Serious Issues with Kaplan

[Theory]

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I signed up for the Kaplan MCAT course starting January 24th and have been getting a head-start on some of the "Review Notes" books, Biology and Physics in particular. I'm having some serious concerns with repeatedly finding major errors in the texts, which means I spend a lot of time checking facts and even more time pissed off that I paid ~$1500 for this.

Here are some examples, in case you have the same books:

Physics, p.41: 245 should be 24.5N
Physics, p. 41: 42.4N is calculated and then disappears from the problem
Physics, p.59, #3: Using sine gives Fy, not Fx
Physics, p. 60, #5: Weight should be converted to mass first

Biology, p. 43: Types of enzyme inhibition are listed as competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive, but uncompetitive is never explained, nor is the difference between it and noncompetitive.
Biology, p.47: Problem states that the pH of human liquids is around 7.2, whereas on p.41, it says that it's 7.4 and that 7.3 is considered acidosis
Biology, p.96, #8: "The prostate, on the other hand, secrets a fluid... Sperm first mix with this fluid before reaching the epididymis." Correct me if I'm wrong, but sperm leave the epididymis via the vas deferens and then mix with the prostate fluid on their way through the ejaculatory duct.

And this is aside from numerous typographical errors, which I stopped tracking almost immediately. Here's a fun one, though -- the first sentence of a major section in Biology, p.55: "At last we have arrived at meat of this chapter."

Has anyone else noticed these problems? Should I have gone with PR instead, or should I request a refund and then find a PR class? (I know some of you will suggest independent study, but I really like the structure.) Did I just misread these questions several times over, and it's actually me who's incorrect?

EDIT: I looked into PR classes (which I assume are the only alternative), and none of them are offered in the near future. Would anyone who's taking the Kaplan course this spring be interested in contributing to a thread of major errors so that (a) we aren't studying incorrect material and (b) we can go slightly less insane looking for the correct answer?

 

[IDoIt4Love]

I signed up for the Kaplan MCAT course starting January 24th and have been getting a head-start on some of the "Review Notes" books, Biology and Physics in particular. I'm having some serious concerns with repeatedly finding major errors in the texts, which means I spend a lot of time checking facts and even more time pissed off that I paid ~$1500 for this.

Here are some examples, in case you have the same books:

Physics, p.41: 245 should be 24.5N
Physics, p. 41: 42.4N is calculated and then disappears from the problem
Physics, p.59, #3: Using sine gives Fy, not Fx
Physics, p. 60, #5: Weight should be converted to mass first

Biology, p. 43: Types of enzyme inhibition are listed as competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive, but uncompetitive is never explained, nor is the difference between it and noncompetitive.
Biology, p.47: Problem states that the pH of human liquids is around 7.2, whereas on p.41, it says that it's 7.4 and that 7.3 is considered acidosis
Biology, p.96, #8: "The prostate, on the other hand, secrets a fluid... Sperm first mix with this fluid before reaching the epididymis." Correct me if I'm wrong, but sperm leave the epididymis via the vas deferens and then mix with the prostate fluid on their way through the ejaculatory duct.

And this is aside from numerous typographical errors, which I stopped tracking almost immediately. Here's a fun one, though -- the first sentence of a major section in Biology, p.55: "At last we have arrived at meat of this chapter."

Has anyone else noticed these problems? Should I have gone with PR instead, or should I request a refund and then find a PR class? (I know some of you will suggest independent study, but I really like the structure.) Did I just misread these questions several times over, and it's actually me who's incorrect?

sounds like your books really did have a number of errors, but don't assume they're the only ones. Exam Krackers manuals, while I consider them awesome books and ultimately ended up doing well on the MCAT because of them, were sprinkled with bad errors too.

I'm sure your Kaplan teacher will alert you and correct any major errors in the book, but if not, I recall the Princeton Review texts being pretty darn solid; I had few issues with those. The class was good too. Honestly though, I feel that both Kaplan and TPR have insanely large and unnecessarily long and bulky books. The EK books had all the information and practice material I needed to score a 31Q on my first try, and they were half the size of those books.

 

[zetabetazeta]

I signed up for the Kaplan MCAT course starting January 24th and have been getting a head-start on some of the "Review Notes" books, Biology and Physics in particular. I'm having some serious concerns with repeatedly finding major errors in the texts, which means I spend a lot of time checking facts and even more time pissed off that I paid ~$1500 for this.

Here are some examples, in case you have the same books:

Physics, p.41: 245 should be 24.5N
Physics, p. 41: 42.4N is calculated and then disappears from the problem
Physics, p.59, #3: Using sine gives Fy, not Fx
Physics, p. 60, #5: Weight should be converted to mass first

Biology, p. 43: Types of enzyme inhibition are listed as competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive, but uncompetitive is never explained, nor is the difference between it and noncompetitive.
Biology, p.47: Problem states that the pH of human liquids is around 7.2, whereas on p.41, it says that it's 7.4 and that 7.3 is considered acidosis
Biology, p.96, #8: "The prostate, on the other hand, secrets a fluid... Sperm first mix with this fluid before reaching the epididymis." Correct me if I'm wrong, but sperm leave the epididymis via the vas deferens and then mix with the prostate fluid on their way through the ejaculatory duct.

And this is aside from numerous typographical errors, which I stopped tracking almost immediately. Here's a fun one, though -- the first sentence of a major section in Biology, p.55: "At last we have arrived at meat of this chapter."

Has anyone else noticed these problems? Should I have gone with PR instead, or should I request a refund and then find a PR class? (I know some of you will suggest independent study, but I really like the structure.) Did I just misread these questions several times over, and it's actually me who's incorrect?

EDIT: I looked into PR classes (which I assume are the only alternative), and none of them are offered in the near future. Would anyone who's taking the Kaplan course this spring be interested in contributing to a thread of major errors so that (a) we aren't studying incorrect material and (b) we can go slightly less insane looking for the correct answer?

We got the same books, lol. And yeah, I found a lot of errors also..🙁

 

[NickNaylor]

I'm using the EK books as well, and I just took one of their paper tests today. It was funny due to a variety of errors.

Your experience seems to be especially bad, but you're not going to find books that are error-free.

 

[osumc2014]

even the real thing isn't necessarily error free, so I'd stop worrying about it (altho not a huge fan of Kaplan in first place)

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to MCAT Discussions.