PSA: Do Not Pay Full Price for a Bar Course (NEGOTIATE!)

[Pleasy E]

Around this time all the bar prep companies are going to start (lol let's be real they started during 1L) hounding all you unsuspecting 3Ls offering you "discounts" on their courses.

Do not get locked into the 3k or even 2k prices that they are offering right now. Hold out until the last minute and negotiate a lower price. Talk to various reps and get their prices and then play them off each other. Bar prep does NOT need to cost 4k.

Themis will go as low as $1200. I know people who got Barbri for $1400. Kaplan doesn't seem to have a floor because people were getting that course for like $900*

HTH!

*I graduated 2015 so these are the numbers from my experience/that year, those may have changed, but I PROMISE what hasn’t changed is that you can always negotiate a lower price. Please don’t listen to anyone who tells you you need to pay full price for a bar course because the “price will just keep going up” (cough Barbri reps cough).

[Pleasy E]

ALSO: this is not the thread to plug your amazing self-study techniques and advocate self-studying. I didn’t do that and I’m not advocating that (though it may work for some!), make your own thread if you want to talk about that.

[bikeflip]

Is this a good place to plug Themis and their public interest scholarship?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/mythemis-conte ... n_2018.pdf

Granted it’s been a long ass time since I took DAT THEMIS, but at $1,400 or so it’s more reasonable and might provide leverage for another company to go even lower.

[Pleasy E]

Is this a good place to plug Themis and their public interest scholarship?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/mythemis-conte ... n_2018.pdf

Granted it’s been a long ass time since I took DAT THEMIS, but at $1,400 or so it’s more reasonable and might provide leverage for another company to go even lower.

Yes! It is also pretty easy to qualify for the PI scholarship as you just have to show that you are pursuing a job in public interest and not that you already have one. It looks like the PI price has gone up (it was 1195 back in my day), but still a great discounted price.

[soj]

Similarly, Kaplan had a buy one get one free type deal. If one person pays for a course, a friend pursuing a PI job can get the course for free. Kaplan would initially insist that the first person pay full price, but that was also eventually negotiable.

[haus]

I am still a year out, but until recently I had thought that I would be using Themis via the PI discount, but last month I left my job with the government. So I will likely need to choose another path.

[Pleasy E]

I am still a year out, but until recently I had thought that I would be using Themis via the PI discount, but last month I left my job with the government. So I will likely need to choose another path.

Why? You don’t need to have a job lined up to get the discount (and you don’t need to tell them you left your job...)

[haus]

I am still a year out, but until recently I had thought that I would be using Themis via the PI discount, but last month I left my job with the government. So I will likely need to choose another path.

Why? You don’t need to have a job lined up to get the discount (and you don’t need to tell them you left your job...)

Perhaps I can find a way to get the discount still (or something similar). Last semester, after speaking with one of the reps, they forward me a link that asked me to create an account with my .gov email account. From what I understand that being actively at a gov agency made the discount automatic (without a need to submit a letter of intention, or state some future plan to do PI work). While I suspect that at some point in the future I will return to some type of direct PI work, I am just not sure on the likely timing now

[FrogNToad]

So can I start negotiating with these companies now, or are they not desperate enough yet?

[Eightnine]

When I was a 3L, my class rep and the regional Barbri person both reached out to me in the second week of April, when the "deadline" had passed, after I mentioned to the rep that I hadn't purchased any classes and was planning on self studying.

And without a word of negotiation from me, they had already knocked the price down by $1,125 and had "waived" the "late fee" (I don't see the point of having a late fee if you're gonna waive it for anybody, even people who aren't asking to apply - it's just a sales gimmick). I did not end up purchasing, but I feel fairly confident saying I could've held out for another week and negotiated pricing down more.

[Pleasy E]

So can I start negotiating with these companies now, or are they not desperate enough yet?

They’re pretty desperate at this point. Put the feelers out there

[FrogNToad]

Barbri was unwilling to negotiate at all this year. The best I could get them to do was knock 300 bucks off of sticker, which is a joke. They gave me their schtick about how they're the industry leader, blah blah blah. I guess the Barbri regional rep either doesn't care or already made her goals for the year.

Kaplan and Themis seem to be pretty flexible though. From speaking to reps who 'm good friends with, my understanding is that Themis's absolute floor is their PI scholarship rate. Has anyone been able to get anything lower than that?

[Pleasy E]

I’ve never heard of anyone getting lower than the PI rate.

I used Themis and would definitely recommend it, but it’s still early so if you want barbri hold out a little longer.

[FrogNToad]

Yeah, I went with Themis. Even if Barbri gave me their PI rate, the rate Themis gave me still would be hundreds of dollars cheaper.

[soj]

barbri always lies and says this is the year they won't negotiate anymore. it does seem a little surprising they're not negotiating at this point but they'll definitely buckle eventually. don't bother tho, they're not even good. it's not clear to me why anyone paying their own money should buy barbri.

[Hand]

FYI Themis also has a buy-one-get-one-free deal, like Kaplan

[FrogNToad]

barbri always lies and says this is the year they won't negotiate anymore. it does seem a little surprising they're not negotiating at this point but they'll definitely buckle eventually. don't bother tho, they're not even good. it's not clear to me why anyone paying their own money should buy barbri.

They offered me the "discounted" rate from the beginning of the semester, but yeah, it seems like they would never go below Themis anyway, so I didn't bother messing around with them.

[Hennessy]

Similarly, Kaplan had a buy one get one free type deal. If one person pays for a course, a friend pursuing a PI job can get the course for free. Kaplan would initially insist that the first person pay full price, but that was also eventually negotiable.

anyone have any information on this? ugg/JD told me about it but I can't seem to find it online.

[Kümmel]

Similarly, Kaplan had a buy one get one free type deal. If one person pays for a course, a friend pursuing a PI job can get the course for free. Kaplan would initially insist that the first person pay full price, but that was also eventually negotiable.

anyone have any information on this? ugg/JD told me about it but I can't seem to find it online.

its on kaplan's website: https://www.kaptest.com/bar-exam/public-interest

Know a classmate prepping with Kaplan through their law firm? Ask them about the Kaplan Gift of Knowledge, one of the bonuses included in their convenience package that includes a free course for a friend going into Public Interest. To find out more about Kaplan Bar Review’s convenience package and direct law firm billing, visit the link here.