I've been a Kaplan teacher for a while now. I don't teach DAT (haven't taken it yet), but I teach SAT and ACT, which I know are far different from DAT-like material. Many things about Kaplan remain true reguardless of the course, though.
For the students, success with a class doesn't have much to do with the teacher - it has to do with how much of the practice material they use. Now for my SAT and ACT students, it's different, but for tests like DAT, MCAT, etc, you learn by doing ALL of the problem sets, all of the practice tests, all of the "recommended" material that is in the Kaplan library. A student's score is not going to raise because of the few hours he or she spends with the teacher in the Kaplan classroom. It will raise because of the hours the student spends out of class studying the Kaplan material. I have several friends who think Kaplan is a scam because their score didn't budge. They also didn't do anything outside of class. Suprise, suprise.
As far as the teaching goes, it's not bad at all. I would definately recommend it. They give you the TEL (teacher's edition lesson book) that has literally everything they want you to say in it. All you have to do is prepare your lesson (which means familiarize yourself with what you are supposed to say and make sure you understand the problems which are already worked for you) and teach it. Granted I don't teach DAT-type material (though I hope to after August
), you just have to be able to carry yourself in front of a group of people. You will run into things you don't know, and it's fine to say you don't know, but if you've done well enough on the tests to teach the class (90th percentile or better is their cut-off), you'll do fine. It's pretty good money and easy.
I would also make this note. If you are counting on Kaplan as a solid 2nd income, I would think twice. It sounds great at $15 an hour (at least here in Okahoma) and pay for prep time, but what they don't tell you is that your prep time hours are at $7.50 an hour. So say you teach a DAT class. The class lasts about a month to a month and a half. You teach 2 sessions per week. You work 8 hours or so at $15/hr a week and about 4 hours at $7.50. This lasts until the students start taking practice tests, which you don't show up for. About the last half or third of the class you're only working 4 hours a week at the premium pay and maybe 2 at the prep pay, so the money isn't as good as it seems. On the plus side, you're not working much. Bottom line, if you need a 2nd income that is substantial (350 ot 400 plus dollars a month), I would get a 2nd job that is steadier even if you sacrifice the wage. I used to work part time at Dillard's and made about $450 a month. Compare that to when I have a class at Kaplan and make maybe $200 to $250 a month (on a good month). Then you have to wait another several months for another class.
In conclusion to my forever long post: Kaplan is a great low-stress 2nd job, but don't depend on it for a large 2nd income. I have nothing but good things to say about the company.
-Brian
