Speaker 1 (00:00): Hey guys, welcome back to
my channel. If you're new here, I'm Angela Vorpahl of angelavorpahl.com and the law school network on
Facebook. And I help new and aspiring law students learn the strategies to take control of your law
school career so that you can build a lawyering life on your own terms. In today's video,
I am addressing a question. I get asked all of the time, which is what is the best way to study
for the LSAT. Now I am not an LSAT expert other than I had to study for and take the LSAT myself.
So I was on a mission to go and find the best way to study for the LSAT and report back to you guys.
So I asked all of the law students I knew, all the lawyers I knew. I posted this question on
all of my social media accounts. Speaker 1 (00:46):
How did everyone study for the LSAT? And I have some good news and some bad news, depending on how
you look at it. But before we dive into that, be sure to stay until the end, because I will let
you guys know how I personally studied for the L and what I thought of that experience now, after
getting all of these responses from people, I realized that LSAT studying basically breaks down
into four different categories. So four different ways that you can approach the studying process
and the good news, bad news part of this is that there's no one way outranked all of the others,
or that was more common than all of the others. If you were to ask 20 different lawyers or law
students, how they studied for the LSAT, you're going to get 18 different answers. So the good
news part of this is that it's a really nice confirmation, that there are lots of
different ways to approach studying for this test and still be able to do really well.
Speaker 1 (01:42): The bad news part of this
is that law students tend to be very a type personalities who are looking for
the step by step approach to a clear path to success. And so if you are on the lookout for
the quote unquote, best way to study for the LSAT, it can be very frustrating and very daunting to
try to narrow down these options and pick one for yourself, because you're probably afraid you're
gonna pick the wrong ones. So let me assure you that all of these options are people are coming
from people who did really well, who really were excited and, um, really happy with their scores.
And so these four categories that we'll dive into are all eight options. It's just helpful
to know what they are. So you can start zeroing in on the best choice for you,
based on how much time you have to study for the LSAT based on how much money you're looking to
invest in the preparation process, and also the best way that you personally study and how much
direction you want in that process. Speaker 1 (02:43):
So the first approach is the free approach. And the good news here is that yes, there are free
LSAT prep resources. And by far the most popular one is Kahn Academy. It's a full blown program
that is completely free. I will definitely make sure to include the link below this video. So
that is option number one for the free approach. I've also heard of students
who go to their local library and check out LSAT prep books, specifically the power score Bibles
seem to be the favorite in this area. So you can't write in the books of course, but you can
check them out and make photocopies of any pages that you need to another, a way that you could
access free resources is through YouTube videos. There's also podcasts and blogs, but definitely
YouTube videos online that walk through certain questions of certain practice exams as well.
Speaker 1 (03:30): The second approach to LSAP
prep is the low cost DIY strategy. And by far the most popular resources I've heard in this category
are the LS trainer by Mike Kim, which is a do it yourself book that you can get on Amazon.
Max, I think buying it brand new is $115 buying it used. You can get it as cheap as $15.
Another really, really popular resource here is seven Sage. So seven Sage used to be free. It's
now $70 a month. So that's another program that you can invest in at a low price point,
and then also buying those power score Bibles. So if your local library does not have them, or
you want to be able to write in them, buying them new or used is another approach that you can use
in this category. The third approach is the full on LSAT prep program approach and there are a lot
of different options in this category. Speaker 1 (04:22):
So this is the toughest one to sort of nail down if you are interested in a prep
program, but I am going to give you guys a list of the ones that I've personally heard. Students
have good things to say about. So this is by no means an exhaustive list. I have personally
never used these programs, but ones that I have heard students speak of our blueprint,
LSAT engine, LSAT unplugged, LSAT demon, and LSAT max, you can expect to pay anywhere from $70
a month on the low end to $250 a month on the high end for these programs, usually they'll have month
to month subscription services, or they will offer a discount. If you sign up, for example,
for three months, six months or a year at a time, the fourth approach is private tutoring and
private tutoring can be really helpful. Once you have a clear idea of the types of questions that
are giving you the most trouble, the ones that you are consistently missing on practice exams.
Speaker 1 (05:13): And most of the programs I listed in
category, number three, have private tutoring add on services. So that is an option. There are also
independent tutors that all they do is private tutoring. So I'll be sure to include their
links and the comments below as well. And that is something that can be helpful once you have a good
baseline understanding of how to study and how to approach the test. Overall, now that we've talked
through the four major ways to study and prepare for the LSAT. I also wanna you guys, the five
biggest takeaways that I have gotten from talking to law students and lawyers and their approach to
taking the LSAT and the consistencies I've seen, and the people who have been really excited by
their scores and really, really enthusiastic about their personal preparation process.
And this goes across the board, regardless of the category of study process that they used.
Speaker 1 (06:05): These five things have been very consistent across
everyone. And the first one to keep in mind is to stick to a schedule. So whether that is you DIYing
it and self-studying, and making a schedule for yourself, or if you know yourself and, you know,
you need accountability paying a program or paying a tutor to help build that out for you, make sure
you are really, really vigilant about sticking to a study schedule. If you do that, you are so
much more likely to do the work you set out for yourself and be where you wanna be on test day.
The second one that I've heard from people is to start earlier than you think you need to. So sort
of the common general advice of how long it takes to study for the LSAT is about five to six months.
Now, not everybody has that time, but if you have the luxury of time, give yourself that time.
Speaker 1 (06:59): It really takes a while
to dig into this test and really understand it from the inside out and really get into
the nuances of the types of questions. So giving yourself more time than you think you're going to
need is also a consistent response that I've heard from people. Number three is to take full blown
exams. So while yes, it is important to sort of dig into the different categories of questions.
Nothing can replace actually taking the test in real test taking conditions. You
need to put yourself in sort of that stressful environment and really show yourself what the
time management aspect of the test is so that you are not experiencing those test
taking conditions for the first time in a real test taking scenario. So making sure you're
taking actual practice exams and one to two is usually per week is usually what you'll hear.
Speaker 1 (07:52): I think when I prepped, I took one a week,
but one to two is, is traditionally what people will say number or is to plan to take the LSAT
twice. Now you may not need to, but it really, really helps kind of set yourself up in a mindset
from the beginning of thinking that you have that second option. If something happens on exam day,
if you're just not that happy with your score, or if you just want to go ahead and see if you
can get a little bit higher building in that second test day into your overall study process
really helps put you in a strong mindset for how long this entire process could be to get you to
the score that you want. And number five would be that the LSAT is worth its weight in gold.
The number metric that law school admissions are looking at is your LSAT score.
Speaker 1 (08:44): And so the higher you can get that score.
Number one, the more admissions that you can get into different law schools, but more importantly,
the more scholarship money you can get. And so the goal is to get that score as high as
possible so that you can pay for law school as little as possible and get that price tag down.
So those are my five big takeaways after talking with a bunch of people and a bunch of different
approaches. So regardless of the category you choose, regardless of the strategy, you choose,
keep those five things in mind. So there you have it guys. And before you go, if you are currently
studying for the LSAT or you have already studied for the LSAT and you're in law school, or you're a
practicing lawyer, and you've gotten to this point in the video, please let us know in the comments,
what you did to study for the LSAT. Speaker 1 (09:29):
And on a scale of one to 10, how much you would recommend that to someone else starting the
process for the first time, I'm hoping that we can get a version of a non-scientific poll going where
everybody is being very open and honest about their approach and how much they would recommend
it to someone else to really help you guys who are just starting to get more information about
the strategies for law school prep. And, and also don't forget if you haven't joined us yet
inside the law school network, Facebook group, be sure to click on the link in the description
below because we have over a thousand law students and pre-law students, all sharing tips, tricks,
strategies, and experiences, including how they personally studied for the LSAT. So you can get
some really, really great feedback. It's a really great resource. So I can't wait to
see you guys inside. Speaker 1 (10:19):
And I almost forgot for those of you who have stuck through to the end.
I am more than happy to share with you how I personally studied for the LSAT,
which was through a program called test prep guy in Austin, Texas. So it was an in-person program,
shout out to Randall and Amanda. It was absolutely wonderful they're fantastic coaches and tutors,
and they absolutely pour everything they have into their students to help them get the highest
grade possible. So if you guys are in the Austin area, be sure to check them out and to give you
a bit of a frame of reference. I think that my diagnostic test was 155 and then I took the LSAT
for the first time and I got a 160 and then I took the LSAT a second time and I got a 165. So that
10 point increase is around what you will see programs promising if you put in the work day in
and day out. So 10 to 12 points is usually what you'll see the promise being. So just to give
you a frame of reference, that was my experience. And with that, I hope this video was everything
you hoped it would be. And I cannot wait to see you guys in the next one inside the law school
network, Facebook group. And I hope you guys have a wonderful week. That's it for this one. Bye.