Kaplans or Princeton?

[blaze1306]

I believe both courses are going to be offered in Norman Oklahoma and I'm planning on taking the classroom courses in the 3 month period before the april test. What are some opinions about each? I'll be finishing up organic II as the only pre-req left for me to do, so class should not be a major distraction.

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[TPROrgoTutor]

Princeton. More class hours. More materials. Not gonna get into teachign ability as it is opinion.

 

[acrobat]

TPR got me a 34 Q and I'm seriously feel unworthy of that score. If they can do that for me why not anyone?

 

[TPROrgoTutor]

TPR got me a 34 Q and I'm seriously feel unworthy of that score. If they can do that for me why not anyone?

Did you fill out your "what'd you get" yet? If not, please do so. It helps your local TPR.

 

[blaze1306]

A 34!!!! Holy crap i'd kill for that.... Do you consider the time frame i'm taking the prep course in to be ok? I don't want to be burned out at the end of the prep course then have to take the mcat.

 

[MadHopsMD]

I have TAKEN both, so i am the best person to ask.

Kaplan:
Their verbal strategy is better
if you are weak in biology, kaplan doesnt teach you ****
if you are week in physics, kaplan is neutral
Writing sample: kAPLAN strategy sucks

TPR:
verbal strategy just blows...who skips a whole passage?
Biology and physics lessons are solid. but they dont teach you any timing and answer tricks as kaplan does...
Writing sample: strategy much much better

So if you are good at bio and physics and weak in verbal i will go with kaplan.

One last thing. KAPLAN has WAY more resources than TPR.

-Kaplan has 15 or so tests plus all the aamc ones at the centre. Plus tons more practice subject tests for each section. verbal is more reflective of what will be seen on real mcat. online resources are great too.

-Princeton has only 5 of their own tests (PR A-D dont count) and AAMC 6-9. verbal in some of the practice tests (PR A-D) are not reflective of what you will see in the real mcat.


This might vary in each state, but none of my PR teachers (other than bio) had ever taken MCAT...while KAPLAN teachers all had taken MCAT

 

[lynn623la]

I have TAKEN both, so i am the best person to ask.

Kaplan:
Their verbal strategy is better
if you are weak in biology, kaplan doesnt teach you ****
if you are week in physics, kaplan is neutral
Writing sample: kAPLAN strategy sucks

This might vary in each state, but none of my PR teachers (other than bio) had ever taken MCAT...while KAPLAN teachers all had taken MCAT

I noticed on the Kaplan website, that it has dates for the coursework/prep class. Now somedays it has Wednesday, full day from 10:00am to 6pm. Did you take off for those days?

 

[acrobat]

I have taken both also. 30P for Kaplan and 34Q for the TPR. However, when I took Kaplan I never took any practice tests- well maybe one or two I barely remember, never went to class etc. Having said that I did manage to cram a ton come 10 days before the test.

However TPR is sooo much better for bio and physics prep. I wouldn't complain about the lack of material- I did for all practical purposes all of the bio, chem, o-chem, and physics material, and I felt highly prepared. I was under time restraints due to two jobs, class, volunteer, loafing around, etc so I studied no verbal and no writing. Verbal I therefore did not improve but I bet u could (also failed to finish that section.) If you go to TPR everyday and really pay attention, read, memorize and do the problems, you'll get a payoff at the end. Not only that but they seem to understand how the writing section is graded better than Kaplan. I attended the writing stuff but half the time we had a bad teacher. Actually half my teachers were pretty bad, but I don't think that mattered.

 

[lynn623la]

I have taken both also. 30P for Kaplan and 34Q for the TPR. However, when I took Kaplan I never took any practice tests- well maybe one or two I barely remember, never went to class etc. Having said that I did manage to cram a ton come 10 days before the test.

What was your class schedule like? If you remember.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

IMHO, save your $1500 and invest in your own materials and study time...

Examkrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis with Jordan and Jon (1893858235) $125.00
Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review 2006 (743266153) $60.00
Princeton Cracking the MCAT With CD-ROM 2004 (037576352X) $40.00
Exam Krackers MCAT Complete Study Package (1893858421) $125.00
AAMC Practice Exams 3R-6R, 7, 8, 9 (http://www.e-mcat.com) $200.00
Examkrackers 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning (1893858243) $25.00
Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Physics (1893858189)$25.00
Total Cost = $575.00

Find a friend, split the cost, study together, make a schedule (study 6-9 months in advance, study on weekends, dedicate Saturday to the MCAT), get it done, go to medical school, become a physician!

 

[acrobat]

LifeTimeDoc has a point,

However if I tried to do all that I wouldn't get it done I bet. I found the princeton books themselves to be key because u practice the Q's in the context of passages only- no discretes. It sounds annoying but you remember things much better when u read a whole passage about it. In most of the passages, you actually learn amterial then answer a butch of Q's about it. Then u go on to answer 10 more passages about the same thing- by the time you're done with those you understand whatever it was they teachin.

As for class schedule it was annoying. Like 4-5 times a week for 3 hours at night plus 6 practice exams. Most of the time I probably didn't learn much in class. The head instructor would make fun of me for never paying attention and always doing homework while he was talking, but I managed to finish all the work by the end while most of the others didn't and I got a 34-Q so I don't regret doing my own thing.

 

[fasteddieb85]

Kaplan has a lot more practice material. Personally, I learn best by practicing, so if you're similar go w/ Kaplan, it worked for me

 

[4s4]

What is the Princeton Review writing strategy? And how is the essay graded? Kaplan does make it seem so easy. They say that if you complete the 3 tasks, you're going to get P-Q. It sounds a bit iffy to me.

 

[blaze1306]

I think I'll need the most help on the physics and organic chem sections. I've been told I'm a good writer and my reading comprehension is good. I'm concerned with the enormous amount of formulas and knowledge need for physics and chem sections. From what I'm seeing TPR is the best for this?

 

[turquoise_water]

what about organic chemistry ????

is Kaplan better or TPR

 

[lynn623la]

Have you seen what it costs per hour for private tutoring? It is like $176!! That is more than an MD makes! (most the time I mean)

I might do the class thing, but for 1700-- my god!

 

[acrobat]

Have you seen what it costs per hour for private tutoring? It is like $176!! That is more than an MD makes! (most the time I mean)

I might do the class thing, but for 1700-- my god!

TPR seemed light on organic. But from what I saw on the MCAT there was virtually no orgo. I had a q on hemiacetal vs acetal, and Rf value Q, a H NMR Q, an IR spec Q -- all of which princeton covered and I got correct.

I wouldn't worry about orgo much- just memorize whatever either kaplan or princeton tell u.

But for physics, gen chem, and bio I like TPR. Like someone said tho Kaplan has more stuff so if you want to all out crazy study maybe Kaplan is the way to go. I surely didn't but felt TPR review stuff was sufficient.

 

[tch001]

TPR seemed light on organic. But from what I saw on the MCAT there was virtually no orgo. I had a q on hemiacetal vs acetal, and Rf value Q, a H NMR Q, an IR spec Q -- all of which princeton covered and I got correct.

I wouldn't worry about orgo much- just memorize whatever either kaplan or princeton tell u.

But for physics, gen chem, and bio I like TPR. Like someone said tho Kaplan has more stuff so if you want to all out crazy study maybe Kaplan is the way to go. I surely didn't but felt TPR review stuff was sufficient.

I disagree, I had tons of orgo on my MCAT form (EM) and feel that TPR did not prepare me well enough for some of those passages (amino acid synthesis?!), but from what I heard about the other forms, TPR orgo prep would have been fine.

I liked the TPR couse I took for the most part, either Kaplan or TPR could be hit or miss depending on your teachers. I had an excellent gen chem teacher (2nd year med student at hopkins) but a horrible physics teacher (could barely speak english properly). I ended up with a 34R on the real thing which was much higher than I was expecting, so I guess TPR worked out (supplemented with Audio Osmosis and the Kaplan Complete MCAT book).

 

[acrobat]

I disagree, I had tons of orgo on my MCAT form (EM) and feel that TPR did not prepare me well enough for some of those passages (amino acid synthesis?!), but from what I heard about the other forms, TPR orgo prep would have been fine.



I liked the TPR couse I took for the most part, either Kaplan or TPR could be hit or miss depending on your teachers. I had an excellent gen chem teacher (2nd year med student at hopkins) but a horrible physics teacher (could barely speak english properly). I ended up with a 34R on the real thing which was much higher than I was expecting, so I guess TPR worked out (supplemented with Audio Osmosis and the Kaplan Complete MCAT book).

wus is audio osmosis????

 

[Duchess742]

for me, i found it more helpful to review more than to keep doing practice tests. once you understand the format of the test and the timing constraints, doing several more practice tests really has diminishing returns compared to spending more time memorizing the material. after my last proctored test, i had 6 days left until the real mcat, and i wanted to make the most of my time. even though i wasn't quite where i wanted to be in terms of practice test scores, i decided that if i memorized all the material, my score on the real thing would inevitably be higher than it was on the aamc tests. overall, doing most of the princeton review lessons + taking their 5 proctored tests brought my score up 9 pts from what it was on the first practice exam; memorizing all the princeton review stuff during the last wk brought my score up 5 pts on top of that.

another thing: don't overdo verbal. a lot of ppl i know ended up buying the examkrackers book on top of the tpr and/or kaplan books, doing all of the passages in each, and crapping out on the real exam. i found it better to just do verbal passages until i started getting a score i was fine with on the practice tests, and then i just chillaxed until the mcat. i think strategizing about it too much can really screw you up. and i agree w/ the above posters that princeton review's verbal strategy sucks. so does kaplan's. and examkracker's. i don't know anybody who has followed any of those and done well on the mcat. try out different things, combine a few helpful tips with what works for you, and come up with your own strategy.

back to the point of this thread: do princeton review. it has more class instruction, better review books, plenty of practice tests (if you want more, you should obtain additional aamc tests, not kaplan ones), and (this was really impt to me) its practice problems are in a book they give you. you don't have to have computer access whenever you want to do them.

anyway, i'm sure kaplan is cool in other ways. i chose to do princeton for the reasons i gave, but i'm not a kaplan hater.

 

[tch001]

wus is audio osmosis????

Examkrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis with Jordan and John, it's a series of CDs that covers common MCAT Physics, Gen Chem, Bio, Orgo topics orally as well as a little bit of verbal strategy. Good to use while studying or exercising.