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I keep hearing taking a class really limits and holds you back if you want to really score in a high percentile as opposed to studying by yourself, does anyone find this to be true? Perhaps its because many individuals who take classes do only that and don't put forth the additional effort to study outside of class and the required homework?

Take a LOGIC class at university. I'd recommend against the BS gimmicky LSAT study guides. Buy a shit load of practice tests. Do them at crackhead speeds.

MGH1989 wrote:I keep hearing taking a class really limits and holds you back if you want to really score in a high percentile as opposed to studying by yourself, does anyone find this to be true? Perhaps its because many individuals who take classes do only that and don't put forth the additional effort to study outside of class and the required homework?

What you've heard is, apparently, ridiculous and untrue. Plenty of my students have broken 170. A course gives you the relevant strategies and prep materials; whether you use them to their full advantage is, of course, up to you. (And these things can be gotten other ways, too.)

But taking a class won't HURT your score or LIMIT you in any way.

tomwatts wrote:

MGH1989 wrote:I keep hearing taking a class really limits and holds you back if you want to really score in a high percentile as opposed to studying by yourself, does anyone find this to be true? Perhaps its because many individuals who take classes do only that and don't put forth the additional effort to study outside of class and the required homework?

What you've heard is, apparently, ridiculous and untrue. Plenty of my students have broken 170. A course gives you the relevant strategies and prep materials; whether you use them to their full advantage is, of course, up to you. (And these things can be gotten other ways, too.)

But taking a class won't HURT your score or LIMIT you in any way.

I agree in principle, but taking a class may not be the most efficient way for certain people to prep. It could be a limitation in the sense that a student spends a lot of time in class while other students' needs are met, as opposed to working exclusively on his own weaknesses. I personally prefer self study, but there are a lot of people who benefit from the structure of a course. It really depends on the student, the instructor, and the rapport between the two.

JazzOne wrote:

tomwatts wrote: But taking a class won't HURT your score or LIMIT you in any way.

I agree in principle, but taking a class may not be the most efficient way for certain people to prep. It could be a limitation in the sense that a student spends a lot of time in class while other students' needs are met, as opposed to working exclusively on his own weaknesses. I personally prefer self study, but there are a lot of people who benefit from the structure of a course. It really depends on the student, the instructor, and the rapport between the two.

+1.

I definitely agree that it depends on the student. I opted not to take a class, and I was pleased with my results. My recommendation? If you decide not to take a class, use one of the study schedules on the lsat blog:

http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/p/month-ls ... plans.html

Then, buy the Logic Games Bible, the Logical Reasoning Bible, and as many prep tests as you can get your hands on. As long as you have the drive/dedication to stick to the study schedule, you should do well. (And studying this way is a lot less expensive than taking a class.)

Honestly you might want to look around at different online courses offered I know people don't like Kaplan here on TLS, but I took one of their in class courses, and on their online site there was every LSAT test with explanations for every question, and you can save these to your hard drive to reference whenever you need. I think for 500 bucks you get their books and access to the around 65 exams on there (plus explanation) which if you bought would probably run you 500 bucks anyway. So maybe you can find an online course that gives you access to all the preptests, and it could save you some money in the long run instead of dropping 8 bucks on each prep test.

zanzbar wrote:Honestly you might want to look around at different online courses offered I know people don't like Kaplan here on TLS, but I took one of their in class courses, and on their online site there was every LSAT test with explanations for every question, and you can save these to your hard drive to reference whenever you need. I think for 500 bucks you get their books and access to the around 65 exams on there (plus explanation) which if you bought would probably run you 500 bucks anyway. So maybe you can find an online course that gives you access to all the preptests, and it could save you some money in the long run instead of dropping 8 bucks on each prep test.

Pretty much any comprehensive online course will give you every single released question.

Spend your money on the Powerscore Bibles and practice tests. Study the bibles, incorporate their methods, and then test, and test, and test, and test, and test, and . . . .

I regretted taking a class. It amounted to 4 hours per weekend of sitting with a bunch of people who asked ridiculous questions, listening to gimmick strategies, and wishing that I was sitting in a library taking and analyzing practice tests.

the online class is the way to go bc it gives you more flexibility with attending class. and you can skip ahead or go back whenever you need to (with the archived lessons). and its cheaper

loved my online class. got a 9pt jump (october 161 to december 170) in about 6 weeks. it was a great way to keep me organized, not only because of the syllabus, but because it organized what specific type of questions I was missing and then I could create quizzes with only those questions on it (in addition to the hws and extra practice offered)

While some of the classes were a bit boring, the pace was reasonable because there were only so many sessions with time limits that the teacher had to get through all of the course information. the online course may also have TAs and office hrs to handle those falling behind.

so in summary, the benefits of a class are not only that it holds you accountable (especially if you want to get the guaranteed point increase that many courses offer) but more importantly it keeps you extremely organized.

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MGH1989 wrote:I keep hearing taking a class really limits and holds you back if you want to really score in a high percentile as opposed to studying by yourself, does anyone find this to be true? Perhaps its because many individuals who take classes do only that and don't put forth the additional effort to study outside of class and the required homework?

its going to depend on your learning style? How do you learn best- in groups or alone? Where are you in regards to diagnostic score? I took a class, and it helped me get a good foundation. I added to that foundation wiht self study, and ended up scoring 17 points higher than my diagnostic on the actual test. If you have a lot of time before you take, do both. its a bit repetitive, but youo will have the best of both worlds. although if you are strapped for money, doing more prep tests and self study will be easier on your bottom line than a thousand dollar class.

^This is probably the most well rounded response. I didn't have a lot of time to study, and so the time I had to commit to the class ended up being too stressful.