Kaplan vs Princeton

[ChrisC]

Hey all just getting geared up to study for the boards like many of you and am curious about books. I have been reading and talking to a lot of people about books and have heard to go with first aid, BRS review, High yield etc. But I also have heard that for those of us who like a more regimented schedule to follow- to go with a set of course books, however I am curious which ones did you guys find better Kaplan or Princeton. I used Princeton for the MCAT and they were great I found Kaplan's books to be to detailed, but for the USMLE's Kaplan seems to be the dominate course. Any input?
thanks Chris.

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[EricVorheese]

Hey all just getting geared up to study for the boards like many of you and am curious about books. I have been reading and talking to a lot of people about books and have heard to go with first aid, BRS review, High yield etc. But I also have heard that for those of us who like a more regimented schedule to follow- to go with a set of course books, however I am curious which ones did you guys find better Kaplan or Princeton. I used Princeton for the MCAT and they were great I found Kaplan's books to be to detailed, but for the USMLE's Kaplan seems to be the dominate course. Any input?
thanks Chris.

try not to relate MCAT experiences to USMLE.........they are COMPLETELY different........and I would know, I worked for Kaplan HQ for a yr............the premed dept (MCAT) and health sciences dept (USMLE, NBDE etc) are on opposite sides of the floor and have no relation to each other whatsoever

basically, it comes down to this - do you want to stick with something thats been around for a while and is tried and true? or risk going for something new? (yes, princeton is relatively new.....and no, I have no idea how their materials are......for all we know, they could be better than kaplan, but do you really want to put in the time to find out if they actually are?)


personally, I have seen lots of ppl do really well by knowing the kaplan lecture notes/qbank inside out so I am gonna stick with something thats tried, tested and true.............and I would advise you do the same


but, to each his own.........either way, good luck

 

[shivasHeroLike]

i didn't know princeton even gave USMLE reviews.

 

[ChrisC]

Yea I think your right there is no sense and gambeling, however i am also a bit concerned that the Kaplan books are pretty thick do you think you'll get through all of em? Have you heard that students do through all of them or just use them as references?

 

[EricVorheese]

Yea I think your right there is no sense and gambeling, however i am also a bit concerned that the Kaplan books are pretty thick do you think you'll get through all of em? Have you heard that students do through all of them or just use them as references?

of course they are thick lol - its the USMLE! its 2 yrs worth of basic sciences, clinically relevant info AND questions crammed into each book for each subject.......what did you expect?

but the good thing is, if you paid attention during your first 2 yrs, each book will be 80% review......you can aim to get thru the entire set of kaplan lecture notes throughly in 2 - 3 weeks (with uninterrupted study time of 10 hrs a day of course - this is not while u r in school, that would take longer)

don't be intimidated by the size chris, you are starting early, you have plenty of time......just crack open the first book, go thru it and annotate the relevant info/charts/tables/pics/MRIs/CTs into ur FA.....then move on to the next book........you can get thru them all!

 

[ChrisC]

Thanks for the advice Eric. Yea this is going to be fun, ahh the joys