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KAPLAN is a RIP OFF- FACT

by LifetimesofSC » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:19 am
All,

Please note that Kaplan's course is a rip off.

Their dianogistic test will UNDERSTATE your score. And the remaining CATS will slightly OVERSTATE your score. Basically, even if you score the same number of questions right, you will have a score that could be 140 points apart. This way, they do not have to give out refunds. Trust me on this one. Remember, they use your Diagnostic as the Baseline score so of course they will UNDERSTATE that exam score. Many students, including myself, have fell into Kaplan's trap ($1300+) which is more financially damaging than GMAC's trap ($250).

If a rep doubts me, then I'm sure they have no proof to defend their side.

Again, this tactic used by Kaplan is set up to steal your money by using a scoring metric that is unethical and unreliable.

Don't believe me?

My Diagnostic Test- I score a 440? And the next 8 CATs I took ranged from 560 to 600. The weird thing is scoring the SAME amount of questions right (0 to 2 margin), AND the SAME amount of difficulty questions right. Therefore an argument stating that the Question difficulty (weighted higher or lower in terms of Medium or Hard) will not work in this example. This example reflects my experience with Kaplan.

Rebuttals? I doubt a Kaplan Rep has the knowledge of how their scoring method works, so don't bother responding with Maybe's and If's.
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:32 pm
I'm sorry that you haven't enjoyed your Kaplan experience. However, your allegations are 100% incorrect.

Through personal experience alone (I've taught more than 1500 students), I can assure you that your results are anomalous. In fact, roughly 50% of Kaplan students go down from their diagnostic to their first CAT. This downturn in score is both predictable and understandable, since for the first few weeks of the course students are innundated with new information and strategies, the result of which is often to slow them down on their first CAT. It's usually on the second CAT that students see their score rebound and on the third and fourth CATs that most students start to see strong improvement.

The Higher Score Guarantee is in place for two reasons.

First, to allow students who need extra time to study to take advantage of our free repeat policy. Note that there are no score requirements for the free repeat portion of the Guarantee; to qualify, students must simply show their commitment to the program by attending the classes, doing the homework and writing full length CATs along the way.

Second, to show our belief in our Program. We are so confident that our program works that we're willing to back it up with a full refund for those who commit to their study and don't an incrase in theri score. Do we expect anyone to take advantage of the Money Back Guarantee? Of course not, because the Kaplan program works and if you do put in the effort, you WILL get a great score.

One doesn't become the world test prep leader or a multi-billion dollar company by scamming one's clients. I assure you that our tests are all legitimately scaled and that we constantly review student results to ensure the accuracy of our scoring algorithms.
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by LifetimesofSC » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:43 am
Apology Accepted, however your response is insufficient to conclude that my response is 100% inaccurate.

First, your free repeat policy- Why would ANYONE want to repeat a course that doesn't reflect accurate GMAT questions? Scientists know that the rat wont eat the cheese after the shock treatment. Plus, you are just reiterating what the Higher Score Guarantee sheet says which I have discredited. I did not show any commitment? I've done ALL required work plus 80% of the suggested work, ALL CATS included the not required ones and 2 GMAT Prep exams. Also, I note that you guys use CAT questions from the Kaplan books made in 2005. That's called unethical, reuse, and lazy. Please don't respond by claiming it's a huge word bank, because the stream of questions in order is in the exact same order. Don't buy a Kaplan course, since they use books dating back from 2005 to form their CATs.
Secondly, your refund policy is eliminated with the behind the scene tactics that goes on with the grading of CATs. You guys should realize KNEWTON actually gives real REFUNDS (50 points higher guarantee or your money back). while KAPLAN states you have to show NO increase. We'll let the people decide. Of course students will show some kind of increase when the latter CATs are repeating what is learned in the class/books while the first diagnostic is a paper based exam.

''Through personal experience alone (I've taught more than 1500 students), I can assure you that your results are anomalous. In fact, roughly 50% of Kaplan students go down from their diagnostic to their first CAT. '' ....So your saying roughly 750 out of the 1500 would agree with me...that's quite a ''damage'' ratio and I'm glad your admitting to it.

''One doesn't become the world test prep leader or a multi-billion dollar company by scamming one's clients. '' Kaplan may be useful for MCAT, SATs, etc. but not for GMAT. Multi-billion dollar company is easy to obtain these days...I work for a multi-billion dollar company and not on my knees. Also, my company is reimbursing me for the Kaplan Failure (1300 USD) as part of tuition reimbursement. Not all former Kaplan students have this privilege. I am reaching out to them in the form of HTML to warm them of my experience, a harsh reality.

Also, my Kaplan teacher didn't even have a real world job - so she befriends me and adds me on Linkedin.com. I'm deleting her now since there is no possible advice she could advise me.

Takeaways:
1.) The money Kaplan charges is outrageous and does not suit the material offered (reuse, recycled)
2.) Competitors offer a better service and better cost. Most importantly, offer an actual refund guarantee.
3.) Majority of former Kaplan students agree with me, strengthening my argument and weakening your biased standpoint.
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:08 am
This will be my last reply, since clearly you are one unhappy and bitter camper and nothing I say will alleviate that unhappiness.

The reason why about half of Kaplan students see an increase in their first CAT, rather than a decrease or no change, is because they actually learn alot during the first few weeks of the course. Our program is designed to help people with all levels of experience: some students have written the actual GMAT, some have done a bit of studying on their own, some have never even looked at a GMAT question before writing the diagnostic. Especially those in the last group see quick increases as they learn great test-taking strategies in the first few sessions.

I'm going to leave you with one final thought: you've jumped to the conclusion "the only reason why my CAT scores were higher than my diagnostic is because of a fault in the system". Isn't it possible that your CAT scores went up substantially because you actually learned valuable strategies and tips for the test and you got better at writing the GMAT, just as our Guarantee promises?
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by willshu » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:12 am
I have had a similar experience in terms of differing scores from the diagnostic to the CATs. I do not think Kaplan is a rip-off, in fact, the premium online program has been extremely helpful. The issue, I believe, is that the diagnostic is not a CAT test, whereas all the other tests are. Is that the case?
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by KapTeacherEli » Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:51 pm
willshu wrote:I have had a similar experience in terms of differing scores from the diagnostic to the CATs. I do not think Kaplan is a rip-off, in fact, the premium online program has been extremely helpful. The issue, I believe, is that the diagnostic is not a CAT test, whereas all the other tests are. Is that the case?
The Diagnostic is on average comparable to a CAT. However, that only applies to the AVERAGE, and among individuals it can be a bit swingy. On paper, getting easy questions wrong has a larger impact on your score, and if you get several correct guesses through luck on the paper test, there is no corresponding increase in difficulty to correct for chance. This is why the GMAT moved to a CAT format.

That being said, our diagnostic is paper-based to ENSURE that our students don't score too low. Whether it is due to awkwardness re-writing math problems from screen to paper, or the psychological impact of seeing a continuous string of hard adaptive questions, my experience has been that CATs can create scores artificially low on students unfamiliar with them.
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by prospective11 » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:15 pm
I realize that this is an old thread, but I feel obligated to state my case as it may be helpful to others considering the substantial Kaplan investment. I took the course 3 years ago. I never ended up taking the test as it didn't agree with my schedule and I didn't feel completely ready. Fast forward to this year, I signed up for the course, took every single CAT exam, attended every class, did the homework in the book, watched the lectures online, etc. I was getting great results on my CAT exams and I felt ready to take the exam. You can imagine my shock and horror when I saw that my actual score on test day was BELOW what I got on my diagnostic exam. I called Kaplan to try to redeem my Higher Score Guarantee. As some of you already mentioned, I didn't want to sign up again for a class that just failed me. The Manager at the center told me that because I took the course previously, I would only be eligible to take the class again for $299. I patiently told her that I could not afford to reinvest in materials that were clearly not helping me, but at the very least, could I just have my online material kept activated. She basically said, take the $299 offer or leave it. So I left it. Moral of the story, this company is a lot more interested in upselling than they are in seeing you achieve your best score. For as much as these exams weigh on your future and for the amount of money you invest into these resources, you would think they would be more conscientiousness about the quality of their program.

Other negatives, they fired our instructor (who was a great teacher!) midway through the course. I found out later this was done because he was given ONE negative review. Instead of letting that review weigh so heavily, I wish they would have thought about how that kind of distraction might affect the flow of the class. Also, though I tried to hang on to the online material at a desperate last attempt to get at least some kind of compensation, the online material isn't even that reliable. There were a handful of times where the online content would freeze. Very frustrating. Again, like I've said in my other reviews (because I will continue to share my story with the unsuspecting public), I'd recommend thinking long and hard before determining that Kaplan is the best way to spend your hard earned $1,500. If I could do it again, I would have found a tutor for hire and studied the Official Guide instead. The Kaplan methods can very easily be self-taught. The rest is just reviewing material you probably already know.
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:29 pm
Hi prospective,

I'm sorry that you had a negative experience. However, several parts of your story don't quite fit. First, there is no restriction on taking the guarantee the second time around--if you paid in full. However, if you already redeemed our Higher Score Guarantee to repeat the course for free, or if you paid the discounted course repeat fee that we offer as a courtesy to alumni, then you wouldn't have qualified because of the discounted/free rate.

I find it hard to believe that your instructor was fired for a negative review. At Kaplan, we are very selective in our teachers--only one out of six makes it through our auditioning and training. We value our teacher-training processes and our community of educators. On the rare occasion that a teacher's rating starts to slip, that teacher will often be sent to train with or observe Elite teachers such as myself. We know it's vital that every Kaplan teacher give his or her students the best, but we also know that students value continuity consistency--by improving our teachers this way, we can have the best of both worlds.

Finally, I'm sorry we weren't able to help you with your score. However, you said that you didn't want to reinvest in materials that were "clearly not helping you." Kaplan's CATs are accurate and valuable, and I presume you also took the GMATprep tests. If your scores were improving on those tests, then Kaplan must have been helping you! I can only speculate what kept you from performing up to your full potential on your real GMAT Test Day-- stress, distraction, exhaustion, bad luck--but it seems to me that if you were able to overcome that X-factor, your Kaplan skills would have allowed you to shine.

All that being said, I'd still like to help if at all possible. Please feel free follow up with me in PM with your name and the center you studied at. I'd be happy to take a look at your file, and speak to the center director, to clear up any lingering miscommunications and see if there is anything that Kaplan can do to help you beat the GMAT.
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by prospective11 » Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:32 pm
I was given a 10% discount on the course because I had taken it previously. As for my instructor getting fired over one negative review, that is what he told me later in confidence. He waited until after the course was over to respond to my email, but that was what was explained to him. It all was very suspicious to me as he emailed our class earlier that day about our upcoming lesson that evening and then when it came class time we were greeted with one Kaplan Manager and our new instructor. Their explanation being something along the lines of "scheduling/personal issues came up." I thought the instructor was a superb teacher at math, whereas our instructor for the last 3 or 4 sessions admitted that verbal was more his strength. Unfortunately for me, the math coaching is what I needed the most.

As far as what happened on the test day, I can say with confidence that stress, distraction and exhaustion did not play a role. In fact, I was in shock to see my test score on the screen. You can blame "bad luck," but c'mon. I was fully expecting to be within range of what I was scoring on the Kaplan CATs. You can argue all day long that Kaplan's tests are accurate and valuable, but yielding a result like mine does not support at all that they'd serve as any kind of indicator of the real thing.

I already spoke to the center director, but she made it clear to me that she would not honor a refund and retaking the course for $299 was all she would do. Certainly, you must understand my frustration after already having invested so much money and having gained nothing in return. The fact, too, that a Higher Score Guarantee is in place and almost impossible to redeem, leads me to believe that cases like mine aren't as rare as the company would like everyone to believe.
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by KapTeacherEli » Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:28 pm
Hi Prospective,

At this point, I've made the best offer I can, which is to contact your center director myself and attempt to clear up any lingering miscommunications. There is nothing else I can do, except to point to the tens of thousands of Kaplan students that have gotten in to Business, Law, and Graduate school with test scores improved by our courses.
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by Tani » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:03 am
The nature of a computer adaptive test is that most people get a similar percent of questions correct. The test keeps giving harder questions until the student is getting approximately half the questions right. That then become the score level. So, students who get a 500 will reach their level and then start missing half the questions and the same thing will happen to students who get a 700. The percent correct for the two students will be similar. However, the student with the 700 will be missing ( and getting correct) 50% of very difficult questions while the student with a 500 will be missing average difficulty questions. I see this all the time with my students. They will see their scores climb significantly while their percent correct barely changes.
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by KapTeacherEli » Wed Sep 28, 2011 7:54 am
Kaplan appreciates all student concerns, as our constant responses in this forum clearly show. However, gmatpig, you have clearly indicated shown that you. Of your two other posts on this forum, one was deleted and the other was a similar screed against Veritas. Furthermore, rather than post your concerns in a new thread, you dug up a thread whose last post was 11 months ago. This violates forum policy. For these reasons, I'm locking this thread.

As to your specific complaints, the retake is absolutely worth students time. I can personally attest to a number of students who, either do to bad luck or due to life interfering, weren't able to get the score they wanted the first time around, but succeeded the second. And as for the post you linked, I can't comment at all on its legitimacy. That's because, as the article makes clear, Kaplan Higher Education is a diferent company from Kaplan Test Prep. It has different management, different employees, and different policies. The only thing Kaplan Test Prep shares with them is a name and a parent company.
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