Congratulations! The mere fact that you are reading MSS indicates that you are serious about preparing for the LSAT, and you are probably aware that your score on this difficult exam is the most important component of your law school application. Hopefully, you’ve done your research and realize that the quality of the Blueprint curriculum, instructors, and online resources are second to none, and are surely your best bet for LSAT domination. (If you are still unsure, click here).

Now that you have decided to take a Blueprint course, the question may very well be: Should I take a classroom course, or should I take Blueprint’s self-study course, Blueprint: The Movie 2.0? Having taken both courses as I studied for the LSAT last fall, I’m in a pretty good position to answer this question.

LIVE CLASSROOM COURSE:

Pros:

Our classes give you 100 hours of instruction with the most carefully selected instructors in the United States (You should see our instructor training sessions. Think Survivor: Westwood). It’s obviously nice to have an instructor who you can get to know, and who you can look in the eye and direct questions toward. Our classes are not just instructive, they are also an experience. Take a class with Blueprint founder Matt Riley, for example, and you will feel like a team of soldiers preparing for battle. Make no mistake, studying for the LSAT is tough stuff, and it helps to have someone leading you through the challenge. It also helps to be in a class with other students who are over-caffeinated, under-nourished, and (by Lesson 10) a little greasy.

Finally, the classroom course does force you to stay on track in a way that a self-study course cannot. There is a rigid schedule, so if you aren’t on track with the homework, the class is not going to slow down for you. There are many students that need this pressure to maintain a steady pace, and if you are one of those students who have a hard time sticking to your own schedule, then you should definitely be in a classroom and not in front of your computer.

Cons:

The same stringent schedule that can be a motivating tool for some ends up being the downfall of others. The number one mistake we see students make is that they are not prepared for how much time LSAT class entails. Each class is about four hours, and it is followed by about three to four hours of homework. Now, we are the only company in the business that includes Jersey Shore and Lil’ Wayne references in your textbooks to sweeten up the medicine, but at the end of the day, if you aren’t able to put in the time, you may end up clinging to that Lesson 3 homework when class is chugging along in Lesson 6.

BLUEPRINT: THE MOVIE:

Pros:

With a self-study online course, many students initially react with skepticism, and often assume that it must be condensed or different from the classroom experience. The first thing I make sure that students understand is that BP: The Movie uses the exact same textbooks and course materials, and covers the exact same questions and concepts as our classroom course. You also get the same online explanations and resources, and you are taught by the two founders of our company, Trent and Matt. Essentially, the entire course is at your fingertips, and you have an e-mail address which you can use to get help from one of our veteran instructors. It also keeps you entertained and engaged to a degree that no other self-study course can even come close to competing with. I struggled with logic games, and the animation allows you to better visualize how arches and blocks fit into different scenarios.

The most obvious advantage to our self study course is flexibility. For those who don’t have the time to take a classroom course, BP: The Movie allows you to stack up your studying on the weekends, spread it out over 4-5 months, and essentially puts you in control of getting through the curriculum. Also, you can study in the comfort of your own bedroom (though those classroom chairs can be oddly comfortable).

Cons:

Again, flexibility can be a double-edge sword (that would make for a confusing bumper sticker). You get access to our self-study course for TWO full LSAT administrations, and there are many students who get lulled into a false sense of security. You’ve got plenty of time to dive in, right? Well, yeah, but if you don’t actually set up some kind of schedule to make sure you complete all 16 lessons and 3 workshops, you will inevitably get stuck around Lesson 4. In other words, you will be responsible to create some sense of urgency.

The other downside is that doing a self-study course can make you feel like you are all alone to tackle the LSAT beast, and that f$#!@er is big and scary. If you go through our curriculum step-by-step and use all of your resources, you will undoubtedly succeed, but some students thrive in a classroom setting.

Ultimately, both are great options, but before you decide, make sure you do an honest assessment of your study habits and whether or not you are likely to stick to your own schedule. Either way, you’re getting the most effective LSAT prep on planet earth, so breathe easy.