• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

LSAT Prep Classes / Law School Admission

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
rock454

rock454

All-American
Hi everyone, I'm a regualar on this forum, but I don't post very often because I don't usually have anything worth adding as far as Ohio State athletics go.

Anyhow I know there are a few people on here who are going or have already gone through law school and I was just curious if anyone had any thoughts on the best way to prep for the LSAT. I screwed up and didn't do my undergrad(Engineering) at Ohio State, so now I want to make sure that I am able to get a good enough score to at least be considered for Moritz. I've been looking at taking one of the Kaplan or Testmasters prep classes, but don't know whether a weekend class, online class, or full blow 3 month class is the better option. Anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks in advance.
 
It all depends on your personal situation: financial situation, commitment to going to law school, time frame, and personal learning style. LSAT scores have an (absurd, disproportionate) impact on your competitiveness for admission and scholarships. Since (I assume) you're well into your college career, the LSAT is the single biggest thing you can do as far as admission goes.

The LSAT is a very learnable test. Dedicating yourself is probably the best investment you can make when you consider the (rising) cost of law school. As far as specific studying plan, that really depends on you. If you're like me and need structure, then a class or tutor may be a good idea. If you have discipline, you can consider buying books and doing it yourself (maybe with one of those crash courses added in).
 
Upvote 0
I've gotten a few books and those were good while I was still in school and in the studying mindframe, but now that I'm working full time my brain is about shot by the time I get home at night. I'm going to have to take a class just so that I'm forced to sit down and learn this stuff without the distractions. Have you had any experience or heard anything as to which of these classes is most worthwhile ... Kaplan or Testmasters... weekend or full three months?
 
Upvote 0
A family member of mine was in a similar situation. She was an engineer out of Berkeley and was going through the same LSAT process.

She took Kaplan and got a score in the 99% percentile. She says that those classes really helped her - they have so many good resources and practices.

But the thing with places like Kaplan is that it's really up to you how far you want to take it. They're not going to force you to do the work; all they can do is give their resources to you and then give you a schedule to work with.

I believe she did the full three months. Good luck.
 
Upvote 0
rock454;1029474; said:
I've gotten a few books and those were good while I was still in school and in the studying mindframe, but now that I'm working full time my brain is about shot by the time I get home at night. I'm going to have to take a class just so that I'm forced to sit down and learn this stuff without the distractions. Have you had any experience or heard anything as to which of these classes is most worthwhile ... Kaplan or Testmasters... weekend or full three months?
Click to expand...

I just got some sample tests and took one every Saturday morning (timed like the real test) for each of the four weeks before the real thing. That was cheap and worked quite well.
 
Upvote 0
On a side note, does anyone know if Patent Law is part of the curriculum at Moritz. From what I see it looks like it's either criminal or business law. I assume that Patent Law is a branch of the business law department, am I off on my assumption?
 
Upvote 0
I'm admittedly biased on this one, as I teach and tutor LSAT prep for The Princeton Review. I have, however, honestly heard from students that took the Kaplan course before they took the TPR course, and several of them thought that ours seemed clearer and more helpful.

Additionally, beginning with the next class leading up to the June LSAT, all TPR classroom teachers will be required to have scored in the 99th percentile on an actual LSAT. I'm not sure whether Kaplan has a similar requirement for their teachers. Of course, doing well on something doesn't automatically qualify someone to teach it, but it's usually reassuring to students to know that their teacher has accomplished what they're trying to do.

Really, though, any prep will help. As methomps said, the LSAT is very learnable. If you're self motivated and can identify patterns and learn on your own, simply taking several practice tests may be sufficient. There are obviously a range of options, so you'll need to figure out what fits best with your personal needs and budget.
 
Upvote 0
One other thing: Have you taken a sample test yet? Your starting score might be a consideration in what kind of prep you pursue. If you're already a very high scorer, you might be better off with private tutoring instead of the class. It's tough to give the one student trying to move from 170 to 175 the information he needs without confusing the six students who scored 160 and are shooting for 168 and completely losing the three who are in the 140s trying to hit 152. Princeton Review tries to give some individual attention to students, and any instructor I know will stick around after class as long as anyone has questions, but to really fine tune high scores, personal instruction may be more useful.

If you do take a course, your best bet is to hope there is enough enrollment that the maximum size is exceeded and the class is split into two sections based on diagnostic test scores.

Whichever course you choose, you'll get out of it what you put into it. I've seen people who didn't improve at all or only gained a few points, and I've had students jump 25 or more points.
 
Upvote 0
Jagdaddy;1029637; said:
I just got some sample tests and took one every Saturday morning (timed like the real test) for each of the four weeks before the real thing. That was cheap and worked quite well.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much all I did as well. Extra work on the Logic Puzzles.

RugbyBuck;1030798; said:
Stop now. Walk away. It's not too late. Just walk away. It will be ok, I promise. Good God, man, your very soul is at stake. Walk away.
Click to expand...

Walk? No... RUN!!!
 
Upvote 0
RugbyBuck;1030809; said:
IT can smell fear, BKB. The pilgrim must walk away quietly as if he never intended to take that next fateful step toward oblivion.
Click to expand...
Try to pick a really expensive school so that when you graduate you can owe an entire house worth of non-dischargable debt when you apply for the 30K assistant DA job. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!

OK. True story. I forgot that I'd signed up for the LSAT. It was a whim. I'd just put a girlfriend on a plane back home after Carnival and Mardi Gras, and I was surprised that my brother called me to wish me good luck. "WTF?? Good luck for what?" "That law school thingy tomorrow you told me about months ago" ...

Shit!!

So I got up, went to the Daiquiri Shop at St. Charles and Carrolton, and bought a huge drink. It was 8:30 am, and it looked like the night of the living dead. People with bags under their bags in their eyes. Sweat suits for clothes. Fear was palpable. I just sucked on the drink ( I had poured it into a Micky Ds cup) and did the test as fast as I could go. With a less than stellar undergrad (social was more important then academics) I thought this would be the end of it. I hadn't done too well on the one practice test I took.

I was out quick, and forgot it. Lo and behold, I got a top ten percent LSAT. So while I won't say to do THAT, I will say to be relaxed as you can, as it helped me - being relaxed.:biggrin:
 
Upvote 0
PrincessPeach;1030734; said:
Really, though, any prep will help. As methomps said, the LSAT is very learnable.
Click to expand...


But in the interest of full disclosure, I will note that my initial, try-the-test-out-cold diagnostic score was the highest score I ever achieved, either in practice or for keeps.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top