Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions

Signed my daughter for what I thought would be private KAPLAN SHSAT Review in late April 2016. Waited for a receipt, had to call customer service for a receipt two weeks later, even though they already charged first payment. Couldn’t get response from my tutor. Second payment was charged, still no direct contact with first tutor. Got assigned a second tutor who was not aware of our schedule, start dates, etc and was also unwilling or unable to contact via phone.
When reached by email, it was obvious tutor and customer service have little autonomy to respond to refund request. Instead they offer more hours of a service we no longer want, and tell us of an eight day refund policy even though I never signed anything and had to chase them for an invoice. Still haven’t spoken to, or, emailed from a manager. Manager only exist in the third person.
It is 06÷09÷16, I’m going to file paperwork for NYC Small Claims Court and hope to get out from under this unreasonable expense for a class/​instruction that doesn’t start for two more month, so I can go somewhere reputable and responsive, like Princeton Review. KAPLAN should be ZERO STARS.

Awful experience — I signed up back in May because I’m taking the GRE in September. I was unsure about signing up because of how difficult my schedule is in the summer and I’ll be away with work often.
The customer service person I spoke to said not to worry because I can transfer my course or get refund as long as I cancel before the course starts.
I found out I need to make up 2 of my courses because I’ll be on a work trip. I signed up for 2 makeup and both were cancelled without notifying me. SO INCONVENIENT.
I asked for a refund because it doesn’t make sense for me to be enrolled in a course that I cannot attend and there are no make ups available for me (this course doesn’t start until next week). They say I can’t get a makeup because it’s after 7 days of purchase.
So bottom line is – they cancel courses often, there is poor communication within the company, refund policy is different amongst staff, not a flexible company.
Unfortunately I’m stuck taking this course since I can’t get refunded

I had enrolled both my children into the unlimited Kaplan SAT/​ACT in Queens-​Forest Hills in 2015. Unfortunately, both my children claim that the teacher is teaching 8^th grade work and is limited with knowledge to solving some problems. We also didn’t recieve our textbooks until after two workshops, for the new SAT format, Kaplan forgot to tell us we had to order the books. Isn’t that special, we pay you, and we also have to watch every step. My chlidrens peers are enrolled at a local Prep class, they all scored 1900 – 2200 on the recent SAT. Now I have to rush enrolling my two children into the other prep course which is ¹⁄₃ of the kaplan prep. Just wasted my money, sorry no refund.

We signed our daughter up for the ACT’s Prep course in which upon completion, we were to take a mock ACT exam at their facility, mirroring the actual test that she was to take the week thereafter. Two day before this exam, I received an email that this Sunday exam was cancelled due to a scheduling problem with no further explanation as to if it would be rescheduled or moved to another location. Upon calling and speaking to a variety of representatives, they simple told me that they did not have enough students signing up so they cancelled it. Kaplan’s marketing material included these practice seasons and we counted on this practice season to get a more accurate picture of what we needed to concentrate on in the final weeks of preparation. Certainly, they were not thinking of their students and were making a business decisions as to whether in was financial beneficial for them to spend the $ 200 to have a season monitored by one of their representatives. This lack of consideration was very unprofessional and demonstrated that this was just another business that did not have their clients best interest in mind.

Id leave no stars if I could.
Besides the course being horrible, 2 years after I took it the LSAT course they decided they want to charge me a second time. I took the course in 2013 and now in 2015 they have sent my information to collections for the second incorrect charge.
Youd think that customer service would want to fix something like this. Nope. I call, supervisor informs me they will look into it and call me back within 48 hours. Nope. I call again they say they’ll escalate it and Ill hear back in 48 hours. Ive call every 48 hours for over the past month now and no supervisor is ever available to speak. Or to stop the collections people that have been calling me due to Kaplans inappropriate billing practices.
This course is worthless as is their customer service.

Update: I finally spoke to a reasonable Kaplan representative who shipped me back a set of 2014 prep books. Thank you for making things right.

We signed our 12 year old daughter up for Kaplan’s SHSat test prep course at one of the local colleges. We were not able to make the day of the first class where an evaluation test would be given. Not a problem, said Kaplan, just attend a different makeup class for that day, which we did. At that makeup class, our daughter took the evaluation test and was told that she would have the results by the next class. Not so. Somehow, the results did not get posted for two weeks. So, for two weeks of classes, she did not have any idea what her strengths or weaknesses were as far as the test was concerned. That’s a problem, when part of the reason for her taking the course was to help identify her weaknesses and then help her fix them.
Now, if that were the only problem we had with the course, I wouldn’t have bothered to post s review. However, due to teacher ‘problems’, several days of the course have been cancelled (they give random make up days).
Her class started at 9am. So you can imagine my delight as a parent when I have dropped my daughter off for her class, only to get home, check my email and find that at 8:59AM, Kaplan had sent an email saying that the class that day was cancelled. Seriously, 1 minute before?!? A week later, I dropped my daughter off for her class and then received a voice message from Kaplan at 9:38am stating to check my email for an important message, which message stated that the class would be starting late that day at 9:20AM.
With college sexual assaults on the rise, not really a fan of the thought of my 12 year old daughter (tall — looks quite a bit older), standing around on a college campus waiting for instructors who never show up or show up late.
As for the makeup class dates — it is summer, Kaplan! Do you think perhaps, that we picked the course we did, so that it would fit into our schedule and not conflict with vacation or other plans? So just maybe, scheduling makeups for the following weeks after the course was supposed to have ended is a problem.

I recently signed up for the Kaplan on site advantage Gre course. I heard great things about Kaplan from others and decided to pony up the $ 1,300 and take the course. The verbal teacher I had for the course was great really learned from him. The math teacher unfortunately needs to take a few teaching classes. He was intelligent but being smart and being able to convey math techniques are too different things. I called Kaplan up to see if I could somehow keep the reading portion but drop the math, maybe take it anther time. I was informed that it was a packaged deal. (Whatever happen to making sure the customer is happy) After being on the phone for an hour with a rep I decided to cancel the course it wasn’t worth taking a math that i was not learning from. According to Kaplan I could not get my refund because I had 3 classes. Mind you I signed up for the class the day after the first class started and walked out after 10 mins of my math class cause the teacher sucked. Kaplan refused saying regardless of if I went to the classes or not I cant get my money back. WTF is that !! I haven’t even begun to really take any of your classes. Kaplan is a shakedown and does not cater to a students needs.

For the past 3 weeks Kaplan never sent Pearson testing center my new authorization code.
For the past 3 weeks After I ordered 15h of private tutoring from Kaplan I cannot book my Kaplan CAT experience test. That is very upsetting, since my GMAT test is in a month.
I wrote Kaplan several emails during those three weeks and the problem is still there.

I took a class, online software is terrible and not helpful at all, teacher was funny, but since I’m looking for higher scores. Teacher also didn’t seem to seem too knowledgeable on the subject (They knew about it, but just not in detail).

My previous review was removed by Unilocal!!!I took their FINRA class. Absolutely terrible online access, software package and remote access. The teacher was entertaining and engaging, so that was good. Prep materials were not good either. Find another option

Here’s my Kaplan story:
I’ve been thinking about business school, so I ponied up the $ 1,500 for a GMAT review course for July-​August 2010 at the Cooper Square location in NYC. Now, I fully admit culpability when it comes to this next part, but right before the course was scheduled to begin, my work schedule changed and I was forced to withdraw from the course. Kaplan’s website implies that the refund process is simple and efficient; nothing could be further from the truth.
First, I was charged a $ 200 refund fee and another $ 16 fee on top of that. I’m willing to deal with that, though, since $ 216 isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things. In retrospect, I should have kept all $ 1,500 (hindsight being 20/​20, of course), but re-​acquiring $ 1,284 still isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Unfortunately, just before the refund was due to be credited to my account, I lost my wallet and cancelled all of my cards — including the card that I used to purchase my Kaplan class (which, of course, was the card to which, legally, they have to credit my refund).
I never considered this, however, and went about my business blissfully ignorant of what was happening behind the scenes. In truth, the refund, unable to be credited to my defunct card, was bounced back to Kaplan, where it sat in limbo. No-​one alerted me to this, though; in October, I looked back over my bank account statements and noticed that there wasn’t a credit from Kaplan listed at any point over the previous months.
When I called to try to figure out what was going on, I was informed that, yes, there had been a processing error and that my refund could be completed as planned… now that I’d brought the issue to their attention. Great. Of course, they couldn’t credit the money to my new card (which I completely understand), but I figured they could send me a check. Instead, I was told that they had to re-​process the refund on the old card, get the money bounced back, and THEN issue a check. The whole ordeal would last about 4 – 6 weeks.
I’ll chalk up the refund fees as a tax on foolhardiness, but I am utterly confused as to why they need to re-​run a refund on a card they know is defunct before they can issue a check. The rep I spoke with also added that I should «follow up in about a week or two» to make sure things were still on track. Why didn’t they just issue a check the FIRST time the money was bounced back to them?
Keep in mind that I paid for this course in May 2010. We’re now at the end of October. I gave them $ 216 for *nothing at all* and am merely hoping to recoup the remaining amount of money that I foolishly squandered on them. When the money was bounced back the first time, why didn’t they issue a check straight away? Why did I have to follow up on my transaction? If I hadn’t, would they have simply kept my $ 1,284 in perpetuity? Their actions seem to imply that they would have.
This was the first and LAST Kaplan course I will ever sign up for. My dealings with Kaplan have shed a great deal of light on some practices that I find abhorent and designed specifically to separate people from their money. They won’t get a penny more than the $ 216 they already took from me. If I can’t trust a company with my money, I’ll take my business elsewhere. If you’re sure — we’re talking complete, ironclad certainty here — that you’re going to be able to attend the class you’re signing up for, then by all means try Kaplan. If you think you might have to get a refund, though, try someone else.

+ Spacious study area hidden in the back conducive to hardcore productivity
+ Superfluous supply of scrap paper in a variety of fun neon colors
+ Impressive vending machine selections, like dirty chips and flax pretzels
+ Brand spanking new Starbucks machine in the student lounge
— holy heck, please clean those bathrooms

I never expected Kaplan to help me in preparation for my LSAT as much as it has thus far — my teachers are great, the center is good to study at, and also their customer service is excellent. They are on the ball, attentive and really want to make sure that you feel you get what you need out of the classes, even if you decide to retake the course (for free), which they are really cool about.
There are good people working here, as well as the midtown center, always super nice!

You have 75 minutes to evaluate Kaplan’s GMAT course on the basis of this review. Fill in the bubbles «Useful», «Funny» and/​or «Cool» when you have made your decision.
Question 1
Andrew B: My score on the GMAT definitely improved after taking the Kaplan course, and I am totally jazzed about how I did (yes, jazzed!). The absolute only reason why my score improved is because of all the totally useful things I learned at Kaplan!!!
Which of the following, if true, would weaken the the argument presented by Andrew B?
A) The Kaplan center is hella nast, and smells like mold sometimes.
B) Andrew B’s Advanced GMAT teacher Max Zener was excellent, and helped motivate and prepare all of his students for the test.
C) The so-​called «Kaplan method» is merely a set of shortcuts and over-​generalizations that did not really serve Andrew B well in mastering more advanced material.
D) The basis for the score increase is an original test administered and designed by Kaplan, which may be scored more harshly than the real GMAT exam.
E) Manhattan GMAT might have better options than Kaplan for more advanced test-​takers.
We’re looking for another viable reason why Andrew B’s score would have improved even if he hadn’t learned «totally useful things» at Kaplan. Your pre-​phrase should be something like: Andrew B achieved most of his improvement merely from test experience. Though all of the answer choices are pretty much true, the correct answer is D. Only choice D speaks to why the skills learned are not the reason for the score increase. Choices A and E are out of scope. Choice B is a 180 – it strengthens the argument, not weakens it. Choice C is tempting because it speaks to the uselessness of some Kaplan methods; however, it does not speak to other useful skills learned from Kaplan that Andrew B used to succeed, such as arithmetic drills, probability review and tough grammar practice.
Question 2:
If x is a positive integer greater than mivs2, is (x-390?)/(4% T)?
1) x = mivs1
2) x = mivsmivs
The answer is D, both choices are sufficient for temporary insanity. For some reason, I found it excruciating when questions were html gobbledygook, or when questions had typos or mistakes (a handful of them content mistakes). I think when you’re preaching about how to be exact, you should have pretty high standards. The online forms were generally not very user-​friendly. I complained a lot, so they may have fixed some problems.
Best of luck in your GMAT quest!