How much room for haggling is there with Bar Prep companies? Forum

[nipplehead09]

Like many 3Ls, I waited until the last minute to start planning out my Bar prep situation.

As of right now I have the option to use Themis for $1,120 ( I got the $500 public interest discount and a $100 discount from a student group that I'm involved in.)

Before I make a choice, I was wondering how much room for negotiating I have with other Bar Prep companies like BarBri and Kaplan. My main concern with Themis is that I worry that I won't be motivated enough to put in the necessary studying time unless I have a set study schedule in a room with other students. Has anyone had success getting either Kaplan or BarBri to come down under $1,500? What is the lowest you've heard of someone paying for either of those courses? Also, does anyone think that Themis would lower their price any further? I know that some of my friends got $150 for signing up "early" (ie. just a few weeks ago). Any reps out there know if that discount could still be applied?

Not sure if it's relevant but I will be taking the FL bar.

[s1m4]

I got Barbri down to $2k (told them that was the only money I had, could not get a loan, and would just go with Themis unless they gave this to me). Cali. Took extensive haggling.

If you think about it, they have no reason not to let you take it, because you are just an extra person sitting in a huge lecture hall, or with access to their online program. They either get $2k from you, or they get nothing from you. The only work they need to put into you during the actual course is grading three of your essays (probably pay graders $30 to do this)

Overall I was very satisfied with Barbri, so I recommend going with them.

[you_were_driving]

my barbri rep emailed me months after i had already paid a discounted price and offered another $500 discount.

so, to answer your question, there's a lot of haggling room.

[underthirty]

.

[Homiemomma]

I was a BarBri rep for 2 years in law school and they'll pretty much do anything to get you to sign up. Most of the people in my class got at least a 50% discount. Some got it for less than $1,000. Just keep telling them what the competitors cost. They create discounts out of thin air & offer "scholarships" all over the place. If your school rep doesn't know about this stuff, ask for emails for the manager of legal education or director of legal education. They're the ones who interact with the reps and push discounts through.

Basically, BarBri has a total dollar amount that they want to get from each school. They're free to play with that by making up whatever they discount from people willing to pay full price.

[LawIsPrettyCool]

I did AdaptiBar and I have a special code that will get you $50 off so it comes out to around $345. Private Message me if you want the code.

I didn't do it in July and bombed the MBE. The Themis questions did not prepare me whatsoever for the MBE.

I felt much better in February with Adaptibar since they use real questions and you can keep detailed stats of which areas you need focus on and it automatically adjusts.

Highly recommended.

I get my bar results May 15.

[paraguayfargus]

I was able to haggle a little, but not a lot. Maybe it gets tougher as time goes on.

[badaboom61]

Themis offered me the public service discount. I emailed them and said "If you can't give me a better rate, I'll just use my friend's hand-me-down books." They didn't give me a better rate. I used my friend's books and passed. Worked out for the best, but bottom line, they didn't care to haggle with me.

[Neve]

Ended up locking in the price for Barbri 1L year and after a "scholarship" I paid about $2k for a summer Barbri course. I wish I would have held out past the payment deadline because my friends who did ended up getting more of a discount than me. One of my friends even received a Starbucks gift card from a Barbri staffer after he didn't put the money down by the deadline! Be a hard negotiator on this. They want your business.

[Homiemomma]

Ended up locking in the price for Barbri 1L year and after a "scholarship" I paid about $2k for a summer Barbri course. I wish I would have held out past the payment deadline because my friends who did ended up getting more of a discount than me. One of my friends even received a Starbucks gift card from a Barbri staffer after he didn't put the money down by the deadline! Be a hard negotiator on this. They want your business.

This is exactly what happened for everyone I signed up too - right down to the Starbucks card! The longer you hold out, the more they'll knock off the price. When I was head rep, my supervisor made me keep a spreadsheet of every student that included their reasons for not signing up. If money was the issue, we would throw discounts at them. Kaplan was our only real competition, so we usually only needed to undercut them, but some students got bigger discounts just because they were broke. (And what 3L isn't broke by the time graduation rolls around, amiright?)

[lomannog]

I was able to get Barbri to quote me $1500 plus a $250 refundable book fee. Themis offered the public interest discount at $1195 but didn't seem willing to come down more, though I didn't push because I think that's a pretty good deal. Kaplan also gave me a quote of about $1200 for the online course and around $2000 for the live lectures. I never intended on going with Kaplan but it was still worth it to email the rep and use the quotes for leverage.

I don't have any fantastic or magical negotiation skills, I just emailed the Barbri rep for my school, told her what Kaplan/Themis were offering in terms of price quotes and asked if she could come down closer to that. Other posters are right in that it's better to wait until 3L spring because they get way more desperate. I still haven't decided on Themis vs. Barbri, so if anyone wants to chime in on that please help!

[JenDarby]

Yep, 3L spring. I decided to switch to Kaplan (gave me a free iPad and was able to negotiate them down on price). When I didn't pay my barbri balance, I received an email that I "was selected!" for a $1,000 scholarship.

[TxBarTaker09]

I set off a price contest between BarBri, Kaplan, an Themis. I eventually got BarBri down to 1620 (no tax, and that included my book deposit so I got 250 back.)

[bklynattorney]

I paid $1,525 with Kaplan after $500 rebate and $250 refundable book deposit was returned. Took NY July 2014.