On Free LSAT Stuff

Free LSAT sample questions, tests, and prep materials are available for download all over the Internet.  That sounds great, right?  Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff is garbage.

Here, then, is an insider’s guide to the kinds of things you’ll find when you look for free LSAT preparation on the Internet: What to use, what to avoid, what to look out for—and, most importantly, why “free” LSAT prep may not be such a bargain after all.

Whenever any company gives something away for free, the first thing you want to do is ask why.  There are very few LSAT prep charities in this world :)

The two biggest prep companies—Kaplan and Princeton Review—give away free simulated LSAT tests.  You can find Princeton Review’s “demo” LSAT here. Kaplan offers its version here.

With both companies, you’ll need to provide detailed personal information before you’re allowed to see the “free” materials.  That’s not great, but what’s far, far worse is that the so-called “LSAT” you’ll be given by each company isn’t a real LSAT.  Instead, you’ll be answering questions written by the test-prep company.  These fake tests are widely rumored to be deliberately more difficult than the real thing, which is supposed to induce panic and drive you into the waiting arms of a behemoth test-prep company.

So one common approach companies take with free LSAT tests is to distribute a fake test and collect your personal information for future marketing.  Such an arrangement benefits the test-prep company more than it benefits you.

There’s only one source for real, authentic free LSAT questions: the LSAC itself.  The LSAC doesn’t even ask for your personal info before letting you download a free LSAT test.  (They don’t need to—if you’re applying to law school, they’ll know everything there is to know about you soon enough :) .)

The LSAC provides two free full-length tests and several sample questions with explanations on its web site.(You’ll notice that the official free sample LSAT is from 1996.  Find out what that tells us about the LSAT.)

Of course, you want more than just sample LSAT questions to work with.  You’ll also need some free LSAT strategies if you’re going to get a good LSAT score as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, in this regard, you’re kind of screwed.

Most of the free LSAT advice available on the Internet is pretty awful.  It ranges from hastily written text files posted by well-meaning tutors to the stuff you find on free law school forums.  As with everything else in the test-prep world, there’s a lot of the blind leading the blind.

Sometimes bad advice comes from pretty respected sources.  Check out PowerScore.com’s LSAT guessing advice .  You’ll notice it’s not much use.  In fact, its closing paragraph ignores a key aspect of LSAT design.

Also, make sure you steer clear of the LSAC’s own LSAT advice.  It’s not very good.  Which makes sense, if you think about it—if the LSAC taught everybody how to beat the LSAT, what use would the LSAT be?

Of course, I make free LSAT advice available on my web sites.  Like many companies, I do it as part of my marketing.

But my free LSAT strategies are different from those of other companies.  For one thing, I only ask for your email address, at the most (if you go to my free LSAT help through this web site instead of through my dedicated LSAT prep site, I don’t even ask for that).  For another thing, my free LSAT help is actually worthwhile :)

So here’s a link where you can get free parts of my LSAT Guide.

Here’s my test-prep white paper, which includes an LSAT example.

Here’s my earlier post with free advice on LSAT guessing.

These free LSAT aids provide useful advice while you’re preparing for the test.  Combined with the free LSATs available from the LSAC at the link I gave you above, they’ll help you understand the best way to approach the test.

Why do I give these samples away?  Two reasons.  First, I want to help people do better on the LSAT and weigh their rest prep options intelligently.  Second, I hope you’ll like my materials enough to invest a few dollars in them.

See, I know you’re looking for free LSAT prep.  I don’t blame you.  I wouldn’t pay a grand (or more) to learn how to take a test, either—in fact, I didn’t pay anything at all to learn about the LSAT, since I taught myself.  But trust me here—you’d be much better off dropping less than a hundred bucks to get the inside scoop from a guy who really knows his stuff.  You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble, you’ll end up with better advice than you’d get from a class costing thousands, and you’ll be able to send me as many LSAT-related emails as you like and get expert answers to your questions.

Even if you decide not to go with my LSAT advice, I’d still advise you to spend an hour or two with a good LSAT tutor (remember that they’re not all good!).  It could save you a lot of time and trouble.