Khan Academy LSAT prep

[oliviaspencer80]

Hey guys, 

has anyone been using the Khan academy LSAT self-study prep? I’ve been using it and it seems pretty informative in terms of walking you through why each answer is wrong/right and they have really good video explanations and tutorials. Is anyone who’s using this also using something else to study? I just don’t have a study plan but khan academy has a “study plan” already engineered based on your strengths and weaknesses and what you need to work on. But it makes me do all 3 sections (LR, AR & RC) everyday as opposed to focusing on one section per day or every two days or whatever. Any advice on what’s more effective? Or any recommendations for study plans or tips? 

[erin otoole]

How far out is your  LSAT? If its 4-6 months here is my recommendation, take in mind below is for my fellow poors that can't afford classes and tutoring. 

1. Max out the Khan free lessons and practice tests, there are only so many questions and eventually you will start getting repeats. However, this practice is enough to punch through to the 160s for some people, and bob's your uncle. 

2. If you aren't into the 160s (like me) you will notice a pattern of problems. My RC and AR were no problems, my score would only drop if I lost focus. However Khan told me to keep working on LR, so I religiously watched the videos and lessons on each question. But this meant the website forced repeat questions to me, losing the effectiveness. 

3. I went to my school, and public library to get the LR books, and really hammered down on that section. 

In short, use Khan to get a general sense of the LSAT and then focus in on your weaknesses. Using Kahn and the library can decrease your costs significantly.  In the alternative, use Khan, learn weaknesses, buy the books/tutors knowing what your problems are. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by erin otoole

[StephenToast]

10 minutes ago, oliviaspencer80 said:

Hey guys, 

has anyone been using the Khan academy LSAT self-study prep? I’ve been using it and it seems pretty informative in terms of walking you through why each answer is wrong/right and they have really good video explanations and tutorials. Is anyone who’s using this also using something else to study? I just don’t have a study plan but khan academy has a “study plan” already engineered based on your strengths and weaknesses and what you need to work on. But it makes me do all 3 sections (LR, AR & RC) everyday as opposed to focusing on one section per day or every two days or whatever. Any advice on what’s more effective? Or any recommendations for study plans or tips? 

Personally I followed the study plan until I started recognizing the questions since their question bank is not huge. After that I switched to writing two timed PT a week till my test date.

[DreamsOntheHolodeck]

In my experience, the study plan that the Academy prepped was effective. I saw a 6 point increase from my diagnostic to my actual test (with 2 months study), which I think is good, but read that as you will. I'd say that your plan should depend on how many months you've got until your test. If you have quite a while, then doing around 1 or 2 tests per week is the minimum alongside the practice questions, and if you can separate one or two exams quite apart from one another, then you could get a good idea of how well the methods are sitting with you. If your test is really close, then I'd say forget about the practice sets that Khan is recommending you and just focus on the exams. Do as many exams as you can with all the appropriate exam conditions--without burning yourself out. You can also get a whole bunch of practice exams from the lsac website, which I found useful even if I didn't end up using them all. 

Also, don't forget that while Khan provides you with practice sets which, as you've mentioned, state how strong you are in that category, there's a variety within each category. So, you could be advanced in Analytical Reasoning when it comes to grouping, but medium when it comes to some other AR subcategory. That could be why it's recommending that you do all three sections. 

I also had the LSAT study bibles, but I didn't rely on those as much, typically resorting to them when I couldn't use my laptop, like at work or when it was nice outside and i still wanted to get some studies going. I think they're good insofar as teaching you particular methods and "tricks", or common mistakes to watch out for. That being said, if you can still get them for cheap, I'd recommend them. Better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them. 

Hope something I've said turns out helpful. 

N.B. I didn't use any other study guides other than the bibles, Khan, and the lsac practice exams. 

Good luck!

[oliviaspencer80]

Thank you guys for your helpful advice!! My test will be in January, the week of Jan 15th. It’s still TBD.

So I did notice that they don’t have a huge question bank on Khan academy because I started to see repeats when I was drilling LR and RC. It does help to switch to their medium & advance levels though. Problem is that once you pass a stage, you’re not able to go back and change the level to medium or advance so I’m kinda confused as to how I should navigate that, I’ll figure it out eventually. But the advice about doing practice tests frequently throughout the week is really good, that’s what my next step was going to be. Right now khan academy has scheduled practice tests for me every couple weeks but I’ve started doing two per week since I started studying which was a month ago and my points have gone up but not by much. But I would like to do as many practice exams as possible so my brain is wired to think and respond a certain way until after I write the LSATs. So I’ll be doing Khan academy practice & every practice test imaginable lol 

[Pizzaandpasta]

Khan academy’s practice tests are two 35-min sections and then a 10 min break, followed by another two 35 min sections, for a total of 4 sections and a 10 min break. This will be the format for the January LSAT correct?? Not 5 sections?  

[Renerik]

6 hours ago, Pizzaandpasta said:

Khan academy’s practice tests are two 35-min sections and then a 10 min break, followed by another two 35 min sections, for a total of 4 sections and a 10 min break. This will be the format for the January LSAT correct?? Not 5 sections?  

Correct. For the foreseeable future the LSAT will be four sections with a 10 minute break after the first two sections.

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

Get the full LawHub account on LSAC - this was so so helpful to me, because it is exactly what you will see on test day. Even if you are doing one section and reviewing it, do it on this website. 

[Pizzaandpasta]

Thank you so much!! 

[Pizzaandpasta]

13 hours ago, Dee said:

Get the full LawHub account on LSAC - this was so so helpful to me, because it is exactly what you will see on test day. Even if you are doing one section and reviewing it, do it on this website. 

It’s just like 4 or 5 tests available right? I think you have to upgrade to the premium version if you want more tests. Just making sure we’re talking about the same thing on LSAC’s Law Hub 

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

11 hours ago, Pizzaandpasta said:

It’s just like 4 or 5 tests available right? I think you have to upgrade to the premium version if you want more tests. Just making sure we’re talking about the same thing on LSAC’s Law Hub 

yes exactly! I got the premium version and it was very helpful at something like a 100 bucks. I know LSAT studying can be very expensive (I cried over it once) but this was one purchase I did not regret. They released a couple tests I believe at the end of this September that mirrors exactly the format they are using right now. I used these tests the week before my actual test and they were so encouraging and helpful. I did the test twice, the second time I really emphasized using LawHub and reviewing on it etc and I think it contributed a lot to the 165 I got. feel free to PM me if you have any questions!