Kaplan OR Doctors in Training OR ??? for Step I prep?

[medstudent87]

I'm the kind of person that NEEDS to take one of these courses because I have difficulty studying on my own without having a definite plan set up. So, the question is, which one should I take?

I took Kaplan courses for the SAT and the MCAT and wasn't satisfied either time, but I don't know what their Step I course is like. Doctors in Training came to our school a couple weeks ago and gave us their spiel...and it was rather convincing, so that's another option. I honestly don't know what else is out there, so I'd appreciate any input. Thanks

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[QuaerensIntelle]

I have Kaplan webprep, and I like it. The lectures are really good and succinct. They stream onto your computer and each one has a quiz after it. The books are nice too. It comes with a full length practice simulation and Q bank plus (I think 4500 questions). The classes are taught by medical school faculty from around the country (Unlike the SAT and MCAT courses which are taught primarily by students). There are 2 or 3 weeks worth of lectures if you did it like a course (i believe). I am doing them along with my classes.

That being said, I did Kaplan for MCAT and, although I didn't really like the in class part that much, I loved the web resources and used all of them. So I might learn differently than you.

If you want to check it out, you could probably get someone at a center to show you the system.

 

[Perrotfish]

I did DIT. The course seems very specifically designed for someone who:

1) Has already spent several weeks reading through First Aid at least once

2) At the end of that first review, is scoring a 220 or less.

3) Will have at 3.5-5 weeks between the start of the course and the date of the exam.

If you don't meet those criteria don't waste your money. If you meet all of them consider it.

 

[Antibodies]

I did DIT. The course seems very specifically designed for someone who:

1) Has already spent several weeks reading through First Aid at least once

2) At the end of that first review, is scoring a 220 or less.

3) Will have at 3.5-5 weeks between the start of the course and the date of the exam.

If you don't meet those criteria don't waste your money. If you meet all of them consider it.

Interesting. Can you elaborate on it? I am sort of considering DIT.

 

[Perrotfish]

Interesting. Can you elaborate on it? I am sort of considering DIT.

1) He doesn't cover all of First Aid and consistently talks about it like you've already read it once. Also I just don't think you should need a course to keep you on target if you only have 3 weeks to study. At least for me I think the course was very much about not losing steam during weeks 4-8, when burnout starts to set in.

2) The course is pretty basic. The point is to make you hammer on some of the higher yield sections of an already high yield book. If you're shooting for a lot more than a 230 at the end of the course I don't think this is the review for you.

3) The time line he recommends is three weeks for the course (M-F lectures w/ 48-96 UWorld questions/day, Sat review of problem subjects, Sunday 4 hour NBME practice test and the rest of the day off). He also recommends that after completing the course you review for at least 5 days (to hammer key concepts home) and no more than 2 weeks (so you won't start forgetting things) before taking the test. He lectures VERY fast, so don't plan on speeding up the lectures like you do in class. More often I actually needed to pause the lectures to keep up with my notes. You're not going to finish this course in less than 3 weeks.

Looking back I met all the criteria I laid out and I STILL don't know if I would do it again. My score went from about a 200 to a 218 in the 3 weeks of the course, which isn't bad but for 3 weeks of nonstop studying I'm not sure it was the best use of my time either. Then again if I hadn't done DIT I'm not sure I really would have been studying much during that last month.

 

[Antibodies]

1) He doesn't cover all of First Aid and consistently talks about it like you've already read it once. Also I just don't think you should need a course to keep you on target if you only have 3 weeks to study. At least for me I think the course was very much about not losing steam during weeks 4-8, when burnout starts to set in.

2) The course is pretty basic. The point is to make you hammer on some of the higher yield sections of an already high yield book. If you're shooting for a lot more than a 230 at the end of the course I don't think this is the review for you.

3) The time line he recommends is three weeks for the course (M-F lectures w/ 48-96 UWorld questions/day, Sat review of problem subjects, Sunday 4 hour NBME practice test and the rest of the day off). He also recommends that after completing the course you review for at least 5 days (to hammer key concepts home) and no more than 2 weeks (so you won't start forgetting things) before taking the test. He lectures VERY fast, so don't plan on speeding up the lectures like you do in class. More often I actually needed to pause the lectures to keep up with my notes. You're not going to finish this course in less than 3 weeks.

Looking back I met all the criteria I laid out and I STILL don't know if I would do it again. My score went from about a 200 to a 218 in the 3 weeks of the course, which isn't bad but for 3 weeks of nonstop studying I'm not sure it was the best use of my time either. Then again if I hadn't done DIT I'm not sure I really would have been studying much during that last month.

So he recommends you do the course closer to the test? I was thinking of doing the course first and then doing questions for the remainder of the weeks.

 

[Perrotfish]

So he recommends you do the course closer to the test? I was thinking of doing the course first and then doing questions for the remainder of the weeks.

Yes, he recommends starting the course 4-6 weeks before your test. If you want to do questions he recommends you do them for no more than 2 weeks after completion of the course.