LSAT Prep Book Recommendations

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Here's the moment you've all been waiting for: my LSAT prep book recommendations.

Happy holidays to everyone. There WILL be more tips next week too, don't worry - not everyone is on vacation. :D Recommendations below. Stay warm!

PrepTests 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
by LSAC

Each are only sold individually, as LSAC has not yet published a book of ten exams containing them. Because the exam has changed in recent years, you'll need several of these to study effectively.

When to use: after you've completed the other PrepTests.

The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains PrepTests 29-38 and is the newest book of ten. It's essential that you get your hands on these in order to study effectively.

When to use: during exam prep.

10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains PrepTests 19-28.

When to use: during exam prep.

10 Actual Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains most PrepTests from 7-18. Only worth doing if you're studying far enough in advance that you'll have enough time to do the most recent exams as well.

Note: These exams are really old - from 12/92 - 9/95. Don't be concerned if some of the games are a bit difficult. You'll rarely see these types on recent exams.

When to use (if at all): in early stages of preparation to familiarize yourself with the exam.

The Official LSAT SuperPrep
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains a few exams you can't find anywhere else: 2/96, 2/99, and 2/00. The explanations within are the biggest selling point, but most people find them to be confusing and technical.

When to use (if at all): in early stages of preparation.


June 2007 LSAT exam (PDF)
by LSAC

Free sample exam. Treat it as if it were PrepTest 52.5 when making your study schedule.


Logic Made Easy: How to Know When Language Deceives You
by Deborah Bennett (older edition)

Although not explicitly written for test-prep purposes, this book contains several logical reasoning-type questions and reviews several common fallacies. The author is clearly familiar with the LSAT, and this makes the book more relevant for our purposes. I highly recommend reading this because it is clear, full of simple examples, and concise. You can skip the parts on the history of logic.

American Scientist's review.

When to read: Before you begin LSAT prep or when you need a break from practice exams.

Informal Logic: A Pragmatic Approach
by Douglas N. Walton (older edition)

Clearly explains and demonstrate multiple examples of valid and invalid arguments. Walton is obsessed with logical fallacies and covers many of the common ones appearing on the LSAT.

When to read: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

Elementary Logic: Revised Edition
by William V. Quine

At 144 pages, it's short and sweet. It's also the first-ever logic textbook (originally published 1941, revised 1980). It discusses many basic issues (necessary/sufficient, etc.) relevant to LSAT logic. If you have the time/inclination, feel free to look it up, but it's by no means necessary.

When to read: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
by George Polya (Older editions)

Simple advice on problem solving and logical thinking. It's useful because it gives you a framework to identify and analyze the relationship between evidence and conclusion. Wikipedia, this summary, and the following will probably be enough for you.

The book gives you some questions to ask yourself about any Logic Game or Logical Reasoning Stimulus:

1. What information is unknown/provided? Does the evidence/premise satisfy the conclusion?
2. How is this game/stimulus similar to others you've done? Questions do tend to come back in future exams (with different topics, of course).
3. Does a restatement (the contrapositive) of the argument help?
4. What inferences can you make?
5. How can you use these inferences?

Another nice summary.

When to read it: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

The Little Luxe Book of Sudoku: 335 Easy to Hard Puzzles and The Little Black Book of Sudoku: 400 Puzzles
by Will Shortz

Number puzzles exercise your brain and get it ready for the logic games.

When to use: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

That's it - see you next year!

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Next week: How to study for a retake (or what to do when you've already used too many PrepTests)...

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7 Logical Reasoning Tips: Easy Ways to Solve Difficult Questions

By popular request in the reader survey, this week's tips are about Logical Reasoning, which comprises two out of the four scored sections on the LSAT.

1. Order

Most people find questions 15-21 (approximately) to be the hardest, so try doing 1-15 first in order to build up speed and confidence. Then, skip to the last question and work backwards to build up to the most difficult ones. This strategy does not work for everyone, but try it out a few times.


2. Timing

Since the first 15 questions tend to be easier question-types such as main point, strengthen, and weaken, try to complete them in less than 1 minute 20 seconds per question. This will allow you additional time to get through questions 15-21, which tend to be harder question-types such as parallel reasoning, principle, and role of the statement.

This strategy will ensure you don't get bogged-down by the easier questions. Please note: this strategy works best for people who are already scoring above 160, and it requires a great deal of practice.


3. Read every word of the stimulus.

While Reading Comprehension passages often discuss unfamiliar theories and terms you don't actually need to understand, Logical Reasoning differs in that you must understand every word of the stimulus and question stem. In my experience, students' mistakes result from carelessness and skimming. However, the topic does not matter. I can't stress this enough, particularly with regard to questions about science, The logical relationships between evidence and conclusion being tested in those questions are often simpler than those with "easier" topics.


4. The stimulus topic is irrelevant.

As you learn to see the differences between evidence, conclusion, and all the unnecessary words, you'll see that a dense paragraph isn't so dense after all.

Try this quick exercise:

If a physicist activates a large hadron collider in Manhattan, then the physicist will have activated a large hadron collider in NYC. However, if the physicist activates a large hadron collider in Brooklyn, then the physicist has activated a large hadron collider outside of Manhattan. Therefore, if the physicist activates the large hadron collider in Brooklyn, then the physicist has activated the large hadron collider outside of NYC.

Pause for a moment and ask yourself, is this argument valid or invalid?





Ready? It's invalid. Why? Because it assumes that because Manhattan is in NYC, Brooklyn cannot be in NYC, which is invalid reasoning even if you know nothing about NYC. The topic is irrelevant to the logic of the argument. To make it easier, I could have said:

If I take the LSAT in Manhattan, then I will have taken the LSAT in NYC. However, if I take the LSAT in Brooklyn, then I will have taken the LSAT outside of Manhattan. Therefore, if I take the LSAT in Brooklyn, I will have taken the LSAT outside of NYC.

All I did was switch "physicist" to "I" and "activate large hadron collider" to "take the LSAT."

Does the stimulus seem easier? In reality, the logic is EXACTLY the same. The key to understanding the question is to avoid thinking about the topic. Think about the relationship between evidence and conclusion and whether or not they match up. Think of "large hadron collider" as LHC. You don't have to know what an LHC does in order to understand the argument.


5. Cross out unnecessary words.

Although you have to understand every word of the stimulus, this doesn't mean every word of the stimulus is important. The only important words are those that form either the evidence or conclusion of a particular argument. See the following example:

"Tacos often contain a variety of fillings such as chicken, cheese, and beans. No two tacos contain exactly the same proportion of one ingredient to another. Therefore, any two tacos can easily be distinguished by their taste."

The first sentence is neither evidence nor conclusion - it's background information. Although we had to read the entire stimulus to realize this, we now know this sentence is unnecessary, so we can cross it out. By the way, this argument is invalid, for those of you keeping score.


6. Study smarter.

As you do practice questions, distinguish between answers you're sure of and those where you're guessing, even if it's a "confident guess." If you're not fully sure of an answer, put down a "/" next to it. A question where you've narrowed the answer to either "A" or "D" (and you've eliminated "B," "C," and "E") would be "A/D." If you like, write the one you would have picked first, so your answer for a question where you're more confident about "D" than "A" would be "D/A."

This strategy will help you measure your performance more accurately and provide guidance for your review. Keeping track of question-types you consistently miss is essential to effective studying.

If you eliminated the right answer, you should definitely review the question. Some prep companies' books have typos, but the books of real PrepTests don't (despite your frequent protests that there must be a mistake in the answer key). If you spend long enough going over the question, either by yourself or with someone, you'll eventually understand where you went wrong.


7. Should you diagram LR questions?

Yes and no. If you must diagram, only diagram more complicated questions (such as parallel reasoning). However, diagramming is never necessary for any question. As you improve on main point, strengthen, and weaken questions, you'll improve on parallel reasoning questions also.


What do you think? What strategies and techniques have you found that work or don't work on Logical Reasoning?

Next week...LSAT book recommendations

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5 Easy Logic Games Tips: How to Solve LSAT Logic Games with Diagrams in Minutes, not Hours

These Logic Games tips will help you to tackle each Logic Game in under 7 minutes. Think it's impossible? Think again! (Click here for several more Logic Games tips.)

1. Draw a diagram.

LSAT prep companies often say you need to draw a grid for each game, rather than a simple slot diagram. What is a slot diagram? I describe it in detail in my free subscribers-only Logic Games tip sheet. I also demonstrate it at my regularly-held free LSAT workshops. However, I'll briefly explain: it's a simple way to map the information in linear and combination games (games with both a linear and grouping element). Grids are time-consuming, but drawing slots for each letter (in a six person/thing game, it looks like: _ _ _ _ _ _ ) requires less space and time.

2. Use diagrams from earlier questions.

Keep your diagrams from the first few questions of each game because they will often save you time in later questions. If you haven't noticed this yet, try something new. Draw a separate diagram for each "if" question next to the answer choices for that question. Use the space at the bottom of the page to sketch your main diagram, which should contain your inferences from all the rules. In the vast majority of games, at least one previously-drawn diagram will help you solve a later question in a particular game. This lets you get through the question without having to draw a brand-new scenario.

3. For all "If" questions, draw a diagram before you look at any answer choices.

If you've look at any LSAT logic game, you'll probably see a question like the following: "If R is placed in the third position, which one of the following must be true?" or "If S is placed last, it could be true that..." I tell my students to stop reading the question right after the first half of the sentence (where the comma is) and to immediately sketch what must be true. More often than not, this bare-bones sketch alone will lead you to the correct answer. Rather than reading through the answer choices and trying each one out, you have effectively predicted the correct answer, saving valuable time.

4. Apply each rule, one-by-one, to the answer choices in the general "acceptability" questions.

The majority of games start with a question like "Which one of the following is an acceptable ordering / grouping / assignment..." etc. Four of the choices will each contain a scenario violating one rule or another, while only one will be acceptable. There are two ways to attack these questions. The first is the slow way - you might look at choice "A" and see if it follows each of the approximately five rules of the game. If it doesn't, then move to choice "B", etc. However, this approach requires you to go back and forth between the rules and the choices, costing you over a minute for what is typically a game's easiest question. The more efficient method is to take an "assembly-line" approach to this question type. Take the game's first rule and check it against each answer choice. After (hopefully) eliminating one or two choices, take the next rule and apply it to the remaining answer choices.

5. When the possibilities in a game are limited, map them all out.

Sometimes a game's rules interact in very restricting ways. For example, in Game 2 of PrepTest 37 (June 2002), which is about placing seven trucks in a certain order, the possibilities for the first three spaces become severely restricted after placing the other four trucks. Trucks X, Z, and U are the only ones left to be placed. Because Z must come before U, the only options are "X Z U", "Z X U" or "Z U X". Of course, you could just map one possibility, and if that doesn't work, start another. However, many students end up trying one possibility, and then they become frustrated when it doesn't work, wasting valuable time.

It's faster to sketch out the "skeleton" or "must be true" aspects of each possibility and then see which of those might actually work. I recommend listing each possibility immediately and then going through the game's questions. The bottom line: do one type of task at a time (diagramming each possibility, then reading the answer choices for each question). This will significantly decrease the amount of time you spend on each game.

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Top Ten Ways to Boost Your LSAT Score

Here are some tips that will put you on the fast track to a top score:

1. Take it early.

If possible, take the LSAT in October or February of your junior year. This allows you to do the bulk of your studying over the summer or winter break at a more leisurely pace. You want to ensure that studying for the LSAT will not detract from your junior-year grades. Too many students wait to take the LSAT until the October or December of their senior year. However, since law school applications are reviewed and decided upon soon after they're submitted, early applicants face less competition. By taking the LSAT earlier, you avoid the scrutiny that those taking it in the 11th hour will face.

2. Learn some basic logic.

Students often balk at the idea of memorizing lists of logic laws. However, there are only a few logical relationships that you really need to know for the LSAT - the contrapositive, the inverse, and the converse. Commit them to memory, and you'll start noticing them throughout the Logic Games and Logical Reasoning sections.

3. Be clever.

Skip around on the Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections and do what's easiest for you. However, the Logic Games questions are in a specific order within each game, so I recommend that my students do them in order (see tip #6 for the reason). Remember that every question is worth the same amount, and there is no penalty for guessing. You can download the June 2007 LSAT exam for free from the Law School Admission Council (PDF). Many companies sell books with "LSAT" in the title, but they don't include a single real question. Make sure to only use real LSAT materials containing past LSAT exams, because there's nothing like the real thing.

4. Take timed practice exams.

Get used to taking a long exam. The LSAT consists of five 35-minute sections (including one unscored experimental section) in addition to an unscored writing sample. There is only one ten-minute break, which takes place between the third and fourth sections. As if all that weren't bad enough, it's usually administered in the morning. Build your stamina by taking several practice tests. Make sure that when you take a practice exam, splice in a section from another exam to represent the experimental section. With a half hour spent bubbling in your name and address, you'll be there for about over four hours (if you're lucky). Speak with an administrator and try to reserve the classroom where you will actually be taking the exam so that you can take a practice exam there.

5. Study like it's game day.

Practice at the time of day when your exam will be, and try to study under real testing conditions. Make sure that your study area is quiet and without distractions. Silence your cell phone, and log out of Facebook and Gmail. Try to study for at least 1-2 hours at a time to get in the zone. Also take some practice exams in coffee shops and libraries. This will help you get used to distractions and annoyances in case your test center is less than ideal.

6. Make simple diagrams for the logic games.

Creating a solid diagram will save you a great deal of time, so make one on the bottom of the page (there is no scrap paper on the LSAT). For each "if" question in the games, draw a small diagram next to that question. I always tell my students to save their work from previous questions, rather than erasing it. This allows them to look back at it later in the game. A few minutes here or there are crucial in allowing you to finish in the allotted 8 minutes and 45 seconds per game.

7. Don't worry about the writing sample.

Although it's unscored, and your brain is bound to be fried at the end of five 35-minute sections, LSAC still requires it. Otherwise, your LSAT score won't be valid. Make it easy for law school admissions counselors to read. Write in script if you are able to do so legibly. The longer it is, and the more paragraph breaks you use, the better. This is true for college seminar papers as well.

8. Exercise and eat healthy.

If you do not already exercise and eat healthy, now is the best time to start. You might feel like your brain is a machine, but it's actually organic gooky gray stuff. If you take care of it with exercise, which gets the blood flowing, and protein, which gives it energy, it'll take care of you on test day.

9. Only take it once.

Try to make the first time the only time. Don't take it first just to practice. Although most law schools no longer average LSAT scores when formally calculating your chances, they will see everything. You probably wouldn't want a first date to see a picture of you when you first wake up in the morning. Instead, you show yourself at your best. The same goes for test scores.

10. Choose your test site carefully.

Unfortunately, not all test sites are created equal. Students have told me that test centers can be uncomfortably hot or cold, so make sure to wear several removable layers just in case. At some test centers, the desks are too small and the test proctors are incompetent, so ask friends, advisors, and other knowledgeable individuals for advice on which test centers to avoid.

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