First Time Poster! LSAC Prep Material Question Forum

[AAyala]

Hello Everyone!

I am new to this forum. First things first: I am a Junior undergrad at University of California, Riverside majoring in Anthropology. I have my mind set on law school post B.A. and I already have a few schools in mind. However, I must conquer this monster known as the LSAT

I want to begin studying now rather than cramming later so I was wondering if anyone has used the LSAC prep materials? If so, more specifically, has anyone used the LSAC SuperPrep book??

Also, I intend to enroll in the Princeton Review course at the beginning of my senior year so would the LSAC prep stuff cancel out or enhance my Princeton Review LSAT prep?

Thank you in advance to all those who reply!

-ACA

[ash0117]

Hello Everyone!

I am new to this forum. First things first: I am a Junior undergrad at University of California, Riverside majoring in Anthropology. I have my mind set on law school post B.A. and I already have a few schools in mind. However, I must conquer this monster known as the LSAT

I want to begin studying now rather than cramming later so I was wondering if anyone has used the LSAC prep materials? If so, more specifically, has anyone used the LSAC SuperPrep book??

Also, I intend to enroll in the Princeton Review course at the beginning of my senior year so would the LSAC prep stuff cancel out or enhance my Princeton Review LSAT prep?

Thank you in advance to all those who reply!

-Angel C. Ayala

Well, as a fellow new poster, I can tell you that the SuperPrep works for general knowledge about the questions and a brief overview of the exam. I used the LSAC mostly for the Practice Tests (do as many as possible- it's the best study method). They really come in handy. Also, I don't think any additional self-study materials would "cancel out" your Princeton Review class. All additional information comes in handy.

I don't know what your ideal score is/ will be but if you are planning on a 160+ you will need additional self-study beyond the class, which teaches the basics. I am using the Powerscore LR and LG to study for my October retake and I am finding them extremely helpful.

Good luck to you! Starting early is never a bad thing.

[Ginj]

If you take a prep course, take Powerscore, Testmasters, or Manhattan. If not a prep course, I would recommend getting the Powerscore logical reasoning bible, logic games bible, Kaplan Mastery, and all 63 tests.

I also wouldn't post your full name in a forum. But hey...that could just be me.

[Samara]

I'm using the SuperPrep book right now and I have found it to be a great initial overview of the LSAT. It's very helpful in understanding how the test is structured and how the questions operate. It also has three tests with explanations for each question, which have found useful in helping me to identify problem areas.

I haven't used any of the other materials though, besides past tests, so the other books and whatnot may be more useful, but SuperPrep helped me.

[AAyala]

@ash0117-- Yeah, 160 or above is my goal to secure me into a pool of schools that I want to attend. I've heard so many good things about Powerscore so I'm glad it's working out for you!

@GinJ--I was initially looking at a Powerscore prep class because they seem to be renowned, but the closest one to me is almost 2 hours away--I wouldn't be able to do that 4 days a week. Would you know anything about the Princeton Review courses though?

@Samara--Great to hear! I want something to start me out on the right foot so that I am familiar with the LSAT.

[Ginj]

@ash0117-- Yeah, 160 or above is my goal to secure me into a pool of schools that I want to attend. I've heard so many good things about Powerscore so I'm glad it's working out for you!

@GinJ--I was initially looking at a Powerscore prep class because they seem to be renowned, but the closest one to me is almost 2 hours away--I wouldn't be able to do that 4 days a week. Would you know anything about the Princeton Review courses though?

@Samara--Great to hear! I want something to start me out on the right foot so that I am familiar with the LSAT.

Princeton Review doesn't use real test questions most of the time, so I would advise against it. And Powerscore has an online course that, in addition to being more convenient, is cheaper.

[AAyala]

@Ginj--Ok, so I did a bit more research and Princeton Review doesn't have good reviews. Powerscore it is! I didn't know they had an online version of the course. Thank you for letting me know about this. Have you taken a Powerscore course, and, if so, how would the live course compare to the online version?

[totaltest.milan]

Full disclosure: I'm an LSAT tutor that teaches online, so I may be biased but I've found online tutoring to be more effective than in-person. I can't vouch for Powerscore since I don't know the details of what they do, but if they're anything like what I do then there shouldn't be any problems.

With regards to your choice of prep company Powerscore is definitely better than Princeton Review, the two market leaders (PR and Kaplan) are there primarily because they're just much bigger companies than any of the other players, not because of higher quality. I agree with Ginj's suggestion concerning which companies and/or materials. This test isn't really rocket science nor are there multiple mutually exclusive approaches to doing well on it. The powerscore stuff covers a lot of ground and does it well, and it gives you a foundation for what's the more important aspect of the whole thing - practicing actual questions. Ultimately you want to have gone through every single published question (roughly the first 30 tests doing the questions and sections in isolation to learn and internalize the approaches to each different question type, and the next 30 tests under timed conditions to develop your endurance and put everything together).

One thing I tell my students is that this test is a skills and not a knowledge test, so the fact that you're going to devote a significant amount of time to it is a very good move. Take a look at my site - I have tons of articles that explain the important concepts in the test along with more general study tips/schedules/etc.

Best of luck!

[tomwatts]

@ash0117-- Yeah, 160 or above is my goal to secure me into a pool of schools that I want to attend. I've heard so many good things about Powerscore so I'm glad it's working out for you!

@GinJ--I was initially looking at a Powerscore prep class because they seem to be renowned, but the closest one to me is almost 2 hours away--I wouldn't be able to do that 4 days a week. Would you know anything about the Princeton Review courses though?

@Samara--Great to hear! I want something to start me out on the right foot so that I am familiar with the LSAT.

Princeton Review doesn't use real test questions most of the time, so I would advise against it.

This is entirely false. We use real questions almost exclusively in our course, just as everyone else does. I'm not sure how much I would trust the advice of people who get such a basic fact wrong, but that's just me.

[AAyala]

@totaltest.milan-- Thanks a ton for you insight! The virtual course seems legit by reading reviews and such. I will def. look into it. Yes, I figure I will study throughout my Jr. year (2011-2012) and take the test at the beginning of my Sr. year (Oct), considering I would want my application in by or before Thanksgiving (the best time for law school apps--or so i've heard).

@tomwatts--Calm down, calm down I haven't counted Princeton Review out completely. I have just read a lot about the actual course being kinda so-so, but the tutoring was amazing. Everyone has their opinion

[Ginj]

@ash0117-- Yeah, 160 or above is my goal to secure me into a pool of schools that I want to attend. I've heard so many good things about Powerscore so I'm glad it's working out for you!

@GinJ--I was initially looking at a Powerscore prep class because they seem to be renowned, but the closest one to me is almost 2 hours away--I wouldn't be able to do that 4 days a week. Would you know anything about the Princeton Review courses though?

@Samara--Great to hear! I want something to start me out on the right foot so that I am familiar with the LSAT.

Princeton Review doesn't use real test questions most of the time, so I would advise against it.

This is entirely false. We use real questions almost exclusively in our course, just as everyone else does. I'm not sure how much I would trust the advice of people who get such a basic fact wrong, but that's just me.

I discussed it with your home office. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't deliberately misrepresent themselves.

edit: ...or would they?

[SanDiegoJake]

@ash0117-- Yeah, 160 or above is my goal to secure me into a pool of schools that I want to attend. I've heard so many good things about Powerscore so I'm glad it's working out for you!

@GinJ--I was initially looking at a Powerscore prep class because they seem to be renowned, but the closest one to me is almost 2 hours away--I wouldn't be able to do that 4 days a week. Would you know anything about the Princeton Review courses though?

@Samara--Great to hear! I want something to start me out on the right foot so that I am familiar with the LSAT.

Princeton Review doesn't use real test questions most of the time, so I would advise against it.

This is entirely false. We use real questions almost exclusively in our course, just as everyone else does. I'm not sure how much I would trust the advice of people who get such a basic fact wrong, but that's just me.

Tom is 100% right. Princeton Review uses real LSAT questions in 99% of the course materials, the only exception being a few "dual passage" reading comp passages that were written to give students practice before there were enough released to do so. Every question also includes a citation as to exactly which pt the question is from. This is a verifiable fact.

[Ginj]

Better consult with your boys at the home office, because they might be hurting your business.

[glewz]

People generally do Powerscore if they self-study (Manhattan LSAT is also becoming more widely recommended). If you choose to do Powerscore, remember to buy sets of LSAT exams from LSAC. I think your total cost could easily be <$250 if you choose this route.

If you're going to take a course though, Testmasters.net is considered the market leader.

Search this forum (bottom of page) if you'd like to find out more info on all the big test prep companies: Testmasters, Powerscore, Manhattan LSAT, Blueprint, Princeton Review, Kaplan.