The Jordan Harbinger Show

1288: Test Prep | Skeptical Sunday

February 22, 2026

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  • The multi-billion dollar test prep economy thrives by monetizing student and parental anxiety, often selling anxiety accoutrements alongside genuine, yet sometimes repackaged, study materials. 
  • Standardized tests like the SAT are often less predictive of college success than high school GPA, and the test prep industry exacerbates existing socioeconomic inequalities because access to quality preparation is not standardized. 
  • Test prep materials, especially for specialized exams like the LSAT and GRE, can genuinely help students navigate unusual formats, but the industry frequently relies on fear marketing, promoting unnecessary bundles, and capitalizing on constant test revisions. 
  • High-stakes testing induces severe physical and psychological reactions in students, sometimes leading to medical emergencies during exams, highlighting the immense pressure involved. 
  • The test prep industry profits from student anxiety by often focusing on branding and proprietary systems rather than evidence-based study methods like spaced repetition and active recall, while also exacerbating socioeconomic inequality through costly accommodations. 
  • Test prep companies, particularly in the legal sphere, have engaged in anti-competitive practices like market allocation, leading to inflated prices and absurd requirements (like mandatory physical presence for remote study) that exploit students. 

Segments

Test Prep Industry Origins
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(00:07:40)
  • Key Takeaway: The modern test prep industry exploded in the 1980s and 1990s due to increased college competition and the belief that standardized tests were highly coachable.
  • Summary: The SAT launched in 1926, but the test prep industry grew significantly starting in the 1980s and 1990s with companies like Princeton Review and Kaplan expanding rapidly. This growth was fueled by increased competition for college spots among the Baby Boomer echo and the perception that test scores could be significantly improved through preparation. This environment allowed entrepreneurs to monetize student and parental anxiety effectively.
Value and Predatory Prep
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(00:09:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Test prep materials vary widely in quality, with some offering genuine structure while others merely repackage old advice, and corporate consolidation means test makers sometimes sell their own prep guides.
  • Summary: Some prep books genuinely help by breaking down test formats and teaching strategies, but others are repetitive repackaging with new covers. A conflict of interest exists as a few companies control much of the market, sometimes including the entities that create the tests themselves. Furthermore, essay grading has historically been messy, with graders sometimes working for competing tests using different rubrics.
Test Bias and Privilege
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(00:11:15)
  • Key Takeaway: The SAT is criticized because high school GPA is a better predictor of college success, and the test reflects unequal resource access more than raw ability, leading to massive score gaps based on income.
  • Summary: Studies indicate the SAT underpredicts college performance for Black and Hispanic students while slightly overpredicting it for white students, suggesting the test measures privilege more than aptitude. While free resources like Khan Academy exist, they lack the personalized structure and accountability provided by expensive tutoring, which yields bigger score gains. Families in the top 1% have a 1 in 4 chance of entering elite schools, compared to 1 in 300 for the bottom 20%.
Test Optional Movement
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(00:18:08)
  • Key Takeaway: The move toward test-optional policies, accelerated by COVID-19 disruptions, demonstrates that colleges can still identify qualified students without standardized scores, often benefiting institutional rankings.
  • Summary: Over 1,800 four-year U.S. colleges are now test-optional or test-flexible, a trend that grew significantly when testing centers closed during the pandemic. Universities found that freshman classes remained qualified, confirming that tests were never as essential as claimed. Many schools favor test-optional policies because increased applications lower acceptance rates, making the institutions appear more selective and generating application fee revenue.
Graduate Exam Prep Intensity
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(00:32:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Graduate exams like the LSAT and GRE feature highly specialized, unusual question formats (like LSAT logic games or GRE vocabulary) where prep materials are genuinely necessary to learn the specific rules and structures.
  • Summary: Tests like the LSAT require mastering unusual formats, such as logic games that test rule-set adherence, making targeted prep highly effective. The GRE is notorious for brutal vocabulary memorization, often requiring months of study for words students will rarely use professionally. For these high-stakes exams, bad prep materials can actively hurt performance by training the brain incorrectly on format or content.
Mental Health and Overstudying
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(00:52:30)
  • Key Takeaway: The test prep industry fosters an unhealthy culture of constant consumption and comparison, leading to severe test anxiety, burnout, and guilt-driven spending among students.
  • Summary: Students feel compelled to constantly engage with prep materials, leading to burnout, panic attacks, depression, and physical symptoms like migraines on test day. Social media exacerbates this by creating an anxiety spiral where students compare their study setups and materials, driving further unnecessary spending. For professional exams like the MCAT, fear marketing pushes students to buy excessive, sometimes outdated, materials under the threat of professional failure.
Extreme Test Anxiety Manifestations
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(00:53:16)
  • Key Takeaway: High-stakes test anxiety frequently causes severe physical symptoms, including migraines, nausea, and heart racing, sometimes leading to test abandonment or medical emergencies.
  • Summary: Students experience physical revolt during exams, evidenced by reports of sudden migraines and shaking hands. One speaker recalled a test-taker leaving an LSAT early, and another saw someone walk out of the GRE five minutes in while visibly shaking. Extreme cases include medical emergencies like fainting or collapsing during high-stakes exams.
Bar Exam Medical Emergency
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(00:54:44)
  • Key Takeaway: A documented incident during the New York Bar exam involved a cardiac arrest where the test was reportedly not stopped, forcing students to continue working near the emergency.
  • Summary: A young woman reportedly suffered cardiac arrest while taking the New York Bar exam, yet the exam continued nearby while CPR was administered. This incident fueled significant outrage and calls for test reform regarding stopping exams during life-threatening events. The New York State Board of Law Examiners reviewed its procedures following the event.
Accommodations and Wealth Advantage
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(00:56:31)
  • Key Takeaway: While test anxiety qualifies for accommodations like extra time, obtaining the necessary psychiatric documentation costs hundreds of dollars, creating an advantage for wealthier students.
  • Summary: Severe test anxiety can qualify as an anxiety disorder, allowing students with documentation to receive testing accommodations. The evaluation required for this documentation costs hundreds of dollars, meaning students with existing wealth and healthcare access benefit disproportionately. This reinforces the financial barrier to equitable testing conditions.
Effective Test Prep Science
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(00:57:25)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective test preparation relies on scientific principles like spaced repetition and active recall, prioritizing detailed question explanations over motivational content or proprietary branding.
  • Summary: Research clearly indicates that spaced repetition, active recall, and practice under test-like conditions are the most effective study methods. Good prep materials guide students by explaining why answers are right or wrong, rather than focusing heavily on branding or non-essential systems. Students need detailed explanations, not cheerleaders, to master the material.
Optimal Study Techniques
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(00:58:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective test preparation involves starting with a practice test to identify weaknesses, using techniques like Feynman and Pomodoro, and employing interleaving to strengthen concept differentiation.
  • Summary: Study should begin with a practice test to pinpoint weak areas, followed by targeted drilling, tracking progress with data, not feelings. The Feynman technique involves explaining concepts simply to identify knowledge gaps, while the Pomodoro technique uses 25-minute focused blocks with breaks to prevent burnout. Interleaving, or mixing subjects, strengthens understanding by forcing the brain to work harder to distinguish concepts.
Bar Prep Industry Collusion
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(01:02:34)
  • Key Takeaway: The high cost of bar prep courses, like Barbary, stems partly from illegal collusion where major companies carved up the market to eliminate competition, resulting in higher prices.
  • Summary: Bar prep courses can cost thousands of dollars because companies like West Publishing colluded with competitors to allocate specific exams, suppressing competition. This illegal market allocation resulted in higher prices for students, as exemplified by a $60 million settlement one friend successfully sued them over. The industry also imposed ridiculous logistical requirements, such as forcing students to rent apartments in specific cities to view lectures.
Shame and Consequences of Failing Bar
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(01:07:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Failing the bar exam, which has low pass rates in some states, carries significant social and professional consequences, including being sidelined at new law firm jobs while studying for retakes.
  • Summary: The bar exam pass rate can be as low as 40% in some states, meaning many who complete law school still fail and must pay and study again. Failing often results in job offers being contingent on passing, leading to new hires being paid by the firm to study while the entire office knows they failed. This creates resentment and significant shame for otherwise smart individuals.
International Student Disadvantages
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(01:09:46)
  • Key Takeaway: International students face additional barriers in U.S. admissions, including multiple required English proficiency tests and cultural context embedded in test materials, often compounded by paying higher tuition.
  • Summary: International students must take standardized tests like the SAT, GRE, and English proficiency tests like TOEFL, which tests academic English distinct from conversational fluency. Test prep materials often assume cultural knowledge of American history or literature unfamiliar to non-native speakers, creating a subtle disadvantage. Wealthy international families often spend upwards of $100,000 on tutoring, effectively exporting U.S. educational inequality globally.
Teaching to the Test vs. Real Learning
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(01:12:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Teaching to the test optimizes performance for standardized metrics but sacrifices the development of critical thinking and deep knowledge necessary for long-term success in college and life.
  • Summary: While pragmatically necessary for students to pass gatekeeping exams, teaching to the test prioritizes tricks and strategies over deep understanding. This trades real education for scores, leading students to believe performance, not curiosity, is the goal of schooling. Standardized tests are favored because they are easy to score, unlike assessments that measure creativity or perseverance.
Scams and Oversight
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(01:13:47)
  • Key Takeaway: The test prep industry lacks meaningful government oversight, allowing companies to make unsubstantiated claims, while sophisticated scammers exploit student data to execute fraudulent credit card solicitations.
  • Summary: Test prep companies operate with little oversight, similar to the nutritional supplement industry, hiding behind disclaimers like ‘results may vary.’ Scammers exploit student information obtained from data breaches to call parents with specific test details, making fraudulent requests for credit card information seem legitimate. The Better Business Bureau has received hundreds of complaints about these unsolicited calls targeting stressed parents.
Future of Testing and Prep
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(01:16:07)
  • Key Takeaway: The shift toward test-optional admissions, accelerated by COVID-19, suggests a future where standardized tests are less central, though the prep industry will adapt by integrating AI or maintaining high costs.
  • Summary: The success of test-optional admissions during COVID-19 suggests that standardized tests are imperfect measures that do not capture essential qualities like perseverance or leadership. AI could disrupt the industry by offering cheaper, personalized tutoring, but large companies are likely to simply create premium AI tiers charging high fees. The core driver of the industry remains ‘fear plus confusion equals marketplace,’ meaning smart preparation involves using official materials like Khan Academy rather than relying on expensive tools.