New to lsat..need help starting off please Forum

[maniac0788]

Hello,

I am completely new to the lsat. I have not tried taking a PT or tried looking at the type of questions that make up the lsat.

Can someone give me a few pointers on where to start? How should I go about preparing for this exam? I need someone to help guide me in the right direction so that I can begin preparing for the lsat.

I was thinking about purchasing Powerscore Logic Games Bible (LGB) and Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible (LRB) to start off with. Do you think these books are a good start for a person who is just beginning to prepare for the lsat and has no idea of how to handle the type of questions that are on the lsat?

I plan on taking the October 2010 lsat.

Thanks in advance
ES

[theavrock]

Yes those books will give you a great start but do not rely solely on them for your prep. Since you are just starting out and have some time, I would highly suggest reviewing Pithypike's method of study. It is very detailed and organized. I took the June 09 test and wish I would have put in place a more detailed study plan. I am using a modified version of the Pithypike's suggestions.

In addition to the first post of that thread there are some other great advice sprinkled throughout.

[Benvenuto10]

The reality is, true "LSAT Prep" can be expensive. In an ideal scenario, you would have some disposable income to pay for your preparation.

The Powerscore Bibles have proven themselves quite valuable, as has the full length Powerscore course. Collectively those items could cost you around 1500.00.

For my money however, nothing beats rigorous practice testing, and time spent face to face with people whom have successfully scored 170+.

The bottom line is, if you can get in front of people who have been successful, and ask questions and seek advice, that is great. If you can purchase the Powerscore Bibles and study regularly and aggressively, that is great. If you can afford to take an interactive course such as Powerscore or Kaplan, that can only help as well.

For me, one of the keys was focusing on a single element as opposed to expecting yourself your absorb everything at once. Focus on the content and the cognitive process first, then worry about understanding why your correct answers are right, and your wrong answers are wrong. Take the practice exams without timing yourself until you score where you want to score with regularity. Then, focus on translating that performance into time constraints equal to the time allocated per section. Then, focus on performing 2-3 minutes faster than the time allocated in order to take into account the unforeseen on test day.

Everyone functions and learns differently........so you'll have to determine what works best for you via trial and error. Best of luck though.

[maniac0788]

thanks for the above answers! I really appreciate your guys help. anyone else have any tips?

[tomwatts]

You need a book of technique and a bunch of practice tests. The book of technique can be the Bibles or any of the many other books out there (I used Cracking the LSAT). The practice tests should be released PTs and should include at least some of the most recent tests (number 50 and above, including 57-59), as well as a few older. No matter what else you do, the bulk of your time should be spent taking and reviewing real test questions. These are the basic principles; see the various guides and recommendations elsewhere for general advice.

One thing that can help early on and I'll mention here is to take a full-length (either 4-section or 5-section, doesn't matter) diagnostic test and get a score. Then compare that to where you'd ideally like to score. This gives you some idea of how much you need to work to improve.