Kaplan GMAT Premium Online Course Debrief 1 - Komal
The following is a guest post by Komal, one of the five Giant GMAT Giveaway winners for Beat The GMAT. For her prize, Komal chose the Kaplan GMAT Premium Online Course and she has written a candid debrief of her experience so far. This is the first of five articles Komal will write for the Beat The GMAT community providing a straightforward and inside look into her GMAT prep with Kaplan. Heres Komals first impressions.
Hello all,
First off I would like to thank Beat The GMAT and Kaplan for giving me the opportunity to experience the Kaplan Premium Online course. The online course is valid for 3 months and is basically the same thing as the classroom course except that you can watch the recorded videos in an online course as many times as you want during the 3-months you have access.
Getting Started
I got enrolled in the Kaplan Premium Online Course in the 3rd week of March 2010 and I must say that Ms. Alex (Educational Advisor at Kaplan) made the entire enrollment process over the phone very easy for me. My course materials which included Official Guide 12th Edition, a 400+ page Kaplan course book, a GMAT pocket reference booklet, scratch book and a non-permanent marker arrived at my preferred address within a week (I am based outside of the US). I was ready to start way before I had expected! The course book is intended for use during the 9-session course and covers every major topic tested on the GMAT. The mini pocket book contains summaries/reference of both verbal and quant topics and comes in very handy.
The first time I logged onto the Online course, I was really amazed by the simple layout of the course. There are a total of9 sessions in the course. Every session is preceded by a short preview of what is to be expected in the session. And after every session there is a review video, which basically tells us about all the assignments to be completed before taking the next session. I could tell it is going to take a lot of effort on my side to get the most out of the course.
Resources at my fingertips
After watching the orientation video it was easy for me to navigate my way through each section of the syllabus. I could see how comprehensive each section is. There is a massive amount of resources including Kaplans Quiz Bank, with over 1400+ questions categorized by every Verbal and Quanttopic tested on the GMAT. (I thought they had about 6000+ practice questions but I was unable to locate more questions. I guess I will find those extra questions soon). I could not believe it when I saw the number of workshops included in the course. The workshopsranged from Algebra/Geometry basics to more advanced topics. There was also a number of basic and advanced Verbal skill building workshops. To be honest the amount of resources in the course definitely surpassed my expectations.
My first diagnostic test and the SMART Report
The first item on the syllabus is a diagnostic test. I took the diagnostic test and at the end of it I got a detailed analysis of every question plus the next recommended steps to improve on my weaknesses. This detailed report is called a SMART REPORT and I must say it is aptly named. Just by going through the Smart Report I could identify what my strengths are and what I need to improve on. Next, I watched a few basic workshops on algebra, reading comprehension, strategic reading, problem solving etc. Most basic workshop videos I watched are less than 45 minutes long but everything I learned from those workshops is far more than I could have learned in one month of self-study. After completing the workshops, I took the recommended quizzes to practice what I had learned. I could see a marked improvement in my understanding of each topic.
Already a higher score on the OG after my first session!
I have only taken the first session till date. The teachers make every topic easy to follow. The first session is all about strategic reading in Critical Reasoning as well as strategic reading in Quants. It also includes Kaplan's strategy of picking numbers in Quants. I applied a few strategies while taking the diagnostic test on the OG. It proved to be very helpful in that just after the first session I scored more on the OG diagnostic test than I had score on the Kaplan diagnostic test, which I took before the first session. Before taking the second session, I will make sure that I take a few more basic workshops. Overall up until now, I feel Kaplan has far exceeded my expectations in terms of course content, resources and level of teaching. I cant wait to take my next session.
Best Regards,
Komal
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