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Posted on 6/20/14 at 8:09 pm to Old Money
Warning: Thread Derail and tl;dr
I visited TLS (toplawschools.com) a lot during the time I studied for it. Very helpful website on pretty much anything you want to know while you're preparing for the LSAT and preparing for law school in general.
When it comes to the LSAT specifically, the best thing you can do is grind through practice tests, like you noted, and multiple choice sets. Always do them timed after you initially familiarize yourself with the material. Personally, I picked a pretty specific strategy and stuck with it:
There's 5 sections, only 4 of which count (Logic Games, Reading Comp, and 2 Logical Reasoning). I think the obvious strategy that people fail to pick up on is that you really want to master at least two of three different types and one of those two has to be Logical Reasoning. It makes up 50% of the test, so it only makes sense to spend a lot of time really focusing on it. Then, choose whichever of the two remaining that you feel most comfortable with and truly master it.
For me, I spent a lot of time doing the Logical Reasoning and Logic Games. Logic Games, I thought, were more interesting (they're literally like games/challenges) and I felt the like the answer was more tangible/less abstract than Reading Comp. If you set up the game the right way from jump street, you have a lot of your answers right in front of you. I obsessed over the games before both of the tests I took. I missed 0 questions on Logic Games on the 1st test and 1 on the 2nd test. Your cup of tea could be Reading Comprehension, you just have to know yourself.
The strategy paid off, for me at least. I got a 163 on my 1st test after trying to focus comprehensively. I got a 170 on the 2nd test after narrowing it down to the two specific questions. My biggest failure was neglecting the Reading Comp a little too much, though. It was the last section on my 2nd test. I rolled through the first 4 sections on my 2nd test and felt great about them. I actually stopped and thought between sections that I had to be somewhere close to a perfect score...then I missed 9 Reading Comp questions and it really cost me. Not only did it cost me points, but, consequently, potential acceptances/scholarship money.
As far as a particular company's materials, I preferred PowerScore. Some of their strategies might not work for you, but I felt more comfortable with them than Kaplan. Admittedly, I never tried TestMasters, though. But, whichever company you choose, be sure to take as many sections of former tests that you can - not just questions created by the company, those aren't as helpful.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how much work you want to put into it. It's a "learnable" test. If you spend enough time with it, then you almost "know" what answer they want you to choose after you read the question, but before you read the answers.
I was a pretty average student in undergrad at UGA with a 3.1 GPA. I busted arse and got a 163, then a 170 on my two LSATs. I applied to UGA, Vandy and Bama. I got wait listed at Vandy, a 1/3 tuition scholarship at UGA (needed to stay in top 40% of class after 1st year to keep it - I didn't
), and a full ride to Bama (contingent on staying in the top 60% of the class) w/ a $5k stipend (in years 2 and 3) if I obtained Alabama residency. I chose to go to UGA b/c I knew there was little chance that I was going to practice in Bama after law school and I felt pretty comfortable in Athens after going to UGA undergrad. I didn't write a letter of continued interest to Vandy after getting wait listed b/c even if I had of gotten in, which was unlikely, it would have cost me big time.
Good Luck
quote:
Old Money
I visited TLS (toplawschools.com) a lot during the time I studied for it. Very helpful website on pretty much anything you want to know while you're preparing for the LSAT and preparing for law school in general.
When it comes to the LSAT specifically, the best thing you can do is grind through practice tests, like you noted, and multiple choice sets. Always do them timed after you initially familiarize yourself with the material. Personally, I picked a pretty specific strategy and stuck with it:
There's 5 sections, only 4 of which count (Logic Games, Reading Comp, and 2 Logical Reasoning). I think the obvious strategy that people fail to pick up on is that you really want to master at least two of three different types and one of those two has to be Logical Reasoning. It makes up 50% of the test, so it only makes sense to spend a lot of time really focusing on it. Then, choose whichever of the two remaining that you feel most comfortable with and truly master it.
For me, I spent a lot of time doing the Logical Reasoning and Logic Games. Logic Games, I thought, were more interesting (they're literally like games/challenges) and I felt the like the answer was more tangible/less abstract than Reading Comp. If you set up the game the right way from jump street, you have a lot of your answers right in front of you. I obsessed over the games before both of the tests I took. I missed 0 questions on Logic Games on the 1st test and 1 on the 2nd test. Your cup of tea could be Reading Comprehension, you just have to know yourself.
The strategy paid off, for me at least. I got a 163 on my 1st test after trying to focus comprehensively. I got a 170 on the 2nd test after narrowing it down to the two specific questions. My biggest failure was neglecting the Reading Comp a little too much, though. It was the last section on my 2nd test. I rolled through the first 4 sections on my 2nd test and felt great about them. I actually stopped and thought between sections that I had to be somewhere close to a perfect score...then I missed 9 Reading Comp questions and it really cost me. Not only did it cost me points, but, consequently, potential acceptances/scholarship money.
As far as a particular company's materials, I preferred PowerScore. Some of their strategies might not work for you, but I felt more comfortable with them than Kaplan. Admittedly, I never tried TestMasters, though. But, whichever company you choose, be sure to take as many sections of former tests that you can - not just questions created by the company, those aren't as helpful.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how much work you want to put into it. It's a "learnable" test. If you spend enough time with it, then you almost "know" what answer they want you to choose after you read the question, but before you read the answers.
I was a pretty average student in undergrad at UGA with a 3.1 GPA. I busted arse and got a 163, then a 170 on my two LSATs. I applied to UGA, Vandy and Bama. I got wait listed at Vandy, a 1/3 tuition scholarship at UGA (needed to stay in top 40% of class after 1st year to keep it - I didn't
), and a full ride to Bama (contingent on staying in the top 60% of the class) w/ a $5k stipend (in years 2 and 3) if I obtained Alabama residency. I chose to go to UGA b/c I knew there was little chance that I was going to practice in Bama after law school and I felt pretty comfortable in Athens after going to UGA undergrad. I didn't write a letter of continued interest to Vandy after getting wait listed b/c even if I had of gotten in, which was unlikely, it would have cost me big time. Good Luck
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