How did you do on the MCAT after Princeton Review?

[plrae12]

To anyone who took the Princeton Review...Did it help as much as you expected when you took the MCAT? I was just wondering because their diagnostic tests are very difficult. Also, some people say that Princeton purposely made their tests harder than the actual MCAT (I don't know it it's true).

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[Avalanche21]

I didn't take PR, but this should be in the MCAT forum

 

[Driven83]

I got a 12 point improvement, not too shabby if you ask me.

Their extra test booklet (A-D I think it's called) are a bit harder, but the regular diagnostics are not.

I have recommended the Princeton Review to all my friends.

 

[dsq]

TPR tests are more difficult that the actual MCAT. The tests get a little easier as you move closer to taking the real MCAT, with the AAMC practice tests more comprable to the real thing.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

I got a 10 point improvement from my first diag- but did about 3 or 4 points lower than I was doing on the AAMC practices. Annoying.

 

[Tigerstang]

I can't do math, so I don't know numbers. I just know the class helped a buttload. I never went to it, mind you, but the materials are fantastic.

 

[radioh3ad]

Studying with Kaplan materials saved my ass, but I hear great things about PR class teaching.

PR definitely makes things harder while Kaplan tried to make things very comparable to the real thing. Albeit with some WACKO verbal passages thrown in.

 

[DrHopeless]

I got exactly what I needed out of that class. I have to say it saved my butt.

 

[tik-tik-clock]

I got exactly what I needed out of that class. I have to say it saved my butt.

namely?

 

[jammin06]

11 pt improvement

 

[daysleeprx]

I dunno, I think it's a bunch of BS. I took the class, but I didn't really think I got much out of it. Of course people are going to improve over their original diagnostic test...they make you take a practice MCAT cold, without any prior studying and then show you that your scores go up after taking their course. Well duh...anyone is going to improve after they've studied for it. I mean come on, who in their right mind would really go take the REAL MCAT cold turkey, with no studying?

 

[daysleeprx]

I can't do math, so I don't know numbers. I just know the class helped a buttload. I never went to it, mind you, but the materials are fantastic.

Proving my earlier point...haha. Just buy a book and study.

 

[Tigerstang]

Proving my earlier point...haha. Just buy a book and study.

Normally I would agree, but I was under the impression that all their materials are not available UNLESS you take the class. So, if you can find a friend who took the class and is willing to sell you the books, maybe that's a good idea. Hell, PM me and i'll sell you mine! 😉

 

[daysleeprx]

Normally I would agree, but I was under the impression that all their materials are not available UNLESS you take the class. So, if you can find a friend who took the class and is willing to sell you the books, maybe that's a good idea. Hell, PM me and i'll sell you mine! 😉

There's usually books floating around ebay...I saw a set for 40 bucks. That's compared to something like 1400 bucks for the actual class.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

There's usually books floating around ebay...I saw a set for 40 bucks. That's compared to something like 1400 bucks for the actual class.

I actually made the mistake of trying to sell my TPR books on ebay, and got a stern warning about it from the admins. They took the listing off almost immediately- violation of copyright (I didnt know- you can sell all kinds of other books and whatnot on there). So, actually I dont think you can get the full set they give you with the review course there.

 

[Shredder]

To anyone who took the Princeton Review...Did it help as much as you expected when you took the MCAT? I was just wondering because their diagnostic tests are very difficult. Also, some people say that Princeton purposely made their tests harder than the actual MCAT (I don't know it it's true).

i got 29 on my first princeton diag. 37 on the real one. disappointed, wanted 40. the course didnt help a lot. if anything, i shouldve done kaplan. kaplan at least had flash cards and seemed to focus on tactics instead of lecturing endlessly on material that is already in the books a la princeton.

 

[Shredder]

I actually made the mistake of trying to sell my TPR books on ebay, and got a stern warning about it from the admins. They took the listing off almost immediately- violation of copyright (I didnt know- you can sell all kinds of other books and whatnot on there). So, actually I dont think you can get the full set they give you with the review course there.

hah same. you can only sell books that you buy in the store. the material they give you in the classes is supposedly still their property and they can revoke it at will, but they are kind and let you keep it. i dont know, just some bs to keep you from selling it bc thats all the classes are anyway, regurgitation of the books. boo princeton.

 

[gujuDoc]

hah same. you can only sell books that you buy in the store. the material they give you in the classes is supposedly still their property and they can revoke it at will, but they are kind and let you keep it. i dont know, just some bs to keep you from selling it bc thats all the classes are anyway, regurgitation of the books. boo princeton.

I wanted to throw my 2 cents in here because I'm a former TPR student too. I think the lectures, themselves, are rather pointless unless it is a specific topic you are really really really weak on. If it is a topic that you are sorely weak on, then the lectures might be helpful because you'll have someone there to answer questions that you may have. However, if you are real good at content and just want mostly practice material and strategies, TPR is not the way to go. EK or Kaplan would be better for the latter situation.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

It is also well worth taking a straw poll about the teachers in your specific area. TPR has a far better rep than Kaplan where I took it.

I thought it was a great course, well worth the money.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Useless.

 

[gujuDoc]

It is also well worth taking a straw poll about the teachers in your specific area. TPR has a far better rep than Kaplan where I took it.

I thought it was a great course, well worth the money.

My problem wasn't with the teachers. Outside of a few strategical ways of looking at material, I didn't get much out of the actual class. I'm not saying the teachers are bad, cuz I'm sure they are good and when there is something you really need help with they are handy. However, most of my learning came from studying on my own. Its just the materials. i wish they'd just sell the materials for 300 dollars, and the 6 tests for additional money. That woulda been better. Or perhaps they should create a one on one tutor package thingy. That would be awesome.

 

[Shredder]

My little brother got a 35 on the diagnostic and a 42 on the real test.

He thought the class was completely useless.

oh man boris, natasha, and dudley do right!

my TPR teachers were substandard i felt. then again im from around austin at a state school, maybe thats the price i pay. what guju said about the subjects vs tactics seemed right on.

 

[CoffeeCat]

I tried to study on my own and it didn't work out for me - I'm not super smart or super motivated and I need something more. TPR is an expensive something more and sometimes I do feel that the classes are useless. However, I really like my teachers, three are in med school, one is on his way and another is a schoolteacher. They do a good job of focusing us on the material that we need to know and throwing in when something is very important or commonly asked about. Another thing I'm getting is going over some of the passages in class. We'll do them individually and discuss them together - when they go over them, it shows you how you should think through a question and how to eliminate them.

If you know that you study well on your own, then definitely forget a prep course. Other than that, I'm really getting my money's worth I feel and I'm glad I did it.

 

[mshheaddoc]

guju has good advice.

I have some friends that swear by TPR and others kaplan. Most I know took TPR for the content review and kaplan for the strategy. I do know that most prefer kaplan if you are a pre-med and just took classes. Ithink non-trads prefer TPR.

Then I had a friend who took TPR then quit class after first week. Also, TPR IS ALOT OF CLASS TIME. For some that is great but remember, you have homework to do and its hard to keep up with the pace of the class.

 

[Shredder]

guju has good advice.

I have some friends that swear by TPR and others kaplan. Most I know took TPR for the content review and kaplan for the strategy. I do know that most prefer kaplan if you are a pre-med and just took classes. Ithink non-trads prefer TPR.

Then I had a friend who took TPR then quit class after first week. Also, TPR IS ALOT OF CLASS TIME. For some that is great but remember, you have homework to do and its hard to keep up with the pace of the class.

tpr was a hell of a lot of class time. i started skipping during the last third of the course, if you have school classes to juggle as well then tpr is a big burden. since all the tpr teachers do is lecture over whats in the books, if you do it on your own you can do it in half the time. it makes sense that a non trad would prefer tpr since its heavier on the material and light on the tricks. but if youre a current student and the material is pretty fresh in your mind from your school classes, think twice.

 

[silas2642]

I dunno, I think it's a bunch of BS. I took the class, but I didn't really think I got much out of it. Of course people are going to improve over their original diagnostic test...they make you take a practice MCAT cold, without any prior studying and then show you that your scores go up after taking their course. Well duh...anyone is going to improve after they've studied for it. I mean come on, who in their right mind would really go take the REAL MCAT cold turkey, with no studying?

I think this guy has a point. I didn't take the Princeton Review, took some practice mcats as preparation, and did fine. If you're the kind of person, however, who will never ever study for the mcat on their own, a review course may be a good idea. If you do have the motivation to put aside some time before the mcat to study and study hard, I wouldn't worry about it... save your money cause those courses can be expensive.

 

[tiritinuviel]

PR helped me a lot -- started out at 33 on first diag, scored 41 on actual exam.

I think the greatest value came from the 6 or so real-length, proctored MCAT exams they made you sit through (the last 2 were actual MCATs that PR purchased for their students -- btw, Kaplan does not purchase real MCATs and only gives out their self-written exams). After having done it so many times, the actual exam day is less harrowing. You could just buy the real MCATs yourself, but only if you have the self-discipline to sit there under real test conditions every 2 weeks.

The teaching was ok, but it's variable. PR approached me to teach so I learned how they recruit, and I think the quality of your teachers is very much luck-of-the-draw.

The books were pretty decent, but I would recommend the Examkrackers series much more highly -- they are more concise, more readable, and really emphasize the highlights of what you need to know. I actually only studied my Examkrackers books, then attended PR lectures and exams.

As far as Kaplan goes... I never took a course, but my friend did and complained it had nothing in common with her real MCAT exam. I also know someone else who was scoring in the high 30s/low 40s on the Kaplan diags, then got a 27 on his actual MCAT.

 

[gujuDoc]

PR helped me a lot -- started out at 33 on first diag, scored 41 on actual exam.

I think the greatest value came from the 6 or so real-length, proctored MCAT exams they made you sit through (the last 2 were actual MCATs that PR purchased for their students -- btw, Kaplan does not purchase real MCATs and only gives out their self-written exams). After having done it so many times, the actual exam day is less harrowing. You could just buy the real MCATs yourself, but only if you have the self-discipline to sit there under real test conditions every 2 weeks.

The teaching was ok, but it's variable. PR approached me to teach so I learned how they recruit, and I think the quality of your teachers is very much luck-of-the-draw.

The books were pretty decent, but I would recommend the Examkrackers series much more highly -- they are more concise, more readable, and really emphasize the highlights of what you need to know. I actually only studied my Examkrackers books, then attended PR lectures and exams.

As far as Kaplan goes... I never took a course, but my friend did and complained it had nothing in common with her real MCAT exam. I also know someone else who was scoring in the high 30s/low 40s on the Kaplan diags, then got a 27 on his actual MCAT.

Actually, you are wrong about what you said about Kaplan and AAMC exams.

The last two tests that TPR gives you are the AAMC diags, either 6R and 7 or 7 and 8.

Kaplan provides these same tests, in fact, from my understanding their library has all 8 of the former AAMC diag tests, including the original test 1 and 2.

The difference is that you have to ask to be able to come to the center and take it on your own. TPR, on the other hand, gives you two of them to take in addition to 3 of the tests in the 4900 series.

Both courses are good, but people should talk to the reps in their area, and determine which layout fits them better.

The other thing people should do is to find out is who is teaching and the quality of their teaching. Depending on those factors, a person should decide which course they want if they plan on taking one.

A course helps but is not necessary. It just depends on your own individual situation. For me it was helpful because of all the material, but there are crazy smart people out there that don't ever take a course and do extremely extremely well. So it depends on you.

 

[-Goose-]

TPR

First diag 19

Real thing 30.

But keep in mind, the diags are obviously skewed so that they make money and you "improve", not to mention they aren't "real" mcats (whatever that really means)...

In my opinion, TPR is only as good of a resource as are its teachers. EG, my verbal teacher (albeit a little strange and creepy) was very good. On the other hand, my bio teacher, who was only a year older than most of the students, was adequate at best. Take time to ask the credentials and even meet the instructors.

Oh yeah, if anyone needs to buy the TPR books (the new and improved "hyperlearning" series) for a reasonable price (they are not written in or abused), PM me.

 

[gujuDoc]

TPR

First diag 19

Real thing 30.

But keep in mind, the diags are obviously skewed so that they make money and you "improve", not to mention they aren't "real" mcats (whatever that really means)...

Well I don't think the AAMC tests are real MCATs either, so much as they are collections of things from different forms.

However, I think there is another thing to be taken into account here......you take your first diag without studying. So that's why you can't count it. However, once you start studying you see improvement.

Shrike once said that if you take the same initial diag you began with after studying and taking the test, and after getting scores for the real deal, then...

the score you got on 4911 would mirror your score on the actual thing. This happened to be true for me when I retook the course and started with retaking 4911 again. It also is true for many people.

The thing is the tests may not necessarily be completely alike in the level of difficulty or way they are written, but they still do help in predicting your weaknesses and strengths in different topics, and in allowing you to see how good or bad you are on the timing issue. Also, taking practice tests helps to get you mentally ready to sit and take a test for 7 hours.

I think the most helpful thing in giving realistic examples of what to expect on the MCAT, however, came not from the tests, but rather the sci. workbook and in class compendium. Those two books rocked and are one of the best resources they can give the students.

 

[snumie]

TPR diag 23
MCAT 30O