Kaplan Home Study vs Lecture Notes

[bostonguy911]

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I have searched but no answers...

Which books are better?
The videos + lecture or the Home Study? Please post experiences and scores if possible.

 

[bostonguy911]

anyone??

 

[mangobug]

i did the online lectures. overall i was not very happy. the lectures skipped a lot and were not in the same order as the notes. kaplan q bank was excellent. i had some friends use the home study and they were happy with it, but i have not taken a look at it. i scored less than the national average. if i had to do it again, i probably would have used BRS.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

If you learn well by some one talking at you, get the Lecture Videos. They are fa-hucking awesome. Especially pharm/biochem, weak on physio/immuno/micro.

I did the Kaplan Lecture Series, supplemented with BRS for the three sections that sucked on videos, Kaplan q bank and Uworld and got a 248.

if you zone out during lectures, DO NOT do the lectures, get the book material. Books do not drive home points, they add no inflection, they create poor memory recall on their own. Images of Conrad Fischer doing the "Sarcoid, Amyloid, hemachromatosis dance" come to mind.

Obviously, the best would be watching the video, reading the books, taking notes in both, and combining the two. Unfortunately that takes a REALLY long time, longer than most people have. You have to decide based on what type of learner you are.

 

[DrMetal]

Hi,

I'm an MSI thinking of buying the Kaplan set of books ( link ) and using them to augment my classes and then eventually to study for the Step 1. (this way when I get to hard core studying for MS1, I will have read these books, or at least parts of them, at least once).

good idea? bad idea?

anybody actually have these books, can comment on them?

Thanks,

 

[kryptik]

Hi,

I'm an MSI thinking of buying the Kaplan set of books ( link ) and using them to augment my classes and then eventually to study for the Step 1. (this way when I get to hard core studying for MS1, I will have read these books, or at least parts of them, at least once).

good idea? bad idea?

anybody actually have these books, can comment on them?

Thanks,

I have been using the lecture notes(7 book series) along with classes since ms1 and it worked out well, am ms2 now and i still find them very helpful except for path where i used Rapid Review. A few other students in my class use the 4 books series in your link.

 

[wAyRadikull]

If you learn well by some one talking at you, get the Lecture Videos. They are fa-hucking awesome. Especially pharm/biochem, weak on physio/immuno/micro.

I did the Kaplan Lecture Series, supplemented with BRS for the three sections that sucked on videos, Kaplan q bank and Uworld and got a 248.

if you zone out during lectures, DO NOT do the lectures, get the book material. Books do not drive home points, they add no inflection, they create poor memory recall on their own. Images of Conrad Fischer doing the "Sarcoid, Amyloid, hemachromatosis dance" come to mind.

Obviously, the best would be watching the video, reading the books, taking notes in both, and combining the two. Unfortunately that takes a REALLY long time, longer than most people have. You have to decide based on what type of learner you are.

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything, but quick question for you. Could you elaborate a bit on why you think kaplan is weak in immuno/micro? I'm doing the videos + book combo right now and actually really like it. Matter a fact, I think its kind of thorough.

And as for the OP, personally I think the lecture notes are really good especially if you have access to videos. If you're not much of a listener/note-taker, try the home study ones, from what I know they are a complete source. You can't go wrong either way.

 

[ilovemcats86]

does anyone know how the 7 lecture notes books differ from the 4 home study books? thank you!

 

[runx]

does anyone know how the 7 lecture notes books differ from the 4 home study books? thank you!

7 books vs. 4 dictionaries? I've heard that the home study is rather dense - which wouldn't be a problem for me if it had more illustrations. That is probably my biggest hang-up as I am a reader (vs. listening to someone talk to me) but even moreso I am a diagram/table learner. So on one hand I cannot see myself getting through 180 hours of lectures (lecture notes/DVDs/webprep) without zoning out regularly, on the other I worry that the all-inclusive 4 book series wouldn't stick as well due to its "dryness".

In other words, I'm in the same boat..... Also, I will only have 5 weeks of dedicated study time, so yeah, that is a factor too. My third option is getting the standard reading list of recommended Step 1 prep books (BRS, HY, RR, etc...)

 

[DrMetal]

That is probably my biggest hang-up as I am a reader (vs. listening to someone talk to me) but even moreso I am a diagram/table learner.

That's a very good point, I'm definitely a diagram/table learner as well. If the Kaplan books lack in that dept, then I'd be turned off.

If we go to a Kaplan office, they'll allow us to thumb through the books, before purchasing them, right? (seems sensible enough)

 

[ilovemcats86]

i've read in several posts that either immuno, path, micro, physio are "weak" in kaplan's 7 lecture notes books.

does anyone have any specific comments as to what are weak about them? (ie. not enough info,too much info etc).

also, the preface to these lectures notes states that they are "lecture notes and not review books," and thus listening to the lectures and annotating the notes is necessary.

can anyone who has used the lecture notes with the lectures provide information as to the general completeness of the combination of the two? (ie are more review books necessary?) thanks!