Study Shows Kaplan/Princeton Type Course Yielf Little Results

[mafunk]

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Just saw this - interesting...
One study involving over 20,000 students during a five-year period compared the MCAT exam performance of those who had enrolled in commercial review courses with that of those who had not. The study results indicated that gains derived from commercial review courses are small. The small differences in the scores of individuals who received such coaching could be due simply to the time devoted to reviewing the relevant material.

found here at bottom of page
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85556/preparing_prepfaq.html

 

[Donald Juan]

Just saw this - interesting...
One study involving over 20,000 students during a five-year period compared the MCAT exam performance of those who had enrolled in commercial review courses with that of those who had not. The study results indicated that gains derived from commercial review courses are small. The small differences in the scores of individuals who received such coaching could be due simply to the time devoted to reviewing the relevant material.

I think the bolded part is sort of obvious, they are just saying that studying for the mcat helps you make a better score.

I have always figured that the courses only really helped keep somebody on a good study schedule, while you could do that on your own and save $2000 dollars. Of course, if the structured setting truly helps out then I guess it could be a good thing.

 

[btc8]

I think the bolded part is sort of obvious, they are just saying that studying for the mcat helps you make a better score.

I have always figured that the courses only really helped keep somebody on a good study schedule, while you could do that on your own and save $2000 dollars. Of course, if the structured setting truly helps out then I guess it could be a good thing.

I have never used study courses, mainly due to the financial burden, and reasoned I could do it myself. I have nothing against these types of study courses, and if they help students to buckle down and learn from a structured study plan, then to each his/her own.

HOWEVER, I think that if you cannot study for the MCAT on your own at this point in your academic career, then I'm not sure how you'd handle (the sometimes unstructured) medical school curriculum and the USMLE. This is just an observation which may or may not be true and is completely my opinion.