Kaplan Class...

Question

Anyone just take their classes recently and have also taken the test?? Any opinions? Would you recommend it to others?

Turbiss · Answer

I would recommend Princeton Review over Kaplan. Their classes are a lot smaller and the instructors are WAY better.

andyd · Answer

You think so?? Seems like there really isn't a clearcut winner when it comes to these classes. I've heard that Princeton can be rather easy and not prepare you for the test.

Turbiss · Answer

Yeah, I do think PR is better. I'd much rather have 8 students in my class than 25, and instructors who are around to provide extra help and know what they're talking about. 

Princeton Review has made their materials a lot harder over the last year, and their class materials have a solid reputation for being worth the cost of tuition alone. They have some stat on their website now that if you take their class, you're twice as likely to score 700 or higher on the GMAT, and Kaplan doesn't boast any average score increases or promises. PR has beefed up their class since I first looked at them. I liked them better before because I like their approach to the GMAT, but I think they have even more of an edge than they did before. I have seen many more positive reviews of their class than I have of Kaplan's, and never saw any complaints about PR instructors but several about Kaplan's. 

I'm sure Kaplan classes have merit because they wouldn't be in business if they weren't good, but I haven't seen anything that indicates they're as good as PR.

cpblake · Answer

Neither have review courses available within my commuting area. I'm thinking about signing up for the online version. Anyone have any feedback on which offers better online classes, Kaplan or Princeton?

mycatismimi · Answer

I joined Kaplan but it was not a good experience.

andyd · Answer

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner but it's been a tough couple of weeks for me. Anyway, I think I may just walked into a PR this weekend to check it out

leanna · Answer

For the person who has no live class in his area. Can you wait a couple of weeks? GMAX is putting out a streaming-video, full-screen 58-hour GMAT course. The price is low - $275. The lessons can be watched 3 times each, and are very clearly taught. The course will probably be ready by Feb. 10th. If you can't wait, good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Leanna

andyd · Answer

Why would it be better to go with GMAX besides the price?

leanna · Answer

There are lots of reasons to take our course. One of them is the quality of the lessons - the depth of the teaching itself. Here is a link to alesson that will show you the type of lessons and whether you can see the streaming video. Close all other programs before you begin, so there is no competition for the video streaming. First download the windows media player 7 if you need it, but if you have or download windows media player 9 it is better, and then click on the link to the video of the 9th math lesson. It should be easy to watch. However, you need a broadband bandwidth of 348 or more.

Another reason the course is excellent is the ease of viewing. The lesson takes up the full screen, not a small portion of it, and you can see the blackboard easily. It is taken in a classroom, as you will see, and you see it as if you were in the classroom itself.

URL for windows media player 7:
https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... layLang=en

URL for lesson 09 :
https://castup-sw03.bezeqint.net/cunet/g ... ediaID=909

Now, the price is low, even though there are about 60 hours of lessons , but that's because we're aiming for an international market, and so we do not want to pressure anyone with the price. However, group tutoring (totally live, online) will cost $200 for 8 weeks. Wait a few days, and ask me again, and I'll give you a preview of that also.
Tell me what you think. Good luck.

Regards,
Leanna

leanna · Answer

Of course, I'm speaking about the GMAX course above. Sorry I didn't mention the name of the school anywhere.
Leanna

nikerun21 · Answer

THe Kaplan Course is very rewarding, when u got the Kaplan Course Book, for a cheap price, less the official guide's retail, and u dont pay the 1200$ crap, for some instructor that just studies the answer's b4 each class and got a 90% on the GMAT, the Books are the best on the market, and show each type of question and provide good practice, althouhg in the study guide, I wish there were more practice sets, but free is free, good spring board to OG.

Kaplan Course is very lazy they hardly change their materials, as its the same questions from 1997, in the current versions.

In addition, Kaplan uses the question in their course in the GMAT 800 books.

I'm curious to how many new questions they add each year. Kaplan just redesigns the Course Books for their class so they LOOK NEW.

I think I have some kind of prediction that people that take Kaplan avg, about a 650-680 on the GMAT.

taurusrisen · Answer

What I don't fully understand is how you can predict that Kaplan students on average would get 650-680 range on the GMAT when people who have taken both Kap and PR have said there exists a stark differentiation between the two in terms of quality teaching and scoring that, again, sets them both apart from each other to the extent that students rank higher in the GMAT using PR than Kap. 

Another enigma that I simply cannot fathom for the life of me is how people in here can say that PR is better than Kap, knowing and admitting simultaneously that PR is an easier course than Kap. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't Kap, being a harder course than PR, prepare you better than PR courses considering the GMAT's difficulty? 

SOMEBODY ENLIGHTEN ME, PLEASE!!!!!

patrickpui · Answer

taurusrisen,

Be upfront first, I did not take a Kaplan Course. I have looked at the Manhattan GMAT course materials in New York. I also have a unused set of the Kaplan course books. The KP set is nice to have but the info isn't organized in the best of way. In fact, it feels too much like a set of standard text books than a combo of test books and info pack to summarize key learnings/strategy. 

For some reason, I do better with those KP questions than some other materials. If I were you, I would give PR a try. I think the small class size will REALLY help. I also think PR offers non-class time for Q&A -- definitely very important. 

By the way, just the course materials (KP, PR or MGMAT) are not enough. I am still search other materials to study. I am still studying for the GMAT. Love to share my experience if you have more question.

Paul · Answer

taurusrisen, call this ad hominem but I would take what nikerun is saying with some caution. There was an issue back then... My point of view on this is yes, it is always worth taking a class if you can afford it but it also depends on what score you are starting from. If you have anywhere from 640+ in any of your previous attempt, I don't think that the marginal benefit makes it worth it. You would be better off studying on your own and working on your weaknesses. I at one point thought of taking PR classes. I had 620 in my first attempt but I did not take private classes, after reading many posts from people who substantially increased their score from as low as 500's to 700+. It made me believe in myself and this is called attitude. You have to have the right attitude if you are to ever undertake this daunting task on your own. 

On the other hand, taking classes does not mean that you do not have the right attitude; it might mean that you need a more solid grasp of fundamentals for we all know that attitude alone cannot get you to your target score. For someone who is starting from a score of less than 600, then it will be more worth taking such classes. The next question might be which test provider to pick. That I will not be able to help you with because I did not take any class myself. All I wanted to say is to make sure that you really needed to take classes before you do. Do a SWOT analysis.

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