LSAT Prep Courses
 

Hey everyone,

I just registered for the June LSAT, and am now left the formidable task of studying. I was wondering if anyone had an suggestions on good prep courses out there. Which ones are the best to take? I have Princeton, Kaplan, Powerscore and Testmasters in my area. Just wanted to do some research before I pour $1000 into one of these courses.

Thanks

I just went with Kaplan. From what I can tell, all of the services out there are fairly similar. I can't say I drastically improved my score with it, but it did improve, and as a result of my score, and possibly a very aggressive letter-writing campaign, I got into the school I wanted to go to, and am now preparing to take on a ridiculous amount of student loan debt! :D

One thing that I found nice about Kaplan -- and I don't know that other services don't offer this -- is that their testing center kept long enough hours so that it was possible for me to come in on evenings and on the weekends to take practice tests. Also, the online portion of their homework was very helpful. I can definitely recommend Kaplan, but on the other hand, I can't say anything bad about the other systems out there. Best of luck.

I did Kaplan as well....although, like ktsnake said, I think they are all pretty similar. I think the class definitely helped me because I wasn't at all familiar with the test before I took it. The course helped me a lot with logic games in particular. I have heard good things about Testmasters from other people I go to school with but I think it's up to your personal preference! Good luck!

I took Princeton Review TWICE over the course of 7 months. My score on my first LSAT was only 2 points higher than diagnostic test I took on the first day of LSAT prep class. So after taking the class one time, my score went up by 2 points. I took the class again, and on the second LSAT, I got 2 points higher than the first one. So a total improvement of 4 points. Not bad for $1,200.00 :rolleyes: My teacher was cool and offered private sessions, but with our busy schedules, it was tough to meet one on one.

My advice: take a practice LSAT all the way through. If you are unhappy with the result, take a class, but not an expensive one. They are pretty much all the same. If you think your score is OK to get into the schools you want, get a book with practice LSATs and do them. The best way to improve is to just keep taking practice tests under timed conditions. Princeton Review had a good book that broke down the sections of the LSAT; how to set up the logic games, how to efficiently complete the reading comprehension portion, how to handle the arguments section...I would recommend that book, or one like it.

I took kaplan
 

I'll tell you what someone told me before I took it:

If you have the discipline to study A LOT on your own then you don't need it. If you don't think you do, then take it. After all it is only your future right? :)

I'll say this. I wanted to improve a lot more... but my score went up 5pts as a result of kaplan. That was enough to put me in the next score band and had I not been in this band none of the schools I'm looking at would even give me the time of day. So, I guess, I suggest it.

I didn't take a class. I took the LSAT twice, and my score went up 3 points the second time - but it put me into another score band, which is all I needed. I studied a decent amount on my own though, and had better things to spend $1200 on than a class.

I took Kaplan, and saw a 12 point increase from my first practice to the actual exam (I was TERRIBLE at the games). The tricks & pointers were priceless to me...and I am a verbal learner, so hearing it vs. reading it in a self-study/CD-Rom guide was priceless. Oh, and I got a full tuition scholarship to my second choice school, so the $1,000 bucks was a good investment.

I think that your learning style has a lot to do with it - I am not a verbal learner at all and get bored really quickly in that type of situation. :D

I took Kaplan and am a big proponent of it. You should check and see if the courses in your area will let you come and sit in on a class for free. I did that with Testmasters, Princeton Review and Kaplan. I had a decent but not amazing GPA and my LSAT score propelled me into the schools I really wanted to go to. My sister recently sat in on sessions at Testmasters and Kaplan and chose Kaplan too. My score went up 5 points, hers went up about 10. Check and see if your school student-alumni association qualifies you for any discounts.

Good luck!

ditto for me, and 3 point increase between the two as well

It totally depends on what works for you.

Before you shell out all that money (trust me, you will wish you had $1200 once you actually start law school and are broke!), take a practice test. If you do fairly decent, don't waste your money. If you're within a few points, go spend some money on books (which you can buy several for under $100 total) and take the practice tests and do it yourself.

That's a LOT of money for something that may not make much of a difference. Plus it's a LOT of work and time, one of my sisters took it, and it was too much for her to handle on top of school and work

I didn't take the LSAT, but I'm starting to teach for Kaplan (for the ACT and MCAT), but one of my friends is training for the LSAT, so we are going through training together (and I"m learning how to attack LSAT passages now as she practices teaching to me.). So obviously I'm a bit biased, but I've learned a number of things.

One thing about Kaplan's LSAT courses: All the questions you go through during class - in your lesson book, during full length practice tests, in any online workshop, anywhere in the course where there's a LSAT type question - were all on the actual LSAT. Being able to use actual test questions (and not just re-writes) as practice from day one is a unique advantage.

I don't know if the other test prep courses also pay the money to have access to the questions but it's something to consider.

Also, Kaplan is the only one of the 4 you mentioned that has a Higher Score Guarantee, that allows you to take the course again simply because you don't feel ready to take the test, or because you aren't satisfied with your score. Retaking it is free (PowerscoreLSAT charges $275 administrative fee, couldn't find anything for TPR). One of the guys in my MCAT class from the summer, scored above the 85%ile, but didn't get into the med school of his choice, so he's retaking the course free of charge. Some of the others list guaranteed results, but nothing that I could find said anything about taking the course again if you simply weren't satisfied with your score.

Just some things to think about.

This is the path I'm going; I bought several review books off Amazon (including a bunch of past tests), and I'm figuring that it will be enough. I don't doubt my focus in getting ready, so I didn't see the point of spending $1000 extra on a course when I could just buy the books.

I took Princeton Review because I heard Kaplan was wack in my college town (College Station, TX). (I have no idea if its true or not, I didn't sit in on a class, but I did trust the people who told me that).

I paid $500 and after much asking around found a department on campus willing to sponsore me for the other $500. IF YOU GO TO A LARGE STATE SCHOOL THERE IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH MONEY OUT THERE FOR STUDENT AID...JUST ASK! I am not talking about the office of financial aid, I am referring to departments, majors, student retention centers etc.. A part of their budget is miscellaneous money to help students, its just we never think to ask.

Anyway, I digress. My score went up 12 points taking me from the 58 to the 93rd percentile. I got a full scholarship to the school at which I am now a 2L, a scholarship to one of my state schools and I got into a top school- no small feet considering I graduated with a 2.78, however it was in Biological Systems Engineering.

I did nothing extra while in Princeton Review. I didn't even do all of the homework- although I did most of it by far. I increased my games percentage from 33 to 80% and that made most of the difference.

If I can do it, anyone can!

Question?
Here's my scenario. I went and took the practice LSAT through Kaplan this Saturday and went in raw, never having studied for it prior. My logical reasoning and reading comprehension were alright (60% and 62% of questions correct respectively) but my logic cames blew (33% correct). I ended up with a 150. So should I take the Kaplan course, shelling out $1200 I don't really have, or drop just $150 or so on books and study on my own? I know, I know - 'you know you best' - but I'm looking for opinions. Other factors - the best GPA I can pull by graduation (next spring) will be a 3.3 (3.4 if I'm lucky), and my BA will be in criminal justice. So any thoughts, opinions, help from the GC population who has experience with the LSAT and/or law school?

Honestly, you should probably take a course then, in my opinion. You're pretty far away from a "good" score. I'm not sure what kind of school you're looking to get into, but with things how they currently are, you'd be looking at the bottom tier, possibly some in the third tier if you have a kick ass essay and recs and activities.
Your GPA, if you get it up to a 3.3 or a 3.4, isn't too bad per se, but criminal justice isn't viewed as the hardest major so that's not going to help you as much, and you're saying you can get it up that high if you're lucky.
If you can get up your LSAT score a lot, that'll help you be able to apply to a wider selection of schools. The good news is that the games section is probably the best section for getting your score up once you practice practice practice, and you can probably raise the other two a bit as well.

I would agree with kddani. The difference between a 150 and even a 155 would be a big difference for you. Also, most people have problems with games, so all the courses focus on that especially.
I took Princeton Review and it really worked for me. I went up only four points but I was very high up on the scale so I had to get like 7 or 8 more questions right to get that big of a jump. And the extra points got me to the next "tier."
The other thing I would say about the course is that it made me really confident. When I took the SAT, I was kind of like "whatever, if I do bad I can just take it again." But the LSAT isn't like that. You really need to do well the first shot. The pressure can be a lot and it's nice to be able to say "hey, I just spent weeks studying, did all the homework, took all the practice tests, I'm ready!" I don't know if test anxiety is a problem for you but I found the course really helped me get my mind in the right place.

If you suck at games the course might be worth it ...unfortunately a 150 won't really get you in too many places so it would definitely be worth trying to get it up.

DEFINITELY stick with the course! When I took the LSATs, I took the Kaplan course. My first day in the class was 3 days after I had returned from my semester in Australia (and I don't think I was fully back on US timing) and had never even looked at an LSAT practice. I took the first diagnostic cold...and didn't do very well. Opposite problem of you--always great at games, but logical reasoning and I had problems forever! Needless to say, from the start of the course to my actual LSAT score...I improved 13 points. Kaplan really helped me pull apart the test and see where to 'cut corners' to save time. I know a lot of people were helped in games b/c Kaplan shows you how to do them well with the time alloted. I finished every section on the actual LSAT thanks to them...
So yeah, stay with it and keep plugging away. My other advice: once the class is over go to their testing center and keep taking practice LSATs--I did for 2 weeks before the exam and I know it really helped...it's great that they have that 'free' resource, so use it!
I'm now a fairly happy 1L at a Top 20 Law School...and wouldn't be here without having taken a prep course. Good luck to you!

What about Cooley?

You know, I think Cooley is too good for me, so if I don't get into Wisconsin, I think I will be going to People's College of Law instead.

I almost busted out laughing the other day when i walked into one of our atty's offices and saw that he had a Cooley diploma. I never realized he'd gone there.
Dude lives in a nice house and makes okay money... who'd he have to sleep with here in Pittsburgh to get a good job?

If you are attending the open house at PCL on the 10th you are welcome to crash with me.

Gee thanks! ;) Do you think that they will hate me there for getting an economics degree from such a capitalist institution?

I took Princeton review and was very disappointed. The class was too slow paced for me and I spent my time working ahead and ignoring what was going on (we had someone who had a question about the most mudane things) My score never improved. I was also in a class with people scoring 15 points below me through the entire time.

What helped me the most was praticing games until I rocked at them. I got the experimential game section completely right from last October.

I will be at Campbell Law next year. My friend was accepted at Cooley, but she decided to stay in NC for law school instead.

NC will have a law school at Elon University in two years. It might be something worth considering. I am still a huge fan of Charleston Law. Their average LSAT and GPA are already higher than an approved Law School in my state.

You've turned me into a law school snob, I tell you! :p

There are worse things in life to be.

Co-sign! Take the course!! Deadbear80 went up 13 points and I went up 12- for you that could take you up to a 162- that is scholarship money at some schools! What is $1200 if you're getting a $70-120,000 education free??!!

Quick question--

I'll be graduating in the fall of '06, so I don't want to take an LSAT class yet. What books would you recommend (Kaplan, PR, etc...)? I don't know if I'll need to take a class, but I figure I have at least the summer to decide.

I guess I could ask my sister who just got into Harvard Law.
:D

You have really motivated me and you didn't even know it
 

I promise to the most high, that this story is true!

I took the free diagnostic on the 26th of February sponsored by Kaplan and afterwards I felt a little downtrodden because I didn't finish all of the test in the time allotted. The following week, I received my score back and I became downtrodden again. I never wanted to give up on my dream to attend law school, but I began to have serious doubts as to whether I would get into law school because of my lsat score. I aimed for a 165 but got far from that:( (sidebar, my gpa is around the same as yours, so I wanted to do extremely well on the LSAT to get into of all places, HOWARD LAW {currently an alumnus of Howard Undergrad and I have wanted to attend Howard Law since I was 8, no lie}) After reading this forum and your responses more specifically yours, I feel that attempting to score a 165 is not out of reach and that if I put my mind and the right resources to it, I can obtain my 165! I will start my Kaplan course next week and I am really looking forward to it!

This is just true testimony to show when you are down and you may believe that you are the only footprints in the sand, the Lord is the one that is carrying you through! God can use anyone as a vessel and he used you to encourage me! Thank you Exquisite 5, for inspiring me and motivating me despite knowing me from a can of paint! I hope that I am apart of the class of 2006!!! Once again THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart and the depths of my soul!

Anyone, Please feel free to pm me with ANY helpful advice, because I have never been this nervous about ANYTHING!

Sincerely
Sweete81

P.S. Deadbear80, you motivated me as well, but I can really identify with Exquisite because she attends the school that I want to attend in addition to her g.p.a.
P.P.S. AWWWW HU!

I'll co-sign on that based on the experience of my friend who is going to be teaching the Kaplan LSAT course this summer. She took the October test and once school started she took practice LSATs on Monday and Wednesday mornings and on Tues/Thurs she went over them and looked for why she got questions wrong. Obviously she did well enough to be eligible to teach for Kaplan, and she's gotten into 6 top 20 schools so far, and has yet to be rejected from any others she applied to.

Okay, so after doing some research and taking a practice LSAT online, I decided that I DEFINITELY want to take a course! (Well...I did skip about 3/4 of the questions because I got bored, but...)

I think I'm going to go with Testmasters 180. I've heard consistently great things about the Atlanta one, while Kaplan seems to be much more hit-or-miss. I'm so nervous...I have my sights set pretty high. My GPA will probably be about a 3.6, but I'm in a difficult major and I'll be graduating with some kind of honors. I think I really need about a 170-173 to put me in a good position.

ARGH! I though this agonizing stopped after high school!

I took a practice LSAT last night, and even that helped out a great deal because I now have a better idea of what the test looks like. I did ok (pretty good considering it was my first time seeing the test), so I think that studying on my own will still be the way to go.

I heard a lot of great things about Kaplan last night from people who had taken it...probably because the test itself was offered by Kaplan, but still maybe something to keep in mind.