Khan Academy LSAT Videos - what do you think?

brigittebrigitte Free Trial Member
edited May 2018 in Logical Reasoning 432 karma

EDIT: Hmm can't figure out how to just paste the link - it goes to a video link that doesn't work.

Google Khan Academy LSAT youtube and you will see 6 videos on their channel.

Comments

  • _oshun1__oshun1_ Alum Member
    3652 karma

    Just from seeing the little icon preview of the youtube video for an LG explanation I dislike it already. That harvesting LG is pretty simple and straight forward. Whatever is going on with the way they diagram is super confusing/messy/hard to follow.
    I dont even want to know what their method is for other sections bc 7sage is really working for me and I dont want to be confused by all that.

  • Habeas PorpoiseHabeas Porpoise Alum Member Sage
    edited May 2018 1866 karma

    I actually participated in the Beta (just to check it out 'cause I was curious --- the program is made jointly with the LSAC), but I was honestly not a fan. It doesn't hold a candle to 7Sage. I'm not allowed to share details until the June 1st public release though.

    But on the flip side, it's free so I think it's important in giving access to a wide range of individuals who might otherwise not be able to afford specific LSAT resources.

  • brigittebrigitte Free Trial Member
    432 karma

    @"Habeas Porpoise" said:
    I actually participated in the Beta (just to check it out 'cause I was curious --- the program is made jointly with the LSAC), but I was honestly not a fan. It doesn't hold a candle to 7Sage. I'm not allowed to share details until the June 1st public release though.

    But on the flip side, it's free so I think it's important in giving access to a wide range of individuals who might otherwise not be able to afford specific LSAT resources.

    Thanks, please share once you can!

  • Seeking PerfectionSeeking Perfection Alum Member
    4428 karma

    @anonclsstudent said:
    EDIT: Hmm can't figure out how to just paste the link - it goes to a video link that doesn't work.

    Google Khan Academy LSAT youtube and you will see 6 videos on their channel.

    My gut instinct is the same as above. I think 7sage pretty much has it close to perfect on logic games. Additionally, 7 Sage's logic games explantions for all the test are available free online along with thevlesson on foolproofing. So I wouldn't use anyone else for games.

    I guess if you were really hard up and happened to be naturally really good at LR and RC, but fairly bad at LG(pretty much how I started) it might make sense to use 7 sage's free explanations for games and Khan Academy for LR and RC depending on how good those end up being. With the 7 sage starter course at $179 though and points on the LSAT being worth as much as they are in potential scholarships, I think this route would apply to very few people.

  • rxhevnttrxhevntt Member
    14 karma

    I owe a lot to Salman Khan---his was the voice that led me to my computer science degree. I was all set to tackle the LSAT while listening to the soothing sounds of Sal, but no such luck :neutral:

  • Habeas PorpoiseHabeas Porpoise Alum Member Sage
    1866 karma

    @anonclsstudent said:
    Thanks, please share once you can!

    Of course! :)

  • AudaciousRedAudaciousRed Alum Member
    2689 karma

    Same. I really don't care for it. Cant say why (promised not to), but I gave up on it and went back to just 7sage. I'm testing in June, so I need to focus at this point. I really did try, but I don't like it, and felt it didn't help me at this point in my journey. I was really bummed about it, to be honest. I used khan academy to get up to speed on my math skills and it saved me from having to take extra courses for my degree. I was hoping this would be as revolutionary for me, and it just wasn't.
    You'll be able to see for yourself in about two weeks, I think.

  • eRetakereRetaker Free Trial Member
    2043 karma

    I went through some of the video explanations for logical reasoning. The issue with the Khan Academy videos is that they're not really teaching from a test-taking perspective but from a philosophy course perspective, if that makes sense. Also, they are using quite a few practice problems from preptest 60s to 70s so just be mindful of that if you were planning to use those exams for full length practice. The lessons are similar to the LSAC official explanations found in the Superprep books which are honestly not the most intuitive. I personally didn't gain anything from the videos but I do think it's better than nothing for a low-budget study program. Note: I did not look through Khan's Reading Comp lessons so maybe those are better.

  • Lucas CarterLucas Carter Alum Member
    2804 karma

    A huge reason that I like 7Sage so much is that JY is so relatable. It feels like one of my good friends is walking me through LSAT prep, not a boring professor or textbook. I watched a few of the Khan academy videos and to me it is as if a robot is reciting a script and I lost attention quickly. JY's genuineness makes learning so much more engaging and less adversarial.

  • AudaciousRedAudaciousRed Alum Member
    2689 karma

    @"Lucas Carter" said:
    A huge reason that I like 7Sage so much is that JY is so relatable. It feels like one of my good friends is walking me through LSAT prep, not a boring professor or textbook. I watched a few of the Khan academy videos and to me it is as if a robot is reciting a script and I lost attention quickly. JY's genuineness makes learning so much more engaging and less adversarial.

    This.

  • brigittebrigitte Free Trial Member
    432 karma

    So what does everyone think?

  • AudaciousRedAudaciousRed Alum Member
    2689 karma

    I don't feel it prepares you as well for a paper test, practicing it on their website, and it definitely slows you down. My last PT with Khan Academy cut off a few mins of time on each section due to freezing issues. Skipping questions is slowed down due to having to click and load the site menu to go back and forth. I felt pretty good, even though I scored meh on it, because I probably lost 10 or more mins between all the sections due to website issues! At one point, the entire site nearly crashed mid quiz. Now, this could be due to our sucky internet out here, but the lack of ability to underline, make notes, etc is really annoying. There's no option to print anything.

  • brigittebrigitte Free Trial Member
    edited June 2018 432 karma

    Quick reaction:

    Sal Khan is not great at explaining LSAT problems. Doesn't break down problems in a step by step fashion - sometimes goes direclty answer choices without analyzing stimulus well up front. Does not even talk about reversed logic in a diagramming problem...doesn't use conditional arrows in the correct way (doesn't use them at all really)

    The other person is hard to listen to :(

    Sal reads stimulus first. The other person reads stem first.

  • Habeas PorpoiseHabeas Porpoise Alum Member Sage
    edited June 2020 1866 karma

    Full disclosure, I didn't get past the Express Diagnostic on KA.

    As I said in a previous post, I joined the Beta because I was curious. I've used KA to get a fundamental understanding in other subjects, and I think it's a great, free resource. Since they were working in collaboration with the LSAC, I was interested to see if I'd pick up any new insights (...I didn't).

    I started with the Express Diagnostic because I didn't have time for the full one. I also wouldn't get a tailored study plan without completing the diagnostic and wasn't exactly able to bypass it.

    So, the diagnostic questions themselves weren't particularly difficult. Most of them would probably be around 3-star difficulty here on 7Sage, and there was one question I'd guess is a 4-star NA question. They seemed to rate how good you were with a question-type based on just one diagnostic question of that type and that was definitely a bit iffy to me. However, my biggest concern as I was doing the questions were the fact that I hadn't seen them before. I'd taken at least 20 PTs before joining the Beta, and none of the questions that I was working on looked like pre-PT35 questions (which I've drilled on multiple occasions -- they have a different "vibe"). I realized with dread that it was probably from a PT I hadn't seen before. On the feedback page they said they likely wouldn't include PT information until the full release.

    I ended up finishing four of the six sections of the diagnostic (two LR sections with 5 questions/section and two logic games) before finally bailing. In case this was a PT I hadn't seen before I didn't want to do the two RC passages since that would completely ruin the test for me -- I tend to not forget long-form things I've read.

    While chatting with some of my close, very knowledgeable and experienced 7Sage friends, I was informed that the questions I had done were from PT78. My first reaction was "WTF" when I realized the Express Diagnostic was from such a recent PT. I mean, I was probably an idiot for not stopping as soon as I realized the questions were ones I hadn't seen before or at least Googling to check where the questions were from. Still, I was pretty frustrated since I'd basically seen a quarter of a recent PT I hadn't taken yet. Again, I'm just really glad that I didn't see the RC passages. (I also wonder if they used PT78 for their full-length diagnostic.)

    After that I didn't really go back. I took a brief look at some of the introductory lessons on grammar and question types (similar in purpose to the CC here), but it was a lot of text that wasn't very engaging (especially considering I'm solid with those concepts already). The videos aren't terrible, imo, but are a bit lacking in terms of emotion, if that makes sense. There's a sort of a passion in the videos JY creates that, to me, makes them especially engaging. This test can get a bit emotional (like how I've wanted to light certain questions on fire), and the way JY saw wrong ACs with outrage (something like, "how dare they even include such a terrible AC!") made it so much easier for me to see how certain questions were the LSAC trying to trick me, and that mentality has carried over to how I dissect stimuli and ACs on the test now. That didn't really happen when reading/watching the explanations on KA. It was very methodical, which might be perfect for people who learn best that way, but I like what I've found here better. Regardless, even if it weren't for the Express Diagnostic leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I don't think, with the stage of prep I'm in and with the fantastic resources I already have that work for me, that I would have gone back.

    TL;DR: The Express Diagnostic is from PT78. I don't have a clue what they were thinking. I bailed after realizing I might risk continuing to ruin PTs I haven't seen. The KA version of the CC isn't terrible but is a lot more textbook-like and methodical, lacking the passion and relatability of 7Sage's CC and JY's explanations, imo. KA is great, but the little I saw of their LSAT course missed the mark for me.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited June 2018 23929 karma

    Definitely not a fan for all the reasons above lol

  • brigittebrigitte Free Trial Member
    432 karma

    The text-based lesson materials are actually quite good. The video instructors are not good, but it does make sense for students to read the textual curriculum.

  • AudaciousRedAudaciousRed Alum Member
    2689 karma

    Omg @Alex That video is gold. I literally laughed out loud. :smiley: Thanks for that.

  • Cant Get RightCant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage 🍌 7Sage Tutor
    27900 karma

    I just watched a Khan LG explanation on a whim and it was so bad. It's like they got a kindergarten teacher and told them to replicate JY's videos for preschoolers and to do a shitty job even at that.

  • lexxx745lexxx745 Alum Member Sage
    3190 karma

    better than nothing, not even close to 7sage.

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    While it's good that there's a free resource available that uses real questions, there are few if any citations to actual PTs so you have to look up a question to find an explanation rather than going directly to it. And it's concerning that it uses recent tests for practice material and again it was only by looking up questions that this critical issue was made apparent.

  • jlewis2618jlewis2618 Member
    69 karma

    Almost 2 months into studying and just realizing that Khan Academy is a great way to study if you want a median LSAT score, but if you want more then they are a liability. Not knowing where I might encounter one of the hundred un-cited questions sets I've gone through on my future PT's is not a good feeling.

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