Testmasters, Kaplan, & Princeton Review, Oh My!

[PsychPhDHopeful]

Would love some of your expert advice!

I am doing adequately on GRE practice exams but not where I feel like I can be. I only intend on applying once, so I decided to take a year off to prepare properly.

I am planning on taking a prep course. Yes I know they are expensive, but I want to know that I did everything I could to prepare for my best application possible.

Soooo...where do I go? I've heard mixed things about Kaplan and Princeton Review, and great things about Testmasters (but from individuals who took their LSAT course).

Does anybody have any opinions about what worked for them. I am especially interested in hearing from those who used testmasters because there seems to be the least amount of information out there (probably because it's the most expensive).

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[Therapist4Chnge]

A course like The Princeton Review is good for people who don't have the discipline to study if they didn't have someone to keep them accountable. Those types of courses teach you how to take the exam, though it is still mostly up to the student.

 

[PsychPhDHopeful]

A course like The Princeton Review is good for people who don't have the discipline to study if they didn't have someone to keep them accountable. Those types of courses teach you how to take the exam, though it is still mostly up to the student.

Thank you for responding so quickly.

I definitely plan on taking a course for that exact reason. I guess what I am more interested in hearing from posters is their opinions on each individual prep course out there...between Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Testmasters. Is one more helpful or successful than another?

 

[syzergy]

I've never heard of Testmasters but I did take a Kaplan prep course. I took the GRE twice and after taking the prep course my verbal went up 150 points and my quant went up 120 points. I think it was definitely worth the money.

I can't speak for the other courses but I like Kaplan because they had so many materials specifically matched to your strengths and weaknesses. You take the adaptive practice tests and the program generates hundreds of questions to drill yourself. They even have a bunch of quizzes specifically designed with questions that are in the 800 range. I do agree with T4C though, they give you the materials but it's really all on you to study every day.

My Kaplan instructor was very helpful and always available after class or over email. She definitely knew what she was talking about.

This was all with the old GRE though. I don't know anything about the new GRE so maybe this isn't that helpful...

I considered taking a princeton review class but since the test was switching forms they didn't have any courses in my area.

 

[cara susanna]

I got online tutoring from Princeton Review. Highly recommend it, though it really only substantially raised my score in the area I was already good at.

 

[aventurine]

I tend to prefer the Princeton Review approach. Generally speaking, I feel it's more user-friendly and teaches the test in a pretty efficient way. Good luck!

 

[IHrtHealthPsych]

I also did Princeton Review, through the online course, after studying on my own the first time. I really wanted to boost my score by 100+ total points. I enjoyed the course, and at the time I took it I felt like I was learning some really helpful skills/tips. However, my score did not improve at all, so now I think it was a huge waste of time and money. Buyer's remorse.

 

[LHDMMD]

I just signed up for the on demand class at Kaplan test prep. It was about $500, but this is the third time I'm taking the GRE. The last two times I took the GRE I just got a couple of books to study from. My score was good enough to get me into a Master's program, but not high enough to get into Ph.D.