USMLE Kaplan QBank vs USMLE Consult

[JD7]

Why isn't Consult commonly used? Tried the trial and had nice text book references from their Elsevier book selection. Kaplan seems extremely out of date, their application (web and iPhone) don't have fullscreen resolution. Plus kaplan is very expensive when compared to usmlerx, which is alot better in my opinion.

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[blahblah56]

I did both and stopped using Consult after about 1000 questions. Kaplan was way better, and I found their qs more similar to the Step than Consult

 

[Desk_Jockey]

Has anybody else used Consult? I was wondering the same thing. My pathology professor (who writes for STEP 1) recommends Consult over Kaplan, but I haven't heard from any students who have used it.

 

[Sailey]

I have done Rx, U world and now doing, Kaplan. I think Kaplan is really kicking my butt. Some of the questions are unbelievably tricky and hopefully not 'Step worthy'. I am interested if anybody has good experience with "consult".

 

[Phloston]

Kaplan is NOTHING like the actual Step 1. If there's one thing that annoys me, it's having my time wasted. Kaplan teaches its own self-conceived version of a Step 1 prep course that is incredibly broad and not targeted whatsoever. You'll only realize it after you take the Step 1. You'll look back and be like "wow, Kaplan sucked big time." The reason is because they focus on so much information that would never be tested in a million years, EVER. But meanwhile you're annotating from it thinking "omg I need to know this."

 

[blahblah56]

I did both and found that the only useful part of Consult was path (obviously bc Goljan wrote it). Also there were lots of mistakes. That being said if you had to go bw the two I'd definitely choose Kaplan. However like Phloston said there are lots of little minute details but I didnt mind annotating the information bc I did Kaplan throughout my last semester. I found it helpful for Step, but only if you have the time.

 

[Transposony]

What about Exam Master?
has anyone used their QBank?

 

[Transposony]

Kaplan is NOTHING like the actual Step 1. If there's one thing that annoys me, it's having my time wasted. Kaplan teaches its own self-conceived version of a Step 1 prep course that is incredibly broad and not targeted whatsoever. You'll only realize it after you take the Step 1. You'll look back and be like "wow, Kaplan sucked big time." The reason is because they focus on so much information that would never be tested in a million years, EVER. But meanwhile you're annotating from it thinking "omg I need to know this."

I believe you recommended selected topics (e.g. Neuroanatomy) from Kaplan Q Bank.
Has your opinion changed about that?

 

[Phloston]

I believe you recommended selected topics (e.g. Neuroanatomy) from Kaplan Q Bank.
Has your opinion changed about that?

I wasn't meaning for my post to generate broad implications. You'll learn from Kaplan, but just don't expect it to be Step 1-focused. After I finished the QBank I thought it was good (I had written an old post stating just that). But it was only after my actual exam that I realized it wasn't remotely similar in material or format. I had reviewed the neuro images (not the text, just the images) from the Kaplan Anatomy lecture notes, and I got lucky because my exam was heavy in neuro. I should make a point that I didn't bother too much with the textual aspect of the Kaplan notes because they were superfluous, but I was really weak in neuro and was searching for a way to remediate.

 

[Sailey]

I did usmle rx,, Most of the U world and yearning for another Q bank, only after reading Phloston's piece on Kaplan Qbank, I ventured into it. I am glad I did. Phloston is right they do test minutiae. Several of their questions have two answers but you are penalized for not picking the common one and sometimes for not picking rare ones. I have an example for latter one, Hypoglycemia and Bordetella Pertussis. I am not married to Kaplan but if you really want to excel you should do Kaplan.

 

[worldbeater]

I am going to go against the grain and say actually Kaplan QBank is quality, because your able to apply really high levels concepts, and see how organized your thinking is. I don't think it's picky, some of the question that do seem obscure are because they are concepts that a student hasn't learned before. I haven't taken the real deal yet, so my opinion doesn't have much weight, but just my 2 cents.