Becoming a Kaplan tutor/teacher

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BeachLuvr

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I was recently presented with the opportunity to tutor students for Kaplan's SAT preparation program for the upcoming school year, when I would be in dental school. Has anyone done this before? Is it a time consuming process? I know working while in dental school is usually not something that's done, but I'm not sure of the hours necessary for such a job, would I have time for this while in dental school?

Curious
Beach

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BeachLuvr said:
I was recently presented with the opportunity to tutor students for Kaplan's SAT preparation program for the upcoming school year, when I would be in dental school. Has anyone done this before? Is it a time consuming process? I know working while in dental school is usually not something that's done, but I'm not sure of the hours necessary for such a job, would I have time for this while in dental school?

Curious
Beach

if you've ever taken a kaplan course you'd know that it is time consuming, my kaplan instructor was also in dental school but he was in his last year, with the first two years of dental school being the toughest i doubt that you'll have the time for kaplan... 😎
 
I teach SAT right now. If you have already taught one class by the time you enter school it can be done easily because you will know the lessons well. You can put in as little as 2.5 hours per week and next to no preptime.
 
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DrTacoElf said:
I teach SAT right now. If you have already taught one class by the time you enter school it can be done easily because you will know the lessons well. You can put in as little as 2.5 hours per week and next to no preptime.

How much do tutors make?
 
Thanks DrTacoElf. Btw, I clicked on your stats link...super 🙂 !!!! I called the Kaplan center today and told them I would reschedule if interested later. I substitute teach in three school districts, and as interested as I am in tutoring, I was leary about taking on one more responsibility. However, subbing will be done in May and then maybe I'll look into Kaplan a bit deeper. Thanks 🙂

Beach
 
probably between $20-$25/hr... this was couple of years ago. It might have gone up a little.
 
money depends on the city. in phoenix it's 19/hr for the DAT plus 7/hr for whatever time you say you are prepping for the course. it was less than that in south bend, IN.

pretty easy job and not too many hours.
 
Mo007 said:
probably between $20-$25/hr... this was couple of years ago. It might have gone up a little.

In Utah it was $14/hr plus $5/hr in prep time up to $15 per lesson.

It's laid-back and not too stressful. When you have your interview you'll have to give a presentation on something. Keep in mind that it does NOT have to be science related, but rather should be something you are interested in. You'll teach the things you love the best.
 
Nor Cal: (For DAT) Start @ $18 and up depending on your skills/experience. You need to do a timed five-minute audition on a non-academic subject of your choice, a most common one is the "how" topic; a black board is also provided.
 
New York - starts at $20/hour for SAT, more for things like DAT... I'm starting teacher training in March, and hoping that I can teach at least one or two classes before D-school starts, and maybe switching to tutoring once it starts, if I have time. Does anyone know if people do teach/tutor through the first 2 years?
 
In Boston, $15/hour SAT, $20/hour MCAT, $18/hour DAT, $17/hour GMAT.

$7+ per hour of prepation needed. You can add prep time that's equivalent of or less than your lession hours (3hr class = 3hr prep time).

If you teach at an off-site (such as a local college), they pay for gas and tiny bit extra (not much).

If this is your first class they pay you $5 less than the above figures.

Usually, DAT courses are not avilable to teach, since there are very few DAT courses at most Kaplan center (more teachers than courses). SAT and MCAT, however, they are constantly seeking for good teachers (they have like 5-6 MCAT courses happening at the same time at my center; compared to 1 DAT). So, I'm teaching MCAT now. ^_^ And, considering teaching GMAT (I'm in a business school now).

Requirements:
1) You should've taken the exam you want to teach within the past 5 years, and gotten top 10 percentile (that's 20-21 for DAT; they look at your academic average, and don't really care about PAT. It is 33(11) or higher for MCAT. Not sure about SAT).
2) Do audition at Kaplan center, testing your teaching skill.
3) Then they put you through 5 teacher training sessions (4 hr each, so 20hr total). Then bam, you start teaching.
 
foh said:
In Boston, $15/hour SAT, $20/hour MCAT, $18/hour DAT, $17/hour GMAT.

$7+ per hour of prepation needed. You can add prep time that's equivalent of or less than your lession hours (3hr class = 3hr prep time).

If you teach at an off-site (such as a local college), they pay for gas and tiny bit extra (not much).

If this is your first class they pay you $5 less than the above figures.

Usually, DAT courses are not avilable to teach, since there are very few DAT courses at most Kaplan center (more teachers than courses). SAT and MCAT, however, they are constantly seeking for good teachers (they have like 5-6 MCAT courses happening at the same time at my center; compared to 1 DAT). So, I'm teaching MCAT now. ^_^ And, considering teaching GMAT (I'm in a business school now).

Requirements:
1) You should've taken the exam you want to teach within the past 5 years, and gotten top 10 percentile (that's 20-21 for DAT; they look at your academic average, and don't really care about PAT. It is 33(11) or higher for MCAT. Not sure about SAT).
2) Do audition at Kaplan center, testing your teaching skill.
3) Then they put you through 5 teacher training sessions (4 hr each, so 20hr total). Then bam, you start teaching.
they just look at the DAT? not your other credentials?
 
Do you start teaching immediately after your training, regardless of whether there is a class?? My concern is that no one will want to take the course at this time and so I might be SOL. Would you mind PMing me?
Thanks so much. 23/20/19.


foh said:
In Boston, $15/hour SAT, $20/hour MCAT, $18/hour DAT, $17/hour GMAT.

$7+ per hour of prepation needed. You can add prep time that's equivalent of or less than your lession hours (3hr class = 3hr prep time).

If you teach at an off-site (such as a local college), they pay for gas and tiny bit extra (not much).

If this is your first class they pay you $5 less than the above figures.

Usually, DAT courses are not avilable to teach, since there are very few DAT courses at most Kaplan center (more teachers than courses). SAT and MCAT, however, they are constantly seeking for good teachers (they have like 5-6 MCAT courses happening at the same time at my center; compared to 1 DAT). So, I'm teaching MCAT now. ^_^ And, considering teaching GMAT (I'm in a business school now).

Requirements:
1) You should've taken the exam you want to teach within the past 5 years, and gotten top 10 percentile (that's 20-21 for DAT; they look at your academic average, and don't really care about PAT. It is 33(11) or higher for MCAT. Not sure about SAT).
2) Do audition at Kaplan center, testing your teaching skill.
3) Then they put you through 5 teacher training sessions (4 hr each, so 20hr total). Then bam, you start teaching.
 
Pevi said:
Do you start teaching immediately after your training, regardless of whether there is a class?? My concern is that no one will want to take the course at this time and so I might be SOL. Would you mind PMing me?
Thanks so much. 23/20/19.

It all depends on the class schedule. For me, I got my April 2003 MCAT scores back in June 2003, was hired and trained by mid-August 2003, but then I didn't start teaching until November 2003, when the first MCAT class started. So yes, there can definitely be some time between completing training and then starting teaching.

In general, (at least for the Kaplan center where I used to work), if you are smart enough to do well on the MCAT, they'll let you teach other courses like the SAT or GRE. This may vary from center to center though - it all depends on how many teachers they have.

For me, after they received some positive feedback on me as a teacher, I did some private tutoring. I don't think they'll have you do private tutoring until you have some experience.

I hope this helps.
 
Q: Do they look at just your DAT score(test score), and no other credentials?

Yes and no, but mostly yes. Top 10 percentile on test you want to teach is the main thing they care about. They don't look at your GPA (altough you have to write down all education/work background stuffs along with references on job application). And work experience is a plus, but not a must (one Kaplan manager told me that they give plus marks to business school or law school students since these students are often professionally taught in presentation skill/public speech as a part of their graduate education).

Also, some people get booted during audition if you cannot show sufficient presentation skill. And the 5 training sessions (4hours) are actually a test too. You get graded during this sessions, and you get feedback/grade report after each session. And if you cannot meet certain level/grade, Kaplan ask(politely) you to stop attending the training.

Do you start teaching immediately after your training, regardless of whether there is a class?

Well, obviously if there is no class, then you can't teach. ^_^ How it works is that each Kaplan center has their pre-set schedule for each exam. They do not just start class because enough signed-up; they have pre-determined course schedules. On the other hand, even if only 3 students signed-up, they will still hold the class if it was on schedule list.

So, once you finish/pass your training (5 sessions). You notify/ask your center's academic coordinator that you want to teach the next course starting. When will that start? Look at your center's schedule book; it's not something they just add/cancel (well they do this in rare occasion) depending on # of students signed-up. One exception is off-site courses (those Kaplan classes at college); Kaplan add/cancel these classes depending on sign-up number.

That's why I said it is harder to teach DAT class. Since there are usually far more teachers who can teach DAT compared to the number of DAT courses on schedule. I know one guy who did training for DAT, and waited 4 months before he got to teach his first class.

I know this is dental forum, but if you are interested in doing part-time teaching at Kaplan, I highly recommend you consider teaching SAT or MCAT. My center for example: 7 SAT courses starting between now and April, 4 MCAT courses between now and April, 1 DAT courses between now and April. See the trend?

Hope that helped. ^_^
 
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