i took falcon recently and remember searching all over the internet for falcon experiences/info. there was a bunch of "i know ppl who took falcon and they said it sucked" posts. not helpful. so here's my contribution:
something about kaplan doesnt click with me--i have their subject books, i used qbank the first time, i have qbook, etc so i felt like i knew what i'd get if i went to kaplan. the only reason i went to falcon is for the tutoring, and this, i think, is huge. this is what separates falcon from the rest (besides their patented method.....whatever.) so saying this, i was REALLY surprised that only a handful, max 10 ppl, would go to these tutoring sessions which are nightly with the instructor who gave the lecture.
i think that if you put in A LOT when you're there, you will get a lot out of it. if you studied everyday when you were there and asked questions when you were unsure, did questions, studied really hard post-falcon etc etc and then you failed step 1, you're allowed to bring up beef with falcon. but if you studied 2-3hrs everyday and then did squat on weekends and postfalcon, and you failed, and then you bitch and moan about how much XYZ course sucked, give me a break.
i walked away from the course with an overall good impression.
my overall good impression is without a doubt due to the AWESOME TEACHERS!!! this is something they don't elaborate on their website and one of the main questions i had about the course. they are great teachers. they make clinical connections, really make you remember the stuff. most of them are relatively young docs (either last year in residency or a few years out), but all are 'experts' in their field---ie the pharm guy is a MD, but he also has a phd in pharmacology. i think 99% of the teachers are actual MDs, i think maybe only 1 or 2 max are strictly phd. all of them are from top schools- so they are definately comparable to kaplan teachers. maybe even better but i didn't take kaplan so who knows. one of the guys also teaches/teached for kaplan too.
the neuro teacher was beyond awesome. and hilarious. i feel pretty confident with neuro now. not to say i'm going to knock all the neuro questions all dead, but i think i can get an avg of 75% right and in my book, this is pretty damn good.
some advice i would give to those going there/planning to go there: mainly i would read beforehand but don't kill yourself. you def don't want to burn out by the time you get to dallas. even a little bit helps because once you get there, things are crazy. you go through like billions of pages in a day. btw i thought the isolation of the program (living in a hotel with strangers miles and miles away from home) was, yes, kind of sad/lonely at times but ultimately really beneficial.
ok hope this helps bc my fingers are tired now
