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Kaplan vs Princeton Review GRE
A thorough side-by-side comparison of the Kaplan and Princeton Review GRE prep courses
When it comes to GRE prep, Kaplan and Princeton Review are similar in a number of ways. They both offer tried and true formulas for prepping students built on live classes, pre-recorded video lessons, practice work, and performance analytics. So, when the two courses you’re considering are as similar as Kaplan and Princeton Review, how do you choose? We help you make an informed decision on what is best for you in this detailed guide comparing the two courses.
As this is a lengthy comparison, above find jump-to links for your convenience.
Video Review: Kaplan GRE Or Princeton Review GRE?
In the video above, team member John directly compares the major pros and cons of the Kaplan and Princeton Review GRE prep courses. For more details, continue reading our full written comparison below.
To truly understand the differences between the GRE prep courses from Princeton Review and Kaplan, it’s important we first review the different study materials and features that each offer. So with that in mind, let’s discuss what Princeton Review has to offer and the major highlights of their GRE courses.
Princeton Review Course Options & Pricing
While the Kaplan course options generally differ by course format, the Princeton Review prep packages generally differ by level of content and instruction. Princeton offers four prep options:
Self-Paced
GRE 10 Points+
Fundamentals
GRE 162+
The Self-Paced course is Princeton Review’s budget option, offering on demand, online only learning for around $500. There are no live classes and fewer practice questions.
One level up from that is the GRE 10 Points+ course, which, as its name implies, guarantees a score of at least 10 points better after using the course.
This is also an on demand, self-study package, but contains more content than the base level Self-Paced course. It costs $900.
The Fundamentals course is Princeton’s flagship GRE offering and gives students approximately 24 hours of live instruction. This course is most comparable to Kaplan’s Live Online course and prices out slightly higher at roughly $1,200.
Finally, Princeton offers something Kaplan doesn’t – the GRE 162+. This course format is aimed at students seeking top tier scores to get into elite graduate programs. It focuses primarily on the math section of the GRE, as most students find that portion of the exam most difficult, but also covers verbal in detail as well.
This course option boasts 45 live class hours and an extra 500 or so practice problems over the Fundamentals course.
It runs in the neighborhood of $2,400 and should be strongly considered by those students targeting a top 5-10% score.
Course options and pricing current as of date of publication.
Evaluation Of The Princeton Review GRE Coursework
Princeton Review’s lessons are a lot like Kaplan’s. Both offer first-rate video instruction with similar methodologies.
For example, Kaplan instructors use a marker with luminous ink to work problems right before the viewer, while Princeton instructors also use a dry erase marker on a plate of invisible glass between the student viewers and teacher to work out their practice questions and write notes.
The two deliveries are eerily similar, and both really effective.
But where Princeton Review stands out is their more robust course structure within modules. Princeton employs a repeated structure of Essentials > Lessons > Drills.
They start each module with a quick video lesson or two on the foundational principles of the subject, which helps students to establish a baseline knowledge.
They then jump into a highly developed and repeated lesson structure where they provide video instruction followed by practice problems and a wrap up summary to recap the lesson.
A typical Princeton Review GRE video lesson
The module is then finished off with a series of adaptive drills that hammer home the concepts just learned. When looked at as a whole, the entire lesson plan and coursework is quite impressive.
While the lesson quality and topics covered are almost identical between the two test prep companies, the Princeton course structure just feels more robust than Kaplan’s curriculum, and out team loved it. It’s got a great flow and is super easy to follow.
As noted below, Princeton also offers more practice questions than Kaplan, providing a little over 3,500 practice problems (Princeton also offers more practice questions than Magoosh).
Even though Princeton Review provides more GRE practice problems than Kaplan, the quality of their problems is also on point.
These are clearly expertly designed problems that provide solid replication of real GRE questions, and in our team’s opinion, are more realistic of real problems than Kaplan’s.
GRE Practice Tests
Princeton Review also beats Kaplan when it comes to number of practice tests.
Princeton offers 8 full-length simulated exams while Kaplan offers 7. I know some of you are reading that thinking, “c’mon, that’s just one more.”
But the truth is that every practice test counts when you have access to less than 10 in total.
If this were LSAT prep with every prep company offering 80+ practice tests, I’d be a lot less concerned.
But with so few practice exams available, these small things can make a difference, particularly to those students that prefer to learn by doing.
So if you are one of those students that are looking to maximize the number of tests you get, think Princeton.
Another look at one of Princeton’s video lectures
With respect to quality of practice tests, both Princeton Review and Kaplan offer rock solid practice, and it is hard to differentiate between the two.
They both use high-end digital platforms for their test taking and adaptive technology that mirrors the real GRE. We couldn’t really find a winner on this aspect.
Live GRE Classes
If you’re looking for live classes, whether to add some depth and structure to your studies or because you’re one of those people that just can’t get motivated to self-study, Princeton Review’s live classes grade out a little better than Kaplan’s.
The overall number of class hours between the two is pretty close (24 for Princeton Review to 21 for Kaplan), so it comes down to quality. And for us, Princeton wins.
The Princeton lesson plans just seemed more streamlined in their design, and we had a better connection with the instructors. All in all, there wasn’t a huge difference in what we saw between the two companies, but Princeton Review definitely gets a slight edge here.
Now that you have a better understanding of what Princeton Review has to offer, let’s turn the tables and discuss the major advantages of using Kaplan to help you prepare for the GRE.
Kaplan Course Options & Pricing
Kaplan offers students three different course options, which generally differ by format:
On Demand
Live Online
Tutoring + On Demand
As you may suspect, the price of each prep package generally goes up with the level of interaction and instruction provided. As such, the On Demand course option is the most affordable and can generally be found for around $450.
The Live Online course includes scheduled live classes, where you meet regularly with your instructor and fellow students in a virtual classroom for lessons. This course runs about $1,000.
Finally, Kaplan’s Tutoring + On Demand course starts around $2,300, but includes between 1o to 40 hours of private one-on-one tutoring.
These course costs are generally in line with Princeton Review’s pricing, but are more expensive than Magoosh and Achievable.
Course options and pricing current as of date of publication.
Evaluation Of Kaplan’s GRE Study Materials
Kaplan’s online video lessons and coursework are undeniably top-notch, and a huge factor in why they land on our best GRE prep courses list.
The 40+ hours of online lessons are carried out through a Kaplan instructor, who appears onscreen and provides some traditional classroom style instruction.
However, rather than writing on an old whiteboard with their back to you, there is a digital whiteboard behind the instructor that follows along with the lesson and dynamically rolls through text, notes and graphics.
In addition, the Kaplan instructor periodically picks up a marker and writes notes onscreen in an eye-catching illuminous ink. They work practice problems right in front of you and break down concepts as they go.
The production value is plainly high-quality, and the mixed media approach to teaching makes for an incredibly effective experience (the video lessons from Manhattan Prep GRE are good as well).
Following each video lesson is a short quiz that serves to reinforce what you just learned. If you miss any questions, you’ll be prompted to go back and read the problem explanation.
We found Kaplan’s problem explanations to be valuable (though perhaps not as good overall as Princeton’s).
While shorter and more succinct than Princeton Review’s explanations generally, they give you all the detail you need to see why the correct answer was right and the incorrect answer choices were wrong.
One of Kaplan’s engaging video lectures
Beyond the video lessons and accompanying practice problems, for those students taking a live class, Kaplan offers some pretty good live instruction.
Their instructors are GRE gurus and you get over 21 additional hours of interpersonal instruction that you just won’t get with the on-demand course. The class size was nice and small, and the instructor was fantastic.
He was a GRE master and a great communicator, who also kept the class very light. We would expect other Kaplan instructors to be of the same quality and personable nature.
One area where we were impressed is with their course books. Kaplan offers some awesome prep books to accompany their course which supplement the core curriculum.
These hardcopy books, which we are huge fans of, are crazy detailed.
In fact, they are almost too detailed (with almost being the key word there). Kaplan hits you over the head with material in these printed workbooks to the point that you almost have too much information.
Depending on your perspective, this can be a good or bad thing, but for those students looking for max study material, this is going to be a blessing.
For those students that need to efficiently allocate their study time because of a busy schedule, you’ll need to smartly sift through the course books to make sure you get everything else done.
I’d recommend a little skimming/speed reading if you’re pressed for time. Either way, these books are packed with info.
Text explanation of one of Kaplan’s GRE practice questions
When combined with the online lesson work and live classes, the books make for a really powerful learning combo.
The Princeton Review prep books are solid in their own right, generally tracking with the live lessons and offering well-written strategies, but in our opinion, Kaplan’s books are right up there with them.
It can be hard to make a decision on which prep course to purchase when the two options are as similar as Kaplan and Princeton Review. They offer nearly identical prep packages, both in terms of price and in content.
That said, after evaluating each course, we have to give the edge to Princeton Review. Their GRE course overall is just more robust and effective.
We hope this comparison has given you some insight on the differences between the two options. If you still need helping making a call, check out our recap below.
GRE Study Materials: In terms of quality of study material, it’s close between these two test prep giants, but Princeton gets the nod. Both offer premium quality video instruction, which is similar not only in the material covered, but also the format in which the lessons are delivered. Princeton Review wins on course structure and quality, which at the end of the day, is most important. We prefer the structure of Princeton’s curriculum and think it offers a more robust study plan. Advantage: Princeton Review.
GRE Classes: We found it hard to give the edge one way or another to either Kaplan or Princeton Review with respect to live instruction, but ultimately lean Princeton based on smaller class sizes and slightly better teachers. Both employ some of the highest quality instructors in the industry and boast similar class sizes and teaching styles. Additionally, both offer similar packages in terms of total live instruction hours (Princeton at 24 hours, Kaplan at 21 hours). After sitting for both courses, we cannot find much to complain about either, except maybe class size for Kaplan. Advantage: Princeton Review.
GRE Prep Books: While Princeton Review’s prep books hold their own with detailed strategies and well-written reviews, Kaplan’s are just as good. Kaplan provides its students some first-rate hardcopy prep books that follow their lesson plans and contain complementary drills and practice. These books are loaded with detail and a significant value add. Tie.
Course Options and Price: Princeton Review and Kaplan offer very similar price points for their GRE prep offerings, with their self-paced courses both coming in within $50 of each other. However, Princeton Review does offer a higher-end prep course called the GRE 162+, which is geared towards those seeking top tier scores and guarantees a score of 162 or better on the exam. That course will run you around $2,300. Tie.
GRE Practice Tests: It’s all about quantity when it comes to practice tests on the GRE. Princeton offers students one more practice test than Kaplan at 8 full-length practice exams. While one extra may not seem like much, it can be a difference maker in the world of GRE. Advantage: Princeton Review.
Digital Platform & User Experience: Both Kaplan and Princeton Review each boast some category best interface and user experience. Each digital platform is very professional, easy-to-use and intuitive. The Princeton Review platform may be a bit more outdated, with less bells and whistles, but is not far behind (if any). And like so many things, user experience is really a matter of personal preference at the end of the day. Advantage: Kaplan.
Online Content Access Period: Like practice tests, this category is all about quantity. For roughly the same price points, Kaplan gives its users six months of access, whereas Princeton Review only provides 120 days. Edge: Kaplan.
Which GRE prep course costs more – Kaplan or Princeton Review?
The Kaplan and Princeton Review GRE prep courses are in roughly the same price range, though Princeton Review’s courses are a bit more expensive. However, check for coupons as both companies regularly run sales.
What’s the biggest difference between the Princeton Review and Kaplan GRE prep courses?
While both courses are extremely similar in many ways, the main difference between the Princeton Review and Kaplan GRE prep courses is that Princeton provides more practice tests and live instruction.
Do both Princeton Review and Kaplan have score increase money back guarantees?
Yes. Both Kaplan and Princeton Review each offer guarantees of your money back if you don’t score better after using their GRE prep course.
