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Signing up for a little insurance policy for the October LSAT. Which company will give me the biggest bang for my $$ in 6 weeks?

Blueprint has such a great approach. Now that I think about it, it would have been more beneficial I believe to sign up for that course rather than Manhattan. I might even give it a second look...after my manhattan class is over...

Make sure to get everything in noodley's guide too

I love Manhattan LSAT and I recommend their books to my own private students as well as the arcade and their forum. That said, it's a prodigious waste of fucking money to invest in a prep course. Even with Manhattan, I think it's a terrible, awful investment. And I personally think they have very, very good instructors.

The reason prep companies offer courses is because people want courses. They are a bad way to study for the LSAT, and you would be much better off using that money to purchase private tutoring from either them or anyone else, or by just using the money on buying every prep test and a comfy desk/chair to study in.

Even if you were to say "well I am going to pick one, so which is the best?" it's still a losing battle. The time you'd devote to that prep course would have been much more productive while spent as self-study. You'll see many more problems, and be able to work at your own pace.

I very highly recommend investing in materials from manhattan (or blueprint, or powerscore, or velocity or some combination thereof) and learning a lot of their methods, but you should strongly consider just saving your time (and money) and not get a course.

cahwc12 wrote:I love Manhattan LSAT and I recommend their books to my own private students as well as the arcade and their forum. That said, it's a prodigious waste of fucking money to invest in a prep course. Even with Manhattan, I think it's a terrible, awful investment. And I personally think they have very, very good instructors.

The reason prep companies offer courses is because people want courses. They are a bad way to study for the LSAT, and you would be much better off using that money to purchase private tutoring from either them or anyone else, or by just using the money on buying every prep test and a comfy desk/chair to study in.

Even if you were to say "well I am going to pick one, so which is the best?" it's still a losing battle. The time you'd devote to that prep course would have been much more productive while spent as self-study. You'll see many more problems, and be able to work at your own pace.

I very highly recommend investing in materials from manhattan (or blueprint, or powerscore, or velocity or some combination thereof) and learning a lot of their methods, but you should strongly consider just saving your time (and money) and not get a course.

Thank you for this!!!! I have the bibles, mlsat LR & RC, some Cambridge packets, and PT 29-38 and 52-68. I've seen significant gains in LG, but LR is kicking my ass due to what I consider stupid mistakes. I will definitely continue with relentless repetition, but I feel like there is some hidden secret that I'm struggling to uncover on my own...

cahwc12 wrote:I love Manhattan LSAT and I recommend their books to my own private students as well as the arcade and their forum. That said, it's a prodigious waste of fucking money to invest in a prep course. Even with Manhattan, I think it's a terrible, awful investment. And I personally think they have very, very good instructors.

The reason prep companies offer courses is because people want courses. They are a bad way to study for the LSAT, and you would be much better off using that money to purchase private tutoring from either them or anyone else, or by just using the money on buying every prep test and a comfy desk/chair to study in.

Even if you were to say "well I am going to pick one, so which is the best?" it's still a losing battle. The time you'd devote to that prep course would have been much more productive while spent as self-study. You'll see many more problems, and be able to work at your own pace.

I very highly recommend investing in materials from manhattan (or blueprint, or powerscore, or velocity or some combination thereof) and learning a lot of their methods, but you should strongly consider just saving your time (and money) and not get a course.

If OP has already self-studied the basics with books/videos from a good source, I would agree that spending $$ on a course would be wasteful and instead be better spent on tutoring, but I don't agree that courses are themselves a wasteful prep investment.

Just because the same or similar information/knowledge is available in book/video form for less $ doesn't mean you aren't getting something more from a class for the extra $$ they cost. First of all, many people just cannot get themselves disciplined enough to self study properly. Ignoring the issue that self study also requires that the student figure out and follow a good study plan rather than falling into one of the many common bad ways to self study for the LSAT in order for it to be productive, it's pretty hard to stay on track self directed for the huge 40+ hours or more required just to pour through say the bibles one time each. Part of what you are paying for with a class is the personal method of delivery of the information. It's much less boring to learn the basics of the LSAT in a live class with other people than trying to do it all by yourself with a self imposed schedule you have to discipline yourself to keep (which most people fail to do).

The benefit of scheduled classes with a set curriculum and focus of classes lead by a live instructor you can interact with is pretty big compared to trying to learn the same stuff by yourself poking away through books on whatever schedule/plan or more typically in some unstructured way. In class you have the chance to participate so that you can make sure you are understanding and applying information and strategies properly. People that self study do not all get the same level of understanding of the test even if they read the same prep books, partly because they don't have an instructor to ask questions about things along the way that pertain to ideas presented in the books. Nobody goes through LSAT prep books and understands everything perfectly/properly/fully the first time and/or without having questions about some things they need answered and/or some misunderstandings they need to talk to an expert about but don't have the benefit of an instructor to ask for clarification while learning each different thing. That's a pretty big benefit over self-study too.

For someone that has already learned the basics through self-study though, the $$ would be better spent on tutoring. For beginners, a full length live class can be a good investment.

The only good thing about a course is the ability to have a separate home to study in whenever you want where you don't have to worry about crazies like at the library. Taking a course geared to the average test taker is a losing strategy.

flat-fifth wrote:

cahwc12 wrote:I love Manhattan LSAT and I recommend their books to my own private students as well as the arcade and their forum. That said, it's a prodigious waste of fucking money to invest in a prep course. Even with Manhattan, I think it's a terrible, awful investment. And I personally think they have very, very good instructors.

The reason prep companies offer courses is because people want courses. They are a bad way to study for the LSAT, and you would be much better off using that money to purchase private tutoring from either them or anyone else, or by just using the money on buying every prep test and a comfy desk/chair to study in.

Even if you were to say "well I am going to pick one, so which is the best?" it's still a losing battle. The time you'd devote to that prep course would have been much more productive while spent as self-study. You'll see many more problems, and be able to work at your own pace.

I very highly recommend investing in materials from manhattan (or blueprint, or powerscore, or velocity or some combination thereof) and learning a lot of their methods, but you should strongly consider just saving your time (and money) and not get a course.

Thank you for this!!!! I have the bibles, mlsat LR & RC, some Cambridge packets, and PT 29-38 and 52-68. I've seen significant gains in LG, but LR is kicking my ass due to what I consider stupid mistakes. I will definitely continue with relentless repetition, but I feel like there is some hidden secret that I'm struggling to uncover on my own...

I think it's very important to self-asses. I wouldn't recommend chalking up errors to "stupid mistakes." If you notice, most of the errors you'll make will be in one section or in a few LR types. If this is the case, then drill those types. I believe it's a much better approach than just thinking you've made silly errors all over the place.

^^^ Great point!