USF offers spring prep tests

The USF Division of Professional and Workforce Development is offering spring courses that will prepare students for the GMAT, SAT, LSAT and TOEFL.

Those wanting to take the classes can register in person at Educational Outreach/Continuing Education, on the telephone or online. Each course is 18 hours, except the LSAT, which is 24.Leonor V. O’Relly, program coordinator for Division of Lifelong Learning and Educational Outreach, said, “The instructors assume that students have been exposed to the material on the tests at some point in their education.

“However, they do find people who have forgotten, so they have to go back and start teaching it again. But it is a review, it’s not a class introducing all those topics for the first time.”

The people who take the courses run the gamut from current students to alumni who have been out of school for years.

“We have people that have not been to school for a very long time and now decided what field they want to go into and they have to brush up on their skills,” O’Relly said. “So we have people who just finished their bachelors and people who have not been to school in a while but want to go to graduate school.

“What makes our classes beneficial to students is our expert faculty. They make the difference.” We are very fortunate and happy to have the qualified staff we have.”

Stephanie Moss, GMAT Verbal instructor, said students who take her course learn two things. They learn the inner workings of questions, for example, how they are structured and how the answers are molded. And they develop a personal relationship with the test. This relationship tells them if they have time problems, where intuition works and in which areas the exam is counter intuitive.

According to O’Relly, the classes generally have about 15 to 30 students and are a combination of lecture and individual attention.

“They (the instructors) will teach you what you need to know,” O’Relly said. “The preparation books you can buy give you the practice exercise and the answer, but the instructor can tell you why the answer is right or wrong. The books alone cannot give you the interaction and feedback that the instructor can.”

O’Relly recommends all students who are planning on taking graduate exams sign up for the course.

“It is always a good idea to get an idea of what the test is like,” O’Relly said. “Our courses will give you an opportunity to see samples of the test questions. We also give the student a practice test so they can time themselves. That experience alone is worth it – that experience of actually taking a test.”