Kaplan courses?

[UnfGirl]

Do these really work to improve your score if you do the homework? Has anyone had experience with one particular prep course? Thanks.

[EarlCat]

I can't speak specifically for Kaplan, but with a good instructor to show you the ropes and give you feedback on your work, and a big pile of initiative on your part doing all the homework (at least three times), you can experience significant score increases.

[Jack Daws]

I dunno about Kaplan since I didn't take the course, but I haven't heard the greatest things about them online.

[Mitch Cumstein]

 

I spent a lot of time reading through online forums and board posts before I took the LSAT and Kaplan seemed to be one of only a couple companies that nearly everyone said to stay away from. I can't speak from personal experience about their course, since I heeded advice and didn't take it, but based on reviews I would certainly keep looking around before shelling out $1000+ for Kaplan prep!

[LSATEnthusiast]

As a Kaplan instructor, I thought I would add my two cents. (For the record, I go by KaplanLSATInstructor on other boards.)

I feel that Kaplan gets a bad rap from a lot of people on the Internet message boards. I've been teaching the LSAT at Kaplan for over five years and honestly feel that we have a very strong program. I frequently work with the people who develop our program, and I can tell you that you'll be hard-pressed to find a group of people more dedicated to helping students do well on this exam. In addition, I've had many students who have had great experiences and truly appreciate the program.

However, as many reasonable people will tell you (including the reputable EarlCat), a lot of what you get out of the course comes down to two major factors: 1.) How well you click with the instructor. 2.) How much work you do outside of the classroom. You can't treat a course as a magic solution that will automatically raise your score. You will be taught the skills in the classroom, and it's up to you to practice those skills, be patient, and work very hard to see the improvement you want.

The people I've seen make the greatest improvement (and I've had students go up 20+ points from their diagnostic) are the ones who ask questions and put in a lot of practice outside of the class. The ones who just show up to class and do the bare minimum of work will typically only see a few points of improvement.

If you have specific questions about the Kaplan course, please feel free to PM me. And whatever you choose, be prepared to work hard -- and best of luck to you.

- Chris