Again, ExamKrackers vs Kaplan materials.

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micky

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You know, its hard deceiding btw these two since i read the 1 thread that was 9 pgs asking what people did that got a 30+ and what they used, how they studied and for how long. Well reading through most of those pages it seems like 80+% used the Kaplan complete review materials.

I'm stuck: dont know whether to go through Complete Kaplan or Complete ExamKrackers.
I'd like to get these before the winter break coming, but i'm unable to view each of the books online, unfortunately.

What do you guys think?
Also, how much for all the AAMC Official MCAT's, is it $80?
 
My friend,

You have a really good point. Just looking through the material, it seems like Kaplan is harder. I haven't taken the real MCAT, but as I am taking Kaplan, I am afraid of "splitting my effort," so to speak.

I have to believe that if Kaplan is a major testing agency, they know what the hell they are talking about. On the other hand, the examkrackers stuff is more straightforward, and they tell you what to know instead of kaplan which just throws a ton of equations down.

Please, Please, if you have taken one of the above, tell us how you did, how you did on the exam, what you wished you would have studied harder, etc.

Thanks

Emmanuel
 
Look, I hate these X vs Y threads, but I will give my 2 c here even though I normally don't.

#1 is, you have to gather the information and make a decision for yourself. People take X class and do well and they think it's because the class is great. Or they take Y and do badly and they think it's because the class sucked. Sometimes the instructor did suck. Sometimes the technique did suck. Sometimes the student didn't do what they needed to do. Most of my students who did badly had at least one major area where I advised them to do something, and they didn't.

Classes: 80% of people took Kaplan or TPR because they are huge multimillion dollar organizations that offer a lot of classes, so it's just a probability thing, not a quality issue. EK is a smaller organization that offers classes in a smaller range of locations.

Books/other materials: As someone with a very strong science background and a very strong teaching background, who has taught for both EK and one of the others, I have worked through both companies' MCAT materials in great depth (I don't currently work for any of these companies). I do believe that the EK VR technique is way better than the others. The PS passages are significantly better than at least one of the competitors. The EK books focus on conceptual understanding, and pedagogically, they are much better designed. The graphic design is also way better. People get confused and think they should buy the thickest book, but (having worked through both in great detail), I can tell you that cheap paper and selective design can be used to make you think that there is more important material in the book, when actually, there isn't. There might be some extra concepts, but these are just arcane book-fatteners used to impress the nervous MCAT student.

In the end, the biggest variable is you - you have to do the work. In my opinion, you must buy and take all the AAMC practice tests. You need to see other tests from other sources; you can use EK or K or TPR or BR or whatever you like. Personally, I would buy the EK package.
 
MeowMix said:
Look, I hate these X vs Y threads, but I will give my 2 c here even though I normally don't.

#1 is, you have to gather the information and make a decision for yourself. [Cut]

Classes: 80% of people took Kaplan or TPR because they are huge multimillion dollar organizations that offer a lot of classes, so it's just a probability thing, [Cut]
Books/other materials: [Cut]

In the end, the biggest variable is you - you have to do the work. In my opinion, you must buy and take all the AAMC practice tests. You need to see other tests from other sources; you can use EK or K or TPR or BR or whatever you like. Personally, I would buy the EK package.

Great feedback. I totally agree. I'm working from both right now and I use that approach to get a different pedagogy on each subject. I think I am partial to EK, but Kaplan is sufficient. I think maybe too much emphasis is on which one is the right class. The question is what do you need to learn. Me I get concepts quickly, but I need more structure and practice than teaching. Anyone else IS going to be different. And as a junior/senior or my case graduate student you should know yourself to figure out what you need help in 🙂 If not, take a diagnostic and see what that says.

Good luck!
 
Another quickie:Examkrackers Complete MCAT Study Package, 5th Edition
by Jonathan Orsay

This i see is the Jan. 1 2003 edition...you guys think they're gonna come out w/ a new version or should i get this one?
I'm saying, if a new version comes out in like a month, then i just got jacked.

THanks
 
Look guys
i have a 30+..as if that makes me special
i'll tell u what i did ...


Kaplan and Exams!!

look at my college grades:
All 4.0's in ever physics ....and i tutor physics as a job.
Low Cs in gen chem from a bad summer freshman yr.
A low A/B+ in orgos
and various Bio grades bc thats my major

What kaplan really helped me with is the fact that i could look at myself and say " damn u suck at gchem" and then find the EXACT pinpoint material that i suck at - say electrochemistry or molality moles thingies.

that way i saved time - which was a plus as i tutored all summer while taking classes and commuting almost 2 hrs a day to work /school and kaplan.


MY PROGRESS THIS SUMMER/FALL:
i took the august mcat and have 2 interviews so far -- i believe thanks to the MCAT bc my gpa is so sucky i refuse to ever divulge it to anyone -- even my parents dont know it!

currently i am waiting for next wed so i can know if i got into UM * anxious*
and i think this (even though my dad says, has said, and will say i will never get into medical school) has happened because of the MCAt and my ECs

--------------------
so take this test seriously ....but do not panic
you have time ..i studied from mid july till the test - you have almost 4 months starting this week!!!
also doesnt matter what u take (PR kaplan EXamC) it matters what you need!


Feel free to PM me questions and calm yo happy a$$es down 😉
 
MeowMix,
I agree with you and thanks for the words of encouragement. Here are my two cents. At one point myself, I was trying to figure out which prep course I should take and would benefit from to get a good score for April 2005. However, at the end I decided that it doesn't matter which prep course I take, as long as I put in those extra hours of studying and do what I have to do. I think regardless of the prep course the answer lies within yourself. You know if you go home and put in those extra 6hrs of studying or if you just breeze thru the materials and don't really study much. :luck:. Because at the end you have to make sure that you are comfortable with all the sections on the test.
 
here's what i'm doing, don't know if it's gonna generate a 30+ yet.

TPR review course: i need the structure and like the lecture/ classroom format. (not to mention i work full time and have been out of school awhile)

kaplan comprehensive review book: thousand pages thick- ouch. i'm gonna try to complete it before i start the TPR course in january.

from everywhere else that i've read, i'm gonna pick up the AAMC tests.

i'm also seriously contemplating the exam krackers VR, seems like it's favored against kaplan, don't know about TPR.

that should cover it 🙂 ... i hope :scared: .
 
I was very paranoid about this too, and so I took the kaplan class, bought BR books and all of examkrackers material. I have been able to compare the materials very thoroughly.

EK and TBR:
although I'm wary of people like meowmix that sound like EK sales very subtly trying to promote(doesn't matter if you are or not, but it's not unlikely, for evidence of how concerned EK is with what is said about them on this board, you can search previous posts and find founder cocky Orsay himself posting until people begged him to stop because it made them have second thoughts about his books)
get the EK stuff for verbal
for science if you learned it AND REmember it thoroughly then EK will do you good. (this is because EK is really only one guy, Jonathon Orsay, who wrote some stuff for Princeton and has a history BA, Just like TBR is one guy who wrote/worked for princeton previously; both saw they could make more on their own and so they opened shop to cutthroat premeds in a niche market without any serious competitors ("insiders" preparation (for evidence go to "What does Jonathan Orsay know about MCAT?" on the EK website) vs impersonal, big market Companies that allegedly ride on their name and care less about the merit of their product) and are successful salesmen, I believe, only because their materal is for the advanced student in mind (I think they know insecure below-averagers will go for what most people are doing), in that they cover things more indepth and EXPECT you to know the material off the bat, (their schedule recommends skimming, reading, rereading, doing practice problems, and a mini test all in like 2 hours [or so]) they provide the most succient/efficient/effective review, strategies and practice.

TBR is similar to this, except their science review is VERY detailed;I think too much. Even the author says in the classes he teaches that the books are for practice and ingraining strategy, and not for review (his lectures are review). The advantage to TBR books is that their coverage is very thorough and they have a lot of practice (EK sees this as a fault, that they're wasting time on things that aren't going to be on the mcat, etc), but if you've got time and really want to know you're stuff, TBR science review is good.
(the material of their books is really cheapo though, especially the paper, and only black and white; when compared to EK, which has the best material and color and is pretty lively especially with their 2 characters. So if you're a real cutthroat and don't care about a sort of boring book, but your score, TBR is, maybe the best but only if you combine a with a lecture if you don't have your material down. (their average published score is very high. I don't know if it's still true but at UCdavis, they guaranteed their students a 30, with their average scores being a 32!)

Kaplan: (I am unfamiliar with Princeton, but I expect the points I make will be applicable to both) They have expanded their online material significanlty, you can access all their "paper" materials online now, and they have added complete lectures online, and workshops/quizzes etc. IF you don't have your stuff down I think Kaplan is very good because, TBR/EK are one-man authors and so if you don't have your stuff down you're going to have trouble understanding because the authors are NOT great writers. (If you get EK and you don't have a good grasp of the material already, you'll find yourself sortof puzzled in some paragraphs or at cocky Orsay (sorry I think he is personality wise, it's not meant to degrade the material though) trying to teach you some science in a whole new "better" way, when you remember a little about the different way you learned it in the classroom and now you're completely confused; or )
 I strongly believe that Kaplan has the Best Written material and almost certainly has editors that focus solely on grammar/writing/english, etc. THis makes a HUGE difference in trying to get the material. therefore is easiest and best to review the material, especially now with all the different ways to concentrate on your weaknesses (re: dieselpetrolgrl) and do online workshops that help you in concepts that you really suck in.

although i've said many things that sound like they're coming from my own experience, much is from what I've gathered from some months of reading many peoples posts in the mcat section of sdn.
 
Does anyone recommend buying an updated version of Examkrackers? I am using the old ones from 2003 MCAT... does it make a difference?
 
hi,
Did you went through the PR course? Can you respond if you did?
Thanks,

violet_star

doogyhowser said:
here's what i'm doing, don't know if it's gonna generate a 30+ yet.

TPR review course: i need the structure and like the lecture/ classroom format. (not to mention i work full time and have been out of school awhile)

kaplan comprehensive review book: thousand pages thick- ouch. i'm gonna try to complete it before i start the TPR course in january.

from everywhere else that i've read, i'm gonna pick up the AAMC tests.

i'm also seriously contemplating the exam krackers VR, seems like it's favored against kaplan, don't know about TPR.

that should cover it 🙂 ... i hope :scared: .
 
violet_star said:
hi,
Did you went through the PR course? Can you respond if you did?
Thanks,

violet_star
start in january...

full time job (8-5:30, m-f)
nite class at the TPR (4 days a week 7-9:30pm) for about 10 weeks... thinking i want to kill myself.

variable schedule with some saturday exams, i liked what they seem to offer more than kaplan.
 
micky
Registered User
0+ Posts
Join Date: Dec 2004

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and recommend that you read the 52,864 other threads on this subject. It HAS been dealt with before.
 
docintheory said:
Does anyone recommend buying an updated version of Examkrackers? I am using the old ones from 2003 MCAT... does it make a difference?

no, don't. the only thing they updated is the small errors they had in the books. i bought the old 4th edition EK books and im using those to study from.
 
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