Prep Courses

[randyers09]

So I am considering taking a prep course through either Kaplan, Princeton Review, or Powerscore and am trying to justify spending a grand or so. I was wondering if any of you have taken these courses or anything similar, and if so, felt that they helped you significantly. Any input would be greatly appreciated. My last practice test score was a 157. and I plan on taking the LSAT in October.

Thanks

[jnb983]

If that score was after a lot of self-study, a course could be good to introduce approaches that you may not have thought of.  If your first test was in the high 150s, you might want to try working on your own first and see what that does, and then consider taking a class or getting tutoring.  Fwiw, that's higher than most people who take those classes start out.

[randyers09]

157 was the 3rd or 4th full test i took.

Thanks for your input

[officeguy]

So I am considering taking a prep course through either Kaplan, Princeton Review, or Powerscore and am trying to justify spending a grand or so. I was wondering if any of you have taken these courses or anything similar, and if so, felt that they helped you significantly. Any input would be greatly appreciated. My last practice test score was a 157. and I plan on taking the LSAT in October.

Thanks

I've been wondering the same thing, except I plan on taking the LSAT in Feb. I am not very good with doing the entire prep thing alone. I feel like it would be to my advantage to have an expert help me learn all of the strategies for the test. My goal is to get a 170+. Between Powerscore, Princeton Review, and Kaplan, how has peoples experiences been with those classes? And are they worth the money?

[vjm]

I also wish I had taken a course. It is a very number dependent process, with the LSAT often weighted heavier than GPA. Do all you can to rock it.

This entirely second hand, but Powerscore or Testmasters seems to be the way to go. Lots of warnings about Princeton and Kaplan.

The prep I did at home was with Princeton and Kaplan materials. Let's just say my time and money would have been better spent playing golf for all the difference I saw in my final score.

[manowar]

Actually, Princeton Review has a new course that is really beefed up compared to the old one. It apparently compares pretty well to Powerscore and TM (and definitely better than Kaplan). It's very different from the course and books from even a few months ago.

[Guy Patterson]

I took Kaplan's course. My experience was great; but it all depends on the teacher you get. My was incredible, but there are many teachers that just aren't that good. You should take a sample class with the teacher you would have and see if he impresses you.

Also, the course is structured very well. I had class twice a week, with hw and supplemental materials to work on between classes. The walk you through every type of question, which is good and bad (very slow sometimes). They have three books, other than your class book, that helped me out a ton. One organizes all the questions by type and difficulty, and you can work through them one by one, concentrating on you weaknesses. Of the other two, one has just full sections an the other is just full-lenth tests.

I'm not trying to endorse Kaplan because I'm sure you'll get a similar experience with powerscore or testmasters. I'm just saying you should take any course.

Lastly - Kaplan has a bad rap, most people who trash them haven't had any direct experience and are just contributing to groupthink.

[LS Bound]

Has anyone heard of any online prep courses? I am planning to take the October LSAT, but will be out of the country until October 1. I took a full Kaplan practice test walking in off of the street, because I wanted to see what I would get without studying at all. I scored 155. What would you all suggest as my best study route considering that I won't be able to take a class?

[Barnum]

Was the full Kaplan test real or fake?  Usually they administer a fake test for their marketing events or free test drives.

I ask because I have spoken with two people this week that scored much higher on the fake Kaplan LSAT than on a real administered practice test.  One person got a 160 on the Kaplan test, took a real practice LSAT a week later and scored a 151.  The other person had a similar experience.  She took a Kaplan fake test, scored a 163, then followed up shortly with a real practice LSAT and only scored a 153.  These are drastic discrepancies.  Make sure to take a real practice LSAT soon (under proctored conditions if possible) to get an accurate gauge of your score.

[jnb983]

Has anyone heard of any online prep courses? I am planning to take the October LSAT, but will be out of the country until October 1. I took a full Kaplan practice test walking in off of the street, because I wanted to see what I would get without studying at all. I scored 155. What would you all suggest as my best study route considering that I won't be able to take a class?

Many of the big test prep companies offer classes abroad taught in English.  If you're near a major city, you still may be able to find one if that's what you want to do.