2008 Woodie Awards
Students don't sweat the test
Wendy Wills / Staff Reporter
- Page 1 of 1
When it comes to taking tests, some students sweat bullets while others hit a stage of pure panic. These reactions are normal for many students taking an undergraduate or graduate school entrance exam. Fortunately, students can prepare for such tests with prep courses offered at the University of West Florida.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions have testing locations all over the world. According to its website, Kaplan has been number one in preparing students for examinations for the past 60 years. The company assists students at UWF by offering classes to help them be better prepared for tests such as the CLAST, FTCE, ACT and SAT, among others.
"We have prep courses for LSAT, GMAT, GRE, MCAT, and we're going to do a free class for practice tests on Sept. 17," Kaplan Community Director for Northwest Florida Shawn Henning said. Senior Michael Andrews, a history major, took the LSAT prep course last spring.
Teachers of the prep course "teach techniques and basic strategies for doing well," Andrews said. "They do logic games. They show you the best way to answer questions. You weed out the wrong answers. If there are four answers, you learn how to find the one right answer."
The prep courses are offered throughout the school year, and UWF test administrator Cecilia Vance said that most of the tests are taken on paper. Those tests will be given in classrooms on campus. She said computer-based tests, such as the CLAST, CLEP and FTCE are taken in the testing office.
The cost of the prep classes range from approximately $1,000 to $1,500. "Our classes are several sessions long," Henning said. She said there are usually 12 sessions that are about three hours long. "We make published LSAT questions available to our students," she said. A full online component and extra practice is included in the prep courses.
"The students take 35 assessment tests to help them know how much time they have," Henning said. She said the course emphasizes on the 3 C's: content, critical thinking, and crisis management.
The classes usually contain 15 people or fewer. The students "get a lot of one-on-one time with the instructor," Henning said. Henning said the help offered at the courses can really make a difference. She said one parent told her that if her daughter had scored one point higher on the ACT, she would have received $18,000 more in scholarship money.
Henning said that according to a 1994 statistical analysis by Pricewater House Accounting Firm, scores drastically improved. There was an average GMAT increase of 80 points and average GRE increase of 20 points.
"The average score on the LSAT increased eight points, which can take (students) from the 50th percentile up to the 80th percentile," Henning said.
She said if someone is not pleased with the test score, he or she could come back and study with Kaplan for free.
"We promise if they do all we ask them to, the program will work," Henning said. "We promise you will score higher or get your money back if you're not
satisfied."
Some upcoming free events may interest future test takers. On Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., there will be strategy seminars for the GRE, GMAT, LAST and MCAT. Free practice tests for GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, DAT and PCAT will be offered Sept. 17. Upcoming classes will take place Sept. 20, Oct. 1, Oct. 9, and Oct. 15.
Students can register for prep courses by calling 1-800-KAP-TEST or by visiting the Kaplan website. To register to take a test, students can contact the above sources or pick up a schedule at the service desk in the Commons. To register to take a computer-based test, students can stop in building 21 or call 473-7340 for an appointment.