for those of you who took kaplan's test prep

[da MD]

what was your baseline diagnostic test score....and how much did you go up by after taking the course? any tips feel free to post too.

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[smuwillobrien]

You should check the 30+ Study Habits thread.

 

[Mapilowee]

Diagnostics was something between 21-26. Ended up w/36 on Aug 2004. Took CBT diagnostic this month: got 24, heh.

 

[da MD]

i'm just curious because i got a 26 on the diagnostic and was wondering once i start studying, whats a realistic increase? for those of you got a 35+, did you break 30 on the initial diagnostic test?

 

[hopster]

i'm just curious because i got a 26 on the diagnostic and was wondering once i start studying, whats a realistic increase? for those of you got a 35+, did you break 30 on the initial diagnostic test?

I am very familiar with kaplan. A 26 on the diagnostic is an excellent score. If you got a 35 on the diagnostic, why would you be taking the class?!?! It is a diagnostic, nothing more.

 

[EBI831]

26 diagnostic 32 overall. just wanna say that what i notice is huge leaps like diagnostic 17 to 30-32 or something. usually if diagnosed around the 27 area i don't think there's gonna be a superleap except if you got taht without knowing a thing or taking a prereq in like 10 years. also, the diagnostic was somewhat biased as was the kaplan verbal. if i'd gotten the 12 i got on my kaplan diagnostic verbal on the real deal i would've had a 35.

 

[da MD]

so are you saying i'd have a better chance at cracking a 32 if i had gotten a 17 instead of a 26....im confused by your post.

 

[Mapilowee]

I think what he's trying to say is that if you already are doing well, it's harder to increase your score a whole lot. You kind of plateau. So if you plotted a graph of actual MCAT score vs. diagnostic score, instead of a linear curve, you would have a curve similar to sq rt of X.

 

[ITRGTR]

i got a 20 on my diagnostic, and a 30 on the actual MCAT. I wish i had worked harder though, but im happy with my score. btw, this was back in 2005

 

[akinf]

I got 8PS 9VR 10BS (27) on my kaplan diagnostic, I got a 13PS 6VR 12BS (31S) on the real thing. I don't know what happened with verbal, I was expecting a 36. The biggest increase is seen in PS and BS. I sort of plateaued with BS because I didn't take the time to learn the physiology I should have. However, I plateaued at 12/13, so if you focus more on test-taking strategies than so much on content, I think that is more helpful.

 

[gersh489]

I don't think the diagnostic is very useful.

I got a 26 diagnostic score... and then took a aamc practice test the next week (not much studying in between to say the least) and got a 33.

I would really suggest that people stay away from the kaplan program (I spent the money and used the material... and I think it was mostly a waste of time - would have been a much better use of study hours to just take more practice tests).

Get all of the AAMC practice tests. Get the big kaplan review book. Take all of the tests, learn the material related to the questions you got wrong and review the ones you got right. Kaplan is so focused on memorization and the new MCAT tests (7,8,9) are based more on concepts and ability to reason. If you run out of the AAMC tests than maybe pay the money for the Kaplan program just to get access to more practice tests, but realize that they do not reflect the style of the current MCAT. I would say that 70% of the bio questions on the biology section of the real test (i.e. not the o-chem questions) were not based on outside information - you just had to be ready to read and extract info.

My score on the real test was 12, 12, 12.

 

[Cirrus83]

I don't really remember exactly what I got...maybe like a 26 or something on my diagnostic.

I got a 35L on the real thing though...I was kinda annoyed by how little support for the essays I got, my stupid instructor didn't even return the essays he was supposed to grade.

Oh well.

 

[new_doc]

I got a 24 diagnostic and scored a 41 on the April 06 exam. One caveat: it's been many, many years since I was an undergrad, so the disparity between my initial and actual scores is probably greater than average.

 

[Jejton]

I am a non-trad and was taking post ba science electives at the time but I was a few years out of physics. I took the Kaplan because CCNY students are given a big discount otherwise I dont know if I woudl have taken it but I think it really helped me. If anything it helped keep me disciplined and on a good studying schedule. They have a lot of resources which are hard to get on your own. If you are very disciplined with studying, have a good foundation in the sciences and verbal reasoning tests ( the hardest part of the MCAT ) then you dont really need Kaplan. Your school might offer a free prep course. I scored in the low
20's on the diagnostic ( dont remember exactly ) and ended up getting a 39 on the MCATs so it was worth it for me. If you have bad study habits, been out of school or have trouble with these types of exams, look into Kaplan or another prep course.

 

[DrMer]

I got a 23 on the diagnostic, 32 on the actual. Kaplan guarantees a higher score, but most people (I teach for Kaplan) get 5-10 points higher depending on where you sit the scale.

 

[Trevethen]

Where are you getting the 5-10 points higher statistic? Is that based on feedback from your students? If so, that is likely biased as those with big jumps are more likely to sing about it...

 

[Kaifung]

honestly, the diagnostic isn't very useful since it's shorter and the environment really isn't nearly similar. The first full length that kaplan gives IS useful however. Good for letting you know what subjects you need to work on.

My diagnostic was a 27 and I got a 39 on the real thing. So, it's hard to say what your real score will be from your diagnostic.

 

[DrMer]

Where are you getting the 5-10 points higher statistic? Is that based on feedback from your students? If so, that is likely biased as those with big jumps are more likely to sing about it...

It's calculated by the student survey given out by email from the higher ups at Kaplan test prep. It's nothing I personally calculated. I'm just quoting the stats-

 

[rookem11]

diagnostic: 21
Aug 2006 MCAT: 34(12ps,10vr, 12bs)
So big changes are doable

 

[boo-yeh]

I got a 17 on the diagnostic and a 31 on the real thing...I think the sciences are pretty representative of the real thing while the verbal is not. If I had to do it over again I would have just bought an MCAT book with all of the science material, a book with tons of verbal passages, and taken all of the AAMC practice tests leading up to the test. In all honesty, the diagnostic isn't of much help other than to show you need to get to work.

 

[ndmed]

23 on diagnostic 38 on the real thing (12, 12, 14). Diagnostic really means nothing if you ask me. First of all, who is really prepared for this test when they take the diagnostic? Secondly, of course they make it as hard as possible in order to keep their higher score guarantee. Don't sweat anything you get on the diagnostic. Basically, just work hard, put in your own study time (since the class itself I found to be totally useless but the materials were pretty good) and just try your best.

 

[xucardsfan08]

I took the diagnostic today and got a 27....hoping that I can tontinue the trend that everybody else has with decent diag. scores.

 

[ghostfoot]

I hear a lot of folks say that the verbal section on Kaplan's diagnostic is not representitive of the real deal, but is it harder or easier? Or is it just too much different?


Thanks.

 

[akinf]

Too different...I found the actual passage readings harder though.