If you are stuck on which path to take in your LSAT journey and which materials to use, read on!
As a college student, money is usually scarce, and it is hard to fork over thousands of dollars in graduate level test prep materials. Once I decided I would be applying to law school, I decided immediately that I wanted to try an alternative route to using the expensive, popular test prep companies, such as Kaplan or Princeton Review. Don’t get me wrong, I have many friends that found success with these materials and courses. In my opinion, I think you can find the same results without breaking the bank or pulling out another loan. Within my budget, I was willing to put in the work to self-study at the beginning of my test prep.
1. The LSAT Trainer
This is the first book I bought when I started my LSAT prep. I highly recommend it. This book contains everything you need to master the LSAT! It has such great reviews on Amazon, and I definitely learned a LOT from this book. Honestly, I think you could perform great with this book on its own. I saw a 10 point increase with this alone!!! It is a large book, but it is not a boring read. With this book, you receive study schedules and practice questions to get you started and keep you accountable. This book works wonders if you are self-motivated enough to read it and follow a schedule. They offer schedules that can fit your time frame, such as one month, or even six months. It also offers extensive tips on studying effectively, how to tackle every question type, and test-day strategies.
Note: the book contains many opportunities for practice questions, but you will need to either buy one or more of the 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests books, or buy a subscription to the LSAC’s LSAT Prep Plus!
2. LSAT Practice/Prep Tests
As mentioned above, the 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests books contain ALL of the past LSAT PrepTests! Each volume contains 10 tests. The newest LSAT tests are sold individually for a higher price, but there are soooo many volumes with 10 each. Taking practice tests is a MUST. I recommend purchasing at least one or two volumes of these books. These are great for those who love physical copies of things (ME). Depending on how new the tests are, these range from around $20-$30 each. Very affordable!
3. LSAC’S LSAT Prep Plus
After I had bought four PrepTest books, I found out that LSAC offers a subscription plan for digital versions of ALL 80+ PrepTests! This is great for someone who plans to be studying for more than a month or two. I think you have the purchase the year-long plan. It is about $99/year, and it has a free trial.
4. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is 100% free! It is recommended by the LSAC (The Law School Admission Council) as a free study resource. I think this is great for someone who is just dipping their toes into the LSAT and learning about what it is. It is a great resource because you can find out more about the test before you invest in any other materials. It also contains videos so it is great for someone who learns better this way, or to supplement your reading materials. I would not recommend this for a long-term study solution, however.
5. 7Sage
7Sage is awesome! I used this program last because I wanted to self-study with the LSAT Trainer first. I think it is a great resource to supplement with the LSAT Trainer, as it contains mostly videos. It is highly affordable, too! At about $70/month, it offers explanations to every LSAT question ever made, and it has content that teaches you methods to each question type. It also requires a one-time purchase for the above-mentioned LSAC Prep Plus subscription. From here, you have access to every practice test! What’s great about this program is that you have access to everything, and you can quit paying for it at any time. This program is a highly affordable option for someone who is looking for an LSAT course online, but isn’t willing to spend thousands of dollars!
Conclusion…
These are the resources that I used personally to prepare for the November 2020 LSAT! My tip to anyone planning to start studying for the LSAT: this test is NOT easy, so study hard! Unfortunately, you will have to pay for a few materials to really dedicate time to studying. It doesn’t have to be expensive! I have already taken the November 2020 LSAT Flex, and I plan on taking the next one in January 2021. Let me know in the comments if you have used any of these resources, or if you are planning to take the January LSAT as well!
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