Kaplan class vs. Princeton review?

[superflydoctor]

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I am planning on taking either the Kaplan MCAT class or the TPR Princeton Review class during next semester and wanted to know if there is a difference between the courses. Does anyone have an opinion on why to choose one class over the other? Thanks!

 

[cabrillo]

I have all the materials from both never taken either of the classes . It seems that the consensus here would indicate that Kaplan is very general, less classes and more practice test questions. TPR have more classes, more detailed but less material so take your pick and choose what best work for you. I am doing it by myself with EK being my primary source, TPR for details in case I dont understand something and Kaplan for extra practice on test questions.Good luck

 

[superflydoctor]

Thanks for the info. Since kaplan is $200 bucks off if you sign up during december I'm leaning toward that class, but if anyone has any good reasons to take prinecton review instead, please let me know. If both are equally good just different, then I'll go with the class where I can save a little. 🙂

 

[simpleman]

i took PR and i like it b/c u had 5 different instructors, unlike Kaplan, had only one instructor, which is kinda boring.

 

[killinsound]

Honestly, down to the two prep courses, if I could save 200 dollars, I would just go with the cheaper one.

 

[superflydoctor]

Thanks for the input everyone. Does anyone here who actually took or is taking Kaplan have any comments on this classroom course?

 

[wahooza]

lets goto the basics.
would you rather have 1 teacher who scored generally well overall teach u all subjects? he/she could have gotten a 15/11/9 B/V/P. Now that's a great score and i'm sure the teacher is good at bio..... Would you want them teaching you physical science?

TPR has specific teachers who want to teach the subjects that they did well in. it makes sense to me that they'll be better.

 

[killinsound]

Actually for Kaplan you have to be in the top 10% in each subject if I remember right.

 

[underpressure]

I took Kaplan and I think their practice tests are awful compared to tpr tests i've taken.

 

[sTriVe2sTitCh]

all kaplan instructors scored in the 90th percentile..don't know if thats per subject or just overall but thats pretty cool

 

[Schaden Freud]

The requirements for instructors are different depending on how desperate the particular Kaplan center is for teachers. In a city with many pre-meds/med students there will be tons of people with 90+ %ile scores, so anyone interested in teaching a particular section will need to score at or above the 90th %ile in that section. Not so in areas with a deficit of high-scoring MCATers.
In any case, this point is mostly moot since one's score on the MCAT does not in any way indicate how well that person will be able to teach the material to someone else. Hell, scoring well on the MCAT doesn't even require that much knowledge- a lot of it is just good instinct about how to quickly eliminate absurd or impossible answers (much more difficult to teach than stoichiometry or the digestive system).
The most important thing to look for in your teacher is experience. Don't be afraid to come up to your teacher after class and discreetly ask him or her how long they've been teaching for Kaplan. If this is their first class- do yourself a favor and switch to a class with a more seasoned instructor. The first class for a teacher is usually a bit rough. This is because it's difficult to get used to Kaplan's methods (essentially reciting from the Teacher's Edition), getting used to teaching in general, and learning to read the students and amend the lesson to their needs. Many mistakes will also be made during the first course, due to the teacher's imperfect knowledge of the subject matter or errata in the Teacher's Edition.

Also, I don't know much about how Princeton Review does things, but there are several good things about Kaplan: Tons of practice materials, lots of CBT exams, AAMC licensed material, etc. A talented and experienced teacher will also make the classroom sessions fun (the most conservative interpretation of the word) and worthwhile.

all kaplan instructors scored in the 90th percentile..don't know if thats per subject or just overall but thats pretty cool

 

[Terpskins99]

I remember that I signed up for TPR mostly because of their practice exams.

They are virtually identical to actual MCATs (even down to the numbering on the side of the verbal passages).

 

[Abobo]

I'm actually one of those rare people who have taken both Kaplan and PR. I would say that Kaplan is good for people who have successfully learned the basic concepts tested on the MCAT and who need a refresher to remember them. Their textbooks are not that in-depth and for the most part successfully cut out extraneous information to focus solely on what the MCAT will be testing.

PR is good for those who never got a good understanding of the basic concepts necessary for the MCAT. Their textbooks tend to be a bit too in-depth, but, once again, tend to be helpful to those who feel like they are learning the matierial for the first time.

Some random comparisons:
-Kaplan seems cheaper.
-PR claims that their instructors have received more hours of training.
-Both, in my experience, seemed to have different instructors for different sections.
- I would compare the number of practice MCATs given during the course, and the number of practice MCATS and questions provided for you to do on your own.


And a final word: Both are good- you can't fail with either. BUT the thing to remember is that it all depends on how dedicated you are and how much time you put in, regardless of the course you take.

 

[hermit]

Has anyone used Kaplan's online class? I was considering this option for the very reason cited by many in this thread - a bad teacher can be a disaster. My assumption is that the online material is accurate and presented exactly as it was designed to be rather than being filtered through a middleman. Thoughts?

 

[letitgo]

The requirements for instructors are different depending on how desperate the particular Kaplan center is for teachers. In a city with many pre-meds/med students there will be tons of people with 90+ %ile scores, so anyone interested in teaching a particular section will need to score at or above the 90th %ile in that section. Not so in areas with a deficit of high-scoring MCATers.
In any case, this point is mostly moot since one's score on the MCAT does not in any way indicate how well that person will be able to teach the material to someone else. Hell, scoring well on the MCAT doesn't even require that much knowledge- a lot of it is just good instinct about how to quickly eliminate absurd or impossible answers (much more difficult to teach than stoichiometry or the digestive system).
The most important thing to look for in your teacher is experience. Don't be afraid to come up to your teacher after class and discreetly ask him or her how long they've been teaching for Kaplan. If this is their first class- do yourself a favor and switch to a class with a more seasoned instructor. The first class for a teacher is usually a bit rough. This is because it's difficult to get used to Kaplan's methods (essentially reciting from the Teacher's Edition), getting used to teaching in general, and learning to read the students and amend the lesson to their needs. Many mistakes will also be made during the first course, due to the teacher's imperfect knowledge of the subject matter or errata in the Teacher's Edition.

Also, I don't know much about how Princeton Review does things, but there are several good things about Kaplan: Tons of practice materials, lots of CBT exams, AAMC licensed material, etc. A talented and experienced teacher will also make the classroom sessions fun (the most conservative interpretation of the word) and worthwhile.

Well jeez, now I feel like backing out of the first class I'm signed up to teach. If everyone switches out of my class because I'm inexperienced, why should I bother? Though honestly I'll admit I am worried about doing a disservice to the students, since I've never taught before. Maybe I should just not do it. Any Kaplan teachers have any advice for a first-timer?

 

[Schaden Freud]

Drink... a lot. Haha, I kid I kid. You'll be fine, just don't expect everything to go perfectly. And expect to make mistakes. You'll say something in class and realize on your way home that it's completely wrong. Well, all you do in that case is send an e-mail to your students and explain it the right way.
Also, don't let people sit way in the back of the class or in the periphery- move them to the front center to encourage participation. Don't be discouraged if people don't show up without letting you know why (totally rude, I think). Most of the time it's not because they've switched into another class. Pretty much everyone stays in the class they've been assigned to. Much like everyone sits in the same seat they sit in the first day (another oddity of human nature).

Oh yeah, and don't ever tell them it's your first time teaching (unless they ask, of course).

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions!

Well jeez, now I feel like backing out of the first class I'm signed up to teach. If everyone switches out of my class because I'm inexperienced, why should I bother? Though honestly I'll admit I am worried about doing a disservice to the students, since I've never taught before. Maybe I should just not do it. Any Kaplan teachers have any advice for a first-timer?

 

[MasonPrehealth]

Well jeez, now I feel like backing out of the first class I'm signed up to teach. If everyone switches out of my class because I'm inexperienced, why should I bother? Though honestly I'll admit I am worried about doing a disservice to the students, since I've never taught before. Maybe I should just not do it. Any Kaplan teachers have any advice for a first-timer?

If you have the MSCT 1 class, ask your students what their expectations are about the course. You can ask them what they expect to learn very briefly before the beginning of each content class too.

Honestly, though, if people switch out of your class, it's probably not because of you. In my day, my evaluations have been extremely bipolar with a big bunch of students who like my teaching style and another bunch who think I'm a complete dolt. It turns out that the people who think I'm a dolt aren't in the class to hear me review the material for them because they already know it and thus they're bored.

Of course, I don't know whether my evaluations are going to be signficantly better now that I'm a prehealth advisor...

 

[letitgo]

Thanks very much for your replies. I think I'll go ahead and try it.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Anyone notice that the OP posting was actually link spam, which is intended to generate money through an affiliate program for every click?

Check out the OPs other postings, almost all are affiliate links to linksynergy or amazon!

 

[endofevangelion]

honestly, i hated kaplan. i thought it was really ineffective. the only good thing about them is the huge quantities of practice you'll get

 

[jklasser17]

Another thing to consider is how you study. For me, I like TPR bc I have class everyday. Thereofre, whether or not I get anything done during the rest of the day, I am forced to learn something for at least a few hours. This works very well for me and keeps me on task as I am forced to study and do hw everyday. I have also found TPR's tests to be very similar to the MCAT. In my experience, this has been a major complaint against Kaplan. Also remember, ask TPR if they will price match Kaplan, they may be willing to do that.

 

[Summer Sweet]

I took TPR last summer, but I decided to wait until year to take the MCAT. After the course finished, I asked if I could re-take it, but their guarantee only applies if you have your actual MCAT scores. The refresher course is cheaper than the regular course, but it's still a few hundred bucks that I don't really want to spend. I have a friend who took Kaplan at the same time, and he decided to wait, too. Now, he's re-taking the course for free. So basically, I guess I would go with Kaplan because their guarantee is more unconditional, so you don't feel any pressure to take the MCAT if you're not ready. My TPR teachers were okay. There are those who are really enthusiastic about their subject and teach it well, and there are those who basically regurgitate an outline of the book. I felt like my bio teacher didn't want to be there. Once, she complained about coming in because all her friends were going to Vegas that weekend and she couldn't go because of class.