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Princeton sets US groundwork

Mark Russell

The United States may be the 'land of opportunity' but, when it comes to gaining a place in its universities, postgraduate students are well advised to avail themselves of some opportune groundwork.

That is why so many Hong Kong students seeking to maximise their chances of securing a place in the US and elsewhere turn to help from the Princeton Review, a leading test preparation organisation.

Established in New York in 1981 by John Katzman, the Princeton Review has more than 600 locations around the world and has assisted about a million students achieve top SAT, Test of English as a Foreign Language, and Graduate Management Admissions Test Compute Adaptive Test (GMAT CAT) scores on college entrance examinations.

Postgraduate students applying to study in the US and other countries are usually required to arrange and sit a GMAT CAT test in Hong Kong.

The results are then forwarded to the universities where they wish to study. The results are considered alongside their work experience, interviews and other admission criteria.

While essays, work experience and interviews play a big part in a successful application, only a student's GMAT CAT score could be changed substantially in a short period, Mark Reis, sales and marketing manager for the Princeton Review in Hong Kong, said.

'Surveys show that Princeton Review students improve their GMAT CAT scores by an average of 80 points, many by as much as 200 points,' Mr Reis said.

'Say you're scoring at 520 . . . an improvement of 80 points would lift you to 600. That moves you up more than 200,000 people [in the US]. It's a big difference.' The GMAT CAT test begins with two 30-minute essays, a 75-minute quantitative (maths) section with 37 questions, and a 75-minute verbal section with 41 questions. The verbal section contains sentence correction, critical reasoning and comprehension. The maths section includes problem-solving and data-sufficiency questions.

'We let students know how the system works, which is the key,' Mr Reis said. 'It's crucial for them, especially in the early stages, to get the answers correct.' Many Hong Kong students were sufficiently strong in maths to only require help with the verbal section. So three choices were offered - courses covering the verbal section only, maths only, or the two combined. Fees for the courses, which run for between 25 and 30 hours over a four-week period, range from $4,688 for one module to $6,988 for both.

'We run information seminars before each of our courses so students can find out more about what we offer and our teaching techniques. And we offer discounts on course fees for students who attend our seminars first.' Princeton Review students sit GMAT CATs during the course and receive detailed computer-analysed feedback, allowing them and their instructor to focus on how they can improve their test scores.

The Princeton Review has been helping local students attain US postgraduate study for 10 years. In Hong Kong, the franchise is operated by the Sara Beattie Group.

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