Should you take a prep class? Forum

[nosurprises23]

I'm going through the LSAT Trainer right now, pt'ing at a 160, hoping for low to mid 170's. Does anyone know if a class would be a good option for before I take the September test? Princeton and Kaplan I think are available in my area, but I'm concerned that it will be a waste of money and might be more a detriment to my studies than a help. Does anyone have any good insight? Thanks for any helpful advice anyone should have.

[Mikey]

Prep classes typically teach you the basics and foundations, from what I've heard. If you're PTing around 160, that means you know your foundations for the most part already, so I don't think you will benefit from a prep class.

[poptart123]

I did Kaplan and it didn't get many any higher than 160. Self studying did the rest for me.

IMO Kaplan was good for basic test concepts, but not that great overall. The best part about them was the online resources I got, every preptest with explanations as well as a question bank and supplemental videos, but you are paying way too much for those if you choose to go with them.

The in-person class was slow, long, and overall terrible quality.

[maybeman]

Unless you're having trouble keeping a structured, thorough schedule during your self-study, I'd recommend against it. Those classes aren't tailored to 170+ scorers. They're marketed to maximize revenue and you probably aren't having the same difficulties as low 150//high 140 scorers. If you feel it would help though, definitely worth it despite the cost bc the scholarship payouts later.

[nosurprises23]

So would those responding recommend the Trainer and Powerscore bibles? That's what I've working from but I'm stuck at the low 160's. I don't think I'll be able to afford law school without an amazing LSAT score so I'd really like to know how to get up in to those 170's.

[34iplaw]

If you won't be able to keep structure on your own or you learn better in a class environment, it may be worth it. It could be that I'm going through this stuff for a second or third time, but I'm definitely retaining more through Testmasters. Basically, testmasters just forces you to do *a lot* of LSAT problems. AFAIK, they typically use harder questions as well, so, ideally, the test will be a bit easier than your homeworks would have you believe.