Princeton Review Vs. Kaplan

[br0wney3z]

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I don't know how many people actually take one of those prep-courses, but I know that I am going to be one of them come this fall, I just don't know which one to take. Do you guys have any opinions concerning the matter? I'm sort of leaning towards Kaplan, but I still need some help, so HELP!!!

 

[Lil IceBoy]

I actually took both of them.

A couple of things you need to consider:

For Kaplan you need to consider how far you are from the "testing center". Since you'll need to drive there, sit there for about 3 hours, eat lunch, then another 4 hours. Kaplan's strength is obviously their abundant tests.

For Princeton Review, they actually dont have a "testing center" you just meet like 4 times a week for about 3 hours a time. The resource materials are a lot more in depths and contain a lot more stuff. They give you pratice tests and pratice booklets that are actually pretty substantial, but not nearly as much as Kaplan's. Good thing about Princeton Review is that you get to study at home/where you want, instead of studying at their office.

There's also a Berkeley Review and I think they specialize in the MCAT, but I'm not sure if they're any good.

 

[DoctorDee]

Having worked for both of them, I can tell you that Kaplan's Instructor Training is MUCH more intensive, complete and uniform. TPR instructors are given much less guidance and materials to work from, thus the quality of your instructor is more hit and miss. With any program, though, you only get out of it what you put in regardless of the teaching. Personally, I would have done well (and saved a ton of money) to get the Kaplan review notes from someone who already took the class and just study from them, but I don't get much from sitting through classes in general.

For both places, the requirement for a teacher is to score in the 90th percentile or above for each section you want to teach (works out to about a 12 per section).

Hope this helps!

 

[SonGoku]

I took TPR this past spring, and I thought the books they gave me were very helpful in my preparation. You get to keep all the workbooks and tests (6 total that they administer like the actual MCAT). After looking into it, I didn't take Kaplan for a few reasons: center was 45 min. away, wouldn't be allowed to keep the practice items, had to come in to the center everytime I wanted to practice with psgs, and class schedule was inconvenient for me at the time. Most of my friends had taken TPR and recommended it because they had really good teachers. If you are going to attend class, then a prep course may be worth it to you. But most of my class never came to any of the lectures and used the books at home (they said our teachers sucked, which I don't totally agree with). If that sounds like something you might do, then you may just want to buy the books from someone. As for Kaplan teachers vs. Princeton teachers, I've heard praises and complaints from both ends. I do know that at TPR the requirement to be a teacher is an 11 in each subset (one of my exam procters told me that).
As far as Berkeley Review is concerned, I bought all their home study books and I like the additional practice. They have ALOT of practice passages. I've seen alot of posts for ExamKrackers, you may want to invest in some of those for the extra practice. Good luck and PM me if you have any specific ques. about my TPR experience.

 

[OrneryOne]

I took the MCAT twice. The first time I took TPR and actually attended the classes. The second time I studied on my own using the materials and tests from class. Personally I did better on my own, but that could be because I had already taken the class once and had made notes. For me it was a definite plus to keep the materials and study on my own. I agree with SonGoku that their workbooks and practice tests are extremely helpful.

 

[LaurieB]

Why don't you call both offices in your area and see if you can sit in on one of their current classes to see which style you like better.

 

[Tamomo]

My kaplan instructor was horrible.

I say save the money and buy all the stuff you can on e-bay or on this website and study on your own or with friends if you want to.

The classes are a TOTAL waste of your time.

The most irritating thing about kaplan was their tests were in this plastic covering and you had to use dry erase markers: messy and annoying.

The testing "center" is actually an average sized room where they expect all these psycho, over-competitive pre-meds to sit elbow to elbow and take tests. When the exam dates get closer you can't find a place to sit and people start coughing and eating and it gets too annoying.

Buy as much princeton review stuff you can and possibly examkrackers because everyone says they're so good.

 

[saiyagirl]

PM me if you want to buy new, unused MCAT material from a prominent test-prep company (i'll tell you who when you pm me!)

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by saiyagirl
PM me if you want to buy new, unused MCAT material from a prominent test-prep company (i'll tell you who when you pm me!)

Haha its like priceline/hotwire where they cant tell you the name of the airline until after you book

 

[saiyagirl]

Originally posted by exmike
Haha its like priceline/hotwire where they cant tell you the name of the airline until after you book

yeah, the problem is these companies will often prevent you from selling your books if they know it's theirs.

so pm me if you want them.