Reviewed: StellarGRE Prep Course

Studying for the GRE can be a daunting task. Beyond the test itself, there are so many different prep courses and study materials available that it can be difficult to know which ones are worth the investment of your time and money.

After an extensive review, StellarGRE stands out as one of the best GRE prep options on the market.

StellarGRE delivers excellent ROI for students who want to significantly raise their scores in a short amount of time.

StellarGRE Features

StellarGRE is a comprehensive, self-guided study program that dismantles every question type a student can encounter on all three sections of the test.

The course follows a three-month time line – with weekly goals and assignments – but can be adapted to shorter or longer timelines with minimum modification.

This curation means that students understand what they should be doing every step of the way to their target scores.

This program has all the basic features you would expect in a GRE prep program – comprehensive manual, lots of practice problems – so here are some of the qualities that set Stellar apart from the competition:

Empirically-Validated

StellarGRE is the world's only empirically-validated GRE prep system.

This means that studies have been done to measure the actual degree of improvement students tend to enjoy as a result of using the program.

After analyzing hundreds of student outcomes over several years, data indicated that students improved (on average) 26 percentile points on each section of the test after two months of using the Stellar system.

This means that the average score improvement of a Stellar student is higher than the score guarantees offered to students of other programs.

See-Do-Teach Model

Stellar was designed with working professionals in mind. The idea is to raise students' scores as quickly as possible so they can move on with the rest of their lives.

To that end, Stellar has adapted the 'see-do-teach' model of didactic instruction, usually used to efficiently train medical doctors.

The presentation of every new strategy is immediately followed by several practice problems, designed to consolidate the core concept.

Reinforcement occurs throughout the course, as students sit for full-length mock tests later in the curriculum.

The idea is not to solve thousands of problems; the idea is to raise scores as quickly as possible. The result is the fastest degree of mastery with the least amount of effort. Stellar understands that students have better things to do.

Data-Driven Insights

Stellar knows that all testable material isn't equally likely to occur. For example, it breaks down the entire domain of quantitative content into just 50 different types of questions, each associated with a different base rate.

Question types with higher base rates are presented earlier in the program so that students have more opportunity to engage with these more common question types over the course of their prep.

This allows students to leverage their time and energy more effectively.

Full-Length Adaptive Tests

Stellar offers students five full-length, fully adaptive mock exams.

The particularly interesting thing about this feature is the degree to which the program mimicks the actual experience of taking the test, all the way down to the on-screen calculator.

The mock exams look and feel like the real thing in order to minimize surprises on test day.

The use of appropriately adaptive sections also means that students won't encounter randomly-generated stretches of devilishly difficult (or insultingly easy) questions.

Automated Essay Grader

On the actual GRE, student essays are graded by a computer. Stellar not only hacks the test in terms of revealing the grading rubric of the algorithm, but it also provides students with instantaneous feedback on their writing responses by means of its automated essay grader.

This not only includes a scaled score for each submitted essay, but also offers suggestions on how students can improve on their next attempts.

This is a must-have for students concerned about their writing scores.

Fully-Reactive Platform

Few working professionals have the luxury of (or the interest in) studying for the GRE full-time. Stellar touts itself as executive test prep, and after engaging with the program, it is easy to see why.

All lessons are designed to be completable in 10 minutes or less, and look just as good on a mobile device as on a laptop screen.

This reactive integration allows students to work GRE prep into thier day-to-day routines, creating more opportunities to improve and succeed.

All-Star Content

Unlike other programs, which often outsource their content creation to copy writers with limited experience, Stellar was completely authored by Dr. Orion Taraban, one of the world's top GRE instructors, with over twenty years of teaching experience and a perfect score on the test.

He is also the co-host of 'GRE Bites', one of the most downloaded GRE-related podcasts in the world.

The writing is really top-notch: clear, precise, and (if you can believe me) even entertaining.

You may even forget you are studying for a standardized test!

StellarGRE Pricing

This is sure to make prospective students happy: Stellar is the cheapest GRE self-study program currently on market.

This fact, in conjunction with the features described above, makes it the best option for students in terms of pure ROI.

Stellar offers three membership tiers:

• One-month ($149)
• Four-month ($349)
• Six-month ($449)

There are no differences between the tiers beyond membership duration. This means that students get access to the entire product at every tier, and won't need any additional add-ons.

In a nice bit of branding, the membership tiers are named after stars ('Stellar', get it?).

Students have the opportunity to get a feel for the program before they buy a membership by engaging with a limited version of the full course. They don't even have to provide their credit card information.

Quality of StellarGRE Courses

The quality of Stellar's content is impressive. The tone of the writing is clear and conversational. It also goes far beyond the purely factual content (which is entirely Googleable) that constitutes the majority of the test prep manuals on market.

This was likely due to the fact that the content was written by Dr. Taraban, who (besides being a top GRE instructor) is also a licensed psychologist.

The strategies and techniques he presents are easy to remember and to implement, and most are unique to the Stellar system.

15-Point Score Guarantee

Stellar offers students a score guarantee of up to 15 points, which is significantly higher than other test prep companies.

However, it's probably even more germane to point out that the documented average student response to the Stellar system is even higher.

Process-Oriented Strategy

In his manual, Dr. Taraban reminds students that success on the GRE depends more on how students approach each problem than on what students know about the material.

This is why the Stellar system focuses on breaking down optimal strategy – second-by-second – and providing students with plenty of opportunities to rehearse their new approaches.

Value for Money

StellarGRE presents students with a very strong value proposition:

• It's one of the most comprehensive test prep systems on the market
• It has a demonstrated effectiveness higher than other companies' score guarantees
• It undersells its competition

Stellar students get more, for less. Frankly, it's possibly the best value for money in the GRE prep sector.

Student Feedback and Reputation

There are hundreds of five-star reviews for Stellar from verified users on Yelp and Google. This was significantly more positive than anything associated with the big players in the market.

Students seemed particularly impressed with Dr. Taraban's didactic method, and many reported substantial improvements on their way to being admitted to their grad schools of choice.

Stellar also has a fast turnaround time on its email-based customer support. Any technical issues are resolved quickly by a dedicated team of professionals.

Pros and Cons of StellarGRE

Frequently Asked Questions

The Recap: Is StellarGRE Good?

Yes, StellarGRE is good.

StellarGRE is one of the best GRE prep options available on the market today. The quality of the program is excellent: Stellar's materials are first-rate, many of its features are unique, and it has an enormous demonstrated effectiveness.

The value-for-money proposition is unparalleled: Stellar offers students a top-notch, comprehensive approach to the GRE at the lowest price point available.

And students love it: Stellar's verified students are almost unilaterally positive with respect to their experience with the course.