Have you taken the LSATs? How did you do? How did you study?

Yes, I took it twice and didn’t show much improvement. I started at 148 and the second time around I got 151. It didn’t help my chances at getting into a top law school. I studied from a book that had practice exams. If I had to do it over again, I would have taken a review course. Although it may be expensive, it’s your law school career on the line.

I took the LSATs about 4 years ago (just finished law school and now I’m getting ready for the Bar)…

I bought one test-prep book from each of the major companies and did self-study, because I was low on funds at the time. If you devote a few hours a day to learning and practicing sample problems, you should do fine. I got a 167 and got a scholarship at a top-tier law school. Make sure you try all the different methods available and figure out which ones work best for you – many of the books out there will give you questions geared toward their methods alone. Also, work on timing, timing, timing. Finishing the questions and knowing when to move on from the longer ones is half the battle.

I also taught for one of the major companies for a while, and while I think the course was helpful for some, the biggest thing it did was motivate people to study what they could have studied on their own anyway. So if you can motivate yourself and set a schedule (maybe with friends?), you don’t need to pay the big money for the big programs.

You should take Princeton Review or some other prep course. They are expensive but believe me they are worth it as they will significantly increase your score. They will give you a schedule and all the materials that you need to study.

Check out these websites for prices and schedules:

http://www.princetonreview.com/law/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=5

http://www.getprepped.com/competitors.html

Also since you are thinking of applying to law school, check out this website for useful application information:

www.forpeopleofcolor.org