Barron's LSAT 2008 Review

So, for my LSAT prep, I decided primarily on self-study. Let me tell you about some of the materials I used.

I primarily used two books. The first, Barron's LSAT 2008, 12th Edition, by Jerry Bobrow, was my primary tool. This text is available at Amazon.com (here) or Barnes and Noble.com (here) for under $20. The highlights of this text are 5 full length LSAT tests, two of which are actual past tests. All sample tests have explanations for the answers.

The book starts off with a brief introduction, with such gems as "Beware of Distractor Answers!" and "Mark Your Test Booklet!" which should be fairly common knowledge to most at this point in the game. It then jumps straight into a diagnostic exam. The diagnostic is sort of useful, as it approximates your score, but it does not give you much help with determining your strengths and weaknesses on individual question types within each section. Questions on the diagnostic are also not rated as easy or hard, so you only get a fairly broad range. I generally scored slightly higher on this text's diagnostic than I did on the actual test, so be wary!

The book then gets into the best part, the detailed explanation of the types of questions in each section. The book in turn goes through each section and gives detailed information about the types of questions, why they are asked, how they are worded, and PLENTY of hints for solving them. I found this to be the most useful section of the book. It also approximates how many of each type appear on the actual test, so you can make some judgements about which to practice the most on. This was also most useful in assessing my strengths and weaknesses, since question types are narrowly divided, allowing me to see exactly which types were difficult. At the end of each section practice problems are given, and the book talks you through each slowly and carefully, and gives key hints.

The treatment of logical reasoning is decent. The book spells out various terms to describe logical reasoning and various fallacies (think of Philosophy 101, arguement ad hominem, etc.). This is actually much more useful than you might think, and a great refresher if you haven't had a similar course in ages.

The book's strongest section is analytical reasoning. The book goes through a variety of question types, and each is clearly explained. Also, several diagraming strategies are described, and in the example questions, the diagrams are fully drawn out for each question. When I sat for the test, I found myself spotting various types of questions and knowing exactly which diagram to draw for each.

The reading comprehension I found less useful, but this is also my strongest area, so I mostly glanced over it. There is some pretty good discussion on question types. The writing sample (generally regarded as the least important section) is also covered, but the advice on outlining is so elementary as to be nearly useless. The various sample prompts are highly effective in getting you prepared for what is on the test, however, and should not be discounted.

The book then finishes with four model tests, which I mostly used for additional question practice. I would recommend timing yourself on at least one for pacing practice, which I over looked and paid for on the test date. The answer explanations for these questions are somewhat brief. Generally, this is fine, because you mostly know the strategies and reasons, you just need to see if you are right. When you get one wrong, however, the limited explanations are frustratingly unhelpful.

The book concludes with a chart of ABA approved law schools, however the internet has much more useful data that is much easier to access, and much more accurate.

Overall, I found this resource to be highly useful and would recommend it to anyone. I can confidently say that it helped me immensely with my test prep, and was my primary tool. I approximate that I spent upwards of 70 hours with this book in preparation for my test.