I took the Kaplan class during my spring semester. The most I could get done was readings here and there, sometimes not even that. I barely touched the section tests. I just had so much stuff to do for my other classes that I didn't get time.

Has anyone else taken Kaplan during a college semester, and if so were you able to keep up to date with the plethora of homework assignments they give out each class? Not to mention the 'preview' and 'review' things.

I would like an answer to this as well. Being that they don't offer any more courses for this summer, I have no other option but to take it with my other classes.

Is the one day a week class manageable with 15 credits?

This is relevant to my interests as well.

I, too, am considering taking Kaplan's MCAT course this spring (well, if you consider January to be "spring"); the class meets every Monday and Wednesday from 6:00 PM till 9:30 PM with a few Saturday evenings thrown in.

I'll also be enrolled as a full-time student at my university and will be taking 2 required junior-year biology courses along with a few core classes: ecology and biosystematics (essentially a politically correct term for "evolution").

This thread would mark the first time I became aware of the fact that homework assignments are assigned during the Kaplan course; how lengthy and time-consuming are they, typically? The science classes I'll be taking at school also include labs, so I will be hard-pressed to allocate time in my schedule for school-unrelated activities even without considering the number of hours per week that will be consumed by the Kaplan course.

I was assuming that, with 3.5 hour classes, most of the work would be completed during that time...

I'm taking a Kaplan class right now for a Spring test date. While I graduated from college last year, I think it's definitely doable to maintain a normal workload + some ECs while taking the class. That's what most of my friends did. Currently, I work 40+ hours/week and volunteer at two places and I still have plenty of time to do the preview and after-class homeworks.

To give you an idea of how much work it is...for our first Physics class 2 weeks ago, our preview homework was to read 3 Physics chapters + an online workshop + a short 10-question quiz. All in all, it took me about 1hr to go over the reading/highlight, 30 mins for the workshop and 10 mins for the quiz. The after-class homework was to do 2 topical exams (each topical has about two MCAT-style passages + discretes, with a total of 22-25 questions/exam) and some optional subject exams (all discrete style). So overall, expect about 1-2 hours (max) for the preview and another 2 hours for the after-class homework (including grading/review of the exam). My class meets once a week so the ~4 hours of homework time is really doable.

Yes, the class does meet for 3 hours, but a lot of work is expected from you outside the class. Except for probably 2-3 passages that we map and answer during class time, the rest of your practice is spent on your own. Just like any science class in college where the professor lectures on confusing stuff/stuff not found in the book and solves like 3 problems with the entire class, the Kaplan class works in the same way. You're expected to do all those practice passages and problems outside of class time.

i am taking kaplan right now with a 16 hr course load, head of several organizations and volunteering. i try to sneak in readings here and there and stay up late nights to do some section tests and such. i will be taking the first full length this sunday so i guess i will find out if my studying has been effective.

if i were you though, i'd either start really early if you take it during a college semester or take it online over the summer so you have time to devote all of your time to it. for me, i have been reading and doing the homework but i don't have time to truly master the content so i get around 60-80% right on my section tests. i also have limited background on biology though because I am a chemistry major so it might be diff for you

best of luck

This thread would mark the first time I became aware of the fact that homework assignments are assigned during the Kaplan course; how lengthy and time-consuming are they, typically?
The HW assignments are pretty time-consuming in my opinion, but that's a good thing- by putting in time you reap the benefit of a good score.

It depends on how well you know the background material to be honest. But as mentioned in an above post, about 3 chapters/subject (up to 5 chapters/subject) is required reading before each class in addition to any online workshops or preview assignments. After-class includes topical tests and subject tests, which sometimes takes longer than 2 hours (post- each class).

Wow, it sounds like the majority of the work is done before/after class. What do you actually do during the class sessions? Just answer questions related to homework problems?

Wow, it sounds like the majority of the work is done before/after class. What do you actually do during the class sessions? Just answer questions related to homework problems?

No, you go over specific high yield concepts in a specific area (3 Organic Chem Classes, 3 Physics, 3 Gen Chem, etc....)

The 2nd time I took the MCAT, I taught for a year and didn't study. +5 from first time.