review courses

[applicant2002]

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I have a question and I need the expertise of your experience.
Does the northwestern course for the comlex change from year to year. Do the books change? If so, how so? Also do you get more info out of the 10 day course or for the five day course?
Also, what is the difference between this course and Kaplan complex course?
When Kaplan comes to the school (if the class works it out), what is generally the time frame (how many days (I.e. northwestern is 3 days, five days, or ten days) does the course cover?) Which material is better, Kaplan or Northwestern?

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Vince]

I would appreciate a response to this question. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice in choosing between Kaplan, Princeton, or Northwestern's live review classes. I am struggling with the choice between these three. What were the + and - with each?

Thanks.

 

[Red58]

Here is some info that might help you answer your questions. I posted this in another thread, but I'll put it here too.

Hey everyone. Since I'm an anal med student who wants to do well on Step 1, I did some research on the various prep courses out there. Here's what I found.

Kaplan: Their live prep rocks!! From what I've heard they really have their act together and get you ready. However, their live prep courses are only offered in 5-6 cities for US medical students. I think it's different for IMG's, but I'm not sure. Their Web Prep is not very good. Apparently the lectures that you listen to are verbatem in the the books they give you so it's rather redundant.

The Princeton Review: Their live prep is ok. The people I talked who said it was decent, but they were expecting something on the level of their MCAT prep. Their online course however is awesome. It is very interactive with drills, questions, flash demonstrations, etc. I signed up for it, but I haven't used it much since the majority of my prep is going to be in the spring.

Youel's Prep and Northwestern Review (I think that's it's name): don't waste your time or money.

So my suggestion is that if the Kaplan live prep is in your area, take it!! If you are a visual learner and like interactive learning, take The Princeton Review's online course. If you are an audio learner, the Kaplan Web prep might do you well. I hope this helps. Don't take my information as gospel because everyone has different experiences and may have found other info.

 

[LoneSEAL]

Originally posted by Red58
Here is some info that might help you answer your questions. I posted this in another thread, but I'll put it here too.

Hey everyone. Since I'm an anal med student who wants to do well on Step 1, I did some research on the various prep courses out there. Here's what I found.

Kaplan: Their live prep rocks!! From what I've heard they really have their act together and get you ready. However, their live prep courses are only offered in 5-6 cities for US medical students. I think it's different for IMG's, but I'm not sure. Their Web Prep is not very good. Apparently the lectures that you listen to are verbatem in the the books they give you so it's rather redundant.

The Princeton Review: Their live prep is ok. The people I talked who said it was decent, but they were expecting something on the level of their MCAT prep. Their online course however is awesome. It is very interactive with drills, questions, flash demonstrations, etc. I signed up for it, but I haven't used it much since the majority of my prep is going to be in the spring.

Youel's Prep and Northwestern Review (I think that's it's name): don't waste your time or money.

So my suggestion is that if the Kaplan live prep is in your area, take it!! If you are a visual learner and like interactive learning, take The Princeton Review's online course. If you are an audio learner, the Kaplan Web prep might do you well. I hope this helps. Don't take my information as gospel because everyone has different experiences and may have found other info.

A couple of things. First, no one can really compare these review course because most American medical students do not even take a review course. For those that do, they usually only take one, thus making it impossible to compare review courses against one another. That being said, one has to rely on other people's experiences. However, let's make sure that we listen with an open AND skeptical mind, always taking into account other people's motivations and knowledge.

Bottom line: do your own research and don't just listen to one person's propaganda
😀

 

[Red58]

"A couple of things. First, no one can really compare these review course because most American medical students do not even take a review course. For those that do, they usually only take one, thus making it impossible to compare review courses against one another. That being said, one has to rely on other people's experiences. However, let's make sure that we listen with an open AND skeptical mind, always taking into account other people's motivations and knowledge.

Bottom line: do your own research and don't just listen to one person's propaganda"

Hey, I'm just trying to help people out and report the information that I found, not spout propaganda about one course or another. As I said in my original post, it was just my opinion and to basically take it with a grain of salt. If you have an information about any of the review courses mentioned, please let us know. The more information we have on them, the more of an informed decision we can make and weed out "other people's motivations".

 

[monet]

I think this is great advice from REDS58. Thank you so much!

 

[DrSmiles]

I am loving the Kaplan live review course. I hated the Kaplan MCAT review course. Waste of money, incompetent instructors for the MCAT.
They bring in highly qualifed instructors from all over the U.S. for the Kaplan review. They fly through the review books, hitting high yield topics, spending more time on areas that students have difficulties with. I was a little skeptical about taking Kaplan after the MCAT review series, but it was offered at my school so I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did, because so far the reviews have been fantastic.

 

[Yosh]

I wanted to do Kaplan last year...but my class voted for the "smoke and mirrors" of NorthWestern. The course was shoddy, and the majority of the class regreted taking. Parts of it were soo poorly done, that people just walked out. (eg. neuro, gross anatomy, embryo)
OMT...we were given the "only things we needed to know...guaranteed" They were COMPLETELY wrong.
I was beyond disappointed and their "qbank" was equally pathetic.

Take my advice...if anything...GO KAPLAN live review...

I passed Step 1 the 1st time around...and sadly don't attribute much of my success to the 10 days I spend with NorthWestern.