Kaplan vs. Dr. Collins

[Lmerc]

Has anyone just studied off the Kaplan book? What was your experience?

Thanks in advance

 

[jkral1102]

I got a 98 on the PCAT from Dr. Collins + Kaplan's PCAT. I highly recommend using both. Kaplan, despite how thick the book is, only takes a few weeks to get through if you put in a few hours a day. It's an easy read and has a great bio section, but the Dr Collins chem section is an absolute must have as well.

 

[med77]

I got a 96 with a 99 in bio and a 97 in chem with just Kaplan. Used Khan Academy and my textbooks too. I think it'll depend upon how much you remember from your classes. A lot of the stuff was fresh in my mind (I'm a biochem student FYI) since I had just taken anatomy 1 and 2 and microbiology. I know bio 101 like the back of my hand. General chemistry I definitely needed to brush up on, but doing the Kaplan tests and looking at my textbook and the Khan Academy videos was enough for me.

 

[guarnaschelli]

I used just Dr. Collins (took every practice exam twice) and got a 99 composite. I found it easier to focus on just one material rather than jumping around between a bunch of things. My weakest subscore was a 94 in reading comp, maybe outsource for that.

 

[Thercias]

I used just Kaplan, diagnostic was 51 and 93 on the real thing. Went from a 30 to 99 percentile in chemistry, 38 to 95 percentile in biology.

 

[Lmerc]

Okay I think I'll use both the Dr. Collins and Kaplan. The other thing is now: will the 2014 updates dr collins be good if I'm taking the pcat in the spring?

 

[guarnaschelli]

@Lmerc I actually found the most update questions on the July exam to be from the Fall 2014 update, so I think they might alternate (like the Jan 2015 update questions will now maybe me on the September exam?) If you're taking it in the spring I would look for a July 2015 update. Dr. Collins does send them out to people who bought from him and aren't taking it til September.