Going to take the LSAT in October, just started prep yesterday...

[kaiser773]

I echo Noah's suggestion. The "10 real LSAT" family of books were far and away the best method of preparing for the test.

I bought a Princeton Review book (the large book geared towards those who weren't taking a class). It was helpful as an introduction to the test, but I didn't think its test-taking strategies were very good.

After skimming through the PR book, I bought the entire "10 real LSAT" series. I took most of the tests in one sitting under real conditions (ie timing) and used the others for practice on individual sections. By the time I took the test, I had done every section on every test LSAC publishes past #7 or so.

I was working full-time while studying, so I usually didn't have the energy to take a full test when I got home on weekdays. Splitting the tests up lets you get a section or two in most nights during the week, setting aside at least one weeknight for a full test (+ more full test(s) on the weekend, of course). Combining the sections and full tests, I averaged ~4 tests per week.

The only section where the courses help -- beyond simply requiring you to practice -- are the logic games. I would only spend the money on the course if you have substantial room to improve on that section.

I don't know much about the testprep services other than Kaplan and TestMasters (I think Powerscore is essentially a repackaged version of TestMasters, so I'd probably group them in too). I trained to teach at Kaplan, felt crummy trying to teach their (imho crummy) system, and switched to TestMasters. If you decide to take a class, go with TestMasters / Powerscore.

If you'd be able to practice on your own (w/o requiring them to make you practice), save your money and buy one of the testprep company's LSAT overview book and the entire LSAC series*.


*note on the LSAC series -- the test has changed over time, in terms of the relative difficulty & style of the sections, so the more recent tests will be more helpful than the older tests.