"Especially when you see everyone around you studying, you think, 'I'm not studying hard enough,'" she says. "Just seeing so many people studying makes you doubt your preparation. This is your competition."
But ironically, Lemann says no study has ever proved conclusively that test prep courses actually improve applicants' scores.
"The test purveyors say there has never been a good double-blind test," he says. "Meanwhile, as far as market tests go, a lot of people are taking these courses."
For his part, Kiprilov is confident that the course will help him improve his score. But he says some of his friends are more skeptical.
"I know people that just take the books from previous years...and do it themselves," he says. "They don't need to go to class--they just read the books themselves and save $1,200."
--Benjamin D. Grizzle and Jonathan F. Taylor contributed to the reporting of this article.