When to take a prep course? Forum

[Rosalita]

I am thinking of taking the LSAT in October and if I did so when would be a good time to take a prep course? I don't know if it is better to take a course close to the date or near the beginning of my study time. I am probably going to end up taking a weekend class if I take one (because of the price), but I am not sure yet. Any help in timing this would be appreciated!

[Sugar Lumps]

If it were me, I would take the class three weeks prior so that I could do timed PTs during those three weeks in preparation. You want what worked for you in that class, if anything, to become natural, or you could end up spazing the fuck out on test day.

[Psib337]

I started taking a class (for the June test) in mid March that ends this week. I know some people in class as worried about having a month between the end of class and the test but I personally love it. The class takes up 8 hours a week and I work full time so 1) I've been exhausted since class started and 2) I haven't had the time to really sit down and learn the material which is being reflected in my awful diagnostic scores. With a month off I have time to sit down and take my time with things. I understand everything we've gone over it just hasn't sunk in yet and if I had taken the course that ends right before the test I'd be screwed right now. I was "studying" months before the test but I really had no idea what I was doing, I was just taking tests over and over again and not really going about it in any particular way.

[bp shinners]

Generally, courses are going to run up to one of the test dates; the June classes are well underway, and the October classes will start around July. Since you're in between, I think that you won't have many choices besides taking a course that runs up to the October test date.

That being said, that's not a bad thing. Most of our students take the exam immediately after the course ends (we generally give you 3-4 days off in between the last day of classes and the test). They're designed to give you time to take practice tests towards the end of the course. Our last 6 meetings are review sessions (I'm assuming other courses are similar), so you'll get plenty of review. It's also good to have easy access to an instructor for questions that come up on PTs.

[Rosalita]

Thanks everyone for the help! I think I will be looking at a weekend course in August then for the October test.