Kaplan LSAT Books without taking the course Forum

[kilbas55]

I was signed up for the Kaplan extreme LSAT prep course but after looking through the course curriculum and setup I was totally turned off by it. However, it seems that the books that come with the course could be very helpful.

Does anyone have an opinion on how helpful the books alone would be to my studying? I think I can get a set from someone who took it in March for around $170.

I am just wondering if the books alone would be helpful or just useless without the course.

Thanks.

[Geetar Man]

I was signed up for the Kaplan extreme LSAT prep course but after looking through the course curriculum and setup I was totally turned off by it. However, it seems that the books that come with the course could be very helpful.

Does anyone have an opinion on how helpful the books alone would be to my studying? I think I can get a set from someone who took it in March for around $170.

I am just wondering if the books alone would be helpful or just useless without the course.

Thanks.

Fwiw, I use the mastery books to practice questions. The explanations are terrible. Youre better off putting some money into the cambridges bundles of questions/hardest questions/logic games and then the PS bibles for LR and LG and lastly, the manhattan RC book. Then, you'll need to purchase almost all of the tests, and use the older tests for experimental fill ins and the newer tests for PTs. Make sure you are reviewing thoroughly. It's about quality before quantity, though the latter is important as well for familiarity. Sorry for the run on sentence, I'm on my phone.

[kilbas55]

No worries about the run on sentence.

I appreciate your input.

My thought was that the Kaplan books might be worth it because they have every released LSAT question. I definitely am going to buy the PS bibles. It seems that the consensus is that those are the most valuable resource outside of actual PTs.

[Mr.Binks]

PS Bibles would be great. The Kaplan explanations, as the poster above said, are absolutely awful. I also really hated their approach to answering the questions. They seemed unnecessarily tedious and inefficient.

Also check out Manhattan for RC. It's quite good.

[pizzabrosauce]

Kaplan explanations can be pretty scumbag.

"The answer is E because A,B,C and D are obviously wrong"

...uh thanks Kaplan

If you're interested in their approach tho, you should try checking your local library. The ones in my area tend to stock the latest Kaplan and Princeton Review books. Also check out the Cambridge Ultimate set for $250. PT's 1-40 organized by type and difficulty, 41-60 preserved as full PT's.

[kilbas55]

As far as PTs go, is my best bet just to buy the "Actual Official LSAT PrepTests" from LSAC?

[bobbyh1919]

I only used Kaplan and kind of regret it now. I wound up with a great score and they boosted me by 10 points, but everyone says PS Bibles are the way to go and, yeah, Kaplan answers are such cop outs.

[LexLeon]

Kaplan's coursebooks are great. You can probably find them online for much cheaper, however.

[kilbas55]

My biggest concern is in regards to explanations. I have been advised by many to get the PS bibles and the LSAC practice tests but I want to make sure I have access to explanations for the problems therein. What is the best study source that comes with explanations for the problems?

I really appreciate all of your input.

[n.britt]

My biggest regret in standardized test prep is Kaplan - both for the LSAT and GRE. So frustrating. I recommend the official LSAC books and powersource bible in whatever you need extra help with (for me it was logic games).

[Geetar Man]

My biggest concern is in regards to explanations. I have been advised by many to get the PS bibles and the LSAC practice tests but I want to make sure I have access to explanations for the problems therein. What is the best study source that comes with explanations for the problems?

I really appreciate all of your input.

Honestly, you can find a lot of explanations online by just searching for the question. Really though, you should be able to understand whats going on and why the correct answer is correct and why the wrong answer is wrong.

You can post a PT#, Section # and question# in the LSAT forum and I'm sure people would be willing to give their input.
Remember, posting questions directly from the LSAT is not allowed, and you can be banned for it. I know from doing it lol