Kaplan has been known for providing GED prep books for students to help them pass the four GED subtests for decades, and they also offer an online GED preparation course.
This post is a review of the GED Live program developed by Kaplan. The lessons in the course support students in sharpening their academically weaker areas with videos that explain all the GED® concepts pretty well.
Kaplan’s GED Live program comes with lots of practice questions and mock tests that are helpful in identifying weaker spots, so the students can concentrate on the subject areas that require most of their attention.
This GED preparatory program includes a diagnostic test to assess the students’ baseline performances, and there is also a full-length practice test that will indicate if they are prepared enough to take the GED exam successfully.
The GED exam contains four individual, independent sub-exams (modules) that measure a candidate’s skills and knowledge in the fields of Social Studies (incl. Geography and History), Science (incl. Chemistry and Physics), Mathematics, and English Language Arts (Writing and Reading combined).
Kaplan GED Live
Kaplan additionally features the “GED Live” program. This concept from Kaplan offers a live-streaming, interactive studying experience where students can follow recorded and live GED class sessions from their home computer, tablet, laptop, or smartphone.
Some sessions are 60 to 90 minutes long, and all GED topics and concepts are addressed. GED Live offers students ongoing and full access to Kaplan’s library that includes video recordings of all GED classes, giving students the opportunity to study anytime and anywhere they want.
A major disadvantage is in our view that Kaplan’s lessons are long, Some even between 60 and 90 minutes in length! We think many GED candidates will have trouble staying focused that long and that, with Kaplan, they might have some trouble reaching high GED test scores.
Then again, for GED students that can handle this kind of challenge, Kaplan’s lessons are highly instructive and offer interesting GED learning opportunities.
Video Lessons
Kaplan’s video lessons are pretty long. As said before, some are thirty minutes or even much longer, and (again) we wonder how the students can stay focused and concentrated for such a long time span.
Kaplan crammed lots of GED concepts together in their videos, and we think that’s a major setback compared to other GED prep courses where the GED topics are presented one (or just a few) at a time per video lesson.
Smart Reports technology
Kaplan utilizes Smart Reports Technology in its GED prep course. This technology analyzes and monitors the students’ study performance and shows them how to improve their study results. This is actually a good feature of the Kaplan course, but other courses offer similar options.
Students can print out the text transcripts of the video lessons, but that’s rather complicated as it requires some effort to locate the “download lecture notes” link (hidden on the page’s bottom).
If you check this link, a pdf document with lots of pages opens up, so before you start printing these notes, be aware of the volume! Kaplan could have done this a lot smarter!
As said earlier, Kaplan’s GED lessons are quite long, and this makes the lectures somewhat boring. We have received several reports from students who had difficulties in keeping concentrating on the GED topics.
Support
Kaplan’s course includes 24/7 email support from instructors. They claim to respond to all GED questions within 24 hours, but when it comes to guarantees, the Kaplan course doesn’t give any sort of result or score guarantee.
This is, for us, somewhat strange since courses by, for example, the Princeton Review (SAT and ACT prep courses) guarantee a 1400 SAT score or a 31 ACT score. If students don’t reach these scores, they can choose between getting a refund or taking the course again at no cost.
Another setback of the Kaplan course is that the students don’t get free GED Ready practice tests, as, for example, included in Onsego’s GED “My Advantage” programs that also include a GED Calculator Course, a Motivation Course, and a Quitting Protection Course.
The official GED Ready® test, developed by the people that also designed the real GED test, is the only test that predicts if candidates are ready for the real thing or if more study is required.
Kaplan GED Prep Cost
Kaplan’s GED prep program will set you back $129 per 3 months. The program gives you full access to all GED topics at once, so you can decide for yourself which GED subjects you want to study and when.
As opposed to other GED prep courses such as Onsego and more programs, Kaplan’s course includes just four or five long video lessons for each GED subject test. That may cause, again, some confusion and concentration issues.
Alternatives To Kaplan GED Prep
Though we feel that Kaplan’s lessons are way too lengthy, the course is worth trying. There are, however, some alternative options available that we also reviewed on our GED Prep website. Here are more GED prep options:
- Onsego GED Prep Review
- GED Academy Review
- GED Flash Aztek Review
- Khan Academy GED Prep Review
- Mometrix GED Prep Review
- GED Play From Aztec Review
- Onsego GED Calculator Course Review
The Online GED Test
The four independent GED subtests can be taken at one of your state’s designated testing locations or in an online proctored format.
If you want to take the GED exam online, you first will have to attain “green” scores (in the passing score zone) of the GED Ready official practice test designed by GED Testing Service. If you don’t, you are not eligible for online testing.
You can buy the GED Ready test on the GED.com website. There is a GED Ready test for each GED subject, so four in total. The tests are $6.99 each, so that’ll set you back $28 on top of your state’s regular GED testing fees.
If you register for the GED prep course My Advantage from Onsego, however, you will receive four vouchers for the GED Ready test at no extra charge.
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