Entrance exam preparation is costly and not exactly what I’d call fun. A company that launched on Monday called Grockit is dropping costs and making the process a bit easier to get through.
Grockit was started by Farbood Nivi, who has been teaching exam preparation since 1998. He worked for Kaplan and was Teacher of the Year for The Princeton Review in 2002. Just a few months ago he decided to start his own prep school where students can attend WebEX classes.
Grockit is significantly cheaper than the major review schools but Nivi says his profit margin is bigger.
“The other guys tend to be enormously bloated as far as companies go,” Nivi said via IM on Thursday. “They have very inefficient operations. They spend $1.5 million to generate $1.4 million. The virtual world is cheaper and more pervasive.”
To start out, Grockit is offering 16 90-minute sessions plus the official GMAT review text books for $399. Kaplan online is $1,249, The Princeton Review is $899, and Manhattan GMAT Prep is $990. Nivi says that the Grockit price may go up a little within the next year but he doesn’t have actual plans to increase it.
“One student has dropped the course with a competitor and decided to buy a laptop with the money he is saving by taking Grockit instead,” Nivi said. “Taking one of the big guys means that just applying to a hand full of MBA programs is a couple of thousand dollars out of your pocket.”
For now, Nivi is satisfied using WebEX where students and teachers can chat and interact. In the future he hopes to develop his own software for interactive classes. He also hopes to branch out from solely GMAT prep and start ACT courses next year because he believes that the ACT “is going to eat the SAT.”
To promote his service, Nivi and his staff of teachers have signed up as experts on BitWine. They are also banking on word-of-mouth marketing, hoping that saving money is a major incentive for hopeful students.
The obvious question here is if Grockit is a get-what-you-paid-for type deal. Having not taken entrance exams in six years, I couldn’t think of appropriate questions to quiz Nivi with but his experience is impressive enough to say his school is worth serious consideration. Especially for anyone considering dropping major ducats on an MBA.
This sounds amazing. I also checked out the website. It sounds like Nivi really knows what he is talking about. Anyone I know who is looking for GMAT prep, I would definitely send to grockit.com.
brilliant…finally an answer to the always overpriced elitist prep corporations. and you can do it in the comfort of your own home. kaplan and princeton review…eat your hearts out. there’s a new kid in town!!!
looks cool. wonder if you can talk to the teacher with a mic. this seems to be where online classes are heading.
Um, I think it’s ducats/
Not sure this one is for me. In addition, most grad schools have prep courses for much less than the ones quoted. For example, at Georgia State, you can take their prep class for $299 and it is taught by an excellent former Kaplan instructor. In fact he sued and won against Kaplan for taking his ideas.
Also, I think because so much of this exam is about the ways to answer, having some other educated students in the prep class helped me to see other ways of tackling a problem. It appears in this case, Nivi is your choice.
Remember, there are 1000 ways to Utica!
Every student is provided a headset so that we can all communicate and share knowledge and experiences.
First of all, this guy’s name is Farbood. Not Nivi. I am the original Nivi. The real Nivi. A straight up hustler. The original from h-town.
Second of all, someone (i.e. me) should re-emphasize that Farb was the 2002 Princeton Review National Teacher of the Year. Good day to you all.
THIS IS HUGE! THIS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!
I fully agree with Shill 1 and 2. THIS COULD BE THE NEW GOOGLE!
Sounds like a interesting idea.
Are you looking at any exam other than GMAT ? The CAT exam for example in India – millions of candidates prepare for it every year.
Oh GrockIt, where were you last month when i needed you?!?
The web is littered with dozens if not hundreds of failed test-prep startups. Beating Princeton and Kaplan, who together have 93% of the market, is very very difficult. It will be very hard for Nivi to break through the trust issue which is central to education. He also needs to think about price elasticity and who is audience really is.
I will try it, when I start studying for the GMAT. Soon. Very Soon.
COULD be the new Google?
Everyone in the web 2.0 world knows that Nivi (#7) is the one true Nivi.
Farb, nice work. Down with the bloated test preps of the world!
We need something like this for LSAT. I paid $1299 for Testmasters and only scored a 163
After school tutoring is big. Private tutoring is a big business. Families/prospective students spend tons of money on that through face2face tutoring. I think there is huge market potential for online learning on tutoring/teaching. While some people/companies simply use gotoMyPC or webEx, company like tutorvista.com already is profitable. New entry to niche market will definetely worth attention!
Quite the savings… that is if the materials are good and you pass the test.
I’m in! I have been saving up for GMAT classes for a while now. The timing couldn’t be any better.
Sounds like a great idea. Though I don’t have any plans to head for an MBA soon
Sounds pretty cool. Have seen a lot of press on PrepMe.com as well – Stanford, UChicago, and Caltech guys doing SAT prep. Their course is customized and uses adaptive learning technology. Somewhat similar though I can’t tell if they use webex or something else? Anyone else know who has used it?
at least chinese don’t need this website, I think. in china, new oritental (www. neworiental.org)have done very well. moreover, there are lots of bbs websites in china to share the course materials, testing softwares and exam preparation and experiences.
Guys, I think there was a reason why Princeton Review & Kaplan started charging big money for preparation in the first place. It’s a psychology – by paying a lot, you put much more work into the preparation, paying more attention during classes – your overall motivation is (or let’s say, should be) much higher than if the course was cheaper…
Doesn’t necessarily mean the classes are so much better to justify the price.
Great to see a lively discussion in the comments!
With over 1000 students and almost a decade in test prep I’ve certainly seen the psychology of ‘I want to pay more’, but that’s the small minority. I would have to say that based on the responses and sign ups, calls and emails we’ve been receiving and based on the experience of the vast majority of students I’ve had, money matters. The psychological phenomenon Mickey mentioned has been studied by psychologists and it’s real, but I think one should be careful when extrapolating from data. The ‘paying a lot = much more work put into prep’ idea is an oversimplification of what’s going through people’s minds. At least for the majority of students I’ve worked with.
Thanks, and let’s keep talking!
Seems to me like this company has the potential of being more “personal” than a lot of these major test prep corporations…plus…to be taught by a teacher of the year at a reasonable price sounds like a deal that can’t be passed up. I’m planning on taking the GMAT very soon and I will definitely learn more about this bright, young company before choosing a prep company.
If you’ve got balls and ambition, it seems you could glean a lot from this guy: a clearly innovative expert. I feel invigorated, to prep – at a goddamn great price!
Finally an interactive way of learning the GMAT! Now I don’t have to sit in some expensive class where a bunch of overachievers try to impress their instructor! Way to go!!!
I scored a 760 on GMAT working on GMAT Forum. Very good tutors (750+ scorers) and very very helpful members from all around the world.
They also offer practice questions and Private Tutoring for very cheap. Check it out yourself.
Very good resource! thank you