More GW Students use Law Prep Services
GW Hatchet – March 9, 2009
With more than 84,000 people applying to law school this year, GW students hoping to gain admission to the nation’s top schools are looking to private tutoring companies to get a leg up on the competition.
Though only 26 percent of last year’s law school applicants were under the age of 23, according to the Law School Admission Council, many D.C.-area LSAT tutoring companies said they see a strong representation of GW students in their courses and using their tutors.
“We get more students from GW than from Georgetown or American University,” said Richard Bahar, founder of tutoring company Jefferson Prep. “One reason is because a lot of GW students are from the tri-state area, which has a tutoring culture.”
GW does not currently offer its own LSAT preparation, and many students interviewed reported frustration with the limited application assistance they received from the University.
“I was completely on my own. GW wasn’t a detriment to me in my law school search, but they didn’t really do anything to help me,” said senior Lee Schneider… “If GW offered a class, then I would be inclined to take it. It’d be nice.”
Some students go to private companies not just to do well, but to do better. Mr. Ganji, a GW law student, said that tutoring with Jefferson Prep made a difference on his scores.
“You will never reach your full potential on the LSAT without help. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t jumped points from going to a tutor or a class,” Ganji said. “You have to use a tutor. There are certain things you will never be able to teach yourself or to understand or identify on an exam.”
Ganji, who attended Georgetown for his undergraduate degree, said he turned to Jefferson Prep because he was not getting the help he needed from his university. The company helped him to market a nonprofit organization that he had started, and he was able to incorporate the human rights organization into his personal statement, resume and law school application.
