kaplan vs. princeton review

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indigoblue

I'm planning to take either Kaplan or Princeton Review for the April 2003 MCAT. I noticed that Princeton Review has almost twice as many class sessions and is also $250 cheaper. But I've heard that Kaplan's materials are the best.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

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If you have a weak grasp of the subject material (basic sciences - bio, chem (organic/inorganic), physics), I would probably recommend Kaplan (I'm taking them now). They have a good training library with lectures on video and such, and a big part of the preparation is actually getting the sciences down. If you've had a weak undergrad experiences in these sciences, it would be a good choice to go with Kaplan if you're willing to put in in the time. Don't know much about the princeton review.

g'luck
 
I took the Kaplan course before the April '02 MCAT, and while I wasn't impressed with the way the course was taught, I did like the practice materials and video library they have. However, I decided to take the August MCAT, and to prepare for it, I kept my Kaplan books and ordered a set of PR books from someone who had taken the course already. I found the PR books to be way more comprehensive in terms of explaining concepts, and it really worked out for me, because the PR practice materials (practice passages, practice tests, etc) are all given in book form (as opposed to Kaplan, which is either available online as long as you're enrolled in the course or at the Kaplan center itself). I don't know much about the teaching at PR, but I would assume it's on par with Kaplan. If you can swing a deal where you could take one course and just get the books from the other, it'd probably work to your advantage. Just my two cents.
 
Make sure you ask Kaplan where their library is in your area and whether you'd be willing to travel there all the time to work on the material. A lot of their practice exams are not available to you and the ones accesible online are not printable, meaning you have to work on it from the computer screen. I was thinking about repeating Kaplan, but I called the Philadelphia center. It turns out that even though the MCAT classes are held on campus, I'd have to travel all the way downtown to access the material. Taking into consideration that much of what you pay for the Kaplan course pays for the practice tests and videos...and the fact that I am really lazy once I am on campus, I decided it wasn't worth repeating.
 
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Check to see if either Examkrackers or Berkeley Review offer courses in your area. If you are in NYC or Cali, you are in luck. If not, then good luck with your choice.
 
I took pr in the spring and it is something that I do not regret for a second. I went into the test very confident in all of the possible topics-i wasn't thinking "oh i hope there are no nervous system questions" or anything like that. The reason I chose pr is that the classes were a 30 minute drive closer to me than kaplan and also i did not want to have to go to the kaplan library to do problems. Also, with pr you do 5 full length proctored tests which simulate actual test conditions. The last two tests we took were the most recently released AAMC tests, so when the real test day came there were no surprises. I was very fortunate to have the teachers I did. There were numerous times when I finally understood something that I never had a grasp of when I took my prereqs at school.
 
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