By Andrea Perera and Scott Street
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
With students putting more time and money into preparing for standardized admissions exams, the test prep industry is flourishing – some say to the disadvantage of students with similar ambitions but fewer resources.
Preparatory courses for tests such as the SAT, LSAT and GRE sprung out of a growing reliance on entrance exams in college and graduate admissions, as students began to discover how important the exams were in admissions. Student reported the prep courses raised their scores substantially, sometimes by up to 100 points on tests such as the SAT.
But while administrators remember feeling equally concerned when they took the same tests, some said that didn’t cause them to change their usual study habits.
“I don’t remember any prep courses or material,” said Dr. Neil Parker, senior associate dean of student affairs and graduate medical education in the UCLA School of Medicine. “We didn’t spend time worrying about studying, but about the results.”
For current students, however, fear about the results comes second to worries about preparing adequately for the test itself. That, Parker said, comes from a belief that the scores are all-important.
“I can’t imagine taking the (LSAT) without preparing for it. I know nothing about the LSAT and the course provides a structure that you need to prepare for it,” said Roderick Sasis, a fourth-year history and Asian American studies student as well as president and co-founder of the Pilipino Pre-Law Society.
Second-year law student Marlo Miura agreed that intimidation may force many students into preparing more for a test than they otherwise would, especially with the LSAT, since most law schools will average results if multiple scores are submitted.
“I think most people get freaked out,” said Miura, who took the LSAT twice before entering UCLA. “Especially because they know they shouldn’t take it more than once.”
For students looking into test prep, industry representatives say they have multiple options to choose from. In-class courses, prep materials and online courses are all available – for a fee.
Chris Volpe, national director of graduate course marketing at the Princeton Review, said these courses can run anywhere between $500 for online courses and $1,200 for the most expensive in-class courses.
He added that each program is different and students should shop around for the course that best suits their needs.
“Generally students come to class and work with other students in a team format, in smaller classes,” Volpe said. “These students want to work from the basics. We aren’t for review. For content, we re-teach.”
Kaplan cites the same range for course costs – $500 for online courses and $1,200 for the most expensive in-class courses. Private tutoring for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT and MCAT is also available at costs ranging between $1,999 and $4,399 – depending on the type of course and the number of hours of instruction.
Bob Verini, Director of Academic Excellence at Kaplan, said the costs of the programs can be substantial because of their high quality.
“The programs can be expensive because they have a lot of facets and we have a lot of overhead,” Verini said.
Some students, though, say only wealthy students can afford these types of courses.
“Money-wise, the people I know who have done well had money for courses. Their parents were well-off,” Sasis said.
Test prep companies, however, argue that anyone who wants to take a course can, since financial aid or fee reductions are readily available.
In addition to providing need-based tuition reimbursements, Kaplan has joined forces with Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of student loans, to create low-interest educational loans for all students enrolled in their in-class and online courses.
This new loan program means that any student, regardless of financial standing, can receive assistance, according to Kaplan.
“We will work with students to help them through it,” Verini said.
The Princeton Review Foundation sponsors non-profit courses for underrepresented minority students for all admissions tests.
According to Jay Rosner, executive director of the foundation, advisors at universities collect the students and a local Princeton Review office offers the course at a significantly reduced fee. While there isn’t currently a foundation course run through UCLA, Rosner said if he received inquiries, he would look into it.
He added that any low-income student, regardless of ethnicity, can receive a fee reduction through a local office.
“We have a general avenue for low-income students through our office and we have this specific avenue through our foundation for underrepresented students,” Rosner said.
Rosner’s foundation cited significant strides made recently in SAT preparation. A year ago, he said, the foundation involved up to 1,500 students but this year it jumped to 12,000. This jump is due, in large part, to the state-wide College Prep Partnership Program created in 1998.
The program created a special state subsidy for low-income students that enables public high schools to apply to the state department of education for funding; for every $2 the state contributes, the school matches $1. Under the plan, students only have to pay a maximum of $5 for a course that would normally cost $400-800.
Rosner noted that some high schools contract out with test prep companies, and that one-third pay their own teachers to do this.
Yet administrators point out that entrance exams aren’t the only facet of admissions, or even the most important. So while test prep programs have grown in popularity, they aren’t the only way for students to ready themselves for the admissions process.
At UCLA, on-campus counselors at the Career Center and the College of Letters & Science’s Pre-Professional Advising Office are available to help students navigate the application process at no cost.
The Career Center is a good resource for students who haven’t figured it all out yet, according to Kathy Sims, director of the center.
“You’d be surprised how many students want to go on to professional school, but when it comes right up to the time when they take exams they start to rethink those decisions,” Sims said.
The Pre-Professional Advising Office also counsels students and advises them on enhancing their entire college or graduate school application. PAO counselors, just like admissions officers, look at GPA, extracurricular activities and research and experience in the field, as well as test scores.
“Test scores are not a one-to-one predictor. They will not guarantee admissions,” said Sharif Sawires, coordinator of the PAO office.
Administrators by-and-large agree with that sentiment. But with universities still stressing academics, and test prep courses advertising substantial success rates, students must decide which method of preparation is right for them.
And that decision, according to students, is one each individual has to make.
“(Kaplan) was completely unhelpful for me,” said Miura, who took the Kaplan course in Hawaii before taking the LSAT for the first time, though she added that she had friends who were happy with the program. “Students need to do their research well, find out what the company’s improvement rate is and how they calculated it.”