Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions

With «you get what you pay for» in mind, I chose this place to prepare for a grad school admissions test. Kaplan had a big name so I thought I would be in good hands. But in the end, my experience left me feeling like «big bucks, big loser/​reject». About $ 1,000 later and no significant score increase, you could say I’m still bitter.
Their team came on campus, and I took their practice test which showed me I needed some major help to reach my target score. Through college, I did well on tests, but the test required different preparation. The Palo Alto location was closest to home, and this was during the Pre-​Yelp era. The Kaplan way to approach the test confused me rather than helped me because they had many methods to learn, but everyone else in class seemed to have no problem. Similar to Katharine and E.S., when I asked the instructor for help and explained my difficulty, I was told to just practice more, use the methods from class. The «map» or methods they gave to navigate through the test didn’t help get me to my desired destination.

Beginning the summer of last year, I was studying for the GMAT. Being not so good in Math in high school or college and having my «proper» English tested on the exam, I knew I just couldn’t study on my own. So I did my research of the programs and picked Kaplan.
I was glad I did, because the program, teacher, and my results were more than I expected. From algebra to geometry, participles to idioms, and reading comprehension to critical essays, my teacher (Mischa Alexeeff) really broke down and explained how to approach each question. I did the live classes on weekday nights and found the classroom conditions suitable, but not astounding. All in all, I found the review course worth the $ 1,500 price tag.
In case you’re wondering, I scored well on the exam and will be attending grad school this fall =)

I took an LSAT prep course here a few years ago. They go with the «one-​size-​fits-​all» method of learning. This prep class only raised my score 6 points from an already low score. I attribute the score increase to 2 months of practice and not the method. I never felt as if there was an «ah-​ha!» moment when I understood how to master the test.
There were 2 teachers alternating days during my course. When I asked them for more tips outside the Kaplan method, they both responded to keep practicing.
The employees are friendly, professional, and make themselves available, however they did not help me.

I signed up for Kaplan hoping to review my rusty math skills.
I explained this in detail to the person on the phone. I hadn’t taken math since high school because my college didn’t require it. I had also been working for a couple of years.
I took the English and Math classes. There were some helpful tips for the English sections.
The math class was another story. Remember when I said I only paid over $ 1000 for classes to help me brush up on math skills? Not once did the teacher try to explain anything in these classes. The teacher spent the whole time calling on people in the class and asked them to give answers to their homework. No help, no explanations, nothing. If I didn’t need these things I wouldn’t have been in the class. The whole experience was frustrating and a bit humiliating (since I never knew the answers).
Complete waste of money. Mean teachers that make you feel stupid for not knowing the answers… and not knowing the answers is why you are there.
I would have been better off hiring a private tutor.