BOTH PRE-PROFESSIONAL students and those hoping to enter graduate school must face one common obstacle: one exam whose score can carry as much weight as one's entire GPA. With so much emphasis placed on exams such as the MCAT, LSAT and GRE, students feel intense pressure to seek every perceived advantage. Most commonly, they enroll in test preparation courses that seem to be ubiquitous across Grounds. These test preparation courses are not only pricey but are not beneficial for many students who enroll. Both changes in CIO policy and student attitudes will aid in altering perceptions of test preparation courses to help students find their best option.
Unfortunately, CIOs can advance the perceptions that students must take one of these courses. For example, the American Medical Student Association offers a $100 discount to the Kaplan MCAT class if you are a member. Even if this discount were exclusive (one can receive the same discount by signing up for the course early enough), the partnership between the CIO and business seems problematic. By offering the discount to members, AMSA gains membership fees from students who really have no interest in joining. Second, Kaplan solicits their business to many students at a relatively small price. Through all of this, AMSA indirectly fuels the perception that successful pre-medical students take an MCAT preparation course.
Saam Dilmaghani, the current AMSA President, disagreed with this assessment. He claimed, "What AMSA does is provide opportunity
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