U.S. News and World Report: “Test Prep: 6 Tips for GRE Success”
Announcement Comes as New Kaplan Survey Results Show Most Pre-Law Students Consistently View Law School Rankings to be a Top Factor in Deciding Where They Enroll
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanLSATPrep, @KaplanBarReview
New York, NY (April 23, 2014) — Pre-law students, law school students and other members of the legal education community will want to tune in on Tuesday, April 29, at 8 PM ET for a special edition of Kaplan’s live, online talk show about legal issues, The 180, when a panel of experts announces and discusses Above The Law’s 2014 law school rankings. Above The Law – the preeminent legal blog regularly visited by pre-law students, law school students, and law school administrators nationwide – emerged on the rankings scene in 2013, focusing on the outcomes law students care about most like jobs that are actually in the legal industry, school costs and alumni satisfaction, and less on inputs like LSAT scores and GPA.
The live broadcast comes as Kaplan Test Prep rolls out the results of a survey taken of pre-law students in February 2014*, which found the following:
According to previous Kaplan research of graduating law school students** though, the single biggest factor graduating law school students said pre-law students should focus on was a school’s job placement rate followed by affordability/tuition.
“We’re excited to be working with Kaplan to release our Second Annual ATL Law School rankings on their live webcast,” said Elie Mystal, editor, Above The Law, who will be on the expert panel discussing the rankings. “Our rankings are focused on what pre-law students should be concerned about when they graduate from law school, not just when they start. We think that the strength of a law school is better reflected by their job placement rates, affordability, and their skill helping graduates achieve the careers they want, as opposed to the amount of money schools spend on their faculty. We’re more concerned about what the law school can do for the students than what the students can do for the prestige of the law school.”
“Talk to any law student and most will eventually admit that where a law school placed in the rankings was one of the biggest reasons they enrolled in a particular program,” said Jeff Thomas, executive director of pre-law programs, Kaplan Test Prep, who will also be a part of the panel discussion. “At Kaplan, we tell students that the rankings can serve as good aggregate sources of data around job placement stats, academic life and other considerations, but ultimately each law school applicant should enroll in a JD program that is the best overall ‘fit’ for the individual’s professional, financial, and lifestyle goals and needs.”
To attend this live, online event for pre-law and law school students, register at http://the180.com. To join in on the social media chat, use the hashtag #Kaplan180.
*The e-survey included responses from 227 pre-law students who took a Kaplan LSAT course and sat for the February 2014 administration of the LSAT.
**The e-survey included responses from 697 law school students who took a Kaplan Bar Review course and sat for July 2013 administrations of state bar exams across the country.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services. Additionally, Kaplan operates new economy skills training (NEST) bootcamps designed to provide immersive training in skills that are in high demand in today’s job market and prepare participants for hire.
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New SAT Set to Launch in 2016 Will Require Greater Stamina,
Stronger Knowledge of Math Fundamentals
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews
New York, NY (April 16, 2014) — Specifications of the new SAT just released today indicate students will require stronger knowledge of math fundamentals and greater stamina for reading comprehension passages — the latter being a potential challenge for students wary of taking a 3-plus hour test on computer. A recent Kaplan Test Prep survey of high school students* shows that while students generally support the SAT changes scheduled to launch in 2016, such as eliminating fill-in-the-blank vocabulary and the wrong answer penalty, a majority (56%) are resistant to the test’s planned move to digital. In a previous Kaplan survey, students expressed concerns about the strain of looking at a computer screen for four hours and potential technical issues, as well as a preference for the tactile nature of writing, ‘scratch work’ and flipping pages.
“Students generally support the changes to the SAT, though in our surveys they’ve expressed concerns about its move to a computer-based format. In that regard, the shift to more long passage reading comprehension will require more stamina,” said Seppy Basili, vice president, Kaplan Test Prep. “In addition to having questions about the test’s move to digital, students have also asked about the elimination of calculator use for some math questions. What that change means is that they will need strong fundamental math skills, such as mental percentage calculation. The good news is that because many key changes to the test make it more like the ACT, it lessens the uncertainty that can breed anxiety, and we know that confidence is key to test success.”
As for the other changes coming to the SAT, students are supportive of some, split on others:
Current high school sophomores, juniors and seniors will be unaffected by the SAT changes.
For more information about Kaplan Test Prep’s survey, the new SAT or to arrange an interview with a Kaplan Test Prep expert on the college admissions process, contact Russell Schaffer at 212.453.7538 or russell.schaffer@kaplan.com. More information about the changes is also available at Kaplan’s SAT changes resource site,www.satchange.com.
*From a Kaplan March 2014 e-survey of 335 students from across the United States who took a Kaplan SAT course and took the March SAT.
SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services. Additionally, Kaplan operates new economy skills training (NEST) bootcamps designed to provide immersive training in skills that are in high demand in today’s job market and prepare participants for hire.
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