Kaplan Verbal???

[mcat45]

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I have seen many posts that suggest staying away from the kaplan verbal and the kaplan verbal method. Why? Isn't the Kaplan method of mapping the passage basically the EK method for reading for the main idea on a smaller scale? I don't know, maybe I'm just missing the point. If some people could at least explain why Kaplan verbal is bad that will aid me in determining how to bet proceed with my verbal preparation.

 

[SN2ed]

Kaplan is bad in verbal because it doesn't stress the same things as the actual MCAT. For the MCAT, the main idea and author's point of view/opinion are the keys to success. Conversely, Kaplan focuses more on the detail oriented questions; the kind of questions which make you go back over the passage to find the minute detail being tested. On the MCAT, going back to the passages will kill your timing. Furthermore, you rarely receive such questions and when you do get them, they can typically be answered with the main idea or author's opinion.

 

[dundunham]

lol i'm so glad the mcat doesn't have more of the look up questions... those are so annoying.

 

[ladygwennie]

I went through an entire Kaplan in classroom course, and I still feel that verbal was always my weakest point. I wish I had been able to get the EK book, but I figured I would stick with Kaplan. If I need to retake, I will be switching that up, I just don't think the Kaplan method was the best for me when all is said and done.

 

[mcat45]

ok...Is there anybody on this forum that has had success with the Kaplan Verbal Method? (I think QofQuminica said she did...I would love to hear how/why she think the method worked for her). I want to hear from individuals that have found the kaplan strategy helpful. I'm trying to find a different strategy to use from EK because it basically mirrors the strategy that I have always used on verbal/reading comprehension exams up until this point (and it always worked well until now), but it didn't seem to be very effective on my mcat diagnostic exam.

 

[SN2ed]

Since I've been here, I have only seen one or two people post about their success with Kaplan's method. Everyone else hated it. I think you should stick with the same main idea & author's opinion strategy. You may also want to step up your post-test analysis. Lastly, if you still want to go ahead with Kaplan's strategy and want to talk about it with QofQ, I suggest you PM her. I don't think she visits the MCAT forum that often.

 

[Mattabet]

I took the Kaplan course; I find SN2's analysis to be spot on. As much as possible (including on the actual MCAT) I avoided the damn mapping strategy.

You can use the framework, but you have to go beyond what Kaplan actually asks you to do. Not only would you have to get an idea of each paragraph, but you have to make inferences as to how those paragraphs serve the author's overall point. Except you can't necessarily get the overall point until you finish reading the thing, which means you may have to go back... and the whole process gets convoluted.

It's not a bad way to start thinking about VR, but in real life I never used the process as it was explained to me.

 

[ladygwennie]

Study the verbal in the way that makes you most comfortable and gets you the points. Personally I didnt like the Kaplan method, the passage mapping didn't seem to help me, the way it was supposed to. I do know that it helped out other students in my course though. Everyone is different, diagnostics are not always of the best value, so always take what you got on a diagnostic with a grain of salt. Go with what works.

 

[ronaldo23]

The Kaplan strategy is basically the EK strategy, except you are actually writing it down. On the real thing, writing stuff down is dumb because its a waste of time and you should just make a mental note of the paragraph's idea. Also 'triaging' is very dumb, as you can't gauge from a hard/easy passage whether the questions will also be hard/easy.

 

[iwant2doctor]

Okay, regardless of Kaplan's verbal strategies, how valuable are their 13 Verbal Tests.

What about TPR and TBR?

 

[capn jazz]

EK 101 > TPR > TBR >>>>>>> Kaplan

 

[staceelg]

Capn Jazz... HAHAHA!

Personally having taken the kaplan method it did not work for me, but that is def because I did not keep up with the material. As how they approach verbal, yes they want you to map, but we were told we didn't have to and to stick to the best way we work if we prefer. However, they did emphasize the TOPIC, SCOPE, and PURPOSE of the author to be focused on in each passage and I believe this is pretty much the same thing as any other study method, only worded differently.

but anyways... I am still HORRIBLE at verbal! grr...

 

[grotto]

I don't think the Kaplan method works, period. The only things I diagrammed (and not in the Kaplan way) were experimental BS and some PS passages. I did the online course and quickly moved to EK verbal... far superior. Kaplan verbal practice is overly detail oriented and their method is too time consuming unless you master it - this could take months to years. Working memory is key to verbal - read, understand, execute.

I talk about this a bit more in my 30+ MCAT strategy post (its on page 10 I think).