Mike's Trainer Thread Forum

[LSAT Blog]

http://i.imgur.com/7FjiNFU.jpg

Great effin' quote on that contents page.

Agreed 100%. Not the worst problem to have!

[marls]

WOW! Thanks so much for posting this! The notebook organizer sheets will be a huge help.

[The LSAT Trainer]

WOW! Thanks so much for posting this! The notebook organizer sheets will be a huge help.

Ha -- you must be a dork, just like me -- making the organizer sheets was a lot of fun -- I hope you enjoy them, and if you notice anything you'd like added or changed as you use them, please let me know --

And please treat yourself to some thick paper -- I'd even skip a latte and go all fancy and get some paper with cotton in it -- I know that there is that 25 page thread about pencils -- people gravely underestimate the satisfaction of doing your work on nice paper.

[LSAT Hacks (Graeme)]

And please treat yourself to some thick paper -- I'd even skip a latte and go all fancy and get some paper with cotton in it -- I know that there is that 25 page thread about pencils -- people gravely underestimate the satisfaction of doing your work on nice paper.

Any particular brands or styles you recommend? I'm clueless on quality paper. In general I prefer quality over quantity so I'd love to upgrade my paper stock.

[arcanecircle]

I look forward to reading your book. Sad to see the name change, though (understandable). I liked the palindrome.

[The LSAT Trainer]

And please treat yourself to some thick paper -- I'd even skip a latte and go all fancy and get some paper with cotton in it -- I know that there is that 25 page thread about pencils -- people gravely underestimate the satisfaction of doing your work on nice paper.

Any particular brands or styles you recommend? I'm clueless on quality paper. In general I prefer quality over quantity so I'd love to upgrade my paper stock.

I think we're exposing our nerdiness to the general public a bit too much, graeme -- I'll pm you about it.

[Mik Ekim]

I look forward to reading your book. Sad to see the name change, though (understandable). I liked the palindrome.

I brought back the palindrome one last time --

Thanks so much for taking the leap -- can't wait to see what you think about the book --

mikekim

[PourMeTea]

Post removed.

[The LSAT Trainer]

Hey everyone -- several of you have pm'd requesting that the next article I put up on The Trainer website be about Reading Comprehension, specifically how to review Reading Comprehension, so I've put a little something together --

I am sending it to the proofreader and will have a version up on my website sometime next week, but I know a lot of you are under the gun in terms of getting ready for the June exam, and thought you would appreciate getting an early version, grammar mistakes and spelling errors and all --

It's a little long, so I'm going to post it under another title -- I hope that many of you find it to be useful -- please pm me if you have any suggestions for larger changes before it goes up live (though I should be careful about making changes after something has gone to a proofreader, per the gigantic and obvious wording error on page 139 for any of you who have purchased the book) --

Mike

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Just got my copy a couple days ago, and there is a LOT of material. A LOOOOT of material.

Which would be awesome (well, still is awesome), if I wasn't facing the June test in three weeks. Any chapters you'd highlight for review for the test taker who is doing well, but looking to guarantee those last few points? Trying to focus on PTing right now, but I like what little I've seen so much, I'd hate to have missed a couple golden tips by not going through the book enough.

Understand if you can't suggest any in particular, will inevitably end up flipping through and trying to find stuff relevant to my weak points anyway. X)

[lovejopd]

Hey, great to see this book.

I saw 5 smart and simple tips for LSAT Prep 'Video' and love the content as well as your voice

Do you have any plan to make any pre-recorded online video course based on your new book at a reasonable price down the road? I know that your book is designed for self-study, but I doubt video course could hurt in order to prove LSAT score.

As I love your explanations on M forum website, I believe that many prospective test-takers will benefit from your animated video courses!

[The LSAT Trainer]

Hey, great to see this book.

I saw 5 smart and simple tips for LSAT Prep 'Video' and love the content as well as your voice

Do you have any plan to make any pre-recorded online video course based on your new book at a reasonable price down the road? I know that your book is designed for self-study, but I doubt video course could hurt in order to prove LSAT score.

As I love your explanations on M forum website, I believe that many prospective test-takers will benefit from your animated video courses!

Thank you lovejopd! I believe you are the only person other than my mother who has ever said that you like the sound of my voice -- at least now that I'm a bit older it's starting to go down a bit -- I've had to endure 20+ years of people calling me Ms. Kim when I pick up the phone --

I don't have any plans to make a recorded course, mainly because I am uncertain of the effectiveness of video learning. I think it's doable, but hard--watching a video inherently puts the viewer in a passive mode, and, as a teacher, it's a huge challenge to overcome that. Video has been around for what, 60 years? There's a reason you won't see HYS make video equivalents of their courses any time soon.

I do plan on making video solutions, as soon as I have the time and can figure out the most cost-effective way to do so, because I do think those are useful. Hopefully I will be able to figure out a way to make them available for free (or maybe one of you can convince Salman Khan to put up free LSAT solutions -- he did it for the GMAT).

Good luck with your studies! Please feel free to PM me if you need any further help or suggestions -- Mike

[The LSAT Trainer]

Just got my copy a couple days ago, and there is a LOT of material. A LOOOOT of material.

Which would be awesome (well, still is awesome), if I wasn't facing the June test in three weeks. Any chapters you'd highlight for review for the test taker who is doing well, but looking to guarantee those last few points? Trying to focus on PTing right now, but I like what little I've seen so much, I'd hate to have missed a couple golden tips by not going through the book enough.

Understand if you can't suggest any in particular, will inevitably end up flipping through and trying to find stuff relevant to my weak points anyway. X)

Glad you noticed the amount of content -- As I'm sure you noticed, I spent a lot of time on the organization and design of the book -- I'm proud to say that I ended up being able to fit in about 300,000 words, which is double the amount that you would normally expect to find in a book of this size. Both my editor and ebook convertor have told me that is the most ambitious and complex book that they have ever worked on (not using the exact same words, of course).

Having said that, I really tried to make the book user-friendly -- hopefully it feels as much like a magazine or workbook as it does a traditional book --there are no main points "hidden" in the text -- they are all emphasized with headlines, pull quotes, asides, mini-drills, and so on -- all that is to say I think the book is a very "skimmable" book, and, by focusing on the things on each page that I emphasize, you can get through it fairly quickly and not worry that you've missed anything juicy. Tell me if you experience otherwise, but hopefully you should be able to flip through in fairly quickly, and you should be able to see, hopefully fairly easily, which topics you want to investigate further.

For most people in your position, I do think the drills are probably going to be the best use of your time. I imagine (and feel free to PM me with more specific details about what you need to work on and I'll be happy to give more specific advice) that you are pretty set in terms of understanding what you need to understand, and having strategies for the things you need strategies for. At this point, what you really need to focus on is execution -- using your understanding and strategies with a bit more accuracy and pace.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but in coming up with the drills, I broke down countless LSAT questions, and thought about them in terms of micro-decisions -- the tiny little things (like understanding only if, or separating out support from background) that you have to do again and again -- I broke down, categorized, and organized all of these decisions, and created drills specifically designed to help you get better at them -- no matter what learning systems you've been using, the drills should help you get faster and more accurate at the things you already know how to do.

Getting a little bit more accurate and a little bit faster has two significant consequences --
1) obviously, it'll likely help you make fewer mistakes, and thus get a few more questions correct
2) it will help you go faster on easier questions

#2 is a big deal -- the hardest questions on the LSAT are really hard, and even top test takers need extra time for them -- top scorers typically have extra time for harder questions because they get through the easier ones faster.

So, to sum up, I suggest you skim the book for the points you think are relevant to you, and that you spend most of the time in the book on the drills -- and again, please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like more specific advice pertaining to your specific situation. Also, make sure to read lesson 31.

Very excited to see what you think of the book once you dig in to it -- good luck, and thanks again for taking a chance on it!

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Just got my copy a couple days ago, and there is a LOT of material. A LOOOOT of material.

Which would be awesome (well, still is awesome), if I wasn't facing the June test in three weeks. Any chapters you'd highlight for review for the test taker who is doing well, but looking to guarantee those last few points? Trying to focus on PTing right now, but I like what little I've seen so much, I'd hate to have missed a couple golden tips by not going through the book enough.

Understand if you can't suggest any in particular, will inevitably end up flipping through and trying to find stuff relevant to my weak points anyway. X)

Glad you noticed the amount of content -- As I'm sure you noticed, I spent a lot of time on the organization and design of the book -- I'm proud to say that I ended up being able to fit in about 300,000 words, which is double the amount that you would normally expect to find in a book of this size. Both my editor and ebook convertor have told me that is the most ambitious and complex book that they have ever worked on (not using the exact same words, of course).

Having said that, I really tried to make the book user-friendly -- hopefully it feels as much like a magazine or workbook as it does a traditional book --there are no main points "hidden" in the text -- they are all emphasized with headlines, pull quotes, asides, mini-drills, and so on -- all that is to say I think the book is a very "skimmable" book, and, by focusing on the things on each page that I emphasize, you can get through it fairly quickly and not worry that you've missed anything juicy. Tell me if you experience otherwise, but hopefully you should be able to flip through in fairly quickly, and you should be able to see, hopefully fairly easily, which topics you want to investigate further.

For most people in your position, I do think the drills are probably going to be the best use of your time. I imagine (and feel free to PM me with more specific details about what you need to work on and I'll be happy to give more specific advice) that you are pretty set in terms of understanding what you need to understand, and having strategies for the things you need strategies for. At this point, what you really need to focus on is execution -- using your understanding and strategies with a bit more accuracy and pace.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but in coming up with the drills, I broke down countless LSAT questions, and thought about them in terms of micro-decisions -- the tiny little things (like understanding only if, or separating out support from background) that you have to do again and again -- I broke down, categorized, and organized all of these decisions, and created drills specifically designed to help you get better at them -- no matter what learning systems you've been using, the drills should help you get faster and more accurate at the things you already know how to do.

Getting a little bit more accurate and a little bit faster has two significant consequences --
1) obviously, it'll likely help you make fewer mistakes, and thus get a few more questions correct
2) it will help you go faster on easier questions

#2 is a big deal -- the hardest questions on the LSAT are really hard, and even top test takers need extra time for them -- top scorers typically have extra time for harder questions because they get through the easier ones faster.

So, to sum up, I suggest you skim the book for the points you think are relevant to you, and that you spend most of the time in the book on the drills -- and again, please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like more specific advice pertaining to your specific situation. Also, make sure to read lesson 31.

Very excited to see what you think of the book once you dig in to it -- good luck, and thanks again for taking a chance on it!

Awesome, thanks for your thoughts and advice!

I've started going through it, and I am indeed finding it pretty flippable (for lack of a better word!). The drills are great, and I'm definitely going to be using them to work on my weak spots. I like that you've pulled out a couple of skills for drilling other books (sometimes) teach, but don't reinforce through practice (not very far in, but practice with numerical distributions and complex conditionals in LG immediately come to mind).

[arcanecircle]

I am about 70 pages into the trainer.

I can sense the parts of the MLSAT that you wrote in this book, and I personally like your approach.


The thought processes of a top scorer for sample questions are a huge resource to me. I liked them in MLSAT guides and I'm happy to see you have them in the trainer.

By the way, what font did you use for the book?

I will post more specific reviews as I read more, looking forward to it.

[The LSAT Trainer]

I am about 70 pages into the trainer.

I can sense the parts of the MLSAT that you wrote in this book, and I personally like your approach.


The thought processes of a top scorer for sample questions are a huge resource to me. I liked them in MLSAT guides and I'm happy to see you have them in the trainer.

By the way, what font did you use for the book?

I will post more specific reviews as I read more, looking forward to it.

Glad you are liking it so far. Since you asked...

After overthinking it and wasting too much $, I ended up going with
Cala for the main text (I think it looks a little light in the version you got, but it will be corrected in a couple of weeks
Ideal Sans for the secondary text
Whitney for headlines and agate
Garage gothic for secondary headlines
and Archer for instructions.

Cala is by Dieter Hoftrichter (I actually corresponded with him and made sure he thought Cala was a good choice for this type of book) and all the other fonts are by Tobias Frere-Jones and Jonathan Hoefler. If you end up getting into Yale Law School (I got rejected years ago, but some of the people I taught the LSAT to are there now), Frere-Jones is an instructor in the art dept -- you could sit in on his classes. Ideal, whitney, and archer are not allowed for PDF use, so they have been replaced with myriad pro for the free lessons on my website.

More info, I'm sure, than you wanted, but I am obsessed with typography and must admit I enjoyed getting to write about it. Thanks for the question! (I hope you weren't asking because you were about to say "What font did you use?....It sucks!" ) --

MK

[mvonh001]

Is it worth it for me to purchase this book now before the June sit date, or after I take it in June and if I feel I need to retake then purchase the book. What I'm trying to gather is if you think this book will benefit me with only 20 days left (realistically 15 days once the item gets shipped if I order it tonight).

My most recent score breakdown was:

LG: -1
RC: -6
LR1: -7
LR2: -4

RC was a bit of an anomaly for me as usually I score between -8/-9, and LR was a complete disaster for me usually I have been scoring -3/-4

[The LSAT Trainer]

Is it worth it for me to purchase this book now before the June sit date, or after I take it in June and if I feel I need to retake then purchase the book. What I'm trying to gather is if you think this book will benefit me with only 20 days left (realistically 15 days once the item gets shipped if I order it tonight).

My most recent score breakdown was:

LG: -1
RC: -6
LR1: -7
LR2: -4

RC was a bit of an anomaly for me as usually I score between -8/-9, and LR was a complete disaster for me usually I have been scoring -3/-4

Obviously the situation (me selling a product) makes it impossible for me to give an objective answer (could you imagine me saying no, it won't be helpful? ), and if you want to discuss your own situation a bit more specifically over PM, I'd be happy to talk about how the book matches up with certain things that you know you want to work on --

I will say this -- the LSAT is a test of two different groups of skills -- reasoning ability and reading ability. It seems pretty clear that your understanding of reasoning is strong -- your scores indicate that your reading ability is holding you back.

Here's the tough but important question for you -- are these reading issues significant ones that will take some time to address? Or, do you feel that you are a strong reader, but you just aren't able to represent your reading skills well on this exam? You've been tested on your reading ability your entire life—I'm sure you know the answer to that question.

Even if you do have more significant reading issues, you can definitely overcome them to score at a very high level on the LSAT--but it will take more time. If you are a naturally strong reader to begin with, and it's just a matter of better matching your skill set to the design of the LSAT, it makes it more of a possibility that you can see drastic improvement over a very short period of time (that is, before the June test).

Hope that helps, and again, feel free to pm if you want to talk more specifically about your situation -- good luck -- Mike

[mvonh001]

PM sent

[Gamine]

I can't wait for the e-book version. Any idea as to when that might be available?

[The LSAT Trainer]

I can't wait for the e-book version. Any idea as to when that might be available?

If all goes according to plan, it'll be available four weeks from yesterday --

However, I do think, if at all possible, you should get the dead tree version -- nearly every other page in the book has drills and work that require you to write things in, circle things, draw lines between similar arguments, and so on -- the e-book guy and I are working on some clever adaptations of these drills for the electronic version, but I have a feeling most people will prefer doing this work on paper. Additionally, a physical book naturally inspires you to go forward and backward -- to review and look ahead -- this is very healthy to your study process -- with e-books, you tend to get lost in the moment (you know that feeling of not knowing how many pages you've read, or whether you are near the beginning or end of an e-book), which is great for reading a novel, but not so great if you are trying to develop a big picture understanding of something as complicated as the LSAT.

Keep in mind I love books, and miss bookstores (you know that 70% of Americans have not been in a bookstore in the last 5 years?), and so obviously I'm a bit biased --

HTH -- Mike

[arcanecircle]

Actually that was why I asked, I really like the font spread.

Why the fish though?

There's not much attention given to aesthetics for LSAT material (understandable) , so consider it a plus.

[tuffyjohnson]

I can't wait for the e-book version. Any idea as to when that might be available?

If all goes according to plan, it'll be available four weeks from yesterday --

However, I do think, if at all possible, you should get the dead tree version -- nearly every other page in the book has drills and work that require you to write things in, circle things, draw lines between similar arguments, and so on -- the e-book guy and I are working on some clever adaptations of these drills for the electronic version, but I have a feeling most people will prefer doing this work on paper. Additionally, a physical book naturally inspires you to go forward and backward -- to review and look ahead -- this is very healthy to your study process -- with e-books, you tend to get lost in the moment (you know that feeling of not knowing how many pages you've read, or whether you are near the beginning or end of an e-book), which is great for reading a novel, but not so great if you are trying to develop a big picture understanding of something as complicated as the LSAT.

Keep in mind I love books, and miss bookstores (you know that 70% of Americans have not been in a bookstore in the last 5 years?), and so obviously I'm a bit biased --

HTH -- Mike

It would be nice to offer a package on both the electronic version and hard copy.

[The LSAT Trainer]

I can't wait for the e-book version. Any idea as to when that might be available?

If all goes according to plan, it'll be available four weeks from yesterday --

However, I do think, if at all possible, you should get the dead tree version -- nearly every other page in the book has drills and work that require you to write things in, circle things, draw lines between similar arguments, and so on -- the e-book guy and I are working on some clever adaptations of these drills for the electronic version, but I have a feeling most people will prefer doing this work on paper. Additionally, a physical book naturally inspires you to go forward and backward -- to review and look ahead -- this is very healthy to your study process -- with e-books, you tend to get lost in the moment (you know that feeling of not knowing how many pages you've read, or whether you are near the beginning or end of an e-book), which is great for reading a novel, but not so great if you are trying to develop a big picture understanding of something as complicated as the LSAT.

Keep in mind I love books, and miss bookstores (you know that 70% of Americans have not been in a bookstore in the last 5 years?), and so obviously I'm a bit biased --

HTH -- Mike

It would be nice to offer a package on both the electronic version and hard copy.

Hey Tuffy -- I would love to do that, but I can tell you now that I won't be able to -- I make very little per book as it is, and unless I discount by like 5 cents, I'd end up losing $ on each purchase.

I do guarantee that it'll be the best $50 on LSAT prep you've ever spent -- hopefully the people who have already purchased it can confirm that you get your $'s worth and a whole lot more --

Even if don't get the book, I'll be more than happy to offer any help when you need it -- feel free to PM any time you'd like --

Mike

[itachiuchiha]

I can't wait for the e-book version. Any idea as to when that might be available?

If all goes according to plan, it'll be available four weeks from yesterday --

However, I do think, if at all possible, you should get the dead tree version -- nearly every other page in the book has drills and work that require you to write things in, circle things, draw lines between similar arguments, and so on -- the e-book guy and I are working on some clever adaptations of these drills for the electronic version, but I have a feeling most people will prefer doing this work on paper. Additionally, a physical book naturally inspires you to go forward and backward -- to review and look ahead -- this is very healthy to your study process -- with e-books, you tend to get lost in the moment (you know that feeling of not knowing how many pages you've read, or whether you are near the beginning or end of an e-book), which is great for reading a novel, but not so great if you are trying to develop a big picture understanding of something as complicated as the LSAT.

Keep in mind I love books, and miss bookstores (you know that 70% of Americans have not been in a bookstore in the last 5 years?), and so obviously I'm a bit biased --

HTH -- Mike

It would be nice to offer a package on both the electronic version and hard copy.

Hey Tuffy -- I would love to do that, but I can tell you now that I won't be able to -- I make very little per book as it is, and unless I discount by like 5 cents, I'd end up losing $ on each purchase.

I do guarantee that it'll be the best $50 on LSAT prep you've ever spent -- hopefully the people who have already purchased it can confirm that you get your $'s worth and a whole lot more --

Even if don't get the book, I'll be more than happy to offer any help when you need it -- feel free to PM any time you'd like --

Mike

how do you lose money on the ebook?