LETTER: GRE prep course not helpful
Editor,
I would like to encourage any student interested in the GRE Preparation Course offered through USU Conference Services to proceed with caution. While I know that similar courses offered at other institutions may prove helpful, I found this particular one unsatisfying, unhelpful, and a waste of my time and money.
I will outline just a few of the problems that I encountered. The materials provided were inadequate. For instance, sample essay topics were taken from the year 2002 instead of this current year, there was not an answer key for practice tests, and the practice CD that we were given was simply a burned copy, and did not load properly anyway.
In addition there were numerous instances where the instructor was unable to adequately explain how to solve math problems or to properly define the meanings of terms in the verbal section, practice essays completed in class were never returned, and no feedback was given. This all showed a complete lack of regard by the instructor.
Most alarming however was the unprofessional manner in which this situation was handled by USU Conference Services. To my surprise there was not a formal evaluation of the class by Conference Services. Despite this, a student in the class took the time to construct a measure to evaluate the class, distributed to members of the class, and then took that feedback to those in charge of this class.
Despite some of the problems that were noted in this feedback, to my knowledge nothing has been done. The same individuals will be teaching the course, and there was no guarantee that the class would be altered significantly in the way that it needed to be.
Thus, I encourage anyone thinking of enrolling, or already enrolled to proceed with caution. If you are not satisfied with the first class, please do not expect it to get better. Instead, demand your money back immediately, while you still can. In addition, I hope that Conference Services will implement formal evaluations of the activities that they offer.
Johnathan Nelson