Question about prep course

[beverly]

Hi Everyone,

I am sorta new here. I have been a member of this board for a few months and mostly lurk. But its crunch time now, and I plan to take the February LSAT. I've decided that I need a prep course since I am having a bit of trouble with the Logic Games in particular. I am usually pretty good with self study, but I work full time and I just dont have the time to sort it out the problems I am having my own with the exam being less than 3 months away.

There was poster who mentioned Testmasters over the Princeton Review. But that is all I could find with my limited searching capabilities & skimming. I also wanted to know particularly if the Testmasters full length course, (costing $1450) would be much more beneficial than the 16 hour weekend course ( costing $450) .  Funds are tight for me right now, but its my education you know, so I would do what I have to do.

My background/undergrad degree is in Engineering/Information Technology, but I my hope and dream is to practice law, and go to Howard Law after a 10 year hiatus from undergrad!!
I do feel I could get more money elsewhere, but I heard from from a someone that goes there that they have a top notch staff and that is very important to me.

Thanks to all in advance for your help and any advice!

Beverly

[A.]

Testmasters (www.testmasters180.com) (note the "180") and Powerscore (www.powerscore.com) are supposed to be the best.  PR and Kaplan are generally considered second-rate in comparison to these two.  But I've known successful test takers from all of them.  I'd recommend doing the full-length course...you certainly won't get everything you need from the weekend course.

As for Howard, see what LSAT you get and go from there.  There are lots of schools with "top-notch staff" (assuming that by "staff," you mean "faculty").

[beverly]

Thanks A. I just have talked with various people about I get a sense that Howard is what I am looking for. The person in particular that I know of who goes to Howard said told me that she turned in an assignment or either a test, and in any case her approach to answering it was all wrong. The teacher wrote up a 4 page answer and gave to her to explain what she did wrong.

And thanks Kasm for your response - I am taking the Feb test because I want to attend next fall full time. I was told that most schools deadlines are March so if I do not have my completed package in by March - which includes my LSAT score then I won't get accepted for Fall 09. Are you suggesting that I do not take the Feb LSAT?

I do want to add that my undergrad cumulative GPA was 3.6 and it probably would have been hirer if I did not take 19 credits in the first semester of my senior year and then 21 credits in the final semester of my senior year (yes I was ready to graduate!!). If they computer a weighted GPA and a cumulative GPA then I may fair better in that sense. Overall I just don't want to go to a "cold" school where the teachers do not care very much. I have a friend who goes to the University of Maryland, and he is going through it in his final semester. He is planning to go to medical school, and thus far he has over a 3.5 GPA. In any case, he has one teacher who is just keeps telling him that he needs to study more when he goes to him for assistance after class - LOL. I've also heard numerous stories of people who have gone to a variety of other schools that the people who started out with them as 1'L's do not end up being with them as 3'L's. So these are all factors which I basing my preference.

[A.]

Your LSAT will largely determine which school you can get into, so that should be your primary concern at this point.  If you take the February LSAT, you will be putting yourself at a major disadvantage for matriculation into the Fall 2009 class.  Indeed, many schools don't even accept the February LSAT for students applying for that year's incoming class.  You really should take the December test if you want to do that.  But, of course, you should also be properly prepared for the LSAT, so taking it next month not advisable either.  

I would recommend that you wait until next year to apply.  Take the time to properly study for the LSAT and craft a stellar application.  You would be much better served by doing that than rushing to get everything in by March.

Most of the concerns you raise with regard to schools are really just anecdotes about good profs.  They exist at every school.  Bad profs are also at every school, including Howard.  I wouldn't base a decision on whether or not to attend a school on anecdotes like these.

ETA: This largely mimics kasm's post, but I think it's worth repeating so that the message gets through to the OP.

[EarlCat]

If you take the February LSAT, you will be putting yourself at a major disadvantage for matriculation into the Fall 2009 class...
I would recommend that you wait until next year to apply.  Take the time to properly study for the LSAT and craft a stellar application.  You would be much better served by doing that than rushing to get everything in by March.

Listen to this ^^^

Testmasters (www.testmasters180.com) (note the "180") and Powerscore (www.powerscore.com) are supposed to be the best.  PR and Kaplan are generally considered second-rate in comparison to these two. 

But not this ^^^


And read -->this.<--

[A.]

But not this ^^^


And read -->this.<--

Lol they say basically the same thing, except in my experience, testmasters and powerscore have better methods, i.e., "their concept and answer explanations...can vary in quality..."

[The Stranger]

But not this ^^^


And read -->this.<--

Lol they say basically the same thing, except in my experience, testmasters and powerscore have better methods, i.e., "their concept and answer explanations...can vary in quality..."

Better methods is important but I actually think the LSAT instructor is another factor one should consider before dishing out the dough. I would ask around and see if the instructor is any good beforing dishing out $1450 to a certain company.

[EarlCat]

Lol they say basically the same thing, except in my experience, testmasters and powerscore have better methods, i.e., "their concept and answer explanations...can vary in quality..."

I know few people who have bona fide experience with all four companies you mentioned.  Usually a person takes a class from one one, has a good or bad experience, and then offers hearsay about the others.  Somehow this gets taken as solid evidence by people who plan to be lawyers. (!)

By the way, what methods of TM and PS's are "better" and what exactly makes them so?

[beverly]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am going to research powerscore also. If any of you live in my area (Washington, DC) can you recommend an instructor? I am open to take the class in Northern, Virginia, Washington, DC, or Maryland. Also feel free to PM me if you like.

Thanks

[The Stranger]

Lol they say basically the same thing, except in my experience, testmasters and powerscore have better methods, i.e., "their concept and answer explanations...can vary in quality..."

I know few people who have bona fide experience with all four companies you mentioned.  Usually a person takes a class from one one, has a good or bad experience, and then offers hearsay about the others.  Somehow this gets taken as solid evidence by people who plan to be lawyers. (!)

By the way, what methods of TM and PS's are "better" and what exactly makes them so?

This is a topic that has been written on exhaustively but I can attest to the fact that Powerscore is much better than Kaplan because their explanations are more lucid and their methods are much more comprehensive.

Powerscore's LG setups are not perfect but they are far superior to Kaplan's. Kaplan obviously did not put much money into their efforts for this section because their setups are just plain confusing and time wasting.
 
Kaplan's LR explanations are also more confusing than Powerscore’s. The LR Bible hits each question type with great precision whereas Kaplan might actually screw you up (this happened to me on necessary assumption questions; Kaplan did not explain the negation technique with any clarity and it hurt me. Their explanation of Must Be True questions was also way off).
 
I will say that Kaplan's RC strategies helped me out quite a bit and the chapter in the Kaplan 180 on RC (even though they used fake passages) was also helpful, but I think many people would have a problem with their methods for this section as well because they require people to road map the entire passage (people seem to be against writing on the RC section).

Further, I think Testmasters was created by a couple of people who broke off from Powerscore and decided to create a company that would improve upon their methods. Testmasters is based out west so I do not know much about them but Jeffort had much faith in them and I would not question his authority on the subject.

Honestly I think all of the companies can improve test scores so it is not really saying much when one says that "I have come across some people who found each company to be effective."