Kaplan course worth $1398 for high score Forum

[wardy007]

After further thought, I have shelled out the money to Kaplan. Classes start in January and LSAT in Feb--weeeeeeeeeee!

I think the classroom structure will help. And from there I'm going to work diligently on practice test after practice test. I will beat this test!

I appreciate all the feedback!

[SchopenhauerFTW]

After further thought, I have shelled out the money to Kaplan. Classes start in January and LSAT in Feb--weeeeeeeeeee!

I think the classroom structure will help. And from there I'm going to work diligently on practice test after practice test. I will beat this test!

I appreciate all the feedback!

Make use of all the materials they give you, and take the PTs and smart reports they administer seriously. It also wouldn't hurt to read the PowerScore books as well. One method alone probably won't cut it. Don't assume that simply being in the class and watching their online videos are enough to improve your score like I did for half of the course. Good luck.

[2Serious4Numbers]

After further thought, I have shelled out the money to Kaplan. Classes start in January and LSAT in Feb--weeeeeeeeeee!

I think the classroom structure will help. And from there I'm going to work diligently on practice test after practice test. I will beat this test!

I appreciate all the feedback!

Make use of all the materials they give you, and take the PTs and smart reports they administer seriously. It also wouldn't hurt to read the PowerScore books as well. One method alone probably won't cut it. Don't assume that simply being in the class and watching their online videos are enough to improve your score like I did for half of the course. Good luck.

this.

[sundance95]

What's with the kaplan hate? Those of you who didn't score well have no one to blame but yourselves.

I scored well. Kaplan sucks. HTH

+1. Take any class but Kaplan.

[darwin3]

I took Kaplan and I did pretty well.
Diagnostic: 149
Actual: 165
PT ave: 164-167

They helped me, but I took the program last May and studied 8hrs./day until the Oct. test. You may want to look at a later test date because you can ALWAYS use more time if you have the time to spare!

Good Luck!

[joebloe]

A little late to this thread, but...

I took Kaplan's low-end classroom course... at night. It was kind of crappy in that regard. A lot does depend on the instructor, but a lot depends on you too. If you're already decent going in (relatively speaking, and not necessarily by TLS' standards), you might not get much out of the class beyond a schedule and a bunch of materials. But that might be enough if you can put in the work and avoid burnout.

Yes, self study can be done, and some do it successfully. But don't let those people shame you into not taking a course if you feel you need one.

[SchopenhauerFTW]

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[Michaela]

Kaplan is a waste of money. I took the LSAT the first time with less than a month of study with a review book and scored 155. Then I took the class and got a 155 on my diagnostic and my first PT. I then got a 151, 154, and 156 on the subsequent PTs and only scored 158 on the actual LSAT.

I attended every class, did the homework, used ALL of the study materials, and had a study plan where I did 3 hours of prep 5 days a week for a month before the October test. I just feel like their methods don't actually teach you how to get a higher score, they just seem to focus on how to answer specific question types. I don't know what/if a better method is, but Kaplan's is NOT WORTH $1400!!!!

[joebloe]

I SCORED UNDER MY KAPLAN DIAGNOSTIC.

Big waste of time and money. I did all the damn work. I plan on getting my money back, but I don't know what the hell else I'm going to do.

[Firework11]

Powerscore, Blueprint, or TestMasters are the best, imo.

I'm sure Princeton and Kaplan have some benefit, but they're organizations with lower qualifications and pay for teachers, and LSAT is not their flagship. Neither even teach formal logic, right? I don't understand how you can have an LSAT prep course that doesn't teach formal logic.

+1

Don't go with Kaplan, no matter what you do. Princeton Review is also fairly iffy, although they do seem better than Kaplan.

STOP downing other companies, lol!

You are trying to promote your tutoring, which is good, but have you taught for Kaplan PR, PS, BL, TM?

[NYCLSATTutor]

Powerscore, Blueprint, or TestMasters are the best, imo.

I'm sure Princeton and Kaplan have some benefit, but they're organizations with lower qualifications and pay for teachers, and LSAT is not their flagship. Neither even teach formal logic, right? I don't understand how you can have an LSAT prep course that doesn't teach formal logic.

+1

Don't go with Kaplan, no matter what you do. Princeton Review is also fairly iffy, although they do seem better than Kaplan.

STOP downing other companies, lol!

You are trying to promote your tutoring, which is good, but have you taught for Kaplan PR, PS, BL, TM?

Ok. A few points.

1) I don't just "down" other companies. I have said, repeatedly, that Powerscore/Testmasters/Blueprint/Atlas are all good options for people want to to take a course. I have personal experience with Testmasters, and I know people who have taken all of these courses.

2) I never "taught" for Kaplan per se. I was hired there, and they trained me. I quit because, after never having taught in my life, I still realized that their teaching methods were atrocious.

3) I have never taught for TPR. But they've done some things with some of my students that have really, really angered me. These include: Telling some of my students they will do worse on the test because they are minorities, telling them not to do games questions in order, and telling them to only do 3 games.

4) You seem to have a thing against me because I said it was unlikely that you will get into NYU if your diagnostic was a 135. If that offends you, I apologize, but the duty of anyone giving advice is to do so honestly and to the best of their ability. But really, I comment enough in threads nowadays that you don't need to dig up old threads.

[northwood]

TPR tells you to do the games in the order you think theyh are easiest. Once you get to the game- you do them in order.then move on to the next easiest. If you cant get to all 4 games- then pick one letter and bubble in all of the answers with it. They have to teach to a wide range of test abilities- so for some people they will only get to 3 games. HOwever, the likelihood of that test taker doing well enough to get into a good school is lessened. But they preach accuracy over speed- which is something you need .

IM not saying that you need to use princeton review, or that its the best fit for you. Im just saying that thats what method they taught me. I could get through all 4 games and earning a 160 on the real deal. However there were some people that could only get through 2 games, so it really depends on the individual taking the test.

[NYCLSATTutor]

TPR tells you to do the games in the order you think theyh are easiest. Once you get to the game- you do them in order.then move on to the next easiest. If you cant get to all 4 games- then pick one letter and bubble in all of the answers with it. They have to teach to a wide range of test abilities- so for some people they will only get to 3 games. HOwever, the likelihood of that test taker doing well enough to get into a good school is lessened. But they preach accuracy over speed- which is something you need .

Ugh. That is also generally terrible advice. Unless you are an expert on games you are going to have a really, really tough time figuring out which games are easy or hard before you actually do them. And then instead of just doing the game and spending time on the game itself, you are spending time trying to figure out how hard/easy a game is.

*Maybe* its worth it spending the time to figure out if a game is linear/grouping and picking the ones that you prefer, but even then its a *maybe*.

[northwood]

if you do enough gmaes- you can figure out how hard or easy it by reading throught the stem and writing down the rules. If you dont know what to do from there- then abort and go on.

[tomwatts]

3) I have never taught for TPR. But they've done some things with some of my students that have really, really angered me. These include: Telling some of my students they will do worse on the test because they are minorities, telling them not to do games questions in order, and telling them to only do 3 games.

Quoted for hilarious ignorance.

[99.9luft]

Kaplan's the worst of them all. Try BP, TM, Manhattan, or Powerscore.

[Boggs]

Do Blueprint online. $800 and worth it.

[ExpectLess]

3) I have never taught for TPR. But they've done some things with some of my students that have really, really angered me. These include: Telling some of my students they will do worse on the test because they are minorities, telling them not to do games questions in order, and telling them to only do 3 games.

Quoted for hilarious ignorance.

When I heard a friend who took the course tell me that TPR recommends to students how many games they should attempt, I knew it wasn't the course for me.

When I saw the same exact chart for every game on a Kaplan friend's test, I knew it wasn't the course for me either.

[tomwatts]

You know that thing that people say around here about accuracy first, speed later? That's all the "doing fewer games" is. I have to tell students on a regular basis, "You're not ready to do 4 games in 35 minutes yet. That's a good way to get just about nothing right, given where you are. You should be trying to do 3 games in 35 minutes for right now and trying to nail those questions, and once you can do that, we can talk about you doing 4 games in 35 minutes." (We're talking here about people who are getting maybe 10-12 questions right on the games to start out, and we're talking about my advice towards the beginning of the course. If they do it right, by the end of the course, they're getting everything on the games.)

Incremental improvements are the way to go. First, be accurate. Then build up your speed. Most people at some point in their practice should be attempting only 3 games in 35 minutes, even if later they go faster.

[NYCLSATTutor]

3) I have never taught for TPR. But they've done some things with some of my students that have really, really angered me. These include: Telling some of my students they will do worse on the test because they are minorities, telling them not to do games questions in order, and telling them to only do 3 games.

Quoted for hilarious ignorance.

Really? So you are claiming that 5 different people all lied to me about the exact same thing?

[NYCLSATTutor]

You know that thing that people say around here about accuracy first, speed later? That's all the "doing fewer games" is. I have to tell students on a regular basis, "You're not ready to do 4 games in 35 minutes yet. That's a good way to get just about nothing right, given where you are. You should be trying to do 3 games in 35 minutes for right now and trying to nail those questions, and once you can do that, we can talk about you doing 4 games in 35 minutes." (We're talking here about people who are getting maybe 10-12 questions right on the games to start out, and we're talking about my advice towards the beginning of the course. If they do it right, by the end of the course, they're getting everything on the games.)

Incremental improvements are the way to go. First, be accurate. Then build up your speed. Most people at some point in their practice should be attempting only 3 games in 35 minutes, even if later they go faster.

So wait...first it was "hilarious ignorance", and now you are trying to explain away some of the claims I made?

Errr ok.

[tomwatts]

Oh, we do all three of those things. Your hilarious ignorance was your total misunderstanding of them. Criticizing TPR for having people slow down to be more accurate and then gradually build up speed... that's pretty funny.

[die Zauberflote]

Self study then take an atlas course

[boom_cs]

I took a prep course called Outside LSAT on recommendation from a lawyer friend of my Dad's. It is an at home based class where you have a teacher who advises you and helps with any questions you may have. They provide you with tons of material and books for about $400.

The materials they give you are lackluster at best with many typos in the explanation guide and find that the teachers can be a little short with their responses and through email you can only get so much of an explanation.

I study for about 3 months and my score shot up from a NC Central level LSAT to a UNC/Wake Forest LSAT.

Overall I would not recommend an at home course if you are not self motivated but It help me raise my score by about 20 points.

[NYCLSATTutor]

Oh, we do all three of those things. Your hilarious ignorance was your total misunderstanding of them. Criticizing TPR for having people slow down to be more accurate and then gradually build up speed... that's pretty funny.

You do all 3 of those things, eh?

Then care to offer justifications for the other 2 things I listed? I'd especially like to hear your justification for telling minorities that they will do worse on the test.