Testmasters class and AA Forum

[lawschoolman1]

Has anyone in on this forum taken a testmasters class? If so, what was your experience and was it worth it? Thanks

[sophia.olive]

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african americans in testmasters?


sorry, I would just get the bibles. I tutor kids who took it and it is better than kaplan but still not as good as the bibles alone.

[lawschoolman1]

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african americans in testmasters?


sorry, I would just get the bibles. I tutor kids who took it and it is better than kaplan but still not as good as the bibles alone.

Well part of the issue I'm having is with the games. I have the logic games bible. I know everyone says repetition is the way to get better, but I'm still not understanding why I'm getting some of the questions wrong. Since the prep tests dont have the breakdowns like in the logic games bible, I'm not able to see the correct method.

I'm also considering a private tutor, but was curious if anyone on here had taken it.

[jgloster]

Question: Why is AA in your title?

Does being AA give you extra points on the logic games (no seriously)?

[NZA]

...Alcoholics Anonymous?

[lawschoolman1]

Question: Why is AA in your title?

Does being AA give you extra points on the logic games (no seriously)?

I put it because I wanted to know what African Americans thought of the class. Is that hard to understand?

[nygrrrl]

Question: Why is AA in your title?

Does being AA give you extra points on the logic games (no seriously)?

I put it because I wanted to know what African Americans thought of the class. Is that hard to understand?

Well, it's hard for me to understand. Relevance?

[lawschoolman1]

...Alcoholics Anonymous?

If Alcoholics were URM I guess we would all be one

[lawschoolman1]

Question: Why is AA in your title?

Does being AA give you extra points on the logic games (no seriously)?

I put it because I wanted to know what African Americans thought of the class. Is that hard to understand?

Well, it's hard for me to understand. Relevance?

Seems like this thread is turning into something other than what I was looking for. The whole point of this part of the forum is to talk about URM and law school. I'm wanting to know (being AA myself) if testmasters prep class helped make any significant improvement in their LSAT score?

[NZA]

Question: Why is AA in your title?

Does being AA give you extra points on the logic games (no seriously)?

I put it because I wanted to know what African Americans thought of the class. Is that hard to understand?

Well, it's hard for me to understand. Relevance?

Seems like this thread is turning into something other than what I was looking for. The whole point of this part of the forum is to talk about URM and law school. I'm wanting to know (being AA myself) if testmasters prep class helped make any significant improvement in their LSAT score?

...well, as a right-handed male who enjoys watching sumo wrestling on youtube, I think it would probably help you, sure?

[vanwinkle]

Maybe he/she could've been clearer, but OP is a URM trying to ask if other URMs have benefitted from Testmasters. This forum is for under-represented students, so it seems like the relevant place to ask. Hopefully people can keep that in mind when they choose whether or not to answer.

[BruceWayne]

I'm an AA male who took Powerscore (which is essentially a "good" rip off of TM) and it helped me significantly. I improved 7 points from my previous actual LSAT (ie not the prep tests).

[ArchRoark]

I'm an AA male who took Powerscore (which is essentially a "good" rip off of TM) and it helped me significantly. I improved 7 points from my previous actual LSAT (ie not the prep tests).

This. I took powerscore and improved by 7 points as well. TBH, I felt that the pace of the class was too slow. I mainly used the class to force me to commit to studying for a 4 hour block twice a week. I would work ahead and do the homework in class. Mainly did my own thing, but the material provided helped and my instructor was imho could not of been better.

[Jay]

I have taken Testmasters, however I have to qualify my response with the following: 1) prior to enrolling into Tmasters, I had not taken a timed practice LSAT, 2) I had no prior experience to the the different components of the test, 3) and when researching test programs i talked with people who had already had experienced say a Kaplan or Princeton review course.

Ok, I should not have taken this course. My situation would have turned out a lot better had I began with Kaplan or Princeton Review because those courses tend to break down the test to its elementary components and that was what I needed since I had no prior exposure or experience with the test. The problem lied mainly in the fact that I asked ppl their recommendations who had been studying the LSAT for quite some time with those other courses and had already mastered the basics, so their perspective lied mainly in test companies who offered an advanced level exposure to test prep. Also, many ppl buy into the idea that this company is the best out there, but I believe it's the best in terms of building on your competencies and not on laying the foundation.

The class has books for each class which is divided into differ lessons. The books offer little to no elaboration on the concepts learned in class, so you had to be very diligent and precise in taking your class notes. To supplement the class, I bough the powerscore logical reasoning and games bibles and mainly studied from that. The class also moved fairly quickly and my instructor often limited the number of questions so she could get through the lessons ( which was understandable since the books did not offer explanations but it was still frustrating for me since I was really lost on the games section). I eventually stopped attending class and did the best I could studying from the bibles. I honestly couldn't benefit from the class because I needed some more exposure to the test and the only way I could do that was on my own. Also, some the techniques the class taught on analytical reasoning I found counterintuitive, but because I wanted to believe in the method, I tried my best to adopt their approach to certain question types but I ended up missing more questions. So I abandoned it.

So in all, I did not gain much from this class. This can be due to my lack of sophistication with the test, or maybe having a poor instructor, or some combination of both but I won't say that this course is a bad one. I just won't recommend this course to someone who isn't already scoring between 150-155, but this course is better suited for those who want that extra push to getting the top scores, I am confident this course is best designed to get you to the next level. But if I could do it over, I would have chosen Kaplan or PR instead.

[jdwishes]

Interesting. Similar to "Jay", I had no previous exposure to a single LSAT question; however, I found Testmasters to be very helpful in understanding the questions types and preparing effective strategies to understanding what is being asked of you.

Each person has very different needs and perspective on what worked for them. Testmasters will start you off with a cold diagnostic to see where you are starting from. My first diagnostic, without ever seeing the LSAT or knowing the time constraints, was an unnerving 139. By the end of the course, I had improved to the low 160s. If you are struggling with needing explanations/clarification, then I think there is significant value in taking the full-length course. That said, there is a lot of homework and as the course progresses, I would advise that you begin shifting away from doing isolated questions types to doing timed Practice Tests/Diagnostics. If you understand a certain question type fairly well, doing 100 problems of that question type is not the most efficient use of your time.

Another thing to consider is that Testmasters offers free telephonic tutoring during a 3 hour block each day (typically 1-4pm EST) - this will be another resource for you when you just want to call up and get someone to breakdown a question or game you are hung up on. Make use of this resource if you pay the $1500 to take the course; it really helps to supplement your studies.

If you're still not sure, since everyone has a different experience, I would suggest you "audit" a TM class. This will be a great way to see if TM will be helpful for you.

Just to recap: I found Testmasters to be more helpful for those who have NOT had a lot of exposure or innate ability to score very high out the gate. TM for me demonstrated that LSAT proficiency can very much be a learned strategy.

Good luck to you.

[EbonyEsq]

Has anyone in on this forum taken a testmasters class? If so, what was your experience and was it worth it? Thanks

Avoid Kaplan and PR at all costs.

Best out there are the following:

1. BluePrintPrep
2. Testmasters 180
3. Powerscore
4. Manhattan LSAT

[sparty99]

I'm in AA male and I recommend it. I PM you.