Our team follows a thorough and detailed approach when evaluating prep courses and products. Below, we’ll explain the steps involved in our review process and how we ensure our recommendations are reliable and unbiased.
We maintain a clear separation between our editorial process and any financial relationships with affiliate partners. Our partnerships do not influence the rankings or scores of products featured on our site.
We do earn commissions on some, but not all, products we recommend if users choose to click on a link.
Meet Our Team
Our team is made up of dedicated professionals who oversee and manage all product reviews. With decades of combined experience in the test prep industry, we bring a wealth of knowledge across various exams.
Each review is a collaborative effort, involving multiple team members. This approach allows for diverse perspectives, meaningful discussions, and a more balanced evaluation of each product.
For more details about our team, visit our about us page.
Why You Can Trust Our Reviews
At BestPrepCourses.com, we are proud to be a leading provider of prep course reviews. Our team collectively has over 50 years of experience in test preparation.
We dedicate significant time to research and personally explore the courses we review, ensuring we assess them as real users would.
Additionally, we continually update our reviews to reflect market changes, new competitors, and product updates, so you can always rely on up-to-date information.
Our Review Process
Here’s an overview of how we conduct our reviews:
1. Researching Providers
We begin by identifying popular and lesser-known test prep providers that people are discussing or searching for. At this stage, we compile a master list of prep courses for further evaluation.
2. Selecting the Providers for In-Depth Review
After our initial research, we refine our list to focus on the most relevant providers. Our selection process takes into account several factors, including:
- Industry Reputation
- Search Trends
- User Feedback and Sentiment
- Unique Features
- Requests From Our Users
3. Hands-On Testing of Courses
This is where we dedicate most of our time. Our team members actively use the courses as if they were preparing for an exam themselves.
Thanks to our longstanding relationships with various providers, we often gain access to their courses for evaluation. When access isn’t available, we either use free trials or purchase the courses ourselves.
4. Assigning a Proprietary Score
We use a structured rating system to score each product. Our scoring process is based on five key criteria, four of which remain constant while the fifth is specific to each test category.
5. Writing and Publishing the Review
Once we’ve completed our evaluation, our editorial team ensures the review is clear, informative, and structured to help users make well-informed decisions.
Our primary objective is to educate users on their options and provide guidance if they decide to purchase a prep course.
6. Updating Reviews as Needed
The test prep industry evolves frequently, with providers updating their features and offerings. We regularly monitor these changes and adjust our rankings to reflect the most current information.
If you have any questions about our process, feel free to contact us.
Our Proprietary Rating System
We’ve developed a unique rating system to ensure accuracy and fairness across different test categories.
Our review process begins with a thorough assessment of available providers. We then evaluate each product based on the following five criteria:
- Price
- Content Quality
- Question Database
- Guarantees
- Test-Specific Factors
Each category is assigned a weight based on its importance for a particular test. Since each exam has unique requirements, we tailor the test-specific criteria accordingly.
Once we’ve scored all five criteria, we calculate a weighted total and assign a star rating:
- 5 Stars: Score of 90+
- 4.5 Stars: Score of 80-89
- 4 Stars: Score of 70-79
- 3.5 Stars: Score of 60-69
- 3 Stars: Score below 60
Our rating system ensures flexibility across different test categories, providing an accurate representation of the best options available.