Kaplan ruins me! Any suggestions?

[Elemental]

Getting ready to take the LSAT in September... and all the Ontario LS apps are due by Nov.1st, so essentially, the Sep.30th test is the only one I can take to make that deadline.

Its my first time taking the LSAT, so i figure I should not only study intensively on my own, but should also enroll in a class to ensure I make the most of what little time I have left.

Register for the Kaplan class here in Montreal that runs from mid August until end of September. Pay my money, get my study materials and gear up to go.

Get a call from Kaplan this morning saying the teacher for my class is not going to be able to teach anymore, and that they have not found a suitable replacement. They suggest I transfer to their other class starting on Aug.20th. Sounds like a good plan... However, the days on which the Kaplan classes are coincide with my school classes, which makes it impossible for me to transfer.

What have the done for me so far? Absolutely nothing! I feel as though I'm screwed, and not going to be thoroughly prepared for the LSAT come September.

Any suggestions for how I should deal with Kaplan and/or how i should go about prepping for the LSAT?

[RainbowBrite]

Get your money back from Kaplan, they are crap anyway. If you reeeallly want to know what they were going to teach you, go to Chapters/Indigo/whatever, pick up the Kaplan 2006/7 lsat prep book (about $40 or so) and the Kaplan 180. However I would more strongly recommend the Powerscore bibles (Logical Reasoning Bible and Logic Games Bible). You can't get these in Canadian bookstores. The LGB can be bought off amazon.ca, but the LRB needs to be purchased from the US (amazon.com or the powerscore website). Everyone on this board swears by these books. They have also said that princeton review isn't worth the cash, but I believe there is an lsat reading comp book by Nova that is good. Don't take the Oxford Seminar lsat prep course either. It's crap (I speak from personal experience). If you must take a class, try and see if there is a PowerScore/ Testmasters one available. They will teach you the techniques in the Bibles I believe.

Basically you do not have alot of time to prep for the September test if you have yet to start. If you have not done so already, take an actual lsat prep test (timed) to get a diagnostic score. You can realistically expect to raise this 5-10 points by Sept (depending on how much time you devote to studying and how quickly you catch on to the tricks of the LSAT). My best advice is to buy every actual LSAT available (you can find alot on amazon or in Chapters, anything you can't find you can get from LSAC's website, but you might want to get those orders in quickly to get them in time to be worthwhile) and a couple  of prep books that will teach you techniques (preferably the bibles) and just sit and learn techniques and then apply them to test after test. Don't worry about timing the test at first. Start doing some sections untimed. Then do timed sections. A couple of weeks before the test, start doing full timed tests. You will probably need to do 3-4 per week to really build up your stamina. Don't worry about the writing sample at the end of the test. Pick a side, argue for it, but don't forget to argue against the other side aswell. Most law schools will never look at the thing anyway. HTH

[Elemental]

Thanks alot for the advice Rainbow, and I was planning on buying the Bibles too. I hadn't really heard of them until I signed up here on LSD, but from what I read, they are the books to go with. I will be picking them up soon.

As for the class, the main reason I am taking it is to get me on a consistent studying schedule.  Between work and school, finding the time to study for the LSAT is tough. Doable, but tough.  So i feel as though the prep class will give me the opportunity to have 3 days a week dedicated to studying already, and all the time i have free outside of that will give me the chance to polish up on my techniques, strategies and pacing.

Anyways, I am talking to teh Kaplan director tomorrow, and plan on asking to put into the Private Tutoring program as compensation for the class cancellation.  Its a long shot I know, but that will give me the chance to do a lot of studying with the Bibles and Preptests, and have a tutor to refer back to on my progress.

T

[RainbowBrite]

I can understand the need for structured studying. If the tutoring thing with Kaplan fails, might I suggest finding a study buddy? Prepping for the LSAT is kind of like going to the gym. Sometimes you just don't wanna. But if you have someone else counting on you, you are much more likely to go. If you know anyone else studying for the LSAT (or even the MCAT or GRE exams) see if you can arrange a study schedule together. Then find yourselves a nice quiet spot in the library and become those freaky kids who sit in the corner without talking for hours on end