Prepping in Boston

[loomis]

Hi everybody
anyone familiar with Kaplan/TPR in boston (specifically the kaplan in central square and TPR in either davis square (tufts) or harvard. How were the teachers? Were they med students, people who score well on the exam and then decided not to apply, or just college students who recently took the exam? Any specific comments about these two programs in boston would be much appreciated!
loomis

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[tedstriker]

Originally posted by loomis
Hi everybody
anyone familiar with Kaplan/TPR in boston (specifically the kaplan in central square and TPR in either davis square (tufts) or harvard. How were the teachers? Were they med students, people who score well on the exam and then decided not to apply, or just college students who recently took the exam? Any specific comments about these two programs in boston would be much appreciated!
loomis

I took TPR in Cambridge last fall, and my teacher was terrible (she was a med student at Brown, but came to class and was totally disorganized; she couldn't answer most of the questions asked by the students). I decided to wait until the August test and re-up in Newton. My teacher there was fantastic.


So basically, I can tell you that as far as the Kaplan instructors go, you are rolling the dice. (BTW, I sat in on another Cambridge instructor's class, and it was really good; unfortunately I had to stick with my class because of a scheduling conflict with work).


The best advice I can give you is: don't be afraid to sample different instructors' classes, even if they are not yours. Kaplan doesn't mind (usually) your shopping around, as long as there is space in the other teachers' classes. All of Kaplan's instructors did well on the MCAT; but not all of them are good at conveying the info and distinguishing "MCAT must-know material" from unnecessary science review.


Best of luck!

 

[loomis]

thanks tedstriker for the advice. you said TPR in cambridge was lousy, but was the more organized course that you took in newton TPR or Kaplan? I was a little confused. THANKS!

 

[tedstriker]

Originally posted by loomis
thanks tedstriker for the advice. you said TPR in cambridge was lousy, but was the more organized course that you took in newton TPR or Kaplan? I was a little confused. THANKS!

What I was trying to say was the INSTRUCTOR rather than the location is what is paramount when choosing one of these prep courses. I can only speak about instructors whose classes I've attended (stay away from Ogo Okpala in Cambridge, ask instead for Wally Bethune if you're looking at the Cambridge center or Mark Lessne if you're in Newton). There are other great instructors.

The way I feel is, if you're gonna shell out 1200 clams you might as well have a decent instructor.

 

[loomis]

Thanks for the info. I'll post to the board later in the year when I start the class to give any fellow bostonian SDNers an updated heads up on the instructors !

 

[wallie]

Like Tedstriker said, you should definitely shop around for the best teacher after you sign up for your course. I took the course at the Central Sq office last summer and had one awful teacher and one great teacher (both are in med school now, so no longer teaching there). There was another teacher who I believe was a PhD student at Harvard at the time so he might still be teaching. I think his name was Naj or Raj or something like that. Tall, skinny guy that kinda reminded me of Jeff Goldblum. Look for him cause he's a pretty great teacher.

Good luck!

 

[tedstriker]

Word up, Wallie. I forgot to mention Raj...I didn't get a chance to sit in on his class but a buddy of mine who had him as an instructor last summer ('01) told me he kicks some serious MCAT ass.

Originally posted by wallie
Like Tedstriker said, you should definitely shop around for the best teacher after you sign up for your course. I took the course at the Central Sq office last summer and had one awful teacher and one great teacher (both are in med school now, so no longer teaching there). There was another teacher who I believe was a PhD student at Harvard at the time so he might still be teaching. I think his name was Naj or Raj or something like that. Tall, skinny guy that kinda reminded me of Jeff Goldblum. Look for him cause he's a pretty great teacher.

Good luck!