which prep course should i take? Forum

[trqdor]

im not sure when i'll retake yet (probably june or October), but I recently made the decision that I've personally capped and will need some professional assistance to get me to the top of my game come test day. the goal is 177 or above... not trying to come off as overambitious or cocky... im just not sure I would be happy with anything less considering the $ investment im putting in.

does anyone have any experience with test prep courses and an opinion on which is the best? how long do these prep courses typically take?

by way of background, this will be my fourth take. I've studied by myself for a few years and despite PTing in the 99th percentile a couple of times, I could not break 165 in my three attempts at the test. there is something fundamentally wrong with the way I am prepping, and I am hoping a prep course will expose these weaknesses with me.

if there are courses specifically designed for retakers who are already familiar with the test and the basic strategies, I would be interested in checking those out.

[gamerish]

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[trqdor]

Prep courses are generally designed for people who have never seen the LSAT. You may learn their particular method but there's no guarantee that will work for you or get you where you want to score. In my opinion, a prep course will likely be a waste of time and money seeing as how long you've been studying, where you're already scoring and the score you want.

If you really need outside help, look into tutoring instead. The individual attention you get from them should be able to address your weaknesses much better than a prep course teacher can.

I would look at whether the problem is actually your mastery of the LSAT - depending on how regularly you score 173+ - or like crippling text anxiety. A 165 is a substantial drop from the 99th percentile and going from a consistent 165 to a consisten 177+ is no small task in the least, especially given years of practice.

mmm good point. 'mastery of the LSAT' is really what I'm hoping to achieve. im just not sure if I can reach it on my own, which is why I've come to the conclusion that I need some professional tips to guide me through this next retake. a tutor relationship is definitely what im seeking moreso than a general strategy overview. I just thought that maybe these prep courses also doubled as tutoring services that can sit down with me and show me things I'm not immediately seeing. is there a separate thread/group where I can find people interested in tutoring? I don't personally know of anyone who scored in the 99th percentile that I can ask.

have I tried every self-help method out there? did I go through every book and strategy guide? did I exhaust all other possible avenues of improvement before deciding to pay for a service? No. but I desperately want this next retake to be my last. And while getting a tutor may not be the ideal solution, I (for some reason) think it's my best shot.

I think the biggest hurdle in my test prep is the fact that I've seen all the problems, but didn't build up the necessary skills that would allow me to apply previous knowledge to new problems. it's a huge fuckup from my early prep days when I didn't know wtf I was doing and just burned through precious material.

[Panoptikon]

Don't take a prep course.