Im getting scared about how many people are saying that Princeton Review was not very good. I am supposed to be starting on Saturday but if its really not that great I would like to get just get my money back before I start. Did anyone like TPR when they took it??
Did ANYONE like TPR review??
- Thread starter SuzyQ
- Start date
I thought lectures were useless, but materials were quite good. Not worth the 1300 I paid though. Maybe if it was like... 200 bucks.
Becareful not to get caught up in the play between TPR, Kaplan, and the others. There is alot of people on both sides writing reviews or slamming each one. If you paid the money then work as hard as you can.
I just took TPR last Spring, and I loved it. I think it all depends on your teachers, and my teachers were great. My view might be biased as I'm teaching for them next spring, but I went from up 14 points from AAMC IV taken on my own in December to my actual MCAT. The material is great; everything on the MCAT I recognized except for Thymidine. The science workbook is great, but the verbal needs some work. There is definitely some difference between TPR verbal and AAMC verbal. IMHO, on AAMC's verbal, it's harder to distinguish from the two close answers. The thing most people don't get from these review classes is that they still need to do most of the work on their own. These classes are meant to give you structure to your studying, but you still need to do a lot of studying on your own. I loved TPR: the materials were great, the teachers were great, and it kept me in check. Don't stress over it; as long as your teachers are good then you'll do fine. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
I just took TPR last spring and I think that they did a really good job with the verbal, I had a really good verbal instructor. (if any of you are in Berkeley, try to get Thaddeus, he is really fun) Anyway, my verbal scores went from about a 5 on the first diag to a 10 on the actual one this April, which is pretty good for me because I am really weak in English/writing. Good luck!!
I just took it this spring and my actual score was 14 points higher than the diagnostic we took the first week (PR481). I was lucky to have great instructors for the science, but my verbal teacher was bad and I didn't like their annotating method any way. I think the best way to improve verbal is to practice passages, so i skipped all the verbal classes and did that.
I thought the Princeton Review was great! The teachers at Marshall were all excellent and the material was top notch. Couldn't have done it without them.
I took both Kaplan and TPR in two separate years. Both programs have good and bad aspects to them, and I think that it all depends on your learning style. Personally, I got the most out of TPR.
KAPLAN PROS:
- Unlimited access to the library (while you take the class) which has excellent video lectures and a vast amount of practice exams
- Okay, so I have only one pro for Kaplan!
KAPLAN CONS:
- The teachers were constantly making mistakes and were unable to rectify misunderstandings on numerous occasions.
- This led to lack of motivation on the part of the students; Attendance was lacking
- It's more of a do-it-yourself program. But hey, isn't that what life's all about?
TPR PROS:
- Excellent teaching. I made an effort to attend only those classes taught by trainers. This assured me that I would have teachers with a great amount of experience and a good deal of knowledge (This isn't to say that they are all excellent. You'll have to look around for yourself.) I was lucky enough to be taught by one of the individuals who helped to write the practice books.
- Material was comprehensive. By this, I mean the books covered everything you need to know, and the practice questions were sufficiently challenging.
TPR CONS:
- No library... But this can be a good thing if you need that extra stimulus to be at class every week.
Hope this helps. Again, this is only my opinion!
KAPLAN PROS:
- Unlimited access to the library (while you take the class) which has excellent video lectures and a vast amount of practice exams
- Okay, so I have only one pro for Kaplan!
KAPLAN CONS:
- The teachers were constantly making mistakes and were unable to rectify misunderstandings on numerous occasions.
- This led to lack of motivation on the part of the students; Attendance was lacking
- It's more of a do-it-yourself program. But hey, isn't that what life's all about?
TPR PROS:
- Excellent teaching. I made an effort to attend only those classes taught by trainers. This assured me that I would have teachers with a great amount of experience and a good deal of knowledge (This isn't to say that they are all excellent. You'll have to look around for yourself.) I was lucky enough to be taught by one of the individuals who helped to write the practice books.
- Material was comprehensive. By this, I mean the books covered everything you need to know, and the practice questions were sufficiently challenging.
TPR CONS:
- No library... But this can be a good thing if you need that extra stimulus to be at class every week.
Hope this helps. Again, this is only my opinion!
what it all really boils down to, TPR, kaplan, is this:
in either case, you're gonna pay 1300 bucks. You'll be taught by students who couls be younger than you, and you're effectively just rehashing material you probably should know from your intro classes. They'll both give you plenty of HW and ample practice tests. But, the most important thing that is going to determing how well you do on the test is YOU, how well YOU remember and apply your science know-how, how much practice and effort YOU put into it. So, outside of the structure of their review materials, there isn't really a huge difference.
Regardless of which or any course you take, lots of intelligence, elbow grease, and a shred of good fortune, are what lead to success on the MCAT
in either case, you're gonna pay 1300 bucks. You'll be taught by students who couls be younger than you, and you're effectively just rehashing material you probably should know from your intro classes. They'll both give you plenty of HW and ample practice tests. But, the most important thing that is going to determing how well you do on the test is YOU, how well YOU remember and apply your science know-how, how much practice and effort YOU put into it. So, outside of the structure of their review materials, there isn't really a huge difference.
Regardless of which or any course you take, lots of intelligence, elbow grease, and a shred of good fortune, are what lead to success on the MCAT
DW. whats up I live in atlanta too and I see you work for the CDC as well. Im over at the Chamblee campus working at the NCBDDD. I am also taking the MCATs this august and doin the PR thing supplementing it with some examkrackers audio osmosis and some books, so hopefully with alot of work and the ummm downtime that comes with this job ill be good to go. I just got my diags back and I got a 22 (9B, 7V, 6P) and im shootin for 33+ so well see if i can hit that. anyhow, just wondering if you working in the same building or not.
one thing that it depends on is if you are a class or indep learner. i have gone to nary 20% of my college classes, and generally like to study on my own time. the kaplan library suited this quite well (not surprisingly, i didn't attend their classes too often - and found them to be a not so potent use of time). if you are a classroom learner, it sounds like tpr would be more up your ally. but again, as everyone has said, you have to work yourself to maximize any effort put into the courses.
-jot
-jot
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