Customer Reviews

Cracking the LSAT with Sample Tests on CD-ROM, 2003 Edition (Graduate Test Prep)

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The tips and strategies in this book may be helpful for some people. But in my opinion, reading about such tips and strategies will probably not help as much as taking plenty of timed, full-length practice tests. That's the area in which this book falls short. True, the book offers practice tests, and the questions and explanations for the answers are generally well-written. Unfortunately, the tests are not "full-length," despite what it says on the cover. An actual LSAT has five multiple choice sections, of which only four count toward the score, and a writing sample, which does not count toward the score but is sent to law schools. The practice tests in this book only have four sections and no writing sample.

The omission of the writing sample can perhaps be forgiven, if the authors of this book are correct when they say that the writing sample will never affect the decision of any admissions committee. The omission of the fifth section makes these tests a fairly poor simulation of the real LSAT, on which you have to complete all five sections, because it is impossible to know which one will not count. The LSAT is in part a test of endurance, a test to see if you can retain your mental abilities after being subjected to difficult questions for nearly three hours. The practice tests in this book may help you figure out how to answer questions, but they cannot help you learn how to keep your mind working during that last 35 minutes. If you buy this book, just be aware that the publishers are apparently using a very unusual definition of "full-length" when they display this term prominently on the book's covers.

This is a well-rounded and honest introduction to the LSAT. I was very happy that the authors made the point that they were not providing tricks, but helping you learn how to properly reason and study for the test. They know that test taking is subjective and keep this in mind when offering advice. They don't rely on the the tricks and gimmicks of Princeton Review or Kaplan (that never really help much anyway).

If you are well educated and believe you will do well in law school, but you need a little help preparing for the test, this book is for you. Don't buy a lot of other test-prep books. Get one (or two) good one(s) like this and buy sample tests to practice with. I made the mistake of buying another test prep book, and it read like trash after having finished this superior book.

This book is acceptable if you are not familiar with the format of the test, but it is not perfect. I found that it had too many gimmicks or tricks that won't really help, but might make you feel like you know some secret. Some of these tricks would harm my test taking style more than help. The writing tries to be casual, but often feels patronizing instead. This book includes two tests and the CD has more, which is a good total. But you'd be better off getting a book of many tests to practice with and a superior book (like Nova's Master the LSAT) to learn the format.

Tough read, but the sample questions and tests will prepare you for the real exam.