Sean Murphy

The LSAT is the most important part of your law school application. It counts three times as much as your undergraduate GPA. For many students, even for those who did well as undergraduates, mastering the LSAT is the most serious academic challenge they've yet faced. I started teaching the LSAT over ten years ago. Since then, I've worked for two of the national test preparation companies, teaching thousands of students in the New York area. Five years ago, I scored a 175 on the LSAT. This past September, I scored a 176. This might not sound like much of an improvement, but with more people taking the LSAT than ever before, scoring high is more difficult than it has ever been. You have three choices when studying for the LSAT: taking a course, practicing solo, or tutoring. Obviously, I'm going to argue for tutoring, but (unlike nearly every other test prep ad out there), I'll be honest: all three of these methods, or any combination of them, will help you improve. Simple exposure to the LSAT is sufficient for most students to do better. But to really reach your potential you need more than just practice. Courses provide techniques and structure, but they suffer from major drawbacks: the two biggest companies have not updated their courses significantly for over a decade, and the LSAT has changed a great deal since then. Also, their teachers are often unqualified: many of them have no experience with recent LSAT questions, and some of them have never even taken a timed LSAT! (I should know - I taught for one of these companies when I was 19, before I ever took the test!) There are newer, smaller companies which have designed courses that feature better content, brighter teachers, and more classroom hours, but these too suffer from drawbacks: they are based out-of-state, they don't understand New York geography, so they are plagued by logistical problems. They also don't understand New York culture: the one that I used to work for actually held class on Yom Kippur! Though they are newer, these small companies also teach an approach that reflects an older LSAT, the LSAT of the late 1990s. They therefore waste hours of your time teaching you techniques that are useless for the contemporary LSAT. Also, more class hours don't necessarily translate into higher scores. Many of those hours are lost to students slower than you holding up the teacher, or idiots who think they're smarter than you trying to dominate the class. Your time, and money, is too precious to waste in this way. After doing this for years, I've come to realize that focused tutoring is the ideal way for students to hone their skills. I'll teach you the basics of LSAT logic, and from there we'll develop a strategy that will help you maximize your score. Whether you are scoring in the 130s or the 170s, I can help you improve. In addition to one-on-one tutoring, my students get free extra help via phone or email, and all receive a free copy of my guide to logical diagramming, which is one of the most difficult aspects of the logic games and logical reasoning. Don't just take my word for it. Listen to some of my former students: "Honestly, I could not have asked for anything better in an LSAT tutor and instructor. He has a great way of breaking down difficult concepts and also has a knack for getting into your head and seeing your line of reasoning. Oh, and he helped me raise my score from a 152 to a 175." - Sarah, New York University Law, '09 "I took the LSAT's last year, and would not have chosen anyone else but Sean to be my tutor. From the beginning, Sean was able to accurately assess my strengths and weaknesses in a positive, reinforcing manner which is crucial when studying for such a dry and mentally challenging exam. He specifically helped me in the games section as I barely finished 2 games when I took my first diagnostic and scored almost perfectly on that section in my last test. All in all, I was very happy with my final result as I moved my score up by almost 20 points and received a 164 on the final exam." -Nandini Rao, Emory Law '10, Sean is the best. I started in the upper 140s and improved a lot only because of his excellent tutoring skills. This week I got into Yale Law School. And did I mention that Sean is hilarious? - Aaron Dessauer, Yale Law, '11 Whether you need fine tuning on the most difficult questions, or you have never looked at an LSAT before, I can help you. Why pay a large company $150 per hour or more when you might be getting an unqualified tutor? With a free introductory session, you have nothing to loose. I promise you, you will not find a better tutor at these rates. Plus, you can pay for your sessions with cash, check, or via Paypal. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you. Thank you, Sean Murphy