Customer Reviews

Cracking the LSAT, 2007 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought Princeton, Kaplan, and Barron's, and Princeton seems to be the best so far. Princeton gives the best detailed explainations of the logical reasoning and games. They go through each question type and analyze how to answer it. They also give you several types of games and show you how to diagram them out and reason through them. Kaplan in their Logical Reasoning section just says "these are the types of questions you will encounter" they don't give you questions with answers that you have to pick from, and then explain the reason why one is right or wrong (they do do this on the practice section). They also don't do this in the games section. I found Kaplan to be much more theoretical and Princeton much more practical. However, on the upside, Kaplan's 2008 book contains three Real LSATs where as Princeton has only made-up tests. Also, Kaplan's 2008 contains the revisions to the reading section and writing prompt. Your best bet is to buy both books for comparison so you get a well-rounded experience.

I have tutored the SAT, and have taken the GRE twice, and my experience has shown that Kaplan, Princeton, and Barrons (the best for GRE and SAT jury's out on LSAT) all have something to offer, but each are missing something too, so to get the most out of your preparation, it is best to get all three books so you will get a well rounded experience.

If you are trying to study for the LSAT and get hold of actual LSAT tests and LSAC publications without any prior knowledge, you'll probably find yourself lost, getting answers wrong and not understanding why. I graduated with a bachelor's in business, so I never had to take a philosophy class or logic class like many liberal arts majors end up doing. I tried using the LSAC SuperPrep and the Princeton Review LSAT Workout. None could really teach me what I needed to know. The books assumed that I already knew what they were talking about. I was completely unmotivated to study for the LSAT until 6 months later when I bought this book. Then, I ended up finishing LSAT Workout and Cracking the LSAT books within a week. Now, I am planning on buying the three Kaplan books to study next (I already have all of the LSAC books), and maybe Barrons book (I read the bad reviews but browsed through the book in Barnes and Noble and it seemed real good.)

I read about PowerScore but honestly think it is a scam. I'm a business major, so I should know. Let me put it this way: if you read the reviews, people promise that they all got 180s. PowerScore claims that you will drastically improve your results and score a 180. So, you've got an unrealistic promise. Secondly, Amazon sells the books at twice the price of the PowerScore website. Why would that be? Someone's getting a cut for such great reviews. And finally, I downloaded some sample pages and read them and the material was way too watered down. It seemed way to simple, and the fact that they use real LSAT questions is a bit unsettling. I would rather practice my real LSAT questions in the five LSAC books and use a supplement that teaches me the method and uses non-LSAT examples. If you think about it, if you already own the LSAC books, all the questions used in PowerScore are something you already have. I don't want to bash PowerScore, but I just don't trust them. The reviews seem way too unrealistic, especially after I read the sample pages online.

To sum it up, I would definitely recommend Cracking the LSAT. It's a great book to start with and had a good 60 page explanation of doing Args (Logical Reasoning). The Games (Analytical Reasoning) were also good. The Reading Comprehension section was a little less than what I would have liked. Overall, great book.

This review is my honest evaluation of the Princeton Review book and a response to R. Flood's contention that the PowerScore books are ineffective and that the company itself is unreliable/untrustworthy.

Princeton Review's "Cracking the LSAT" was the first book I bought for LSAT self-study as I felt I should start with something simple and comprehensive in order to get a feel for the LSAT. This book accomplished that goal, but nothing more. It introduced me to the basic strategies one needs to score well and the general structure of the test itself, but it really only scratches the surface in terms of truly effective techniques or understanding of the test. Many of the explanations were a bit too general, and the logic games section was especially unsatisfactory.

That said, PowerScore is a far greater test prep company when it comes to the LSAT. I am certainly not one of those reviewers who is supposedly getting a cut of the deal for praising the PowerScore Logic Games and Logical Reasoning Bibles. I'm just a college undergrad who's looking to score well on the test. Having read through Princeton Review's book, Kaplan's "LSAT 180", and both PowerScore books, I can say with confidence that PowerScore gets it right. Their system is comprehensive AND deep. They explain every concept tested on the test with a rigorous, near-mechanical approach that absolutely saves time and boosts accuracy. Using Princeton Review's logic games techniques, for example, I was lucky if I could finish 2-3 games within 35 minutes. But after having finished reading through PowerScore's Logic Games Bible, I can now do most logic games sections easily with very few errors.

I don't mean to overstate PowerScore's superiority vis-a-vis companies like Princeton Review or Kaplan, but it's hard not to when one compares the frankly shallow and overly general strategies taught by the latter two. The PowerScore books are certainly expensive, but they're worth it for the serious self-studier.

I really do like this book. I did not know what to expect for the LSAT, and the princeton review put me at ease. It is something that I breazed through in about a week. But, the book does encourage you to use it as a supplement to other practice tests.

I took the LSAT for the very first time in September. Literally the only prep I did was go through this book, and I didn't even go through it extensively. Just to get a background of me, I knew nothing of the LSAT until about 6 months ago...I mean nothing, I didn't know how it was scored, how many sections, what kinds of sections, etc. This book provided me with all of the background and simple, yet effective, strategies. Sometimes, I think simple is better...I didn't over-analyze on the test, b/c in reality, the test is pretty straight foreward. Anyway, I made an above average schore (not by much)...a good score, not amazing (in the 70th percentile). Friends of mine used other books, took expensive classes, etc...and I did better b/c I was relaxed and only moderately prepared so there was no over-analysis...

It's ok. I was shocked that on the DVD, when asked "who do you think makes the test questions," some strange comments are made. One "woman" says, "MEN" with that "I hate men" look in her eyes. Then another woman says "White men." What's the point of including that? What a stupid thing to put in to study one of the most difficult tests in existence. Why did they put it in there? If you listen to the LSAT podcast series from Princeton, you will understand. It's an organization with an agenda that, although the arguments are logically correct, pushes an agenda behind everything they do. I found this offensive.

The book itself is ok but nothing special. At points, almost patronizing. (Who are they marketing to? Elemntary students.) If anything at all, Princeton review has shown me that the great days of independent thought and diginity in law (and education) are long behind us.

The Logical Reasoning Bible by Powerscore is far superior to this "feel good" about logic in the absence of good study.