Teaching for Princeton Review

[Mbeas]

Hi everyone,

For those who have trained to teach with Princeton Review, I was just wondering if everyone has to take the qualifying "content test", even if you have taken the actual MCAT....

Also, would you recommend this opportunity to others?

p.s. i have my teaching audtion next week, so i'm just trying to clarify a few things before i move on

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[ksmi117]

Moving to Pre-Allo per OP's request.

 

[Mbeas]

Moving to Pre-Allo per OP's request.

many thanks!

 

[Snarkalark]

lol i got a 14 BS on the actual mcat and failed the princeton review bio test like 3 months later. it churned my stomach to see that material again and i don't think i would be a good teacher anyway so i guess it just wasn't meant to be. def study up before you take it and you should be fine.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Hi everyone,

For those who have trained to teach with Princeton Review, I was just wondering if everyone has to take the qualifying "content test", even if you have taken the actual MCAT....

Also, would you recommend this opportunity to others?

p.s. i have my teaching audtion next week, so i'm just trying to clarify a few things before i move on

If they are anything like Kaplan they prefer a real score to simulated. If you just took it and did really well they may let you bypass it.

 

[sedaniel]

If you want to teach one of the science sections, definitely study and review the material. If you want to teach Verbal, be good at verbal, not too much studying required (I didn't study at all and passed their verbal exam). It's mostly a formality because you get trained in whatever section(s) you want to teach, and you thoroughly prepare on your own for the classes you teach.

I love teaching for them, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone interested. It pays well (especially the private tutoring), you can tell them when you want to work, where, and how often, which works well for my busy schedule. I was going through kind of a rough patch before I started teaching for them, and being able to successfully and effectively teach my classes really brought back my self-confidence, and it's such a great feeling to see your students improve throughout the course.

Let me know if you have any questions, just PM me!

 

[URHere]

For those who have trained to teach with Princeton Review, I was just wondering if everyone has to take the qualifying "content test", even if you have taken the actual MCAT....

I teach Bio for the Princeton Review, and I've never seen anyone get around the qualifying exam before. I think the point is that most TPR instructors aren't pre-meds or medical students and the office needs a fair way of comparing applicants. Honestly, out of the group in my town, I'm the only one in the medical field - the others are engineers, medicinal chemists, novelists, etc.

So, just make sure that you brush up on things before you go in. The exam is more like a random array of the harder MCAT free-standing questions. Some of the qualifying exams are hard to complete in an hour (bio is the longest, but physics seems to have many calculation requirements), so reviewing beforehand helps. At some locations, though, you are allowed to retake the qualifying test if you fail it, so hope isn't necessarily lost if you tank the first time.

One other thing you might want to clarify before your audition if you haven't already - some locations ask you to give your mini-lecture on a random topic (e.g. building a campfire, etc), but many will ask you to present a science topic from the curriculum. Know which one is expected of you before you head in.

Also, would you recommend this opportunity to others?

I've really enjoyed working for the Princeton Review, but I think most of that is because I've really missed teaching. In all honesty, the money isn't great and it probably isn't worth it for the first couple of courses you teach (prep time far exceeds the compensation until you know what you are doing). That being said, there is more freedom with teaching the material than many prep companies offer, and there is always the chance to pick up extra cash by proctoring, training others, tutoring, or tabling. I also found it to be helpful with some aspects of board prep - teaching undergrads how to calculate genetic probabilities and drawing binding curves for hours kind of hits the basics home like nothing else.

I've also enjoyed how hands-off TPR is with their employees. If we do our jobs and get good reviews from students, they more or less leave us alone. Our management always jokes that we are the Type-B test prep company (while Kaplan would be Type-A), and I have to say that I agree with that assessment.

 

[Mbeas]

thanks everyone for the insightful advice!

any other words of wisdom (ie audition tips)?

also, i'm wondering what i should do to prepare for the qualifying exam...should i just re-read an MCAT prep book?

i'm hoping to teach bio, if anyone was wondering...

 

[texas72]

At $20+/hr it's a no-brainer for me. I love teaching, too, so it's one of the best jobs I've ever had.

 

[julia2310]

I have an audition in a couple weeks too. How did y'all engage the audience in your audition?

 

[tlaloc87]

I've been teaching chemistry for TPR for 9 months now, and what I remember from my qualifying exams (3 months after my MCAT) was that the majority of the questions were above MCAT-level. I figure they probably want someone who can teach to the level of the MCAT and handle any smarty-pants people who will ask about more in-depth topics. But reviewing your MCAT prep books should suffice.

I honestly have to say my audition was a complete joke. Perhaps if my local office had not been in such desperate needs of new instructors my audition might have actually mattered. Any other TPR instructors who had super intense auditions?

 

[URHere]

I have an audition in a couple weeks too. How did y'all engage the audience in your audition?

Just handle things the same way you would handle running an actual class. Provide some information, and then ask the audience to use that information to draw some conclusions (e.g. "These portions of the nephron are permeable to substance X...so, how will the concentration of substance X change as you move down the nephron? In what direction will water flow?, etc)

I figure they probably want someone who can teach to the level of the MCAT and handle any smarty-pants people who will ask about more in-depth topics. But reviewing your MCAT prep books should suffice.

That's probably true. I've definitely had some students quiz me on things like rare autoimmune diseases affecting the bone marrow...

I've always found that it's best to put those questions on hold until after the session is over to avoid freaking out everyone else...

I honestly have to say my audition was a complete joke. Perhaps if my local office had not been in such desperate needs of new instructors my audition might have actually mattered. Any other TPR instructors who had super intense auditions?

I gave my audition to a room full of people auditioning as physics instructors, so at the time I felt like I got points just for knowing the appropriate bio terms.

Although my audition was mild, I have to say that my training session was a little intense. No one in my area was doing bio training, so TPR flew me down to California for a long weekend. We were assigned topics with a few days notice, but it was a bit hard to prep without access to the course syllabus. I basically ended up rambling about the things I thought were highest yield, and I guess that worked out well enough in the end.

 

[Mbeas]

anyone know if there is an interview associated with the audition?

 

[sedaniel]

anyone know if there is an interview associated with the audition?

There wasn't an interview for me, just the qualifying exam and the audition.

 

[tlaloc87]

If anyone has transferred to a different office after relocating, was it a hassle? I'd like to teach through next summer, but I'll likely have to move before summer courses finish up so I'm looking to transfer before summer starts. Thanks.

 

[loveoforganic]

Doesn't completely answer your question, but I auditioned at one office and am now looking to train with and teach for another office, and they said I wouldn't be required to audition again.

 

[tlaloc87]

Well, it's something. Thanks. I'm gonna try to get in touch with the office in whichever city I end up. Still got quite a few months to go though.