I liked taking this course and I think it was a great opportunity that was offered through my school. It was a little intimidating as my class was a little large and my room was pretty small, so I felt a lot of pressure to answer questions. I was really intimidated by the quant section, and my prof eased some of my nerves, the verbal and writing sections were also really helpful. If I had to do it again-- I would take more advantage of the online resources instead of just in class. I just felt like it was hard to practice the outside stuff while I also had school work and actual work to tend to.

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I do not study well independently, especially for something as onerous as the GRE's. Pete McCormick was an excellent teacher. He taught us the Kaplan Test strategies and ways to apply them to every question. He was extremely knowledgeable and helpful with each section the test had to offer. The only negative thing I have to say is, I wish the course focused a little more on the analytical writing. My test scores improved about 10 points from this course and from independent studies. Without this prep course, I would have not even known how to prepare myself for the GRE. This test was completely new to me. Kaplan did a great job preparing me. Another thing I also liked was all the resources Kaplan provided us with.

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I decided to take the Kaplan In-Person Plus course because it offered an accelerated course of study within the time frame I needed prior to take the GRE. Here are the pros and cons of the course:

Pros:
The option to take the course in 6 weeks was wonderful, although it meant dedicating all of my free time to either the class or coursework

The instructors were great teachers and engaging. In particular, Rohini went above and beyond to work with her students outside of the classroom and to help with any issues (including quant, even though she taught verbal) and offer support

The online resources are extensive and give you a lot of opportunity for practice

The customer service -- when I initially called, I didn't expect to have someone talk me through the whole process, discuss whether I should take the GRE or GMAT for business school, and then follow up later with an email. Even when I called back later to discuss issues (see below), I always found the customer service representatives willing to go above and beyond.

Cons:

"Plus" course -- the main reason I paid extra for the plus was because I was told I could have access to two extra math courses -- basic and advanced -- and that I would have three coaching sessions. I specifically asked about what would be covered with the tutor and was told we could go over whatever I wanted. First of all, there was no advanced math class in the package, although when I called customer service they signed me up for it for free since I had been told it was included. The "coaching" is discussed separately below. All in all, I did not feel as though I was getting what I was initially offered, and when I called to express my disappointment, was refunded the extra cost of the "Plus" course. I do not think it was worthwhile.

Coaching -- Although my coach was a nice lady, she admitted early on in our Skype session that she mostly taught SAT students and hadn't done anything with the GRE in awhile. I am not sure why I would be matched with someone who was unfamiliar with the test they were supposed to be helping me with. When I asked her specific questions about the test, she needed to look up the answers. I was excited when she offered to give me feedback on the essays from my first practice test, but after six weeks and several reminders from me, I had no feedback, so I called and asked Kaplan for a refund for the Plus course.

Strategy, strategy -- the course is VERY strategy heavy. While I think it is important to learn strategies for test taking, I think learning the actual content is equally, if not more important. After not seeing an improvement in my test scores despite following the course of study, I moved to a different company that focuses more on teaching the actual content, and saw a very quick increase in my score. Strategy clearly is not everything.

Limitation of online resources -- after the completion of the course, it is suggested that you continue to take practice quizzes from the quiz bank. While the quiz bank was initially awesome because of the number of questions, I soon found the explanations for the answers to be limited and quite confusing. When my score plateaued and I felt like I still didn't understand the material, I switched to a company that offered video explanations for every answer, which really helped with my score.

I was very unsure about the whole test prep and bschool application process at the start and really wanted an in-person course. While I appreciated being able to ask questions of the instructors, I am not sure this was the right course for me.

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I previously used other materials through the GRE testing company and they only focused on material needed for the test but as much on the strategies to actually take the test. Kaplan was able to supplement my study with online "test me" and "teach me" sections.

You should give yourself more than enough time to get through all the online classes. I would recommend at least a month after the class finishes to review all the study materials you have access to online. After signing up for the class I would try and sign up for the your "real test day" experience because by the time my class had ended there were no dates available for me to take the real life scenario before actually taking the full real test.

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It was definitely nice having a set time to focus on studying. The instructors were really nice. My score didn't improve a ton from my first practice test to what I actually got on test day but I would say that was due more to situations that occurred the week before the test and not because of the quality of instruction since my scores had been improving pretty steadily until then, including the TDE exam. The biggest thing that the course did for me was help me to reduce my anxiety over taking the test. The course showed me the little tricks that the test makers like to use and tips for overcoming them that I never would have figured out studying on my own.

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I am really happy I took this course and I highly recommend it. I saw a dramatic increase in all of my scores and I think it's because of the amount of homework required for the class. if you do the homework there is no way that you won't improve. I also think the Kaplan practice tests are much harder than the actual GRE so I felt so prepared and really confident when I was taking my real GRE. I was honestly really surprised at how identical the practice tests look and function like the real GRE. Also Kaplan lets you take your final practice test at an actual testing center and have that experience and I'm really glad I took advantage of it. I got to know what it was like to get metal detected and everything so I wasn't shocked when I took the real one. I also didn't think my instructor was going to be so hands on, but she emailed me regularly and analyzed my tests to tell me what I had to work on.

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I had Steve for the Quantitative class sessions and Jonah for the Verbal/Analytical Writing class sessions. Both made the class really fun/interesting - two words I never thought I would use to describe GRE classes.

Prior to signing up for this course, I struggled to make time to study and lacked structure/study plan. The GRE teachers/assistants work to make a study schedule and plan that is tailored to you. As long as you follow it, you should have no problem reaching your goal!

QuizBank is probably one of the best things created to practice the topics that you are not very strong in. It helped strengthen my skills in various areas.

They also have the Higher Score Guarantee policy, which is also great.

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Let me preface by telling a little bit about my situation. I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in May 2015. The first time I took the GRE, in early 2015 before I graduated, I barely studied and I did not do well. At all. I ended up not getting into my top grad school choice, and decided to take some time off to work full time before I tried for graduate school again.
When I decided to take the GRE again, I knew I had to take some sort of prep class to ensure that my scores would be higher this time around. I signed up for the Live Online course because I received a coupon/promo code in my email inbox, and I am SO glad that I did.
First, I have to thank the people working the phones at Kaplan. I accidentally signed up for the course at a time that I could not attend, and I called them up and they changed it for me within five minutes. Such great customer service.
I loved so many things about the course. My instructor, Jonah, was so great! Compelling and kept my attention and focus the entire time. He would even stay on after the class was over to answer any questions and do more examples with students. I also loved the classroom interface; super easy to follow along with.
Kaplan also provides so many great resources with this course! The quiz bank was so helpful and easy to use; you can tailor the quiz lengths to fit your schedule so you can do a couple each day, no matter how busy you are. The full-length practice tests were not fun to take, but I think they really helped improve my scores.
Finally, the approaches to question types and essay prompts we were taught in this course were overwhelmingly helpful as well. When you really know what a question is asking you and testing you on, you are more confident in your approach and you can use your time more wisely and efficiently.
Though the course is a pretty hefty sum of money, I increased my scores significantly from the first time I took the test, and I think it was well worth it.
Great job, Kaplan!

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