Students Going to Extremes
The accounts below are true stories of students who went to extreme, almost unbelievable measures to take an Altius course. Their stories illustrate that when you truly understand the revolutionary nature of the Altius course, the opportunity to participate is almost invaluable.
The Other Side of the Continent
William A. attends college in Pennsylvania, thousands of miles from the nearest Altius MCAT course. Nevertheless, after extensive research and planning, he determined to move to Salt Lake City, UT for the summer so he could participate in the Altius MCAT Program. William isn't alone either. We have had students come to Salt Lake City to take our course from universities all across the country.
I'd Rather Pay, Thank You
Mike B. hit what most would consider the "MCAT Jackpot." In a pre-med club raffle he won a FREE MCAT course from Kaplan. As great as the idea of not having to pay for his MCAT prep sounded, after some serious consideration he determined that he would rather pay for an Altius course than attend our competitor's course for free. In a similar story, David L. was able to purchase a competitor's program at a pre-med auction at a significant discount. He later decided to sell his course to someone else and took Altius anyway.
A Long Drive, and Even Longer Nights
Jake B. lived in a small Utah town nearly 200 miles from the nearest Altius location. He made that long round-trip drive of almost 400 miles three times a week for five months. He could have taken the online course offered by one of our competitors, or attended one of their live courses much closer to his home. Instead, he determined that taking the Altius course was worth the almost ridiculous amount of extra effort it would require. On some occassions when he needed to be in Salt Lake City two days in a row, he would sleep overnight in his car. Now that's dedication!
Kaplan Tutor Seeks Help From Altius
Spencer B. took a Kaplan course, but ended up with a score that would not make him competitive at his top schools. The score, however, was good enough to land him a position as a private tutor for Kaplan. After learning about the Altius course, Spencer determined that we provided just the kind of intense scientifically-based program and proven track record of high-level scores that he needed. In a remarkable bit of irony, Spencer signed up for our course, attending Altius courses and tutoring sessions during the afternoon, and teaching for Kaplan in the evenings.
Better Late Than Never
Christina M. attends school at Northwestern in Chicago, IL. Despite the presence of every other major prep course right there in Chicago, Christina was determined to come to Salt Lake City for our summer accelerated course. Unfortunately, the quarter system at Northwestern meant she wouldn't be done with school until the Altius summer program was almost one-third of the way over. Christina decided that 2/3 of an Altius course was superior to a full course from anyone else and came to Salt Lake City anyway. As they say, better late than never.
To the Highest Bidder
In the spring of 2010 all of our Utah locations were filled to beyond capacity and we had to start turning students away. Several students chose to commute from their own school to another campus to find an open seat. When all of those were full, some students began calling the Altius office repeatedly, leaving messages at all times of the day and night asking if they could somehow barter their way into the program. One student started bidding insane prices well in excess of our normal tuition if we would let him have a seat. Unfortunately, we literally had no room and still had to turn him away. One might ask, however, "Just what is it about Altius that makes so many students willing to go to such extreme measures to take our course?