Some of the toughest exams that students face during their college years are those that determine their futures. Some decide to prepare for these exams by studying on their own. But for many students who run into difficulty, paying for a test preparation course such as Kaplan or Princeton Review is the best option.
A former 2001 UB graduate presents himself and his own test preparation service as a less expensive alternative to already established services. Darren Ko created a test preparation course called the IQuest Test Prep course. He offers his services to both college and high school students who need to prepare for standardized exams ranging from the SAT's to the MCATs.
"I guess more formally, I started doing this full time in the summer of 2001 by posting flyers. I think at first, it was a good source of income but over time, I realized that I'm pretty good at this and I was getting a lot of referrals," said Ko, smiling with pride.
Ko, the former president of the Golden Key National Honour Society at UB, graduated with degrees in Physics and English. In order to give his students strong credentials to make them interested in IQuest, Ko has taken the MCATs, the LSATs, the GREs, and the SATs, on which he scored above the 95th percentile.
Ko said his tutors also undergo intense testing before they are hired.
"I impose very high standards on my tutors. They are expected to take practice exams and score above the 90th percentile before being hired and there are roughly 10 or 11 tutors," Ko said.
Ko has taught for Kaplan and the Princeton Review for a combined total of four years but he says his services are much different than those offered by Kaplan and Princeton Reviews.
"I think that there are a lot of deficiencies and flaws in classroom courses. IQuest is one on one private tutoring. It's a lot more personal and the hours we put in are more concentrated and more effective," said Ko.
Ko offers tutoring for all subject areas at the high school level as well as the college level such as languages, social sciences, history, biology, chemistry and many other courses as well as tutoring for standardized exams. He offers SAT review and said that many students have taken advantage of his effective tutoring as well as his considerably low costs.
According to a price list that Ko offers, IQuest LSAT private tutoring costs $899 for 18 hours compared to The Princeton Review at a price of $2000 for 16 hours of tutoring.
"My college students right now, about three-quarters of them are scoring above 30 on the MCAT's, with the highest being a 45 and I've never had someone ask for their money back," Ko said.
Nicole Capote, a junior Spanish and biology major enrolled in Ko's test preparation course to help train her to take the MCATs to be admitted to medical school.
"The MCAT is a serious, serious 8 hour exam and I definitely do feel like this course has helped me. It's a hell of a lot of work on top of my school work but it has to get done," said Capote who took the exam on April 17.
Capote said Ko's course was appealing because it is not often that private tutoring courses are offered at such reasonable prices.
"The prices were obviously great because with one on one tutoring, you would expect the services to be mega expensive," said Ko.
The IQuest test preparation program has been in service since the summer of 2001 and Ko said he has worked very hard at making his program available to students by advertising his considerably lower costs as well as the one on one attention of his tutors.
"Obviously I make money off of this but it's not just for that," said Ko.
Ko said his mission is to help as many students as possible with their test preparation and academic needs in the most effective and affordable way. He also plans to make his company a nationally recognized service in assisting students with their academic needs.
"There isn't a nationwide company that I know of that focuses on private tutoring," said Ko.
Although Ko's services are effective and cost friendly, some students prefer the classroom environment to prepare themselves for their standardized exams.
"Private tutoring is not structured enough compared to a classroom course with a set schedule, and different instructors teaching different sub topics. It caters to different learning abilities," said Harjot Dhingra, a junior business administration major who enrolled in a classroom course to prepare him for the MCATs.
Although Ko has passed the exams to be accepted to medical school, law school and graduate school, he said he will be focusing on the tutoring service and working hard to help it grow nationally.
"This program is my baby and I want to make it available and help as many students as I can," said Ko.
Ko can be reached in his office at (716) 250-2715 or via e-mail at Darren@iquestprep.com for further details regarding the IQuest tutoring service and test preparation service.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
