Top Law Schools

Ken this is a great site i actually found through google, i will continue to visit through out my time.
With that said, do you recommend taking a LSAT prep course? Which course do you think would be the best lsat prep course?
Thanks
Chris

Hello Chris,

Thank you so much for your appreciation of this site. I get great happiness knowing that you and others are learning and gaining from this site, which I wish existed when I was applying to law schools ten years ago.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you take an LSAT prep class. Your LSAT score is as important or even more important than your GPA for admission to top law schools. Thus, your 4 to 5 years of college, probably totaling around 8000 hours of classes and studies are worth the same as a 4 hour standardized test. Also, how well you fare on the LSAT will determine what law school you will spend your next 3 years at. Given this, it is well worth your while to really focus upon and successfully master the LSAT.

I taught the LSAT for Princeton Review for a few years and thought they were excellent. Both Princeton Review and Testmaster provide good materials, so who to choose between those two depends upon who the instructor is. There is a wide discrepancy in the expertise of the instructor, so I recommend that you ask to sit in for one class of each provider to view your instructor and take the course that has the best instructor. I have found that most TestMaster and Princeton Review sites will let you sit in for 1 class (or even just 1 hour is all you need) if you tell them that you are planning on potentially taking their class and just want to view the instructor.

Based on previously teaching for the Princeton Review, I was able to negotiate a great savings of $100 off their classes for those who read http://www.top-law-schools.com. That coupon code can be found here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/prlsat.html

Because of the huge import of the LSAT on the success of your getting in to the law schools of your choice, spending the $1000+ and investing many hours in properly studying for the LSAT is one of the best investments of your life.

Other great LSAT prep is actually to read the advice of site readers who provide tips on how they scored above a 160 or 170 at http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... ?f=6&t=396

Throughout the LSAT forum (see http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=6) are great tips on succeeding on the LSAT.

Thanks!! _Ken

Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for this site! My question is, I took a practice LSAT and told not to study before hand. I was blown away with what the test was like, how it had nothing to do with the law. What's the best way to learn to study how to take these type of questions, that to me, have nothing to do with the law. Thanks!

Hi Candy,

I would also like to hear Ken's thoughts on why the LSAT seems like it has nothing to do with Law

FYI, I found an article written by Ken on Mastering the LSAT. The article basically lists a bunch of LSAT preparation resources and says that practicing with a bunch of sample tests is the way to go about preparing.

Hi Calman, ,

Thank you very much for your reply and help. I appreciate it!

Dear Candy,

Indeed, you are correct - the LSAT is very different then the material you will be studying in law school. However, given the importance of the LSAT, generally considered to be of equal import to your GPA, it is an important hurdle to surmount and ideally conquer. (Note that I generally feel law schools weigh your GPA and LSAT each as about 40% of the admissions decsions, and the remaining 20% of the decision is determined by your recommendations, personal statement, and resume).

For someone like me, who had good a good, but not great GPA (3.5), I knew that I had to succeed on my LSAT to get into the top law schools. I would plan as far in advance for studying for the LSAT and here are some tips that worked well for me.

1) While in college take a Critical Thinking class, generally offered by the Philosophy Department. Critical Thinking is the introductory course in many universities to analytical philosophy. This class is excellent for overall learning, for it shows you how to identify and overcome fallacies that exist in debates and arguments. Additionally, it shows you many analytical insights, such as the contrapositive. (The contrapositive is a logical statement that states that IF A implies B, then Not B implies Not A. An example of a contrapositive would be: "If there is fire here, then there is oxygen here." The contrapositive would be, "If there is no oxygen here, then there is no fire here."

You do not need to worry about the contrapositive now, but learning that analytical tool and others will be amazingly helpful when you take the LSAT. The hardest section for almost all people on the LSAT is the games section. Basically, the games section is all analytical philosophy which requires successful deductions (such as utilizing the contrapositive) to quickly determine the correct answers. Critical Thinking will help you enermously on the games section and to a lesser degree on the two arguments sections as well.

2) Learn to read quickly. The reading comprehension section of the LSAT also is a very hard section for many test takers. Not that the questions are too hard, but that the 4 long passages and 6 questions per passage are too much for most to complete in 35 minutes, the time allowed for each LSAT section. I did very well in this section because I had been a fast reader in the past, but practiced reading magazines and textbooks at a rapid rate and focused upon getting the highlights of the material.

3) Spend a huge amount of time and practice, practice, practice. I know that the first time you see and take the LSAT it is unnerving for it is unlike what most students have studied in college (philosophy students have a leg up in this case for there is a lot of analytical philosophy on the LSAT). However, as you become more familiar with the test you will learn how to pace yourself and properly answer the questions. I highly recommend you take the time and spend the money to take the best prep class you can (Testmasters is usually quite good, Princeton Review and Kaplan are decent) to master the tricks of the LSAT. For example, mastering the process of elimination (not finding the right answer but eliminating the wrong ones) will really boost your score in the twp argument sections.

4) Practice on the real LSATs. There is nothing like the real thing. Real LSATs have had experimental sections that weeded out the poor questions, so questions on the actual LSATs are all very sound. Additionally, there is no better practice then taking real tests. So buy as many Actual LSATs as you can get, now there are well over 50, and use these to practice on. Review your mistakes and learn where you went wrong and how to avoid repeating that pattern.

I spent 5 months studying very seriously for the LSAT and was able to raise my score from a 165 (94%) to a 173 (99%). The numbers will vary for all students, but know that by doing the above you will definitely improve.

One of the most important aspects is to find the best LSAT instructor you can and let him or her be your guide. A great instructor will actually make the test fun, for it is similar to a very complicated crossword puzzle, demanding all of your skills. I truly feel I became a smarter person by studying for the LSAT and learning to understand and master all of the analytical tools required to answer the games questions. Viewing it as a fun game to be mastered instead of as a chore will be the world of difference in the months you should spend studying for the LSAT.

Note that it is best to not take the LSAT in December, for by the time you get those results back your applications will be getting in a bit late. Most students take it in June or October.

Your initial impression of the LSAT is normal, you will warm up to it as you become more familiar with it.

Best of luck Candy, you sound like a great person that I will be rooting for you . Please keep me updated.

Hi Ken,

Thank you for your thoughtful, detailed reply. I greatly appreciate your help!

.

[EDITED]

The key for whatever LSAT test prep course you take is to review and consider the instructor as much as the materials, for an exciting instructor will make the LSAT come alive and be an enjoyable challenge to study for. I truly feel that while studying for the LSAT that I was becoming smarter and it was this love of the test (yes, I do love the LSAT, we all have our odd fetishes) that I conveyed to my students.

Most places will allow you to sit in on one or two classes and evaluate the instructor. Additionally, after class ask other students if they like the class and materials and also see if any of your friends have had positive experiences preparing for the LSAT.

Because the LSAT is such a crucial component of your law school application, it is worth the time to research and find the best prep company in your college town.

Thanks to all the posters for being so candid and honest about this very important subject. I appeciate all the answers and everyone's experience very much!

Ken, is the taped prep class available?

As with any course I think nobody can guarantee that your score will go up. If you really had a terribly bad experience you might consider filing an actual complaint about that instructor to help the next class.

For me, I took the TestMasters course and improved from 160 (1st diag) to 173 (actual LSAT). I did about 75% of the homework (it's very hard to find time to do all of the practice questions), and all of the practice exams they offered. The instructor I had was really great, knew the material well AND how to explain/teach it, and always came early before our "official" start time to answer one on one questions. I would not hesitate in recommending this route for anyone who doesn't feel like they can 1) force themselves to spend the 2-3 hours a day studying that TestMasters will provide you, or 2) figure out the techniques to improve speed and efficiency on their own.

Candy1710 wrote:Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for this site! My question is, I took a practice LSAT and told not to study before hand. I was blown away with what the test was like, how it had nothing to do with the law. What's the best way to learn to study how to take these type of questions, that to me, have nothing to do with the law. Thanks!

can you publish the site you guys are talking about?

léa wrote:

Candy1710 wrote:Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for this site! My question is, I took a practice LSAT and told not to study before hand. I was blown away with what the test was like, how it had nothing to do with the law. What's the best way to learn to study how to take these type of questions, that to me, have nothing to do with the law. Thanks!

can you publish the site you guys are talking about?

Hint: You've already visited it

OMG

Powerscore

léa wrote:OMG

Noo worries. And for my $.02, I'd say testmasters, but this is the only course I've taken.

GHH923 wrote:

léa wrote:

Candy1710 wrote:Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for this site! My question is, I took a practice LSAT and told not to study before hand. I was blown away with what the test was like, how it had nothing to do with the law. What's the best way to learn to study how to take these type of questions, that to me, have nothing to do with the law. Thanks!

can you publish the site you guys are talking about?

Hint: You've already visited it

Classic

Ken, did you get a haircut?

IvyJustice wrote:Ken, did you get a haircut?

ken is that your real picture?

Powerscore. Is. AWESOME. Get the bibles. learn them. take the class. worth every penny.

I'd say Kaplan, hands down. I am biased, however, because I teach there. But I teach there because I took the course and my score changed. I ended up at a 170 (98th), which got me in my top choice school, UCLA, despite a terrible undergrad record. The Kaplan program is smart and organized and comprehensive and they have the higher score guarantee, which is pretty cool and beats everyone else's offer. I'd check it out. I think you'll be happy with it.

Did Ken ever record his lectures?

I took Power Score and I loved it! But i've heard many good things about TestMasters as well

I am about to start teaching for Kaplan, and I am pretty impressed with their program so far. That being said, I think it is more for the aiming at 160-165 crowd than the T14 hopefuls. But to be honest, if you are planing on getting a 170+, you probably don't need a course. At the end of the day, you just need to practice and have a workable system going into the course. I am skeptical that it matters what system that is.

As far as teacher quality, I am skeptical of the claim that testmasters has the most qualified instructors. This claim seems to be based on the fact that all of their instructors scored a 170+. While being really good at the LSAT is important for being an LSAT instructor, it is not the whole story: you ALSO need to be a good teacher. Most of the teachers at my Kaplan center scored in the 99th percentile, not that I think that really matters. I remain unconvinced that Testmasters gets the best teachers.

That being said, they do pay more. Maybe this helps them get the best teachers, but I doubt it. It seems anyone with a top score can teach there, and I have not seen any argument to the effect that they manage to secure the top teachers through paying more.

Edit: Just incase anyone reads this as sour grapes over not being able to teach for TM, I got a 177 and was offered an interview with TM, but decided to go with Kaplan.