Redo Kaplan?

[lilTXcatMD]

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I took the Kaplan online course this past summer for the August MCAT. I didn't do as well as I wanted to and want to retake it. I know that I can because of the guarantee thing. How do i do it though? I found an address that you can send all your materials to, but do I have to do that if I just want to retake the online portion? Anyone retaken Kaplan? How'd it go the second time around?

 

[NontradICUdoc]

I am currently retaking the Kaplan online again, second time around. I think this time will be easier because I do not have anything else really going on so I don't have to divide my time.

Since I did not finish the requirements, I had to pay. But if you finished, all you need to then just call the 800 number, they have all your data if you did it online.

 

[SensesFail]

Did you complete ALL of their online material???

I took the Kaplan classroom course and I found their materials to be really good.

If I were to do it again, I'd even try to do all of their Online stuff TWICE! And go through each answer explanation. (I know, they're long and sometimes confusing, but it pays off in the long run)

 

[richarms]

Here is a somewhat-related question for those who have taken the Kaplan course before... I just enrolled in the Kaplan classroom course for the April exam (the diagnostic exam is tomorrow) and just finished the first online quiz on substitution/elimination reactions. Out of ten questions on that quiz, I found a total of three errors. Two of them were minor, such as only having answers involving chlorine for a diagram that had bromine, but one of them simply had the wrong answer listed as correct, and it contradicted with the answer explanation.

Is this normal for Kaplan? Do they often make mistakes like these on their review quizzes and exams? I hate spending time finding out if my answer was really wrong or if they screwed it up.

 

[thesmartazz]

I believe that such mistakes are not *common*, but they are not rare, either. Kaplan's materials (even though they've been giving them out for a long time) do contain mistakes. Take the High-yield Problem Solving Guide, for example. The errata published online is kind of huge and disheartening. The book itself is also kind of useless...

However, most of their materials are explained correctly, which is for all intents and purposes good enough. If you think you've found an error, then just confirm the concept in another source and move on. The application of concepts is the important part since the specific question itself will not appear on any real MCAT.

 

[lilTXcatMD]

anyone know what the 800 number is to call kaplan for a retake? do i have to retake the course right now (within 90 days of the test) or can i wait and start it closer to the april testing date? i emailed them and havent received a response. also, i remember seeing quite a few errors when i did take some of the online stuff. i never finished it all so who knows how many total.

 

[TigerLilies]

I am currently retaking the Kaplan online again, second time around. I think this time will be easier because I do not have anything else really going on so I don't have to divide my time.

Since I did not finish the requirements, I had to pay. But if you finished, all you need to then just call the 800 number, they have all your data if you did it online.

You had to pay again to retake the class?!?

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Yes, because I did not meet the eligibility requirements for the money back guarentee/.

 

[coral]

I retook the Kaplan classroom prep course. I believe there is a 90 day limit within which you need to notify them that you want to invoke your right to the guarantee ( I don't think that means you need to be enrolled in a course as of then). You simply call 1-800-KAP-TEST and tell them you want to retake the course. They will transfer you to your local center where you can speak with someone about retaking it. If you took the classroom course, that involves bringing ALL of your books and having them check that you did the homework and reading, both online and in your books. Also, they check that you attended all of your classes and took all the practice exams. They were really thorough with checking that I had completed all of my stuff, so be prepared. I retook though because I wasn't scoring high enough on my practice tests because I was taking too many classes at the time and didn't feel comfortable taking the mcat.
Did you not improve your score from your diagnostic? Because I believe that's the only way you can use the guarantee if you took the mcat, right? I agree with SensesFail though, really use the online material, I found it really helpful, especially going through the answers. I noticed a few errors, but not too many to make me doubt the validity of my scores on practice exams. Good luck!

 

[mj1878]

You took Kaplan, didn't do well, and you're going to turn around and do it again?

With the MCAT, I think that if something didn't work the first time, trying to MAKE it work is like paddling upstream. Change your review material. Kaplan covers a lot of stuff that's not going to be on the MCAT.

 

[lilTXcatMD]

You took Kaplan, didn't do well, and you're going to turn around and do it again?

With the MCAT, I think that if something didn't work the first time, trying to MAKE it work is like paddling upstream. Change your review material. Kaplan covers a lot of stuff that's not going to be on the MCAT.

I completely agree with you. I took the online class, and I just want to have access to the online materials before I take it again. I liked the online workshops and want access to all the practices tests again. I don't think it was a total waste of money but it wasn't too great either. I'm going to focus my studies with Examkrackers this time around because I'ver heard wonderful things about them. However, I dont think I'm going to qualify for retaking the class because I didn't do every single thing on the website. Oh well.

 

[Saluki]

The Kaplan lady told me that you could study again even if you hadn't completed everything; you just needed to have done everything to get the money back guarantee. However, I don't know that that's actually true...

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Everyone has theiur own way of studying and their own, at least what they believe, reasons as to why they did not do as well as they wanted.

Somepeople, like myself, need the structured syallabus that the test prep provides to succeed.