Working for a Prep Company

[mc4435]

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I was wondering if any of you have had experience teaching for a prep company like TPR, Kaplan, etc. and what your experience has been like / which ones you recommend? Just any thoughts in general would be helpful.

 

[karakhanyan]

I was wondering if any of you have had experience teaching for a prep company like TPR, Kaplan, etc. and what your experience has been like / which ones you recommend? Just any thoughts in general would be helpful.

My Kaplan teacher said that by teaching for one year he would get to take their prep courses for the steps for free...

 

[msl2007]

The kaplan courses are usually too time-intensive to be helpful for usmle prep, as are the online videos, unless you need that type of thing. Free Qbank and books would be nice!

My brother taught SAT for Kaplan and liked it well enough, great pay. MCAT prep pays well but they demand A LOT. His friend did that and apparently had to prep for hours before the class and was routinely scolded for not being "prepared enough." I guess with what they charge for the classes, the teachers have to be, but he really was prepping, it just semeed to be a scare tactic. He said the students were somewhat high strung as well. LOL. He wasn't premed, he was physics, and taught that section for the MCAT.

Overall, it seems like a good way to make some good money.

 

[GT2]

its cool the 2nd time around or so... first time is crazy cause you are nervous but by the time you teach another class you are much more relaxed.

definitely know your material... or you will get eaten up

 

[Schaden Freud]

Teachers are put in a rather hostile and unpredictable environment. You either learn to deal with it quickly or quit. Students expect you to be flawless and to perform miracles, since they pay such an outrageous price for the course (over $1700 for Kaplan nowadays). The teacher gets about 10% of that money, but takes 100% of the **** from the students. Not the best deal.
However, I imagine it is good practice for when you're in the wards taking **** from everyone day in and day out.

its cool the 2nd time around or so... first time is crazy cause you are nervous but by the time you teach another class you are much more relaxed.

definitely know your material... or you will get eaten up

 

[MeCord3]

I'm an MCAT instructor for Kaplan and its been a blast. It was a rough start, but that seems to be the norm. Once you get into the swing of things it becomes a lot easier. And yes, the students have high expectations, but if you keep your cool and give them the impression that you're generally on your game they'll forgive the occasional mistake. The most important thing is making them feel confident that they made the right decision by coming to class.

 

[Schaden Freud]

Yes, generally what you say about maintaining student confidence is true. You will however get the occasional student who takes his/her frustration out on you, and you have to stand there and take it with a smile. This is good practice for dealing with challenging situations in other aspects of life.

As far as calling the teaching "a blast", I'd have to disagree. I think teaching would be really fun if you could present the content in your own way, and (relatively) at your own pace. The TEL does indeed standardize the lessons, but at the cost of forcing many otherwise talented teachers into mediocrity.

I'm an MCAT instructor for Kaplan and its been a blast. It was a rough start, but that seems to be the norm. Once you get into the swing of things it becomes a lot easier. And yes, the students have high expectations, but if you keep your cool and give them the impression that you're generally on your game they'll forgive the occasional mistake. The most important thing is making them feel confident that they made the right decision by coming to class.

 

[MeCord3]

As far as calling the teaching "a blast", I'd have to disagree. I think teaching would be really fun if you could present the content in your own way, and (relatively) at your own pace. The TEL does indeed standardize the lessons, but at the cost of forcing many otherwise talented teachers into mediocrity.

I agree, it'd be a lot more fun if we could spend more time on the content, but there is a lot that has to be covered before class is over. You have the opportunity to delve into more detail during out of class hours or with private tutoring students. Also keep in mind that the class is about more than just teaching the material, its also about giving students a good sense of how they should approach the exam. Ie:how to read passages, whats too much time spent on a particular question or too much attention attention given to specific details, etc.... So you need to make sure that you address those issues in class as well.