Private LSAT tutoring online or by phone
Hello! Welcome to my LSAT tutoring page. On this page, you will find information about my qualifications as an LSAT tutor, my approach to tutoring for the LSAT, the materials you will need if we work together, and my rates. You can also read feedback comments from previous tutees (mobile users, scroll to the bottom; otherwise, see sidebar); there’s even a short list of previous tutees who are willing to receive email or phone queries from prospective tutees to answer any questions you may want to ask them.
Speaking of which, although I do not provide any LSAT tutoring sessions for free, I strongly encourage that, if you’re interested, we have a preliminary chat, which IS free. During that chat, I can answer any questions not covered here at my site, I can ask a few questions of my own so I can customize my tutoring for you, and we can deal with logistics, should you decide to proceed (session schedule, payment).
Please note: I tutor (only) from November 1 to April 30 (but I accept queries any time and address them in October in the order in which they were received).
What are your qualifications to be an LSAT tutor?
I have been designing reasoning questions that actually go on tests like the LSAT for over fifteen years; I’m currently not writing for the LSAT (if I were, I’d be prohibited from LSAT tutoring), but I received my initial training in test item writing at LSAC, near Princeton, and wrote questions for the LSAT for about 5 years.
Also, I’m the author of a logical reasoning/critical thinking textbook that is used in logical reasoning/critical thinking courses across the U.S. and Canada (Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason, Routledge 2011).
Furthermore, I’ve been teaching for over 20 years, and tutoring exclusively for the LSAT for over 7 years.
Lastly, I have an M.A. in Philosophy (we’re all about argument), a B.A. in Literature (there’s my RC), a B.Ed. (so, yes, I know how to teach!), and ESL certification (helpful for tutees whose first language isn’t English), along with five years ESL teaching experience.
How do you tutor for the LSAT? What is your method?
Once you develop the basic reasoning skills required, the best way to prepare for the LSAT is to do practice test after practice test after practice test… That way, you become familiar with the LSAT-type questions, you develop your mental stamina, and you increase your speed — all of which lead to a better score.
Unless you’ve already done a lot of prep and know which areas you want to work on, we’ll start with LR, partly because understanding and evaluating arguments is difficult (for most people, it takes longer to master the LR than to master the RC or LG) and partly because LR is sort of halfway between RC and AR (more commonly called LG), skill-wise. I have a ‘fundamentals’ session I’ll present, and then I’ll work through a few out loud, slowly and thoroughly, so you can hear my reasoning — so you can hear what parts of the question you need to emphasize, what parts are irrelevant, what connections you need to make, what missing premises or unstated assumptions you need to articulate, etc. You need to know the right answer, but, more importantly, you need to know how I got to the right answer. (This will involve a bit of meta-thinking: thinking about my thinking.) Then I’ll explain exactly why the right answer is right, and why each wrong answer is wrong. And then, when you’re ready, we’ll put you in the driver’s seat, and you’ll go through a few out loud; I’ll interject as necessary, if you miss something important or make an incorrect inference… We’ll continue to go through several LR questions, as slowly as needed for you to completely ‘get’ the reasoning, for you to understand the architecture of the argument (to understand that they are arguments and not just mini-discussions).
At subsequent sessions, we’ll go over every question you got wrong (or got right, but aren’t sure you got it right for the right reason), getting as much mileage as possible from each mistake. We’ll do a fair bit of meta-thinking: thinking about your, and my, thinking, figuring out how you got to the wrong answer and how to get to the right answer.
Once you’ve got a good grip on the LR, we’ll go through a similar process for RC, and then AR/LG.
Alternatively, as I imply above, we can just work on the question type that is giving you most trouble.
I can also help with the Writing section: I can give you tips about how best to approach this section, and I can give you extensive feedback on your practice essays.
We need to be on the same page, literally, so we just need to make sure we have the same practice books. (The ones published by LSAC are the best, in my opinion, because those questions are ‘approved’ by them as being truly representative of what will be on the test.)
Some students (especially those who aren’t Philosophy majors and haven’t taken a critical thinking course) (and so, typically, haven’t developed the basic reasoning skills required) choose, in addition, to purchase a copy of my critical thinking text and work through the relevant sections (the introduction to argument, the two logic chapters, the chapters on relevance, generalizations, analogies, principles, causal reasoning, and so on). When I wrote the text, I had in mind typical critical thinking classes which tend to be very large and taught by the professors with the least experience, so I wrote a very extensive ‘Answers, Explanations, and Analyses’ (AEA) section, which makes the book a very ‘do it yourself’ enterprise.
Having the text is also helpful because when, for example, we get to an LSAT question that involves, say, sufficient and necessary conditions, I can just refer you to the relevant section in my text, and you can read it, do the exercise, then check your work with my AEAs — in addition to, or perhaps instead of (depending on what it is), having me explain the concepts during one of our sessions. And I can, of course, to go over any material in the text that you get stuck on.
We use the actual LSATs of years past, so you’ll need to have them (available as pdfs or in books of ten published by LSAC (available here, though you may be able to get a better price elsewhere); you should also have the more recent tests (from #80 onwards, which are sold individually).
Also, one of the reasons Philosophy students ace the LSAT is that we’ve had a year-long course in argument (titled, variously, Informal Logic, Critical Thinking, An Introduction to Argument, and so on). So if you’ve never taken such a course before (some non-Philosophy degree programs recommend or even require it, but most don’t) (sigh), I do recommend (but don’t require) my text (or any other good informal logic textbook). As mentioned above, it will save us some time during the sessions if I can just refer you to a section in the text that applies to what we’re working on if you’re having trouble with it. Many previous tutees have found it very helpful.
If you do decide to buy my text, note that most of it is relevant to the LSAT, but there are a few sections you don’t need to work through. See below.
And if you decide to do the in-chapter exercises (recommended), just do the odd-numbered bits (1, 3, 5 of a set of 5; 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 of a set of 10) because only for those are the answers, explanations, and analyses available to you in the AEAs pdf (answers, explanations, and analyses for the even-numbered bits are in the Instructor’s Manual, which is not available to you). Go to the text’s website and click on the AEAs (top of vertical menu on the right); it will open a 287p document that you can download (so you don’t have to keep coming back to the website). (This document was supposed to be the Appendix at the back of the book, but it was so long, the publisher decided it would make the book too expensive and so put it on the website instead.)
You don’t need to do the end-of-chapter exercises except for ‘Thinking Critically when you Discuss’ in chap2 – this will be helpful for the LRs involving two people.
Chap1 – optional – I wrote this because many of the students I had in university didn’t understand what ‘critical thinking’ meant (they assumed, as I explain in the chapter, it meant negative, perhaps even insulting…)
Chap2 – very important – this chapter lays the groundwork for argument – read it slowly and carefully
Chap3 – worth reading so you can see how complex arguments can be built; the material on chain arguments in 3.6 is relevant to the LSAT, as many of the LRs are causal chain arguments, but I have seen only one LR that requires you to know the difference between convergent, multiple-separate and convergent, multiple-linked arguments
Chap4 – very important – I’d say at least two of the wrong answers for LRs are wrong because they’re not relevant, so you need to get a good grip on relevance as it relates to argument
Chap5 – you need read only section 5.3
Chap6 – read 6.3.2, 6.3.3, 6.4.1, 6.4.2, and all of 6.5; if you’ve taken a research methodology course, this will be review
Chap7 – very important – many LRs implicate generalization, analogy, and principle
Chap8 – very important – many LRs implicate causal reasoning
Categorical Logic (one of the three Supplemental Chapters; see bottom of the vertical menu on the right, mentioned above; again, you can download the chapter) – important – you need do only the first 3 sections
Propositional Logic (one of the three Supplemental Chapters; see bottom of the vertical menu on the right, mentioned above; again, you can download the chapter) – again, important – again, you need do only the first 3 sections
As often as you like. That said, I see best results when people start with 2-3x/week: after 5-10 weeks, they are typically at their target accuracy, then they reduce to 1x/week, to keep on target and to go over problem questions, while they work on increasing their stamina (by increasing the number of questions they do at one sitting) and their speed (primarily by practice, but also by trying a few different strategies).
Do I call you or do you call me?
I can call you on my landline (the call’s on me) or, if you have unlimited calling, you can call me. Or we can connect online (by skype, googlechat, etc. — audio only).
So are these conference calls?
No. LSAT tutoring sessions are always one-on-one.
$150 USD per one-hour session for those located outside Canada, payable by PayPal ()
$150 CAD per one-hour session for those located within Canada, payable by Interac
By PayPal () or e-transfer.
I have not taken the LSAT. I have designed questions that go on the LSAT. (So this is sort of like asking someone who wrote a book whether or not they’ve read it.) This means that I know premises, conclusions, strengtheners, weakeners, assumptions, apparent paradoxes, etc. inside-out and upside-down.
Nor am I a lawyer. The LSAT is not about the law. The LSAT is about reasoning skills: understanding an argument, recognizing premises and conclusions and the relationships between them, understanding what assumptions are or must be made, determining what’s relevant and what’s not, knowing what would strengthen or weaken an argument… Hence, the relevance of my M.A. in Philosophy (philosophers are all about argument; that’s why Philosophy students tend to do quite well on the LSAT), as well as, of course, the fact that I used to be one of the people who write the LSAT questions, and the fact that I wrote a textbook all about reasoning.
The LSAT is also, to some extent, about reading skills. Hence, the relevance of my B.A. in Literature.
Lastly, note that although some people who score well on the LSAT can teach others how to do the same, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they can do so. Hence, the relevance of my B.Ed. (and my extensive teaching experience).
I’m a little hesitant about the online thing; wouldn’t I be better off with an in-person tutor?
I was also a little hesitant, but given my location, it’s really my only option.
Furthermore, given my location, I don’t have unlimited internet access: anything more than 5GB, and I have to pay ridiculous overage fees. So not only do we meet online (or by phone), we meet voice-only.
How does the voice-only thing work for LG? Won’t I need to see what you’re doing?
Working on an LG together can be a bit challenging at the beginning, but I’m careful about describing exactly what I’m doing on my page, so you can do the exact same thing. In fact, instead of various diagrams, I use a one-size-fits-all approach, a chart, which makes things quite simple.
Furthermore, I’ve discovered an unexpected advantage to phone/online-voice-only LSAT tutoring: the visual doesn’t distract and the body language doesn’t intrude–we’re both focusing completely on the text in front of us, on the arguments presented and the questions asked. The sessions are, thus, very intense; as many of my tutees have remarked, you get your money’s worth!
Even so, yes, it can be a bit awkward at the beginning–I will never call you rude for interrupting (because you don’t have body language to depend on), and, in fact, I encourage interruption.
I will add that several of my previous tutees were similarly hesitant, but, I believe, completely changed their mind once they started. Please feel free to contact them and talk about this part of the process (see the references below).
Lastly, if it doesn’t work out, and you are more comfortable with in-person or video sessions, you can just quit. I don’t require a contract.
Does LSAT tutoring help? / Is it worth hiring an LSAT tutor?
Short answer: read the testimonials here on my site.
Longer answer: think of hiring a tutor not as getting extra help (let alone remedial help), but as hiring a private teacher — that is, one who is 100% focused on just you (and who, consequently, hopefully, adjusts their teaching accordingly).
You can contact the following former tutees with any questions you might have (most recent at the top):
Lucas Baker
Ryan Holland
Nic Baldwin
Hailey Boutin
Rebecca Kirby
Maddie Pearlman
Pete Baldwin or 480-326-6521 (PST)
and read some testimonials here
Anything else I should know?
I limit my active roster to 10 tutees.
Requests to reschedule or cancel a session must be made by phone (just leave a message) twenty-four hours in advance; otherwise, you’ll be charged for the session. (Please don’t just send an email, as I often don’t check my email until it’s too late; however, I see the red flashing light on my answering machine throughout the day.)
I have more questions / I’d like to hire you. How do I contact you?
Testimonials
“Have you done all the courses and feel like you have been studying for months, but still aren’t satisfied with your LSAT mark? This is how I felt. After writing my December 2016 LSAT, I knew I needed to find help understanding the LR more. I started working with Peg a week after my December LSAT, and achieved a 17 POINT INCREASE when I re-wrote in February. This is how quick and efficient Peg’s work is. She is passionate and actually wants to see you succeed. I just wish I found her sooner.” Taylor, Wilfrid Laurier University
“Peg does not simply prepare you for the LSAT; she teaches you the how to think critically at a very high level. This is a skill that is absolutely necessary for scoring well on the LSAT and for the study of law.
“As a textbook author and tutor of logic and reasoning, Peg is always enthusiastic and energetic during sessions. These are contagious qualities. Peg makes the LSAT fun (or at least, less awful).
“Note: you get out of these sessions what you put into them. While Peg may be the most brilliant LSAT tutor out there, it is up to you to do the work.
“As far as stats go, I came to Peg scoring in the 148-152 range and increased to 160-168, writing 12 prep tests in a row, scoring in the 160s every time! I was able to duplicate this success on test day and walked out with a 161.
“If you have any questions about Peg as a tutor, please send me an email and I would be happy to reply.”
“When I started looking for an LSAT tutor, I found myself in an ocean of big name crash courses with promises of glorious, immediate results, and high dollar local tutors who didn’t know what ‘LSAT’ meant. And then I found Peg Tittle. Once I learned that she wrote a book about critical thinking and reasoning (Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason, Routledge 2011) and that she was a previous writer for LSAC employed to write questions for the LSAT exams, I was intrigued. After speaking with her on the phone, I was sold.
“We arranged our first conference call tutoring session, and I was extremely happy with her presentation and precise articulation of the material needed to understand each of the three different question types. She is a brilliant teacher. I looked forward to our sessions, and I believe that without Peg’s tutoring and meticulous answers to every question I asked, I would not have succeeded on the LSAT exam. After just a couple months of intensive work with Peg, I scored a 169 on my first practice test.
“I highly recommend Peg to any student, anywhere in the country, either fresh out of college or non-traditional like myself. Please consider her before purchasing any of the crash courses. You will not be disappointed!” Pete Baldwin, President, Platinum Realty Network, Law School Candidate
“I wish I’d found you sooner! Without you, I was lost! You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me!” Hailey B., law-school-student-wannabe
“Peg is a fabulous tutor! Patient, animated, and very thorough, phone tutoring sessions with Peg were extremely helpful in preparing for the LSAT. I didn’t just learn how to answer LSAT questions, I learned to understand them, which eventually helped me to improve both my consistency and confidence.
“Studying for the LSAT is challenging, exhausting, and often frustrating. Peg assured me that I could achieve success … She was always willing to answer all of my questions, and took time to ensure that I really understood the whole of the question, including the right and wrong answers. This made me always look forward to our phone conversations. … Eventually it was like having a regular conversation (and sometimes a debate!) rather than stressful studying.
“… Without a doubt, I came a long way with Peg, and I am really thankful I was able to find this valuable resource.” Maddie Pearlman, LSAT tutee
“Peg is amazing! Her extensive experience both as a former writer of LSAT questions and as a teacher of critical thinking at the university level positions her perfectly to coach students as they prepare to take the LSAT. I found her tutorials supremely helpful; the fact that she teaches over the phone and via Skype allowed for extra flexibility in scheduling that made things a lot easier while I was working full time, travelling, and preparing to take the exam. In addition, her wit and sense of humour made the tutorials very enjoyable. I highly recommend her as a tutor to anyone preparing to take the LSAT!” Claire H.
“Hearing Peg think out loud is priceless! She verbally articulates how she arrived at a conclusion from the given premises. This helped me to see the logical connections between the premise and conclusion, especially the unstated premises, which can be extremely hard to identify but very necessary to understand in order to grasp how the argument goes.” C. L., LSAT tutee
“Just started law school this week and … in my first lecture, critical thinking was brought up (of course). Really took me back to our very first tutoring session … What a life long skill I now have, thanks to you. T.C., first year law
“After completing Kaplan LSAT 2014 Strategies, I was unimpressed. I chose Peg because of her history of writing LSAT questions and teaching background. She helped me understand the psychology behind the questions while gaining speed and accuracy. I absolutely recommend her and her no-nonsense approach.” Emily, 163, June 2014
“Thanks so very much Peg for supporting me through my LSAT preparation! No gimmicks or ’10 steps to LSAT success’ here, just good, solid guidance from a very experienced and effective LSAT tutor. Peg’s book is fantastic and this foundation of understanding from an academic perspective is invaluable. With Peg, you are actually learning about logic, not just trying to find a way to hack through the test. This made the tutoring sessions much more interesting, and helped me to remember what I learned through understanding, not just by rote.” Daniel G., LSAT tutee, Melbourne, Australia
“I received tutoring from Peg for several months and the effect was outstanding. Simply put, my analytical thinking improved greatly, as our work together refined my skills. With Peg’s help, I was able to improve my score by more than 15 points and gain admission to the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
“While our tutoring sessions improved my LSAT score, I am significantly more satisfied with its effect on my everyday life. During conversations with clients or peers in my professional career, I am more able to utilize my improved logical skills to better serve my clients and myself. It has its “downside” as well, since I have been more aware of the logical gaps friends and relatives make during their arguments. Passionate and emotionally powerful arguments no longer maintain their power, as my work with Peg has helped me pierce through the lack of logical substance. It is for these reasons of practical utility that I suggest students engage in tutoring sessions with Peg.
“The LSAT is a temporary hurdle to overcome. But the skills you refine and attain with the help of Peg are of everlasting use. K. P., LSAT Tutee, U of Penn Law School
“I began tutoring sessions with Peg in early August, after having done a little preparation myself (I was getting scores in the high 140s and low 150s, and was struggling to improve). Her approach to LSAT tutoring, from the early stages to the week of the test, was incredibly effective and manageable. She trains you how to think in order to do well on the LSAT, and helps you develop the tools you need to answer the questions in the 35-minute time restraint – which is something I thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to do. After working through my weaknesses and implementing her plan for stamina-building and taking full, 5-section timed tests, I went very calmly into the LSAT and walked away with my target score of 167: a whole 20 points higher than when I was studying independently! I would recommend her to anyone preparing for the LSAT.” Jaime M., legally-blonde-wannabe
“Tutoring sessions with Peg are amazing! When I first read that Peg’s tutoring sessions were over the phone (or Skype in cases of bad phone connection), I was hesitant as to how it would work out. After our first session, however, this concern was put right to bed! Peg explains and articulates her process so well. Along with hearing her verbalize her thought process, she makes sure you really understand the question, what it’s asking for and why a certain answer is the correct one. I have now done prep lessons both with a prep company and with Peg, and I can say without a doubt that I felt much more confident going into the LSAT after my lessons with Peg.” Ryan Holland, Dalhousie Law
“I just received my LSAT score … 11 whole points higher than my previous score!! This is well beyond what I thought I would get, and I would not have been even close to achieving this if it had not been for your help. Just wanted to take the time to extend my gratitude to you, especially for the patience it took to work with me. If anyone ever asks if I know any good tutors, I will absolutely be recommending your services.” Anthony L., law school bound
“After months of self-study and little progress on the LSAT logical reasoning section, I was on a fast train to nowhere. That is until I hopped aboard the Peg Tittle Express! In the seven months I worked with Peg, I learned more about argumentation, logic, and test-taking strategy from our lessons, Peg’s textbook, and her experience as an LSAC item-writer than I would have on my own even if granted all the time in the world. Because of Peg, uncertainty in my reasoning abilities quickly turned to confidence, and I finally learned what it truly means to think outside of the box. Her patience, determination, and exquisite articulation of arguments (which she will teach you to do also) are what make Peg Tittle a true LSAT juggernaut, deservingly among the best LSAT tutors in the world. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your ticket for the Peg Tittle Express. You definitely don’t want to miss this train!” Lucas B., Washington and Lee University School of Law, Class of ’24
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“I’m really grateful that I found your book. It is an invaluable resource. I have read other books about logic in my attempt to master the LSAT, so I have a frame of reference when comparing your book to others. Your book and the LSAT fit like a key and lock; the concepts and logic discussed are so perfectly matched to my needs for understanding the LSAT. I find the logic can be challenging, but your book is written in manner that is very accessible; it’s entertaining and informative. Like the SuperPrep explanations, this book is ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’ so to speak.” Catia L., student
“Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason gives students an extremely clear explanation for difficult logical arguments. This book is significantly easier to understand than other logic books I have read in the past.” Josh D., student