Anyone see Actual Result from a Prep Course? Forum

[Dude101589]

Hey everybody, I scored a 160 on the June test and am considering taking a prep course before the Oct. 2011 exam. Just wondering if anyone out there had taken a prep course and seen an actual result. A little bit of a background on my prep this time. I began studying two weeks before the test. I took 4 practice tests as my total amount of preparation. One test on each of the Fridays/Saturdays in the 2 weekends before the tests (I'm on a quarter system so the exam fell on the Monday of my Finals week). Basically, is spending 1k and a ton of time on this exam going to significantly effect my score. Also, I really screwed the pooch on the logical games section for the actual test even though it was my best practice test section. Furthermore, my practices scores were between 162, 162, 163, 163 for what that's worth.

Any suggestions on who offers the best classes and if the class would even be worth taking would be greatly appreciated.

[NYCLSATTutor]

I would say most people improve their score from a good prep course. Most of my students go up 15+ points (depending on how much they studied before meeting with me.

Good prep courses include Atlas, Powerscore, Testmasters, Blueprint.

Also relevant: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=151670

[Yeshia90]

+8 from cold diag to actual score with Testmasters.

I took it really just to stay accountable. With 8 hours of class a week, and plenty of homework, there's no doubt you're going to be keeping up with your studying. I also thought having personal instruction, especially on LG, helped immeasurably, because I had no idea how to diagram without them. Granted, I didn't read the bibles, but I can't imagine those are clearer than a live instructor.

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. Me, I needed the routine of classes twice a week, and an hour or two of homework whenever I had a chance. Plus, you get 3 more fully proctored, 5-section prep-tests, which definitely prepared me for the grind of the real thing better than 4 sections and my kitchen table.

[JoeFrosty]

I would also like to know what kind of results (good or bad) folks got for the real thing after a prep course. I took the plunge and signed up for Blueprint after June exam.

So, for folks who took BP prior to taking the exam in June, did it work for you?

[boosk]

152(cold) -> 165(actual/June)

Testmasters... BUT I studied my ass off, can't give the course all (or even half) the credit in my opinion

[Tiago Splitter]

+8 from cold diag to actual score with Testmasters.

I took it really just to stay accountable. With 8 hours of class a week, and plenty of homework, there's no doubt you're going to be keeping up with your studying. I also thought having personal instruction, especially on LG, helped immeasurably, because I had no idea how to diagram without them. Granted, I didn't read the bibles, but I can't imagine those are clearer than a live instructor.

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. Me, I needed the routine of classes twice a week, and an hour or two of homework whenever I had a chance. Plus, you get 3 more fully proctored, 5-section prep-tests, which definitely prepared me for the grind of the real thing better than 4 sections and my kitchen table.

Agree with all of this. I work full time, so the accountability factor was huge.

I scored a 166 on the real thing last October with just a little self-study (had yet to find TLS) then ended up at 178 after my Testmasters course. I will say I think I was lucky to have a very good instructor and I don't know how things would have turned out with someone else. Either way though, you will have to put in a lot of time, and if you do you will be rewarded.

[citykitty]

+13 from cold diagnostic with online BP.

[JoeFrosty]

+13 from cold diagnostic with online BP.

How did you go about studying with BP online? Did you just work through the lessons/hw per the schedule? Took all the extra exams? Went back to questions you got wrong?

[suzige]

I also improved +13 with BP's online course. Despite the considerable jump, I am retaking in October. PM me if you have any questions.

[citykitty]

+13 from cold diagnostic with online BP.

How did you go about studying with BP online? Did you just work through the lessons/hw per the schedule? Took all the extra exams? Went back to questions you got wrong?

I watched all the videos and did the work that goes along with them. I did all the HW for each lesson. I didn't take all the extra exams. I think I did a total of 10 full exams. I always looked over everything that I missed and even things that I got right, but wasn't entirely sure why. If I couldn't reason through it on my own and there wasn't an explanation available on the website already, I'd email Colin. He's available by email to answer any specific questions.

[sanetruth]

Cold diagnostic: 152

First LSAT right after Testmasters course: 165

Second LSAT after supplemental personal studying: 171

Take from that what you will. But it should be pointed out that 165 was by no means an expected score. As someone above said, testmasters does 3 proctored exams, and on the FIRST of those, I got a 164, and then I plateaued until test day (4 months). What that meant for me was that Testmasters wasn't addressing my problems (which were timing, pacing and bringing RC down).

The questions were never the hardest part for me. Going over questions in class I was most often correct, and logic games (which are most peoples biggest issues) came naturally to me. But reading comprehension never got below -3/-4 for me, and testmasters' response to that is just a giant *shrug*; they have no real way of dealing with it.

Also, my teachers suggestion for dealing with timing (I was consistently feeling rushed at the end of LR sections) was to do 30 minute sections. That did not help. I had to figure my own way out.

So, in sum, from my experience, a prep course is only good if your problems fall under the umbrella of the course's curriculum. Otherwise you have to come up with your own way of improving.

[wtrc]

Testmasters course.

Diagnostic (cold): 156
Practice Test: 158
Practice Test 2: 163
Practice Test 3: 166

Other practice tests (4 sections, self-timed): 160-166

Actual June LSAT: 166

Testmasters was real good because it pretty much forced me to put time into it. If I had chosen to do all the studying myself, I would have found too many excuses not to put the adequate time into it. I am re-taking in October and hope to do supplemental personal study to raise up to at least the low 170's. Highly recommended.

[dominoski]

yes, +12 points with testmasters and I didn't even do half the homework (although half is still a lot of studying considering they give you every question ever asked)

Diagnostic: 158
Practice test 1: 164
PT 2: 168
PT 3: 166 (only had 3 hours of sleep, stupid...)
Average of lots of practice tests on my own: 172-173
Actual: 170

[gaud]

.

[Ernert]

Regardless of whether you decide to take a course or not, definitely check out purchasing a lot of old LSATs and supplementing with extra practice. Taking 4 PT's is (almost universally) not going to get you near your maximum potential score.

I ended up with a 164 after my class and generally understood most types of test question and retook to a 170 with a lot of time actually just drilling PT's, considering any repeated weaknesses in one area, and reviewing all missed answers.