What is best, tutor or prep class? and do they really increase your score? Forum

[Guineapiggirl]

I studied for about 4 months from the powerscore books (logic games and reasoning). Being honest, I'm not good keeping a schedule for myself and I ended up getting a poor score. I'm going to apply next cycle... does a tutor or prep class increase a score significantly?
Any recommendations about certain companies?

[20170322]

I studied for about 4 months from the powerscore books (logic games and reasoning). Being honest, I'm not good keeping a schedule for myself and I ended up getting a poor score. I'm going to apply next cycle... does a tutor or prep class increase a score significantly?
Any recommendations about certain companies?

Tbh I think I'd fix this before law school. Studying for the LSAT is a good way to learn how to keep a regimented study schedule.

[Voyager]

The classes/tutor provide you with a proven study road map along with multiple ways to learn (classroom, books, drills, individual attention) AND the necessary materials.

Do people prep on their own and crush it? Oh for sure.

But the classes absolutely "work". Your score is highly likely to go up and I am betting by more than if you did it on your own (but that depends on the student)

As for the "best" class... you will get lots of debate on that. 10 years ago the courses with the most elite instructors were generally BluePrint, Manhattan Test Prep and TestMasters. Teaching at any of those required a top 1% score. Is that a good proxy for "best teacher"?

I did the Kaplan Extreme course (no idea if it is still offered) taught by the woman who helped design the course and who got a 180. I thought it was a very good class.

That said, I am betting BluePrint, TestMasters and Manhattan probably had more consistently good instructors than anyone else.

Not sure about state of play these days...

[Guineapiggirl]

I studied for about 4 months from the powerscore books (logic games and reasoning). Being honest, I'm not good keeping a schedule for myself and I ended up getting a poor score. I'm going to apply next cycle... does a tutor or prep class increase a score significantly?
Any recommendations about certain companies?

Tbh I think I'd fix this before law school. Studying for the LSAT is a good way to learn how to keep a regimented study schedule.

I didn't mean that I can't keep a study schedule. What I'm referring to is with work and school my schedule is extremely unpredictable. Sometimes I work at night/during the day/early morning and it changes every day. I'm not good at sticking to an LSAT studying schedule. I see on this forum I have to be super careful about how I phrase my sentences...
The main question, however, is which prep classes are the best and their success rates.

[Mikey]

I have heard that Manhattan is great but expensive, and that testmasters is pretty good as well.

[ptittle]

I'm an independent tutor (skype/phone) and the people I work with (for, typically, about 3 months) typically improve their score, some as much as 15 points. Most who come to me with something in the 140s or 150s are typically getting something in the 160s, consistently, before test day.

[letslsat]

I'm an independent tutor (skype/phone) and the people I work with (for, typically, about 3 months) typically improve their score, some as much as 15 points. Most who come to me with something in the 140s or 150s are typically getting something in the 160s, consistently, before test day.

What makes a good tutor? What do you do during a session with a tutor?

[ptittle]

To some extent it depends on the tutee -- what their degree is in, what prep they've done so far, how they describe their strengths and weaknesses. All of that tells me a lot about what might be blocking their success.

But I generally do a fundamentals session for LR, RC, and LG, then assign just a bit of work on each (though we usually start with one skill, usually LR or RC, get it under control, then move on to the next), then go over their mistakes (and possibly the ones they got right but aren't sure they got it right for the right reason) -- I make sure they understand why the right answer is right AND why the wrong answers, especially the one they've chosen, are wrong.

We gradually develop stamina, so once they can get, say, 5 LRs in a row perfect or with just one wrong, they step up to 7, then 10, then 12 ... working their way up to a complete section (much like one works up to running a complete marathon -- you just don't get off the couch one day and go try 26.6 miles). Then we do 2 sections back-to-back, then 3, 4, 5. If then they're still not at speed (most people are), we work on that -- but we work on focus more than speed per se (the two are closely related, and I'd rather people become more focused than start getting sloppy with their thinking and miss things).