Opinions on Courses Forum
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jer.smith83
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:03 pm
Opinions on Courses
For my first LSAT, I took the Kaplan On Demand course which is self-paced. I work as a traveling consultant so I'm not able to do the in-class courses. I have the option of re-taking this course for free which I'm considering for the Feb 2011 test. However, I've been researching PowerScore and Test Masters weekend courses. Any thoughts on either of these versus Kaplan? How about Princeton Review?
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tomwatts
- Posts: 1710
- Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:01 am
Re: Opinions on Courses
(Full disclosure: I teach for Princeton Review.)
I don't think that weekend courses are worth it if you've already taken some other kind of course. A weekend course is a good introduction that gives you a whole bunch of materials to work from. If you've already gotten the introduction, and you already have the materials, don't bother.
If you can't make an in-person course, you basically have four options. First, there's a live online course (rather than an asynchronous, self-paced, recorded course). These give you a teacher (or two) to answer your questions and direct your studying more specifically. Second, there's tutoring (either online or in person). This is completely at your own schedule, which is nice if you have a really complicated schedule, and it's one-on-one: you meet with a tutor at particular times and learn the various strategies, as in a course. Third, there's another recorded online course (you already know about these). Fourth, there's pure self-study, which has the advantage of being (by a significant margin) the cheapest, but also the most difficult.
I can talk about various advantages and disadvantages of each, but no one can really tell you which one you should choose (or with which company). That's something you have to figure out for yourself. Generally, I'd recommend either the live online course or the online tutoring for the most significant help, but it depends on a variety of factors.
I don't think that weekend courses are worth it if you've already taken some other kind of course. A weekend course is a good introduction that gives you a whole bunch of materials to work from. If you've already gotten the introduction, and you already have the materials, don't bother.
If you can't make an in-person course, you basically have four options. First, there's a live online course (rather than an asynchronous, self-paced, recorded course). These give you a teacher (or two) to answer your questions and direct your studying more specifically. Second, there's tutoring (either online or in person). This is completely at your own schedule, which is nice if you have a really complicated schedule, and it's one-on-one: you meet with a tutor at particular times and learn the various strategies, as in a course. Third, there's another recorded online course (you already know about these). Fourth, there's pure self-study, which has the advantage of being (by a significant margin) the cheapest, but also the most difficult.
I can talk about various advantages and disadvantages of each, but no one can really tell you which one you should choose (or with which company). That's something you have to figure out for yourself. Generally, I'd recommend either the live online course or the online tutoring for the most significant help, but it depends on a variety of factors.
