Are Kaplan books bad?

Started by Seldon
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

Seldon

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I've been looking around the forum and I've noticed that not many people use the full set of any books. Of the one's they do use, Kaplan is often near the bottom of the list. Is there anything particularly wrong with their books? I've just begun studying and I've been reading through each of their books. Should I stop? Thanks!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I used them for content extensively along with Khan Academy, TPR Psych/Soc, and Coursera; for practice and extra stuff, AAMC materials (all of them).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ad2b said:
I used them for content extensively along with Khan Academy, TPR Psych/Soc, and Coursera; for practice and extra stuff, AAMC materials (all of them).
Click to expand...
How did you do? Did you notice any weaknesses? Are there any that you would recommend that I get in addition to them? I have EK, but I was only planning on using them for practice, not content review.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I would say use AAMC practice tests for practice;

Kaplan is good for content except for Psych/Soc... which was mediocre. I used TPR and Khan for that instead.

Can't speak to EK mats.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Nothing wrong with any book set. I used Kaplan and did just fine. No one book will prepare you completely for P/S. I used Kaplan and supplemented with Khan Academy where necessary. What will determine your MCAT score is how many practice passages you do and how well you learn from them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Kaplan is great. So is any other resource that gets the information into your head. It doesn't matter what other people are using. It matters what works for you. I liked free or cheap resources, and that is why I would have considered Kaplan materials to be too pricey.

I did end up paying for a video series that really helped me remember a lot of the more technical concepts and to apply them quickly and accurately. But mostly? I used free content outline that I found on a website to direct my study through whatever other resources I felt like cobbling together. Got above a 95th percentile score, but I doubt my study patterns would have worked well for anyone else. I did what makes me learn best.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Promethean said:
Kaplan is great. So is any other resource that gets the information into your head. It doesn't matter what other people are using. It matters what works for you. I liked free or cheap resources, and that is why I would have considered Kaplan materials to be too pricey.

I did end up paying for a video series that really helped me remember a lot of the more technical concepts and to apply them quickly and accurately. But mostly? I used free content outline that I found on a website to direct my study through whatever other resources I felt like cobbling together. Got above a 95th percentile score, but I doubt my study patterns would have worked well for anyone else. I did what makes me learn best.
Click to expand...
I am also more of visual learner. What videos did u use?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I just finished reading psychology/sociology for both TPR and Kaplan, Kaplan was missing things that TPR included, especially for sociology. However, sometimes I went back to Kaplan because they explained a term better or had diagrams that TPR didn't.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chiongo said:
I am also more of visual learner. What videos did u use?
Click to expand...

I took the pre-2015 MCAT, so I'm not sure how my favorite source is for the current exam. It looks like they've updated them. https://jcoreview.com/mcat These are really awesome. They use memorable graphics and clear explanations that I could easily recall during the actual test.

It is $76 for a month. Pricing is dynamic, so that the more time you buy at once, the less it costs per day. You can buy as little as a day at a time, but that gets really expensive. I hit these videos HARD in the 2-3 weeks leading up to my test. Like 6-10 hours a day hard, and I credit them with helping me get a mid 30s score the first time I took the test, despite not having ever taken a physics course before that, and a high 30s the second time around, after I actually finished my pre-reqs. (I impulsively took the test early on. That was not terribly wise, but it ended up not hurting me. Don't do that, though. Make your first time taking it your best attempt.)

Other than these vids, the main thing that I did was go to the AAMC website and print out a detailed outline of what the test covered. That was my roadmap. I highlighted (yellow for a first pass, green to show I'd hit it again) each topic after I covered it, and marked it off completely once I was sure that I had mastered it. That let me keep track of my progress, see at a glance what I still needed to go over. It also gave me a master list to use for searching for youtube videos about the concepts.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I would say I used Kaplan books and their online resources for 90% of my studying, and I am so glad I did because there was A LOT of content that I forgot about over the 4 years of college.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
What I honestly did was used Kaplan as an outline, made anki on stuff that I didn't know, if I had issues with certain concept I would watch Ak Lectures or Khan videos. That's mainly what I did for content review and so far, I think it's helping dramatically. And a **** ton of practice problems and full length exams every week with a full section of verbal every other day.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nothing wrong with Kaplan. It works just fine. I used Kaplan's full set (save for chemistry which I didn't need review in). Any test prep company's books will prepare you well content-wise.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I used Kaplan (just the books) my first time taking the exam and scored a 505 (126/126/126/127). I supplemented Psych/Soc w/ KA (recommend). I neglected to use AAMC material which I think hurt me. I am taking the exam again this summer. My plan this time around is to use Kaplan/KA again but this time use all, or as much as possible, of AAMC material.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
aldol16 said:
Nothing wrong with any book set. I used Kaplan and did just fine. No one book will prepare you completely for P/S. I used Kaplan and supplemented with Khan Academy where necessary. What will determine your MCAT score is how many practice passages you do and how well you learn from them.
Click to expand...

Agree with the practice passages are what matter part of this comment. Not all books are equal though, as some aim to review while others aim to teach. All books will expose you to the material. I personally preferred TBR because of their passages and explanations, but you can do fine with other books.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Swagster said:
Agree with the practice passages are what matter part of this comment. Not all books are equal though, as some aim to review while others aim to teach. All books will expose you to the material. I personally preferred TBR because of their passages and explanations, but you can do fine with other books.
Click to expand...

The problem with books that are trying to teach is that if a student is using them to learn the material for the first time, they don't provide a good foundation at all. And they're useless for students who already took the courses and only want content review. Content review is meant to be just that - review. If you're learning the material for the first time from one of those books, that doesn't bode well. The only section where you could pull that off and score very well, in my opinion, is probably P/S.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Where are the passages located in the Kaplan books?
Replies
3
Views
3K
rcsurgeon
R
medicalmoviebuff
How should I order the Kaplan books as someone with ADHD?
Replies
1
Views
2K
harmreductionist81
H
M
Kaplan books and Khan Academy Videos
Replies
0
Views
3K
Miamiheat2003
M
N
What are some great historical, religious, and philosophical books to read to adjust for CARS passages?
Replies
4
Views
2K
NihilismIsReal
N
Guacamolerat
How predictive are blueprint FLs?
Replies
7
Views
953
Guacamolerat
Guacamolerat