Changes in Kaplan books from edition to edition?

[HotLikeSauce]

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Hey all, does anyone know how much editions of books (specifically the Kaplan Step 1 series) change from publication year to publication year? I managed to get a pretty good deal on a set of the 2009-2010 (green books) from someone and always just assumed that any changes were mostly cosmetic (new covers, things re-arranged a bit, etc.). However, now that I'm looking over threads about how FA changed so much from the 2010 to 2011 edition, I'm starting to worry that I made a mistake! Am I actually going to be at a disadvantage by using last year's books (no new trick questions, "hot" topics, etc. added from last year's exam)? I really didn't think there would be huge changes between editions haha 🙁 Thanks to anyone in advance who has any input!

 

[kryptik]

kaplan books have very minimal changes from edition to edition, a lot of the changes are aesthetic and putting some of the info into tables.

 

[bbydoc]

kaplan books have very minimal changes from edition to edition, a lot of the changes are aesthetic and putting some of the info into tables.

can only agree with this, though Ive only looked into biochem 2003,2007 and 2009/10.

 

[BelieveTheHype]

kaplan books have very minimal changes from edition to edition, a lot of the changes are aesthetic and putting some of the info into tables.

I currently have the 2009-2010 edition as well (green books), but I noticed that the 2010-2011 edition got a HUGE overall. All together they are about 50% less thicker, and 2 of the books are color, while the other books are 2-tone colored. I am guessing they stripped a lot, and just left the pure high-yield info. Here is a comparion pic of the 2 sets: http://www.usmle-forums.com/images/added/attachments/inpost/newkaplan002.jpg

 

[kryptik]

they stripped the questions from the books and thats the main reason the books shrinked, concepts remain the same

 

[whatsupdoc7]

and i believe they are printed on that glossy paper, maybe that makes a difference in how thick each book is? not sure..

 

[Day man]

Other than upper classmen, does anyone know a good place to purchase JUST the review books? I'm not interested in the online course or Qbank...not sure why Kaplan can't sell these separately. All I see are ebay/amazon sellers at ~600$/set.

 

[HotLikeSauce]

Oh wow, ok thanks guys! I feel a lot better now haha. 🙂 It seems weird that the books would shrink THAT much, but as long as they're shrinking and not getting larger/filled with more info than the previous edition, I think I should be ok.

 

[asef101]

does anyone know if the Kaplan set is sufficient for a 99 on step 1? (given i complete UW)
i see that the Pathology portion of the Kaplan set is not as comprehensive as Goljan is...
i am NOT able to answer some of the questions on UW using Kaplan Pathology...is that normal for you guys?
thanks

 

[bbydoc]

does anyone know if the Kaplan set is sufficient for a 99 on step 1? (given i complete UW)
i see that the Pathology portion of the Kaplan set is not as comprehensive as Goljan is...
i am NOT able to answer some of the questions on UW using Kaplan Pathology...is that normal for you guys?
thanks

what I experienced is that mechanisms not covered in the kaplan pathology book is covered elsewhere (other books like biochem or physio)...so just doing the kaplan pathology is certainly not good enough.