BYU students preparing to take the Law School Admission Test can save money by attending a test prep course offered through the school, as opposed to an educational center course, such as Kaplan in Provo.
BYU's test prep course for the LSAT costs $495, while Kaplan's LSAT prep course is $1,099. Provo center Kaplan manager Shelly Bennion said Kaplan courses provide more experience for students to draw from.
'The great thing about Kaplan is that we have 60 years of research and knowledge of tests,' Bennion said.
Michele Richardson, 20, a senior from from Salt Lake City majoring in International Studies, is getting ready to take the LSAT and said she feels more confident with Kaplan.
'It seems like they have more information,' Richardson said. She was also impressed that Kaplan has a committee to review test answers and determine why some answers are right and others are wrong.
Kaplan uses questions from pre-released LSAT exams and their information has been generated from 60 years of experience.
The BYU program has been used for the past 20 years.
BYU graduate Daniel Smith took the Kaplan courses and said he was disappointed.
He chose Kaplan because he assumed that they had more research. 'It didn't help very much at all,' Smith said.
BYU Prep Course Coordinator Liz Miklya said BYU courses are very similar to Kaplan courses. Like Kaplan, BYU offers pre and post tests.
'We see a lot of increases with scores,' she said.
The maximum number of students allowed in a course is 50. They meet twice a week for four hours in the evening. 'We usually fill up in the fall,' she said.
'We feel like we're offering something that's very good,' Miklya said. BYU provides copies of all prep tests to students to take when and where they choose, but Kaplan's copyrighted tests must be taken at their Provo location.
Creators of the LSAT test have agreed to allow BYU and the pre-law advisement center to use the test questions without infringement because they are used for educational purposes, said Duane Hiatt, continuing education department faculty.
Smith recommends the BYU program because of the accessible practice tests it offers. 'The key is practice,' he said. Not all of Kaplan's practice tests cost money. Practice tests can be taken for free at Kaptest.com.