How does 7Sage compare to Blueprint, Testmasters, and PowerScore?

LSATConspiracy

I stopped studying for the LSAT back in January after a year of 8hr study days and little progress. I went through the Blueprint curriculum and read the PowerScore bibles, but never hit my target score. I've been thinking of getting back into it now that I have a full-time job, but I don't want to put my hopes into another prep course if it won't deliver. What different things in LR and RC does 7sage offer that the others don't exactly?

Thanks,

Cant Get Right

Well I can certainly admit I'm susceptible to a little confirmation bias on this matter, but I'll try and stay as objective as possible.

So, I studied a little under a year before joining 7Sage. I studied hard and I felt at the time that I studied effectively. I took in October 2015, knowing I wasn't quite ready but figured maybe I'd pull it off. I scored a 163- 10 points below my target score but in line with my PT average. I took again in December feeling more confident. My PT average hadn't increased significantly, but it was more erratic and I'd hit my target score a couple times and was sure that everything would go my way. I scored a 162. I quit for awhile. When I came back, I came back with 7Sage. I completely started over. I went through the entire curriculum and took my time to make sure I was really grasping it. Since finishing the 7Sage curriculum and adopting the 7Sage study methods, my PT average is now above my target score and I realize how ineffective my studies had been before.

I think what 7Sage offers that the others don't is a number of things. First of all, you get JY who just explains the material better. I feel like my intellect is being respected- things aren't being dumbed down for me to understand more easily. It's a challenging curriculum, because we are expected to grasp the fundamental concepts which this test is built on. There are no tricks or gimmicks, just the logic behind the LSAT. I forget how many hours of video it is, but I'm sure that's on whatever marketing material is out there. Whatever is, it's a lot and there is not a minute wasted. You also get analytics which keeps track of every question you ever answer and breaks that down into usable data. This is a really effective for identifying problem areas and soft spots. You get the collective wisdom of the 7Sage community. You get webinars and study groups, and Sage office hours, and access to tutoring. You get study methods that are much more effective than what you've probably been doing. You really do get a lot.

For me, joining 7Sage was also accompanied by a shift in my habits and attitude. So to qualify all this, I will say that 7Sage alone wasn't enough for me. I also developed a disciplined work ethic that I had been lacking before, and I consider that to be more essential than 7Sage. 7Sage is a powerful tool, but the work ethic limits or maximizes how well I'm able to use that tool. Of course, the tool itself is still really essential, and 7Sage is way better than anything else out there, at least that I've used. The people here are really good about being encouraging and motivating as well, so it's slightly easier to maintain disciplined study by congregating with people who get what studying for the LSAT is like.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck on your LSAT studies!

danielznelson

I can only speak on PowerScore, since I purchased their newest study guides on LR and RC.

Both were just okay... LR offered some decent tips often through a copy-righted, catchy name. Everything about PowerScore was too mechanical, however, and is really only beneficial for people hoping to at least survive the LSAT. On the contrary, 7Sage digs deep into the actual, underlying logic of the test, makes sense of it, shows the similarities between what may seem to be very different facets of the test, and offer plenty of practical tips and strategies.

Also, literally everything that @"Cant Get Right" already mentioned.

Cant Get Right

@danielznelson said:
I can only speak on PowerScore. . . LR offered some decent tips often through a copy-righted, catchy name.

They do love those copy-righted, catchy names! I’m afraid 7Sage is lagging far behind Powerscore on this metric.

nantesorkestar

I can speak for TestMasters' live course. I really liked my instructor, he seemed to be very encouraging and always willing to speak to us individually. The course itself is great for those who can improve in a short amount of time, given that they schedule the course to run from two months until the test date. For me it was too rushed and it stressed me out greatly. I always had the test date in the back of my mind, which contributed to lack of progress. Since I've used 7sage, I can also point to flaws in TestMasters approach. I don't think they spend enough time on argument analysis and instead too much time on question type (they label their questions i.e. 1, 3, 8, etc.) Their Logic Games are also confusing as they add weird names like "two way multiple association." When I started 7Sage, I was shocked to see how the games can easily just be labeled sequencing or grouping.

This is my personal experience. I know people who got top scores on TM and I'm sure they will say it is the best out there. For me, I enjoy 7Sage's approach as I find it much smoother and easier to attain.

MrSamIam

I felt that TM was nice. The instructor was great, but I wasn't making the progress that I had hoped for prior to signing up.
7Sage takes a different approach. One that I believe is more efficient and worked exceptionally well for me. The nice thing about 7Sage is that once you have "completed" the course, you'll still have your LSAT family. Many of us have gotten pretty close here. We all treat each other like family, and will do whatever we can to help each other get into our target schools. That is part of the reason why I keep grinding away, PTing, etc.

Cant Get Right

I haven’t taken a class, but the impression I get is that they are hyper accelerated. I mean, 2-3 months!? Anyone who can go from little to no background in logic to 170+ in that amount of time is, in my mind, of genius level intellect. Well, I for one am WAY shy of genius. I can’t do the genius thing. What I can do is beat this test into submission by means of discipline, work ethic, and resolve. For people like me, I just don’t think there’s a better resource than 7Sage.

@MrSamIam said:
Many of us have gotten pretty close here. We all treat each other like family, and will do whatever we can to help each other get into our target schools. That is part of the reason why I keep grinding away, PTing, etc.

And also this, big time.

nantesorkestar

@"Cant Get Right" said:
Anyone who can go from little to no background in logic to 170+ in that amount of time is, in my mind, of genius level intellect.

Well as we know, it's common for people to believe the LSAT is of SAT standard and can be beaten in 2 months. Most people just want to get it done and will take any score. The companies that rely on a 2 month classroom period do not emphasize enough about how prep should never be shortened.

Alejandro

@"Cant Get Right" said:
What I can do is beat this test into submission by means of discipline, work ethic, and resolve.

Well said my brother

kazrah

Here's my experience:

I've studied for this test since I was a third year in college, buying hundreds of dollars of materials from courses like PowerScore, and spending countless hours going through them and trying to learn the test. I was scoring in the 160's, but I wanted a 170+, and the PS books seemed to be a course that tried to oversimplify the material and appeared to cap out at around the 160+ score. After trying another course, and getting used to their own methods of diagramming, I was still stuck at around the same score. I tried some materials from other sources, and ended up scoring significantly lower than I started with on the actual official exam (lol wtf).

Here I am 5 years later and I've realized that I never really had a fundamental grasp of the underlying principles (but I thought I did). I tried out 7sage after hearing about it, and I was truthfully just going to skim through it, look for reasons why it wasn't for me, and then ask for a refund lol. Within the first 2 days of trying out the course I realized the amount of value packed into it. I paid about the same for course materials elsewhere, and here was a full course with some awesome tools to really diagnose how to maximize improvement. I found that I was most comfortable with JY's teaching at 1.7x speed (I have attention problems otherwise) and being able to adjust every video actually forced me to focus. After about a month I finished the starter course and scored a 170 on the very next PT. I'm very pleased with the improvements from just a month of taking this course, and feel that 7sage has the best value out there. I totally agree with the above poster who mentioned that it feels like JY respects your intelligence; you don't feel like the material is dumbed down, and you are expected to consistently be building upon the foundations.

Overall I really enjoyed the course, and feel that 7sage compares extremely favorably with its competitors.

tanes256

I think you'll learn the fundamentals here. I've read some prep books that just say here's this type of question and here's the method to choosing the correct answer. Simple enough but for me it was just too simple. I need to know why. For me things just click easier when I know the reason this method works for a particular question type or maybe why I can't use a particular strategy for a particular question type. I think a lot of the foundation stuff is skipped in a lot of the other materials out there. I would've never thought about a grammar lesson to prepare for the LSAT but you'll be surprised how much 3rd grade grammar lessons you don't remember! Once you have a solid foundation you're good. I think some of the other books I read just threw me in the middle somewhere and I had to just jump in and figure out how to stay afloat. That's not ok for a newbie. 7Sage is perfect for newbies and experienced students. The video explanations are just awesome! Also, I couldn't get with that 2-3 month stuff everybody else is pushing for prep time. There's no freaking way you can completely grasp everything and score well, especially if you're a newbie! For me "well" means scoring 167+. Just try it out. If it's not for you you can get your money back within 14 days. I can't really speak for Blueprint because I only skimmed through the book. It was given to me by a friend. The PS Bibles are just too much for me. WTH is all this?! That was my initial reaction. The RC one didn't really help that much at all. To be fair, I think it was because I was looking for some sort of trick that was going to magically improve me score on that section. The others just cost too much so they were never really consider an option for me. Again, just try it!

Cackie Jhiles

I took a full-length course with Powerscore last year. In all honestly, I wish I saved my money and started with 7sage. What I love the most about this course is that all the questions are explained online, and JY makes studying fun. If there is a particular question or area that you are struggling with, you can re-watch the videos own your own time until you grasp the logic. I also agree with everything @"Cant Get Right" said.

kennedybj

Let's not forget about one of the best..Kaplan. I mean what would most of us had done without kaplan?

Alejandro

Baron's LSAT ftw

westcoastbestcoast

I actually took both Testmasters, Blueprint before 7sage and I do believe that 7sage curriculum really builds upon foundational skills that the other courses, like explaining how to parse through the complex grammar and referential language. To Blueprints merit, I found their logic game method to be intuitive.

Nanchito-1-1

I took a live Kaplan class two times a few years ago. I still use their books because I can rip out their pages and make copies of preptests or drill a certain question type or game. All in all i'd say the books are most valuable. They're pretty encouraging and feed you the whole "you can get a good score with in 3 months of using the program", but they don't push you to get the best score you can like 7sage. Then they leave you in the dark once your time is over unless you ask for your money back or do another class (for free). 7sage tells you straight up, this is going to be a hard, and if you want this you need to work for it. 7sage gave me a stronger understanding of the fundamentals. They taught me how to read. They teach methods of how to attack different question types instead of just teaching you what each question type is. All of the explanation videos you can play over and over again, the analytics, the webinars, the tutoring, the community.... the br calls!!!

Oh my!!

TheCochranFirm

With a 7 sage account you get access to J.Y Ping & co. and that's what you'll need to score higher. Without an account you won't get the same access to these people! You will learn more than you thought possible and how to breakdown arguments into their most basic form. Additionally, you'll get to learn from a lot of very smart people. Jump in, the waters fine.

SH---> JY
/SSA--->/JY
----
/SSA--->/SH

The logic checks out, looks like you should sign up!

CocoZhang

@danielznelson said:
LR offered some decent tips often through a copy-righted, catchy name

Laughed so hard lol.

For me, the most important thing is that 7sage makes study fun, as others mentioned here. There are many small moments in the videos that can make you smell. When doing an LR or RC question I sometimes found myself speaking to myself in JY style "so what?", haha.

notwilliamwallace

Barron's LSAT for foundation followed by McGraw Hill LSAT for mastery = Shangri La of LSAT Prep. Enlightenment should come quickly.

Tbh, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats 7Sage when it comes to mastering formal logic. Also, the logic games curriculum of 7Sage is amazing.

aquaboogy

With respect to Test Master's I agree with some of the previous posters in that the course seemed rushed. In addition, many of the approaches to LR questions seemed to be in contradiction to what JY is teaching. JY's approach to LR and LG, especially, were much more understandable than what the Test Master's instructor was teaching. What I really like about 7 Sage is that the program really gives you the flexibility to tailor the teaching to your specific learning style, which has benefited me greatly.

draj0623

I took TestMasters a few years ago and thought the instructor was great but it was definitely a rushed experience. There is no way to internalize so much information in 2-3 months before the exam unless you have a natural affinity for logic and other skills the LSAT tests you on. I find that 7Sage importantly appeals to common sense and simplification of complex subject matter. The material is dense enough and there is no real need to create arbitrary categories for LR or LG. I started over with 7Sage and feel way more confident in my understanding of the test as this process has allowed me to study at my pace to really internalize the information the best I can, flag important lessons for further studying and future reference, and interact with similarly situated individuals within the 7Sage community. The 7Sage app is an awesome tool that has helped my studying as well. In addition, JY is a very motivating instructor whose explanations are clear and he makes this process so much more enjoyable via his humor. On days that I don't hear "all jedis use the force," I kind of miss it.

Also, I found that TM didn't have anything unique to offer for RC whereas 7Sage has a method that I believe is effective. I hope this helps!

dennisgerrard

more affordable than BP.BP explains better in RC and 7 sage explains well in LG. You can use both if you could afford.

danielznelson

On PowerScore - I'm really not trying to bash them per se, as I see a need for the study material they provide. After all, a great number of aspiring students just want to get a decent score and complete the LSAT process (and boy, is it a process) as quickly as possible. PowerScore seems to make the LSAT more approachable by oversimplifying it and providing techniques that will prevent you from being absolutely clueless come test day.

ravina1114

I did Blueprint last year and really, really liked it.