Which online gre course is best?

[JWPoods]

I am especially interested in hearing from people who took courses other than PR and Kaplan - but would happily welcome your opinions as well. Thanks!

I'm scoring about a 1250 (old test) on practice exams and want something challenging that will lift me to 1400+.

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[JWPoods]

Anybody? How about choosing between PR and Kaplan?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I can certainly reply, although unfortunately I don't have much to offer in the way of advice. My experience has been that the majority of people seem to prepare via a review book or two (I preferred Kaplan myself, then Barron's, and then Princeton Review), which I'm guessing you've already tried. Not sure if that same hierarchy would apply to actual classes, though.

 

[kgepp]

I can't say much about the Princeton classes. I had signed up for their in-class preperation course but it was cancelled. So I went with the Kaplan online course instead and it was great. They provide you with a couple of preparation books which you can use for your homework or for independent study. The course itself was very helpful. We did a complete math review for the first couple of classes and then worked on vocabulary and the writing part (which were especially useful for me because English is my second language). I think Kaplan says that you can raise your score by 200 points (old score). My instructor even said raising the score by 200 points in each section is possible. They also give you the option of repeating the course for free if you're not satisfied with the results.
I was able to raise my score by more than 200 (in total). I think the most helpful tool Kaplan offered were the many practice tests and their analysis (what part of math/vocab you still have to work on). You could even send in practice essays that would get scored by Kaplan people who also made suggestions on how to improve your writing.
Those courses are expensive but if you hit a score limit on how high you can get on your own, I think it's worth the investment.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I can't say much about the Princeton classes. I had signed up for their in-class preperation course but it was cancelled. So I went with the Kaplan online course instead and it was great. They provide you with a couple of preparation books which you can use for your homework or for independent study. The course itself was very helpful. We did a complete math review for the first couple of classes and then worked on vocabulary and the writing part (which were especially useful for me because English is my second language). I think Kaplan says that you can raise your score by 200 points (old score). My instructor even said raising the score by 200 points in each section is possible. They also give you the option of repeating the course for free if you're not satisfied with the results.
I was able to raise my score by more than 200 (in total). I think the most helpful tool Kaplan offered were the many practice tests and their analysis (what part of math/vocab you still have to work on). You could even send in practice essays that would get scored by Kaplan people who also made suggestions on how to improve your writing.
Those courses are expensive but if you hit a score limit on how high you can get on your own, I think it's worth the investment.

As I mentioned above, I opted for self-study rather than a formal course, but I also found practice tests to be one of the more important components of my preparation. I used all of the free tests available on the ETS website, as well as the six or so that were provided by my study guide. That, memorizing word lists, and memorizing geometry formulas helped more than anything else (although my math score was relatively embarassing).

 

[ZsMusings]

I did use the Kaplan online course, in person classes, and a private tutor. I only had a month to dedicate to studying for the GRE. I think if you are organized, motivated, and dedicated and have the 3-4 months to study I totally think the online course could be done by yourself. Anything else would be extra.

 

[NYRangers1]

I did not use an online course, but I did use several guides over the course of 5 months that suited me well. I used the Barron's GRE book the most to teach myself math. I would spend an hour or two several nights a week for 3 months just working my way through all the sets. While on the train to work I had the Kaplan GRE words app and continuously went over the flash cards and quizzes provided, as well as covering math forumlas id written on notecards. Once I completed the Barron's book, I bought an additional Kaplan math book for the extra problem sets which helped greatly. Then in the final month before the exam I took all the practice tests to get the pace and flow down. All in all I studied for 5 months, used Barron's and Kaplans books and did well. It took a lot of self discipline though since you are your own teacher and have to make the choices of when to study.

Online courses are good if you don't think you'll get yourself to do it independently. Giving yourself time to use the study tools can save you some big money.

 

[cara susanna]

I did online tutoring with Princeton Review and got pretty good results (over 100 points increase).