Best Prep Course to help break the 170 barrier? Forum

[DGLitcH]

I was doing self-prep last summer and was initially going to take the Oct 2009 LSAT but ultimately decided to defer it until Oct 2010 due to some things. When I was practicing, I was initially scoring 170 but as I gotten to the newer RC's, my scored dropped to around 168. I heard the RC in newer tests are harder, so I guess that explained it.

The section that I am doing poorest in is RC (fluctuates a lot, anywhere from -2 to -8). After that it is LR (usually on average -3 to -4 per LR section). LG is my strong area, I normally get nearly all of them right with exceptions of a few games where I might stumble a little.

Since I have haven't had a chance to do LSAT for about a year due to school, I want to take a prep course this time to refresh my memory on some of the LSAT techniques and to get guidance on some of the RC or LR problems that I had last time. I am looking to score around 173-174 in order to compensate for my GPA.

With that said, the prep courses available in my area are:
Testmasters (I know TM is very popular on this site but they dont seem to have an office in my city and just ask you to send the money.. seems a little sketchy. Is it like that in all cities?)
Kaplan Extreme (there is no Advanced available)
Powerscore
Princeton Review

Given my need for improvement in RC and to a lesser extent in LR, and my previous knowledge in LSAT, which prep course do you think will be the best in helping me get that 173-174 score? Thanks in advance.

[vanwinkle]

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[FuManChusco]

Sounds to me like you should just self study. You are perfect on LG, which is the most learnable section. You are -3/-4 on LR, so you clearly have a grasp of the section. Maybe you just need to focus a little more, or try to find a comfortable timing method, such as the first 10 questions in 10 minutes. This will allow you more time for the harder ones and possibly time to check answers on those tough 50/50 questions. No one is going to teach you how to be a better reader. The only real suggestions are to read a lot, and do a lot of RC sections. Mark up and underline some, just read and do the questions on others. Basically, find a method that works for you and go with it. If anything I'd get a tutor. I feel like you'd be bored with any class though, since RC is probably the hardest section to improve in, and you have a very good foundation in the other 2 sections.

[tomwatts]

Sounds like a tutoring candidate to me. You already knew a bunch of stuff and you're retaking, so a comprehensive review wouldn't hurt you, but the specific targeting towards your particular strengths and weaknesses might be better.

Tutoring is usually thought of as more expensive, but this is not necessarily so. You can just purchase fewer hours, so it can be cheaper than a course.

[cubswin]

Tutoring.

[lakerfanimal]

Like others said a prep class won't do much for you considering where you are scoring. I improved my RC from probably -8 to -2 on the real test (I was averaging -1 on the 2 fresh practice tests I did before I took my test) so it can be done- you just have to make yourself into a better reader doing various things (you have to be a good reader if you want to be an attorney anyways, might as well start now...). I'm too lazy right now to type out how, if you want tips PM me.

Good luck.

[JasonR]

Testmasters (I know TM is very popular on this site but they dont seem to have an office in my city and just ask you to send the money.. seems a little sketchy. Is it like that in all cities?)[/b]

This sounds like the fake Testmasters to me (testmasters.com instead of testmasters.net). Are you talking about the one based in Houston TX? It's a total fraud.

The real TM does a great course. There's a bunch of vaginal whining on here ever since their egomaniacal bitch of a secretary trashed a guy on here (though the backstory makes him look worse), but who cares? Their course is great, and that's all that matters. Your only interest should be your LSAT score.

On the other hand, I'm not sure a course will do anything for you at your level that more self-study (and maybe some tutoring) won't. But if you insist on taking a course, TM is terrific.

[vanwinkle]

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[ughOSU]

Since reading comp is your weakest section and you have a lot of time before you take the test, you may want to try a different strategy that was recommended by an LSAT-180er on this site, and which I found very useful. Try re-focusing your brain on only reading in the week or two before a test. Find any book you can really get into and spend all of your free time reading. No tv, limited exercise, limited anything else. It doesn't need to be a difficult read, could be harry potter or whatever. I scored my highest PT when I only reviewed like 4 hours in the week leading up to the PT, but read recreationally for like 20-25 hours. I got a PT 177 when I read all of "what hallened?" in the previous 5 days. Might have been part coincidence, but you might as well give it a shot, you've got a lot of time. Unfortunately for me, I never replicated that level of success on the actual test, but I think it was a good strategy, and I had similar problems with the point fluctuation on RC that you did.

[JasonR]

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