Prep Expert Review: More Than Just Test Prep

Prep Expert is a college admissions preparatory service offering help with standardized tests, general academic tutoring, and college admissions counseling. Featured on the show Shark Tank, Prep Expert features a guarantee that clients will see increased SAT and ACT scores or a five-figure increase in scholarship funds.

Pricing is more reasonable than some high-end competitors, though one-on-one admissions counseling is still costly for many families.

Here’s a closer look at how Prep Expert works, what it costs, and what to know if you’re considering Prep Expert for you or your child. Keep reading to learn more.

What Is Prep Expert?

Prep Expert is a college testing and admissions prep service based in Las Vegas. The main services offered focus on helping students improve their performance on standardized tests, namely the SAT and ACT tests.

Dr. Shaan Patel, the company’s founder and CEO, achieved a perfect SAT score and shares a similar system with clients looking to improve their scores. Prep Expert offers a guarantee that scores will increase significantly on both tests.

Beyond the SAT and ACT, students can sign up for one-on-one tutoring for AP tests, graduate admissions tests, and a wide range of academic subjects. You can pick your own Prep Expert tutor based on your needs from a group of about 20 experts.

Academic admissions counseling is a bit more expensive than the other services. Packages include 25 to 60 hours of counseling recommended for students from 8th grade through seniors in high school.

Prep Expert earned additional exposure through an appearance on Shark Tank, where famous investor Mark Cuban made a deal to invest in the company.

What Does It Offer?

Prep Expert offerings are divided between test preparation, tutoring, and admissions counseling. You may want one or a combination of services depending on your needs.

SAT And ACT Test Prep

The flagship service of Prep Expert is a set of SAT and ACT courses. The company makes bold guarantees. Students are guaranteed a 200-point improvement for the SAT with either the six-week or eight-week courses. ACT scores are guaranteed to improve by at least four points with the six-week or eight-week course.

Both tests are supported with the following schedules:

• Weekend Review: Intensive Saturday and Sunday instruction course.
• Self-Paced Video: Take as much time as you need with one year of access to a self-paced video series.
• 6-Week Flagship: The most popular offering features two weekly three-hour sessions.
• 8-Week Capstone: With this course, you’ll meet twice per week for three hours over eight weeks.

Costs vary depending on which course you choose. Only the six and eight-week courses come with a specific score improvement guarantee. Self-paced and weekend reviews also have a score improvement guarantee, but there’s no specific score.

All Access Package

The All Access Pass includes unlimited SAT, ACT, and PSAT courses, one-on-one tutoring, weekly academic coaching, scholarship assistance, and monthly mentorship sessions with the Prep Expert founder.

The program comes with a $10,000 scholarship guarantee if you use scholarship assistance. That’s a major chunk of the All Access Pass cost for some students and more than the entire cost of some programs. All Access packages are available for students from 8th to 12th grade. Younger students pay more for more years of access to Prep Expert resources.

Academic and Test Tutoring

Academic and standardized test tutoring is available from more than a dozen expert tutors. You can pick your tutor from the Prep Expert list based on your goals and their experience. In addition to SAT and ACT tests, tutoring is available for the PSAT, many AP Subject Tests, and graduate exams such as the GMAT and GRE, among others.

Academic subject tutoring is supported for math, English, science, social studies, business and technology, foreign languages, engineering, and music.

Admissions Counseling

One-on-one admissions counseling focuses on college planning and applications for grades seven through 12. After a free consultation, you can move forward with one of three packages, including a specific number of hours with a counselor or a custom package based on your goals and needs.

If you feel confident in the program, you can skip the free call and purchase one of the pre-designed packages directly on the Prep Expert website.

Prep Expert Pricing

Prep Expert isn’t cheap but much more affordable than high-tier programs like IvyWise. Here’s a snapshot of pricing for Prep Expert programs:

SAT and ACT Courses

SAT and ACT courses cost between $599 and $1,699. The cost breaks down to $13.88 to $23.30 per hour. You’ll pay more for longer courses and less for shorter courses in total.

All Access Passes

All Access Passes cost more for younger students and less for those closer to high school graduation. 8th grade All Access Pass fees range from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on your chosen package. For high school seniors, costs go from $1,000 to $5,000. Add-ons are available for all age groups with costs up to $20,000, depending on which add-ons you want.

Tutoring

Academic and test tutoring costs start at $69 per hour and go up depending on your chosen tutor. Tutoring is priced hourly and comes with one-on-one help.

Admissions Counseling

Of the three main packages, you’ll spend $6,999 for 25 hours, $9,999 for 40 hours, or $13,999 for 60 hours of one-on-one counseling. Custom packages are more or less expensive, depending on the hours you need.

How Does Prep Expert Compare?

One alternative to Prep Expert is IvyWise, a high-end college admissions counseling service. IvyWise has better overall results, but the price tag can be many times more than Prep Expert.

IvyWise features an introductory consulting session starting at $1,350, more than some complete courses from Prep Expert. One-on-one admissions counseling is also multiple times more expensive, with a rate starting at around $1,000 to $3,000 per hour at IvyWise, depending on which counselor you choose.

Another competitor is College Advisor. It offers one-on-on admissions coaching and essay editing. Rates are not published on the website but reports say it's between $1,000 and $9,000.

How Do I Get Started with Prep Expert?

Getting started with Prep Expert is easy. You can set up a 30-minute free consultation if you’d like or purchase one of the packages on the website. If you buy a course, take note of the scheduled class times.

The online checkout process is easy enough if you have your contact information and a payment card handy. You can also call 877-345-7737 to learn more and sign up by phone.

How Do I Contact Prep Expert?

You can reach Prep Expert by phone at 877-345-7737 or through a text messaging chat app built into the website. Support and additional questions can be sent by email to support@prepexpert.com. If you’re unsure about Prep Expert, you can sign up for a free 30-minute consultation.

Is It Worth It?

Prep Expert’s value depends on your college admissions prep goals. If you’re already on track to get into your choice school, paying extra for courses, tutoring, or admissions counseling may not be worthwhile.

However, in the highly competitive world of college admissions, many students want a leg up. If you want better test scores, improvement in certain subjects, or help refinding your essays and applications, Prep Expert could be a good choice. Further, with its scholarship assistance program, you could come out ahead if you earn $10,000 or more in scholarships.

Prep Expert Features