Best LSAT Classroom Prep Course Forum

[felicity]

Hey guys, what are the 3 best LSAT classroom prep courses in your opinion and why?

I am planning to go to a law school in Chicago Fall 2011. I got a miserable LSAT score in the February 2010 test. I studied the prep courses for 2+ months but not as disciplined as I should have. I have been working full time for more than 8 years, traveling almost every week for business and I haven't done any sort of standardized tests since I graduated from college in 02! HARD to get back into the groove again but I know I can. I am a successful book publishing sales director darn it and I'm only 27! (Just said that to make myself feel better because I feel like crap right now after seeing my LSAT score).

Being in a classroom with someone showing me how to do things right will help me tons. Anyone?

Plus, I promise to travel less until I finish the June LSATs with flying colors.



Feeling like crap,
Felicity

[tallboone]

People don't usually take more than one prep course, so most of their opinion is based on anecdotal evidence. That being said, the general consensus on this site is that Testmasters, Powerscore and Blueprint are all very similar.

Personally, I had good luck with blueprint in southern california.

[CMDantes]

You'll hear from many people on here that testmasters sucks, but that is solely in reference to their hiring practices of TLS members. One isolated incident, actually. Therefore, this assertion logically flawed for two reasons:
1. Their hiring practices regarding an internet community have absolutely no bearing on the quality of the course.
2. TLS is obviously biased toward the injured TLS member.

With that out of the way, I've heard that Princeton Review has great teachers and the one in my area is being taught by this genius who's going to Harvard. I may have picked the PR course had I not already signed up for testmasters.

Tesmasters, from what I've heard from my fellow law-school aspiring friends, is the best all-around company and the course is more designed to get you into the upper echelons of test-takers. I chose this route, but I think I could have been happy with the PR course if it was a stellar instructor.

I've heard from many people that Kaplan unequivocally sucks. Their methods and teachers are bad, but their materials are okay.

Again, this is all from what I've heard so please take it with a grain of salt.

[autarkh]

I've tutored some Blueprint students and looked over their materials. They are really good.

Same with Powerscore and Testmasters.

[neimanmarxist]

Independent of the TLS / Testmasters scandal, I took their class and had a terrible experience. Bad business practices all around (i.e. randomly switching class dates- when I had planned my schedule around the class) and I found the customer service to be both rude and unresponsive. What's more, we had 2 instructors- one left halfway through. The first instructor was terrible. However, they didn't switch him out because he was bad , but because he ditched on the job. In any case, there's no guarantee you'll get a quality instructor. That's true of most courses, but with TM, you might not get a quality instructor or any kind of response from the staff for what are really very basic, legitimate complaints and concerns.

I would go with powerscore or princeton review, those are also classes that are meant to get people 'top' scores and they might employ better business practices.

[josh7654]

I don't know anything about other courses, but I jumped up 9 points to a 173 after taking Atlas LSAT. I did their online course. They did a great job figuring out what kind of test-taker I was and tailoring their instruction to me.

[da87]

DON'T take Kaplan...huge waste of money and time. I had to take the test twice, and the second time I neglected everything I had learned from my Kaplan course and followed the Powerscore Bibles and my score jumped up 9 points.

[Mattalones]

All you need:

All LSATs
A good routine
A place where you can concentrate
A Logic games bible
A copy of The Official LSAT SuperPrep
A realistic schedule planned out on a calendar (Google Calendar is great because it syncs with computers and smart-phones)

Plan your execution and execute your plan!

This way gets you almost everything you get from a class, but it is WAY cheaper.

[felicity]

All LSATs
A good routine
A place where you can concentrate
A Logic games bible
A copy of The Official LSAT SuperPrep
A realistic schedule planned out on a calendar (Google Calendar is great because it syncs with computers and smart-phones)

Thanks. But see, that's what I did and it didn't work.

I am a much better classroom learner as far as standardized tests.

[tallboone]

All LSATs
A good routine
A place where you can concentrate
A Logic games bible
A copy of The Official LSAT SuperPrep
A realistic schedule planned out on a calendar (Google Calendar is great because it syncs with computers and smart-phones)

Thanks. But see, that's what I did and it didn't work.

I am a much better classroom learner as far as standardized tests.

Yeah everyone is different. I tried that for my first time and found the structured nature of the course with the actual feedback of an instructor when you are trying to figure out the language of the LSAT (I use language because its almost as if you are learning a different language) to be very helpful and contributed to my score increase.

[Mattalones]

All LSATs
A good routine
A place where you can concentrate
A Logic games bible
A copy of The Official LSAT SuperPrep
A realistic schedule planned out on a calendar (Google Calendar is great because it syncs with computers and smart-phones)

Thanks. But see, that's what I did and it didn't work.

I am a much better classroom learner as far as standardized tests.

Yeah everyone is different. I tried that for my first time and found the structured nature of the course with the actual feedback of an instructor when you are trying to figure out the language of the LSAT (I use language because its almost as if you are learning a different language) to be very helpful and contributed to my score increase.

Hmm ... O well. It tried

On another note: Felicity, were you on the Song Team at UCLA recently? We may have been there at the same time.

[abbas123]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =6&t=41657

[felicity]

All LSATs
A good routine
A place where you can concentrate
A Logic games bible
A copy of The Official LSAT SuperPrep
A realistic schedule planned out on a calendar (Google Calendar is great because it syncs with computers and smart-phones)

Thanks. But see, that's what I did and it didn't work.

I am a much better classroom learner as far as standardized tests.

Yeah everyone is different. I tried that for my first time and found the structured nature of the course with the actual feedback of an instructor when you are trying to figure out the language of the LSAT (I use language because its almost as if you are learning a different language) to be very helpful and contributed to my score increase.

Hmm ... O well. It tried

On another note: Felicity, were you on the Song Team at UCLA recently? We may have been there at the same time.

No, I wasn't there.

[felicity]

OK, so from on your responses, I have:

Testmaster
Powerscore
Princeton
Blueprint
Atlas

I'll take a look at their schedules. I'm looking to attend something like Princeton's Accelerated Course. That one will allow me to attend Monday classes and take tests during the Saturday sessions. I can study on my own in between. My plan is to ask my boss to lessen my travels so my work schedule won't be as irregular. My husband suggests I quit since we'll get by in one income anyway...but these days, only a fool would do such a thing.

Did I mention I work from home? One would think that's a plus because I can slide right into study mode after work but that's not the case. It's hard to switch off the work mode because it's so easy to get back online and answer emails, run reports, write up reviews, etc. It doesn't help that my company is on Pacific time and I am on Central. My typical work day is at least 2 hours longer to accommodate both my clients in the east coast and my staff in the west.

Needless to say, changes have to be made.

[Sean Bateman]

If anyone has time to make it to Florida for a month long class i HIGHLY reccomend Blackstone LSAT prep out of orlando. It boosted by score 11 points. The woman who teaches it has been teaching LSAT prep for 30+ years, knows the LSAT like the back of her hand, and is extremely personable and friendly. It's also non profit which I know doesn't make a lot of sense (her husband runs the law firm next door) but always gave me a good feeling. they also allow you to retake the class as many times as you want for less then $50.

of course, you'd have to live in orlando for a month but i don't believe there is another course on par with blackstone.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Most people consider powerscore, blueprint, and testmasters to be the best.

If you can, try and find a class that has the class sessions more spread out. Going to 3 to 4 classes a week is typically a lot less helpful than going to 1 to 2. This is assuming you can find plenty of study time to devote to studying outside of the classes each week though.

[tdogg]

I took the Kaplan course and my score went up 21 points. I worked full time, volunteer with the boyscouts 10-30 hours a week, and have two kids...so I am BUSY! Their course worked for me, without killing myself too much further than I already do. The teacher got a 178 on the LSAT when he took it and knew his stuff. I dont know what experiences others had, but I'd recommend Kaplan whole heartedly.

[felicity]

My depression has sunk in and had left as of midnight. Since then, I have been researching the programs you have recommended and I've come down to these two, primarily because of the schedules they have available.

Princeton
Kaplan

Which of these two do you recommend?

[felicity]

By the way, I really would prefer going to an in-person class. Given that I work from home and have no distinction whatsoever between home and work life, I need my LSAT space to be separate. Far enough that I need to physically step away from my home/work zone.

Ugh, I am so high maintenance...sorry guys.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Find out which classes they have that fit your schedule, and then call and ask about the teacher who will be teaching that course. Choosing between the curriculum of PR and Kaplan is not as important as being taught by the the best teacher IMO. Ask to speak to the local head of the LSAT department and ask questions like what %ile the teacher who is teaching the class scored in, was it on an actual test, how many years experience, etc. You want to make sure the teacher has gotten in the 98-99%ile on an actual test, and, if possible, been teaching for at least a year or two (if they haven't been teaching that long, ask how many classes they have taught from start to finish).

[am060459]

My depression has sunk in and had left as of midnight. Since then, I have been researching the programs you have recommended and I've come down to these two, primarily because of the schedules they have available.

Princeton
Kaplan

Which of these two do you recommend?

kaplan. they have better books.

[tomwatts]

My depression has sunk in and had left as of midnight. Since then, I have been researching the programs you have recommended and I've come down to these two, primarily because of the schedules they have available.

Princeton
Kaplan

Which of these two do you recommend?

Take us (Princeton Review), of course!

It probably does depend on the teacher. If you call us and the course has already been staffed (likely at this point), ask if the teacher is a tutor. If so, ask for the tutor bio. The tutor bio will have all the relevant information. Though lots of LSAT students care a lot about a real score, it just doesn't matter as much as people think. If you're taking the 84-hour (Hyperlearning) course, the teacher has to have scored 98th percentile or above, and a 171 vs. a 175 just isn't that big a difference as far as teaching quality. Years of experience teaching (at least 1 is nice) and whether the teacher has extra qualifications (being a tutor is a plus, being a high-end [Master or Premier] tutor is a BIG plus, being a Master Trainer is a BIG plus) do matter a little.

Even if the teacher isn't a tutor and therefore the office can't say much about who the teacher is (the person who actually hired and trained the teacher and the person you're talking to on the phone are often different, and the person you're talking to on the phone may have no clue about the teacher), I have enough confidence in our training methods to say that the teacher is good, but there's less proof to back it up at that point.

I imagine that questions for Kaplan would go along similar lines. And then you can compare the teachers.

[felicity]

Thanks for all your feedback. They really helped.

I'll call both Princeton and Kaplan tomorrow and compare notes. Will let y'all know.

[JasonR]

Not speaking from personal knowledge, but most people here seem to think that Kaplan has the weakest methods. I believe they also have the least stringent requirements for becoming a teacher.

[christopher1108]

what about knewton...anyone done that one? still interested in the 5 pt increase money back guarantee