Continuing on to a graduate or professional school? Be proactive and take test preparation courses offered by Oakland University’s Professional and Continuing Education.

In contract with The Princeton Review, students can prepare for entrance exams such as the LSAT, MCAT, GRE and GMAT.

“Our partnership with The Princeton Review ensures that students engage with a high-quality curriculum that allows them to develop the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful on test day,” said Amy Olind, assistant director of PACE. “The Princeton Review has a strong reputation and 30-year history of helping students to be successful on educational examinations, so we are proud to partner with them on our programming.”

All course instructors are either trained staff from The Princeton Review or faculty at OU. Classes are held at various times throughout the year to accommodate individual schedules and align with test dates.

Lessons for the LSAT cover strategies for tackling each exam section, as well as the Logical and Analytical Reasoning questions.

Highlights include two full-length practice tests and four online tests, as well as multiweek study-plan guides and an “LSAT Insider” bonus section.

For the MCAT, students work with a team of three to five subject-matter experts. This course includes 22 hours of verbal coaching, the most in the industry, according to PACE. It also grants access to Amplifire, an exclusive study tool that helps individuals retain more information and learn faster.

GRE prep uses an Adaptology teaching method to adjust classwork and homework to an individual’s skill level. The Princeton Review are the only test-prep company to include access to the instructor outside of class.

The GMAT course concentrates on both content and test-taking techniques, with comprehensive prep for the new Integrated Reasoning section.

Paul Trumbull, coordinator for OU’s graduate business programs, worked with PACE to offer this specific course to his prospective students.

“It seems like the GMAT submission was a hurdle for many students wishing to apply to the MBA [Master of Business Administration],” he said.

Trumbull stated that many students who take these prep sessions obtain the score they need to gain admission. For example, there was a student who scored under the minimum twice and was close to giving up.

“After taking this prep course taught by instructor Jeff Pozy, he brought his scores up about 100 points and was admitted” Trumbull said.

He said the graduate business programs at OU offer a $500 scholarship to students who take the GMAT prep course and are then granted admission into OU’s MBA program.

“So, the $900 he originally spent was really a $400 investment,” Trumbull said.

Olind feels this kind of preparation is essential to score well on these tests.

“Enrolling in prep courses allows [students] to develop the time-management skills that are so crucial when taking the actual exams and gives them a way to establish a benchmark from which they can measure an increase in their performance,” she said. “Receiving instruction on proven test-taking strategies and actually taking multiple practice tests in advance can help students to reduce their stress and feel comfortably prepared come test day.”

For more information, visit www.oakland.edu/pace/.