Preptest madness Forum

[malleus discentium]

So, question. Obtaining all the Preptests seems surprisingly not straightforward. The 10-test compendiums don't include all the tests, (39-51 are missing) and some individual tests can't be purchased from LSAC anymore, etc.

My question: Starting with PT 7, what is the most efficient, cheap and, er, legal way to obtain each of the Preptests (and answer keys/score charts, of course)?

As a corollary question, is it worth doing/purchasing all the Preptests? Or are some old enough that it's not important to obtain/take them? Is it going to be worth my study time to take them?

Thanks!

[bombaysippin]

Just get all the 10 Actual series that LSAC makes from your favorite provider be it Amazon, some prep test company, etc. If you want to be able to drill, there are packets you can get via pdf from Manhattan that categorize and use the questions from LSATs 1-38ish.

Hard copies and/or pdfs are your choice depending on what you prefer. I got hard copies and pdfs, but printing has cost me quite a lot for ink.

A lot of people say that the older tests seem a bit different or that there are things that have changed over the years in terms of structure. The reading comp most obviously is different in that the recent ones now have a comparative passages section. Though, I don't think anyone would tell you that the old tests are a waste. They are still relatively relevant and will help you learn.

For the question of is it worth it for your study time....only you can really answer that. Totally up to you how long you're going to study and how hard. The materials can all help if you make the most of it.

[jwaters92]

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[totoro]

@jwaters92 Just to qualify this a bit, I think doing a lot (i.e. a majority) of PT's is very valuable but it's certainly not necessary for most people to do literally ALL the PT's. You can read the 170+ scorers thread to get an idea of how many tests most people take. Anyway, I would say around 50-55 of the PT's are very easy to get a hold of (individually on Amazon or in the 10-PT LSAC book series), and doing those should be more than sufficient, unless you are retaking or run out of study material. There are a couple of earlier ones that are very difficult to get a hold of and are more expensive, and I think it's definitely understandable to skip those without feeling like you've missed something by not having seen every PT in existence.

[jrsbaseball5]

I agree with what was stated above about the value of preptests and just want to give my input on where to find them cheaply because that was my concern as well. Some hints that I found helpful:

1) Search eBay all the time: I found many inexpensive tests there because someone was just looking to get rid of them. You have to be pretty diligent and thorough about searching for these deals though because they are few and far between (at least the exceptional ones).
2) Go to your local thrift shop or second hand store: Since you aren't likely to find stand alone preptests there look for companies like Kaplan and Princeton review that use actual preptests in their material. I was able to buy the whole Princetown review book set for $15 bucks and it contained 12 preptests, which is an absolute steal. I suppose you could look for similar stuff on eBay, Amazon or whatever if its decently priced, but I preferred bargain basement shopping.
3) Buy the newer tests on Amazon since they are marked slightly cheaper than LSAC and Cambridge. I used Amazon for the last 10 (60-68) since I got free shipping on orders over $25. If you really want PDF's Cambridge would work well though.

Finally, if you plan on getting almost all of the tests I would reccommend using an Excel spreadsheet showing what the test number is, if you have it, and where it can be found to make it easier when you get to study time.

HTH and let me know if you have any questions.

[sublime]

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