Studying for the LSAT

Every administration of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) assesses largely the same body of knowledge and skills. Dozens of past LSATs are publicly and legally available. You can access them through LawHub, LSAC’s official online portal. You can also buy bundles of ten tests in book form through Amazon. (The official LSAT is administered digitally, unless your accommodations request for a paper version is granted.) While you can study these tests directly, most people use one or more courses, mobile apps, tutors, or books to help them prepare for the test. The main three approaches are presented below. More information is available elsewhere on this site about how to decide on an approach that is best for you.

Self-Study: Traditionally, self-study for the LSAT meant reading various LSAT prep books. Many still use such books. However, today, many instead use pre-recorded digital video lectures and other digital content on websites and mobile apps. While self-study is generally the cheapest method of LSAT prep, books are not responsive, and most digital content is not as responsive as a good human instructor. However, digital content is becoming more sophisticated, and the best digital platforms are probably superior to average human instructors at this point — but expert human instructors are still superior to digital platforms. View a list of self-study resources.

Courses: LSAT courses taught by human beings vary in class size, responsiveness, quality, and other features. Some are taught in-person, others are taught online. Good courses are normally more expensive than self-study resources, less expensive than many individual tutoring programs, and offer a higher level of responsiveness and adaptability than many self-study resources. View a list of LSAT courses.

Individual Tutoring: Individual tutoring can provide the most highly tailored and customized study experience. The cost of expert tutoring is often substantially higher than the cost of courses and self-study materials. While there are individual tutoring programs that cost only as much as good courses, they should probably be avoided, since the best courses are probably superior in quality to average tutors. View a list of individual tutoring services.

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