Pithypike's Complete LSAT Study Guide Forum

[Dinho]

I'm taking a weekly Kaplan prep course this spring, but then I plan to follow pithypike's guide over the summer and take the LSAT in October. Is this a bad idea to mix preparation "brands"? I'm not terribly worried about burnout as this course is only once a week, but would the likely differing strategies pose a problem?

[salonpas]

Very new here, will be taking the June LSAT and will apply your study guide. Thanks!

[nylost]

Very new here, will be taking the June LSAT and will apply your study guide. Thanks!

Same here.. I was just wondering is there any new material (books, dvd's, programs etc) that can be useful? The original post was 2 years ago I believe.

[swflgirl]

I am new to the forum and 14 years out of college. Have just begun studying and am using the bibles and following with LSATblog's study guide. I just read the entire thread of your study guide and printed out your instructions. As a newbie I am struggling already with the Logic Games. My brain does not want to work that way. The bibles have a few drills in each section but I would like more drills of the basic stuff so it will sink in. I do review my wrong answers, I do my work on a separate sheet so I am not marking up my books and can go back over things again. And, as ridiculous as it sounds I am taking notes from the book because I learn best from writing. So my question is will purchasing the Mastery book provide me with basic drills and setup, or is it just the problems from the actual prep tests? I already have so many prep tests I don't know how I will get through them all and the book as it is listed on amazon right now is not cheap. Thanks for your great advice.

[Traciela]

So my question is will purchasing the Mastery book provide me with basic drills and setup, or is it just the problems from the actual prep tests? I already have so many prep tests I don't know how I will get through them all and the book as it is listed on amazon right now is not cheap. Thanks for your great advice.

The Mastery book is just problems from actual PrepTests. It takes questions from a bunch of PrepTests and sorts them by type. Having problems grouped like this can be useful (even if you already have all the PrepTests) because it allows you to focus on one particular problem type at a time.

Same here.. I was just wondering is there any new material (books, dvd's, programs etc) that can be useful? The original post was 2 years ago I believe.

Where to get official LSAT problems by type:

Kaplan LSAT Course
Mastery Practice Book: LG, LR, and RC sorted by type (some of the questions from PTs 5-41, but I'm not exactly sure which ones) https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... y+practice

Traciela GROUPED Books
GROUPED by Game Type Book: LG sorted by type (all games from PTs 1-20) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984199705
More GROUPED by Game Type Book: LG sorted by type (all games from PTs 21-40) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982896905
GROUPED by Question Type Book: LR sorted by type (all questions from PTs 1-20) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984199713
More GROUPED by Question Type Book: LR sorted by type (all questions from PTs 21-40) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982896913
GROUPED by Passage Type Book: RC sorted by type (all passages from PTs 1-20) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984199721
More GROUPED by Passage Type Book: RC sorted by type (all passages from PTs 21-40) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982896921

Cambridge LSAT
LG sorted by type (all games from PTs 1-38) http://www.cambridgelsat.com/product/ls ... c_games/23
LR sorted by type (all questions from PTs 1-38) --LinkRemoved--
RC sorted by type (all passages from PTs 1-38) http://www.cambridgelsat.com/product/ls ... hension/24
I hope this list helps everyone!

[lawman335]

This post is one of the Useful one's in the board,
thanks a lot for this...........

[army_of_one]

i found the golden thread! can't thank you enough for the guidance!

[Ben Reilly]

Just stopping through to say thanks for all of your efforts. I'll be methodically studying for the October LSAT using this guide starting next week.

[jesuis]

Thank you pithypike for sharing your study-guide
I was wondering if anyone here is selling recent (2008-2010) versions of the following books:
-Kaplan Mastery
-Powerscore Logic Games Bible
-Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible

[madscientist]

Pithypike

If you're still out there....did you use the diagramming recommended in the Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible? The whole sufficient -> necessary deal. I find that on most questions it slows me down far too much, but if you (or others) found that it helps improve the LR score massively I'll buckle down and use it for everything.

Its just a lot of stuff to try and juggle (if and only if requires a double ended arrow, "unless law"... among other concepts) and I find I can usually follow the argument while reading.

[lawschoolhopeful123]

Did anyone use Atlas's logic game challenges? My weakness is the games but I found the Atlas ones practically IMPOSSIBLE. But they were quite helpful. Should I continue using these?

[abbas123]

.

[Ben Reilly]

Thank you pithypike for sharing your study-guide
I was wondering if anyone here is selling recent (2008-2010) versions of the following books:
-Kaplan Mastery
-Powerscore Logic Games Bible
-Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible

Just buy them on amazon. They have them for pretty cheap.

[rocklos]

PM me if Regarding the kaplan mastery book, I might be able to help out

[MysticalWheel]

I want to stress for anyone that is still relatively new to studying for the LSAT that pithypike's guide, although well-structured, is certainly not the only or even the best way to go about preparing for the test. Do not confine yourself to rigid repetitions that may or may not be the best fit for your psyche. Understand the material in the best way YOU can so that you are fast, accurate and adaptable; pithypike's method are, in my opinion, an excellent foundation for most people, but for those who are gunning for the 175+ scores, you are most likely going to have to find a way to integrate the type of thought necessary for the LSAT into your daily life. This does not mean discontinuing any extracurricular or enjoyable hobbies/routines but it does mean discontinuing unhealthy, unclean lifestyles, both physically and mentally. I'm not going to go into detail because these things vary from person to person. My 2 cents.

[Cale39]

All,

I'm compiling a study schedule in an excel sheet and had a question. I apologize if it has been answered: according to PithyPike's schedule, I won't be taking tests 1 - 45 in their entirety, right? I'll be studying the content of these tests via LG section break-outs, RC section break-outs and the fact that I will be going through Kaplan sections, right?

Just want to make sure that according to his plan the only full tests I'll take are 45-57. Does that make sense or would it be useful to do more than 10 full, times PTs?

Thanks

[thestalkmore]

All,

I'm compiling a study schedule in an excel sheet and had a question. I apologize if it has been answered: according to PithyPike's schedule, I won't be taking tests 1 - 45 in their entirety, right? I'll be studying the content of these tests via LG section break-outs, RC section break-outs and the fact that I will be going through Kaplan sections, right?

Just want to make sure that according to his plan the only full tests I'll take are 45-57. Does that make sense or would it be useful to do more than 10 full, times PTs?

Thanks

This was a question I'd like answered too. I would like to be taking more full PTs and wanted to confirm that this plan doesn't include that many. Anyone have suggestions for incorporating more?

[typ3]

All,

I'm compiling a study schedule in an excel sheet and had a question. I apologize if it has been answered: according to PithyPike's schedule, I won't be taking tests 1 - 45 in their entirety, right? I'll be studying the content of these tests via LG section break-outs, RC section break-outs and the fact that I will be going through Kaplan sections, right?

Just want to make sure that according to his plan the only full tests I'll take are 45-57. Does that make sense or would it be useful to do more than 10 full, times PTs?

Thanks

This was a question I'd like answered too. I would like to be taking more full PTs and wanted to confirm that this plan doesn't include that many. Anyone have suggestions for incorporating more?

The Kaplan Mastery book uses 20 PT's alone.. You get the questions from it rearranged. Doing the entire mastery book isn't the same as taking full PT's. But it's more important you learn to get the questions right before you begin on pacing.

My break down for the June test is into 3rds.

I do the Kap Mastery Book which is 20 PT's

Then split 20 more PT's into individual sections so I can work on pacing for each one.

I then have the 20 most recent PT's to use for full length PT's in May to polish off my prep.

As pithy says....

Accuracy, Pacing, Endurance.

[MysticalWheel]

Can someone post the direct link to the Kaplan Mastery book on Amazon? I believe it is this one (but am still unsure if it is the same as the one referenced by Pithypike's O.post) :

http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Mastery-Pr ... 077&sr=1-1

-MW

[thestalkmore]

All,

I'm compiling a study schedule in an excel sheet and had a question. I apologize if it has been answered: according to PithyPike's schedule, I won't be taking tests 1 - 45 in their entirety, right? I'll be studying the content of these tests via LG section break-outs, RC section break-outs and the fact that I will be going through Kaplan sections, right?

Just want to make sure that according to his plan the only full tests I'll take are 45-57. Does that make sense or would it be useful to do more than 10 full, times PTs?

Thanks

This was a question I'd like answered too. I would like to be taking more full PTs and wanted to confirm that this plan doesn't include that many. Anyone have suggestions for incorporating more?

The Kaplan Mastery book uses 20 PT's alone.. You get the questions from it rearranged. Doing the entire mastery book isn't the same as taking full PT's. But it's more important you learn to get the questions right before you begin on pacing.

My break down for the June test is into 3rds.

I do the Kap Mastery Book which is 20 PT's

Then split 20 more PT's into individual sections so I can work on pacing for each one.

I then have the 20 most recent PT's to use for full length PT's in May to polish off my prep.

As pithy says....

Accuracy, Pacing, Endurance.

Ah, this is clarifying! Thank you!

Let me make sure I understand (longish post inc):

- The Mastery book contains 20 PTs worth of questions? If so, what is the advantage of buying Mastery instead of just buying all of the PT's? Pithy's guide says for LG:

2) Separate them using the classification method of choice - Blueprint, Kaplan, etc. will all work but I prefer PowerScore

Are they grouped at all in the Mastery book or are there just 20 PTs and you are responsible for grouping them?

-Month 1 looks like this:

Month 1:
LG: (# of game type through PT 44-Powerscore Classification)
Basic Linear - Balanced (23)
Basic Linear - Overloaded (5)
Basic Linear - Underfunded (5)
Advanced Linear - Balanced (25)
Advanced Linear - Overloaded (4)
Advanced Linear - Underfunded (7)
Write down the exact time and your score at the top of each LG. Push yourself to finish faster the next 2 times you complete that LG. DO NOT sacrifice speed for accuracy though.

LR:
Follow the guide set out above for these question types

Assumption
Strengthen/Weaken
Flaw

RC:
Complete all 10 RC sections from the first '10 LSAT' book (untimed)
Three-Day Cycle:
1) RC Section
2) Review
3) Review

How does the Mastery book fit in here? Can you be specific? It looks like he's utilizing PT's and not Mastery. Moreover, how did you break down the weeks?

- How does your Month 2 fit into the guide? It seems like it is a new set of games/LR that one should be working on at that point, not reviewing old ones.

- How many PT's are left over by month 3?

[FreeGuy]

Can someone post the direct link to the Kaplan Mastery book on Amazon?

There are several listings for Mastery Practice on Amazon. To get all the listings, just click here. You want Mastery Practice, not Mastery Homework.

[cherryalamode]

My problem here is that cutting up all LGs for PTs 1-44 leaves me only 13 full PTs for endurance practice. (I left out the ones I already took). Is this enough? What are people doing, exactly?

What do you do here?

[noelleF]

i'm going to try to follow this pretty closely (written by Shrimps on another thread--thanks!):

Shrimps wrote:
You'll have exactly 12 weeks and almost 60 PT's

Spend the first 1-2 weeks doing the Powerscore bibles and reading a few general interest books on logic (not hugely useful, but may be helpful - "Logic Made Easy" by Bennett, "Informal Logic - A Pragmatic Approach" and/or "Fundamentals of Critical Argumentation" by Walton, "A Rulebook for Arguments" by Weston. The first few chapters of introductory logic textbooks may also be helpful, if you have access to them at the library.

If you have lots of time and some spare money, next you can get the 'Grouped by Type' books (available on Amazon) for about $80 combined. There's a representative from the company that publishes these books on this forum. They group all LR questions and logic games by type from PT's 1-20 (oldies but goodies, though many of the game types will not be hugely relevant). Do them all in order to develop speed and mechanical skills for each game type.

After that you'll have over 40 PT's (21-59, Superprep, June 2007) and about 8 weeks left. You can do a PT daily if you want to.

In addition to the books above I'd recommend Powerscore's "Ultimate Setups Guide" which explains the setups for all older logic games - they'll help you set up (duh) logic games if you're struggling with it. There are also Kaplan's explanations to all the test questions from PT1 to at least PT57 floating around the Internet: I have NO idea if they're supposed to be free or not. Some are available for free download on their own site.

Thi is only if you have lots of free time and can dedicate a considerable chunk of your day to LSAT (which you should - this is the most important day in youre life if you want to become a lawyer with a decent firm ).

i think you will be kicking yourself in the end if you only leave 13 full-length PT's untouched. i would make copies of all the games, but save the ones from the last 20-30 PTs for after you complete the full-length PT.

[Ineedhelpplease]

does anybody have experience with thisstudy guide and if so has it worked for you... thanks in advance

[lsatgenius]

yes, it works. that's why it's stickied at the top.