For countless numbers of graduate school applicants, preparing and sitting for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT or MCAT can be extremely stressful.  If you are considering working with a test prep organization, you will most definitely want to follow this blog series.  MyGuru offers excellent test prep services for grad school applicants. They offer GMAT tutoring, GRE tutoring, LSAT tutoring, and more. Perhaps more importantly, has the outcomes to prove that their strategies and individualized approach with students works.

 

We are delighted to offer this interview series, which will feature a new interview question every two to four weeks.

 

Below is our first question for MyGuru.

 

Grad School Road Map: What are the biggest misperceptions individuals have about using a test prep service like MyGuru?

 

Stefan Maisnier, Director of Online Tutoring:  Over the years, MyGuru tutors have worked with thousands of students and there are a number of misperceptions we have encountered, but three stand out above the rest.

 

1) A belief that the student is personally responsible for providing a curriculum.

Many students think that a tutor is basically a resource to help answer questions about their exams and that the instructor isn’t going to be involved in dictating the path of instruction beyond acting as a sort of live action answer key. This could not be further from the truth! MyGuru tutors are so familiar with the subjects and exams they teach that they are able to create a customized curriculum for every individual student. This customization allows each student to work with his or her instructor to best direct his or her own path to success by prioritizing test prep and tutoring subjects based on the student’s own individual proficiencies and challenges, now a prescribed generic order. However, because our tutors are experts, we are still able to leverage just about any prior resources a student has used on their own to ensure that no effort is wasted. At MyGuru we like to say that we teach the student and the test or subject, not a predetermined one-size-fits-all textbook. 

 

2) Online tutoring is second to in-person instruction.

We know that many forms of online GMAT tutoring or online GRE tutoring instruction leave much to be desired, especially when the lessons amount to little more than narration of text that a student could read by themselves. That’s why every MyGuru lesson begins with nothing more than a welcome message on a blank online whiteboard where instruction is then dynamically executed by the instructor using screenshots of practice content and even problems directly from the student’s own desktop. By using these modern capabilities to work together, the student learns to solve problems and the instructor records the tactics live for later use. We believe that students should be engaged in learning not stenography, so after every lesson the full instructor-produced whiteboard is either left for the duration of the instructional relationship or emailed as a .pdf for static reference. This dynamic study resource and the recording capabilities that are available as part of our group or premium instruction offers are simply not available with in-person instruction. Furthermore, online instruction allows students to be paired with the best possible instructor for their individual needs rather than being limited to those tutors within immediate proximity and to practice for their exam on a computer to best approximate the test day experience. For these reasons (and many more!) MyGuru online is much more than just a viable alternative when in-person instruction isn’t available – it’s the best tutoring available under any circumstances.

 

3) Individual tutoring is too expensive.

Note that this says, “too expensive”, not that it isn’t at all expensive! We recognize that even though our instruction is at a lower hourly cost than many of our competitors, it’s still a significant investment. However, when you consider this expense in the context of the cost of graduate school overall, it will likely account for much less than 1% of your overall grad school costs. Additionally, MyGuru has helped students get offers for scholarships and grant money to help pay for grad school on the strength of their test scores after working with us. If you are planning on pursuing a degree of higher education, we fully encourage students to aim for the absolute top programs and prep at the point of application can ensure you are studying at apex institutions, and maybe with some merit-based aid!

DISCOUNT ON DR. DON’S BOOK RIGHT HERE ON THE GSRM WEBSITE!!

Be sure to check out Dr. Don’s book, “Road Map for Graduate Study, A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students,” right here on the GSRM website. For a reduced price CLICK HERE, go to The Book page, scroll down, click on the Order Now box, and use discount code GSRM.