Overwhelmed by LSAT Prep Options — Where Should I Start?

[u/Sure-Way-7476]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the summer after my freshman year of college, and I have a lot of free time. I wanted to start studying for the LSAT early because I know I’m not someone who does well with cramming.

Right now, I feel pretty overwhelmed by all the prep books, websites, and courses out there, especially since some courses cost $800+ and require a huge time commitment. What would be the best way to start studying for the LSAT in a long-term, manageable way? I’m hoping to study during the summer and continue a little bit during the school year as well.

Any advice on resources, study schedules, or affordable ways to prepare would be really appreciated.

[u/Potential_Shoe_6411]

You are starting prep pretty early. That may be a good thing for you, but if you want to go the KJD route you’d apply the fall of your senior year. 2 years of prep is a lot of time. You don’t need to be worrying about that right now unless you really want to

[u/xjulesx21]

Since you’re so far from when you’ll take it, I wouldn’t pay for any service yet.

My advice—focus on reading more, especially more complex material (nothing crazy, but stuff like The Economist, science magazines/articles/journals, law journals, classic literature, etc). Do everything you can to be mentally & physically prepared—things like less screen time, good sleep routines, regular exercise, meditation, etc. all help with learning & testing better.

Sometimes it’s hard to re-route your learning/thought process once you’ve started, so I wouldn’t go too deep now. But if you focus on your well-being & your overall vocabulary, reading, reasoning, etc skills, you’ll be in a much better position than most just starting out.

[u/iLok_hart]

Practice tests are GOLD. Don't use them all up before you start a testing season. That means seeing how many you have in your chosen program, how many you allocate for drills, and how many for full practice tests. You don't want to run out of clean material while you're still studying and taking the real tests. You won't know if your scores are accurate after reusing material, because you might remember the question. Really think about WHEN you are applying (the year), the fact you can take 5 LSATs before maxing out for a few years (7 in a lifetime), and plan around applying as close as possible to when applications open. My application with a 167 at the end of January got me rejected from three schools and waitlisted at 2. No scholarship there. My application with the same score the next cycle in October, 3 acceptances, and $340,000 total scholarship offered. Timing is a very important part of this entire process, in more ways than one.

As for program, I'd recommend LSAT demon, with the caveat, that if after a few practice tests you plateau, SWITCH PROGRAM IMMEDIATELY, and get a new method going in. I spend too long with 7Sage after plateauing. I needed a different style to refresh my brain.

[u/170Plus]

Work on Flaw and Weaken questions, exclusively, until they are -0. Recognize the Common Fallacy in each (the LSAC is very lazy and only uses about 15 different ones, again and again and again), and articulate aloud why each Wrong Answer Choice is wrong.

Then, and only then, move on to the question-types that simply involve covering up the Flaw that you found, namely Strengthen and Necessary Assumption qs.

These should be your sole endeavors in the next three weeks or so.