Help with Study Materials/limited resources! Forum

[jetsfan1]

Hello TLS, hope all is well.

So here is my situation. I took the LSAT two years ago back when I was back in college, but barely studied. Did like 6 PTs and jumped in. Your classic "didn't realize how much prep it would take." Enter TLS. Decided to not apply and take some years off to work, and it was a great decision. Been traveling the world professionally since graduation, and eventually joined the Peace Corps, where I am now for the next two years. Which brings me to my question/problem.

I want to use this time to take the LSAT again, actually preparing this time though. Problem is I have no materials where I am right now and no way to access them except for having my parents ship them over, which is expensive. They're willing to do it, but I'm trying to keep the costs as low as I can and only have them send over important stuff.

In addition to what I have left over from last time (All 3 Powerscore bibles, a bunch of Kaplan books, and about 10 prep tests), I've got about $200 to spend on more stuff (though if I don't have to spend that money, that would be great... haha but I'm willing to if I have to). So my question is essentially what do I have them send over???

Definitely the Powerscore bibles. My thoughts right now are to also get the Manhattan guides, along with as many more practice tests as I can get, and have them not send over the Kaplan guides. Is this a solid plan? What other book guides should I consider? Also, where can I get prep tests for cheap and (preferably) in paper form so they weigh less? What else am I missing here? I know there's something. Also, apologize if some of these questions can be found elsewhere on the forums. I really wish I could pour over the LSAT prep forum but unfortunately don't have the bandwidth to do much on the internet.

Thanks!

[splittingheadache]

Hi. Welcome back!

I would nix the Kaplan books, unless you can sell them for some extra money? 10 preptests is a good start (they don't include the 6 you did the first time around right?) and 3 Powerscore Bibles are a solid start. For Manhattan, I only think that the RC and LR are necessary. For LG, I read both MH and PS, and I honestly couldn't tell you what the huge difference is...there is that difference in diagramming relative ordering games, BUT, I would just take a section of the relative ordering games out and watch how JY Ping does it on 7sage.

Which leads me to this biggie: how do you take sections (based on type, difficulty, etc) out?
CAMBRIDGE. They do the job for you in taking sections out of preptests 1-39, group them by section, type, difficulty, AND, they have it in PDF version.
Here is the link to their "bundles": http://www.cambridgelsat.com/bundles/
You can choose just to download their sections, or sections + preptests, etc. Make sure you distinguish between their book version and "downloadable version."

They aren't cheap, and I used my parents money to buy it and it has been my biggest expense in LSAT preparation so far. But, think about if you had to buy the preptests yourself through LSAC books first, then read each question to figure out what each type is, photocopy them, put each section together...you'll spend a lot of money + a lot of extra time.

If you can, definitely get the a bundle with the first half (1-39) sorted as drilling questions and the next half as full preptests. You are absolutely right, 6 preptests is not enough, considering there are over 70 published exams by now.

There are a lot of other amazing resources that are free as well:

For logic games: review each game with 7sage. They have free youtube videos (or their own video player on their website) for EVERY GAME. They also have an app which is great, I sometimes watch it on the couch, or wherever I have wifi. http://7sage.com

For logic reasoning: review each question on Manhattan LR forum. There are lots of TLSers on there as well, and they are FANTASTIC. http://www.manhattanlsat.com/forums/log ... ng-f4.html

For RC: read whenever you can. Even one summer can knock me out of the "reading" mood. I disagree that you have to be reading academic literature all the time because to me academic literature is like a marriage to JSTOR, you are not going to improve if you read 30 pages of bipolarity in the Cold War or Kandinsky's colour theory on abstraction, like many of us did in university. The scanning over dozens of pages, the rather limited discussion, many times driven by the professor rather than interpretive initiatives of students, in the seminar...that's not what RC is about.

*edit: I mean read whatever you can to get your brain in the reading mode, but for score increase, read efficiently.

Read 500-800 word articles/excerpts. That's the length/or slightly longer than an average passage. That's enough to get A LOT of points, tones, intents across and enough for your brain to actively engage with the passage. Because of this I recommend (not free though, unless borrow from library?):

The Economist (the subtitles usually indicates the main point, so try to not look at them when you are reading the first time around)
Scientific American
Popular Science
The Atlantic Monthly

IN PRINT. The reason I say in print is because you have to mimic real conditions. You have to write notes in the margins and underline. You have to be reading and flipping. Scrolling through a similar article on these magazines' websites is simply not the same experience.

Really happy you are retaking and giving yourself a lot of time to do well on this exam. Stay safe abroad and kick ass.

I realize that by the time I click submit, many other posters might have already mentioned the same materials!

[Rigo]

I realize that by the time I click submit, many other posters might have already mentioned the same materials!

Nope! Truly Awesome write-up, splitting headache.

OP, Kaplan isn't worth the shipping costs. Powerscore (supplemented with 7Sage and drilling) is sufficient for LG, so I wouldn't buy Manhattan LG.
I love Manhattan LR though so I would pick that up.
Consider getting The (LSAT) Trainer by Mike Kim. It's a great way to start and the teaching style meshes very well with Manhattan.

DEFINITELY consider purchasing a Cambridge Bundle or at least some combination of the Cambridge books for drilling.

Oh and awesome job with the PeaceCorps. Straight up Yale gunnin'

[jetsfan1]

Thanks guys, really can't even begin to thank you enough. Seriously.

Ok sounds like the Kaplan books are a no go, that was my hunch, and it looks like only Manhattan RC and LR are worth it, so along with the 3 Powerscore those are my basic 5 now. You've also convinced me on the Cambridge. Either that wasn't around last time I took it, or I was even more unprepared than I thought haha. I'll do the downloadable "PrepTests 1–38 Grouped by Type and Arranged by Difficulty; PrepTests 39–70 in Their Entirety." (my parents will download them and send them over) A bit over my budget, but not gonna mess it up this time.

For games: 7sage sounds great, but unfortunately it takes me 15 minutes just to log onto TLS with my internet- any attempt at streaming/downloading... yeah the Jets have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl this year then that happening. So without 7sage, are there any other book sources that would be worth it? Do they have written explanations anywhere? I'm a bit worried about the games cause that was my weakest section last time, and I know its the easiest to improve so need to be consistently perfect.

For LR: Manhattan looks like gold. Is there anything similar to that for the games? It takes me a while to load the forum, but I can do it. Whereas with videos I can sit here all day and it won't work.

For RC: Less worried about this, I've always been a reader and this was my strongest section in my so-called "prep" last time, but still, want to be perfect here. Actually can find the Economist where I am, so will keep reading that.

Again, to both of you (especially splittingheadache) thank you so much this is incredibly helpful. Messing up the LSAT was the second best thing that happened to me. The first was TLS convincing me not to apply with the crappy score and take a few years off. But don't want to mess it up again!!!

[Rigo]

For games: 7sage sounds great, but unfortunately it takes me 15 minutes just to log onto TLS with my internet- any attempt at streaming/downloading... yeah the Jets have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl this year then that happening. So without 7sage, are there any other book sources that would be worth it? Do they have written explanations anywhere? I'm a bit worried about the games cause that was my weakest section last time, and I know its the easiest to improve so need to be consistently perfect.

Wow that really stinks. No good deed (peacecorps) goes unpunished, huh?
I think your best bet is The Manhattan Forums. The diagrams will probably still be a bitch to load, but at least it's not in a video format.

[Lying Lawyer]

If you have a kindle or an MAC you can download Manhattan LR for a lot less than it would cost to ship. I have Kindle on my Mac and I am currently going through that book. I have the bibles and it helped me a lot, but I've gone through the first 100 pages of Manhattan LR and it showed me a few things already that is helping.

[jetsfan1]

Thanks again guys. No Kindle/Mac, so that's out, and Dirigo, I guess Manhattan forums it is. They did take a while, but eventually they did load, and the explanations looked good. So going with the 3 Powerscore, 2 Manhattan's (not LG), and the Cambridge bundle. Really appreciate it!!!