Is it worth buying explanations to LSAT preptests? Forum

[sighsigh]

I can spend an extra 200 for buying explanations for LG, LR and RC for a chunk of the LSAT preptests. Is it worth doing this? Are explanations absolutely necessary? If they are, can I make do with random ones I find on the net, or are professionally written ones a must?

Thanks.

[buckilaw]

No.

[hokie]

No.

+1. Get the LR and LG bible, and just do ever preptest

[sighsigh]

Thanks for the responses, but can someone please explain why they aren't necessary? It seems quite useful to have them if you can't figure out why a paticular answer to a paticular question is wrong (or right).

[bhan87]

Thanks for the responses, but can someone please explain why they aren't necessary? It seems quite useful to have them if you can't figure out why a paticular answer to a paticular question is wrong (or right).

Ask about it on this forum. You usually can find someone willing to help you out.

[510Chicken]

Thanks for the responses, but can someone please explain why they aren't necessary? It seems quite useful to have them if you can't figure out why a paticular answer to a paticular question is wrong (or right).

My guess, it's a question of volume. If there are just a few questions here and there that you can't figure out, well that's what these forums are for. Why spend $200 when you can have internet friends who will give you (mostly) good advice for free? However, if it's a persistent problem, then the money spent may be worth it. More important than simply taking every prep test ever is actually understanding where you went wrong. If you're making a lot of errors and don't see why you're mistaken when looking at the answer key, then well written explanations may prove very, very helpful. I think.

[sighsigh]

Thanks for the responses, but can someone please explain why they aren't necessary? It seems quite useful to have them if you can't figure out why a paticular answer to a paticular question is wrong (or right).

My guess, it's a question of volume. If there are just a few questions here and there that you can't figure out, well that's what these forums are for. Why spend $200 when you can have internet friends who will give you (mostly) good advice for free? However, if it's a persistent problem, then the money spent may be worth it. More important than simply taking every prep test ever is actually understanding where you went wrong. If you're making a lot of errors and don't see why you're mistaken when looking at the answer key, then well written explanations may prove very, very helpful. I think.

Yes, but what if you think a right answer is right or a wrong answer is wrong for the incorrect reasons? You wouldn't be able to catch that on your own, so having explanations would be helpful, no?

I'm planning to go over every answer choice and understand why the right ones are right and the wrong ones are wrong, for every question.

[joemoviebuff]

It sounds like you've made up your mind. It's a highly subjective question. In short, if you have the money to spend and believe you'll get a good value out of it, then sure, buy it. I bought some of the LSAT Deconstructed Powerscore books which explain every question and answer and they were helpful.

You decide if it's worth it for you. Some might need it, others don't.

[well-hello-there]

I can spend an extra 200 for buying explanations for LG, LR and RC for a chunk of the LSAT preptests. Is it worth doing this? Are explanations absolutely necessary? If they are, can I make do with random ones I find on the net, or are professionally written ones a must?

Thanks.

if you do decide to buy the explanations, I don't think you should drop down $200 all at once because you might quickly find out that they are not all that helpful for you. If you find that using the explanations really helps you, then incrementally buy more.

Before I did a lot of studying for the LSAT, I thought the explanations would help me a lot. Turns out though that I personally didn't find much benefit in the explanations.

[The Gentleman]

Spending $200 on explanations is completely unnecessary IMHO. Get a copy of the LSAT Superprep instead. It has official LSAC explanations for three PTs, so you're getting insight directly from the testmakers.

When you've worked your way through the Superprep, try formulating your own explanations using the same format. Doing this really helped my LR speed and accuracy.

[well-hello-there]

Get a copy of the LSAT Superprep instead.

yep.
That's a cheaper way to find out if you will even need to use the explanations.

[510Chicken]

Thanks for the responses, but can someone please explain why they aren't necessary? It seems quite useful to have them if you can't figure out why a paticular answer to a paticular question is wrong (or right).

My guess, it's a question of volume. If there are just a few questions here and there that you can't figure out, well that's what these forums are for. Why spend $200 when you can have internet friends who will give you (mostly) good advice for free? However, if it's a persistent problem, then the money spent may be worth it. More important than simply taking every prep test ever is actually understanding where you went wrong. If you're making a lot of errors and don't see why you're mistaken when looking at the answer key, then well written explanations may prove very, very helpful. I think.

Yes, but what if you think a right answer is right or a wrong answer is wrong for the incorrect reasons? You wouldn't be able to catch that on your own, so having explanations would be helpful, no?

I'm planning to go over every answer choice and understand why the right ones are right and the wrong ones are wrong, for every question.

Kinda. What matters is the end result, not how you got there. If you can consistently get the right answer, even if your reasoning is questionable, then who cares how you found it? But my bet is that you cannot repeatedly produce good (practice) test results by this method. And hopefully that will tell you where you stand. Er... also +1 to the SuperPrep plan.

Edit: I don't mean to encourage bad methodology. I just think you're overestimating the risk of being blind to your own mistakes and not seeing the results in your practice tests.

[EarlCat]

No.

Post questions here. This forum is an incredibly valuable (and waaaay underused) resource for getting help on specific questions.