Bad experiences with Princeton Review?

[gbh1721]

Hi guys - creating this topic so that no else makes my mistake! I purchased Princeton Review's self-study program to try to boost my GRE quant scores from my first score of 156. After using their program for 2 months I started to hit my target Q scores (163+) on their practice tests and even scored a 166 Q on my final practice test. On my second GRE attempt after using Princeton Review for 2 months and completing 90%+ of their quant modules and 5 of their practice tests I scored a 158. 2 points higher. Honestly that difference could just come down to a variation in tests between the days.

I emailed Princeton Review asking for my money back because they have a score guarantee, but because I hadn't completed every single module and my score had improved those two points I didn't qualify for a refund. I can honestly say this is probably the worst waste of money in my life. Please be careful before paying hundreds of dollars for online test prep!

[pomegranateleaves]

a very similar thing happened to me. I have math anxiety, which caused me to really struggle learning math in High School specifically. A lot of the GRE quant section uses math from that time period, so when I did my first practice test, I got a 140 in that section. After studying for a year, I was repeatedly getting around 160 on the quant section (timing myself and not using a calculator or anything). But, when I took the GRE, I got a 143 on my quant section. I don't understand how. 

I took the GRE 2 years ago and didn't bother retaking it for this cycle. All but one of my schools waived it, and after speaking with the program that didn't, I was told that the professor I applied to work with doesn't ever look at scores anyway.

Best of luck to everyone applying this cycle! If theres one good thing that came out of 2020, its the GREs being waived 

Edited December 4, 2020 by pomegranateleaves
added my last sentence

[Vince Kotchian GRE Prep]

Sorry you guys had to learn the hard way that big prep companies like The Princeton Review are usually the worst option for GRE prep.