I know this has been asked a lot.....

[Chadleez1]

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But I'm really intersted in your opinions. In my city the only course is Kaplan...not my first choice but I'll probably go with it. Looking at the scheduled times, I'm confused how it actually works. Do you generally attend every session? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sandflea]

you can attend whatever you want. i went to virtally all of the classes, but in hindsight that was a major waste of time. you could just go to the classes on the topics where you think you need the most help.

 

[SMW]

You can attend as few or as many sessions as you want. It probably depends on what you really need to go over, and how you learn best. I didn't like the actual classes. Learned more from the videos (where they put their best teachers). The key is to take lots of practice tests and go over every single question you miss until you really understand why you missed it. I ended up taking it twice, because I just didn't have enough time while I was in school to take enough practice tests and go over the results thoroughly. I ended up re-taking it in the summer (it's cheap if you've been enrolled within the past year), and was able to spend almost full time preparing for two solid months before the August MCAT. But if you do a search, you'll find lots of different opinions from different people on the best way to go about preparing. In the end you just have to figure out what's going to work best for you. Best of luck. 🙂

 

[Chadleez1]

Thanks guys...you answered my main question, which was how many sessions do you generally attend. I just couldn't see being able to make the sessions that are 11-3 in the afternoon. Thanks again!

 

[altaskier]

I will tell you the best thing to do. Get the science books off the web for this company called "The Berkeley Review". They are in California, stationed out of Berkeley. They are by far the most superior company for MCAT Sciences. Then, get the verbal stuff for TPR off of one of your friends. That is the best combo. Going to class was a WASTE of time for me.

 

[Tweetie_bird]

I am doing early bird thing on Kaplan, and we started studying 3 months ago. Here's my opinion--I think the Kaplan MCAT is GREAT....we have all MD/PhD teachers, teaching different subjects depending on what they are good at. Last class, our teach stayed behind for two extra hours b/c we couldn't understand some concepts that we had learned ages ago. I suppose it all depends on the center in your city and the personnell in it. We also have extra video lessons, that we can take a look at to reinforce stuff. My point is--If you have TONS of time, and are able to use ALL of the Kaplan resources MORE than once (practise multiple times) I don't think you can go wrong.

I have also taken a look at PR stuff, and it seems to be missing some things that Kaplan has in their books, and vice versa. So, the more different kinds of books you have over each topic, the better it may be. I wish you well!!

Tweetie.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

The sessions that are 11-3 are the practice tests and you should definitely attend those.

 

[lmm]

I have to agree that Kaplan is good. It really depends, though, on your studying style. I was in the center every night doing practice tests. The practice tests are what got me through the MCAT. I had some berkeley review books, but found them to be a waste of time--some of the verbal stuff was ridiculous (completely not MCAT style). I also found the sciences to be really hard (unnecessarily). I'd go with Kaplan if you're willing to put the time in. You can miss classes, just be at the center to do tests.

 

[Chadleez1]

With the 11-3 practice test sessions...how did you deal with those AND school itself....I've never NOT had a semester where I wasn't in class at least part of that time.

 

[numinous]

a question: can you only take the practice tests in the center? how does that work? I am trying to decide between Kaplan and TPR - I want to be able to study good materials at home, but I usually respond well to classroom learning. TPR has many more classroom hours - are they better lectures? Any thoughts?

 

[SMW]

numinous:
You can't take Kaplan materials home.
Practice tests taken in the center are more like the real thing.

Chadleez1:
One of the reasons I re-took Kaplan in the summer was because I couldn't get to enough practice tests during the school year.
Have you done a search on this? You will find more information and opinions than you'll ever have time to read! Best of luck!! 😀