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How the Cutts LSAT Review Prepares You - A Letter from Jay Cutts

Jay B. Cutts, MA with Distinction - Specializing in Graduate Exam Preparation

Dear Prospective Attorney,

I would like to wish you good luck in your endeavor to become a lawyer, but frankly it will take a lot more than luck. I can offer you strategies, training, skills and a great deal of encouragement to make sure that you score your best on the LSAT.

The Cutts LSAT Review Program will sharpen your focus and refine your strategies. Our course instills you with the mental toughness and confidence you need to succeed. We teach you the fine points as well as the overall approach you need to maximize your score.

Our program has been built on the hard work of many talented test specialists since it began in the 1980's as the Mares LSAT Review. Today Attorney John F. Mares continues to provide guidance and insight into your prep progress as our consultant and Director Emeritus.

The Cutts LSAT Review Program is a limited enrollment, live-lecture course. We encourage our students to ask questions. Personal, "real time" interaction between our students and faculty is our educational philosophy. We have the experience necessary to give you the answers you need, when you need them. We encourage students to form study groups to benefit from a lively exchange of approaches.

When you take the Cutts LSAT Review Program, we guarantee the LSAT will not surprise you. Our first-time LSAT takers often say that they know exactly what to expect on the test. Our subsequent LSAT takers frequently score 5-10 points higher.

The Cutts LSAT Review Program gives you the winning edge. And we maintain our reasonable prices so you can take advantage of this opportunity to score well on the LSAT. We are dedicated to helping you get into law school.

I wish you the best of luck. But more importantly I stand ready to support you to the best of my ability. I look forward to helping you get accepted to law school.

Sincerely,

Jay B. Cutts
Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews

PS. Are your parents or relatives helping pay for your prep? Please send them the following letter.

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Cutts Graduate Reviews

Dear Parent or Relative of a Prelaw Student,

As you decide the best way to support your family member in their preparation for law school, please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.

I'd like to speak directly about LSAT preparation. You may not be familiar with my LSAT prep work. Undoubtedly you have heard of the large corporate mass prep companies such as Princeton. You may have the impression that these companies - being large, well known and expensive - must offer the best prep.

Certainly the big companies have good intentions. However, by their very structure they have several very serious limitations. The most serious is that the instructors for these companies are hired people who, on the average, stay for one or two seasons. They are usually very bright and have often scored extremely well on the test. But they have very little experience teaching the LSAT and even less experience with issues such as timing strategy, test anxiety, individual and cultural learning styles and other strategies beyond the LSAT for getting accepted.

Large corporate prep programs often provide almost no personal attention outside of class, and very little in class. In my experience, personal attention is essential for each student to get what they need.

I have spoken with students who did well after taking a large corporate course. However, I have spoken with many more who did not get the help they needed. The biggest complaint is that when the student asks an instructor to explain exactly why one answer is better than another, the instructor says "This answer is just better" or "you just have to get the feel of it". This is not true. There is a reason why one answer is right and the other is dead wrong. But it can take years of teaching experience for a test specialist to understand this.

I have been teaching the LSAT since 1990. It is my full time work, along with the other related graduate exams. I work with students not only in New Mexico but across the country and internationally. I personally work closely with each of my students as much as they need.

I encourage you to look into all the prep options. Ask to speak with the person who will teach the course. Find out their experience. How much personal attention will they provide? Please feel free to call me also. I'll be happy to go over the specifics of what the Cutts programs covers that the larger companies do not.

Sincerely,

Jay B. Cutts (505) 281-0684, day or evening
Director
Cutts Graduate Reviews

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(end of parents' letter)

Dear Prospective Attorney,

Thank you for your interest in the Cutts Graduate Reviews LSAT Program. Our program offers in-depth strategies, mastery of timing and test anxiety, personal attention and test expertise not found in other programs.

"I learned more in the first 30 minutes of your course than I ever learned from the [other] course". - Successful Cutts LSAT student

INSTRUCTOR: Your course will be taught to you directly by LSAT expert Jay B. Cutts. Mr. Cutts has personally instructed over 1,000 students nationally and internationally, and you will benefit from this extensive experience.

Jay B. Cutts earned a BA in Linguistics from the U. of Michigan and an MA in Special Education from UNM, both with Distinction. He has taught for over 20 years in the field of adult cognitive development and prepares students for graduate entrance exams full time. Mr. Cutts has developed unique insights into the LSAT and into timing strategy. He emphasizes individual learning styles. He provides special tutorials to select LSAT students around the world.

CONSULTANT: John F. Mares created the Mares LSAT Review, the predecessor to the Cutts LSAT Program, to serve the needs of New Mexico's law school applicants. Mr. Mares is a licensed New Mexico attorney and graduate of the UNM Law School, as well as holding two masters degrees from UNM and a degree from Dartmouth. He received a full tuition law school scholarship based on his exceptional LSAT scores. A talented teacher with six years of university teaching experience, you will benefit from the insights into the LSAT and the law school application process which Mr. Mares built into his program.

Currently John Mares serves as development consultant for the Cutts Graduate Reviews LSAT program.

THE COURSE: The Cutts approach targets all of the areas that can affect your score. We put you "in training" for the LSAT in the same way that an athlete trains for a competition.

Your course includes periodic live class sessions along with unlimited personal coaching. The instruction emphasizes the Essay and Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, and Logical Reasoning. All sessions include vital test taking and preparation strategies. You will receive a suggested study schedule covering every day of your course. You will practice with our packet of actual LSAT test items. Outside of class you are encouraged to work with Mr. Cutts by phone as much as you need.

What You Will Learn:

* You will understand the patterns and psychology of the test and use them to your advantage.

* You will learn and practice strategies for working faster, avoiding common errors and maximizing your odds when you guess.

* You will identify your weak areas and improve them. You will identify your strengths and use them to score more points.

* You will learn to recognize why the right answer is right and why the wrong ones are wrong.

* You will receive skilled help on any personal concerns you have regarding the LSAT, law school applications or the UNM Law School.

The LSAT is a very competitive test. Our goal is to prepare you for every aspect of it.

How Is The CUTTS Course Personalized?: We guarantee you the kind of help that you personally need. Mr. Cutts works with you individually in and out of class. This is vital to your success and ours. Classes are small (5-15 students) and offer substantial question and answer time. Most activities are "hands on" so we can make sure you know how to apply what we have taught. We are experienced in adapting our teaching to individual learning styles, including physical and learning disabilities. We help you find a successful approach to any aspect of preparation you may have trouble with. We encourage you to take advantage of our expertise. You are welcome to call us with questions 7 days a week

How Else Is The CUTTS Course Different From Other Courses?: Jay Cutts has over 16 years full time experience coaching students worldwide on the LSAT. In other courses you work with an instructor with minimal experience. At the same time, even our unlimited program is significantly more affordable. Please see the letter on the back of the first page of this pamphlet for a complete comparison.

What the CUTTS Course Offers that Others Do Not:

* Unique insights into the patterns of the test
* Advanced timing strategy to cut errors in half
* Longer, more personalized prep programs
* Work directly with an experienced, full time test expert

UNLIMITED PREPARATION - Our unlimited program allows you to start earlier and work longer on mastering the LSAT. Our students typically work with us for 3 to 5 months, or more.

Our Guarantee: We guarantee that you will be completely satisfied with your score or you may continue in our programs free of charge.

I am including some additional information that will be helpful to you, including comments that our students have made about the benefits of the CUTTS LSAT REVIEW. If you would like any additional information, please feel free to call me at my direct number, 281-0684, 7 days a week, day or evening.

Thank you again for your inquiry. I am looking forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Jay B. Cutts, Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews

CUTTS LSAT REVIEW - STATISTICS AND REFERENCES

Statistics:

A sampling of students taking our course was given a pretest before entering our course and a posttest, using the mock test scores. A Logical Reasoning section was used for comparison. Students showed a mean improvement of 43 percent. That means that half of the students improved 43 percent or more. The sample covered 15 students chosen randomly.

These results are very encouraging, especially since students still had one week to continue their improvement before the LSAT. For any particular student, our experience has shown that the amount of improvement is in proportion to the amount and quality of practice outside of class.

References:

"I learned more in the first thirty minutes of your course than I ever learned from the [other] course."

"I feel [Cutts LSAT] prepared me well for the LSAT. [The course] made me aware of what was needed for success."

"The course was very well conducted, organized, and drew upon detailed analysis of previous LSAT tests."

"Very valuable insights into test strategy. There are no surprises the day of the test."

"Very thorough, covered all necessary parts."

"The course achieves its goal of being an effective, economic alternative."

"The course is cost-effective, personnel are available, quality presentations, just for starters ..."

"...[my score] is probably 5 points better than I would have done without your course."

"Each instructor demonstrated commitment, expert knowledge and high caliber teaching skills."
"Keep up the great work - you provide a valuable service at a reasonable cost."

"[The instructor is] helpful, pleasant and very understanding of what a traumatic experience this can be and really put me at ease. Very knowledgeable."

"The editing that you did on my personal statement is excellent. It flows together well [and] is much more concise than it was. Thank you for that and also for being an inspiration for me in my pursuit to get into law school. I have recommended the Mares [Cutts] LSAT to several friends. Having taken the [other] course first, I can testify that Mares [Cutts] is superior."

- W. S. Smith, University of Oklahoma Law Student

"I wanted to let you folks know that I achieved my goal of being accepted by the University of New Mexico School of Law. I am most grateful for the course, which in my view was absolutely essential to my success. Like it or not the law schools place a heavy emphasis on the LSAT. This unfortunate burden is more than compensated by the course's strategy, preparation and superior instruction which foster remarkable success, especially for the average student like myself. I found the course inspirational, sophisticated and well presented. I recommend prospective law students to take the course and give it their full commitment. It is money very well spent and was instrumental in helping me to attain my goal."

- P. Brill, University of New Mexico Law Student

PRICES - Please contact us for current prices and registration form

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST PREP OPTION

Read the questions and answers below. Then please give me a quick call. It's the best way for me to make personal recommendations for you.

HOW DOES THE CUTTS LSAT REVIEW WORK?

Our unlimited program allows you to work with us for as long as you need. In the class series, you attend our live lecture classes once a week, review study materials at home and practice on actual LSAT questions from previous LSAT's. You are welcome to call me for help outside of class as much as you need. Many students talk with me once or twice a week with quick questions, for suggestions on practicing or to go into strategies in depth.

The program includes the Barron's LSAT Prep Book, of which I'm the lead author. It also includes enrollment in our STEPS to the LSAT program, which provides a unique study structure, peer support, and specialized materials and services, including our audio library of LSAT tutorials.

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PREP PROGRAMS?

I am one of the few, and perhaps the only, full time, highly experienced (since 1990) test prep specialists available nationally for you to work with directly. Many students come to me after taking a large corporate course. Once they've worked with me, they report that for the first time they are able to understand what the test is really looking for. The strategies I teach go to the heart of the test - exactly why the right answer is right and exactly why the wrong answers are wrong.

As a linguist and educator, I specialize in helping with individual learning styles, including test anxiety, learning disabilities, poor standardized test taking and special timing strategies for the computer exam.

A prep class is only as effective as its instructor. Instructors for corporate programs have usually done extremely well on the test. Most are bright and often good in the classroom. However, the average instructor has probably taught the test only 3 or 4 times and may have only 5 or 10 hours of experience in working individually with students. Very few instructors have taught more than 8 or 10 times or have more than 30 or 40 hours individual tutoring experience.

Having done well on the test does not in itself qualify a person to teach. I personally got a near perfect score the first time I took the test but it has taken 24 years of teaching and research for me to thoroughly understand the hidden patterns of the exam, not to mention how to tailor special strategies to the needs of each individual.

I estimate that I have worked with over 1200 students and have 3000 hours of working one on one with a wide variety of students.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ABOUT SPECIFIC LARGE corporate PREP COURSES?

Large company LSAT programs often emphasize taking lots of practice tests and learning some general hints about the LSAT through their lecture. The quality of the lecture depends on the experience of the instructor, but very few instructors have more than a season or two of very part time experience. The main complaint that I hear from students who took a large corporate course is that when they asked the instructor to explain why one answer was right and the other wrong, the instructor was not able to do it.

The corporateteachers are typically not available outside of class for extra help. Even if you can get one to work with you, it is the same person who couldn't answer your questions in class.

The LSAT is based on hidden agendas and thousands of patterns for confusing you. But there is always a reason exactly why one answer is right and the other one wrong. It can take many years of experience for an instructor to learn these patterns well and teach them to you. Most corporate instructors don't get anywhere near this kind of experience.

PERSONAL ATTENTION: Personal help is important in a review program in many ways but many large corporate programs do not offer this, other than through buying a very expensive additional package. You may need help with your study plan. You may need someone to interpret your diagnostic test scores. You may need help reviewing your timing and testing strategies. Without personal help, most students cannot get their money's worth out of a program.

ADVANCED STRATEGIES: Many large corporate programs do not offer these. Their curriculum covers general strategies such as those covered in commercial books and then it stops there. The instructors typically don't have the experience or time to help with timing strategy, testing strategies, problem solving strategies, the hidden patterns of the test, strategies for organizing the Reading Comp passages, tools for working two close answers against each other to find the correct one, organizing strategies for the Analytical Reasoning or insights into how to write an impressive essay.

FLEXIBLE PREP PROGRAMS: Large corporate programs typically offer one set program. Under certain circumstances you can take their program again without paying. However, you simply get a repeat of your first course. You cannot get a program tailored to your particular needs or aprogram that let's you prepare over 6 to 10 months.

GETTING INTO LAW SCHOOL: Typically the large corporate programs do not offer any help on areas such as the Personal Statement and Letters of Rec.

COST: The large corporate programs are typically the most expensive in the country.

HOW DOES THE CUTTS LSAT REVIEW HANDLE THESE AREAS?

The Cutts LSAT Review emphasizes learning exactly why each correct answer is correct and why each wrong answer is wrong. This teaching is based on my over 24 years of experience with the test and goes into far more depth than a relatively inexperienced instructor, such as you would have in Princeton program, would be able to go. You learn to practice on actual LSAT questions, analyzing the patterns of the question and sharpening your strategies.

PERSONAL ATTENTION: Our program is founded on personal attention. You have unlimited access to me outside of class. We're available and experienced in helping with anything that can affect your chances of getting accepted to law school.

ADVANCED STRATEGIES: This is our forte. There are thousands of patterns in the LSAT which can throw you off, cause you to pick a wrong answer. I work with you closely to help you discover these patterns and learn strategies to get to the right answer. I help you refine the strategies so that you can use them flawlessly. I work with your particular learning style and create special strategies that work best for you. There are unique strategies for organizing the complex information in the Reading Comp passages and in the Games. One of the most critical parts of the test is learning how to use your time as effectively as possible. Even one more question right on each section can boost you from a 148 to a 152. Timing is very tricky and it has taken me many years of working closely with students to really perfect my instruction on timing. Instructors with only a few seasons part time experience do not yet have an understanding of the issues behind timing strategy or of the various processing styles that students may have.

FLEXIBLE PROGRAMS: We encourage students to work with us for 6 to 10 months. Your course fee allows you to work with us as long as you need to. Since the classes are customized and you have lots of individual time with the instructor, you get exposed to more instruction the longer you work with us.

GETTING INTO LAW SCHOOL: I have over 16 years experience helping students with Personal Statements, Letters of Recommendation, advanced strategies for getting accepted, as well as career decision issues. Much of this info is available to you free of charge and I do work with my students in more depth when needed.

COST: The full, unlimited Cutts program costs nearly half of a large corporate company's basic program. About 90% of what you pay in a Cutts program goes directly to paying for high quality instructors, as opposed to corporate overhead.

OK, BUT I HAVE FRIENDS WHO TOOK A LARGE corporate PREP PROGRAM AND SAID THEY LIKED IT. WHO DO I BELIEVE?

Lots of people come out of a large corporate course and get the score they needed. Lots of people feel that they got worthwhile info in a large corporate program. (Don't forget that I also hear from lots of students who did NOT get what they needed.)

The question you personally have to answer is "Where can I get the maximum amount of help and improvement?" Most likely you can't afford to do both programs nor will you have the time to do so. Compare what each program has to offer, consider the limitations on a large company, which cannot personalize its approach and which has to hire inexperienced instructors. Talk to the instructors who will actually be teaching you before you make a decision.

Going by what your friends experienced can be dangerous or tricky. Their situations may be very different from yours. They may have been able to get a good score even without the class. Even more tricky is taking a course because you have friends who will take it with you. Find the best class for yourself and then bring your friends along!

OK, I SEE THE BENEFIT OF WORKING INDIVIDUALLY WITH AN EXPERT. I STILL WANT TO COMPARE MY OPTIONS.

corporate instructors have probably gotten near perfect scores but typically only work very part time for one or two seasons. Frequently your instructor was hired within the last few months. When you talk to these companies, ask to speak with the instructor. If they can't allow this, they either don't have an instructor yet or that person is not accessible to you outside of class. If you do talk to them, find out how many students they've worked with and how many hours of individual tutoring experience they have.

Individual tutorial is essential and critical to help you master the test. You could never learn a tennis serve or golf swing from classroom lecture alone. Most students need individual guidance to learn the most important patterns and strategies of the test.

Large company programs oftn do not include any personal help unless you buy a very expensive tutoring package.

The main complaint I hear about large corporate courses is that the student has asked the instructor to explain exactly why one answer is correct and the other one wrong and the instructor can't answer. Usually they say, "Just get it down to two and guess." or "This one is just better. You just have to get the feel of it." Neither of these comments is helpful or true. In fact there is a specific reason why one is right and the other wrong and you can learn to see it. Without that, you simply can't improve.

The other area that is usually completely missing in the most courses is help with timing strategy. How you use your time makes a significant difference in your score. However, it is a very complex issue and inexperienced teachers will have no idea of how to approach it.

So be sure to ask an instructor how they work with timing and how they can help you figure out exactly why right answers are right and wrong ones wrong. Many former students of large corporate prep programs have told me that without some expertise in these areas, the instructor is not really any more helpful than a book would be, other than having a place to go to do practice tests.

HOW MUCH PROGRESS WILL I MAKE IN YOUR PROGRAM?

Your progress really depends on how long you can work on the test - how many months, how many hours per week - and on how closely you work with me. It is helpful to work together frequently. If you can call me to review your situation, I can suggest a study plan for maximum improvement.

The only way to really make significant improvement is to understand the hidden patterns of the test and the strategies for working through them. It is also essential to learn how to use your time most effectively. Finally, you need to work with someone who can address your particular learning needs. Given all of these things, you can't help but make good improvement.

WHAT IF I DON'T GET THE SCORE I NEED? DOES IT MEAN I WON'T GET ACCEPTED?

My experience is that most people can get accepted if they go about it the right way.

If your LSAT score does not go as high as you would have liked despite your best efforts, there are a number of other strategies that I will work with you on, including your Personal Statement, making certain contacts and taking on certain projects. With expert guidance you should get in. If not the first time, then the second.

STILL CONFUSED ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO PREP?

Please call me. I'd like to find out more about your situation and will refer you to the option that's best for you.

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If you have questions about your prep options, please call Jay Cutts at (505) 281-0684.