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The Best LSAT Prep Books

When thinking about taking the LSAT, you have to start somewhere.
Apr 2, 2023

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. LSAC Prep Books
  3. "The Established" Players
  4. "The books and only the books"
  5. The Open Seas and the LSAT
  6. Related Articles

The Best LSAT Prep Books

Before you go any further, consider getting a 30-day free trial for Scribd. I don’t love pushing some rando product, but you can literally sign up (with a payment card, yuck) and then cancel 10 seconds later and still get access for 30 days. Scribd has a lot of prep books and a ton of downloadable tests that (if you cancel your free trial before it ends) you can get for free.

The Law School Admission Test, better known as the LSAT, is the main standardized test that law school admissions departments use to decide if you get into their JD program.

Competition for top law schools in the U.S. is intense. And for better or worse the LSAT matters a ton for your chances of getting into your dream law school. And because it matters, there is a whole industry that exists to help you do as well as possible on the test. At LSD, we think the test is learnable. Hard, but learnable. Because the LSAT is learnable, you should consider using the available resources to perform as well as you possibly can.

However, there are a lot of resources (books, classes, tutors) out there and it is hard to cut through all the noise. While you should consider books, classes, asynchronous programs, and tutors, books are the cheapest option so that’s usually where law school applicants start.

This article is about the ‘best’ LSAT prep books, but really the purpose is to highlight different categories of LSAT prep books in order to provide a little insight into the industry.

Category 1 of the Best LSAT Prep Books: Law School Admission Council (LSAC) books.

LSAC is the organization that creates and administers the LSAT. It stands to reason that their prep books are a good place to start. 

LSAC (a non-profit that seems to charge for a lot of things) provides (sells) a few different kinds of books: 

  1. Old LSAT tests
  2. Super Prep
  3. Triple Prep

Old LSAT tests

are exactly what they sound like. LSAC charges ~$17 for 20 old (~2009 and older) tests and ~$10 per new (~2010 and newer) test. If you want to find these tests you can search on Amazon for “Law school admission council” and then look for products by “Law School Admissions Council.” You can also get there by clicking on this link here. You can also find a lot of them on Scribd.

Triple Prep

books are 3-packs of past exams with a bit of a volume discount.

Super Prep books

include tests and an actual explanation of the answers. As far as we can tell, the most recent book came out in 2015 and is therefore a bit out of date. 

LSAC has also partnered with Khan Academy to offer a free, online prep course, which includes free old LSAT questions. You can check it out at Khan Academy. 

LSAC book summary:

LSAC makes the LSAT. You should definitely use the old LSAT tests to prepare. However, I’ve never heard of anyone using the Super Prep books to prepare for the LSAT.

LSAC books pros: 

Old LSAT exams are the best way to simulate the LSAT exam that you will eventually take. LSAC publishes almost every past exam and it’s definitely worth doing past exams. The best thing about Khan Academy is that it’s free and has real LSAT questions. If you’ve never heard of the LSAT before reading this article, the Khan Academy course is a good way to get yourself up to speed. If you’ve already dipped your toes in the pool and are looking to squeeze every last point out of the LSAT, you’ll find that Khan Academy is a bit too shallow for advanced study.

LSAC books cons:

Again, I’ve never actually heard of someone using the explanations in LSAC’s Super Prep books. The fact that even LSAC didn’t bother to refresh the Super Prep books after 2015 should tell you enough about how much effort was put into them.

Khan Academy has a fairly limited set of practice questions of each type, and they keep repeating over and over. Additionally, the practice questions and 'experimental' sections draw from recent PTs (I saw stuff from PT 54+) which 'burns' a section and prevents you from using the entire PT for timed practice.

Category 2 of the Best LSAT Prep Books: “The Established”

When I say Established, I mean for-profit LSAT prep book companies that have been around for a while and are well respected by previous test takers and industry professionals. 

PowerScore Bible

The PowerScore LSAT Bibles are a set of comprehensive self-study guides for the LSAT. These books are designed to help you master the skills necessary to succeed on the LSAT. The Bibles cover all aspects of the LSAT, from the basics of logical reasoning to more advanced topics such as game theory and reading comprehension. With clear explanations and detailed examples, the PowerScore LSAT Bibles are an essential resource for any student preparing for the LSAT. LSD co-founder cryptanon used these books.

Princeton Review Books

The Princeton Review books provide detailed explanations of the concepts tested on the LSAT, as well as practice questions and answer explanations. The books also include a full-length practice test, so you can get a feel for what the test will be like.

Kaplan LSAT Prep Books

There are a few different LSAT prep books on the market, but the Kaplan LSAT Prep Book is one of the most popular and well-respected options. The book is designed to help you score your best on the LSAT, and it includes six full-length practice tests, detailed explanations for every question, and strategies for tackling every section of the test. The books cover all of the topics you can expect to see on the LSAT.

Established LSAT prep books pros:

Tens of thousands of people have used these books and left happy. Popularity alone isn’t a reason to trust a product, but these companies all have full teams dedicated to giving you the best LSAT prep book experience. 

Established LSAT prep books cons:

They ain’t cheap. 

Category 3 of the Best LSAT Prep Books: The ‘books and only the books’ 

There are quite a few companies (and a few random but [probably?] competent HLS grads) who write books in an attempt to have one of the best LSAT prep books. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to try out all these options, but we wanted to share the majority that we could find so that you can research them yourself if you are looking for something off the beaten path. Also, if you share your experience with any of these with us we are happy to share your words with the world. 

The Road to 180 is an LSAT prep book by TestMax, a company that provides LSAT prep courses

The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim who used to work at Kaplan prep

Next Step Test Preparation we are pretty sure is a dead company. You can get some of the books on eBay if you want

Fox Test Prep provides a ton of books that cover each aspect of the LSAT

Next Step Test Preparation just promotes other courses 

Test Prep Books has pretty bad reviews on Amazon 

 APEX Test Prep's LSAT Prep Books has an LSAT tutor tool program too. If anyone has any experience with them, let us know.

The ‘books and only the books’ pros:

You can find some cheap ones so you might be able to prepare for the LSAT inexpensively. 

The ‘books and only the books cons: 

Since these are small companies they don’t really have accountability to customers. Every year a new cohort rolls through and it doesn't matter if these books are among the best LSAT prep books because someone who doesn’t know better will just buy them the following year. 

The Open Seas and LSAT Prep 

Many LSAT books (and old tests) are available via ebook on Scribd for pretty cheap (or free). You can also download most of the old tests by searching “LSAT” on certain websites that we at LSD would never promote. But did you know that before Wikipedia came along, people used to pay hundreds of dollars for encyclopedia sets?

Related Articles

  1. What is the LSAT?
  2. Law School Admissions Reddit
  3. Timeline for Applying to Law School
Windsor MIT '22, Harvard College Advisor

I am the half of LSD that didn't take the LSAT, or go to law school (Sorry about that). But I did go to MIT business school while surrounded by law students and lawyers, so I am somewhat qualified to talk about the intricacies of law school apps and finances.

Windsor (the dog) didn't write this but he WAS a Resident Tutor and career advisor at Harvard College with me, so deserves some credit.

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jb2028
18:36
By comparison, Tennessee has 2% of the class fail out (https://law.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023-ABA-Standard-509-Information-Report.pdf), 16% fail the bar even in a bad year (https://law.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/UTK-College-of-Law-Bar-Passage-20241.pdf), and just 1 in 10 did not find legal or JD advantage jobs (https://law.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/EQ-Summary-Report-Class-of-2023.pdf)
jb2028
18:38
Depending on your stats the answer could also be option C, reapply next year for >50% at Tennessee/substantial $ at other good schools (most spend their scholarship budget by June 30th), but that depends on your situation and goals
jb2028
18:39
Standardized info on curves is harder to find, but this says Elon curves to a 2.67 which is downright predatory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_school_GPA_curves
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
18:41
appreciate it. i am well removed from undergrad and am pushing through for this year. have significant business experience and want to do corporate law and/or property. not educated on the curve and how that works, will look into that
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
18:42
questioning whether i go to school for free at a lesser school or pay some out of pocket at a better name for the same degree at end of the day, the numbers don't lie
jb2028
18:54
@DisillusionedHomelessWalnut: The way the curve works is a below-median student at Tennessee (curves to a 3.1, so B/B+) can end up with a better GPA than an above-average student at Elon (curves to a 2.67/B-minus), so the student from Tennessee will have a better transcript *and* get better jobs on average than someone with the same class rank at Elon
jb2028
18:56
Your real alarm bell is Elon's curve (linked here, p. 70 https://eloncdn.blob.core.windows.net/eu3/sites/996/2019/07/2017-2018_Academic_Catalog-and-Student_Handbook.pdf) *requires* profs to give 20% of first-year students a C-minus or worse, when the school's bar for "satisfactory academic progress" is a C+ average
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
18:59
ooooffff. thanks. i mean, full ride is cool and all, but damn
jb2028
18:59
The only scenario where a school does something like that (curve to a 2.67, dismiss students below 2.25) is when they're admitting a lot of students who may not pass the bar, then flunking people out mercilessly so the school can keep its accreditation (ABA requires 75% of grads to pass the bar within two years, can't fail the bar if the school doesn't let you graduate)
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
18:59
the dean told me "no students had their scholarships reduced in the past three years, and to my recollection only one scholarship in 19 years has been reduced when a student was in good standing"
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:01
yeah, i get that and appreciate you validating that point. i like to think it really wouldn't apply to me and assume it happens due to the lower standards of admissions they utilize, but is it (full ride) worth the risk? that's the fly in the ointment
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:02
just trying to weigh all angles, seems like just biting the bullet and paying the modest amount to UTK is a smarter decision
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:04
end of cycle is for the birds, but i'm playing the hand i was dealt :)
jb2028
19:06
In general you are going to be better off at a school that wants its students to succeed. UTK seems to fit the description - they are not in any danger of losing their accreditation, don't need to force people out. Elon very much does not, if their bar passage drops 2% they'll be in violation of ABA requirements so they won't give students any leway
jb2028
19:06
*leeway
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:08
i appreciate your insight, friend
manifestmoreadmissions
19:11
im too lazy to provide the same level of detail as JB but I agree UTK seems like a better bet to actually achieve your career goals and set yourself up for success. I would understand being conflicted if it were like UTK vs Belmont or a lower ranked school that isn't considered predatory but because it's Elon that makes it more clear to me
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:15
thank you
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:17
the counterpoint bouncing around my head is basically "if i'm worth a damn, as i think i am, i'll be just fine no matter what the curve is" but you folks are nudging me in the direction of logic and common sense
manifestmoreadmissions
19:18
plenty of the people who fall behind are worth a damn it's just that some schools are basically set up to screw people over
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:19
yeah. fall behind as in....miss homework? can't keep up with readings? something else?
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:20
kinda nervous coming in as an untraditional guy around KJD's, billy madison vibes over here
jb2028
19:21
Re: costs, it's worth looking at costs all around, both schools cost (net tuition, $0 at Elon/$30K over 3 years if you're in-state at UTK) PLUS three years not earning money or advancing in your career, which is worth 6 figures if you make decent money now. $30K in tuition is a small share of total costs in this comparison
jb2028
19:24
"Fall behind" in this context means law school curves are rigid, no matter how hard everyone studies half the class will be below-median, 25% in the bottom quarter, etc. It's not super predictable either, so a student above GPA or LSAT median could still end up bottom half or 1/4 of the class
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:27
gotcha. predatory in that instance is certainly appropriate
manifestmoreadmissions
19:32
i am not kjd but im glad jb cleared that up for you lmao
jb2028
19:32
And assuming similar class rank, UTK grads tend to do better in public data. Top students at UTK have a shot at biglaw (pays $225K), top students at Elon end up at small/medium firms (worse pay). Average students at UTK can get jobs at small/medium firms, average students at Elon are on the bubble for any firm job at all. Below-average students at UTK have a shot at firm jobs or other work, below-average students at Elon might not get jobs (or pass the bar, or avoid academic dismissal). That's the major advantage of well-regarded schools - more upside, less downside
manifestmoreadmissions
19:32
but yeah just reiterating that you could be worth so many damns and still not do well because its set up for that
jb2028
19:37
(This is ignoring public service/government jobs, because the stats there don't tell us much about the type of job - "super competitive Department of Justice job in DC making $90K" and "local government job earning $50K" both get lumped together under the "public service" label, but say v. different things about a school's job placement
DisillusionedHomelessWalnut
19:38
really appreciate all the insight
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