By TYNA-MIN?T ERNST
Brent Dunn began teaching a Law School Admissions Test preparation class at BYU before he even took the test in 1998. His relaxed attitude and friendliness helped students to feel comfortable in the class and to feel confident in their ability to master the test.
When he took the LSAT, Dunn received a near perfect score that placed him in the 99.8 percentile of the test takers, but Dunn didn?t apply to law school. Instead, he has spent years dissecting the LSAT in an effort to teach students how to beat the test in a fun and entertaining way.
?Most people would agree it?s not the most naturally entertaining subject matter,? Dunn said. ?Trying to make it fun is really what the joy of it is.?
Dunn taught at BYU for a couple of years while he started Ace, his own LSAT preparation course, now in its seventh year. Nearly 400 students signed up for the course last year, which is currently taught at various Utah locations, along with one in Nevada and another in Hawaii. It has come a long way from the three students that registered for the course the first time it was offered.
Although enrollment doubled to six students during Ace?s second period, Dunn?s wife, Shauna, was skeptical about Ace?s potential.
?At one point Brent said, ?wouldn?t it be cool if Ace could support us??? she said. ??Yeah, that would be cool, but yeah right,? I said. But it does.?
The course allows Dunn and his wife to stay home during the day and to move to Hawaii three months of the year, where he volunteers his time to help students at BYU Hawaii.
?Originally I didn?t go because I was home with the kids full time, then things were going really well with Ace and I thought I would give it a year or two to get better,? Dunn said. ?Now it?s to the point where it?s really just hard to give up my schedule and the kids are at that point where I?m not willing to give up my time with them.?
The prep course is taught three to four evenings a week depending on the number of students enrolled. Although Ace advertises in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, where the classes are new and taught by video lectures, they do not advertise in the Provo area, where the course fills quickly from word-of-mouth referrals.
?Brent is just one of those people that you don?t meet very often,? said Catherine Bramble, the BYU pre-law advisor. ?He has a fun zest for life. He just enjoys life and I really like how he has such a good perspective on what he wants.?
Bramble, who just finished law school, said she doesn?t have a bias in favor of any of the LSAT preparation courses taught in Provo; however, she took the Ace course and attributes it to helping her get a scholarship.
Dunn?s attitude is apparent during the classes, said Emily Hardman, 21, a senior in family and consumer sciences. Hardman took the Ace course last fall and said she has seen other students take the Ace course after taking other preparation courses, some even repeating the course multiple times ? one advantage of Ace?s lifetime enrollment policy.
?Brent is one of the most insanely genius people I have ever met in my entire life,? Hardman said. ?Looking at him you would never know it because he?s so laid back. He always wears board shorts and a T-shirt unless he?s teaching.?
While Dunn?s relaxed attitude is great for teaching, it caused problems for the business side of Ace. After a couple of years of managing it on his own he hired Tasi Young to take over all of the business functions. Young keeps things organized by ordering all of the supplies and making sure the students pay their dues.
Young has also spearheaded the new GMAT course Ace will offer starting September 10. Dunn said the best advice someone could have given him would be to hire Young sooner.
?That is probably the single best business decision I?ve ever made ? actually, it definitely is,? Dunn said in a rare use of a superlative.
Even in everyday speech, Dunn carefully qualifies his statements to keep things logically accurate ? one of the effects of being so involved with a test based heavily on logic for multiple years.
Young said Dunn is an ?LSAT guru? who has almost memorized every question in each of the 45 previous tests. Young said Dunn also has a great ability to help students feel welcome and to give them additional confidence.
Dunn said he loves teaching because there is a challenge in trying to communicate the information to different people each time. He also said he loves getting to know the students, which helps to keep things interesting and new each night.
?Teaching is great because each time there are different people, so each time is new,? he said. ?Watching a light come on for someone is the exciting part.?