Best online LSAT prep course? Forum

[knznick]

Who offers the best online LSAT prep course? I'm looking at Kaplan, Princeton Review, Powerscore, and Blueprint.

Any advice on which one to take?

Nick

[KingsBench]

Not speaking from personal experience, but there's been good things said about Velocity LSAT around TLS, so you might want to add it to your list of courses to consider: http://www.velocitylsat.com/

[tomwatts]

Disclosure: I (still occasionally) teach for Princeton Review, but I don't get any money for being on TLS.

Bear in mind when you talk about online courses that there are two very different flavors: asynchronous (recorded) and live. Asynchronous courses have you watch videos that somebody made at some point that explain LSAT concepts to you. Live courses are like a regular class, just in an online format: you interact with a teacher and other students, etc. I think the latter is better, but I'm told that there are arguments the other way.

Bear in mind also that online courses tend to be shorter than in-person courses, and my general feeling is that it takes in the neighborhood of 60-80 hours to explain the LSAT in sufficient detail not to make students have to learn most of it on their own. (Whereas something more like 30-40 hours really does just give you an intro and then turn you loose into studying on your own.) In choosing online courses, I would rate number of hours as one of the top considerations.

[2014jd]

I had a good experience/results with Blueprint's online course, though I never tried any other course.

The Blueprint version I did was pre-recorded videos.

[knznick]

Tomwatts: thanks or the clarification!

I am interested in a live course not a recorded one. Can you speak to the value of princeton review? I have heard Kaplan is also good. Can you explain the differences?

Thank you,
Nick

[bernaldiaz]

Velocity is awesome and it's about half as much. I had a great experience and would highly recommend it. Started with a cold diagnostic of 164 and my last several PTs have been 174-179. I'd attribute a ton of that improvement to Dave's insight and the comprehensive material he designed for the class.

[gaud]

Manhattan is another company you should consider. I have not personally taken one of their online courses so I can't specifically say if it is great or not, however, their other prep materials (books) are wonderful so I'd imagine the classes are similar.

[knznick]

What about testmasters or Powerscore? Is velocity a video or live online session?

[gaud]

What about testmasters or Powerscore? Is velocity a video or live online session?

I took the TM online course and wasn't impressed. There are quite a few people on here who felt otherwise about it but in my humble opinion I'd go elsewhere.

[tomwatts]

I am interested in a live course not a recorded one. Can you speak to the value of princeton review? I have heard Kaplan is also good. Can you explain the differences?

Wanting a live online course narrows your options somewhat, which makes the decision easier. (For example, I think it eliminates Blueprint; I believe their only online course is recorded.)

Honestly, I can't figure out what Kaplan actually offers in the way of live online instruction. It has several options (under the title "Classroom Anywhere"), but wading through the marketing-speak to figure out how much of the course is actually spent with a live instructor in an online format and how much is in various other formats is beyond me. They have an 180 hour figure, but that's definitely including recordings and stuff.

At any rate, the Princeton Review LiveOnline LSAT class is advertised at 55 hours of live online instruction, though it's usually more like 60, depending on the exact schedule. (You also get access to a bunch of recorded versions of the lessons.) Just like any other class, you get a full set of all the released LSAT questions since 1991. Your instructors have generally scored in the 170's on the real thing; you get two of them, a lead teacher who goes through the main material and a co-teacher who assists with logistics, technical issues, extra help for individuals, drill review, etc.

It's generally a neat format. You get a headset that allows you to talk with the teacher and other students as if you were actually there in the room with them. You get a text function, too, so you can type back and forth when necessary. There's a whiteboard that has PowerPoint and Paint functionality, so prepared screens pop up and the teacher can write all over them in real time.

My one suggestion is to avoid the 4-day-a-week classes. Sometimes we do intensives that are, say, M-Tu-W-Th schedules. They're just as effective as our more spread out classes, but the workload is ridiculous, because you're preparing for the LSAT by doing about 40-45 released tests in homework sets and full PTs, but you're doing it in a little over 5 weeks. The students do well, but they're really stressed out. The 2-per-week or 3-per-week are just as good with a lower stress level.

[knznick]

Do you offer any weekend classes that begin soon? I'm taking the June LSAT so I'll need to be prepared by then. When do you teach?

[media2law]

Manhattan is another company you should consider. I have not personally taken one of their online courses so I can't specifically say if it is great or not, however, their other prep materials (books) are wonderful so I'd imagine the classes are similar.

I am taking the Self Study course now and I can say that LG which in the past gave me the most trouble is now my best performing section of the LSAT. I was using the PS bibles so getting used to the Manhattan method took a little time but it was well worth it.

[tomwatts]

Do you offer any weekend classes that begin soon? I'm taking the June LSAT so I'll need to be prepared by then. When do you teach?

For these sorts of things, I'd check the website. Following my own advice... looks like there are some Sat/Sun classes that start in mid-March for the June LSAT. One is 12-3 pm Eastern, and the other is 3-6 pm Eastern.

If you want a little bit of a head-start, you can sign up in advance and get the books and online recorded lessons a while before the class starts. Maybe two weeks before class, take a practice test (which you're supposed to do before class anyway), review it as carefully as you can (you won't know anything about the LSAT yet, but you will know the English language, and that's really all you need to start out with), and start playing around with the online lessons. That would give you a little over 3 months of prep time, which is smack dab in the middle of the 2-4 months that I usually recommend.

[djkrish]

powerscore virtual course. hands down.

[arkansawyer]

I can't speak to any of the other online materials, but I can vouch for TestMasters' online content. You receive the exact same materials as a person taking the live course, but you can work at your own pace. The quality of the online course is the same as the live course, you just need to bring your own motivation.

[moxy]

Knewton

[knznick]

I'm reading the Powerscore Bibles now. They seem to be extremely helpful! But I feel like these won't be enough to really build a base of knowledge.. I have had no prior experience with the LSAT, logic games, or logical reasoning. Would it be acceptable to study from the bibles while taking a course or would they contradict eachother?

Can I ask your scores and how you studied?

[arkansawyer]

Power score bibles are fine, definitely can get better content with a course though. Still, not bad for the money.

I read each one about 3 times, then took about 40 preptests. I scored in the 99th percentile.

[knznick]

Did you do a prep course or self study?

Thanks!

[Nicolena]

Who offers the best online LSAT prep course? I'm looking at Kaplan, Princeton Review, Powerscore, and Blueprint.

Any advice on which one to take?

Nick

You should sign up for a free one on Kaplan. That way you aren't paying into something that you don't know anything about. Personally, I signed up for the Kaplan classroom. They offer a free practice test to evaluate your score and at the end if you do not see improvement you get your money back, or you can retake the course. You should visit the Kaplan site though. It goes into detail about how Kaplan is better than other programs and what they offer to you. I've been impressed so far.

[bernaldiaz]

Who offers the best online LSAT prep course? I'm looking at Kaplan, Princeton Review, Powerscore, and Blueprint.

Any advice on which one to take?

Nick

You should sign up for a free one on Kaplan. That way you aren't paying into something that you don't know anything about. Personally, I signed up for the Kaplan classroom. They offer a free practice test to evaluate your score and at the end if you do not see improvement you get your money back, or you can retake the course. You should visit the Kaplan site though. It goes into detail about how Kaplan is better than other programs and what they offer to you. I've been impressed so far.

No.

[Manhattan LSAT Noah]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=151670

[arkansawyer]

Did you do a prep course or self study?

Thanks!

Self prep

[tomwatts]

I'm reading the Powerscore Bibles now. They seem to be extremely helpful! But I feel like these won't be enough to really build a base of knowledge.. I have had no prior experience with the LSAT, logic games, or logical reasoning. Would it be acceptable to study from the bibles while taking a course or would they contradict eachother?

Can I ask your scores and how you studied?

The Powerscore approach and the Princeton Review approach do contradict each other, at least in some of the fundamental points about Games and LR. After you work with the LSAT for a while, you can understand how one translates into the other, but it could be pretty confusing at first.

If you're asking me, I got a 176 and then a 180, based on self-study from Princeton Review books and released LSATs. Uh, and I taught a few LSAT classes between the 176 and the 180.