How much studying is necessary for the LSAT?

Question

I know the general answer is "a lot", but what exactly does that mean? I would think 6 months is enough time to study, but I will also be in the middle of Spring Semester and juggling classes. Are a couple Kaplan books and the practice tests from LSAC. org enough, especially since I cannot afford a prep class? Does anyone have a particular method that yielded great results?

Answer 1

I recommend devoting a little time per day until you feel comfortable with the material and especially in the weak areas. An idea is at least 15-30 minutes a day. A test preparation book or software can help a lot in preparing for it. Their website does offer test preparation books and practice tests. Good luck!

Answer 2

No, the LSAT doesn't require studying, just like the SAT doesn't require studying. But boy are you at a disadvantage if you don't study.

I took the LSAT 6 months ago, so the advantages of studying are still fresh in my mind. As someone stated earlier, learning the "patterns" of questions is a great start. Become familiar with the directions of each section so that you don't waste time once you get to the test.

Learn the types of questions in each section. For example, reading comprehension usually has four passages: a science, a humanities, a minority, and other. If you are particularly comfortable with one subject over the other, order them and read the easiest one first, followed by the second easiest, etc. Same with the logic games. By practicing at least an hour a day for those six months, you'll become familiar with the practice of ordering these easily, and you won't waste time doing the harder questions. Remember, if you had all the time in the world these questions are easy enough to answer 100% correctly. It's the time constraints.

Keeping that in mind, one of the most important aspects of studying for the LSAT is completing enough full LSAT tests under similar time constraints as you would be in during the real test. You'd be surprised how hard it is to have an 8 hour day of LSATs with getting to the testing center, signing in, worrying, then finally spending those last 3-4 hours actually testing. You need to build testing stamina, and this requires at least one full exam, timed as you would be in the actual LSAT, for those 6 months.

By employing these techniques, especially learning WHAT a question is asking for (For example: a big questions on the LSAT is "what can be deferred". The answer you're looking for will have the weakest language, because few things can be deferred from a two sentence argument) and building test stamina, will put you in pretty good running for the real LSAT.

Answer 3

Technically, the LSAT requires no studying at all. It's not particularly suject knowledge intensive like some other standardized tests (like the SAT). It's designed more to test how you think, not what you know.

Still, you should study as much as possible. Because it's designed to test how you think, the questions are based on certain patterns. Do enough tests, and you can start seeing what the questions are asking. You'll "see" the pattern, so to speak. As such, you'll be able to answer faster and be correct more often.

6 months, if you put in a couple hours a day, will be plenty. Just make sure you keep doing those practice questions. When you "study" for the LSAT, you're doing practice questions. You're not memorizing vocab or things like that.

Answer 4

The LSAT should not require a great deal of preparation. It measures what you have learned during your Bachelor's degree and your ability to continue learning - particularly, reading comprehension. Relax, look over an LSAT prep book, and take the exam.