Salem is both the capital and the second-largest city in the state of Oregon. Those who find themselves here will find plenty to do. There are markets, festivals, museums, and of course, outdoor activities, which is a must if you are in Oregon. In Salem, you’ll find the Salem Saturday Market and the World Beat Festival. Salem also hosts both the Salem Film Festival and the Mid-Valley Video Festival.
The Oregon Symphony makes about 10 appearances a year in Salem. The Salem Concert Band is truly unique. It is a community band that consists of both amateurs and professionals and does shows ranging from classical to pop throughout the year. Those who are looking to spend their days outside should do so in the beautiful Willamette Mission State Park, or the Silver Falls State Park. As well as all these wonderful events to occupy you, practicing law in Salem pays off too. The average salary for a lawyer in Salem is $96, 976 per year.
Those wanting to stay in Salem to continue their education and following their law career will be looking at Willamette University College of Law. While this isn’t one of the better law schools in the country, it is fully accredited, and those who apply here have a pretty good chance of getting in. In fact, Willamette University College of Law acceptance rate hovers around 75%. This doesn’t mean that you’re a shoo-in for a spot, though. Those who apply will want to have a strong academic background. They will also want to do very well on the law school admission test, known as the LSAT, which they help with. The LSAT is known for being difficult and is known for the stress that it causes the students in the lead up to the exam. The stress and difficulty can be mitigated through. With plenty of studying and a good plan, you can go into the LSAT with confidence. For this, you will need an LSAT prep course.
Finding the right LSAT prep course isn’t easy. There are so many options available, and so many different types of courses. Knowing where to even start looking can be a chore all on its own. Considering how important the LSAT is, it only follows that the decision you make regarding your LSAT prep course is also very important. You’re going to be spending a lot of time studying for the test, so you want to make sure that you can fully commit to your LSAT prep course, and do it in a venue that is most comfortable for you. Of course, those won’t be the only considerations that go into selecting an LSAT prep course.
In this article, we will discuss some of the things that you should be looking for when choosing an LSAT prep course. With the information provided, you should be able to navigate your search with a little more ease and a little more confidence. Before we go into full detail, there are some things that we think of as necessary for any good LSAT prep course. Those things are:
- Actual LSAT questions from years previous.
- Detailed video/in-person explanations of the types of questions you’ll receive.
- A sliding scale for pricing.
- A support system to help you with your prep even when you are not in class.
Online vs In-Person LSAT Prep Courses
Considering everything you will have to take into account when making this decision, it is best to start simply. The first thing you should focus on is where you would like to take your LSAT prep course. The amount of time you are going to be spending studying makes it so that you will want to make sure that you are comfortable with your surroundings. It is also crucial that you can commit to your LSAT prep course for the duration of it. When it comes to location, you have two options; in-person or online.
In-person courses have been popular for decades, whilst online courses are getting more popular the more that they improve. In fact, nowadays, online courses offer the same amount of resources, material, and support that in-person courses do. While the two different courses have the same goal of making sure that you are prepared for the LSAT, they get there in two different ways. Let’s take a look at both in-person and online LSAT prep courses.
The traditional setting of the in-person LSAT course is probably the best option for those who prefer a more academic environment. In these courses you will be placed in a class with a group of peers. This group of peers acts as a built-in support system for your studies. Class sizes typically stay small, with most LSAT prep courses putting the cap at 12 students. This is so that each student can have ample access to their instructor. These instructors are hired for a variety of reasons, but all of them have some sort of expertise on the LSAT. Most courses layout their hiring guidelines on their website.
Outside of the classroom, you will most likely receive supplemental work in the form of video lessons. In-person courses typically run for about two months, meeting once or twice a week during that time frame. This is quite the time commitment, so you’ll need to be sure that you can meet it when you are signing up for the course. In-person LSAT prep courses are inflexible in this way. That’s not the only downside to in-person LSAT prep courses; they are also very expensive.
Speaking of flexibility, those who need a more flexible schedule will probably prefer online LSAT prep courses. While you won’t have the benefit of an instructor or a group of peers, you will get all of the resources and support. The lessons themselves are taught via video, which allows you to do them anywhere you want and at any time. This is especially good for those who may be switching careers and are having to do all of their studying while still working part or full-time. It could also be especially attractive for those who are juggling studying with raising a family or taking care of loved ones. As far as support goes, you will have that in the form of email. Some online courses even offer 24-hour support for those who do their studying at odd hours. The flexibility is also great for those who prefer to learn at their own pace. With online courses, you never have to worry about falling behind or being too far ahead. In short, online courses are much more flexible than in-person courses. What’s more, they are also a lot more affordable. Online courses cost only a fraction of what in-person courses do. Between flexibility, affordability, and yearly improvements, it makes sense that online courses keep getting more popular.
Whether you choose in-person or online, you will need to make sure that your LSAT prep course offers practice exams. These exams are the best way to see how you are doing leading up to the test. You will be able to see what your weaknesses on the test are and work on them accordingly. They also give you an accurate feel for the LSAT, as the practice exams are actual LSATs from previous years. These will be administered differently depending on the course. Some courses only offer a few, while others will give you as many as you want. Courses that do not offer practice exams should not be considered.
Pros of an In-Person Course:
- In-person resources such as teachers, books, and peers.
- A structured system that goes at a specific pace, allowing you to focus on one thing at a time.
- Take practice tests in a realistic environment.
Pros of an Online Course:
- Make your own schedule.
- An expansive list of readily available resources.
- Less expensive than In-Person.
- Personalized problem-solving.
- Take as many practice tests as you want.
The Best Online LSAT Prep Courses in Salem
LSATMax LSAT Prep Course
Your secret weapon for getting accepted to the law school of your choice, the LSATMax online LSAT prep course from TestMax, is guaranteed to raise your scores. For a reasonable one-time fee, you’ll get instant access to a huge arsenal of tools to help you prepare for the exam on your own time. With countless five-star reviews across TrustPilot, Google Play, and the Apple App Store, LSATMax is clearly the best online LSAT course available.
What makes LSATMax the best online prep course for any pre-law student looking to max out their LSAT scores? First, because it’s available on both web and mobile, you will be able to access your course materials at any time. Next, unlike many online courses that use practice questions written by so-called experts, LSATMax only uses actual questions that have appeared on the LSAT. Your membership gives you access to up to 9,000 questions.
There are three LSATMax course packages available. All three contain the full LSATMax course catalog with over 100 hours of video from instructors who have all scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT themselves. You’ll also have opportunities to get personalized help from our instructors via real-time chat, message boards and scheduled office hours Q&A sessions. All students can also access their sample questions using LSATMax’s digital LSAT simulator for an authentic experience that replicates and gets you ready for the real LSAT.
Course Packages Available:
All LSATMax packages contain the full course catalog and a subscription to LSAT Prep Plus which gets you access to every LSAT practice exam available from the LSAC. You can choose between 3 flexible packages that give you access for the length of time you need to study for the LSAT.- LSATMax 60: This package gives you 60-day access to the full LSATMax course. It is great for students who have a shorter amount of time to study before their exam or who only need to raise their score a few points.
- LSATMax 180: This 180 day access package is designed to fit the needs of most students by giving access to the course for longer than the average time spent studying for the exam.
- LSATMax 365: This package is the best value for those who have a longer time frame to study for the exam or need to raise their score as much as possible.
No matter which package you choose, TestMax offers 0% financing for up to a full year through Affirm. Remember, the earlier you begin preparing for the LSAT, the higher your scores will be.
Pros:
- Get instant access to flexible packages and pricing
- Guaranteed to boost your LSAT score or your money back
- Interactive instruction with real LSAT experts
- Digital LSAT simulator for 100% realistic test experience
Velocity LSAT Prep
Founded by two friends who met in college, Velocity LSAT Prep promises to help students “kick the LSAT in the face.” Behind the irreverent style is plenty of substance with in-depth explanations of over 9,000 authentic LSAT questions from previous tests. There is also a series of videos available that explain a wide variety of theoretical concepts that will appear on the test. Each membership lasts eight months. There’s a lot of quality material in Velocity’s LSAT online prep course, but the pricing is somewhat confusing. This is in part because the practice questions must be purchased separately, so costs can get out of hand pretty quickly.
Pros:
- Explanations for thousands of authentic LSAT questions
Cons:
- Only accessible for 8 months
- You must purchase the practice questions separately
Law School Admission Council Official LSAT Prep
https://www.lsac.org/lsat/prep
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is the organization that administers the actual LSAT, so their official prep course is definitely worth looking at. While this is one of the least expensive LSAT prep products available, there are also some large omissions. First, the LSAC only uses practice tests for their online platform, not authentic LSAT questions from past tests. Second, while access to the real test interface is a nice touch, there is little actual instruction in this package. Due to the low price and these missing pieces, this service is best used as a supplement to your study rather than your primary prep course.
Pros:
- Uses the real LSAT test interface
- Low price
Cons:
- Just the practice tests, so no instruction is included
- Practice questions aren’t taken from real LSATs
The Best In-Person LSAT Prep Courses in Salem
TestMasters
Address: Hilton Portland Downtown, 921 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, OR 97204
Phone Number-(503) 226-1611
Link-https://www.testmasters.net/Lsat-Prep-Courses/oregon-salem
Why they are a good choice
TestMasters’ goal is to make sure that you have everything you need to succeed on the LSAT. With TestMasters, you’ll receive 60 hours of in-class time and an additional 100 hours of video lessons. You will also have available to you every LSAT question published since 1991. The instructors for TestMasters have all scored in the 98th percentile or better on the LSAT. TestMasters is located in Portland, 45 minutes north of Salem.
Manhattan Review
Address: Manhattan Review GMAT GRE LSAT Prep, Portland Teaching Center at the Marriott, 1401 SW Naito Parkway, Portland, OR 97201
Phone Number-(503) 575-1803
Link-https://www.manhattanreview.com/portland-lsat-prep-courses/
Why they are a good choice
Manhattan Review has a reputation built on the success of their students. They are able to help students succeed because they go out of their way to find out how each student learns best, and then apply that knowledge to their teaching. Manhattan Review is also in Portland, 45 minutes north of Salem.
The Best Law Schools Near Salem
Interested in going to the best law school near Salem? Check out the best law schools in Oregon.
