Prep Course or No Prep course - opinions

[bayoubelle]

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Hey.

I am currently debating on the benefits of taking a prep course or studying on my own (and saving $2k) and then deciding Kaplan or Princeton Review.

Any advice or opinions?

I am currently a grad student in public health, taking a 9 credit load this spring. Hoping to test the MCAT in late May to be ready for this summer round of apps. I received my bachelor's in Chemistry back in 2003 - so it's been awhile since my undergrad pre-reqs.

Let me know your experiences with the courses. Thanks

 

[TriagePreMed]

If you're disciplined, ignore the prep course.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Med school is going to cost you $200k. I don't think now is the time to save $2k. The vast majority of people I know who didn't take a prep course wish they had.

As to which one, it comes down to quality of instructors in your area and schedule. PR is generally superior to Kaplan per my research and, in my area, they have more options.

 

[mauberley]

Agreed (with TriagePreMed). Some people need the discipline and accountability of a formal course. I'm stubborn, so I didn't personally take one.

 

[ChE04]

I just finished Princeton's classroom course, and found it well worthwhile to be presented with the material again. I hadn't looked at physics/gen chem/o chem since the early 2000s. I guess the worth of the class depends on the teacher, and I had some very experienced ones (anywhere from 4-12 years teaching at TPR) for all subjects except ochem (ochem was pretty poor I have to admit, but it was that teacher's first time to teach). If you get a good teacher, they can teach you little tricks/strategies that they have picked up over the years that are not in the books.

I chose Princeton because they have a different teacher for every subject: gchem, ochem, physics, verbal+writing. Each teacher has to be 'certified' to teach the specific subject, which I figured would allow them to be strong in the specific subject they taught. My reservations about Kaplan were that one teacher teaches everything, so you're kind of putting all your eggs in one basket with them. I took the "holiday hell" version of the class, which condensed everything into about 4 weeks, and I will be self studying until the March test (wish there was a Feb. test date). I also love Princeton's web resources. You get access to 9 TPR diagnostic exams, as well as all the AAMC tests (think there is 10 of them). They also have individual practice passages online, as well as the hundreds of practice passages and freestanding questions in their workbooks.

One thing I wish is that their individual practice passages for the sciences were more general, and less geared towards a specific topic (ie, UCM or acids/bases). I suppose this is because certain passages are meant to go along with particular lectures, but I wish there were more 'advanced' passages. Also think their verbal strategy doesn't quite work for me, although going through and doing practice verbal passages in class and then going over them was invaluable.

 

[artsydoc]

I was satisfied with Princeton review and definitely found that I needed the content review and structure of the course. I took my sciences early 2000's and would not have felt as confident without some guided instruction.

 

[malpractician]

My college offered a 95% discount on Kaplan courses, so I signed up. Couldn't refuse that.

Otherwise, i was probably looking at doing some version of SN2's schedule with BR

I know a girl that's graduated with a science degree, and 2 ER attendings who went to a top 25 med school told her it would still be a good idea to pay for the course. Anecdotal, but hey, worth something maybe

 

[TrimtheChute]

I took the Princeton Review course as well, and thought it was done well. I needed the formal classes because it had been a while since I had some of the subjects, and I was afraid I would be spinning my wheels trying to do it on my own. Plus attending the classes and doing the homework forced me to study for the MCAT much earlier than I would have on my own. I thought their practice exams were more difficult than the actual MCAT so I did better on the actual test compared to my practice ones.

If you search the internet, you may be able to find discounts and coupons for Kaplan and TPR classes.

 

[didanawisgi]

I just signed up for kaplan because they were the only ones who I could fit in my schedule.

 

[Bernoull]

donate the $2K to charity, or save it...

 

[0919mmk]

I suggest sucking it up and taking a prep course. I took the MCATs without a prep course (studied hard) and got a 32, which I was happy with. However, I feel that I can do better, and have just started the Kaplan course. The main thing that you get from these courses that is hard to get on your own is practice tests! The price of the Kaplan course includes all 10 of the official AAMC practice MCATs, plus 3-4 Kaplan MCATs. These are truly invaluable, and the main reason I signed up. Yes, you can buy the AAMC exams yourself, but once you've done that, its not much less than the price of the Kaplan course, which gets you tons of practice materials and a schedule to stick to.

Bottom line, I think its worth it, especially if you've taken the MCAT before (sorry, dont remember if you have or not), because they have a higher schore guarantee (money back or take the course again for free, your choice). So that makes alot of sense for me, cause if I get another 32, then I get my money back, and if I get a 34, I'm stoked!

The other thing is that I got $500 off the cost. $250 off was I think a Kaplan promotional thing (for signing up early), but anybody can get the other $250 off if you become a member of AMSA, which costs $70.

Good luck!

 

[Pons Asinorum]

You can pretty much count on there being strong opinions on both sides, and it's never going to be settle which is better. Anecdotal evidence (n=1) follows:

- Finished my undergraduate in 2001 in an engineering discipline
- Took my second biology prerequisite course and first organic chemistry course the summer session before my MCAT date (Aug 2010)
- Strong standardized test taker

I chose not to do a prep course. My feelings on it was that I knew that I could perform well on the MCAT provided I forced my way through the PS/BS content review. All that it required was the self-discipline to start a study plan and stick to it. I figured that if I didn't have that ability to successfully study for the MCAT, how the hell am I going to have the discipline to survive in an MD program once they stitch your lips around that fire hose on day one? If I really wanted to get an acceptance, I needed to have the commitment to perform well on the MCAT, and that meant relearning the material on my own volition. I could do that without giving somebody of dubious qualifications to teach (my impression) $2k to hold my hand while I worked through the exact same materials (for me, TPRH and EK) as I would as a self-studier. I was happy with my MCAT score, and wouldn't change the way that I did it, though I probably would have procrastinated a bit less. Such is hindsight.

 

[TFS]

i studied on my own and while it turned out fine, having a class would have definitely helped in terms of providing structure (it was hard staying on track and knowing how to distribute the work over 3 months). i still don't think it's worth $2k (especially if you have to take on debt to pay for it), but ultimately it depends on what you think you need.

in terms of materials, i liked EK, berkeley review, and princeton review over kaplan.

good luck!

 

[pinkzebra]

i just signed up for a PR course, which begins on february 8th and runs until may. it is two nights per week (tues/thurs) 630-930 and sundays from 10-4 with an hour break for lunch.

i know $2k seems like a lot, but for me, i think it was a great choice because i really need some structure and discipline right now. i took bio and gchem in 2007/2008 and physics and ochem in 2008/2009. i know it isn't THAT long ago, but it feels like it to me! i have also never studied while working full-time, which i am doing right now. i also plan to study independently until the class begins and perhaps for a month after the class has ended if there are a few topics i want to go over.

the MD i work with took a kap review course when he was applying to med school (which was awhile ago) and said it was extremely helpful and good for structuring your study time.

i agree with others, though...if you are very disciplined and motivated, you probably dont need a course. i, however, am not at the moment i have also heard that there are valuable tips/tricks discussed in the review courses.

 

[Strauss6868]

Are people trying to say that if you have the necessary study habits, a prep course is unnecessary? I am a bit leery of prep courses in general.

 

[didanawisgi]

Are people trying to say that if you have the necessary study habits, a prep course is unnecessary? I am a bit leery of prep courses in general.

It's not necessarily just about study habits, but figure it can't hurt. I've also purchased books and will go through those as well, but will use every advantage available to me. And in the grand scheme of things, $2,000 isn't that much - the cost of pre-reqs, the cost of books, then when I make it, the cost of med school itself. Add in the non-monetary costs that came/will come at the expense of home life, and I can't afford to go through this again. So, if it can't hurt, I'm there.

 

[Strauss6868]

It's not necessarily just about study habits, but figure it can't hurt. I've also purchased books and will go through those as well, but will use every advantage available to me. And in the grand scheme of things, $2,000 isn't that much - the cost of pre-reqs, the cost of books, then when I make it, the cost of med school itself. Add in the non-monetary costs that came/will come at the expense of home life, and I can't afford to go through this again. So, if it can't hurt, I'm there.

It's not so much the price of the program as my concern of its effectiveness. I am trying to figure out whether taking a prep course or studying course material and books such as the Berkley review series will be the best route to take.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Are people trying to say that if you have the necessary study habits, a prep course is unnecessary? I am a bit leery of prep courses in general.

Yes. This, precisely.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I've had friends regret not taking a prep course. I've never had friends regret taking a course (some felt they didn't learn a lot from them, but were still happy to take the course and get in practice tests in a test center type setting).

It's not so much the price of the program as my concern of its effectiveness. I am trying to figure out whether taking a prep course or studying course material and books such as the Berkley review series will be the best route to take.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

I've had friends regret not taking a prep course. I've never had friends regret taking a course (some felt they didn't learn a lot from them, but were still happy to take the course and get in practice tests in a test center type setting).

If you can talk a few of your friends to give me $2k each, I will be more than happy to provide them a test center type setting in which to take their practice exams while providing the same amount of insight not contained in the prep materials themselves as any of the top prep programs. I will make an embarrassingly large profit from this venture.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Most of my friends are from Ivy League schools, so 2k more is not really a big deal. If you can market a program, prove some result metrics and get an Ivy League institution to recommend you (like Brown does PR) then you are golden. Good luck with the profits.

If you can talk a few of your friends to give me $2k each, I will be more than happy to provide them a test center type setting in which to take their practice exams while providing the same amount of insight not contained in the prep materials themselves as any of the top prep programs. I will make an embarrassingly large profit from this venture.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Most of my friends are from Ivy League schools..

Not quite sure if that's a feature or a bug, compadre.

 

[Lil Mick]

If you have the discipline to study on your own, I would suggest buying a couple of used books or using ones from the library to refresh your memory of the material. Most of the MCAT requires critical thinking skills, rather than memorization (know the principles behind the question and extract information from passages), so reading widely in the sciences and humanities may help as well (especially for verbal reasoning)...

 

[Isoprop]

I would argue that even a disciplined student would greatly benefit from a prep course if he or she has taken the prereqs 2+ years ago.

Not necessary, but greatly beneficial. Assuming that the prep courses in your region is good.

 

[mspeedwagon]

There are people in general that will always benefit from a prep course. They are designed to help you study correctly. I'm one of those people.
SAT score with diligent studying: 950 (combined). SAT score after prep course: 1400. LSAT score after studying 145. LSAT score after a Powerscore prep course: 165. I'm a very big advocate of prep courses even though I'm a pretty diligent independent learner!

I would argue that even a disciplined student would greatly benefit from a prep course if he or she has taken the prereqs 2+ years ago.

Not necessary, but greatly beneficial. Assuming that the prep courses in your region is good.

 

[n3xa]

I've had friends regret not taking a prep course. I've never had friends regret taking a course (some felt they didn't learn a lot from them, but were still happy to take the course and get in practice tests in a test center type setting).

Pretty much this.

My old eyes needed to adjust to spending that much time in front of a computer, I liked how most of Kaplan's resources are all online and organized for me, and I was already familiar with their style since I used them to study for the GRE a couple of years ago, so.. eh ymmv.