Trainer or Manhattan for LR

Comments

• Tim Hortons Alum Member

  November 2018 edited November 2018 389 karma

  Hey @SabrinaI,

  Before 7Sage, I was on the Manhattan Prep package. Granted, my LSAT score after studying from this material wasn't great (I chalk this up to my inadequate studying methods as opposed to the material itself). I joined 7Sage as per a friend's recommendation and went through the CC just once and found that everything sunk in perfectly. By no means am I a logic genius, mind you; I went through the CC hella slowly and made sure I was confident in my understanding before I moved on to the next lesson. I wouldn't say that my familiarity with the CC concepts wasn't helped by the Manhattan material, but I can say that everything crystallized for me when I took my time on the CC. My CC timeline involved covering a few lessons each day for 4-5 hours, all within the span of ~3.5 months.

  If you have the time, I would recommend going through the CC again, making sure to not move on from a lesson until you've completely understood it. If you do this, I don't think you'll need supplementary prep.

  I know this doesn't necessarily answer your question, but since I went through the inverse, I figured I'd offer my experience as food for thought.

  Cheers!
• davidheffly3r Free Trial Member

  November 2018 10 karma

  Definitely the LSAT Trainer.
• 5 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  November 2018 27878 karma

  @"Tim Hortons" said:
  If you have the time, I would recommend going through the CC again, making sure to not move on from a lesson until you've completely understood it. If you do this, I don't think you'll need supplementary prep.

  I think this is fairly on point. I've worked with a lot of people who have tried to overcome their deficiencies through picking up more and more resources. While it's certainly true that different teaching styles and methodologies are more or less effective for different people, additional resources are unlikely to yield additional understanding unless there is a significant qualitative increase.

  You need to evaluate your own study methodologies. This is almost always where the problem is. What do you do to study these question types? How can you do it more effectively? What, exactly, is it about these questions you're struggling with? How can you target those specific areas of weakness within each question type? Start with answering these questions.
• 1 Like

  jspps2 Alum Member

  November 2018 18 karma

  For me, the Manhattan LR book was a great supplement to 7Sage. I (briefly) tried the LSAT Trainer, but it didn't click the same way that the Manhattan book did.

  I lucked out and got the LSAT Trainer from my local library, so it was easy to return when I decided it wasn't for me.

  I'd check both, if you can! See what makes more sense to you.
• SabrinaI Alum Member

  November 2018 27 karma

  I completely understand! I've gone over the flaw method questions, for example, many times but seem to keep getting these same q
• Bamboosprout Alum Member

  November 2018 edited November 2018 1694 karma

  I think it fully depends on study habit/methodology. I don't know how much material is actually out there, but from what I have, just in terms of materials, Manhattan has about 5x more material than the LSAT Trainer.
  Manhattan prep has MUCH much more material than the LSAT trainer, and has details for how to tackle every single type of question (I use a specific method for doing LG substitution questions based off of Manhattan's method), and a lot of stuff I've read is very theoretical, assumes a fair level of understanding, and doesn't take it easy on the student (this might be because I only refer to Manhattan for specific question types and didn't go through all their materials). Therefore, it takes much more discipline, time, and self reflection to take full advantage of.
  The LSAT Trainer is much more compact, but is sufficient for achieving a 170+ score. It basically holds your hand throughout the whole process, and starts from fundamental ideas, then easy applications, and goes all the way to mastery for the underlying fundamentals of LSAT, and therefore doesn't take the same level of discipline and time, and can be used by almost anybody who wants to study the LSAT.
• john1234-1 Alum Member

  November 2018 426 karma

  For what it's worth, Mike Kim (author of The Trainer) was the co-creator (along with Dan Gonzalez) of the Manhattan LSAT curriculum, and was the co-author of the Manhattan strategy guides. So the teachings are going to be quite similar but Manhattan LR will be more intensive on that section type. I would echo previous sentiments that fully utilizing 7sage is sufficient, although I will say The Trainer provided me with a fresh perspective.
• 1 Like

  Peaceofmind Alum Member

  November 2018 edited November 2018 446 karma

  Personally I prefer Manhattan. LSAT trainer is an all-in-one book and just not comprehensive enough for me to understand the material LSAT tests. But if you use it as supplemental for 7Sage cc, then that’s a different story. I never went through 7Sage cc so I can’t speak of that. I also read PowerScore LR bible, it’s very comprehensive too. I would rank Manhattan first, PS Bible second though, since I think Manhattan’s strategy works better for me.
• ML_LSAT_Killa Alum Member

  November 2018 267 karma

  I think this is fairly on point. I've worked with a lot of people who have tried to overcome their deficiencies through picking up more and more resources. While it's certainly true that different teaching styles and methodologies are more or less effective for different people, additional resources are unlikely to yield additional understanding unless there is a significant qualitative increase.

  I just made the mistake @"Cant Get Right" is talking about (again) picking up Manhattan LR. I would also take what he said about additional resources being unlikely to further your understanding further. If it is the case where you don't further your understanding, as you were seeking, then that time past without you moving toward your goal. In addition, each resource is going to use at least some differences (question classification, approach, etc) and depending on the differences and how you adjust to them it could actually have an additional consequence, besides just lost time. For resources, I would say find something that clicks and make sure you give it time. I have used a lot of different resources (LR Bible, Manhattan, LSAT Trainer, Blueprint, 7 Sage). The combination that seems to work best for me has been Trainer and 7Sage (only using trainer for LR). I would also say that the LR Bible, in my case, had some of those additional consequences. In my case, I know that I didn't give the trainer the time I should have, expecting faster results.