Kaplan prep reviews please

[southpawcannon]

Ive had one physician recommend this course and another say spend whatever you have to...it will be worth millions later. Of those who shelled out the $1800 for this course, were you satisfied with the teaching, material provided, and most importantly did your score improve enough to say it was worthwhile? Please, if you dont mind, provide your first diagnostic, practice MCAT range and real MCAT score.

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[brownbaglunch]

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[southpawcannon]

Thank you for your response. I posted here rather than the MCAT study forum because I wanted to hear more from non-trads and not the 18-21 year olds with mommy and daddy paying for everything. I've come across the SDN plan a couple of times before. Maybe I'll save the money and just get the materials you listed.

I paid the $1800 for Kaplan, and I think it was a waste. The only thing of any value in the Kaplan package was the idea to put a post-it on my bathroom mirror with "45T" on it.

I found the video lectures painful to watch. It essentially consisted of someone with poor diction reading the book to me.

I think the Kaplan review books just aren't dense enough. I based my study plan on the famous SN2ed study plan: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=623898

I used:
the Berkeley Review for the sciences
the Princeton Review Hyperlearning Verbal workbook
101 MCAT verbal passages from EK
Anki - for flashcarding all nomenclature/concepts as I went along
ALL official AAMC materials (practice tests, assessments package, etc)

I sat in my school library with earplugs in and churned through the material for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for three months. I started every day with verbal. I got through all of the TBR books in the first two months, including all the homework and chapter tests. I did not re-read any of the chapters, I used Anki for review.

The last month I used Anki to review in the mornings, followed by official assessments, etc. I scheduled out the official practice tests, working my way up to two tests a week the last two weeks. I took two full days off before my exam.

I scored a 38. Not the best around here, but not shabby either.

If you are the kind of person who needs classroom instruction to stay motivated, then perhaps you should consider Kaplan classes. I don't recommend Kaplan online for anyone. If you can do it from books on your own, get the berkeley review. The full set cost me $240 new. Well worth it.

 

[QofQuimica]

Ive had one physician recommend this course and another say spend whatever you have to...it will be worth millions later. Of those who shelled out the $1800 for this course, were you satisfied with the teaching, material provided, and most importantly did your score improve enough to say it was worthwhile? Please, if you dont mind, provide your first diagnostic, practice MCAT range and real MCAT score.

I did the self-study (online) and it worked well for me. (Caveat: I was also teaching for Kaplan at the time, so I guess technically I went through the classroom course as well.)

Initial MCAT (1996): 34
Repeat MCAT (2004): 43
Practice test scores in 2004 ranged from high 30s to low 40s

Concerning whether to take the course, I'd say that it depends on you and how you study. Some people are very self-motivated and won't need a classroom course. If you can set your own schedule and stick to it, there's no good reason why you can't study DIY with prep books and the AAMC practice tests. I liked the online course because that way I could do things at my own pace and skip the things that I didn't need to review. (Obviously, I didn't bother spending much time studying gen chem or organic chem, since I was teaching those classes!) If you need more outside motivation/guidance, a set schedule, study buddies, etc., I think a course can be helpful. I really saw my job as an MCAT instructor in large part as being a coach and cheerleader more than a teacher per se. Some people need that kind of support more than others. You're the only one who can really say which category you fall into.

 

[southpawcannon]

Thanks for the feedback, Q. Seems like you are a natural at the test with having scored so high first go-around. I have no problem forming my own study plan, as this time I will devote a couple more months than what I tried to earlier in the spring/summer(I cancelled my exam three weeks out because I did not feel prepared whatsoever).Being I've part-times my pre Reqs due to conflicts with work schedule and having to pay out of pocket, much of the material isn't as fresh in my mind as Id like it to be. The local univ hosts the in-class course which might benefit me best in not so much understanding the material, as I feel I can grasp that on my own, but understanding better how to take the exam. I'm certainly not the best at standardized exams and being a non-trad having part-timed my way through the pre-Reqs, I really want to get that 35 and up, if possible.

I did the self-study (online) and it worked well for me. (Caveat: I was also teaching for Kaplan at the time, so I guess technically I went through the classroom course as well.)

Initial MCAT (1996): 34
Repeat MCAT (2004): 43
Practice test scores in 2004 ranged from high 30s to low 40s

Concerning whether to take the course, I'd say that it depends on you and how you study. Some people are very self-motivated and won't need a classroom course. If you can set your own schedule and stick to it, there's no good reason why you can't study DIY with prep books and the AAMC practice tests. I liked the online course because that way I could do things at my own pace and skip the things that I didn't need to review. (Obviously, I didn't bother spending much time studying gen chem or organic chem, since I was teaching those classes!) If you need more outside motivation/guidance, a set schedule, study buddies, etc., I think a course can be helpful. I really saw my job as an MCAT instructor in large part as being a coach and cheerleader more than a teacher per se. Some people need that kind of support more than others. You're the only one who can really say which category you fall into.

 

[QofQuimica]

Thanks for the feedback, Q. Seems like you are a natural at the test with having scored so high first go-around. I have no problem forming my own study plan, as this time I will devote a couple more months than what I tried to earlier in the spring/summer(I cancelled my exam three weeks out because I did not feel prepared whatsoever).Being I've part-times my pre Reqs due to conflicts with work schedule and having to pay out of pocket, much of the material isn't as fresh in my mind as Id like it to be. The local univ hosts the in-class course which might benefit me best in not so much understanding the material, as I feel I can grasp that on my own, but understanding better how to take the exam. I'm certainly not the best at standardized exams and being a non-trad having part-timed my way through the pre-Reqs, I really want to get that 35 and up, if possible.

The first time I took the test, I used the Flowers book to study. No Kaplan. But yes, I had a history of doing well on standardized exams in general, and I had also taken all of the prereqs recently and did well in them.

35 is a good goal score, but honestly, if you can hit a 30, you will be in decent shape with stats for most schools assuming your GPA isn't too horrible. Don't be too hard on yourself if you wind up more in the 30 range. Getting a 35 is harder than most people realize. It puts you in the top 5% of all test-takers nationwide. Even getting a 30 puts you in the top quartile. I know on SDN it seems like everyone has a 35+ score, but in reality, out of 90,000 people who take the test each year, only about 4000-4500 will get a score like that.

You can see last year's stats for yourself here.

 

[jemill]

35 is a good goal score, but honestly, if you can hit a 30, you will be in decent shape with stats for most schools assuming your GPA isn't too horrible. Don't be too hard on yourself if you wind up more in the 30 range. Getting a 35 is harder than most people realize. It puts you in the top 5% of all test-takers nationwide. Even getting a 30 puts you in the top quartile. I know on SDN it seems like everyone has a 35+ score, but in reality, out of 90,000 people who take the test each year, only about 4000-4500 will get a score like that.

You can see last year's stats for yourself here.

This information just opened my eyes. 😱

 

[JDMcNugent]

I took kaplan on-demand for 2 attempts and am waiting on my 2nd score to arrive on 8/27. Here is my personal opinion on the materials that come with on-demand:
Subject Books
These were okay. They were sufficient for content and side notes within the text. I didn't necessarily care for the end of chapter questions since they only tested straight-up factual knowledge and they were not "MCAT-like" questions". I used EK subject books to supplement my kaplan study and really liked how EK built in MCAT discrete questions within each chapter as sort of mid-chapter checkpoints. But, overall they were okay
Section tests
Definitely harder than what you will experience on AAMC sections for their practice tests. This is not a bad thing.
Practice tests
Same as the section tests. Harder than AAMC but inflated scoring scales. I usually wiped off 1 point from my sections than what was my actual score to get a better idea of how I would maybe score on AAMC
Q-Bank
Convenient but I didn't find it to be the best practice type questions.
Lesson book to follow along with the lectures/Strategies/Foundation reviews
Not great. The online lectures are no different than just straight up reading the lesson book. They essentially read the textbook to you. I used the mapping strategy that kaplan markets and I found it to be very time consuming and did not help me very much. But that is just me. Some may find it helpful, while others not so helpful. The foundation reviews are okay if you just need a basic read or highlight of concepts.

Overall, I thought kaplan on demand was okay. I know they get a bad rep on this site but if you have the money to spend on a prep course and can only do it online, this is not a bad option at all. There is plenty of practice and if you feel that their content material (subject books) are insufficient, hop on amazon or another site and purchase another companies materials, i.e., EK, TPR, Berkeley, etc.

Another bonus to kaplan is receiving all AAMC materials. The AAMC practice tests and self-assessments are great practice and give you solid baselines of where you are, content-wise. Self assessment verbal is great too.

I think I covered most of the basics of kaplan on demand but certainly may be missing some other components. I hope this helps.

 

[Gauss44]

Ive had one physician recommend this course and another say spend whatever you have to...it will be worth millions later. Of those who shelled out the $1800 for this course, were you satisfied with the teaching, material provided, and most importantly did your score improve enough to say it was worthwhile? Please, if you dont mind, provide your first diagnostic, practice MCAT range and real MCAT score.

In terms of practice material, and just learning material, you would be better off with EK and TBR books than the entire Kaplan course. Kaplan books and written instruction is NOT that great, IMO.

What the Kaplan course is good for (I took it):

1. Many practice tests
2. Access to instructors (some are better than others), but you can go to any class and ask questions of any Kaplan instructor, not just your originally assigned instructor. It pretty much amounts to free tutoring.
3. A whole class of people to study with so you don't feel isolated with so much studying.
4. They have computer labs if you need a place to study other than your house.
5. A starting point for learning VR, only if you are very far behind. To do well in VR, you will have to speed up, and do their mapping method in your head mentally, if you do it at all. There isn't enough time to write sentences during VR on the real MCAT.

 

[QofQuimica]

This information just opened my eyes. 😱

Hence why I posted it. It should be common knowledge that the test is scaled so that no more than around 5% of people can get scores of 35+, but somehow, it isn't.

 

[jemill]

Hence why I posted it. It should be common knowledge that the test is scaled so that no more than around 5% of people can get scores of 35+, but somehow, it isn't.

It shows me I need to work a lot harder than I imagined, but it will be worth it in the end. 🙂

 

[Courtjester8]

I did 6 weeks of self-study using examkrackers books landed in the mid 30s with only prereq classes as my science background. I suggest this route for strong self motivators who do their best scrutinizing material on their own. If you learn better with a structured lecture format, go that route. Its really just a question of how comfortable you are teaching/reteaching yourself. Truth be told, any benefit you get from paying for a class, you can usually get from taking your questions to old profs and asking them for the quick and dirty way of answering the question to avoid the elegant, long-winded answer you wont have time to get to on the mcat.

cj8

 

[Shjanzey]

I did 6 weeks of self-study using examkrackers books landed in the mid 30s with only prereq classes as my science background...

 

[NuttyEngDude]

You factor in a poor college student with an expensive price point on a web page that has a lot of herd mentality and you will get a lot of hate. Their strengths are their section tests and practice tests. I think if they were priced at around $500, they would get less hate and possibly praise around here. But I'm sure Kaplan knows they wont get close to 4x the customer base so they keep their prices the same (they are a major corporation after all).

Their review books aren't the best. Some of it is preference, some of it depends on how much of your review is actual review or learning new material. It is definitely not something to learn new material from.

My first diagnostic was like a 23. I scored an actual 29 and averaged about a 30. I used Princeton Review, Berkeley Review, and Kaplan. I attribute my not stinking up the Biological Sciences section to them. Verbal is their weakpoint but depending on how weak your verbal is, they can still help. They arent bad for verbal, but are not reflective. But then, Verbal is sort of the thing no one can really prep very well for and take my verbal advice with a grain of salt.
recent: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13955533#post13955533
history: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=939305

If money is not a concern, use them but use ALL of them. This means the tutors, the extra practice problems, EVERYTHING. Also, keep your statistics clean so that you can use their graphs if you need to pinpoint your weak points. Some feel it's a waste but I think if you use this feature you will save time and hit weakpoints faster than if you did the same by hand. Of Almost everyone I know in real life that dishes on them, no one used all their resources.

 

[Shjanzey]

You factor in a poor college student with an expensive price point on a web page that has a lot of herd mentality and you will get a lot of hate. Their strengths are their section tests and practice tests. I think if they were priced at around $500, they would get less hate and possibly praise around here. But I'm sure Kaplan knows they wont get close to 4x the customer base so they keep their prices the same (they are a major corporation after all).

Their review books aren't the best. Some of it is preference, some of it depends on how much of your review is actual review or learning new material. It is definitely not something to learn new material from.

My first diagnostic was like a 23. I scored an actual 29 and averaged about a 30. I used Princeton Review, Berkeley Review, and Kaplan. I attribute my not stinking up the Biological Sciences section to them. Verbal is their weakpoint but depending on how weak your verbal is, they can still help. They arent bad for verbal, but are not reflective. But then, Verbal is sort of the thing no one can really prep very well for and take my verbal advice with a grain of salt.
recent: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13955533#post13955533
history: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=939305

If money is not a concern, use them but use ALL of them. This means the tutors, the extra practice problems, EVERYTHING. Also, keep your statistics clean so that you can use their graphs if you need to pinpoint your weak points. Some feel it's a waste but I think if you use this feature you will save time and hit weakpoints faster than if you did the same by hand. Of Almost everyone I know in real life that dishes on them, no one used all their resources.

I think your assessment is probably the fairest and most level headed I have seen. Well presented.