commercial review courses

[ser1218]

Why is it that university pre-health advisors never recommend commercial review courses for the mcat? Does it just have to do with the fact that they don't want to see students spend so much money on a review course?

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[QofQuimica]

Why is it that university pre-health advisors never recommend commercial review courses for the mcat? Does it just have to do with the fact that they don't want to see students spend so much money on a review course?

I would guess it's because it would be difficult to be impartial. All it would take is for one company to start giving them "gifts" as a thank-you for recommending their course, and.....major conflict of interest.

 

[traki]

Agreed with above, but I will add that I don't think prep courses are necessary to performing well on the test (and I'm a Kaplan teacher).
There are strong benefits that prep courses will offer you, but not all students will benefit equally.

If you would like a structured environment to help guide your test preparation, then choose a prep course. If you do not need guidance for prepping for the exam, then merely purchase the AAMC exams and use your textbooks for review.
An example of a student who would fall into the latter category: one who has achieved a high level of academic success (i.e. 3.7 GPA) in the classroom as well as in the lab (meaningful participation - not lab tech stuff) do not need a prep course.

An advisor should not be perscribing the same advice to all students regardless of differences in academic/lab background and ability.


Regards,

DJ

 

[MeowMix]

Because statistically, students who take a prep course do not perform significantly better than students who do not take a prep course (AAMC stats).

However, this averages in students who take a prep course and don't study and do poorly, with students who study like crazy and do well. It doesn't mean that a prep course won't help your MCAT score.