Anyone take both the online Kaplan as well as at a study center?

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idahoeboy1

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I'm trying to decide if its worth my time to drive 5+ hours (one way) to SLC in order to take the "real" Kaplan DAT course. I took the online course last year and did ok, but I would really like to bump my avg. up a point or two. If anyone has taken both and knows if it might be worth my while, I'd appreciate the advice.
 
idahoeboy1 said:
I'm trying to decide if its worth my time to drive 5+ hours (one way) to SLC in order to take the "real" Kaplan DAT course. I took the online course last year and did ok, but I would really like to bump my avg. up a point or two. If anyone has taken both and knows if it might be worth my while, I'd appreciate the advice.

Well, I've taken the classroom for about 3 weeks. Then I switched to the online version because the "teacher" was following directly out of the lesson book. Personally, I don't gain much when teachers follow word for word through the lesson book. As a student, I feel one of my duties is to understand and read the lesson book myself and the teacher is supposed to bring a different, unique perspective of the material I read in the lesson book. So, for me, I didn't get anything out of the classroom since the teacher was following the lesson plan to the tee. Unless, you know of a teacher that brings a fresh perspective to the material and can make the material easier to understand....basically, if you have a good teacher, then it might be worth going to the classroom. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. By the way, the "online" (pre-recorded) teachers do exactly the same lessons as the classroom teachers. The only difference is that you may be able to ask questions in the classroom, but then again, you might not always get a good answer....
 
idahoeboy1 said:
I'm trying to decide if its worth my time to drive 5+ hours (one way) to SLC in order to take the "real" Kaplan DAT course. I took the online course last year and did ok, but I would really like to bump my avg. up a point or two. If anyone has taken both and knows if it might be worth my while, I'd appreciate the advice.
Just study the lesson books. At times I wished I did take the course as a means of reassurance since they give you practice tests. But, luckily I did pretty well from studyin my ass off in the sciences and such. I just wished I practiced more on the PAT. Topscore is no indication on how well you will do, because I was getting a 19 on Perceptual Ability. The QR and sciences though are excellent indicators in topscore. Just add 2 points to your science and math for the real DAT.
 
Thanks for the replies. I had to make my decision in a hurry and I decided to go ahead and do it. My first class was Wed. and I actually came away pretty encouraged. I was just struggling too much with procrastinating on the online course. There are only 3 of us so its fairly interactive, which is nice IMO. Anyway, hopefully along with studying my butt off, it will get me up in the low 20's....but then again, who knows?
 
Kaplan is a good way to go. I took both the class and I used the online resources. If I had to do it again, I'd skip the class. I was disciplined enough that I could've covered the material well enough on my own.

Anyway, if you study hard, you'll do great on the DAT.
 
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