question for Kaplan Mcat takers

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

uthopeful

Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2003
Messages
74
Reaction score
0
Hi, i was hoping those of you that took Kaplans course could help.

I am planning to take the August mcat and have signed up for a course with kaplan. I took the pre-med science course five years ago. I have forgot most of the stuff. With kaplan schedule will i have time to learn everything and practice all the material, do they do a good job in teaching you all the material?

The class starts in four weeks. How important is it that I go over all the material before the class starts?

Thanks, good luck to those of you taking the test this April.

Members don't see this ad.
 
The first time I took Kaplan, I was planning to take the August MCAT. I started the course mid-June and was very pressured and overwhelmed by all the material even though I was a junior and had just finished taking these subjects. But if you're starting now May, I think 3-4 months is enough time to absorb most of the stuff. I didn't take that August MCAT but I 'm studying with Kaplan again for this coming April MCAT.

Definitely start reading the review notes as soon as you get them. It will reduce your anxiety when you start the class. If you look at their assignments they assign 4-6 chapters of reading per lesson plus the accompanying practice tests. Aim to get everything done and you'll be more confident in the end.

Good luck!
 
Hey. I'm taking kaplan now and will take the mcat in 2 weeks. There is a LOT of material available through kaplan and I don't see how it is humanly possible to go through all of it and maybe not even most of it. They have numerous practice items and a lot of review materail to go through. I guess just do your best to get through it, but the earlier you strat the better!
 
Kaplan and TPR are both good courses i've heard good things about both. I am currently taking Princeton but i have Kaplan materials and to be honest with you the princeton stuff is a lot better if you dont' know your material. If you haven't taken Science courses in five years you will prolly need to reveiw all the basics. Princeton does a good job..(b/c they have more class time) of reviewing the basics. Kaplan seems to help more with test taking skills than the material.
*my 2 cents
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I don't want to scare you, but Kaplan and TPR really go above and beyond teaching the material they need to teach you. This is just my opinion, and also probably represents what others on this forum may feel. If you are doing Kaplan, please take my advice and DO NOT sit with pen and paper to takes intensive notes on every page of their book. Their lessons are simply too long for that. I made this mistake the last time I took Kaplan. I have pages and pages of color coded notes from all my Kaplan chapters--and you know what I got out of it? Nothing, besides my own organizational review. I personally feel that you can accomplish a lot by simply reading over the material and highlighting all the important points and only noting what's important on paper. You will have to use a LOT of discretion while doing notes because otherwise, you will end up writing a book for yourself and will not have done enough practise questions.

Do not make the same mistakes I did. I hope you really take my advice.

Also, I have heard that ExamKrackers has Audio Osmosis (never tried it, but have heard tons of great stuff about it) which really drills in the concepts through CD. I personally am going to get one of those Audio CD sets, because hey....the more modalities you have in learning your material the better, right? If I were you, I'd start with reading the chapters NOW and possibly getting AO for cheap on Ebay or Amazon. It's a bit pricey (esp considering you've already splurged for Kaplan) but it may just be worth the money in drilling the concepts.

One last thing: last year before Kaplan, I had started studying almost 3 weeks before class started. I had the longest length of class...we had only ONE lecture per week. And for each of those lectures, they would ask us to read an average of 4-5 chapters. That felt like a lot for me because I was doing other things on the side, I barely felt like i could keep up. I really felt bad for the kids who had 2 or 3 lectures per week...how in the world they reviewed 10 chapters per week, I had no idea. If you have one of those shorter classes, I would really urge you to start studying soon because once classes roll around, it's like pulling teeth to keep up with their fast pace.

Kaplan is great, but you should be willing to put a LOT into it to get some out of it.
Good luck and PM me if you have questions etc.
 
Taking Kaplan Now for the April MCAT's... it's a waste of money, their verbal sections are too easy compared to the AAMC exams and their physics are way too hard. You would have to utilize the Kaplan MCAT library to do some of the full-lengths and passages (that means you have to deal with people popping their gums and on cell phones next to you while your studying) I would stick with the Princeton review as many of my friends are very happy with them and they will give you all the resources to take home.
 
Kaplan wins hands-down in terms of the availability of their materials.

There's no reason any Kaplan student should deal with distractions - all Kaplan material (not the AAMC) is available online. And not only available - you can also score it online (with explanations). I do all the material at home or in my backyard and only go to the center when I need to do AAMC passages or tests.

annt - I would really ask your Kaplan center about their online resources. It's a matter of signing up, downloading, and printing the material.

I was also in a similar situation as the OP. I hadn't taken some of the basic sciences for quite a few years. While Kaplan did go into lengthy detail about certain topics, it does help build intuition. I would strongly recommend studying the chapters before classes start. That way you can focus on test strategy rather than concepts.
 
Top