Kaplan Knows the World is Filled with Suckers
Written: Jan 04 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Forces you to study, lots of practice exams, some useful tips
Cons: Expensive, doesn't live up to its reputation
The Bottom Line: The LSAT is an incredibly important test that should be seriously prepared for—but I do not believe this course is the best means of preparation.
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| sdeinhorn's Full Review: Kaplan LSAT Course |
I began studying for the LSAT and I realized that this was the most important test that I had ever prepared to take. Sure, I had studied in high school; in college I took countless exams; I even earned a graduate degree which was incredibly intense. But all of that paled when I realized that this exam would dictate the strength of my law school applications, the amount of scholarship funds available to me, and the type of law firm I could expect to be hired by when I graduate. So, yup, I did it. I took the Kaplan prep course. I had absolutely no intention of taking a prep course—I figured that I could probably learn all that I needed to know from simply buying a prep book or two about the test. After starting to study, and continually hearing the statistics that 80% of the LSAT takers prepare with one of these courses, I figured that I would lose a competitive edge without the aid of such a prep course. I will be absolutely up front and honest. . .I won’t wait until the end of this review to share my feelings—Kaplan’s LSAT prep course is the greatest wastes of a thousand bucks that I have ever been suckered into. . . period. Now that I have gotten that confession off my chest, I will share the pros and cons that I have found through my experiences with Kaplan.
I began researching prep courses online. I was initially impressed by Kaplan’s comprehensive website which offered a good amount of details about their upcoming courses. Kaplan offered a few free information sessions in my area. I attended one and was reasonably impressed, so I went back online to enroll.
After choosing the time period that I wanted from their online menu, I called Kaplan’s 800 number and signed up for the class (I would have completed the transaction online, but I found a $100 coupon that only worked if I called in my order). My Kaplan class would meet two evenings a week (for about two hours each class). The sales rep on the phone was rather nice—he had a good sense of humor, which was appreciated as I lunged into this eleven hundred dollar purchase.
Within two days of placing my order, a box of study material was delivered to my house. The box contained: a lesson book, a book of homework, and a letter welcoming me to Kaplan. The books looked relatively plain and professional—they lacked the artwork and numerous diagrams of the study guides I flipped through at Barnes and Noble. The letter explained that the first class would be a diagnostic test to gage my strengths and weaknesses. Based upon our performance on the diagnostic test each Kaplan explained that they would provide each student with a personalized study guide based upon their individual strengths and weaknesses (after a few weeks, several of us in the class shared our “personalized study guides” with each other—they were all identical).
When the evening of my first class arrived, it was just like they warned us—the ten students enrolled in the course took the three hour test. The instructor went out of his way to make us all feel as if we had performed dreadfully on the test (we would not receive our scores until the following class period). Our instructor promised us hope: this course would teach us to master the LSAT and to prepare for all question types that could possibly appear on the test, no matter how difficult and tricky they were.
Beginning with the first instructional class meeting, the phrase “the Kaplan method” was repeated nearly every other sentence. Kaplan is quite proud of this “Kaplan Method” which they teach and admonish their students to always use (after all, “it is a time-tested method developed by professionals”). During the first class, Kaplan forces its students to sign an intimidating legal document threatening repercussions for sharing these secret, esoteric methods with the outside world. My purpose is not to unmask the Kaplan secrets in my review, but simply to share how the methods worked for me and those I know. In reality, there are no secrets for mastering the LSAT—study and hard work is the only way to improve your score. I feel that Kaplan (and countless others who instruct for standardized testing) try boost the confidence of their students by making them feel as if they have some sort of advantage over everyone else.
If you want the method, but refuse to pay over a thousand dollars for the course, there is hope for you—just go buy the $20 Kaplan LSAT study guide at your local bookstore or favorite online retailer. The basic book and the computer program they sell pretty much teach all of the same methods and principles (to be honest, if I had it to do over again, I would save the money, and just buy the book).
Some general information about the LSAT is necessary for understanding what and why Kaplan is trying to teach. The LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) consists of five, thirty-five minute sections, plus a writing sample. Here is a breakdown of the structure of the test and a note regarding what Kaplan does to prepare its students for each section. The exam consists of:
• One Reading Comprehension section (RC)—this will be just over a quarter of the total score (consisting of four passages and about 26-28 questions). Kaplan will spend significant time “teaching” reading comprehension. There is the “Kaplan Method,” but in my experience most people find their score actually drops when trying to use the method.
• One Logic Games section (LG)—this will be just under a quarter of the score (consisting of four games and about 24 questions). This is the one area where I found Kaplan’s method to be extremely valuable. Kaplan effectively helped me learn to quickly and effectively draw diagrams to understand the game. This section of the LSAT is the most feared (with good reason), but it is the section that Kaplan’s instruction is most useful.
• Two Logical Reasoning sections (LR)—this will be about fifty percent of the score (consisting of about 23-27 questions in each of two sections). Kaplan was helpful in their methodology for approaching these questions. Kaplan provided a plethora of real LSAT Logical Reasoning questions divided by question type. I will admit that the Kaplan method proved useful in learning to methodically move through these questions.
• One Experimental section which could be any one of the above three choices, and it does not affect your score (there is no way to know which section was the experimental section until the test is complete).
• Though you will never know what order the rest of the test will come in, the final section is always a writing sample. A prompt is given and exam takers are given thirty minutes to write a well-written response. This is not scored, but a copy of the writing sample is included in the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council) report which is sent to all schools to whom an applicant submit an application. Kaplan classroom coursework does NOTHING to prepare students for this section. Kaplan does provide a few optional online lessons to improve your writing skills, but for the most part it was not too helpful.
The greatest thing that Kaplan’s prep course has going for it is the use of old LSATs for practice. Many other prep courses write their own questions for their students to study, but Kaplan boasts that every question you study will be an actual, real LSAT question (the instructor repeated that mantra several times in each class period). In my prep course, we took three actual LSATs (they called one a diagnostic test, one a midterm, and one a final). By going to a Kaplan center, the rest of the LSAT exams can be checked out from their library and studied. While Kaplan continually brags of their “real questions,” I have a couple of problems with their argument. First of all, Kaplan is not the only company that uses real LSATs (Test Masters also does). Secondly, Kaplan’s questions are frequently 10-20 years old. Though the format of the questions remains the same, the style of the questions twenty years ago is a bit different. I have heard many complaints that the studying the old questions provided Kaplan students a false sense of security that was shattered when they took a recent LSAT.
The teaching method for the classroom course comes in three ways:
• A book of homework (sample problems and sections for you to try at home)
• A lesson book (your instructor will spend the class time insulting your intelligence by reading you the lesson book)
• Online lessons (these are valuable—more on them later)
When it comes to the profitability of the class, it basically comes down to the individual instructor. My instructor was absolutely incompetent. Kaplan brags about their high standards for instructors, but it was certainly not evident with this guy. My instructor took the LSAT twice. The first time, he tells us, he completely bombed it. The second time, he “did much better.” Kaplan claims they “audition” their instructors, but the auditions must not include ability to coherently speak in public because this teacher could barely form complete sentences when he was not reading from the Lesson Book—but fortunately for him Kaplan’s program involves the instructor spending most of the time reading to the class from a book just like the one that every student has on their laps. Every few minutes the instructor stopped reading to make some personal comments—usually bemoaning that his child’s mother refusal to move out of state for him to attend a better law school than the second tier school he hoped to attend the following semester.
I am sure that not all Kaplan instructors are as horrible as mine was. I have had sessions with four other Kaplan instructors and most of them were better then mine, but not by too much. In hindsight, I wish that I had an opportunity to meet my instructor before I shelled out all that money. Kaplan offers weekend help sessions that for the various sections of the LSAT. These are free for Kaplan students, but about $20 for non-Kaplan students. These sessions are only moderately helpful (not too much can really be done in an hour or two), but enrolling in one of these would be a great way to audition an instructor for yourself.
If a student is really not getting anything out of the instructor (or misses a class), he or she could go to any Kaplan center and watch a video. The videos can be viewed at Kaplan’s centers on 13” televisions with headphones (the headphones at my center were the most uncomfortable headphones I have ever worn—after an hour they become completely unbearable).
Besides the class time and the books, Kaplan also offers its students lessons online—these are actually quite good. Each lesson takes between 30-60 minutes to complete, but they really are very well prepared and extremely helpful. If you want great instruction at a cheaper price, it is possible to sign up for the online instruction without signing up for an actual class (the savings is usually about $700). The problem with the online lessons is that they are completely self-paced and students must be self-motivated. If you just can’t motivate yourself to spend the hours studying, then the prep course could be mandatory for you.
The most important thing about Kaplan’s LSAT prep course is the results. Personally, I improved four points on the LSAT from the diagnostic to the final (and I did ALL the homework assigned by Kaplan—this took over a hundred hours). Almost half of the students actually had their scores drop after having taken the course. Kaplan has a standard answer that goes something like this: “It is only natural for your score to drop because you have recently learned an entire new way of thinking and approaching questions—the Kaplan method. Once the proven Kaplan method becomes second nature to you, your score will skyrocket!” This answer satisfied most of us at the time, but after weeks of studying (with little improvement), we began to question the usefulness of the class. On the day of the last class, we were all discussing our satisfaction with the course (we had plenty of time to talk because our instructor showed up about twenty minutes late). I thought that I was the only one dissatisfied with the class, but every single one of us was unanimous in our frustration with the course and displeasure with the instructor.
After the Kaplan course was over, I spent several weeks intensely studying Nova’s “Mastering the LSAT,” which improved my score nearly ten more points. I found this period of self-study immensely more profitable than the Kaplan course. The LSAT is an incredibly important test that should be seriously prepared for—but I recommend taking the TestMaster prep course. . . I wish I had.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
sdeinhorn
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Location: New York, New York, USA
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Tax attorney who loves photography, electronic gadgets, computers, theology, and books.
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