kaplan

[lady bug]

Hi! For those of you that have took the Kaplan course & the MCAT, I'm wondering how the scores on the diagnostic tests compared to your real MCAT score...i'm trying to decide whether to take Kaplan or Princeton, and I've heard Princeton's diagnostics are closer to the real exam.

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[ccryder]

If by diagnostics you are referring to the mini-test you take at the beginning for the course, my diagnostic score was MUCH lower than final MCAT score. All of the scores that I received on the KAPLAN practice tests were also lower be a couple of points than what I finally received which made for a nice surprise when the score report came in the mail.

 

[spacecadet]

Ditto ccryder...

Of course, my diagnostic was lower than my actual score partially because I hadn't studied at all before I took it.

I got five points higher (total) on the real test than on any of my full-length practice tests. Nice surprise there.

Don't know anything about TPR. I chose Kaplan b/c I didn't have to drive as far.

 

[Triangulation]

My actual score was 2 pts higher than my highest scoring Kaplan full-length. It felt good.
I think it a reasonable approximation of what your actual score will be, I will tell you that my consistent lowest score w/the Kap full lengths was my highest on the actual exam.

Incidentally, I was just hired as an MCAT instructor for Kaplan and there's something I noted. Kaplan's pretty good about a preference for MCAT instructors who took the MCAT, whereas TPR accepts MCAT instructors who haven't (grad students in the sciences etc.) This is strictly my anecdote I work in a lab and a lot of grad students have been receiving EMs about teaching for TPR. Personally, I wanted an instructor who had taken the test. It's a lot more than knowing the science, it's knowing how to deal w/the test which only a MCAT taker could really speak to.

But spacecadet's reason is a good one: If it's closer, chances are you'll go there more often, spend more time there, and get more studying done=Higher score