Content Review: Kaplan vs. TPR?

[FauxBlue]

Hi,

I'm stuck between choosing Kaplan and TPR. I know I'd like more comprehensive review than the general concise review that EK offers. I have searched around the forums, Reddit and Amazon reviews on Kaplan and TPR, but could not make a final decision.

I have seen mixed reviews from both Kaplan and TPR and now I am hoping to get some more opinions from the SDN community. I understand that ONE set of content review books does not suffice to cover all the material and it would be in my favor to have a variety of books. I am borrowing TBR which I will use as supplement (and is far too detailed for my likings).

What are your thoughts on Kaplan vs. TPR?

(I'd love to hear from everyone who owns these books, especially those that own both.)

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[MCAT-MVP]

I agree with ericd8 if you are looking for a traditional (hard copy) book I would go with EK over Kaplan for content review. The Kaplan books I feel go into too much detail that would not be tested on the MCAT. However, you may see some of the information that is in a Kaplan book on the MCAT, but it will be information that is given to you in a passage.

Overall I recommend EK (for a traditional book if you want to go that route) and doing practice exams from all the different MCAT prep companies.

 

[FauxBlue]

I used Kaplan and EK and found that Kaplan didn't actually go much more in depth than EK in such a way that it would help me remember the important concepts. Instead, Kaplan seemed to include more extraneous facts than necessary for the MCAT. I'd highly recommend using EK for your primary content review. If you need more in-depth coverage of particular topics, look to Khan Academy.. those guys are great at helping you understand the important concepts without wasting your time with details that won't ever be seen on the MCAT.

I'm not sure how TPR is, but based on my experience with EK and Kaplan, your next bet would be to take undergrad classes in each subject matter lol.

It is important to note that neither EK or Kaplan were adequate to learn all of the terms covered on P/S when I took the exam on April 1st. Terms appeared that I had not seen before. If possible, find a list of all the terms AAMC expects you to know and independently make flashcards. This, in addition to either the EK or Kaplan book would be more than sufficient.

I agree with ericd8 if you are looking for a traditional (hard copy) book I would go with EK over Kaplan for content review. The Kaplan books I feel go into too much detail that would not be tested on the MCAT. However, you may see some of the information that is in a Kaplan book on the MCAT, but it will be information that is given to you in a passage.

Overall I recommend EK (for a traditional book if you want to go that route) and doing practice exams from all the different MCAT prep companies.

Haha oh gosh. I was stuck between Kaplan and TPR, but now I'm getting EK back into the mix. This makes the decision quite tough. Might I add that I am writing the MCAT for the 3rd time and have used EK in the past. Would it be more wise to change it up and use Kaplan or TPR?

And to any other users who happen to pass by this thread. Please feel free to include your opinions as well! I greatly appreciate them!!!!!

 

[aldol16]

I can't tell you relatively whether Kaplan or TPR is better because I only used Kaplan but I liked Kaplan for biology and psychology/sociology. I also liked their FLs even though they're not terribly representative of the real deal.

 

[MCAT-MVP]

If you have taken the MCAT twice already then I would recommend that before you purchase more books from another MCAT company you try to figure out what went wrong the last time you took the exam. How did you do on practice exams before the MCAT? Maybe you are not use to reading passages or maybe you need better content review. Look over one of your practice exams and see why you missed certain questions. That will probably be the best way to determine how you need to prepare for the next time you take the MCAT.

A tutor maybe a good option for you. You can probably find a good MCAT tutor at www.wyzant.com. You can meet in person or online. You may or may not have used that site, but it is a website where you can find a tutor for just about anything and can pay per session. One of the reasons why I like it and recommend it to students is that you pay per session and if you do not like the tutor you are with you can cancel at anytime, which means you don't have to spend thousands of dollars for a course and still get one-on-one help. On the other hand a Kaplan course may work best for you, but spending some money on a tutor using wyzant for 2 or 3 sessions is going to be a lot less expensive than spending money on a Kaplan course, so you may want to first try wyzant and see if that works out.

If you end up using that website talk to your tutor in a private message before hand and let them know exactly how you plan on studying for the MCAT and how often you want to meet.

There is also Chegg tutors, but that is really only best if you have a specific question and do not need a tutoring session. With Chegg you post your question(s) on a message board and a tutor will meet with you one-on-one and walk you through the question or set of questions.

Hope one of those works out well for you.

 

[FauxBlue]

I used both Kaplan and EK extensively to study for my exam with the hope that Kaplan would help with concepts that EK didn't do a good job of explaining. What I found was that Kaplan did not do a significantly better job of explaining these concepts, but instead included extraneous information related to these concepts. Imagine a hypothetical scenario where you're trying to learn the details of how a G-protein coupled receptor functions. EK would go over the basics of how a GPCR functions with a nice little diagram, mnemonic, and hopefully a witty pun from a salty cracker. Kaplan would go over the basics of how a GPCR functions, but then skip the memorization aids and discuss in detail a specific instance of the GPCR that would never appear on the MCAT without a descriptive passage. Kaplan would offer no additional insight to help you understand the dissociation of the alpha, beta, and gamma subunits and would not leave you significantly better equipped to use critical analysis to determine the consequences should one of the three subunits fail, instead you would know useless information regarding what would happen if Ligand A activated GPCR B.

What you need to focus on is the general concepts and how to reason using those concepts. Extra detail is a waste of time when it comes to the MCAT. EK does a better job of this IMO, and if it isn't in depth enough then you should refine your content review using Khan Academy and practice problems.

I'm not sure whether or not TPR does a good job of this, but my guess is it doesn't. Pre-meds are used to this memorization based learning, therefore it's easy for a testing company to add more useless facts and fool students into thinking that it inherently makes a book better.

I can't tell you relatively whether Kaplan or TPR is better because I only used Kaplan but I liked Kaplan for biology and psychology/sociology. I also liked their FLs even though they're not terribly representative of the real deal.

Thanks for all the great advice so far everyone!

It sounds like most people have been using Kaplan instead of the Princeton Review? Is there any reason why most of you were drawn to use Kaplan over TPR in the beginning?

 

[FauxBlue]

If you have taken the MCAT twice already then I would recommend that before you purchase more books from another MCAT company you try to figure out what went wrong the last time you took the exam. How did you do on practice exams before the MCAT? Maybe you are not use to reading passages or maybe you need better content review. Look over one of your practice exams and see why you missed certain questions. That will probably be the best way to determine how you need to prepare for the next time you take the MCAT.

A tutor maybe a good option for you. You can probably find a good MCAT tutor at www.wyzant.com. You can meet in person or online. You may or may not have used that site, but it is a website where you can find a tutor for just about anything and can pay per session. One of the reasons why I like it and recommend it to students is that you pay per session and if you do not like the tutor you are with you can cancel at anytime, which means you don't have to spend thousands of dollars for a course and still get one-on-one help. On the other hand a Kaplan course may work best for you, but spending some money on a tutor using wyzant for 2 or 3 sessions is going to be a lot less expensive than spending money on a Kaplan course, so you may want to first try wyzant and see if that works out.

If you end up using that website talk to your tutor in a private message before hand and let them know exactly how you plan on studying for the MCAT and how often you want to meet.

There is also Chegg tutors, but that is really only best if you have a specific question and do not need a tutoring session. With Chegg you post your question(s) on a message board and a tutor will meet with you one-on-one and walk you through the question or set of questions.

Hope one of those works out well for you.

Thanks for the advice! It's quite frustrating taking the exam over and over again. You make a really good point about looking back at my previous practice exams before purchasing new books. It's also great to hear more about what a tutor has to offer. I've never really considered it, but that could be a great way to get an objective perspective on my progress and mistakes in order to improve. I'll look into more of that!

In terms of books to purchase, what would you say should be done if:
A) I had poor content review and needed more of that?
B) Content review was not the problem and instead it was about getting more practice and doing passages?

Which books would you recommend for those situations?

 

[aldol16]

It sounds like most people have been using Kaplan instead of the Princeton Review? Is there any reason why most of you were drawn to use Kaplan over TPR in the beginning?

I have had good experience with Kaplan in the past with other standardized exams and that's what drew me to it initially. All test prep companies I know will prepare you equally well for the MCAT although some will go about it in a more roundabout way than others. The key is not to focus on the specific test prep company but rather on the FLs - those will be the crucial factors.

 

[Thordinson]

I knew TPR would be TMI and Kaplan had a good reputation. You're won't go wrong with whatever book you decide on as long as you use it effectively.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using SDN mobile

But you would recommend Examkrackers as well?

 

[FauxBlue]

I knew TPR would be TMI and Kaplan had a good reputation. You're won't go wrong with whatever book you decide on as long as you use it effectively.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using SDN mobile

I have had good experience with Kaplan in the past with other standardized exams and that's what drew me to it initially. All test prep companies I know will prepare you equally well for the MCAT although some will go about it in a more roundabout way than others. The key is not to focus on the specific test prep company but rather on the FLs - those will be the crucial factors.

Thanks for the quick replies! I see that practice may seem like an important aspect. What did you do about practice passages if you used Kaplan? I understand that they don't have any practice passages within their books, but TPR has maybe 1 after each chapter?

 

[aldol16]

Thanks for the quick replies! I see that practice may seem like an important aspect. What did you do about practice passages if you used Kaplan? I understand that they don't have any practice passages within their books, but TPR has maybe 1 after each chapter?

Use KA for B/BC and P/S practice passages. Kaplan set also comes with 3 FLs.

 

[Dr.JD.House]

Hi Guys, I'm just curious on people's opinions of using Kaplan's 2015 books. My fiance is going to take the MCAT in August and she was planning on using my books, but I was wondering if I should get her the updated books. Does the edition matter much if they are one year apart?