Kaplan LSAT 2004 with CD-ROM

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the worst LSAT book ever.
Review: I am not exaggerating. I bought this book, read it in two weeks, practiced and applied its techniques as best as I could and I actually got a lower score on a practice lsat then I did with out the book.

The logic games section of the book is laughable. About the only thing it does is tell you what TYPE of games you might see on the lsat. It gives a very broad stragtegy that is supposed to help you solve every game you encounter, then walks you through a game example that isn't even a real game. The strategy rarely works on real games and actually slows you down because it is too general because you find yourself searching for things in the stimulus that are not there. This type of half explaination is repeated in the Argument and Reading Comprehension sections of the book. The included CD is like reading the book all over again, its the very same material. Not to mention the CD will crash often.

Almost half of this book is the famous "kaplan" lsat tests. Kaplan lsat questions are well known to be substantially different from anything you might see on the actual lsat, so taking them is a waste of time.

"Master the LSAT" by Kolby and Thornberg is a much better book and you only need about ten minutes of side by side comparisons between it and Kaplan to realize just how crappy the Kaplan book is.

My advice it to get "Master the Lsat", "10 Actual Lsat Prep Tests", and "10 More Actual Lsat Prep Tests". Study the book and take all the prep tests and you will be in good position to get a 165 or higher.

AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS. And generally all Kaplan books suck because they want you to spend a grand to take their prep course.

Rating:
Summary: A Wasted Effort
Review: I will say this, just in case everyone does not know: the LSAT is the MOST IMPORTANT factor in your admissions application. Schools may try to deny it, but a high LSAT score can improve your odds of admission into the school of your dreams. A high LSAT score can shadow a low UGPA, but a high UGPA CANNOT hide a low score on the LSAT.

Now that I have said that I will explain how I prepared for the LSAT, and how I earned a score of 178.

First and foremost, form a group with other students preparing for the LSAT. I gathered a group of three with some friends and we advertised our group on the school paper and spread the word around campus. Many universities will let you do this, and some even have student-run websites that you can spread the word on. This not only lets you help one another with your weaknesses, but it also allows you to lower the cost of the study aides that you need to purchase. We eventually had a group of twenty that we broke into smaller groups of five. In each group, we picked out four books and split the cost among us.

In training for the LSAT, use 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.

Rating:
Summary: Not official tests = Not official quality
Review: It took me a few days to realize that this doesn't contain any real LSAT tests. After I took the second test and noticed that some of the questions made no sense, I looked up some information on this book. It was then that I learned that the tests in this book were written entirely by Kaplan. Some of the questions are really ludicrous and stupid. I got the official 10 LSATs and those are much better, they actually have a correct logical answer for each question (go figure!). This book screwed me up until I bought the book with the 10 real LSATs. The Kaplan people that wrote the test questions in this book have no business writing standardized tests.

Rating:
Summary: I don't understand the bad reviews here
Review: Kaplan won't reveal all of it's secrets in this book. But for $14 plus shipping this is more than worth it, just for the 3 free tests and answers keys alone. Some of the advice is helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time & Money
Review: The Kaplan LSAT 2004 focuses primarily on general LSAT strategies which will raise most student's scores by 1-2 points only, and thats assuming you are completely unfamiliar with the test. For those serious students who are generally familiar with the LSAT and willing to work hard to improve their score Kaplan and the Princeton Review are a complete waste of time and money. In some cases, such as Kaplan's method of solving Reading Comprehension questions, they are even counterproductive and can slow you down. Most students will emerge after studying the Kaplan book feeling confused and still unprepared, as I did. I strongly recommend the PowerScore books. I purchased the PowerScore LSAT Logic Games Bible and I am now able to work almost any logic game the LSAT can throw at me with confidence. I have also just ordered the newly released PowerScore LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible. Both of these books are expensive, they will run you about $90-$100 total but from my experience they are definitly worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it...
Review: They are good salers, it was ship in 5 business days, pretty well to be an international item.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: This book is a waste of money. Nothing in it is useful except maybe the introduction to the question types. I suggest that you get the Powerscore Logic Games Bible, Logic Reasoning Bible (Mid August 2004 I believe), and the next 10 actual LSATs, or 10 more actual official Lsats. Read the bibles and take practice tests over and over again. Good Luck.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it...
Review: This book is only good for those who really have no idea what the LSAT is. There are only a few pages on each section... and they are not all that helpful, they just tell you what kind of questions to expect... not HOW to do well on them. There are some "steps" to approaching each type of question, but I think those will end up slowing you down rather than helping you. I took an (actual) practice test totally blind before I read the book... and took another practice test out of the book... and scored only one point higher. I am relieved to hear that others believe the questions from the Kaplan book are bizarre, because I did okay on the logic game section on the actual practice LSAT (which I took without any preparation) and then, after reading the Kaplan book, totally BOMBED the logic games section in the Kaplan's practice test. Those questions WERE bizarre!
Most of the book is practice tests, which, I have just learned from these other reviews, are not actually from past actual tests. Bad investment!

Rating:
Summary: Better score
Review: This book takes you step by step into the LSAT by breaking each section down, and listing the common mistakes that are made. However, the best thing about this study guide is that it does not throw in any unecessary jargon to explain already difficult sections.