does Kaplan really help?

[clutzie16]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys

I started my kaplan course yesterday, after taking the diagnostic i had a reality check.

The scores that i got on that except for the reading (320) were below any sort of requirement by the schools im applying to. I know that the diagnostic was the first time i took the "oat" and that it does not really provide an accurate score, but still....i'm worried i wont improve much

i was wondering if anyone has taken kaplan? and how they did on their first day diagnostic compared to how they did on the actual OAT when they took it.

i spoke to my instructor and he "guaranteed" people getting at least 330 on the real test itself...

how can there be such a big jump? for me about 40 points cause on the diagnostic i believe my natural sciences score was 290

i know physics and bio will improve because im taking the II part of them now but still?

any ideas?

thanks

and good luck!

 

[alferec]

Hey guys

I started my kaplan course yesterday, after taking the diagnostic i had a reality check.

The scores that i got on that except for the reading (320) were below any sort of requirement by the schools im applying to. I know that the diagnostic was the first time i took the "oat" and that it does not really provide an accurate score, but still....i'm worried i wont improve much

i was wondering if anyone has taken kaplan? and how they did on their first day diagnostic compared to how they did on the actual OAT when they took it.

i spoke to my instructor and he "guaranteed" people getting at least 330 on the real test itself...

how can there be such a big jump? for me about 40 points cause on the diagnostic i believe my natural sciences score was 290

i know physics and bio will improve because im taking the II part of them now but still?

any ideas?

thanks

and good luck!

I made a post earlier about this: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=4149106&postcount=3

Most people bomb the diagnostic real bad anyway...don't sweat it. Besides, Kaplan makes their tests harder than the real think, IMHO (and others agree too).

 

[4eyed]

I took the Kaplan Course.. and I thought the classes weren't as helpful as I though they would be. There is so much information to be covered, and they only went over only some of it. There was so much to review in such a short period of time.. But I have been reviewing on my own the information from their big review book.. and I think that has been helpful. Doing the practice sections they provide is also helpful.

Like you were saying.. I didn't do well on their exams either.. Which was making me really nervous!😱 But I took the exam on the opted.org, and did really well and I've heard from a few people that they did so much better on the actual exam, which i haven't taken yet so i can't compare my scores for you..

Good luck

 

[clutzie16]

hey
thanks a lot guys, the only reason im even worried that kaplan is a waste of money for me at this point is because im taking 18 credits of pure prereqs in school now in order to finish by aug '07 so i dont dedicate a lot of time to studying the kaplan notes, but i do go to the lessons, and i do read over the notes i get, so thats already better than nothing

well thanks anyway

we;ll see how i do at the end of october 😀

if anyone else has any more comments id really appreciate them!

 

[DrSpontaneouz83]

Yea, I am taking the Kaplan course too and I got my diagnostic scores back. They were horrible! But then again, I walked into the test blindly without studying, the highest scores were Bio and Orgo with 290, the rest were blehhh. Hopefully the test won't be as challenging as the diagnostic.

 

[eye2eye]

Hey guys

I started my kaplan course yesterday, after taking the diagnostic i had a reality check.

The scores that i got on that except for the reading (320) were below any sort of requirement by the schools im applying to. I know that the diagnostic was the first time i took the "oat" and that it does not really provide an accurate score, but still....i'm worried i wont improve much

i was wondering if anyone has taken kaplan? and how they did on their first day diagnostic compared to how they did on the actual OAT when they took it.

i spoke to my instructor and he "guaranteed" people getting at least 330 on the real test itself...

how can there be such a big jump? for me about 40 points cause on the diagnostic i believe my natural sciences score was 290

i know physics and bio will improve because im taking the II part of them now but still?

any ideas?

thanks

and good luck!

very possible to get diagnostic 290 then 330 on the real thing...you have months (or weeks) to prepare...read...look over wrong answers...take more tests...YOU WILL IMPROVE maybe even to 350 or 370... BUT IT WILL REQUIRE MANY MANY HOURS OF READING, MEMORIZING AND TaKING PRACTICE TESTS! (that's where taking kaplan helps most!)

 

[eye2eye]

one more thing...MY MOST HATED KAPLAN TESTS WERE PHYSICS!

I think they make the physics way too hard...its annoying! it drains you and you want to quit taking the damn tests, I wish they would make the physics section tests and practice tests a bit more realistic to the actual oat. the organic tests of kaplan on the other hand I ALWAYS felt were EASY...and yes, they were easier then the actual oat I THINK...if not easier, then very very close to the actual oat.

 

[optodood]

Kaplan really stressed me out for my OAT... I thought the classes were pointless, mostly because my instructor wasn't very good, then the practice tests stressed me out even more because I would get low 300's on them. However i kept studying and then when I took the real thing i did extremely well (360AA and 380TS). So don't get discouraged... Good Luck!

 

[clutzie16]

Hello everyone

thank you for all those encouraging words 🙂

hopefully the trend will follow and all of us that are doing terrible or close to that will improve significantly, i will be taking the oat as soon as the course is over so most of my studying must be done during the course itself, and i barely have time for that, but will have to make do.

i wonder if its better to take the exam right after the course, so around the 20th of october or study after that for a while and take it mid november?

any ideas?

 

[bellaluna]

The only good thing about Kaplan is the materials they give you. The tests are not that great, and there are several mistakes. I got about 80 points higher on the actual test then I did on the practice ones.

(I'm glad I used Kaplan though, made the real thing seem a LOT easier!)

 

[russian-OD]

I took Princeton Review prep courses, which i found to be very helpful. On the first diagnostic i scored 300. On the last exam, which was given 8 weeks later, I scored 350. They provide a workbook with lots of practice problems.

Good luck to all of you, who are applying this year. 🙂