I felt like I would just make another post for future test takers who want a brief review of these two Qbanks.
1. Quantity of questions - UWorld has more questions.
2. Quality of questions - UWorld has more clinical vignette based questions. However, there are things that are covered only in Kaplan. Therefore, skipping Kaplan would not be a good idea. But if you could do only one, choose UWorld.
3. Presentation - I feel Kaplan has a better presentation. The display feels very similar to the actual USMLE exam.
4. Level of questions - Kaplan’s questions (assuming you do all mix and not subject wise) are more like the USMLE blocks. You have some hard, some easy and mostly medium questions. UWorld blocks tend to be a little harder but its relative.
5. Cost - UWorld is $100 more if you purchase them both for 12 months. (as of right now)
6. Explanantion of questions - Kaplan has longer explanations but lacks tables, figures and diagrams. Here is where UWorld really excels. You learn a lot just by reading the UWorld explanations. You can do the same with Kaplan too but its less likely to stick till your exam day since its just a long essay. Both Qbanks do have the important facts in bold though. However, for some questions Kaplan has a shorter and more concise explanation which can ascertain that you will get it right on the exam. Thus, do both the Qbanks.
7. Repetition - Kaplan has more repetition of similar content just asked in a different way. I believe there were three questions on Entameba Histolytica and about three on calcium bilirubinate stones. UWorld has more unique questions. Even if they cover the same fact/ principle, the questions is always formed differently and no two questions are the same.
8. Usage - I believe Kaplan has a better laid out and more flexible QBank. You can choose more than one category of question when forming a block test. In UWorld you can only choose, unused, incorrect or marked.
9. Marked Questions - They disappear in UWorld after you test them. In Kaplan your marked questions always stay. To me this was a bit of hassle in UWorld as my marked questions had great explanations, charts, diagrams, histological slides etc. Having them disappeared meant I had to go through the answered block and re mark them.
10. Customer care - They both have great customer care. Just be polite when calling.
11. Practice tests - Kaplan gives you a diagnostic for free with the Qbank which can be taken as many times as you wish. They also give you two full length USMLE exams. For UWorld you can purchase two self assessments which is similar in length to the Kaplan diagnostic thus adding to the cost further.
12. Platform - Kaplan is done on your browser while UWorld is done on a separate platform which has to be downloaded from the website. UWorld also gives you the option of setting up a proxy.
Please feel free to add anything I may have missed out 🙂
1. Quantity of questions - UWorld has more questions.
2. Quality of questions - UWorld has more clinical vignette based questions. However, there are things that are covered only in Kaplan. Therefore, skipping Kaplan would not be a good idea. But if you could do only one, choose UWorld.
3. Presentation - I feel Kaplan has a better presentation. The display feels very similar to the actual USMLE exam.
4. Level of questions - Kaplan’s questions (assuming you do all mix and not subject wise) are more like the USMLE blocks. You have some hard, some easy and mostly medium questions. UWorld blocks tend to be a little harder but its relative.
5. Cost - UWorld is $100 more if you purchase them both for 12 months. (as of right now)
6. Explanantion of questions - Kaplan has longer explanations but lacks tables, figures and diagrams. Here is where UWorld really excels. You learn a lot just by reading the UWorld explanations. You can do the same with Kaplan too but its less likely to stick till your exam day since its just a long essay. Both Qbanks do have the important facts in bold though. However, for some questions Kaplan has a shorter and more concise explanation which can ascertain that you will get it right on the exam. Thus, do both the Qbanks.
7. Repetition - Kaplan has more repetition of similar content just asked in a different way. I believe there were three questions on Entameba Histolytica and about three on calcium bilirubinate stones. UWorld has more unique questions. Even if they cover the same fact/ principle, the questions is always formed differently and no two questions are the same.
8. Usage - I believe Kaplan has a better laid out and more flexible QBank. You can choose more than one category of question when forming a block test. In UWorld you can only choose, unused, incorrect or marked.
9. Marked Questions - They disappear in UWorld after you test them. In Kaplan your marked questions always stay. To me this was a bit of hassle in UWorld as my marked questions had great explanations, charts, diagrams, histological slides etc. Having them disappeared meant I had to go through the answered block and re mark them.
10. Customer care - They both have great customer care. Just be polite when calling.
11. Practice tests - Kaplan gives you a diagnostic for free with the Qbank which can be taken as many times as you wish. They also give you two full length USMLE exams. For UWorld you can purchase two self assessments which is similar in length to the Kaplan diagnostic thus adding to the cost further.
12. Platform - Kaplan is done on your browser while UWorld is done on a separate platform which has to be downloaded from the website. UWorld also gives you the option of setting up a proxy.
Please feel free to add anything I may have missed out 🙂
