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Hi,

I am looking for opinions from parents or students who took a Kaplan class last year to prepare for the 2011 SHSAT. Two eighth-graders at my son's school took classes with Kaplan and said nothing they learned in the classes prepared them for what actually appeared on the test. There was a big disconnect. Just curious what other people experienced. My son will be taking the SHSAT this fall and we're trying to do everything possible to prepare him for it. He will be starting a Kaplan prep class this summer.

I was not interested in applying to any of the specialized schools, so I did not take a class to prepare. I instead chose to apply to other prestigious schools that are at the same levels as Stuy or Bronx Science. My best friend however, was intent on getting entrance to Bronx Science. He took a class for the whole summer. It was a Kaplan class and he ended up just slightly missing the cutoff for Bronx Science by one or two points. He says that a lot of things were not mentioned in the course. I would suggest taking the class because ANY preparation is good. I would also suggest applying to other wonderful schools that do not require the test.