Princeton Review and Blueprint are two of the most popular and widely-used LSAT prep courses on the market today. But which program should you choose? In this comparison, we analyze the LSAT prep courses from both companies so you can choose the one that best fits your particular learning style, schedule and budget.
Given that this is a lengthy, comprehensive LSAT course comparison, we’ve included jump-to links above for easy navigation.
To best compare the LSAT prep courses from Blueprint and Princeton Review, it’s important to understand the key differences between them. With that mind, let’s discuss the major highlights of the course from Blueprint.
You can tell Blueprint’s study materials are purposely designed to be more engaging and approachable than your typical course, and it shows. But it’s not just for the sake of make studying “fun.” For me, this seemed to have the effect of improving the learning experience and retention of the course material.
More than anything though, I found the quality and quantity of Blueprint’s study materials to be head and shoulders above its competitors.
Your primary study materials are a combination of hundreds of short video lessons, assessments, and quizzes, followed by detailed homework assignments, including drills and problem sets.
The video lessons, assessments and homework are all presented in a very clean and dynamic format. Concepts are broken down in great detail, and explanations can be customized to your learning preference, which is really cool. I found the main coursework and instruction to be extremely relevant and high-quality.
Blueprint supplements their online content with a comprehensive set of hardcopy prep books and live classes. Blueprint’s classroom instructors are LSAT masters, extremely engaging and entertaining, and are expert communicators in breaking down complex concepts and problems into understandable bits of information.
The books are useful in tracking the classroom core curriculum. However, while these books are thorough and provide excellent study material, I found that they pale in comparison to Blueprint’s online and classroom content.
Similar to other LSAT test prep companies, Blueprint relies on past LSAT exams for their practice tests. Though this is pretty much standard in the industry, Blueprint goes above and beyond by providing some very insightful problem explanations and detailed score reports.
Following a practice test, Blueprint will give you an analysis of where you performed well, and where you may need further work. I found such feedback extremely valuable.
Tying the whole user experience together is another aspect of what sets Blueprint apart from its competitors – its dashboard. The dashboard interface is simple, intuitive, and frankly, kind of pretty. The banner directs you to lessons and homework, practice problem sets, exams, study schedule, and resources.
The transition between each element is seamless and smooth. Overall, when the dashboard is combined with Blueprint’s high-quality content, I think it offers perhaps the most user-friendly experience of any LSAT prep course.
👉 Related: Blueprint vs Kaplan LSAT Comparison
The Blueprint LSAT prep course is all about its online content, and the cornerstone of this content are the video lessons. In my opinion, the video lessons are an amazing teaching tool, and are the highlight of the course curriculum.
The videos are fast-paced, interesting, fun, and simply hold your attention better than other prep course videos we have reviewed. The instructors are legitimately engaging, entertaining and insightful.
They are masters at breaking down difficult and complex concepts and problems with humor and wit as notes, graphics and cartoons appear around them. Images and diagrams are used to further enhance the learning process and retention of the course material.
The quality of the video lessons alone is one of the main reasons why Blueprint ranks near the top of our list of best LSAT prep courses.
👉 Read our full review of the Blueprint LSAT prep course.
Now that you have a better understanding of what Blueprint has to offer, let’s talk about the Princeton Review LSAT prep options. That way you you can finally make a decision regarding your LSAT preparation needs.
The Princeton Review study materials are comprised of video lessons, written lessons, practice problems, and drills. I found the Princeton Review lessons, both live online and on demand, to be highly effective.
Princeton offers a ton of video lessons throughout its online coursework (150+ hours), and I generally liked their style. Although the videos are top-notch in terms of content and offer proven test taking strategies, unlike Blueprint, there is no actual person on camera. Rather, the Princeton videos show a whiteboard, with an off-camera teacher illustrating problem solving strategies with a voiceover.
Nevertheless, the video quality and lesson material are well designed, effective, and engaging.
The remainder of the coursework is comprised of written instruction, general test taking strategies, drills and practice problems. I found the written material to be very comprehensive and detail-oriented, almost to a fault in the manner in which they drill down into virtually every single concept and problem type. It’s an insanely detailed curriculum.
Princeton Review provides five prep books that track and supplement the online lessons and materials. As with the online material, the books are thoroughly detailed, analytical, and well-written. They provide thoughtful drills, practice problems and lessons.
Princeton Review goes beyond many of its competitors with the many practice tests the course offers. The prep course requires every student to complete six full-length diagnostic practice exams as part of its core curriculum. Students are also given access to over 70 other full-length practice exams from past LSATs.
Unfortunately, tying all the components of this dynamic course together is what we found to be a rather basic and mundane online portal. However, although lacking the bells and whistles of Blueprint’s user interface, we found the functionality of Princeton’s dashboard to be more than adequate.
It provides easy and direct access to your coursework, practice tests, practice problem explanations, and more. It was just a little surprising not to see a cutting-edge portal with such a comprehensive prep course.
👉 RELATED: Princeton Review vs Kaplan LSAT Comparison
Princeton Review’s coursework is anchored by some of the best live classes and prep books I’ve seen. Their live class instructors are all LSAT masters, having scored in the 98th percentile or better on the exam.
Each instructor is a little different, but across the board I found them all to be extremely knowledgeable, genuinely interested in your scoring potential, and strong communicators.
The live class coursework closely tracks the prep books, but provides the benefit of hearing and breaking down the material from several different perspectives.
Just as importantly, all instructors are available by phone and/or email to answer questions about difficult problems or challenging concepts, and we found them to be true to their promise, typically responding in less than six hours.
Lastly, the in-classroom component also offers the opportunity of four live, proctored exams, simulating the real test day experience, which I found very beneficial.
The five hardcopy books that Princeton Review provides with all its course options are also among the most thorough I have reviewed.
Not only do they augment and complement the online lessons and in-class material, but they also provide additional detailed explanations of concepts and strategies, well-designed drills, and independent practice problems.
In fact, I thought the prep books were so comprehensive and detailed that they were almost too much to digest. There is simply a massive amount of info packed into them.
When combined with Princeton Review’s high-quality online content and in-classroom coursework, the books add a ton of value.
👉 Read our full review of the Princeton Review LSAT prep course.
The decision between Blueprint and Princeton Review for LSAT prep is a tough call. Both companies offers top-notch study materials and live classes. To help make your decision a little easier, we’ve split our verdict into different categories:
Study Materials: This is a close call as Blueprint and Princeton Review are both major players in the LSAT prep course space, and provide excellent lessons and coursework. I think the flow and structure of the study materials is effective and well-designed with both courses. Overall, there is simply not much difference in the quality of the course material between the two, with the exception of Blueprint’s video lessons. As noted above, the videos are an amazing teaching tool in their presentation, conceptual format, and ability to hold your attention. For this reason alone, we give the nod to Blueprint.
Price: Price is always one of the primary criteria in evaluating any prep course. While both companies’ self-paced, on demand packages are reasonably priced, Princeton’s course options with live classes are slightly more affordable. Advantage – Princeton Review.
Books: Again, advantage – Princeton Review. Both Blueprint and Princeton provide excellent hard copy textbooks that accompany and complement their coursework. The books for both are detailed, thoughtfully written and closely track the core curriculum. What gives Princeton the edge is the thoroughness in the presentation of the course material. No stone is left unturned, every possible problem type and concept intricately analyzed.
Practice Tests: Blueprint and Princeton Review, like virtually all their competitors, subscribe to LSAC’s LawHub program – opening the door to every LSAT administered since 1991. In essence, access to over 70 real LSAT’s. Both also require a minimum of four, with the ability to take up to six, full length, diagnostic practice exams, both self-paced and proctored, as part of the core curriculum. However, we found Blueprint’s scoring feedback reports and detailed analysis of problem areas to be extremely useful. Slight Edge – Blueprint.
User Experience & Interface: Not close, advantage – Blueprint. We found Blueprint’s user experience and dashboard interface to be at the head of the class. It’s professional, sleek, and seamlessly moves through all the coursework and resource components. In contrast, although functional and practical, I found Princeton’s user interface to rather pedestrian.
Classroom Component: Blueprint and Princeton Review both offer a top-tier classroom experience with LSAT instructors who have undergone hundreds of hours of instructor training. I found the instructors for both to be extremely knowledgeable, engaging, entertaining and strong communicators. However, as outlined above, Princeton’s live classes are a cut above. The instructors’ commitment to their students, and their access and availability by phone or email to answer questions was a value add. Advantage – Princeton Review.
Extra Resources: Although not covered above, both Blueprint and Princeton Review offer students other included resources. Overall, we found Princeton’s additional resources is be a little thin, containing only the course syllabus, problem explanations and book corrections. In contrast, Blueprint boasts an impressive set of supplementary materials, including simulated proctored exams, daily online review sessions, office hours with a Blueprint instructor, and a personalized study plan. Not close, advantage – Blueprint.
Online Content Access Period: The Princeton Review prep courses come with 12 months of access, whereas with Blueprint, it varies by course from 4 months to 12 months. Therefore, Princeton Review is the winner in this category.
Refund Policy & Score Guarantees: This category has many moving parts for both Blueprint and Princeton Review, depending on a variety of variables and course selection. Overall, however, both have higher score and money back guarantees, with certain qualifiers. The terms are technical and a little different for each. Also, each company does have a refund policy, but again, the terms and criteria vary by course selection. And the winner is – tie (they both apparently have excellent attorneys who wrote the refund and score guarantee policies 😉).
All in all, we give Blueprint the slight edge due to their engaging video lessons and smartly structured learning modules.
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Pricing is very close between Princeton Review and Blueprint, but generally speaking, Princeton Review tends to end up being slightly more affordable.
Both Blueprint and Princeton Review offer more than 70 full-length practice tests for students. Princeton Review even integrates six mock exams into their program.
Yes, Blueprint and Princeton Review both offer higher score and money back guarantees, with certain qualifiers. Make sure to check their fine print.