LSAT Lab Review

Outline: LSAT Lab Course Review

• Our Thoughts On LSAT Lab’s Coursework
• LSAT Lab Price & Discounts
• LSAT Lab Class Sessions: Our Evaluation
• LSAT Practice Questions & Explanations
• Verdict: LSAT Lab Prep Review

Given that this is a lengthy and detailed review, find jump-to links above to help you quickly navigate this article.

Video Review: Is LSAT Lab Actually Good?

In the video above, John (from the Test Prep Insight team) walks you through the major pros and cons of the LSAT Lab prep course. For more detail regarding this course, be sure to continue reading our full, written review below.

Our Thoughts On LSAT Lab’s Coursework

One of the first things that stood out to me with LSAT Lab is the personalized attention you get. When you sign up for an LSAT prep course with one of the behemoth test prep companies like Kaplan or Princeton Review, you just don’t get this type of personalized support.

With LSAT Lab, it feels like you’re getting an LSAT coach as compared to buying a bunch of study tools and resources.

Because LSAT Lab is still growing, their two co-founders, Matt and Patrick, are super hands on. One of them teaches just about every live online class and prerecorded video lesson, you speak with one of the two to establish your study schedule, and they’ve clearly written all of LSAT Lab’s explanations themselves.

In addition, if you purchase tutoring from LSAT Lab, Matt or Patrick will be your coach. In other words, their fingerprints are all over this course.

As such, this LSAT prep package has much more of a “mom and pop” type of feel. But I mean that in the best of ways. They are super invested in your success, and want to make sure you do well, so that LSAT Lab does well. And the best part is that they have the brains and resources to back it up.

It’s essentially like getting one of the top-level LSAT gurus who designed the Manhattan Prep course at your personal disposal. You just don’t get that with the major prep providers.

And in terms of the actual coursework package and curriculum they’ve designed, it is solid. I have to admit, because LSAT Lab is a smaller, growing company, I thought their digital platform and tech might sort of lack. But it doesn’t. At all.

In fact, LSAT Lab has one of the better digital platforms I’ve seen. It’s sleek, modern, and super intuitive. You get access to all of your different LSAT resources directly in the left-hand navigation bar: your personal study plan, online class schedule, video library, practice tests, analytics, section-specific quiz bank, etc.

But we all know tech doesn’t make a prep course. You need substance as well, and on that point, I thought LSAT Lab generally delivered.

Their curriculum is built around learning modules in your study plan, which each cover a topic tested on the LSAT, such as “sufficient assumptions” and “must be true.” Each learning module, if you want to call it that, contains a video lesson, assigned practice, and live online class session.

You kick each section off with a video lesson. Each one is roughly 20 to 30 minutes long and breaks down the topic at hand. Matt or Patrick teaches you how often the question type is tested, how to recognize it, and most importantly, how to solve for it. They do this mainly through helpful graphics and sample problems.

That was one of my favorite parts of the LSAT Lab videos – their use of visuals. You never actually see Matt or Patrick onscreen. Instead, the video is completely animated with notes, illustrations, diagrams and bunch of other cool graphics that help you associate the lesson point with a visual. In my opinion, for visual learners like myself, this is huge. I honestly think their lessons are top-notch (though not as good as those from Blueprint LSAT).

If I had one complaint though, it would be that they’re a little long. By around the 15-minute mark, you start itching to start working some example problems, but you still have about 10 minutes to go in the lecture.

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t some two-hour lecture (believe me, I’ve seen those in LSAT prep and they suck) – but I think maybe breaking them into 10-minute videos might be the ideal length.

But otherwise, the LSAT Lab video lessons are on point. Matt and Patrick do a great job breaking down some really nuanced topics and conveying material in a way that’s easily understandable. I still think Blueprint offers about the best LSAT video lectures in the space, but I’ve got to say that these are pretty close, which is surprising given LSAT Lab’s value pricing.

Then once you’re finished with your video lesson, you work a bunch of practice problems on that particular subject. More on the LSAT Lab practice material and explanations below, but know that this is a very crucial part of your studies with LSAT Lab.

You essentially need to test your way out of five levels of mastery on a topic to finish it. Through each level of difficulty (1 through 5), you need to get 4 of the last 5 questions correct. Although annoyingly difficult, this is a crazy effective means of learning and retaining how to attack the various problem types.

The final component of each learning module is attending a live online class. Now, the live online class sessions don’t always align perfectly with your study pace, but LSAT Lab’s tech does a good job arranging your modules to align with upcoming live class sessions as best as possible.

All in all, I was generally impressed with LSAT Lab’s prep program. I thought their coursework structure was effective for teaching and retaining material, and I had only a few complaints.

Their instructors Matt and Patrick are the stars of this package though, and offer the most value in my eyes. These two guys are absolute LSAT nerds and do an awesome job teaching you everything you need to know for the LSAT.

LSAT Lab Price & Discounts

Now, as I mentioned at the top of this article, LSAT Lab has a pretty unique pricing structure amongst prep providers. Rather paying a hefty, one-time upfront fee, LSAT Lab uses a monthly pricing model.

For $59/month, their Premium package gives you access to their video lessons, study planner, practice tests and questions, and one live online class per month. In other words, you don’t get full access to the live online classes, higher score guarantee, or tutoring.

At the next level up for around $119/month, the Classroom package grants you access to everything in the Premium package PLUS unlimited live online classes and the higher score guarantee.

Finally, under the Tutor package, for roughly $399/month, you get all of the materials, as well as weekly tutoring sessions with Matt or Patrick. And while $400/month might sound crazy, just know that at 4 months of access, you’re still paying less than standard live online courses from major competitors. Plus, you’re getting tutoring sessions with of the best LSAT teachers in the space.

So in short, if you’re just planning on doing 3-4 months of studying, LSAT Lab is one of the more cost effective prep programs on the market. This is a large reason why they have such appeal.

LSAT Lab Class Sessions: Our Evaluation

Because I didn’t elaborate too much on the live online class sessions above, I wanted to take a minute to do so. Long story short, I think the live online class sessions from LSAT Lab are awesome, and honestly, make this course.

For those in the $119/month Classroom package, you get direct access to the founders of the course on a near nightly basis.

My favorite part of these classes is that they are never too packed. There’s not a ton of people in them and you can ask whatever questions you want.

Matt and Patrick are always open to answering questions, and they just want to make sure you’re understanding and following along.

Content-wise, the class sessions are not so different from the video lectures. I mean, they can’t be right? Just like the video lessons, each covers a narrow subtopic tested on the LSAT. But what I like about the live sessions, besides the fact that you can jump in and out as you want, is that they go way deeper.

The live online class session is more freewheeling and covers more detail, where the instructors explain things a few different ways.  In my opinion, this adds true value (similar to the Kaplan and Princeton Review LSAT classes).

So if you like group study, or want to be able to ask questions, I strongly suggest jumping into the live online class sessions whenever you can.

LSAT Practice Questions & Explanations

As promised, I want to take a deeper dive into LSAT Lab’s practice material. Now, like just about every other LSAT prep company out there, LSAT Lab relies on a license from LSAC to use real, previously administered LSAT questions.

This is the industry standard at this point, and it’s more of a check the box thing. So basically, LSAT Lab is in line with all their competitors like Blueprint.

But where prep companies really differentiate themselves is their problem explanations, meaning the answer solutions they draft up to accompany each question. This is where the real learning takes place, and what really matters.

And in my opinion, LSAT Lab does a decent job on this front. Their explanations break down old LSAT problems and conceptualize the questions within their teaching framework.

Their explanations basically explain why the problem falls into a certain topic bucket (i.e. how to identify), quickly recaps how to solve for that problem type, and then shows you why the correct answer choice is correct (as well as why the incorrect choices are incorrect). These explanations are thorough and provide decent insight.

Now, if there’s one thing I would maybe like to see here, it would be video explanations breaking down each problem. Some other test prep companies are going this way (see Magoosh), but none have covered all the old LSAT problems with videos yet.

I’m sure LSAT Lab will get there at some point, but given their high-quality and well-explained videos, I think a quick-hit video breakdown would push this course into a new league.

Finally, for those wondering, every LSAT practice test from LSAT Lab is also an official Prep Test. So you get to practice under exam-like conditions with real practice exams.

Digital Platform & User Experience

One of the most surprising aspects of the LSAT Lab program is their tech. Given their sort of quasi-startup status, I thought the course would focus more on Matt and Patrick’s expertise and less on the tech. But I didn’t find that to be the case at all.

Their digital platform is super high-end, and honestly better than some of the monster prep companies out there (*cough* Princeton Review).

The U/I is very sharp and modern. It feels like you’re in a high-end SaaS program or even Google’s suite of apps. And the functionality is great, with fast response times and no lag or loading wheels. Bottom line, I was just thoroughly impressed with LSAT Lab’s online platform from top to bottom.

Live Chat Support

Where LSAT Lab really differentiates itself from competitors is through its support. From the initial consult with Matt or Patrick to set up your study schedule, to the live online classes, it just feels like they’ve got your back the whole way. But I think this is really exemplified with the live support.

Every time I had question and shot a quick message to their chat function, one of them (usually Matt) got back to me within minutes. So the responsiveness is off the charts, which is one of the awesome side effects of going with a young, growing LSAT prep company.

Now to be clear, you can’t use the chat function as a de facto tutoring session, but if you have questions on a problem explanation or didn’t understand something said in a video lecture, they’ll definitely help you out.

Is There A Money Back Guarantee?

Like most other prep companies out there, LSAT Lab offers a higher score or money back guarantee. In short, score higher on your official LSAT after prepping with LSAT Lab, or your cash back.

There is some legalese you need to check out to qualify, but it’s not overly-onerous like we’ve seen with some other test prep providers. It’s also not the most generous guarantee we’ve seen either (Magoosh offers a pretty awesome one), but it’s a great insurance policy.

Verdict: LSAT Lab Prep Review

The bottom line with LSAT Lab is that this is a high value LSAT prep provider. For around $120/month, you get access to their high-quality video lessons, in-depth problem explanations, and awesome live online classes (which, by the way, are delivered by two of the better LSAT teachers I’ve seen in the space. And on that point of expertise, I think that’s where LSAT Lab really differentiates itself and earns it value – the support.

Co-founders Matt and Patrick are there to back you every step of the way, and are never more than an IM, email or class question away. Now, if I did have any bones to pick with LSAT Lab, it would just be my desire to see some slightly shorter, more digestible videos (maybe 10-15 minutes in length instead of 20-30 minutes). And some stronger problem explanations would be nice. But that’s honestly it.

I liked most everything else about this prep course. I think for visual leaners, and those who want a little group study with a chance to ask their teacher questions, LSAT Lab is a good value and generally effective prep option.

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