As a professional LSAT tutor, I’ve had the opportunity to review dozens of the most popular online LSAT preparation courses. This one is called Manhattan Prep Interact, and it’s most certainly one of the best. Let’s chat about this course’s features and style, as well as its pros and cons.
The Cost
For unlimited access, Manhattan Prep Interact costs $599 as a one time payment. Compared to online prep courses of the same caliber, this is a really great deal. Some prep courses charge monthly, but of the ones that have a one-time payment model, Manhattan Prep Interact is easily one of the cheapest.
This is surprising considering the high quality videos and instruction, not to mention the amount of resources provided.
What You Get
Physical books are mailed to you, including all 3 Manhattan Prep Guidebooks and the highly reviewed 5 lb. Book of LSAT Drills. Seriously, that 5 lb. book is great. Even if you don’t enroll in the Manhattan Prep Interact course, it would be worth it to still look into purchasing that book.
You will also receive two books of Ten Actual Official LSAT PrepTests (Volume V and Book 52-61). You’ll need at least two of these books no matter what source you use to prepare.
This is a great addition to the Manhattan course’s package and one that other prep courses don’t include.
In addition, those who enroll in the course will gain access to all LSATs, ensuring you never run out of practice material. How could you with access to every past LSAT that’s ever been released to the public?
Plus, Manhattan Prep Interact also adds on more than 60 hours of recorded video content. This amount of content is somewhere in the middle of the pack when compared to its course competitors. It’s perfectly sufficient, but not the most robust available.
Who Suits The Course?
The Manhattan Prep Interact LSAT Course is best for students who find themselves easily bored with unengaging video content. This course’s videos force you to pay attention and actually think, as opposed to passively watching and eventually zoning out during instruction.
The Pros
- Price: Manhattan Prep Interact is already one of the most inexpensive prep courses of its type. But on top of that, they offer access to just one section for $375. If you know that you only need Logical Reasoning training, this feature is perfect.
- Materials: This course mails an impressive amount of physical books for studying outside of the provided video content. The books are top-quality too, and ones you’d be well-advised to purchase anyway.
- Interactive video style: Instead of droning, hour-long videos that test even the most dedicated student’s attention, Manhattan Prep Interact is, well, interactive! The videos, which feature an on-screen instructor, pause after questions to give you time to contemplate the proposed answer choices, then play a different video clip depending on which answer choice you selected. This unique feature encourages active learning and real engagement.
The Cons
- Logic Games Method: Manhattan Prep’s technique for in/out games (The Logic Ladder) is, in this tutor’s humble opinion, overly complicated to set-up while also being sufficient for only the simplest in/out games. Most recent LSATs have featured in/out games with additional levels of difficulty (e.g.: linear components to the in-group, or rules with multiple sufficient or multiple necessary conditions) which are difficult and, in many cases, impossible to tackle using the method Manhattan Prep proposes.
- Video Pacing: Many of the videos include too much “fluff” wherein the instructor, in attempts to be personable, tells anecdotes and makes asides which noticeably slow the pace of learning.
Video Style
Since everyone learns differently, it’s important to know what to expect of these videos you’ll be watching for hours on end. Manhattan Prep Interact’s videos are very well-produced and easy to watch.
You’ll observe the instructor superimposed onto the screen as he explains concepts while animated text appears to his side. There are no students in the videos, so there is no on-screen interaction between student and instructor, but the concepts are clearly and thoroughly explained, albeit sometimes a bit slow.
The best feature–and the one that makes Manhattan Prep Interact unique and gives it its moniker–is a sort of “choose your own adventure” video style. The video pauses after a question and you are presented with multiple choice options on where to venture next in the lesson.
If you click the right answer, you move on to harder questions. If you click the wrong answer, the on-screen instructor explains why it was wrong and prompts you to try again.
This format is highly engaging and wards off the boredom that can come from other video styles that lack any interaction whatsoever.
Conclusion
I would rate Manhattan Prep Interact 5 of 5 stars. Its series of videos are comprehensive and well-produced and, with the included physical books, it is a great value for on-demand online LSAT training.
As long as a student explores other options for diagramming the course’s particular games, Manhattan Prep’s benefits far outweigh this shortcoming.