KAPLAN Teaching Position

[nze82]

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Hello children...
So, since I'm on SDN 24/7 I thought about teaching for KAPLAN and getting paid trying to help some of the other pre-dents. I have an audition scheduled for next week. I know some of the posters here are KAPLAN instructors, so I was wondering if any of you guys out there could give me some tips and adive for the audition and/or the following interview. I'd really appreciate it.

 

[zoralsurgeon]

Ok, so, I didn't even get an interview after the audition....huh?

Just an email the next day telling me to f-off.

For a company that hasn't updated their DAT prep material in like 20 years, they sure are arrogant. By the way, I didn't have a miserable audition.

Well, I guess Kaplan doesn't want people in the 98th+ percentile....for whatever reason.

On a side note, I have decided that I will be as much of a pain in the ass to Kaplan as I can. I'm spreading the word in the area and I know their primary DAT client base.

Strange thing I noticed, I noticed that all the male employees were skinny and definitely androgenous looking. Maybe they have an appearance thing going on......

if you both got denied i wonder what they are looking for!!!!! cuz id sure as heck want someone that knows their stuff teaching me...but thats just a personal opinion..id rather have a teacher that knows their stuff above one that looks like a brad pitt..unless she looked like angelina jolie ofcourse,

i wouldnt let it get to ya too deep; it wasnt meant to be🙂 do what nze did..private tutoring..i find it rewarding myself 🙂

 

[tsitneD]

when i went for my audition yesterday they told us that kaplan hires 1 out 6 people with above 90% on test so chances of getting the job is tough. I am waiting for only disappointing email from them b/c i see no chances.

 

[sixkiller]

if you both got denied i wonder what they are looking for!!!!! cuz id sure as heck want someone that knows their stuff teaching me...but thats just a personal opinion..id rather have a teacher that knows their stuff above one that looks like a brad pitt..unless she looked like angelina jolie ofcourse,

i wouldnt let it get to ya too deep; it wasnt meant to be🙂 do what nze did..private tutoring..i find it rewarding myself 🙂

haha, don't get me wrong, I'm not morbidly obese, but I'm definitely not an anorexic adrogenous looking guy.

I'm actually more of a gym rat with short spikey hair and wide shoulders. I guess Kaplan doesn't like that stuff.

Anyways, kaplan should be more concerned about updating their DAT material to catch up with the scope (their biology practically omits DNA based technology and experimental biology).

Oh well, I made a call and I'm going back to my old job (knee pads were not required).

 

[nze82]

Ok, so, I didn't even get an interview after the audition....huh?

Just an email the next day telling me to f-off.

For a company that hasn't updated their DAT prep material in like 20 years, they sure are arrogant. By the way, I didn't have a miserable audition.

Well, I guess Kaplan doesn't want people in the 98th+ percentile....for whatever reason.

On a side note, I have decided that I will be as much of a pain in the ass to Kaplan as I can. I'm spreading the word in the area and I know their primary DAT client base.

Strange thing I noticed, I noticed that all the male employees were skinny and definitely androgenous looking. Maybe they have an appearance thing going on......

Dude! That's pretty much what happened to me. I auditioned on Friday, and I got the email telling me to F-off on Monday morning 10:00AM🙂)
But whatever! At the end, it's their loss, when they don't hire people who know their material. If they wanna stick with their s*** instructors, good for them.👎thumbdown
Anyways, sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

[ahituna]

Kaplan for better or for worse (worse in my opinion) is concerned with numbers. Everything from student satisfaction to how the center feels is tracked with a statistic. Center directors are often under pressure from regional management to track another number: potential teacher leads. Each center will set goals for how many new teachers they want to audition/train/hire, but sometimes these goals aren't in line with the demand (or lack of demand) for classes.

This year in particular, I've been jacked around by committing to teach classes that are subsequently cancelled due to low demand. When I inquire about what happened, the center management usually says that they base class schedules on last year's demand; they try to keep schedules that were successful the previous year. Needless to say, a lot has changed from 2008-2009... So for these cancelled classes, I'm out of work AND I can't teach on the side outside of Kaplan (non-compete agreement). To make ends meet, I resort to earning compensation from donating bone marrow and participating as a research subject.

I'm sorry about your experiences with Kaplan. Take advantage of other opportunities to share your talents (and make much more $$$ doing so too). Aside from a few key benefits that keep me with Kaplan, I would say your grass is much greener.

 

[nze82]

Kaplan for better or for worse (worse in my opinion) is concerned with numbers. Everything from student satisfaction to how the center feels is tracked with a statistic. Center directors are often under pressure from regional management to track another number: potential teacher leads. Each center will set goals for how many new teachers they want to audition/train/hire, but sometimes these goals aren't in line with the demand (or lack of demand) for classes.

This year in particular, I've been jacked around by committing to teach classes that are subsequently cancelled due to low demand. When I inquire about what happened, the center management usually says that they base class schedules on last year's demand; they try to keep schedules that were successful the previous year. Needless to say, a lot has changed from 2008-2009... So for these cancelled classes, I'm out of work AND I can't teach on the side outside of Kaplan (non-compete agreement). To make ends meet, I resort to earning compensation from donating bone marrow and participating as a research subject.

I'm sorry about your experiences with Kaplan. Take advantage of other opportunities to share your talents (and make much more $$$ doing so too). Aside from a few key benefits that keep me with Kaplan, I would say your grass is much greener.

No wonder the demand for KAPLAN classroom courses is getting less each year. It's not like they teach you anything, and people are beginning to catch up with the fact. They can benefit much more simply by purchasing the book and studying on their own.
Anyways, thanks for your post and hope they start giving you the number of hours you need.

 

[krazchikin]

Wha??? I should have read all this before I went through with all stuff....I auditioned monday and they said they'd call me back in a week to tell me whether they'd decide to train me or not...but then I got a call from them yesterday saying their PCAT instructor had an emergency and can't teach the course, so they asked me if I could take their sample PCAT and score in the 90th percentile....I thought that it wouldnt hurt to give it a try....so I've been studying for it since yesterday....hm....what to do....

 

[nze82]

Wha??? I should have read all this before I went through with all stuff....I auditioned monday and they said they'd call me back in a week to tell me whether they'd decide to train me or not...but then I got a call from them yesterday saying their PCAT instructor had an emergency and can't teach the course, so they asked me if I could take their sample PCAT and score in the 90th percentile....I thought that it wouldnt hurt to give it a try....so I've been studying for it since yesterday....hm....what to do....

What do you mean what to do? Take the offer and go teach for them if you need the money!

 

[jay47]

No wonder the demand for KAPLAN classroom courses is getting less each year. It's not like they teach you anything, and people are beginning to catch up with the fact. They can benefit much more simply by purchasing the book and studying on their own.
Anyways, thanks for your post and hope they start giving you the number of hours you need.

I really do take offense to this. I know it may be difficult to understand because you are a successful student, and you obviously did well on the DAT, but there are a tremendous amount of people out there that DO need help, that don't have any idea where to start to study, and that don't know HOW to study. It was something that I didn't quite understand when I first started teaching, as I am a natural leader, entrepreneur, and DIYer, but lots of people need help. Kaplan can and will help if you need it.

I can promise you that I do teach/reteach my students good information and that it helps them score better. Lots of the information they are already supposed to know though, correct? Because they have to have taken the basic courses just apply to DS, so technically I'm not "teaching" them anything new, but reviewing the most important information

Now, are they scoring 22, 23 24? Probably not because they don't whip out the old biology textbooks and chem textbooks and learn it like in undergrad. But, there are a lot of students who just want a 19, just want a 20. And I promise that you can easily get those scores with Kaplan.

I do have students who want to score higher, and I tell them: "do everything in class, online, and in your review notes" and then I direct them to other great sources, like Cliffs AP, CDP, Topscore, Destroyer, Etc....The more perspectives you get, the better off you are.

I do have to ask though, have you actually taken the course (and I know you weren't in one of my classes too)? If you have, then you are completely entitled to your opinion, but if you haven't then I just don't appreciate the condescending comments about Kaplan. Sure, it's corporate, which also means that it is a business. But, how does a business succeed if it doesn't do it's job? We have to be doing something right, since we have been around since 1930 something.

In addition, I am not a spokesperson for Kaplan, I'll be the first to say that you don't have to take the course to do well, I didn't, but it definitely makes things a lot easier, more structured, and informative than trying to tackle it all by yourself.

Oh, and I completely agree with the need to update the Bio materials, I will actually talk with my center manager about that to see if there is any way to do that, cuz I always have to teach those parts by myself, and tell them to write it down on an alternate sheet of paper, lol. Kinda ghetto....

 

[jay47]

Kaplan for better or for worse (worse in my opinion) is concerned with numbers. Everything from student satisfaction to how the center feels is tracked with a statistic. Center directors are often under pressure from regional management to track another number: potential teacher leads. Each center will set goals for how many new teachers they want to audition/train/hire, but sometimes these goals aren't in line with the demand (or lack of demand) for classes.

This year in particular, I've been jacked around by committing to teach classes that are subsequently cancelled due to low demand. When I inquire about what happened, the center management usually says that they base class schedules on last year's demand; they try to keep schedules that were successful the previous year. Needless to say, a lot has changed from 2008-2009... So for these cancelled classes, I'm out of work AND I can't teach on the side outside of Kaplan (non-compete agreement). To make ends meet, I resort to earning compensation from donating bone marrow and participating as a research subject.

I'm sorry about your experiences with Kaplan. Take advantage of other opportunities to share your talents (and make much more $$$ doing so too). Aside from a few key benefits that keep me with Kaplan, I would say your grass is much greener.

This is true to a point at my center, but it really doesn't seem to be that big of a distraction for teachers here. I think in the North it's a bigger deal because they have more overhead, idk.

But I do agree, work is pretty sporadic, that's why I'm working Two jobs!👍

 

[krazchikin]

hahah true....but i doubt im gonna be able to score in the 90th percentile with 2 days worth of studying...but yeah...i wanna look into craigslisting myself (LOL!)....do you still have the ad you posted? I wanna see what it looks like, and which city are you in? thanks!

 

[nze82]

I really do take offense to this. I know it may be difficult to understand because you are a successful student, and you obviously did well on the DAT, but there are a tremendous amount of people out there that DO need help, that don't have any idea where to start to study, and that don't know HOW to study. It was something that I didn't quite understand when I first started teaching, as I am a natural leader, entrepreneur, and DIYer, but lots of people need help. Kaplan can and will help if you need it.

I can promise you that I do teach/reteach my students good information and that it helps them score better. Lots of the information they are already supposed to know though, correct? Because they have to have taken the basic courses just apply to DS, so technically I'm not "teaching" them anything new, but reviewing the most important information

Now, are they scoring 22, 23 24? Probably not because they don't whip out the old biology textbooks and chem textbooks and learn it like in undergrad. But, there are a lot of students who just want a 19, just want a 20. And I promise that you can easily get those scores with Kaplan.

I do have students who want to score higher, and I tell them: "do everything in class, online, and in your review notes" and then I direct them to other great sources, like Cliffs AP, CDP, Topscore, Destroyer, Etc....The more perspectives you get, the better off you are.

I do have to ask though, have you actually taken the course (and I know you weren't in one of my classes too)? If you have, then you are completely entitled to your opinion, but if you haven't then I just don't appreciate the condescending comments about Kaplan. Sure, it's corporate, which also means that it is a business. But, how does a business succeed if it doesn't do it's job? We have to be doing something right, since we have been around since 1930 something.

In addition, I am not a spokesperson for Kaplan, I'll be the first to say that you don't have to take the course to do well, I didn't, but it definitely makes things a lot easier, more structured, and informative than trying to tackle it all by yourself.

Oh, and I completely agree with the need to update the Bio materials, I will actually talk with my center manager about that to see if there is any way to do that, cuz I always have to teach those parts by myself, and tell them to write it down on an alternate sheet of paper, lol. Kinda ghetto....

Does KAPLAN help you figure out where and how to start studying for the DAT? Absolutely.
Do they have great online resources? Without a doubt.
Are the classroom discussions useful? Not AT ALL. And yes! I have taken the course, and the guy who taught the course had limited knowledge of the material he was teaching. KAPLAN is obsessed with numbers to save its reputation. Our instructor was a dental student at UCLA, so obviously he was a smart guy. But he was not a good DAT instructor by any means, and his excuse was that he had taken the exam many years ago and he had forgotten many of the material! That is not acceptable for me. I didn't pay 1000+ $ to listen to some guy who is not on top of his game (in terms of teaching abilities).
Also, KAPLAN is more concerned with its image and reputation than the success of its students. The first day of the class I asked my instructor whether or not we needed any additional material to study for the DAT, and he specifically told us that KAPLAN's material was all we needed in order to succeed in the DAT. To me, that's a marketing slogan not a genuine advice.
Class discussions only covered the basics (Nothing close to the level of difficulty one would see on the real exam). KAPLAN classroom discussions are only useful for people who have been out of college for a while and they want to get back in the game. Then KAPLAN would do a decent job reviewing all the basics. However, if someone is fresh out of college, their knowledge would be much greater than what KAPLAN could ever manage to teach them.
I benefited from the online material much more than the classroom discussions, which is why I truly believe KAPLAN classroom courses are a waste of money and time.

 

[ruomengd2000]

For all those that have had bad experiences with Kaplan courses and instructors, what you have to realize is that not all instructors are of equal quality despite the training they go through. Some people are excellent at comprehending material but terrible to trying to teach it. I am currently an instructor for Kaplan DAT/OAT and I work really hard to go the extra mile to provide my students with good solid information. Whether, it's looking up medical journals for RC practice or alternative PAT practice, I make sure to expose them to everything I had while studying. My view is that my students don't pay $1400 to listen to me lecture. They pay for the review book, online resources, and for an instructor who has first hand experience. While i follow the lesson plans set by Kaplan, i always make sure to write my own problems that I feel might appear on the exam. I also make sure to fill in any gaps I feel the lesson plans have. I think a student's experience with Kaplan is 100% dependent on the quality of their instructor. When I took the course, my instructor was awesome and she inspired me to become an instructor myself after taking the exam. Kaplan has a very good system of rating the instructors based on student feedback and they will definitely fire someone who continuosly gets bad ratings. The one drawback is manifested from the fact that Kaplan is such a huge company. It is virtually impossible for them to make sure every single instructor is fantastic. If your one of the unlucky ones who gets a bad instructor, then i'm sorry about that but don't generalize kaplan as a whole based on your singular experience.

 

[nze82]

For all those that have had bad experiences with Kaplan courses and instructors, what you have to realize is that not all instructors are of equal quality despite the training they go through. Some people are excellent at comprehending material but terrible to trying to teach it. I am currently an instructor for Kaplan DAT/OAT and I work really hard to go the extra mile to provide my students with good solid information. Whether, it's looking up medical journals for RC practice or alternative PAT practice, I make sure to expose them to everything I had while studying. My view is that my students don't pay $1400 to listen to me lecture. They pay for the review book, online resources, and for an instructor who has first hand experience. While i follow the lesson plans set by Kaplan, i always make sure to write my own problems that I feel might appear on the exam. I also make sure to fill in any gaps I feel the lesson plans have. I think a student's experience with Kaplan is 100% dependent on the quality of their instructor. When I took the course, my instructor was awesome and she inspired me to become an instructor myself after taking the exam. Kaplan has a very good system of rating the instructors based on student feedback and they will definitely fire someone who continuosly gets bad ratings. The one drawback is manifested from the fact that Kaplan is such a huge company. It is virtually impossible for them to make sure every single instructor is fantastic. If your one of the unlucky ones who gets a bad instructor, then i'm sorry about that but don't generalize kaplan as a whole based on your singular experience.

By no means am I trying to question the intellectual capabilities of KAPLAN instructors. What you said is 100% true. You can't have a perfect system, where everyone does their job the way they should, and I do believe that different KAPLAN centers perform differently due to different management. My experience with KAPLAN classroom course was horrible, and I have seen quite a few people who have had similar experiences.
Again, I'm criticizing KAPLAN as a company and I'm not referring to individual instructors who are employed by KAPLAN.

 

[prk15]

how does one private tutor DAT in a one on one setting. someone enlighten me please.

 

[ucla2134]

I have an audition next week.If nze and sixkiller cannot get a job with that score, it tell me i need to use my sex appeal during my presentation to get a job😉😛

 

[jay47]

For all those that have had bad experiences with Kaplan courses and instructors, what you have to realize is that not all instructors are of equal quality despite the training they go through. Some people are excellent at comprehending material but terrible to trying to teach it. I am currently an instructor for Kaplan DAT/OAT and I work really hard to go the extra mile to provide my students with good solid information. Whether, it's looking up medical journals for RC practice or alternative PAT practice, I make sure to expose them to everything I had while studying. My view is that my students don't pay $1400 to listen to me lecture. They pay for the review book, online resources, and for an instructor who has first hand experience. While i follow the lesson plans set by Kaplan, i always make sure to write my own problems that I feel might appear on the exam. I also make sure to fill in any gaps I feel the lesson plans have. I think a student's experience with Kaplan is 100% dependent on the quality of their instructor. When I took the course, my instructor was awesome and she inspired me to become an instructor myself after taking the exam. Kaplan has a very good system of rating the instructors based on student feedback and they will definitely fire someone who continuosly gets bad ratings. The one drawback is manifested from the fact that Kaplan is such a huge company. It is virtually impossible for them to make sure every single instructor is fantastic. If your one of the unlucky ones who gets a bad instructor, then i'm sorry about that but don't generalize kaplan as a whole based on your singular experience.

Wow, this sounds exactly like what I do. I was just up last night at 11:30 answering an email from a student regarding the online PAT sessions; and his class ended over a month ago!

In addition NZE, I will have to say that if your instructor never brought anything (or even very little) outside of the course and lesson book, then I would also conclude that he sucked, lol.

I have several colleagues who I would put in the same boat; do as little as possible to get by, prep very little, simple read out of the book, and let class our early all the time because they are too lazy to add anything to the lesson. I have to apologize for Kaplan and these instructors because that is NOT what we are taught to do and what we should be doing. At both centers that I have worked at, going the extra mile for students is a part of the job description. Just because the Kaplan materials don't cover standard deviation, permutations, combination, immunology, anatomy, arenes, and a plethora of other things (granted it is a 10 sesion course designed to cover 2 YEARS of material) doesn't mean that I don't teach it.


I get what you are saying completely; but it is just like with anything else you do: there are great, average, and below average employees, and no matter how hard you try, you are going to get a mix of all of them, especially at a company as large as Kaplan.

On a side note, we just had our yearly meeting regarding the state of affairs and it seems as if Kaplan is trying to change the way they hire, so this is probably why you didn't get the job. They are trying to hire a lot less people and keep more of the best teachers that they had because they know these teachers will do well.

Again, I would like the reiterate that I think you (NZE) would do a great job as an instructore; you obviously know the material (although, trust me, you will be surprised at how fast it leaves you!) and you seem frank (very important), as well as caring. I just wanted to continue explain why some people may not have as good of an experience at Kaplan as others.

On another side note, Kaplan is not as great for students who are already very self motivated, and also very talented. I think they generally find the materials insufficient, as they are trying to score 24+. But, I do know students who have scored that well with Kaplan, so it is definitely possible.

 

[jay47]

Does KAPLAN help you figure out where and how to start studying for the DAT? Absolutely.
Do they have great online resources? Without a doubt.
Are the classroom discussions useful? Not AT ALL. And yes! I have taken the course, and the guy who taught the course had limited knowledge of the material he was teaching. KAPLAN is obsessed with numbers to save its reputation. Our instructor was a dental student at UCLA, so obviously he was a smart guy. But he was not a good DAT instructor by any means, and his excuse was that he had taken the exam many years ago and he had forgotten many of the material! That is not acceptable for me. I didn't pay 1000+ $ to listen to some guy who is not on top of his game (in terms of teaching abilities).
Also, KAPLAN is more concerned with its image and reputation than the success of its students. The first day of the class I asked my instructor whether or not we needed any additional material to study for the DAT, and he specifically told us that KAPLAN's material was all we needed in order to succeed in the DAT. To me, that's a marketing slogan not a genuine advice.
Class discussions only covered the basics (Nothing close to the level of difficulty one would see on the real exam). KAPLAN classroom discussions are only useful for people who have been out of college for a while and they want to get back in the game. Then KAPLAN would do a decent job reviewing all the basics. However, if someone is fresh out of college, their knowledge would be much greater than what KAPLAN could ever manage to teach them.
I benefited from the online material much more than the classroom discussions, which is why I truly believe KAPLAN classroom courses are a waste of money and time.

Then I would definitely say that he should probably discontinue teaching; the material does leave you after too long if you don't refesh. However, depending on his level, you really can't expect him to know everything.

 

[sixkiller]

I have an audition next week.If nze and sixkiller cannot get a job with that score, it tell me i need to use my sex appeal during my presentation to get a job😉😛

If you define MALE sexuality as weighing a buck o'five soaking wet and wearing boots while being ultra androgenous....

You'll do fine.

 

[Sublimation]

I worked for kaplan last spring private tutoring for the SAT and cuz i bailed on one client (completely my fault) i got fired 😀. However, the student loved the way i taught and decided to leave kaplan and pay me double wat kaplan was and he ended up paying half of wat he was paying kaplan. However, one thing is for sure. TEACHING and KNOWING are two completely different things. YOU CAN KNOW UR SH.T INSIDE OUT but the real question is, can u teach it to a monkey, lol? if not, then do something else. Cuz a kid in our predental society got a job with a 20 on the DAT. I would love to apply again but i think if i show my face there again they will murder me.

To those still auditioning do something VERY original and practice it on some friends before u go in. AND FOR THOSE who didnt like nze and sixkiller, YOU GUYS CAN BANK doin private tutoring, u just gotta market urself to the right ppl.

 

[divi1117]

Are you still doing private tutoring?

 

[achilles2]

Ok, so, I didn't even get an interview after the audition....huh?

Just an email the next day telling me to f-off.

For a company that hasn't updated their DAT prep material in like 20 years, they sure are arrogant. By the way, I didn't have a miserable audition.

Well, I guess Kaplan doesn't want people in the 98th+ percentile....for whatever reason.

On a side note, I have decided that I will be as much of a pain in the ass to Kaplan as I can. I'm spreading the word in the area and I know their primary DAT client base.

I guess they only take people in the 99.9%ile because I got hired 🙄

I teach for kaplan and I take some personal offense to the smashing going on. Not all teachers are great but some of us do try to convey the information to everyone and at the very least do know our ****....