Book Buying Advice - SuperPrep I or II? Forum

[DogsArePeopleToo]

Hello TLS community,

I've been lurking about for a while and benefiting from the amazing advice from people. This is my first post. I am just beginning my LSAT prep and have been pondering the same question everyone does: which prep program is the best and what books to buy.

As for the best prep program, I think any one of the good ones - Manhattan, 7Sage, Blueprint, Testmasters - should be fine as long as I put in the work...which brings me to the second question about the books. I have decided on a list, but I'm not sure whether to buy SuperPrep I or II. Does anyone have any advice?

FYI, I have decided on these books:

> Powerscore bible trilogy
> 10 New Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests with Comparative Reading: (PrepTests 52-61)
> 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 7-18; already had this, so will use it)
> Also have preptests 66-69
> Also have Kaplan's Workbook and Premier from an abortive 2015 attempt at LSAT prep

Anything else I should get?

FYI, I am an international student living in a country where neither the postal system nor the internet is anything close to reliable. This means I will only be able to do online courses with videos that can be streamed on a modest internet connection. I also will not be able to order multiple shipments (Powerscore charges me $300 plus to ship its trilogy!!).

Many thanks for your insights.

[galeatus]

Hello TLS community,

I've been lurking about for a while and benefiting from the amazing advice from people. This is my first post. I am just beginning my LSAT prep and have been pondering the same question everyone does: which prep program is the best and what books to buy.

As for the best prep program, I think any one of the good ones - Manhattan, 7Sage, Blueprint, Testmasters - should be fine as long as I put in the work...which brings me to the second question about the books. I have decided on a list, but I'm not sure whether to buy SuperPrep I or II. Does anyone have any advice?

FYI, I have decided on these books:

> Powerscore bible trilogy
> 10 New Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests with Comparative Reading: (PrepTests 52-61)
> 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 7-18; already had this, so will use it)
> Also have preptests 66-69
> Also have Kaplan's Workbook and Premier from an abortive 2015 attempt at LSAT prep

Anything else I should get?

FYI, I am an international student living in a country where neither the postal system nor the internet is anything close to reliable. This means I will only be able to do online courses with videos that can be streamed on a modest internet connection. I also will not be able to order multiple shipments (Powerscore charges me $300 plus to ship its trilogy!!).

Many thanks for your insights.

LSAT trainer is a good book to have - it's not necessary but you might find it helpful in addition to the books listed above.
You should probably buy the rest of the PTs as well, or the Cambridge drilling packets(cos you're probably gonna be using the older PTs for drilling only anyway). Do buy all of the latest PTs (PT70-80) as the questions in them are of a slightly different style than the older PTs.
Also, Superprep II is probably more useful cos it's newer.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

LSAT trainer is a good book to have - it's not necessary but you might find it helpful in addition to the books listed above.
You should probably buy the rest of the PTs as well, or the Cambridge drilling packets(cos you're probably gonna be using the older PTs for drilling only anyway). Do buy all of the latest PTs (PT70-80) as the questions in them are of a slightly different style than the older PTs.
Also, Superprep II is probably more useful cos it's newer.

Thank you. The Cambridge drilling packets contain different content than the "10 official lsat" series? If it's the same, does it have any added value beyond being a reprint?

[Mikey]

LSAT trainer is a good book to have - it's not necessary but you might find it helpful in addition to the books listed above.
You should probably buy the rest of the PTs as well, or the Cambridge drilling packets(cos you're probably gonna be using the older PTs for drilling only anyway). Do buy all of the latest PTs (PT70-80) as the questions in them are of a slightly different style than the older PTs.
Also, Superprep II is probably more useful cos it's newer.

Thank you. The Cambridge drilling packets contain different content than the "10 official lsat" series? If it's the same, does it have any added value beyond being a reprint?

the Cambridge packets' sections are split up into types (LR: question type, RC: subject type, LG: game type) and are also arranged in order of difficulty.

it's useful to do the same types of things at once so you can get that specific thing down. look them up, but be aware that they stopped selling them so now all you can do is get them used (or maybe new if you get lucky) from eBay/amazon, but people sell them for ridiculous amounts now. Powerscore has similar packets to it though, and I believe Manhattan prep does as well!

[DogsArePeopleToo]

it's useful to do the same types of things at once so you can get that specific thing down. look them up, but be aware that they stopped selling them so now all you can do is get them used (or maybe new if you get lucky) from eBay/amazon, but people sell them for ridiculous amounts now. Powerscore has similar packets to it though, and I believe Manhattan prep does as well!

Thank you! I have a book from Kaplan -- 2012, I think? -- that does the same thing...questions broken down by section and then by difficulty level. They call it the Mastery Practice. Only thing is, these questions are drawn from actual prep tests, so you risk ruining a good prep test by doing the questions in these books.

[Mikey]

it's useful to do the same types of things at once so you can get that specific thing down. look them up, but be aware that they stopped selling them so now all you can do is get them used (or maybe new if you get lucky) from eBay/amazon, but people sell them for ridiculous amounts now. Powerscore has similar packets to it though, and I believe Manhattan prep does as well!

Thank you! I have a book from Kaplan -- 2012, I think? -- that does the same thing...questions broken down by section and then by difficulty level. They call it the Mastery Practice. Only thing is, these questions are drawn from actual prep tests, so you risk ruining a good prep test by doing the questions in these books.

the Cambridge packets are from actual prep tests as well. which is why people usually get certain editions that take questions anywhere from PT1 to PT40, so that way you have 40+ to use as fresh PTs

[twiix]

it's useful to do the same types of things at once so you can get that specific thing down. look them up, but be aware that they stopped selling them so now all you can do is get them used (or maybe new if you get lucky) from eBay/amazon, but people sell them for ridiculous amounts now. Powerscore has similar packets to it though, and I believe Manhattan prep does as well!

Thank you! I have a book from Kaplan -- 2012, I think? -- that does the same thing...questions broken down by section and then by difficulty level. They call it the Mastery Practice. Only thing is, these questions are drawn from actual prep tests, so you risk ruining a good prep test by doing the questions in these books.

the Cambridge packets are from actual prep tests as well. which is why people usually get certain editions that take questions anywhere from PT1 to PT40, so that way you have 40+ to use as fresh PTs

I think I actually have the 3 RC books of drilling packets. I'll have to check for sure when I get home but I'd be willing to sell them if anyone is interested

[twiix]

I've got the physical books of the RC sorted by type; Vol 1 (PT1-20), Vol 2 (21-40), and Vol 3 (41-60). I'd probably do 200$ shipped for all, or 80$ a piece individually. They're selling 200$+ each, on amazon and ebay, but if someone from here with some sort of post history or reputation of studying, I'll part with them for significantly cheaper.

I also have the PDF packets of LR and LG, but those being digital is a bit more tricky.. just hit me up if you have any interest.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

What does everyone think about The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim? It seems to come recommended by Grame at LSAT Hacks and by the Best LSAT Prep Books website.

[galeatus]

What does everyone think about The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim? It seems to come recommended by Grame at LSAT Hacks and by the Best LSAT Prep Books website.

I found the exercises in it only moderately helpful, but nevertheless I think it explains the correct thinking processes for tackling different types of questions better than the PS/Manhattan guides. Oh and it's also a much better book in terms of introducing you to exactly what skills the LSAT is testing.

If you don't mind spending the extra money I think it's not a bad book to have in your (possibly ever-growing) LSAT arsenal.

[34iplaw]

What does everyone think about The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim? It seems to come recommended by Grame at LSAT Hacks and by the Best LSAT Prep Books website.

I will say the same thing every time anyone inquires about The LSAT Trainer.

UTILIZE HIS WEBSITE - He is super accessible, friendly, and helpful on his site. Not that you need to buy the book to use the site or gain access to him (I don't recall having to enter some keycode), but you probably should if you are going to take advantage of the ask him on his forum.

Also, it's Graeme IIRC.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

I found the exercises in it only moderately helpful, but nevertheless I think it explains the correct thinking processes for tackling different types of questions better than the PS/Manhattan guides. Oh and it's also a much better book in terms of introducing you to exactly what skills the LSAT is testing.

If you don't mind spending the extra money I think it's not a bad book to have in your (possibly ever-growing) LSAT arsenal.

Thanks! I read some of its reviews on Amazon saying the book references practice questions that are in books that are supposed to be complements to the Trainer, so we're really supposed to buy more than this one book to full take advantage of it?

[twiix]

I found the exercises in it only moderately helpful, but nevertheless I think it explains the correct thinking processes for tackling different types of questions better than the PS/Manhattan guides. Oh and it's also a much better book in terms of introducing you to exactly what skills the LSAT is testing.

If you don't mind spending the extra money I think it's not a bad book to have in your (possibly ever-growing) LSAT arsenal.

Thanks! I read some of its reviews on Amazon saying the book references practice questions that are in books that are supposed to be complements to the Trainer, so we're really supposed to buy more than this one book to full take advantage of it?

I'm not really sure what you mean by the "references....complements to the trainer" part. You don't need any other book besides The Trainer. It has the practice problems printed on the pages. You don't need to buy additional books to complete it and benefit from it.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

I'm not really sure what you mean by the "references....complements to the trainer" part. You don't need any other book besides The Trainer. It has the practice problems printed on the pages. You don't need to buy additional books to complete it and benefit from it.

OK, thank you. This answers my question!