kaplan private tutor for PCAT helpful?

[pch]

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hi, I was wondering if anyone has taken the kaplan private tutoring class. I have taken the PCAT two times. and havce taken the Kaplan classroom course once. AFter taking the classroom course i thought i was ready but i was wrong. Now i want to take thePCAT again and was wondering if I should try private tutoring. Any suggestions? does anyone know anyone eles who has taken private tutoring?

 

[chemguy79]

I don't know of anyone who has taken private tutoring, but I would advise you to be very regimented about your tutoring sessions. Definitely lead the tutoring so you can get the most out of your sessions.

I say this because I tutor at least 10 students a semester in General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. For over half of the students, they practically throw their notes at me and say, "I just don't get it." Since it'll be uber-pricy, I'd take a close look at the concepts that I was struggling with and make sure that they can explain it to your satisfaction.

Good Luck!

 

[takins33613]

Don't they charge on a per hour rate? If yes, I'd say it is not worth it.

 

[pch]

Don't they charge on a per hour rate? If yes, I'd say it is not worth it.

actually kaplan charges $125 per hour for private tutoring.. that is why i want to be very sure i want to hire a private tutor before I sign up.

 

[Namishin]

$125/hour worth it... for most people? No.

For you? Maybe.

That lost money would be a big motivator for me to learn things on my own.

 

[VelvetMoonlight]

I'd strongly recommend buying the Dr. Collins self-study guide and studying off of them. The packets also include practice exams that are almost identical to the actual PCAT...in fact, when I took the PCAT, there were some analogies that I know that I've seen before. Although the Dr. Collins study materials are pretty expensive (around $300), they are well worth it because they are as close as you can get to the real thing...and, you also have access to the PCAT tutors to ask any question you want through email or phone (Dr. Collins actually runs a PCAT prep class in Florida, but if you don't live in Florida then you should buy the self-study guide). I studied off of the Dr. Collins stuff for maybe a little over a month and a half while working 40+ hours a week as a pharmacy tech and got an 83 on the PCAT. My friend (who studied with me and also worked 40+ hours as a pharmacy tech at the same hospital) did the exact same thing and got a 97 on his PCAT.

Here's the link to the Dr. Collins website:
http://www.pcatprepclass.com/register.html#self_study

 

[pch]

I'd strongly recommend buying the Dr. Collins self-study guide and studying off of them. The packets also include practice exams that are almost identical to the actual PCAT...in fact, when I took the PCAT, there were some analogies that I know that I've seen before. Although the Dr. Collins study materials are pretty expensive (around $300), they are well worth it because they are as close as you can get to the real thing...and, you also have access to the PCAT tutors to ask any question you want through email or phone (Dr. Collins actually runs a PCAT prep class in Florida, but if you don't live in Florida then you should buy the self-study guide). I studied off of the Dr. Collins stuff for maybe a little over a month and a half while working 40+ hours a week as a pharmacy tech and got an 83 on the PCAT. My friend (who studied with me and also worked 40+ hours as a pharmacy tech at the same hospital) did the exact same thing and got a 97 on his PCAT.

Here's the link to the Dr. Collins website:
http://www.pcatprepclass.com/register.html#self_study

congrats on your score and thank you so much for the info! actually i purchased mine recently and is still waiting for it to arrive. ya i heard a lot of good stuff about it. i just don't know whether I should even bother memorizing the most common words from the kaplan book. do you mind telling me how you studied for the verbal ability? that was my weakest when i wrote it in january.i'm really hoping dr. collins can help me 🙂

 

[pch]

$125/hr is pretty steep! For the money, I think you'll find most threads will give Dr. Collins the nod as the best PCAT review for the money (and cheaper than the equivalent of 3hrs of Kaplan private tutoring!). You might also check out some other less expensive resources:

PCAT Destroyer
His DAT Destroyer is his most popular and very well regarded with the DAT crowd. Actually haven't seen his PCAT destroyer but would imagine it's decent.

Cliff's AP Biology
Decent review of biology and can typically be found for less than $20.

wikipremed.com
FREE comprehensive review of the sciences. Designed for the MCAT but has a lot of valuable info for content review and did I mention it's FREE!

coursesaver.com
Really well done video lectures of gen chem, ochem, and physics. Designed for the MCAT/DAT so the ochem is overkill for what's needed on the PCAT. Relatively inexpensive subscription ($20)

There are a lot of other resources out there. If money's no object, then a great private tutor can be invaluable. But for most of us, that's just not an option. We all still just need to glue ourselves to a chair for significant amounts of time, whether we get a tutor or not.

Best of luck!

Thanks a lot for the information. I had no idea so many of these were free! thast certainly good news. I was really thinking of paying $125 for private tutoring but i don't think I'm gonna go through with it now since everyone says DR. Collins is so great. I'm gonna give it a try!! but anyay, thanks for your help!!🙂