#7 in a series of Q&A’s with representatives of leading LSAT companies.
Kelly Baker, Director for Inspirica in Boston, offered me info on her company.
How long have you been offering LSAT prep?
Twenty-six years, as long as we’ve been in business.
Where are you located?
We have offices in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
Please describe your traditional in-class courses?
We actually don’t do any courses. We only do one-on-one, in-home tutoring.
Please describe your online options?
What we do is we hand-match each student to one tutor, so they could do the interface—we call it Inspirica Anywhere—where they can learn with a tutor via the internet, but it’s all through skype, so they’re seeing the tutor, it’s the same tutor every time, they’re really building that rapport, and the program is customized to each student.
Do you offer a self-study option or study guides?
Yes, there’s homework, there’s everything that the student needs to complete between sessions as well, but that’s not sold separately, that’s just part of a tutoring program.
Do you offer any one-on-one or individualized tutoring?
Yes. Each tutor, as I said, is hand-matched to each student. All of our LSAT tutors score within the 99th percentile, so they’re all qualified and well-trained to work with the students. Each program starts with a diagnostic exam to kind of assess where the student is currently scoring. We also use any information from their history preparing for the test on their own, and then the tutor designs each individual session to meet that student’s needs.
What is the focus of your instruction?
Increasing their LSAT scores, so whatever that means for each individual. So if they’re scoring really well in the analytical reasoning section, the tutor is not going to focus as much on that. They’re going to focus where the student needs to increase their overall score.
Do you cater to any particular kind of student?
Nope, because it’s customized we can really meet the student at wherever they’re at. We have students who are in the lower range who are really hoping to kind of push their scores up in the 150s, and we also have students in the higher end of the scale, who are testing in the 160s but want a 170. We’re happy to meet the student where they are, and meet their score goals.
What qualifies someone to teach for Inspirica?
We actually have a very stringent hiring process, so each tutor undergoes extensive testing, extensive interviewing—as I said before the 99th percentile is the minimum requirement—beyond that, then they undergo 30 hours of training.
Beyond being experts on the tests, each of the tutors we hire is passionate about working one-on-one, and can relate well to both their students and the material. This is where our name came from—Inspirica—because our tutors really do strive to inspire their students.
What are your company’s unique strengths?
We have 26 years of experience with the exams, extremely intelligent and personable tutors, and an office staff that is available to offer support to parents, or directly to the student throughout the process. Because each tutoring program is tailored to the student’s needs, students are able to stretch to their potential and reach their goals in an efficient and enjoyable way.
Read the full article: LSAT Prep Company Reviews: Inspirica Q&A