<p>I’m wondering about this well. The problem is my class schedule. I’m tied up this fall with classes on mondays through thursdays, 12:30 through 7:35 (3:30 to 7:35 on tues/thurs). The Testmasters day courses are 10 to 2 and the night classes are 6 to 10. Too bad they don’t offer weekend or fridays. Everyone else’s classes are at night, 6 to 10.</p>
<p>I guess I can make the day courses work.</p>
<p>How’s the Blueprint online course? It’s $800, it better be good. Seems like Blueprint is the cheapest of the 3 and Testmasters is the most expensive with Powerscore being in the middle.</p>
<p>My daughter just signed up to take a weekend course ($350) through PowerScore in November for the December 5 LSAT. She had previously signed up to take a weekend course through TestMasters while she was home over the summer, but the class was canceled. Has anyone here taken the weekend course?</p>
<p>Having gone through one of the better regarded LSAT prep classes listed previously, I would not recommend a course. The classes move incredibly slow and a lot of your time is wasted; further, I have noticed that some of the lessons (depending on the teacher) require assumptions about your level of knowledge already and they skip over some incredibly important aspects of the test; the PowerScore bibles, on the other hand, detail the test thoroughly. Also, there are other students having different problems and the class will have to slow down for them. Courses also divide up the questions into numerous categories and you go through tons of homework under each question type. This is not helpful as this is 1) nothing like the actual test, where you are required to jump from different question types and these changes are an aspect of why people do not do as well on the practice homework versus the full tests. 2) This uses up a lot of questions on tests that could have been used as complete tests for practice.</p>
<p>One of the advantages of the courses are the trials that emulate the actual exams. It’s crucial to take full exams in test situations. Some folks recommend the LSAT Proctor DVD in order to mimic the conditions on test day and the entire procedure.</p>
<p>I would recommend reading the PowerScore Bibles a couple times through, purchasing and completing the actual LSATs (SuperPrep book, the 3 - “10 Actual” books, in addition to some of the more recent individual tests through LSAC). After that, if you’re having difficulty areas, go with a good private tutor to tie up the remaining issues you have and attack the areas of weakness rather than sitting through stuff you do not need to learn again. In addition, classes in university on logic may help, but may not be necessary. Lastly, lots and lots of reading and getting use to dense material. This can be accomplished by reading academic journals.</p>
<p>I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has taken the TestWell prep course. It claims to be the #1 test prep used by Harvard students. Don’t know if this is a bogus claim. If you have any information, it would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I agree that taking a course is probably a waste of time and money. Powerscore is probably your best option if you can commit to the study time. You can buy Powerscore and Testmasters used at</p>
<p>Taking a course is frequently a waste of time and money because the content is not focused on you and your needs, and the instructors are often people with summer jobs or a lack of expertise.</p>
<p>Private tutoring from someone with the knowledge, expertise, and patience to understand your individual needs as a student is always going to be the best use of your time.</p>
<p>I recently started Warwick Strategies for students in the Bay Area, after working for one of the big test prep companies mentioned above and seeing the lack of consistent quality that students were getting.</p>
<p>My son took testmasters. Since he started in August, he started in NJ (our home state, hence NewJerseyMom) and finished in the state where he attends school. I can attest to the fact that not all testmasters courses are created equal. The instructor in NJ was much better than the one near school. Additionally, NJ teacher was willing to stay after 10 pm to answer questions and go through unfinished material. Not so in the second location where the teacher was packed up and ready to go at 10 pm regardless of what was done. As for how effective the class was, well the jury is out for another 3 weeks. However, my son would not have had the discipline to study by himself. </p>
<p>Five years ago when he was prepping for the SAT he took Kaplan and he hated it. He then took private tutoring for his second SAT test date. Private tutoring is great if you can afford it. We did not consider it an option this time around.</p>
<p>I’ve gone to 2 classes so far in TestMasters & I’m not terribly impressed & incredibly disappointed. My Instructor NEVER stays after class to help us. EVER. He seems more concerned about hitting on young pretty girls & it’s the Show of him to try to be witty. I’m frustrated with how overwhelming it is. Way too much homework & WAY too fast paced.I’m regretting spending $1450!!</p>
<p>Here’s a site with a bunch of useful LSAT prep advice: [LSAT</a> Blog | NYC LSAT Tutor | Logic Games | Logical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension | Writing Sample | Law School Admissions Index | Study Schedules](<a href=“http://lsatblog.blogspot.com%5DLSAT”>http://lsatblog.blogspot.com)</p>
<p>Now that my son has gotten back his LSAT scores, I can tell you that I don’t think Testmasters is worth the money. The score on his first timed score was really good, but he expected to go up, not stay the same. In fact, he went down one point. There was only one practice test that he did worse than on the actual LSAT. He felt pretty good when he finished the exam so it is not a case of messing up one exam. </p>
<p>For all of you who insist on giving advice about not entering the legal field, please do not respond to this post. I am not the one going to law school and my son is not going to be persuaded by me telling him the advice of anonymous people on college confidential. He reads the papers, he knows what is going on out there.</p>
<p>My DD just got her LSAT score back too and improved 18 points from her diagnostic test. She used the PowerScore online class and loved it. When she looked into the different prep options the online schedule and location (obviously) worked much better for her. The class was the same as if she were in the room with the rest of the class. She could ask questions, hear other students questions etc. It also came with the materials which were very much like the bibles that everyone seems to have success with. If for some reason she was unable to make a class, she could see the class any time. She could also see it again if she didn’t really follow the first time. All in all good helpful info and very convenient. She would highly recommend them. </p>
<p>When she looked into the online Testmasters they told her the online program was just the course notes, or outline from their on site classes, but there was no interaction with a class or teacher. You can’t ask questions real time.</p>
<p>Parentofpeople - congratulations on your daughter’s score! It would not have been possible for my son to have gone up 18 points because of the score he started with (can’t go above 180). However, he did expect improvement after attending all classes and doing all assignments.</p>
<p>I took Testmasters and improved 15 points. If you have an issue with the actual class, that’s one thing, but if you’re disappointed because your son didn’t improve, you’re relying on anecdotal evidence. Obviously not everyone is going to see improvements from a class.</p>
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<p>It takes more than just finishing all of the work to do well. Identifying and learning from one’s mistakes is key to the LSATs, and improving is not possible without it. It’s not just about studying hard, it’s about studying smart. You don’t need to go to Testmasters to know this (although they mention it over and over in the class) - it’s advice that’s found on nearly every law school discussion board.</p>
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<p>Your son got at least a 161. You expect a class to guarantee that he improve past the 80th percentile?</p>
<p>Testmasters was OK in my experience - you get every real LSAT question, which is as much prep as you can legitimately get. But the class was focused more on breaking the 160 barrier than the 170 one. In order to get past that, developing a personal strategy is the key. The focus also seemed to confuse the lower scorers in the class, who were just not getting some of the concepts. As far as a class, it has a pretty narrow range, but if you are in that range (high-150s - mid 160’s) and able to improve, it gives you all of the resources.</p>
<p>I think the bottom line is that several of the test prep organizations have similar information available. Which one is best for you depends on which one matches your learning style best. I would suggest you ask specific questions for any program you are considering to see how the classes are run, what type of materials you will have available to you, how flexible is the schedule (in class vs. on line), will you be bale to make up classes, etc. If you ask the right questions you can get a better idea of what might work best for you.</p>
<p>I also think that your diagnostic test will tell you which areas you need to work on the most. From what I have heard (I am certainly not an expert, just passing on what I have heard) certain sections are more “learnable” than others. While general test taking strategies can help improve scores across the board slightly the logic games are a learned skill and more open to improvement, while it is not as easy to improve your score on the critical reading section.</p>
<p>I had the same problem. I took the course 2 times, and it didn’t help improve my scores greatly. I really need some direction. I took the course in 2004,2006. It wasn’t worth my money. I nvr took the Lsat because my scores were low. Now i’m taking it in 2012. I’ve regretted putting it off all these years. What did u do after 2 prepare yourself better after taking Testmasters?</p>
<p>i had the same problem. I took the class 2x. Once in 2004 & again in 2006. I was scoring n the 140’s. I really need 2 score a 160. Sometimes i would score close to that n the beg. then my score started going down. I did all the homework&would save some also. i nvr took the test because i felt insecure. Now it’s 5 yrs. later. I just looked at my old testmaster books& was a little overwhelmed. i dnt know wat direction 2 go in. I need 2 start over from the beg. I’m sure i will start rem. once i get refreshed. But just looking at the testmaster books was not encouraging at all. I felt lost.</p>