academy. And I've seen great things about tutors posted in the sub, there's this (fairly old) directory, plus some searches could probably steer you towards someone.

I didn't buy any books, so truly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but I've seen people here rave about loophole, the powerscore logic games bible, and the LSAT trainer. Lots of posts here recommend buying physical books of prep tests (see below) but I would not do that, as with the switch to the digital format, practicing the test on paper won't set you up as well for the real deal.

Studying for the test is generally broken down into three activities: curriculum (reviewing the test structure and questions), drilling or sections (doing sections of the test, timed or untimed), and prep tests (taking practice tests under timed conditions, followed by review.) Generally, the first thing you'll want to take a diagnostic test to see where you are now. Usually, people use the test from June 2007 as their diagnostic. Here's the PDF, but if you buy any of the programs, a digital tester should be included, and you might want to wait and do that. What you do from there will depend on what program you're focused on. Once you've taken your diagnostic, you might want to visit 7sage's predictor to see what your target score is based on your top school. My last tip: save as many of the most recent tests (i.e. those numbered in the 70s and 80s) for later in your studying. They are likely more similar to what your test will be like.

The LSAT is a sticky wicket, but with time and practice, it's conquerable. Good luck!

I would definitely recommend practicing with real LR questions. Consider purchasing Fox’s Logical Reasoning Encyclopedia. It’s a huge collection of questions organized by type and from easiest to hardest so that you can work your way up.

That being said, if you are looking to read something that will make LR easier, consider a book like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0872209547/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0K40QP66SXTM0BKQAHBS&dpPl=1&dpID=61X5ctUve8L

I literally just typed “fallacies” into amazon, but a book like this will basically cover every wrong argument you could see on the LSAT. I took a class on Critical Reasoning my freshman year and I know it gave me a head start on LR.

For reading comp, I’m a philosophy major so I have the opposite problem you do. Scientific articles throw me off a hair. If you want some interesting reads, check out the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online. It’s free, the language is very formal and sophisticated, and you can read about basically anything and everything you’d want. The LSAT seems to like bringing up utilitarianism relatively often, so maybe check out their page on that. Also the LSAT mentions Kant pretty frequently, so you can also check out the page on him.

Of course this isn’t necessary to get a perfect LSAT score; the test, as you know, does not presuppose any prior knowledge about these topics. However, I’m sure you have found, as I did, that it’s easier to read about things you know something about. Read some philosophy, but drill drill drill those RC passages!

As for getting a 170, I can’t say. My diagnostic was 155, and I got a 164 in February. My last two PTs were over 170, but obviously the only one that counts is the official.

You’ve got this!!!

Your plan sounds good. Another way to go, which I would recommend slightly over what you have, is to use odd-numbered tests for PT and even-numbered ones for drilling or experimentals (after pulling out maybe the most recent 10-15 strictly for PTs and the oldest 10-15 for experimentals). That way your drilling has the same variety (caused by age of test) that your PTs have. The result, if done well, is a very flexible mastery of the test.

I think it's better not to buy books of questions broken down by types, honestly. Identifying the question type is a crucial skill, so if you want to drill by types (which you should early on), make the type lists yourself.

You might consider 19-28 for the experimental set-aside (https://www.amazon.com/More-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0979305039), but you should definitely should buy 42-51 (https://www.amazon.com/Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests-42-51/dp/0986086290) and, individually, 72 and up.

That's a ton of material. Use it wisely and best of luck to you :)

You should write an addendum pointing out that your more recent performance is a better indication of your academic promise. Check out Ann Levine's Law School Admission Game for lots of great tips on addenda.

While I'm thinking about it, I have to put in a plug for that book. I haven't done the math, but it might be literally worth its weight in gold to a law school applicant. Let's see... the price of gold per ounce is roughly $1320. The book weighs 8.5 ounces. So if it were made of gold, the book would cost $11,200. I think many applicants get FAR more than $11,200 of value out of it. Seriously! Law school costs $150,000 and three years of your life... if it helps you get a scholarship, or get into a much better school than you would have otherwise, it's definitely worth more than 11 grand. I give it to all my students, but it's only 14 bucks on Amazon. Check it out.

It's never too late to start, regardless I'm rooting for you! I would start looking at schools that you're interested in and view their requirements and deadlines and plan from there. From when and how long you'll be studying to seeing how you'll finance everything. Planning and understanding the process is critical.

Here's an inexpensive book I have that really does a good job about going into detail about every step of the process. Hope this helps and good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Admission-Game-Expert/dp/0983845387/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1Q1SCV11SYXS6GTMJV7N

LSAC stopped releasing pdf preptests a couple years ago. http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/lsac-bans-lsat-preptest-pdf-sales.html

You can still get ebook versions and PT 82 should be out soon. https://www.lsac.org/jd/lsat/preparing-for-the-lsat/ebooks

However, at least the kindle version is not printable and pretty worthless. I assume the nook and itunes versions are the same and I've never heard of kobo, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope for an ebook that's useful for anything other than reading a few LR questions on the train.

Probably your best bet is to buy the paper copy. https://smile.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-Preptest-82-Sept/dp/0998339741

The three trustworthy LSAT prep are 7Sage, PowerScore, and LSAT Trainer.

I recommend learning logical reasoning (LR) for LSAT Trainer, logic games (LG) from the PowerScore logic games bible. Use 7Sage for their free LG explanations for when you move on to the prep tests.

So, for the self studying LSAT student, purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0988758660/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893820&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=powerscore&dpPl=1&dpID=51OJB5MwfNL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0989081532/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893890&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=lsat+trainer&dpPl=1&dpID=41XYSgqXD6L&ref=plSrch

And as many of these as you can: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0986045519/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893927&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=lsat+preptest&dpPl=1&dpID=41nM%2BRt7N9L&ref=plSrch

And here's 7Sage: https://7sage.com/

I'm posting on my phone, so I'm sorry for the format of all this

It seems that PT 80 is now available on Amazon, with the caveat that it might take a few days to ship:

https://www.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-PrepTest-80-Dec/dp/0998339709/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485555479&sr=8-1&keywords=lsat+preptest+80

With Amazon Prime, the estimated delivery is January 31st to February 1st. Might be able to squeeze it in before the February test. (At least, that's my hope!)

Good luck all!

Here's what the LSAC says about this in their Guide to Reading Comprehension Questions in The Official LSAT SuperPrep II.

QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT THE PASSAGE SAYS OR IMPLIES

For each Reading Comprehension passage, you will be asked questions about the various ideas conveyed by the passage. These questions can range from very basic and straightforward questions (what does the passage say, literally?) to more sophisticated questions (what does the author imply without saying it explicitly?) to quite complex and advanced questions (what can be inferred from evidence presented in the passage, independently of whether or not the author intended the implication?). We will discuss all of these types of questions, starting with those at the basic end of the spectrum.

Here are the links!

1. https://www.amazon.com/Cengage-Advantage-Books-Understanding-Introduction/dp/1285197364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497492050&sr=8-1&keywords=Understanding+Logic
   
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Logic-Harry-J-Gensler/dp/1138910597/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497492131&sr=8-1&keywords=introduction+to+logic
   
   
3. https://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Hackett-Student-Handbooks/dp/0872209547/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497492196&sr=8-1&keywords=rule+for+arguments
   
   Hope it helps!

Linked the one from my post history that i did diy. I got it from amazon and colored in the timing and it works perfectly fine. I got it for July in case I got paper (ended up with digital) but i did a bunch of practice tests with it and had no issues. Plus it’s much cheaper. Also brought it today to keep track of time for the break and it was approved



diy lsat watch

$20 on amazon

Thought I'd chime in. Went from a 156 in September to a 165 in January. This might be pretty unconventional but all I did was read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-LSAT-Quick-Dirty-Primer/dp/1480211893 . Starting in November I then did one section and review of that section per day. About one month out I started doing about 2 full PTs and review thereof per week. Two weeks out I started doing a full PT a day. Worked well for me!

If I'm not mistaken, only five of the exams that will be in it have been published so far, and they don't release all that many of them yearly (although the number has increased quite a bit recently). I don't think it will be published this year.

However, you can buy the five most recently released tests individually. Start here: https://www.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-PrepTest-82-Sept/dp/0998339741/

Just to confirm, you are refering to something like this? https://www.amazon.ca/Official-LSAT-PrepTest-78-June/dp/0986086258

The only way to predict a score is to take a full (that's 5 sections -- four section (2 Lr's, Rc, Lg from a single preptest and a fifth section from a different test)) LSAT using a proctor app (7sage has a good one) with a scantron (cambridge LSAT has a free print out) and stick to the time (no cheating) and stick to the rules (no eating, drinking except during the break).

You need the books of real official LSATs. Here: http://www.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-PrepTest-65-Dec/dp/098463603X?ie=UTF8&keywords=lsat%20pt%2065&qid=1463306793&ref_=sr_1_fkmr1_1&sr=8-1-fkmr1

P.S. Kaplan is crap I would toss that book straight in the trash. Lsat for dummies is probably worse. Princeton review is trash too.

I'd start out with Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer, Manhattan's RC 4th edition and Powerscore's LG Bible.

I could only find it available for purchase on the American amazon website. https://www.amazon.com/Loophole-LSAT-Logical-Reasoning/dp/1732749000/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=loophole+lsat&qid=1567657711&s=gateway&sprefix=loophole+&sr=8-1

I don't recommend the Fox book.

Getting the Manhattan Prep book would be questionable too--it's not going to tell you a whole lot you didn't get from Powerscore + LSAT Trainer really. I actually recommend this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0415997143/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm rolling OG

https://www.amazon.com/Casio-Classic-Quartz-Resin-Watch/dp/B01BY7I1J4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1510171012&sr=8-3&keywords=casio+rotating+bezel

They give test takers from that administration a copy, but it's always several weeks (3-5 is common) before the tests are officially released (i.e. available for purchase).

EDIT: as a for instance, the publish date for the December 2016 LSAT is February 2017 despite the fact that scores, and thus the first copies of that test, came out on January 3, 2017.

10 New Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests with Comparative Reading: (PrepTests 52-61) (Lsat Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984636005/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HcsyzbR1FMCB2

Start with this one! I worked through this one in the weeks before June.

The 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests 42-51 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986086290/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pdsyzbEVWV2X5

Then this one! I’ll be mostly using this one before my retake.

there are some high performance courses and books. kaplan has one that's called kaplan 180

https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent/dp/0671212095/

This.

And this: https://smile.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Appeal-Peg-Tittle/dp/0415997143/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517174060&sr=8-2&keywords=peg+tittle

No, I’m talking about a separate book from the Bibles. This has the every logical reasoning question from the first 20 prep tests sorted by type. It’s a supplement to the LR Bible, and it’s only questions, no explanations or instructions like the Bible itself. They also have workbooks with Full LR sections.

PowerScore LSAT Logical Reasoning: Question Type Training (Powerscore Test Preparation) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982661835/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WCi.Ab40K07TG

The PowerScore LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible Workbook (The PowerScore LSAT Bible Workbook Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2EY83M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xFi.AbC8JDJWQ

I’m also using Fox’s encyclopedia though which is golden.

Check out the Thinking Lsat podcast and find out what you're getting yourself into. Whatever you do, don't do Kaplan anything. It's shit. I recommend this to get you into the right mindset.

It's available for pre-order here. There's no release date announced: https://www.amazon.com/Official-LSAT-Preptest-78-June/dp/0986086258/

Probably 1-4 weeks?

I would use 7sage analytics to ID where your weak areas are over a 10-15 PT sample (so it's more statistically significant). Then, get this book and drill your weak areas. Do 100+ questions in a row of just that/those question type/s. (Sorry the price is so high...ever since LSAC nuked the PDFs for question-type training, this book has been going for a premium...still very useful though):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982661835/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1