HOW to study for MCAT Using KAPLAN's Course Materials

[FuturePharm21]

So I am taking the Kaplan course which meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-4 pm. However, I don't really understand how to study for the exam?

Do I just follow their structure with the previews, in-class, and review assignments?

How do I incorporate the AAMC practice tests because their schedule includes their Kaplan Full Length tests only?

Do I review material a certain hours a week and then practice a certain hours?

I know there is suggested study plans but that's for BR or TPR Hyperlearning books and I am using the Kaplan books associated with the classroom course.

Please help, thanks!

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[plsfoldthx]

I did Kaplan and I can impart some wisdom on you. I found the classroom pretty much useless compared to the time spent, but their online material is AMAZING. Take full advantage of their full lengths and Q-bank. Most of your knowledge will come from busting your ass off by yourself and reviewing and doing questions. Start now so you can ask your instructor any questions you may have because when your class is finished, you won't be able to anymore.

As for as schedule, depends on how much you know. If you don't have huge gaps in your knowledge about the MCAT topics, then start doing full lengths now. If you do, I'd buy ExamKracker's complete package and go over everything as soon as possible then start doing full lengths. Kaplan material is OK, but the author really rambles on more than he needs to and goes over things irrelevant for the MCAT. EK review books tells you exactly the most important and crucial things you need to know... Kaplan review books will leave you really confused as to which equations you need to know and what you don't. Sometimes you'll feel like you're just wasting your time when you read the Kaplan material. I'd use Kaplan as a supplement. If there are concepts you really need clearing up on, then I'd read Kaplan because all that extra rambling helps if you need a more thorough review of concepts. People often ask Kaplan vs EK in terms of material, but I see them as two different kind of tools. I found EK review books to be more of a clear and concise outline which really helps you organize your MCAT knowledge. However, I found the EK o-chem book really lacking and the Kaplan ochem book far better. You don't need to be an expert on everything, but just know enough so when you're doing full lengths you don't stumble on questions that you're like "well this is a really easy question, but I don't know the equation".

About AAMC practice tests: Kaplan tests are in general way harder than the AAMC practices. AAMC is much easier but the curve is much stricter and vice versa for Kaplan. It's funny because the real thing will be somewhere in between Kaplan and AAMC... the content is probably a bit closer to AAMC in terms of difficulty, but the length and time constraints will be much closer to Kaplan. I'd do about 3-4 AAMC tests to get a feel for the format and get some practice in their type of questions, but I think Kaplan tests are stronger content review and test preparation in general.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[OneTripAcross]

I have recently finished the kaplan class and I have a few pointers as well. I was 2.5 years removed o chem II when I took this class and that was the closest material I had seen relevant to the MCAT when I started this class, so I was in need of serious content review. Like the person above mentioned the class room stuff is not really helpful, maybe getting some real life input from someone who took the test and has connections with a company that study every nook and cranny of this test is good to have at your disposal but as far as content, not even close. So I followed their schedule to the T, all the required stuff and most of the strongly recommended stuff and I really made sure I had a good grasp on the stuff as we went along. Also, I was super weak in physics and orgo, and a few g chem topics so as we went along the schedule I jumped ahead and HAMMERED this stuff in my head. I still re-did all the topics when we came up to them in the schedule. DO ALL THE REQUIRED STUFF AND ALL OF THE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED STUFF THAT YOU AND PHYSICALLY MUSTER. This class is very expensive and you have pissed it away if you haven't done this. Once I had the material covered at the halfway point I just went on to doing the subject tests. Many of them over and over (physics, g and o chem) I literally did all five or so physics subject tests five times a piece, spaced evenly throughout the duration. You should be at about the first FL they give you. Pretend this day is you actual test day. Its super gay but it really helped me on D day. Once you start the FL's move on to the Section tests, which are like practice PS, BS and VR sections on the MCAT. Do everyone, and go over each question, keep a notebook of what you were doing wrong and stuf like that. Mainly you should be doing practice problems the last half of the class. Q-bank it and section/subject tests. My test was three weeks after my classroom sessions ended. By this time you should have five kaplan FLs done. Switch over to aamc FLs. It doesnt matter what order but 7-10 are the "best", but my instructor and the head of my kaplan region said that 3 and 9 are the most representative of the real deal now because they have less o chem on them than the others. I took #9 last and did well and helped with my confidence. Any how do all of them. At this point you still want to take Kap FLs 6-9, not all but definatly a few because the PS on the real deal will be more similar to kaplans than aamc. Aamc was spot on for verbal and a little easier than the real deal on BS. Anyway this post has turned epic and my advice is not the say all end all but I hope it gives you an idea of what works good for you. The amount of material Kaplan gives you online is INSANE, and very daunting to hammer out a solid way to attack it, very similar to trying to figure out how to eat an insanly large burger or something. I studied for 3 months 3 hours per day, five days a week. I felt I was as prepared as I personally could have ever been.

It is funny how this feeling of preparedness vanished after my first passage on the real deal though. haha. anyhow goodluck and use the material you paid for!!

 

[FollowTheMoney]

I have recently finished the kaplan class and I have a few pointers as well. I was 2.5 years removed o chem II when I took this class and that was the closest material I had seen relevant to the MCAT when I started this class, so I was in need of serious content review. Like the person above mentioned the class room stuff is not really helpful, maybe getting some real life input from someone who took the test and has connections with a company that study every nook and cranny of this test is good to have at your disposal but as far as content, not even close. So I followed their schedule to the T, all the required stuff and most of the strongly recommended stuff and I really made sure I had a good grasp on the stuff as we went along. Also, I was super weak in physics and orgo, and a few g chem topics so as we went along the schedule I jumped ahead and HAMMERED this stuff in my head. I still re-did all the topics when we came up to them in the schedule. DO ALL THE REQUIRED STUFF AND ALL OF THE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED STUFF THAT YOU AND PHYSICALLY MUSTER. This class is very expensive and you have pissed it away if you haven't done this. Once I had the material covered at the halfway point I just went on to doing the subject tests. Many of them over and over (physics, g and o chem) I literally did all five or so physics subject tests five times a piece, spaced evenly throughout the duration. You should be at about the first FL they give you. Pretend this day is you actual test day. Its super gay but it really helped me on D day. Once you start the FL's move on to the Section tests, which are like practice PS, BS and VR sections on the MCAT. Do everyone, and go over each question, keep a notebook of what you were doing wrong and stuf like that. Mainly you should be doing practice problems the last half of the class. Q-bank it and section/subject tests. My test was three weeks after my classroom sessions ended. By this time you should have five kaplan FLs done. Switch over to aamc FLs. It doesnt matter what order but 7-10 are the "best", but my instructor and the head of my kaplan region said that 3 and 9 are the most representative of the real deal now because they have less o chem on them than the others. I took #9 last and did well and helped with my confidence. Any how do all of them. At this point you still want to take Kap FLs 6-9, not all but definatly a few because the PS on the real deal will be more similar to kaplans than aamc. Aamc was spot on for verbal and a little easier than the real deal on BS. Anyway this post has turned epic and my advice is not the say all end all but I hope it gives you an idea of what works good for you. The amount of material Kaplan gives you online is INSANE, and very daunting to hammer out a solid way to attack it, very similar to trying to figure out how to eat an insanly large burger or something. I studied for 3 months 3 hours per day, five days a week. I felt I was as prepared as I personally could have ever been.

It is funny how this feeling of preparedness vanished after my first passage on the real deal though. haha. anyhow goodluck and use the material you paid for!!

Yeah, that is funny. Actually, it is so funny that I could foresee that happening that I decided to use BR after I wasted $1500 on Kaplan's stupid class. Best decision of my life. Losing $1500 on a class that is a waste of time is a better scenario than reapplying/applying to a 1 year master's program after not getting accepted for doing poorly on the MCAT. Use EK/BR instead. Trust Sn2ed, that guy knows what he is talking about.