Preparing for the LSAT; PowerScore Bibles

[John1990]

I have 2 years to prepare for the lsat. My current plan is to read through all 3 PowerScore bibles once or twice if i have the time. I will also be filling out lsat prep-tests, starting with the older ones from the book "the next 10 lsat prep-tests". I will fill out the tests slowly at first, and then as he test date approaches i will concentrate more on the prep-tests and take a lot of them at the end. However, i am wondering if the PowerScore bibles are worth the time and money ($150) or if i should be buying a different book instead. I don't have the money for a prep-class ($2,000) but i am sure i have the self discipline to study on my own. So, is this the route to take? Has anyone used the PowerScore bibles as their primary source to study for the lsat? What else should i do, or does this plan sound solid?
Thanks
John Levine

[Jeffort]

I have 2 years to prepare for the lsat. My current plan is to read through all 3 PowerScore bibles once or twice if i have the time. I will also be filling out lsat prep-tests, starting with the older ones from the book "the next 10 lsat prep-tests". I will fill out the tests slowly at first, and then as he test date approaches i will concentrate more on the prep-tests and take a lot of them at the end. However, i am wondering if the PowerScore bibles are worth the time and money ($150) or if i should be buying a different book instead. I don't have the money for a prep-class ($2,000) but i am sure i have the self discipline to study on my own. So, is this the route to take? Has anyone used the PowerScore bibles as their primary source to study for the lsat? What else should i do, or does this plan sound solid?
Thanks
John Levine

2 years is a lot of time, and perhaps too much to spread your prep time over.  You could easily burn out and also run out of fresh LSAT materials to use for practice long before your test date.

Depending on how you currently score on a full timed test vs. what your goal score is, you may not need nearly that much time.  If you are serious about starting this far in advance, the first thing you should do is take a full LSAT under timed conditions and see how you score so that you get an idea of how much you need to improve to achieve your desired score to be a competitive applicant at the Law Schools you are interested in attending.  Once you have done that you then evaluate how much time and effort you really need to put in to accomplish your goal.

As for doing the self study routine with prep books, the Powerscore Bibles are certainly the best LSAT prep books available for self study. 

Once you start, going through and working tests slowly as you read through and study the bibles is a good idea.  After you read and absorb each chapter of each book it is important to apply what you learned by working LSAT question types the chapter was about so that you instill the principles and techniques you learned into your mind and get good at applying them.  You want to do this in slow motion as you learn the basics before you move into the phase of doing many timed practice tests. 

Everyone learns and improves at a different rate, so you might be able to get yourself scoring in your goal range in a few months.  If that happens, there is no sense waiting another year or more to get the test out of the way.  If you find yourself only improving slowly, then you have plenty more time to study and work on it. 

[John1990]

Thank you for the tips,
I am going to take an lsat preptest cold when my amazon order arives and then focus on the bibles.  If i get into my goal range can i take the test then?  Or do you have to complete a bachelors first?  It sure would be sweet to get the test out of the way asap, or have the time to take it multiple times

[cooleylawstudent]

Go take that LSAT now. Its good for 5 years. Some lawschools only require an AA to attend and I took my lsat before that even(and latter retook it and did worse the second time to be honest with you) You can take it right now if you wish. Go for it.

[cmd758]

Taking an LSAT prep test cold unless you have a background in logic can be quite pointless and discouraging. You can learn a lot in prepping even for ten hours. I took a logic class and did well and two years later when I started looking at LSAT LR questions, I was getting most of them wrong. After doing perhaps an hour of prepping and refreshing my memory on those types of questions, I was getting them all right.

I am currently using PowerScore on top of an online Princeton Review course for Logic Games. It seems ok so far, however, it is very dry. People who have used it and taken the test love it though. It seems to help a lot of people. It is just too soon for me to tell.

[Jeffort]

Thank you for the tips,
I am going to take an lsat preptest cold when my amazon order arives and then focus on the bibles.  If i get into my goal range can i take the test then?  Or do you have to complete a bachelors first?  It sure would be sweet to get the test out of the way asap, or have the time to take it multiple times

When you take that first cold/virgin run 'get my baseline' test I suggest you use a fairly recent test form (2005-current) and that you stick to the timed conditions when you take it in order to get a more accurate 'test environment' score of your performance. 

That means:
  -  35 minutes, down to the second!!! per section.  No few extra seconds here and there,  No little 15-60 second 'breather' breaks in between sections.  When one section ends the next one immediately begins, get used to it.
  -  Take the test somewhere you don't usually study or hang out in that has distractions.  A coffee place or whatever, just NOT AT HOME in the comfort of your room/private workspace.  Being in a familiar safe place where you are in control of the environment influences your state of mind and performance.  You will not have that luxury on test day.

You can register for and take the test anytime you want as long as you meet the registration deadlines since you are an UG student.  You don't have to have graduated from UG yet to take it. 

Time is on your side for sure since you are planning far in advance, unlike many students that suddenly get bitten by the law school bug, wake up one morning, suddenly register to take the LSAT not many weeks before the administration that then show up blind and unprepared for the test and, in front of everyone in the room, ask the proctor questions like "How much time do we get per section?"

Hopefully you will not need to take it multiple times.  It's best to be properly prepared and give it your best shot once.  Keep your motivation and optimism up, you're going to need it.  There will be ups and downs along the road and you are about to get the sobering reality alert biotch slap by your first cold run diagnostic score.  Let us know how it goes.

Go take that LSAT now. Its good for 5 years. Some lawschools only require an AA to attend and I took my lsat before that even(and latter retook it and did worse the second time to be honest with you) You can take it right now if you wish. Go for it.

Ignore this guy, he is a troll/flame (not a very good one) trying to stir up trouble. 

[cooleylawstudent]

Hows it trouble to tell someone what their rights are? He dosnt need to be a coward, the water only feels cold if you inch in, do a damn cannonball and get it over with. 

If you lawschool takes the higher lsat score, just sign up for the real thing and do a bit of prep while waiting.

If you school takes the average(many do it that way) prep first but dont be scared to take a dang practice test, its PRACTICE. Here's the golden truth, you won't know what areas you suck in untill you take it and then focus on those the most. Afterall why waste your time with academic-masterbation, find out what you suck at by sucking at it, then get better at it.

"But it will make  you feel dishearted"....So? Big crying deal, just dont be a baby about it and do what you need to do and remind yourself it is just PRACTICE! 

[cmd758]

If you try to perform surgery and have no knowledge of surgicial procedure or haven't practiced in twenty years so have therefore forgotten how to perform surgery, you're not doing anyone any good. If you could refresh your memory in a quick lesson or could work hard to learn the necessary skills, that will be the true measure of your surgical abilities. What is the point of wasting your time trying to measure your abilities when you have no knowledge when it can be easily ascertained?

But why tangent. I notice people here tend to get in long philosophical and irrelevant arguments on these threads. No one here is REALLY the lawyer type, huh? ;-)

[cooleylawstudent]

The same(less deadly in general) principal would apply to the idea of practicing law while rusty, but that has ZERO to do with what I was saying.
I will repeat this word a few times PRACTICE TEST,PRACTICE TEST, PRACTICE TEST. Focus on those two words and try to guess how many people will or wont die as a result(if its higher than zero you need to use a pen to write and less stabbing)

If you try to perform surgery and have no knowledge of surgicial procedure or haven't practiced in twenty years so have therefore forgotten how to perform surgery, you're not doing anyone any good. If you could refresh your memory in a quick lesson or could work hard to learn the necessary skills, that will be the true measure of your surgical abilities. What is the point of wasting your time trying to measure your abilities when you have no knowledge when it can be easily ascertained?

But why tangent. I notice people here tend to get in long philosophical and irrelevant arguments on these threads. No one here is REALLY the lawyer type, huh? ;-)

[cmd758]

Whatever, if you try to ride a bike and don't know how, you will crash and burn. If you learn the basics beforehand, it's easy.