Customer Reviews

Barron's LSAT with CD-ROM (Barron's LSAT (W/CD))

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

the book gives 2 actual exams and 3 "lsat-like" exams along with practice "lsat-like" questions in each of the three sections. when you go through the "lsat-like" questions, you can tell there is a difference in the quality of the problem sets and questions. but much worse than the fact that the "lsat-like" problems are not comparable quality to the actual tests, the answer section gives very poor explanations for why one answer is better than the others, except to say that it is correct and the others are not.

the practice tests that are not real also fall short of providing a conversion from raw-score to actual lsat score, so even after you spend a full two-three hours taking a practice test, you don't really know how it would have been scored.

i would recommend buying actual lsat tests to practice off of or the kaplan books that have better explanations for the answers.

M. Yau is right, the quality of this book seems sub-par. You can sense a difference between what the real tests questions feel like versus the ones created for the book, and the explanations of the answers get very lazy as the book goes on, supplying no real explanations. After I while I didn't trust whether I was getting an accurate barometer of a real LSAT. Also there are several typos and mistakes in the book, which make you doubt what you're reading sometimes when you come across a stumper. I'm very frustrated and I'm about to drop this book and go buy a new one.

I have explored (bought or borrowed) almost every prep series out there on the market. I got to Barron's last and I must admit it was very disappointing. I have reviewed both the 12th and 13th editions and they are very similar so if you really love this series just buy one not both.

Now since I don't like this series I will say this, do not try to learn their techniques they truly are rubbish. The explanations are very short and do not give you much insight. Also I really just laughed out loud when I read through the logic games and their suggested set-ups. OMG, if you do these set-ups first off they will eat at your time (way too elaborate) AND they will confuse the heck out of you! It took more energy to try to follow the suggested format then to just use commonsense and guess (assuming the question is just that difficult).

The one positive I will note is that the questions in the diagnostic part and the sample tests are "closer" to real LSAT questions when compared to Kaplan but that isn't saying much. In my humble opinion official LSAT material paired with Powerscore truly is the best stuff on the market for those of you (like me) who are "teaching" ourselves vs. classroom instruction. If you insist on using this just use it for more practice tests but know that these are "easier" than the real deal so your score will tend to be inflated.
** gave this two stars simply because the tests are better than Kaplan, but again that is NOT saying much.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Who is Barron's anyway? Certainly not "Student's #1 Choice"...

Reasons:

1. There are no true techniques explained, just a useless reiteration of test question types.
2. There are 4 Model Tests, whose level of reasoning gets more and more ludicrous and open to debate, something to which REAL LSAT questions would never be vulnerable.
3. It is a waste of time to go through this book and pretend you're actually augmenting your LSAT test-taking skills. It's a virtual labyrinth of "huh?"'s.
4. Given the numerous other study guides available today, this seems exponentially sub-par. Really, ask yourself... why is Barron's even a leader in test prep? When were they ever acclaimed in this field?
5. Don't be fooled... these are NOT real LSAT questions. Those are copywritten. Some idiot made these questions up and you can sense the texture of intelligence and skill is simply not there.

I would go for PowerScore or Manhattan LSAT prep books, which seem much more comprehensive and better consumer rated.

Kaplan is okay, but again do not use real LSAT questions. I've taken the Kaplan course and the books are supplementary to the actual prep course, ie. there is a sense something is withheld with the purpose of forcing a student to enroll in Kaplan.

If you're a motivated self-studier and focused on independently improving your LSAT score, your money is better spent on PowerScore or Manhattan LSAT whose books singularly assist you with the test.

Not this crap...