We are now getting calls from applicants who plan to plan to apply in the summer, fall, and winter to matriculate in 2018. A few have all their ducks lined up – test score in place, school visits planned, a GPA they’re proud of, and maybe they’re just rounding out their profile to put icing on the application cake. Others wish they had the test score they wanted. And still others are studying for, or more likely, planning to start test prep to take their particular exam for the first time. Those applicants – the ones still dealing with aptitude exams – are probably the majority of applicants preparing to apply in the upcoming application cycle.

Because so many people are thinking about test prep, I’ve invited Bhavin Parikh, CEO & Co-Founder of Magoosh back to Admissions Straight Talk. His company is an innovative leader in the online test prep industry. Magoosh is, according to its website, “an affordable online test prep company the offers study programs and apps for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, TOEFL AND Praxis.” Bhavin attended Duke University where he earned a joint BS/BA in Economics and Computer Science. He then worked for Deloitte Consulting for 5 years and attended UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where he earned his MBA and co-founded Magoosh with three others. Welcome, Bhavin!

What does Magoosh provide? [2:10]

We help students prepare for standardized tests. The broader mission of the company is helping people overcome barriers at various points in their careers – standardized tests are one of those barriers as people enter college or grad school.

We offer a web-based product – people can sign up for a free trial. Our courses include short video lessons explaining concepts, and then people can do practice questions. We also provide a service where people can reach out with questions.

Is it a monthly subscription? Or a fee for a set period of time? [3:18]

It’s a set fee, generally for six or 12 months. Most of the products are $100 or $150.

Is Magoosh intended to be a standalone course, or a supplement to other study methods (such as classes or tutoring)? [4:05]

When we started seven to eight years ago, it was meant more as a supplement. Now it’s effectively standalone. But given our price-point, many people do use it as a supplement to a class.

What is distinctive about Magoosh? [5:18]

We have in-house content experts who’ve been tutoring this material for years, and we update our content based on data from our users. Since our content creation is in-house, we can see where students are getting stuck and where we can improve.

So you’re looking at data as well as qualitative feedback? [6:40]

Yes. We collect both qualitative and quantitative information. For example, we collect a “like” rate on each video, so we know how students are responding. But we also track requests for help – if we get a lot of requests for help on the same video, we know we need to update something or add an explanation.

Are you using AI or adaptive learning? [8:45]

We’re using some adaptive learning technology. Since the early days of Magoosh, we’ve used an adaptive algorithm that contributes to our product and makes sure students are provided questions at the right level for them to learn what they need to. The GMAT is adaptive itself, and that was part of our impetus early on.

We focus on content first, then technology,