Kaplan shady???

[rayden001]

I recently called a local kaplan center to see if I could sit in on a lecture to examine the teaching style and quality which is apparently crucial to the effectiveness of a prep course.
I was told Kaplan does not allow student sit-in due to copyright laws? Do you guys think Kaplan is trying to hide a flaw in that particular center?

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[MLT2MT2DO]

Maybe you should call around about TPR, TBR, and EK to see if they would let you do the same before pigeon holeing one company?

 

[QofQuimica]

I recently called a local kaplan center to see if I could sit in on a lecture to examine the teaching style and quality which is apparently crucial to the effectiveness of a prep course.
I was told Kaplan does not allow student sit-in due to copyright laws? Do you guys think Kaplan is trying to hide a flaw in that particular center?

I think Kaplan is avoiding giving you something for free that all the other kids in that class paid $2000 for.

 

[mommy2three]

i can say from attending one that they move quickly and the teachers will not go into depth on any one subject matter. depending on what you need this can be good or bad. personally it was bad for me. i needed intense review in physics (never had a good handle on some 1st semester subjects) and the structure of the class/assignments did not allow that time for review. i came out still weak in those areas i was weak in before the class. however, for the areas i needed a quick review on and did not need much intense review or time dedicated to it was fine. i could review those areas and it refreshed the concept in my mind without spending an inordinate amount of time on it.
i know from what our instructor said that they are on a time schedule and they get observed and go through training to make sure they stay on that schedule.
whether or not it will be a good fit for you depends entirely on what you are looking to get out of it.

 

[rayden001]

I think Kaplan is avoiding giving you something for free that all the other kids in that class paid $2000 for.

Really Q,
I only planned on sitting-in 30 minutes at the most. At my school, we have high school students sit in during lecture to get a feel for the kind of teaching style available. Does that mean that the high school students are getting some form of advantage over me?

 

[SN2ed]

Try asking over on the Kaplan sub forum. I thought you could sit in on lectures.

 

[Just Joshin]

I recently called a local kaplan center to see if I could sit in on a lecture to examine the teaching style and quality which is apparently crucial to the effectiveness of a prep course.
I was told Kaplan does not allow student sit-in due to copyright laws? Do you guys think Kaplan is trying to hide a flaw in that particular center?

Every teacher is different. Some of them will do a lecture based solely out of the book. Others will bring in models to help you understand, others will be very energetic and knowledgeable, and still others will be monotone and boring.

Sitting in on a class won't tell you much. I don't know how Kaplan works, but at TPR, you pay for the class and then you can drop the class after the first lecture and get your money back. That's probably a better way to go about it.

 

[Just Joshin]

Really Q,
I only planned on sitting-in 30 minutes at the most. At my school, we have high school students sit in during lecture to get a feel for the kind of teaching style available. Does that mean that the high school students are getting some form of advantage over me?

That's not a good comparison. Say a high school student sits in on one of your Physics lectures. He/she will have no idea what's going on because they weren't there for the lecture before it and they won't be there for the lecture after it. So they sit in to analyze teaching style, etc.

With Kaplan, say I have a problem with Optics. What's to stop me from sitting in on Kaplan's Optics lecture (which will be done in one session) under the guise of "analyzing teaching style"? Then I could sit in on TPR's lecture on Electrochemistry. The next week, I'll sit in on TBR's lecture on MCAT Microbiology. And maybe, I'll even sit in on the Organic Lab Techniques lecture for ExamKrackers. I could do all that and get everything I need out of the review courses to prep for the MCAT and never pay a dime.

Something tells me the high school student won't get as much out of a college lecture as you're likely to get out of an MCAT review lecture.

 

[nfg05]

Every teacher is different. Some of them will do a lecture based solely out of the book. Others will bring in models to help you understand, others will be very energetic and knowledgeable, and still others will be monotone and boring.

Sitting in on a class won't tell you much. I don't know how Kaplan works, but at TPR, you pay for the class and then you can drop the class after the first lecture and get your money back. That's probably a better way to go about it.

FYI, Kaplan refund policy is as follows:
Before 1st Class: 100%
After 1st Class: 75%
After 2nd Class: 50%
After 3rd Class: 25%
After 4th Class: 0%

So doesn't look like sitting in on the first class for Kaplan is a good idea. Besides, first class is diagnostic test only and 2nd test is a bunch of strategy/critical thinking type stuff so you won't really get a good idea on instructors until the third class.

Personally, I have a different instructor for each subject (verbal, physics, gen chem, o chem) in my Kaplan class, although I stopped going after about the sixth class. I do everything online now as I find the online explanations better than the instructors in many cases and I am not held up by the people in my class which, to put it nicely, need things explained to them several times.

The actual instructors should have a rather small impact on your performance. If they do, you're not doing nearly enough targeted content review and practice outside of class and will likely not be scoring well anyway.

 

[pianola]

I think Kaplan is avoiding giving you something for free that all the other kids in that class paid $2000 for.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Before taking the Kaplan classes they make you sign/agree to something saying that you won't disclose any information to outside parties. This keeps their content from getting out for free while other students pay out the ass for it. I guess they don't want to go through the hassle of making you sign one of those just so you can sit in on a class. Yeah, it wouldn't be that hard to do, I'm sure, but that's probably what excuse they'll use.

Hey, there's a profit to be had here.

 

[AmjedatKaplan]

Unless you presented the request in a particularily incriminating way where the center staff felt that you were just trying to take advantage, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be allowed to sit in and watch 30 minutes of a lecture.

If you do end up watching a teaching session, promise me you'll let the center staff walk you through some of the online stuff afterwards? I think you'd be getting a very incomplete picture of the program if you didn't analyze both the teaching in-class and online, since of the 300 hours you're going to study, only 54 or so are in class.

Shoot me a PM and we'll see what we can do for you.

 

[de_la_soul]

Not allowing you to attend a lecture sounds fishy...like they're trying to hide something (bad teachers, who knows)

I asked about The Berkeley Review and Todd Bennett (their main PS teacher and founder) allowed me to sit in one lecture without paying.

 

[mike1618]

This would be like asking a tutor to work with you for one session for free or asking a mechanic to work on your car one time for free to see if you want to keep using him. Kaplan is providing a service to you. Due to the fast pace nature of the class, you would not realize all of the benefits by sitting in on one class. Besides, most of the value comes from the material that is given to you. It would be bad business for Kaplan to let you sit in on a class.

 

[SN2ed]

You guys did read Kaplan's representative, AmjedatKaplan, offer to help set up a sit-in sesson?

 

[rayden001]

hey guys
I am currently enrolled with kaplan, so i guess as the OP, this thread and topic is no longer relevant to me. Thanks to those that contributed.