Disappointed with Kaplan FL

[premedmind]

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I took my first Kaplan FL today, got a 21..

I had a 25 on my diagnostic (which I took last October), I figured with 3 or so months of studying (which I did) the score could only go up....nope.

I have never skipped any Kaplan HW or assignment and really tried to put in all my effort in to the course, in addition to my other classes. I am really discouraged at this point..

Any advice or suggestions? The instructor kept stressing that scores may go down on the first FL...but I am skeptical...how could a score go down if you put in all that effort studying?

 

[Revilla]

There are a lot of reasons. Were you overly concerned with the strategies they taught you that it detracted from the passage information? Were you trying too hard, and by that I mean, were you looking too deeply into some questions, maybe over-interpreting them? Were you rushed? Were you applying the Kaplan methods appropriately?

Many people have said their FL #1 score went down. Go over the test, make note of your mistakes, revisit your weaknesses, and try FL #2 in a few days to see how you do. Good luck!

 

[premedmind]

I think my main problem was that some of the questions I just couldn't answer because I didn't know the formulas.

Next, I found mapping useless on some of the passages. The entire mapping thing seems like a waste of time, sans verbal.

I didn't really feel terribly rushed, except for physical sciences and maybe verbal.

To be honest, I FELT like i had maybe a 25-28...I was somewhat confident throughout the entire test. Also, I feel like I did a great job on the writing samples but of course I'll have to wait for that.

 

[swamprat]

Yeah IMO i think the whole mapping thing is nonesense and a waste of time especially for the science sections. Verbal also usually don't have enough time, make a mental map.

 

[premedmind]

Yeah IMO i think the whole mapping thing is nonesense and a waste of time especially for the science sections. Verbal also usually don't have enough time, make a mental map.

Yup...I noticed mapping was KILLING me as far as time management. I wasn't spending a whole lot of time mapping either. Maybe about a sentence for each paragraph max.

Mapping for verbal seemed especially wasteful. Mapping AND reading the passages only compounded the timing problem.

 

[cyclin M]

IMHO after taking my first 2 Kaplan classes, I will probably ignore most of their strategies such as mapping. I never do the mapping and for me the Kaplan course is basically to provide study materials and structure to my study schedule which will keep me on track.

 

[premedmind]

Anybody else?

Is my particular situation an anomaly or are there people out there who have encountered a similar situation?

 

[JPanda]

without going over your score breakdown, the questions you answered wrong, and the differences between fl1 and assessment test it is difficult to determine the exact solution and approach you should take.

 

[premedmind]

without going over your score breakdown, the questions you answered wrong, and the differences between fl1 and assessment test it is difficult to determine the exact solution and approach you should take.

I'm not asking for an approach...I'm just curious if my situation is unique to me or other people have had drops in scores on their first FL.

 

[SN2ed]

I've heard of it before, so you aren't alone.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Next, I found mapping useless on some of the passages. The entire mapping thing seems like a waste of time, sans verbal.

For me mapping did feel like a waste of time. [I think the passages are reasonably short that you can find where to go back to without having to look at a passage map.]

Maybe try taking FL 2 without mapping and see how you do.

You mention not knowing formulas which prevented answering some questions... I would go back and try to learn the important ones before taking FL2. The Kaplan quicksheets should have all the formulas, or you can also make your own - creating it by hand can help you learn them too.