Kaplan's promotional materials promise, "Kaplan gets you a higher score." TestWell, a Boston-based LSAT company, trumpets its students' 9.5-point average score increase.

For many, the higher numbers justify the investment. Students praise their prep courses for structuring study time and providing them with discipline and focus.

But for others, that value is outweighed by the courses' added pressure and stress--not to mention a hefty price tag that exceeds $1,000 in many cases.

"It is a huge burden--a lot of commitment," Kiprilov acknowledges. "[But] some of the tricks and some of the strategies...are invaluable, even for smart people. It's a tricky test."

Cost-Benefit Analysis

At Harvard, test prep courses are big business. Harvard students taking the LSAT and the MCAT increasingly view preparatory courses as a necessity rather than a luxury.

Although they lack hard numbers, House resident tutors estimate that between a third and half of students who take the LSAT take commercial courses to prepare; for the MCAT, as many as 80 percent take courses, according to Winthrop pre-med tutor Allison L. McDonough.

The disparity is explained by the difference in the exams. The LSAT tests reading comprehension, writing and reasoning sections, familiar skills to anyone with a solid SAT score. The MCAT, by contrast, judges test-takers on their ability in the physical and biological sciences.