LSAT

[Zhraath]

I am beginning to save up some cash for a LSAT prep course. The two companies I am looking into are Kaplan and Princeton Review. I was wondering if anyone here that has taken a prep class has any advice as to what these companies strengths/weaknesses are?

Thanks

Marcus Lange

[jedymastyr]

I haven't taken either of the courses, but I've read many of the Princeton Review/Kaplan books for study guides and have some familiarity with the Kaplan prep courses through the local Kaplan office on my college campus.

Princeton review seems to teach you techniques on how to take the tests effectively (rather than learning the material itself). It's not bad--it's definitely good to know about common errors, what types of teaser answers will be included, etc--but don't expect Princeton to give the best review of the material.

Kaplan, on the other hand, appears to believe that if you take enough tests, you will get better.

Make sure, either way you go, to really go over all the answer keys to the practice tests. I went to a Kaplan center for a day to take a test and sample how they operate. At the end of the practice exam, they gave me the scored sheet and test booklet (with questions)--the score sheet gave a list of my answers to all the problems and the correct answers. Since everyone gets different questions wrong, I doubt either class would go through every problem. I would highly recommend going over all your wrong answers and figuring out what you did wrong, because that way you learn from your mistakes and perform better on the next test. Otherwise, all taking a bunch of practice tests will do is get you more familiar so you're more relaxed and comfortable on test day.

Sorry, that doesn't really help you much for Kaplan vs. Princeton Review... I recommend going to a book store (borders is awesome for that) and looking through the LSAT prep books for Kaplan and Princeton Review. What you see in there is a lot of what you'll be getting out of it. Look at the styles and the amount of information they cover versus how much they give you test-taking tips. Pick whichever you think would be more helpful, based on what you know and what types of things you would best use help in.

[Colonel Rebel]

i'd suggest you check out prepmasters. it's an actual weekend course. it helped me figure out all the puzzles. in fact, i even found an error on an old lsat while taking the course. it definitely gets you prepared for figurig out time issues and...again, on puzzles. i myself am going to retake the LSATS (regardless of what i get on the one i took in december) and i'm going to take the testmasters course. but, if you need, princeton review has some really excellent introductory books. but, if you want the real deal, purchase 10 More Actual Official LSAT preptests. Actually, pick up two of those books and just run through them.