ScoreItUp LSAT Prep in Irvine, CA (in Orange County, between Los Angeles and San Diego)
2. What is your web address?
www.scoreitup.com
3. What makes you such an awesome LSAT instructor?
I suppose I could sum it up with four words that all begin with "e": experience, enthusiasm, expertise, and energy.
- Experience: In addition to enormous LSAT Prep teaching experience (I began teaching LSAT Prep before attending Harvard Law School), I also taught over 35 full-length University law courses and gained a tremendous amount of experience working with the logical reasoning concepts tested on the LSAT in law school and as a practicing attorney. Candidly, I don't think students are likely to find an instructor with more depth and breadth of relevant LSAT Prep experience anywhere!
- Enthusiasm: For me, teaching LSAT Prep happens to be a perfect example of the old saying "if you love your work, you'll never work a day in your life." I think my enthusiasm and passion for teaching comes through strongly in my classes.
- Expertise: Doing extremely well on the LSAT helped me get into law schools of my choice, and having a deep and solid understanding of the LSAT helps me as an instructor. However, LSAT Prep is about teaching and what truly matters is an instructor's ability to teach students how they can maximize their potential on the LSAT. That is one of the reasons I provide extensive and independently verifiable student evaluations online. I believe a LSAT Prep instructor ideally should have tons of teaching experience, a law school degree, and expertise in explaining the LSAT's legal reasoning concepts.
- Energy: I prioritize bringing a lot of energy into the classroom to make LSAT classes a really fun experience. I like to have fun when I teach, students like to have fun when they learn, and students' results are enhanced if they enjoy the experience. Students routinely tell me that they are convinced my course was much more helpful than a course from one of the large test prep companies would have been, and a lot more fun than they ever would have expected.
I suppose I can best answer this question with an analogy. Imagine craving a hamburger, and seeing two places: McDonald’s and Mark’s Burgers. McDonald’s is everywhere, but Mark’s Burgers offers larger hamburgers, higher quality hamburgers, a much better value, and is a fun place to eat a burger. And the burgers at Mark’s Burgers are guaranteed to be prepared by a highly experienced, well-trained burger chef. Students who see the obvious benefits of the bigger, higher-quality, better-value burger would be the ones who choose ScoreItUp. Students will get the same training in the basics they would receive at one of the large test prep companies, but much more. Students tend to like ScoreItUp if they value clear, straightforward advantages and proven results over the advertising gimmicks and fake student comments frequently used by other test prep companies.
5. How did you first get into this gig?
I was looking for teaching opportunities and I really enjoyed preparing for the LSAT, so I began teaching LSAT Prep for one of those large test prep companies. It became apparent to me that I could do this far more effectively on my own, using recent and real LSAT questions, and guaranteeing I would teach the course myself – students would not have to worry about getting a part-time student instructor with questionable student evaluations or limited teaching experience, or who had not even gone to law school. After getting very positive feedback from students in the University courses I taught, I started ScoreItUp.
6. Did you go to law school? If so, where?
Yes, I graduated from Harvard Law School.
7. What do you love most about your job?
As for my LSAT Prep teaching, a couple things immediately come to mind: (1) watching students go from being utterly confused to extremely confident (often most dramatically when dealing with the Logic Games section), and (2) the point in every course when the class develops a sense of deep confidence in the course and their instructor – that’s a very rewarding feeling! I also am a practicing attorney - the excitement of jury trials and the satisfaction of assisting victims are two very rewarding aspects of that job.
8. Could you please share with the world one of your most memorable LSAT (horror/fun/heart-breaking) stories?
This is a story that only LSAT nerds would find funny, but here goes. I once had a very animated student who was expressing frustration with a Reading Comprehension question after class. He felt the information in the passage was wrong, and therefore the correct answer choice was wrong. I told him that he needed to focus only on the information contained in the passage, and explained the question’s reasoning process to him. He wouldn’t let the issue go. His face turned bright red, he began gesturing wildly and pacing back and forth across the classroom. He got so worked up that other students became worried, and thought he might have a heart attack. One of the students then found the official LSAC statement indicating that information contained in LSAT passages is not necessarily correct, and to base answers only on the information provided. He relaxed and we had a good laugh over his passion – LSAT questions can sometimes do that to you!
9. What is the most frequently asked question that you receive from your LSAT students, and what is your response?
I’d say it’s a two-part question: “When should I start preparing for the LSAT, and how much time per week should I plan on devoting to it?” It depends upon the student, but I would say that serious LSAT Prep students ideally should plan on spending a minimum of 2 months time preparing. During those 2+ months, they should assume that LSAT Prep will be roughly the equivalent of a full-time job (or a full and challenging quarter of college courses). One certainly can have a life while preparing for the LSAT, but having a full-time job or a full set of college classes on top of LSAT Prep is likely to be overwhelming for students seeking to maximize their potential on the exam.
10. (Just for fun) if you could be anything in the world (besides an LSAT guru), what would you be? Why?
This may be an unusual answer, but I suppose I’d be a philanthropist along the lines of Warren Buffet. Everyone may not agree with me, but I really admire him - certainly much more than athletes or celebrities. He spends half his time outsmarting the world with his brilliant investments and the other half of his time figuring out how to save/improve the world by donating his massive fortunes to the causes and charities he finds most worthy. That sounds like a fun and very meaningful way to live one’s life, and I have a lot of respect for him.
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