Official Kaplan Aug 2004 Thread

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willthatsall

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Just so Kaplan people have a place to discuss their practice tests and progress. How's everyone doing?
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kaplan charged my credit card last tuesday but i have yet to recieve my books....and my class starts tuesday..ugh i havent even begun and with my 3.3 app gpa i cant afford not to have i am going to cry unless i have my books tuesday! :mad:
 
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k where is all the resources online? I go under my syllabus is it all these workshops? I dont like doing these workshops on the computer, and the kaplan teacher said there would be lectures online where are they? Anyone finding any resources really helpful?
 
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All of the resources are online except for the AAMC stuff... subject tests, topical tests, workshops, class lessons... click on suggested assignments under each lesson and you should see all the stuff.
 
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Hi, I am starting kaplan on the 5th. I am taking it primarily for their practice material. I've been studying from EK until now, I like the style better. Anyone in the same boat? Taking Kaplan but studying from EK?!

Good Luck to all!
Scout
 
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This is my preparation efforts so far for August!

I only had a 3.2 GPA this semester taking O-chem II, Physics II and the labs. I started my Kplan class the Aug 15th. Its difficult to keep up with the work they give you while at the same time filling out the AMCAS stuff. But I have review the first session of kaplan physics, G-chem, and verbal. Our office was closed this weekend for the holiday. I am definately gaining confidence but there is a lot left to finish. I take a practice test, then I see how many I got wrong and take it again before consulting explanations. This seems to be a good stretegy so far. I feel like I'm gaining ground I try and spend 10-20 hours per week but I don't want to get burned out so I titrate my efforts somewhat. Toward the end though I'm sure I will be hell bent for leather! My scores started out disappointing. I was late for the diagnostic I rushed through it and got like a composite of 18 or something! Talk about motivation! But it said my strength is O-chem which sucks since only a small portion is on the MCAT. Anyhow I am impressed with the online stuff they give you its more than enough. THe AAMC practice stuff is copyrighted so you have to request it from the Kaplan office manager but I'm not goint to mess with that until I finish at least one entire review portion of a subject area. I'm kinda prioritizing and blowing off the writing sample which Kaplan does not recommend but I would rather have a higher composite than ace the writing. Anyhow keep posting everybody and so will I about the progress being made. Good luck and God speed!
 
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im disliking the workshops, i really like to sit down with a paper infront of me and do the problems, not on the comp =/. So much stuff in Bio that I dont remember at all or didnt even cover .
 
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Abe said:
im disliking the workshops, i really like to sit down with a paper infront of me and do the problems, not on the comp =/. So much stuff in Bio that I dont remember at all or didnt even cover .
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I personally find the workshops to be a waste of time. I think, perhaps, this is because I dislike staring at a computer screen, attempting to read problems for an extended amt. of time..Since I signed on with Kaplan, I've used the online workshops maybe twice..the last time being in February..Since then, I've only used the books..The workshops should truly be an option, and not a requirement..but then again, that's just the opinion of little 'ol me :p

The amt. of info. to learn is overwhelming (especially for bio), but not impossible to understand!
 
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raom_dtpi said:
Hi, I am starting kaplan on the 5th. I am taking it primarily for their practice material. I've been studying from EK until now, I like the style better. Anyone in the same boat? Taking Kaplan but studying from EK?!

Good Luck to all!
Scout
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I do absolutly the same....
 
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The only thing that's not on line, according to the Dallas center, are the foundation review videos. The lessons are under the suggested assignments or whatever that link is called.

How did everyone do on their diagnostic? I was, supposedly, in the middle of the pack with an 18 (PS/VR/BS 5/8/5). I had also reached that cutoff point where answering one more question right would have put me at a 6/9/6. In the VR section, I had reached the point that for every question I got right, I added another point. Due to time constraints I had to leave 4 blank, so there was a possible 6/12/6.

I was a little concerned about how I'd do as I took my prereqs at a community college, but hey, I'll take middle of the pack, since I had been goofing off and not studying anything for 2 weeks, much less physics 20 years ago and Gen. Chem/Bio a year ago.
 
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i made a 23 on diagnostic, the verbal seemed insanely easy to me, the Ek packages in 101 were raping me, but the kaplan ones seem to be easier. I had 10 minutes left on that verbal diagnostic, which i know wont happen on the real mcat =o.
 
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I made 33 on the diag. I agree, the verbal seemed easy, but a lot of people didn't do that well so I guess it wasn't all that easy. But the other thing is that with only 30 questions, the verbal scores might not be that great of an indicator because the difference between 15 and 10 is like 5 or 6 questions, right? I haven't been able to finish physics on any of the kaplan stuff yet, it is still taking me too long.
 
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23 and 33? The question I'm asking now is should I even continue? I was middle of the pack in my class (literally, the spread was 12 to 24). What do you guys think?

I do agree about the verbal being easy, I just didn't have the pacing down.
 
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I had already looked through the book on organic, physics, and gen chem and I was just finishing up my second semester of bio before I took the diagnostic, so I was more prepared than you. You'll find plenty of people who went from 18 to the 30's.
 
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Are the foundation reviews really videos? I went to the center for the GenChem1 review and they didn't have any, just an answer key...

What's up with that?
 
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DaveinDallas said:
23 and 33? The question I'm asking now is should I even continue? I was middle of the pack in my class (literally, the spread was 12 to 24). What do you guys think?

I do agree about the verbal being easy, I just didn't have the pacing down.
Click to expand...

If you'll let us anon. posters on the forum talk you out of continuing... well, in my opinion you should quit. Definitely not because of your score, but because you don't want it enough.

You busy this summer? Have something better to do? Yeah, you oughta give up your dream of being a doctor because your first diag didn't go like you want :smuggrin:

Heck no! Go watch "Officer and a Gentleman". "I got nothin' else!" You gotta want it that bad, just in a real life way and not a cheesy movie way...

You'll do great. Really buckle down on the studying. 1. The lower you start the easier it is to improve. 2. The prep companies have every reason to make the first diag the hardest test ever and very few to make it reasonable. 3. I made 11 points between my first and last diag after starting at a 26 (on a different diag so no comparison w/you intended) and others have made even more progress - you'll do fine after the prep.

Good luck, I'm sure you were discouraged, but you'll do fine!
 
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ComicBookHero20 said:
Are the foundation reviews really videos? I went to the center for the GenChem1 review and they didn't have any, just an answer key...

What's up with that?
Click to expand...


Yeah the foundation reviews are on video... you can find them on the internet and then it is just an answer key on a pdf, but in the center they should be on video.
 
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Ya' know, Moose, it's easy to tell you're an officer. That was a really smooth little boot in the patootie. An NCO would've just verbally cuffed me behind the ears and drop kicked me into my study desk.

No, I wasn't even anywhere near thinking of quitting. What's life without a little challenge. As the PJ's used to say,"It's just not the same if they're not shooting at you".....

Seriously, I've got a lot of studying to do. It really doesn't matter who else does what, this is between me and me.....
 
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DaveinDallas said:
Ya' know, Moose, it's easy to tell you're an officer. That was a really smooth little boot in the patootie. An NCO would've just verbally cuffed me behind the ears and drop kicked me into my study desk.

No, I wasn't even anywhere near thinking of quitting. What's life without a little challenge. As the PJ's used to say,"It's just not the same if they're not shooting at you".....

Seriously, I've got a lot of studying to do. It really doesn't matter who else does what, this is between me and me.....
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm glad you got what I really meant instead of the d*ck I didn't want to come across as. I'm sure you'll do fine (just like I'm sure all of us who're waiting on scores did fine [gulp])

Good luck!
 
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willthatsall said:
Yeah the foundation reviews are on video... you can find them on the internet and then it is just an answer key on a pdf, but in the center they should be on video.
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Ok, I'm a little confused, are you saying the foundation review videos are on the internet? If so, where? I can't seem to find them and that would really be nice. All I've found so far are the PDF files which have some explanations, but the only videos I've found have been at the center.
 
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DaveinDallas said:
Ok, I'm a little confused, are you saying the foundation review videos are on the internet? If so, where? I can't seem to find them and that would really be nice. All I've found so far are the PDF files which have some explanations, but the only videos I've found have been at the center.
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Yep, sorry, that was unclear. Online = pdf, Center = videos. The other guy was saying he went to the center and they only had the worksheets but no videos, which shouldn't be the case. I was following your threads earlier when you were trying to find a course to take and everything. You've been out the books for a good while, don't get discouraged because of the practice test. I had a friend who made a 17 on the diag and he moved into the low 30's by the end of the practice tests and scored in that range on the real thing. And he was a good student at my school, so 17 after being out of school for all that time definitely isn't a bad start.
 
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Bumping this thing, how is everyone doing? I've just been following the lesson plan and doing the topical tests. When is everyone taking their first practice test? Mine is like 2 weeks away I think.
 
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Anyone else been doing the topical/subject tests?

How have you been doing on them? I've done most of the topicals, but only have done one or two subject tests. My scores range from around 60% (in physics) to the 80%s (in orgo).. i havent done bio yet..

The 60%s in physics really scares me b/c I thought I knew it pretty well. I guess not. I think I'm going to back to my text book and get more familiar with these problems. I usually have so much time to think about these problems in class that I could derive most the stuff at the test. Too bad I dont have that luxury on the MCAT.

So how is everyone else doing on these?
 
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I've been doing all the topicals and some of the subject tests, but only if I have extra time. I have been doing pretty well in bio and orgo and decent in gen chem, but I'm with you on the physics... pretty tough. I just try to pick up on what the question is asking and work through it. I'll tell you what though, I haven't been finishing in the allotted time at all on the physics.
 
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I think the most important thing is to review the answers and see why we get them wrong or why we get them right? I didn't do so hot on the first physics section either, so I had my girlfriend score it and just mark the ones I got wrong! Then I took it again and tried a different logic to answering them before I actually checked the answers and the reasoning. It has helped me quite a bit and my confidence is increasing as well.

I'm battling this verbal beast now though. It seems like some passages are easy I read it one time and fly throught the answers and get like 80-90%. Then other passages I have to read and reread it and waste precious time. I feel like I need to grasp the passage in order to more forward for questioning but Kaplan says do the opposite. They sound like they recommend just skipping on through it and making the passage map. My scores are improving but I think its just because of practicing so much.

I found an error on the O-chem quiz let me know if anybody else finds this thing. I will check SDN tomorrow after the class.

Interject Feedback here...
 
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I have found a few errors in the quizzes. Is it the one where they put "carbonation" instead of carbocation? I did that quiz the other day and was kind of confused.
 
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Funny that the thread should take this turn now....

I'm basically not doing any physics tests until I get myself through the foundation review. It's helped a lot so far with helping me remember the subject.

In Gen chem, I've been through the Bonding (71%) and Electronic Structure and Periodic Table (53%) Topical tests so far. I'm taking them timed so I get used to thinking under that pressure.

I'm starting to wonder whether or not this is just a matter of banging away on sample questions and getting in the groove.

I did take a topical physics test and went from a 27% on my diagnostics to 69%. I know, I know, I should be getting my speech ready for the Nobel Prize in Physics, but it's 42% points over my diag, so I felt pretty good about it.

Is this normal? I mean, we're almost 30% done with our course and just trying to get my head wrapped around the question types is getting interesting......

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled study time....
 
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On the quiz error its the one were its a branched alkane with a chlorine on the 2nd Carbon on one end and a dimetheyl group on the number 3 carbon counting from the other end. The answer says that the 3 carbon dimethy is the end we start from but thats a load of crap. You start from the end with the nearest subtituent which was the chlorine. I know I'm right. Not only that Chlorine comes before methyl in the alphabet according to Wade 5th Ed. O-chem.

Feedback...
 
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how can they cancel a class after its started? seems really unfair.

Anyway, i reluctantly took my kaplan class.. reluctant mainly because of the cost. I thought that I would be able to do it myself and didnt see the value of spending 1500 on having someone read to me 6 hours a week. I mainly took the course for the 5 proctored practice tests..

but I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I've had two instructors.. my first one, who taught the first 3 or 4 classes was great.. although she went REALLY fast over the material.. my second one is not as great, since she seems to just read the material over back to us. What really impressed me is the amount of additional material they have. They have all kinds of test material to practice on, divided into categories so you can target specific areas where you are weak on.. and most of this material is available online.. which is good since im usually too lazy to go into their center.

all in all, i am pleased with my experience.. but in the end, it will all come down to how i do on the mcat.
 
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The materials are good, I think whether it is worth it depends on what you want. I'm finding that I don't need the instruction much, but the huge amount of materials is nice. Instructor quality will vary, but no matter how good your teacher is, the majority of learning will be by yourself reading and doing practice material.
 
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I have a question regarding the Kaplan classroom course. The first class is Saturday, June 12, from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. My question:

Am I supposed to take the Paper-based Diagnostic test and the Science Diagnostic before the first class? I figured we would be taking these tests during class, but I certainly don't want to be behind if we're supposed to do them ahead of time.

If someone could help me out with this, I would really appreciate it!
 
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Clemson Doc said:
I have a question regarding the Kaplan classroom course. The first class is Saturday, June 12, from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. My question:

Am I supposed to take the Paper-based Diagnostic test and the Science Diagnostic before the first class? I figured we would be taking these tests during class, but I certainly don't want to be behind if we're supposed to do them ahead of time.

If someone could help me out with this, I would really appreciate it!
Click to expand...

Clemson Doc,

Technically speaking, you should take your diagnostic exams (which, from your post above, is on June 12th)..I strongly urge you to take them before beginning to study the different subjects according to the syllabus..THese tests are good indicators of what your strengths/weaknesses are..They give you a pretty good guide as to which areas you need to work harder at understanding..and those that you don't have to place a strong emphasis on during your studies..

Hope this helps! :D
 
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Hey Clemson Doc,

I'm pretty sure you will take the diagnostic tests in the center during your first class. At least, that's how they did it at my center.

I was also pretty reluctant to take a prep course, I think they are way over-priced. The problem is, there's really no reasonably priced alternative--you either take a $1500 Kaplan or TPR course, or study on your own. I guess some colleges offer lower cost MCAT prep for their students, but not my school. I tried studying on my own last Aug, but I am a huge procrastinator and so predictably did very little studying until 3 weeks before the test. I ended up with a 29, which isn't so bad except I got a 7 in PS. :( Since I am applying this year, it's really important that I improve this Aug, so I decided to go into debt to take the stupid Kaplan course. Hopefully it will help.

Some advice for those of us not lucky enough to have parents footing the bill for everything (or anything): Kaplan and TPR both offer need-based "scholarships" for their courses. I think the amounts vary by region, but in my area they were both up to 30% of the course price. I was able to get one of these, so I only had to pay a little over $1000 instead of $1500. You have to submit documentation of your financial status such as tax forms, pay stubs, and fin aid info and write an essay or two, but overall it's not too difficult to apply for and you could save hundreds of dollars.
 
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Thanks for the help, guys. So there is essentially no "homework" due for the first class, other than reading the introduction in the lesson book. If we don't take those diagnostic exams during class, I will certainly take them on my own to gauge what I need to work on.

Thanks for the help, guys.
 
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Also Clemson Doc, if you don't take the diagnostic first you are probably waiving your Higher Score Guarantee because you are learning material before the diagnostic. I know because I wanted to look at the online assignments before I took the diagnostic and I waived my guarantee. So if you care about the guarantee you should check up on that.
 
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Scubadoc,

My premed advisor told me about the scholarships. It's not something they advertise, and in fact may even be a little evasive/misinformed about at the centers--I got the scholarship last year and didn't use it, and when I called about applying for it this year the person I spoke with acted like they didn't know what I was talking about until I point-blank told her I had previously received it. Then all of a sudden she "remembered" that they do offer something like that... :rolleyes: You don't have to apply for it before you enroll, but if you've already paid in full I doubt they will give you a refund. You can enroll and pay the deposit, then pay the rest once you are approved for the scholarship (that's what I did)--that way they hold your spot in the class. Most of the peopele were pretty helpful with my application and it only took ~1 week to find out that I got it. I would talk to your local center, both TPR and Kaplan offer them (keep in mind that they are need-based and you do need to show proof of your financial status). Good luck!
 
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Does anyone know the national Kaplan average improvement from diagnostic to actual exam? All I know is Pr is 10 bc they plastered it everywhere on my campus ..but I am taking Kaplan so if anyone knows that or can offer a suggestion..?? thanks!
 
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DieselPetrolGrl said:
Does anyone know the national Kaplan average improvement from diagnostic to actual exam? All I know is Pr is 10 bc they plastered it everywhere on my campus ..but I am taking Kaplan so if anyone knows that or can offer a suggestion..?? thanks!
Click to expand...

Haha, 10 points yeah right, PR just nails you with the hardest diagnostic ever.
 
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I am finally making progress thank the good Lord!
Can anybody tell me what an 80% raw score correlates to as a scaled score on physical sciences. I am starting to make progress but now I have to learn to perform well under time constraints. By the way I am finding some errors on some practice stuff I think let me know if anybody else does. Be specific also.
Good luck everybody!
 
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Quick question: how do I access the topical tests online? It says in the lesson book that you can do this in the "student study center" which it says is available on the my kaplan homepage, but I don't see that anywhere! I can access the syllabus and the assignments that are on there just fine, but I would like to be able to print off the assigments and it says you can also view scores and progress in this section so I'd really like to know how to find it. Thanks!
 
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Mistress S said:
Quick question: how do I access the topical tests online? It says in the lesson book that you can do this in the "student study center" which it says is available on the my kaplan homepage, but I don't see that anywhere! I can access the syllabus and the assignments that are on there just fine, but I would like to be able to print off the assigments and it says you can also view scores and progress in this section so I'd really like to know how to find it. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Find the session you are looking for and click "show all assignments" But if you are looking for the topical tests you need to actually "show all assignments" for the lesson after the one you want to do the tests for. This is because the topical tests are considered review, so they are actually assigned for the following lesson (i.e. the topical tests for Physics 1 are contained in the lesson for Gen Chem 1, etc.)
 
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or are the topical tests difficult? Granted, physics has been 20 years, but I seem to be tanking these things. Not fun.

Also, what's the best way to learn from this? Get the explanations and make sure you understand them and then repeat the test or what?
 
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DaveinDallas said:
or are the topical tests difficult? Granted, physics has been 20 years, but I seem to be tanking these things. Not fun.

Also, what's the best way to learn from this? Get the explanations and make sure you understand them and then repeat the test or what?
Click to expand...
me got a 30% mommy :: picks nose ::
:laugh: dont worry its not just u
phsyics was my best college subject..only a year ago..these questions are weirded weird...sometimes it seems like they need derived forumlas..but they dont...ofcourse i still insist on making a new formula for each Q....such evil-ness
 
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Pinkertinkle said:
Haha, 10 points yeah right, PR just nails you with the hardest diagnostic ever.
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this is very good to hear ..my score on Kap diag...27..Pr....16..what gives
 
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