LSAT PreP Courses

[leo0617]

I am currently enrolled in testmasters and I have to say it was the best decision I have ever made.  There were only three people in my class and my instructor was awesome-she really takes the time to understand where each weakness is in students and helps to eliminate it.  I feel extremely prepared for the test on Monday and am actually excited to put everything I have learned to use on the real test.  Also, being a testmasters student, you have access to every single question that has ever been asked on the LSAT-you can also score your own diags online and find out your score immediately.  The amount of resources they give you access to is unreal.

I have a friend in Kaplan and she hates it.  I can't speak from my personal experience with it, but I can tell you hers is not good.

[cui bono?]

Great, good luck although u sound like u won't need it!

[Julie Fern]

golly, leo, and with first post ever!  what coinky-dink!

[Variant]

I also don't think TM (the legit one, at least) would ever in a million years run a course with 3 students.

Assuming the students are full paying, the revenue would be $4350. Starting pay for a TM instructor is $50 in large markets, and $30 in small markets. Even assuming the latter, that'd be $2400 to the teacher. That leaves $1950 to pay for both LSAC licensing fees/materials printing and rooms, since TM doesn't have its own sites. Even assuming conservative numbers ($100 per student and $100 per room per use for 20 uses), they're deep in the red, really quick.

[onthecusp]

I also don't think TM (the legit one, at least) would ever in a million years run a course with 3 students.

Assuming the students are full paying, the revenue would be $4350. Starting pay for a TM instructor is $50 in large markets, and $30 in small markets. Even assuming the latter, that'd be $2400 to the teacher. That leaves $1950 to pay for both LSAC licensing fees/materials printing and rooms, since TM doesn't have its own sites. Even assuming conservative numbers ($100 per student and $100 per room per use for 20 uses), they're deep in the red, really quick.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a testmasters class with only three students would be an extreme anomaly.  I'm pretty sure they are making up the cost elsewhere.

[EarlCat]

Testmasters is completely useless too, in most cases.  It is all dependent on the instructor that you get.  I heard somewhere that the average amount of time that their average instructor has taught for is 1-2 sessions.

If I were you I would research all the different companies in your area (minus Kaplan and Princeton Review, which are generally always horrible) and see how experienced the instructors for each company in your area are. 

Why wouldn't you just see how experienced the instructors are, no matter who writes their paychecks?

[EarlCat]

powerscore

or testmasters or a tutor through powerscore or testmasters

the rest are a waste of money

Do tell what makes "the rest" a waste of money?

[cui bono?]

powerscore

or testmasters or a tutor through powerscore or testmasters

the rest are a waste of money

Do tell what makes "the rest" a waste of money?

My bad, havent been on here for a minute.  Most are just  taking advantage.  And there's not a good way to verify these companies.  I took one of these wacko ones back in the day and the guy actually told us- count how many times there's the word "if" during the exam, that's how many times you need to make an inference in order to get the question right.  WTF

It was too late to get my $ back.

[cui bono?]

oh and I left the most important thing out-  a lot of those companies don't use actual exams; they make up their own which is usually much much easier resulting in a false sense of security.  You take their exam get a 177 with little effort, all of a sudden you practice an actual exam and now you are struggling to pull a 155.

[teoeo]

I took a testmasters course and I was pretty happy with it. Having said that, my instructor had a lot of experience and I could see how it is a bit of a crap shoot for who you get. On the other hand, testmasters has pretty high standards and a rigorous training program. I have also heard that powerscore is good, it uses pretty much the same methodology as testmasters.  If you are going to study on your own you need the powerscore bibles and a ton of practice tests xD. Good luck!