Kaplan GRE Prep Course Review 

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) preparation can be daunting for many students and professionals looking to begin their postgraduate journey. Therefore, enrolling in the perfect prep cause for your needs is essential to your success. 

The Kaplan GRE prep course is one of the most prominent programs. So, we’re here to help you determine if investing in this course can help you achieve a high GRE score. We bought the Kaplan GRE prep course and spent weeks using it to bring you a comprehensive review. 

Is the Kaplan GRE Prep Course Right for You?

Who we recommend the course for:

• Self-studiers who need a bit of support in their GRE prep
• Students looking for a customized learning experience

Who we don’t recommend the course for:

• Visual learners who appreciate more video answer explanations
• Someone who prefers group learning 

Kaplan GRE Overview

Kaplan's offers flexible online program that can be utilized for one month or six months, depending on your chosen plan.

The course provides a variety of resources such as practice question banks, comprehensive full-length tests, score predictors, vocabulary flashcards, video lessons categorized by topic, and official practice questions.

Furthermore, you have the option to enhance your learning experience by upgrading to the live class options, which include unlimited class attendance. Each class provides a homework assignment, allowing students to apply and practice the concepts they've learned.

Kaplan GRE prep course similarities

Let’s look at the similarities in Kaplan’s GRE prep courses.

• Lessons and resources: The Kaplan live class or tutoring packages include access to the self-paced GRE course platform, which contains 180+ hours of learning material. 
• Practice tests: The Test Day Experience feature allows users to take a practice GRE test under realistic conditions.
• Score increase: None of the courses on Kaplan has a specified GRE score improvement guarantee.

Kaplan GRE prep course distinctions

Several features set the Kaplan self-paced and live online GRE prep courses apart. Let’s discuss these differences.

• Access period: The self-paced course comes with six months of access.
• Pricing: The self-paced GRE course costs $449, whereas the live online course costs $999. The Live Online Plus course, on the other hand, costs $1299.
• Live lessons: The live online GRE course has seven sessions comprising 21 instructional hours.

Lesson Quality

Self-paced GRE course

The self-paced course contains about 20 video lessons covering all three measures of the GRE, with most of the lessons dedicated to the Quant measure. 

Video lessons are taught by multiple on-camera instructors using a reversed glass board for annotations. 

Each verbal reasoning (VR)- or quantitative reasoning (QR)-centered video lesson is accompanied by a 5- or 10-minute quiz, allowing you to test your understanding of the lesson content. Kaplan mainly focused on GRE-specific strategies for each question type in the VR and QR measures.

Kaplan’s content recommendation tool also contains quizzes and video lessons curated for you based on your performance on their full-length diagnostic GRE practice test. This way, you can complete the course in a more personalized manner.

However, self-paced video lessons are not all brief. Some videos are an hour long. Moreover, the self-paced lessons don’t spend enough time teaching general concepts, particularly in the Quant section.

So, if your understanding of some topics in the Quant section is a bit rusty, you’ll have to explore the resources in their GRE channel. 

Live online classes

Kaplan offers 21-hour live online lessons. Users can complete these lessons in seven weekly or biweekly sessions.

Purchase of this package grants you access to the 180+ hours of learning and practice material available on the self-paced platform. You also get 40+ hours of additional live and recorded lessons on the GRE Channel.

The live online class has one on-screen instructor leading the class. At the same time, a team of Kaplan instructors are available to answer questions via private chat off-screen. In addition, you get personalized homework assignments based on your strengths and weaknesses.

Users who sign up for the Kaplan Live Online Plus course also get three hours of 1-on-1 tutoring, as well as GRE Math Foundations and Advanced Math lessons.

Review of Kaplan GRE Practice Questions & Tests

Practice questions in lessons and drills

Kaplan provides over 2,500 online unofficial GRE practice questions. However, these practice questions are the least realistic compared to other close competitors, as they do not mimic official GRE questions.

So, you should supplement your prep with Official GRE questions if you go with Kaplan.  You could use the practice questions in the Official Guide to the GRE General Test.

Full-length practice test experience

Kaplan’s GRE prep platform has seven full-length online practice tests that mimic the actual GRE. These practice tests are section-adaptive and include an unidentified experimental section, much like the real deal.

Kaplan’s partnership with Prometric Testing puts them above other GRE prep competitors. Prometric Testing owns a network of thousands of GRE test-taking centers globally. 

Thanks to this Partnership, paid users of all Kaplan GRE prep packages can take one of their seven GRE practice tests in the same room and at the exact time as others taking the Official GRE. You can also take the practice test from your home with an online proctor monitoring you.

Short of taking the actual GRE, both options present the most realistic ways of mimicking the real GRE experience.

Quality of answer explanations

The answer explanations on Kaplan’s platform are incredibly detailed and show alternate approaches to attempting each question. 

Although these text-based answer explanations are detailed, they don’t come with video explanations. Competing GRE courses like Magoosh and Manhattan Prep have video explanations in addition to text-based ones. 

Support 

It’s hard to beat Kaplan’s level of support. Their GRE Channel feature is particularly outstanding, providing unlimited access to live 1-hour classes hosted three times a week to every user of Kaplan’s paid GRE prep packages.

These live GRE channel sessions review general concepts tested on the GRE and allow you to ask questions in real time. 

Kaplan also offers their Essay Grading service to all users. This feature allows you to submit your Analytical Writing essay and receive feedback from Kaplan instructors. However, this might take longer than 10 days. 

Despite a diverse instructor talent pool, Kaplan doesn’t provide information about the qualification of their instructors. Other competitors provide details of their instructors, making it easier to evaluate the quality of instruction before investing in an instructor-led GRE course.

This lack of information on their sales page is slightly concerning, especially considering the high price point of their instructor-led courses. 

Kaplan GRE Pricing

Kaplan’s self-paced GRE course, with six months of access, is priced at $449. The pricing of their live online GRE course – with 21 hours of instruction – starts at $999 (equivalent to $47 per hour of instruction). 

They make their courses affordable by offering payment plans with up to 12 monthly installments. In addition, Kaplan occasionally runs sales that can help offset the cost of your purchase on their website.

Other Features and Resources 

Kaplan’s detailed diagnostic report is incredibly beneficial. This report is generated after you complete a full-length practice test and highlights your performance on all sections of the test.

A purchase of any prep packages comes with Kaplan’s GRE prep book. The book contains hundreds of additional GRE practice questions and stationery similar to that used during scratchwork in the Official GRE. 

Free Trials, Score Improvement, and Money-Back Policies

Availability of free trial

Kaplan offers a free trial of their live GRE course. However, there is limited access to the course content.

Score increase guarantee

Kaplan promises a score increase or your money back in their GRE prep packages. However, their guarantees are relatively weak compared to competitors like The Princeton Review and Magoosh. Kaplan’s guarantees don’t state an exact score increase. 

Money-back policy

Refunds for all Kaplan GRE prep packages are provided if you cancel within three days from the date of purchase. 

However, the refund policy of their tutoring program is stringent. You will only receive a refund of $75 per hour for every unused hour of bulk tutoring purchased if you cancel your program after the first tutoring session begins.

Considering that their rate for bulk GRE private tutoring could be as high as $230 per hour, a refund of $75 per hour for unused tutoring hours is a considerable loss for customers.

Overall, we found Kaplan’s customer policies to be deficient.

Final Recommendation 

We recommend Kaplan’s GRE prep course for self-studiers who need a bit of support in their GRE prep. This support could come from the triweekly live class sessions in their GRE Channel.

If you prefer group learning through a live GRE online course, we recommend other GRE prep course providers. The Princeton Review and Manhattan Prep, for example, offers a better bang for your buck at a similar price point.