I am thinking of taking MCAT online course. It will be my first time taking MCAT. I want ppl's opinion. Do you guys like it? worth it? any general comment would be appreciate:)

thank you

I took the classroom course. In retrospect, I think the online course would be tremendous, as long as you still get the books. The key for the online course is having enough self discipline to adhere to a weekly schedule and complete ALL required AND strongly recommended Kaplan assignments. If you treat them as real assignments, stick to your schedule, and really put in the time, I think you'll definitely see results that are worth what you pay for the online course.

Please feel free to PM me if you have addition questions about Kaplan's materials. I've pretty much used all the possible resources they have offered, lol

I'm a little nervous about it too. They have the "higher score guarantee" but they don't have a 24 hour test drive of the online materials, which doesn't allow prospective buyers to kick the tires and see if they are getting a good deal. I don't like kaplan's guarantee since obviously you get outta something what you put into something (which means no matter what, you can't say it wasn't helpful even if you didn't truly value it). It's a lot of money and I'm also interested to hear what others have to say. I even spoke through ebay to someone who used the online thing and they said it was good but the person only got a 30, which could mean the materials are for people using the online course as the entire materials which they will study from. I have the kaplan in-class books, the hyperlearning books, the Ek full set and 1001's, and each of the 3 major "$100 books" and I can't see my original idea of using the online course as a top-off to my collection. The online course is probably geared to those who just decided to start studying for the mcat, not those who are close to being finished studying for the mcat.

Here's the thing about the higher score guarantee. The reason they can guarantee it is because in order to receive the guarantee, you must complete all required assignments, which can be pretty extensive. I mean, technically, you could click through all the quizzes and mark "C" for all of them and get 25% and still receive the higher score guarantee, but that has to be extremely rare.

Also, Kaplan is not only for people who have extremely low starting scores looking to get to 30s. My diag was a 30 and Kaplan got me to a 40 (at least on my AAMC/Kaplan practice exams, waiting for the real thing). So it CAN help you.

Lastly, it sounds like you have a ton of content resources. That's great because I found that Kaplan's online resources are actually in the "test you knowledge" department. They have a TON of quizzes, topical tests, MCAT sections, and MCAT full lengths. This is where Kaplan shines in my opinion. 11 Kaplan full length exams, 10 AAMC full length exams, 10 section tests for each MCAT section, a ton of content quizzes with explanations. These were EXTREMELY useful in preparation. So even if you're done with your own content review, it is very useful to test your understanding and utilize Kaplan's extensive resources, in my opinion.

Here's the thing about the higher score guarantee. The reason they can guarantee it is because in order to receive the guarantee, you must complete all required assignments, which can be pretty extensive. I mean, technically, you could click through all the quizzes and mark "C" for all of them and get 25% and still receive the higher score guarantee, but that has to be extremely rare.

Also, Kaplan is not only for people who have extremely low starting scores looking to get to 30s. My diag was a 30 and Kaplan got me to a 40 (at least on my AAMC/Kaplan practice exams, waiting for the real thing). So it CAN help you.

Lastly, it sounds like you have a ton of content resources. That's great because I found that Kaplan's online resources are actually in the "test you knowledge" department. They have a TON of quizzes, topical tests, MCAT sections, and MCAT full lengths. This is where Kaplan shines in my opinion. 11 Kaplan full length exams, 10 AAMC full length exams, 10 section tests for each MCAT section, a ton of content quizzes with explanations. These were EXTREMELY useful in preparation. So even if you're done with your own content review, it is very useful to test your understanding and utilize Kaplan's extensive resources, in my opinion.

Thanks for the very helpful feedback. The practice resources alone are worth quite a great sum of money. The 11 Kaplan full length exams are spoken highly of; I just wish I knew if the stuff I have extensively studied would be too beginnerish for me. I fear sinking a lot of money into the online course and simply using it because I have so much invested. My science textbooks have proved more valuable so far than the Kaplan in-class set of books. I get too great of feeling that Kaplan's materials are made to help those score a 30. I'm still undecided on it; I best wait to see how I do on AAMC#3

I'm taking the classroom course right now and just checked the online "toolbox" and it actually has all of the text material in an online format---I'm pretty sure this comes with the online program......You can even make lectures on topics ur not good at ( leaving out stuff u are good at, something I wish I could've done with the text...hahah) saving u soooo much time.

I think this is a great idea, discipline urself to do all of the online work(topicals,sectionals) and u'll no-doubt notice a substantional increase.

I think regardless of how far along you are score-wise, Kaplan can help you improve. Textbooks are fine for some, but a lot of people find it like using a sledgehammer on a thumbtack. The Kaplan material focuses out all extraneous information and teaches you what is sufficient and necessary. You only learn what can possibly be on the MCAT instead of content that may be way more advanced than necessary. In that regard, I think the Kaplan prep books are extremely useful.

As for the money aspect, I do not know your financial situation, but I do know that when you go to medical school you will be investing up to $160,000+ into your education. Right now, what's another 1000-2000 to greatly increase your chances at getting into a place you will be happy at? The whole process of preparing for and applying to medical school has become way too expensive, but IMHO these initial investments are small compared to the rewards that result.