Customer Reviews

10 More Actual, Official LSAT Preptests (LSAT Series)

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I began studying for the LSAT in July. On my first practice tests, I was scoring around 160. When I finally took the test in December, I got a 174. This is how I did it.

In preparing for the LSAT, I have used a wide variety of study guides--10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests, 10 More Actual Official PrepTests, Kaplan's LSAT 2004, Kaplan's LSAT 180, Princeton Review's Cracking the LSAT 2004, and REA's Best Test Prep. The only bad one among them was REA's; the rest were quite helpful. This book was the conerstone of my preparation. If you want to do well on the LSAT, this is the way to study:

Your first two purchases should be Kaplan's (or Princeton's, if you prefer) most current LSAT guide and 10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests. Kaplan's book will give you a good intro to the test, along with 3 full tests with a detailed analysis for each question. The PrepTest book will give you plenty of real, recently-administered LSATs to take, though without question analysis. Just getting used to taking the test is the most important part of the preparation process, and between the two books, 13 full tests should be plenty.

If, after 4 or 5 tests, you're noticing your scores plateau around 165, and you want to bump them up, get Kaplan's LSAT 180. It is full of the toughest questions that Kaplan's crew could come up with (along with a few nasty ones you might see adapted from real questions on LSAC's PrepTests), and strategies on how to approach them. The regular, yearly guides are a great way to start studying, but they will only take you so far. LSAT 180 can take you the rest of the way, as its name implies. You should be warned beforehand though--these are THE TOUGHEST questions you will find anywhere. If you can handle these, most of the actual test will seem like cake.

If you burn through all of Kaplan's Tests--including the free online one--and all 10 Actual tests (Like I did), you can always get the older 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests. It's still good prep; the only difference is that the tests are older--December '92 is the oldest; September '95 is the most recent. Some minor things have changed: the older tests are a little harder, which means a lower raw score here translates into a higher scaled score; the wording of questions is different; and some of the types of logic games that are on the newer tests aren't on these. However, if you've taken all the tests in the more recent book, and you know what to expect to see on the actual test, taking the PrepTests in this book is a good way to keep your practice going.

Also, both LSAC.org and Amazon have individual PrepTests available for $8 apiece. You can get all the most recent tests--sometimes right up to the one most recently administered. These aren't as good a deal as the books of 10, but seeing the most recent material--even if it's just 1 or 2 tests--is worth it. Though I haven't taken it, I've heard that PrepTest 31 (June 2000) has the most difficult Logic Game ever on it... that might be worth checking out. *****UPDATE***** I took PrepTest 31. The CD game was thoroughly underwhelming--I didn't even think it was the hardest game on the test. Maybe that's just me.

Anyway, that's about it. If you want to prepare for the LSAT as thoroughly and effectively as possible, this is the way to do it.

In training for the LSAT, I used only official preptests sold by LSAC. Many past reviewers recommended studying multiple books, like those available by Kaplan or Princeton Review. I have found that Kaplan and other study aides add to the confusion many test takers experience, and Kaplan even admits that its study guides do not help 40% of those who buy the books.

If you want to do well on the LSAT, this is the way to study:

Your first purchase should the 10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests. The PrepTest book will give several of real LSATs to take, though without question analysis. All of the answers are given, but they are not explained. I find this to be a bonus, because I believe that a test taker can learn more from figuring out why the answer is what is, instead of just going by the problematical answers Kaplan gives. Kaplan's answers have a tendency to be too long and lack an accurate answer. It is similar to when a person is talking but they are not really saying anything.

Just getting used to taking the test is the most important part of the preparation process. If you finish all ten tests, get the older 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests.

DO NOT buy Kaplan's LSAT 180. It is full of the toughest questions that KAPLAN could MAKE UP. These questions are so bogus that they lowered everyone in my study group's score: we all had scores over 170 before this book. On one page, Kaplan gave two complete different explanations for two questions that were the exact same type of question. Kaplan's answers to MADE UP questions are lacking judgment. Kaplan is simply too lazy to buy official questions.

Also, both www.LSAC.org and Amazon have individual PrepTests available for $8 each. Get the latest tests: these aren't a good buy like the books of ten, but seeing the most up to date material - even if it's just 1 or 2 tests - is worth it. If you are not in a hurry, you can get the tests free of shipping from LSAC, and they have the MOST RECENT tests, while Amazon tends to lack the two most recent tests.

Specifically, get the June 2000 (PrepTest 31) exam. This contains the notorious "CD Game," the second game, which is commonly considered the most complicated LSAT logic game ever.

BUT...

If you REALLY want to, go ahead and pay in the thousands for a LSAT class prep course, like those offered by Kaplan and Princeton Review. I do not suggest doing that, but confidence is essential for acing the LSAT. If you feel that taking an over-priced prep course will boast your self-assurance, feel free to do so.

You should only buy this book if you're planning to take 20-30 PrepTests before you take the real LSAT. You should make all of the most recent preptests (39+ are currently available in individual test booklets) and "The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT Preptests" (29-38) a higher priority than this book.

This book contains modern LSATs (post December 1995). Even though the tests are from the last 10 years, or so, you'll still notice some slight variation between these tests and the real LSAT you'll take. That said, it's an excellent study aid and it's cost effective.

This book contains:
PrepTest 19; June 1996
PrepTest 20; October 1996
PrepTest 21; December 1996
PrepTest 22; June 1997
PrepTest 23; October 1997
PrepTest 24; December 1997
PrepTest 25; June 1998
PrepTest 26; September 1998
PrepTest 27; December 1998
PrepTest 28; June 1999

"10 More Actual, Official LSAT Preptests" is absolutely essential to studying for the big exam. I've been working with Arco and Kaplan's books, which both feature sample tests and some exercises. However, they're inadequate in preparing you for the nature of the real test questions. "10 More...Preptests," being actual LSATs, actually do give you a feel for the test's real questions.
The only complaint I have is that there is no explanation key but it's a minor complaint, since I have had to look over my answers and figure out for myself why my answers were wrong. Of course, this helps, as it forces you to examine the questions more thoroughly than you normally would.
My recommendation is to use this book in conjunction with a study guide (Kaplan has a good one). Study the test-taking techniques and do the exercises in the study guide, THEN test your skills with this book.

I splurged and bought all three of the big books in the Law School Admission Council's "10 Actual, Official LSAT" series. (The first is "10 Actual, Official LSAT", followed by "10 More Actual, Official LSAT Preptests" and most recently "10 Next Actual, Official LSAT Preptests"). All three books contain offcially released, actual LSATs. All are great for practicing for the real thing. One might argue, however, that by default, "10 Next Actual, Official LSAT Preptests (ISBN: 0942639898) is now the one to buy, simply because the tests are newer and therefore are more likely to reflect LSAC's latest thinking on question format and difficulty. Other reviewers have suggested that the LSAT seems to be recycling the structure, if not the precise problems, of so-called logic games from older tests. So it probably pays to buy this or one or both of the older test collections too, provided you have the time to study that many tests. One wonders why logic games are so important a part of this test, when every lawyer I know says they are unlike they type of legal reasoning they employ in their practice of law. But as long as they stay there, if you want to do well on the test you have to, quite literally, "play the game."

Just in case you didn't know, I thought I should write a review to say that there are no explanations of the questions. All of the answers are, of course, given, but they aren't explained. So, even if you are convinced that it's (A), and the back of the book says (C), it doesn't tell you why you're wrong. Nevertheless, taking loads of tests is absolutely the best way to prep out there. Basically, those thousand dollar courses are for people who don't have the motivation to buy these books and do it themselves. So, if you want to save money and know you can force yourself to take these practice tests, I highly suggest that you do so.

First, if you are planning on taking the LSAT, you need to have this book. You need to have any LSAT test ever published, and you need to go over every question carefully to understand why the correct answer is correct, and why the incorrect answer is incorrect. From this you can find patterns of how you take the test and how you can improve your methods. You should do this regardless of how you are preparing for the test, though most courses *should* help you do this.

Be warned, however, that the tests in this book are from an older format. Tests 39-52 (52 is given in Feb 07) were changed so that the Analytical Reasoning (AR) games were easier, and the Reading Comprehension (RC) and Logical Reasoning sections became more difficult. My score on these older tests ranged from 6-10 points higher than my score on the newer tests because I am good at the AR section. So don't expect the score on these exams to accurately reflect your score on a recent test. Don't let that stop you from taking these tests. You need all the practice you can get, and if you're not as good at the AR games, practicing on the tougher old ones will definitely help you for the exam.

Starting with test 53 (June 07) they will be changing the fomrat of the RC section so that one of the four readings is a compare and contrast excercise between two shorter readings. How this will affect the score curve and the difficulty of the other sections is unclear. See the LSAC website for more details.

Good luck!

There is no substitute for taking real, timed, practice LSATs. It is simply the best way to prepare for the real thing. My study plan was two part: First, I paid the big bucks for an LSAT class. Second, I studied real tests every day out of this and its companion book. While the class was great, I found that simply studing all of the material on the real test was by far the most useful thing I did (not to mention that it cost a lot less). These books are simply a must have to prepare well and I recomend them to everyone. In my case, they helped me score in the mid 170s.

Post-LSAT update: I scored a 174 (99.3 percentile) using this as prep. What more recommendation do you need?
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This book was the single most helpful tool in preparing for the LSAT. I began with Kaplan's LSAT prep book, which was a good introduction to how to approach the test. However, the Kaplan sample tests were not good representations of the actual tests, since they contained some mistakes and poorly formulated questions, they were in some ways more difficult. I used the 10 More Actual LSAT tests along with the most recently released tests (which you can buy individually).

The reading comprehension sections in this book were easier than those of the Oct. & Dec. 2002 exams, but the other sections were comparable. I personally feel there's nothing like being exposed to actual test questions to help one feel confident going into the test. By utilizing this book alone, I was able to score in the upper 160's. I would definitely recommend it.