PrepScholar Review: Test Prep And College Admissions Counseling

PrepScholar is a test prep and college consulting service for high school, college, and graduate students. For test preparation, you’ll have the option to take an online course, group classes, or one-on-one tutoring sessions. Admissions counseling services include essay editing, application reviews, and admissions mentoring.

Courses are more affordable than many competitors and include a money-back score improvement guarantee. College admissions packages come with four-figure price tags, making them cheaper than top-tier admissions counselors but still a sizable investment. Here’s a closer look at PrepScholar programs to help you understand if they could suit you or your child.

What Is Prepscholar?

Prepscholar was founded in 2013 by Harvard grads to offer support to students looking to get into the top colleges and universities. Every tutor and counselor they hire has scored in the 99th percentile on admissions exams but also attended a prestigious school themselves. 

They also offer several guarantees on their test prep. If you don't see the following increases in your score, the test prep is free.  Those increases are as follows:

• SAT - 160 points
• ACT -  4 points
• PSAT - 150 points
• GRE - 7 points
• GMAT - 60 points
• TOEFL - 15 points

They report that their students are 6.1 times more likely to get into a top 10 school, 5.9 times likely to get into an Ivy League school, and have a 99% chance to get into one of their top-choice schools.

They work to understand what makes each student unique and devise a strategy to help them stand out among all the other applicants. 

The complete admissions package gives full support for up to 12 college applications. This includes everything from school selection to interview prep. They also have a package for 9th to 11th graders that will set up a plan to build the students profile over their high school career to best position them for college applications. 

They also have less intensive packages which include review of applications and essay coaching and editing. 

Unlike a lot of admissions consultants their pricing is fully transparent on their website. It's not uncommon in this industry to have to set up a call in order to find out pricing, that's a nice switch. 

What Does It Offer?

PrepScholar divides its services into two categories: test preparation and admissions counseling.

Test Preparation

For standardized tests, PrepScholar offers courses, classes, and tutoring for the following tests:

• SAT
• ACT
• PSAT
• AP
• GRE
• GMAT
• TOEFL

Pricing varies depending on the course or package you choose. For example, the lowest-cost online SAT course costs $397 and includes a 160-point score improvement guarantee. Prices go up to $995 for packages including private one-on-one tutoring. ACT prep has the same pricing and comes with an improvement guarantee of at least four points, or it's free.

Other tests have different options, such as hourly packages for AP tests and various combinations of courses, tutoring, and access to other college admissions resources.

Admissions Counseling

Admissions support starts with a free consultation. They offer four admissions packages.

The “Complete Admissions Package” includes full support for up to 12 applications, weekly one-on-one meetings with a counselor, application narrative strategy, help choosing schools to apply, help with all of your essays, interview prep, and scholarship support. That package costs $6,895, a significant cost but less than you’ll pay top-tier admissions counselors like IvyWise.

The "Annual Mentorship Package" is for 9th to 11th graders. This package includes a 12-month profile building plan, twice a month meetings with a counselor, assistance choosing extracurriculars and summer activities, high school coursework selection, major selection, entrance exam strategy, and passion project guidance. This package costs $4,895. 

The "Application Review Service" includes an expert review of up college applications. A review consists of an evaluation of the application and up to three rounds of edits. Pricing depends on how many applications you want reviewed, it starts at $495 for one review and goes up to $3,153 for 10 applications. 

The "Essay  Coaching Services" has two levels. Full Essay Service and Essay Editing. In the Full Essay Service you will meet with a counselor who will get to know you or your student and come up with an angle for the essay that will make you stand out. They will then work with you on writing the essay and give you feedback and edits along the way. Pricing is based on the length of the essay and start at $595 for up to 650 words and go up to $3,589 for 5,000 words. 

The Essay Editing Service is useful for when you already have your essay written and you just want some expert editing and feedback. You'll get up to five rounds of edits. Pricing is also based on the length of the essay and prices start at $195 for up to 650 words and go up to $1,194 for up to 5,000 words. 

How Does PrepScholar Work?

For test preparation only, you can sign up for your desired course or package online. Some plans include a free trial, such as the five-day trial with the SAT and ACT programs. Higher-priced plans require you to sign up for classes with a live instructor or set one-on-one tutoring appointments.

For SAT and ACT prep, the top three tiers include the Admissions Bootcamp, a course walking you through the admissions process with helpful tips and advice.

According to PrepScholar, admissions consulting clients are 6.1 times more likely to gain admissions to a top 10 school compared to the national average. Admissions programs start with a free consultation, or you can sign up directly online.

The four packages include the Complete Admissions Package, Application Review Service, or Essay Coaching Service for high school seniors. 9th to 11th-grade students can sign up for annual mentorship, which includes bi-monthly meetings and coaching to help you refine your college strategy.

Are There Any Fees?

PrepScholar offers reasonably priced programs compared to the competition. For example, for SAT courses, PrepScholar is hundreds of dollars less than well-known names, such as PrepExpert, Kaplan, and Princeton Review.

SAT and ACT course pricing is as follows:

• Complete Online Test Prep - $395
• Complete Online Test Prep Course + Admissions Bootcamp - $595
• Instructor Led Classes with Complete Online Course and Admissions - $895
• One-On-One Tutoring + Complete Online Course and Admissions Bootcamp - starting at $995

The Complete Admissions Package for college admissions costs $6,895 and includes reviews of up to 12 applications, weekly one-on-one meetings, and unlimited essay editing.

Essay editing alone costs $195 to $1,194, depending on length. Full Essay Service costs $595 to $3,589, depending on the essay length.

Application reviews cost $495 for a single application and up to $3,153 for 10 applications. You’ll pay less per application as you add more applications.

How Does PrepScholar Compare?

PrepScholar does a good job bringing valuable test preparation courses and admissions counseling without charging the highest tier rates. While a college admissions package costing nearly $6,000 sounds like a lot (and it is!), some consultants charge thousands of dollars per hour.

Nationally, the average fee for a comprehensive admissions package is between $850 and $10,000 and $200 if charged on an hourly basis.

PrepScholar gets a 4.6 out of 5 based on user reviews on TrustPilot. Reviews say that the counselors are patient and knowledgeable. The negative reviews tend to be from students who did not complete the coursework and therefore did not improve their scores. 

How Do I Join PrepScholar?

You can sign up for PrepScholar at the PrepScholar website or learn more and sign up for admissions counseling by phone. For most web-savvy households, signing up online is a straightforward process.

Getting going with test prep only takes a few minutes. Choose your course, click the signup button, enter your contact and payment information, and you’re off and running. Admissions counseling and programs with one-on-one tutoring are a little more involved to join, but the sales and onboarding process is easy to follow.

How Do I Contact PrepScholar?

You can reach PrepScholar by phone or email. The phone number is 866-811-5546. For email contact, you can send a message to support@prepscholar.com. If you're a client, you can reach your advisor by email as well.

Is It Worth It?

Overall, PrepScholar test prep courses are a reasonably good value and are worthwhile to many college-bound students. With a money-back guarantee, you have little to lose if the student doesn’t perform as expected.

Admissions counseling is more of a personal decision, as the results are less cut-and-dry than test scores. If you’re lost in the college admissions world and can afford the extra help, it could be worthwhile. If you’re confident in your college search process or have excellent college prep resources from your high school, it may not be worth the cost.

But if you get similar results to competitors who charge much more for a similar service, you could find PrepScholar well worth it.

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