Kaplan VS Princeton Review Course

[Notsureuser]

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I'm not sure which classroom course to go for. Can anyone tell me which is better ?

 

[Erythropoietin]

They both have their own weaknesses and strengths but if I had to start all over I would definitely go with TPR.
I really liked TPR's passages and their verbal. Kaplan is also strong in their sciences but their verbal is too easy compared to AAMCs and TPR's or EK 101's.
The only thing I liked about Kaplan was their FL's. I haven't seen TPR exams but Kaplan FLs were definitely harder than any of the AAMCs and it really makes you think about each topic presented in the passage.

 

[LingoLaine]

Kaplan = one teacher for all the subjects
Princeton Review = separate teachers for each subject

Based on the above, I chose Princeton Review and was satisfied with that.

 

[SN2ed]

Kaplan = one teacher for all the subjects

Not necessarily. It depends on the course and the center running it. I know a few courses in Southern CA have been run with one teacher per subject.


Overall, you should sit in during a class and judge the teacher quality yourself since it can vary greatly from area to area. Disregarding the teaching itself, Kaplan has better online material while TPRH has much better content review books and strong verbal. Strictly on study materials, TPRH easily wins. However, if all you want is the study materials, it'd be better and MUCH cheaper to get them from the For Sale forum.

 

[Erythropoietin]

Even if it's one or multiple teachers for Kaplan, they just follow a routine plan in the lesson book. I don't know how TPR goes. But the stuff they teach in classroom (in Kaplan) is very basic stuff. So it might be helpful to you if you've gotten C's or below in college. If not, it's really a waste of time.

 

[pfaction]

Enrolled for TPR. Hopefully they send me all the books and **** because if not, 2000$ is a bit much.

 

[PennMedMan]

I was leaning towards TPR (heard Kaplan is pretty bad near where I am), but I found an awesome online course and I'm registered there for January. I actually heard about it from a friend and then signed up for a free Admissions Consultation which I think they're still offering. Here's the link:

www.polaristestprep.com

I also got to sit in on a lecture in a current class and I was really impressed. Has anyone else had any experience with them?

 

[deleted413795]

I did Kaplan. They definitely worked very well for me, although I think the classroom portion is unnecessary. I mainly used the practice sections, full lengths, QBank, etc. That was more than enough to get my score where it needed to me. I would recommend the online Kaplan on demand, or the live online.

There really is not a reason to put yourself through the misery of going to a Kaplan center for the class, in my opinion. I do not know what TPR offers for options as far as courses go. I definitely think Kaplan is a worthwhile investment though. The materials are top knotch, and the practice tests prepare you well for the actual MCAT.

 

[Ochemlover45]

Enrolled for TPR. Hopefully they send me all the books and **** because if not, 2000$ is a bit much.

I enrolled in TPR and they sent me all my books 2 months before my class started.

I choose TPR because they held classes everyday and I felt a more structured environment would better suit me.

 

[pfaction]

FFFFFFF

TPR cancelled my course. I only have Kaplan left.

 

[atlhawks29]

I was leaning towards TPR (heard Kaplan is pretty bad near where I am), but I found an awesome online course and I'm registered there for January. I actually heard about it from a friend and then signed up for a free Admissions Consultation which I think they're still offering. Here's the link:

www.polaristestprep.com

I also got to sit in on a lecture in a current class and I was really impressed. Has anyone else had any experience with them?

i just did the free consultation yesterday. spoke to a first year med student. had some pretty insightful comments regarding my personal statement and recommendation letters. im thinking about taking the class too-- the instructor's suppose to be a former kaplan teacher and got a 41 on his MCAT.

pretty enticing considering it's "small group tutoring" with an average class size of 5 and $700 cheaper than kaplan's/princeton's 20-30 person classes and from what i hear, mediocre teachers who score in the low 30s

 

[pfaction]

I'm really scared about this verbal part. If on Kaplan's exams they ask stupid stuff unlike the MCAT what will happen on the actual MCAT? I can't believe TPR ****ing cancelled the course on me like this.

 

[Erythropoietin]

how can they do that?

 

[pfaction]

I wish I knew:

Dear [pfaction]

I am writing to follow up on your Princeton Review course. Unfortunately, there is insufficient enrollment for the course in which you have enrolled, so we must cancel the course.


THE FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Seriously, are you kidding me? The closest one after that, to my test date...is an hour away.


So does anyone have any advice on how to handle Kaplan?

===

EDIT: DID ANYONE DO TPR ONLINE (vs in class), IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?

 

[atlhawks29]

I wish I knew:

Dear [pfaction]

I am writing to follow up on your Princeton Review course. Unfortunately, there is insufficient enrollment for the course in which you have enrolled, so we must cancel the course.


THE FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Seriously, are you kidding me? The closest one after that, to my test date...is an hour away.


So does anyone have any advice on how to handle Kaplan?

===

EDIT: DID ANYONE DO TPR ONLINE (vs in class), IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?

I know someone who took the online advanced classes. said that it was ok-- the teacher was decent, but there was 60 ppl crammed into one online class

 

[brycepj]

Overall I'm with TPR. Agree with those who say the practice material is more practical, plus you save cash when they throw in the AAMC cbts. kaplan makes some of the worst practice tests I've seen. they may help you learn but they don't reflect the real test. I wouldn't waste your time with them.

i wrote a comparative review of both on my blog a little while back you might find helpful.

 

[chemhead123]

I don't understand why most people take a classroom based course. I guess different strokes for different folks, but how much time do you waste driving to the center, going home, stupid questions in class that you already know the answer too, dumb anecdotes by the prof, and the list just goes on and one.

I guess for an internet based course, you have to have discipline, and I get that, but I would wager that someone taking a classroom based course wastes 20%+ of their time on causes outlined above. This was the case for my friends who took the class around me. I think anyone taking the classroom based course should really think about it, but that is just me.

 

[chemhead123]

Sorry to post again on here, but I just finished reading this and I thought it would add to the discussion. I think it lays out the arguments against either of these courses, although using their practice materials can be helpful. Self-study if you can handle the discipline side of stuff is much better!

http://www.medaholic.com/2011/05/14...t-on-your-own-is-better-than-taking-a-course/

 

[FedSquarewall]

I'm new to SDN but I'd though I'd start posting. I'm taking TPR Ultimate LiveOnline right now. So far I like some things and dislike others. First of all, all the books are great, the bio likes to go off about things that you don't need to know, but it's only a few extra pages each chapter (i.e. its explanation of aerobic respiration is a bit wordy, but to their benefit they tell you "you don't need to know this but..." The hyperlearning science workbook is great and has all the science passages you'd need and the hyperlearning verbal book is great as well.

As for the teachers its been "okay" so far. My physics and chemistry teachers are pretty good (although they can be condescending at times, but that can be taken multiple ways). My biology and verbal teachers are sub-par but TPR's verbal strategy is a joke (passage ranking, skipping up to two whole passages to save time to devote to easier passages) so that was to be expected for verbal.

As for the classes themselves, if I was to do it all over again I probably would have self studied with TPR. The 2.5 hours you spend in class could be spent much more efficiently (slow class, dumb people that have no business taking a class, haven't done their pre reading and asking really basic questions, etc.)

The online Amplifire is pretty much all of the science workbook discretes (which are pretty good for concepts) just put online with a few added questions. On top of everything you get a lot of online passages which are hit or miss and aren't as good as the science workbook passages, but are still useful for practice, just don't time yourself because some are lengthy to say the least.

Only time will tell if it gets me my target score, I'm only halfway through though so it's going to be a while. Oh yeah, they have you take AAMC 10 to get your baseline (which seems like a waste of an AAMC test) but I got a 25 on that so ill update this post in May/June when I get my score back. TPR tests (either Cracking the MCAT or TPR 1-5) are pretty hard and the curve has been unforgiving, so I would say they are good practice but bad score predictors (i.e. their verbal sections are too long and the science questions are very picky and relationship loving/non-calculations.

Overall, like I said I would probably have self studied with their material if I did it again. Hope this helps. Good luck all!

 

[deleted92121]

I'm in the online self-paced TPR course.

I like the structure I suppose but I am thinking it was a waste of $1400. The books are fine and all, though a bit superfluous at times. Then there are the online passages and amplifire. I think the online passages are brutal and from what I have gathered, not all that representative of the real thing. Sure they test the information but wow, just rough. And they don't have great explanations either.

I am considering investing in TBR Physics and Gen Chem. As far as O-Chem and Biology go, EK for Bio and O-Chem via Chad's Video. Follow that up with practice tests and TPR Science Workbook. I should have done it that way.

 

[Roxas]

I liked my TPR online course, although whether you took a course or not, you need to put a lot of time into it on your own. I wouldn't recommend it while taking other classes.