How to Compare LSAT Prep Courses

When the LSAT is just a few months away, many law school applicants sign up for prep courses to improve their LSAT scores. In big cities, as well as towns with large universities and one or more law schools, there may be many test prep businesses that offer LSAT classes. The prices can be from a few hundred dollars, to more than a thousand. How do you choose the right one? What should you expect from your course? Here's a guide to comparing all your options.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. When shopping around for LSAT prep classes, find out how many hours of instruction each course offers. Note that you do not want to count time taking proctored practice tests, just class time. A typical course offers 20 hours of LSAT review and strategy sessions.

2. Find out how many full length practice tests come with the course. 5 or more is optimum. Make sure to ask if the tests are official exams from the LSAC, and not tests developed by the test prep company. You want to study with real exams.

3. Find out how many books come with the course, as well as how much online/CD study material you will receive (if any). Often, it's the quality and quantity of written review material that determines how expensive or cheap a prep class is, not so much the classroom hours. Many test prep companies actually buy material and some proprietary testing information from the test makers.

4. Find out how many students are in the LSAT classes, or what the upper limit is. A teacher in a large class may not have enough time to help you with a topic you struggle with, whereas in a small class, you can get more attention. Alternatively, you can opt for private tutoring, which can be more expensive.

5. Finally, ask about the prices and any refund policies.

6. After you have gathered all the information above, make a table of the different LSAT courses you are considering, as well as the pros and cons of each option. If you really struggle with a particular concept, such as setting up Logic Games, you should lean toward options that give you more face time with an instructor who can teach you strategies.
   
   If your weakness is more pacing, but otherwise you know how to do the questions, you should make practice tests a priority.

7. With any LSAT preparation class, you will get the most of your time and money if you make a commitment to attend all the classes and use all the study material. However, if you are taking a prep course very close to your test date, you likely won't have enough time to get through all of the review material . In this case, you should try not to pay for more than you can feasibly use.

8. If your finances are really tight, you can design your own LSAT preparation with workbooks and practice tests. You can purchase LSAT practice tests on the LSAC website.