A Fresh Slate Forum

[RobM6393]

Hi guys,

First post here, long-time lurker though. I've enjoyed absorbing in a lot of the information you people have to share and I've decided to delve into my own line of questioning. So here goes nothing;

I am very much interested in law school and have been since my senior of high school (I am in my last year of college now). I have stayed away from any type of studying for the LSAT, I'm hoping to my own good as to not burn myself out before having even started, My question for you helpful people is this;

What is the best method to begin studying for the LSAT. I will be beginning this challenging part of the admission process next May and would like to at least develop some sort of study schedule to maximize my chances of doing well when I finish school. I currently have a full-time job which has good enough hours (I can study every evening after 5).

I am interested in soaking in any knowledge at all that can be offered on the subject of LSAT Prep. Many of the forums consist of people already studying and altering their current plans, but I am more wondering where to begin in studying. I would love to hear and learn from your experiences and use them to mold my studying techniques into the best I can make them.

If this thread should be moved elsewhere please feel free to assist me with that; looking forward to hearing some great advice.

[lymenheimer]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

Or don't, I'm not the police.

Other than that, there are numerous different guides for different learning styles and circumstances already on here. You're a lurker so you should know about them. Start there.

[RobM6393]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

Or don't, I'm not the police.

Other than that, there are numerous different guides for different learning styles and circumstances already on here. You're a lurker so you should know about them. Start there.

Like I said, any advice is appreciated. That makes a lot of sense actually. To follow up on that really quick, would you say that line of thinking is best for all sections? Should I try an entire practice test before I actually begin studying to focus in specifically on my extreme weaknesses before I begin. Or do you think that would only be very beneficial to LG?

Also, which books do you (and this can be answered by anyone) feel are best for each section. That was another important question I wanted to ask, is one study-book better than another? Are they better in specific sections? What would you guys recommend in terms of purchasing actual study books.

[lymenheimer]

Like I said, any advice is appreciated. That makes a lot of sense actually. To follow up on that really quick, would you say that line of thinking is best for all sections? Should I try an entire practice test before I actually begin studying to focus in specifically on my extreme weaknesses before I begin. Or do you think that would only be very beneficial to LG?

Also, which books do you (and this can be answered by anyone) feel are best for each section. That was another important question I wanted to ask, is one study-book better than another? Are they better in specific sections? What would you guys recommend in terms of purchasing actual study books.

I found it really helpful for me to take a full PT (at least going through one) without any prep or exposure, just to see what I was getting into. I speak mainly for LG because that's what I think a lot of peoples' problems are with in the study threads. They focus too much on the categorization and don't bother to learn how to apply logic to a new game. But if you can develop an understanding of how to work out a game (from scratch), it makes it much easier.

I think most people will say Powerscore for LG/LR and Manhattan for RC if you want books. But others can speak to that a bit better.

[Stardust84]

My personal experience with LSAT studying is that I started out with the Logic Games Bible, LSAT Trainer etc, and I don't find that the theory books were of much help. I have taken every practice test of the modern era and went from a 149 average in my first 5 practice tests to a 173 on the June LSAT. For what its worth my advice to any new test taker would be the following;

1. Purchase 10 Actual Official LSAT Preptests (Volume V tests 62-71), 10 New Actual Official Preptests (tests 52-61) and then individually purchase tests 72-75.
2. Take the tests under timed conditions. You can do one section at a time or multiple sections at a time and In my opinion it doesn't make that much difference in the long run. Just make sure to take at least a couple tests where you take all the sections at once to simulate test date. Review the tests or sections when you are done. If you get stuck on a question in review you don't understand read an explanation at Lsathacks.com for LR or RC sections. If you get stuck on a logic game I recommend the free video explanations at 7sage. For logic games if you are particularly weak in that section, which many people are then repeat the section until you have mastered it.
3. When studying and taking preptests emphasize accuracy over speed. Speed will come with competency.
4. In LR the biggest thing for me was to spending more time being critical with the stimulus (passage) and making a prediction on the answer before looking at the questions. In the beginning I rushed the stimulus and spent way too much time mulling over answers. By the the end of my prep I was spending 3 times longer looking at the stimulus than I did in the beginning and less time looking at questions. This was critical in going from +16ish on LR to +23-25 on LR.
5. I recommend listening to the Thinking LSAT podcast, start at the beginning. I found it helpful as I went through my study and it was a good way to get information in as I was in between study.

Everyone is different and your mileage may vary. I studied 4 hours a day for 6 months to get my results. In my case I really wanted to make up for a mediocre GPA. Good Luck.

[Dante181]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

I strongly advise against this. If you don't follow a high quality guide from the start (think the PowerScore LG Bible), you're much more likely to acquire bad habits, or at least get used to solving problems in ways that could be more efficient, than if you just start out with an approach that many TLSers have had great success with.

[RobM6393]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

I strongly advise against this. If you don't follow a high quality guide from the start (think the PowerScore LG Bible), you're much more likely to acquire bad habits, or at least get used to solving problems in ways that could be more efficient, than if you just start out with an approach that many TLSers have had great success with.

Do you think I'd service myself well combining a couple of your mentioned methods so far then? For example, taking a practice test or two to see where I struggle and then use the books. Or just open right up with the books from the beginning.

[RobM6393]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

I strongly advise against this. If you don't follow a high quality guide from the start (think the PowerScore LG Bible), you're much more likely to acquire bad habits, or at least get used to solving problems in ways that could be more efficient, than if you just start out with an approach that many TLSers have had great success with.

Do you think I'd service myself well combining a couple of your mentioned methods so far then? For example, taking a practice test or two to see where I struggle and then use the books. Or just open right up with the books from the beginning.

[Dante181]

Although I didn't personally take any tests before going through the LG Bible and other guides, many do recommend doing so to get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses.

[lymenheimer]

I would suggest for Logic Games, to not rely on other people's opinions, styles, diagrams, etc. at least for the first few days/weeks. Sit down with a game or two and work with it until you get an answer for each question. If you struggle with it, this will help you develop your own connections and methods that can be supplemented with Powerscore or 7Sage or whatever else, but will give you enough understanding to be able to breakdown an unfamiliar game/game type.

I strongly advise against this. If you don't follow a high quality guide from the start (think the PowerScore LG Bible), you're much more likely to acquire bad habits, or at least get used to solving problems in ways that could be more efficient, than if you just start out with an approach that many TLSers have had great success with.

Except you won't acquire bad habits after "a game or two" and it'll actually let you think through the game rather than plug and chug. Which, as I mention above, is a problem when you run into a game that the "quality guide" hasn't diagrammed for you. I mean, I personally don't care, but I did exactly what I said and went -0 on both of the past 2 June tests, with June '14 apparently having a rare game that screwed people up and June '15 having one that people did not recognize/could not categorize. I had no issues with either and I didn't learn LG from an outside source.

[scone]

Do you think I'd service myself well combining a couple of your mentioned methods so far then? For example, taking a practice test or two to see where I struggle and then use the books. Or just open right up with the books from the beginning.

Definitely take a (complete, timed) practice test or few first - at least it will help you know what books to get! And when you start reading, you'll be able to get more from the hints and tips (particularly as far as timing goes). I found that I was bad at logic games and okay at the rest, so I focussed on logic games & read the Logic Games Bible. It saved a lot of time. Not that it sounds like you need to save time!

(Also, I would suggest reading the official LSAC guide before getting any books. It's free and helpful.)

[Stardust84]

Before you do anything, take a timed diagnostic test to see where you are. The June 2007 LSAT is free on LSAC's website. You can download the PDF and print it out. After taking the test you can get an initial idea of your strengths/weaknesses with the material.

http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source ... ptjune.pdf

[RobM6393]

Thanks for all the great advice so far guys. It's definitely helped me narrow down how to approach this test. It can be a little overwhelming looking at it in its entirety.