Taking Two MCAT Prep courses

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BDNF

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So I was wondering. Would it be beneficial at all to take two mcat prep courses? Lets say that I would be willing to spend the money if it would help. Would it be better to take two different ones?

Maybe take one during the summer after your sophmore year, then one during the spring of your junior year, then take the MCAT right afterwards?

Also. I've heard that most of the prep programs are about the same. Does anyone know the specifics on the gaurantee programs from the major programs like princeton and kaplan? Like when you can retake it for free?

Thanks a bunch guys.

and another small note, about what time do you ask professors for LoR

Thanks,
BDNF

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I think 3 months of good prep is ideal. I didn't even take one prep course (by choice). For most people that have sat down and studied to get 'this far' you learn that it is not about sitting and listening to someone lecture. It is about putting your nose in the book and learning the material. If you take 10 hours of prep class per week and use that to study yourself you will be much better off. I was a little concerned but if you can get your hands on TPR or Kaplan's testing material you are set. In fact I would recommend:

TPR for physics, gen chem, and o chem
ExamKrackers for biology
Verbal reasoning is just a matter of being interested in what you are reading

Take every one of the AAMC exams. Use the later ones (7,8,9) for the last few weeks of prep and te earlier ones can be spread out as needed. My goal was to cover ALL material twice. Then to review my weak points the last few weeks. I accomplished this and was happy with my result.

I think learning this fact is the single most important part of being successful in school. In fact this semester I went to less than 1/3 of my classes (that didn't require attendance) and my grades remained the same (but I had more free time).

This is just me, so take this with a grain of salt and adjust for your own preferences. If any of what I have said jives with you feel free to send me a PM.

Best of luck
 
Remember that prep classes are different from actual classes because they don't hold you accountable for anything. So do it if you have to i.e can't learn on your own. Don't expect it to make the mcats a whole lot easier.
 
i don't think taking two prep courses will help you any even with unlimited funds. to me, the MCAT is all about repetition and practice. all the techniques they show you mean nothing if you can't implement them and use them.

i'd recommend you take one course and then get your hands on as many passages and tests as you can. in terms of courses, i only took PR and i thought it was a well-taught course. i can't comment on others so hopefully people on this board can shed more light.
 
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I would say not to take two classes. Much of what the classes do is direct your learning and set out weekly objectives. You'll do alot of the actual learning and rote memorization out of class. The classes also provide outside resources (extra tests and quizzes) but even if you had double the amount I doubt you could do it all, and I doubt it would even be useful to do double.

That said, if you have the time, the money and you absolutely need to learn in class and not on your own, you might want to consider it. Not otherwise.
 
I don't think the prep courses are very helpful unless you've completed the pre-reqs. So if you take the prep course at a point in time when you haven't finished the actual college class, I don't think any of the information will stick.
 
Dude just take one after you've done the prereqs, don't be crazy. Plus, Kaplan gives so much extra random material anyways, and I think they have some kinda retake policy you could probably use to just retake it.

Pointless though, and painful. I'd just do it once, instead of self torturing twice.
 
two prep courses you say?overkill. but what i found helpful was kaplan (there's a higher score guarantee if you do all the assignments and still lower than u hoped u can retake for free and also you can take kaplan twice if you dont feel ready after one time to take the mcat) classroom and then do examcrackers independent study.that way you satisfy your love/need to take two diff prep companies and you get a variety of materials and strategies....oh and u must supplement these with AAMC tests if you want the ideal combo.
 
two prep courses you say?overkill. but what i found helpful was kaplan (there's a higher score guarantee if you do all the assignments and still lower than u hoped u can retake for free and also you can take kaplan twice if you dont feel ready after one time to take the mcat) classroom and then do examcrackers independent study.that way you satisfy your love/need to take two diff prep companies and you get a variety of materials and strategies....oh and u must supplement these with AAMC tests if you want the ideal combo.
Yeah that was my plan actually, but then the reality struck that working full-time meant that I could barely do the Kaplan materials, let alone read all the examkrackers stuff lol.

I did read their verbal strat though, mostly because I thought Kaplan's was tardtacular (no offense to people who like their strategy, but it was garbage to me). Now, Examkrackers strat for verbal was basically how I would have done it anyway, but it put it down on paper instead of just being vague instincts I have about tests (I've always tested really well). Plus it was the thinnest book, and the strategy part is only the very first few pages of the book anyway.

If I had more time I'd definitely have gone through more stuff though with EC. Probably would have gotten a less ******ed BS score lol.
 
Ok, heres what you do.
take the KAPLAN MCAT class program
use their higher score guarantee to take the class again for free after you finish.
with Kaplan, if you don't feel ready to take the exam at the end of the class you can take the course again for free.

its a good deal, and not only do you get the class but access to a ton of online and extra prep material that itself is worth it.

i'm not only a teacher, i was also a student

god i sound like a machine, but seriously, its a good deal
 
So I was wondering. Would it be beneficial at all to take two mcat prep courses? Lets say that I would be willing to spend the money if it would help. Would it be better to take two different ones?

Maybe take one during the summer after your sophmore year, then one during the spring of your junior year, then take the MCAT right afterwards?

Also. I've heard that most of the prep programs are about the same. Does anyone know the specifics on the gaurantee programs from the major programs like princeton and kaplan? Like when you can retake it for free?

Thanks a bunch guys.

and another small note, about what time do you ask professors for LoR

Thanks,
BDNF

As someone posted earlier, taking more than one is over kill. The only true way you are going to ensure you do well is by studying on your own and at your own pace. I have a friend who took three different prep courses before he took his first MCAT and still did not so hot (That is a lot of wasted money for nothing). Yes, Kaplan is the best in my mind.
 
Taking more practice MCATS is what improved my score the most, at least on the practice tests. Get the ones from AMCAS. Keep in mind that people who don't take a prep class still do well. People who take a prep class don't necessarily do better (its all about what you put into it). Definately don't take more than 1 - its unnecessary.

Some personal advice: take the week before the MCAT off. You can review notecards and stuff, but don't overdo it. I had two practice MCATS left to take during the last week and couldn't get over paying for them and not taking them, and my advisor told me I was going to burn out if I didn't relax. So I took them anyway, was exhausted, didn't do well on them, started getting worried, studied even more.. Needless to say, I ended up burning out and doing worse on the MCAT. I was averaging 36's on my practice MCATs and got a 31 on the actual test - I am still kicking myself.

Hope this helps. Good Luck :luck:
 
I agree that one class should do the trick. That way, you won't have to reconcile potentially conflicting strategies.

Not only does Kaplan give you the $ back gurantee or option to retake the course, it provides structure and organization. There's a lot of information to review for the MCAT and it's nice to have a company that organizes it for you so that you can use your time wisely. MCAT prep courses are like any other course, most of the learning takes place outside of the actual lecture but the resources and strategies were priceless for me.

:luck:
 
I took both courses at different times, and preferred one over the other. Kaplan is more strategy, TPR more traditional lecture. So I agree with the other posters that you only need to take one, but you may want to choose based on what you need and how you like to learn. Kaplan does have gobs and gobs of material (although some of it for me did not feel like the real MCAT material).
 
Don't take two prep course classes. All the classroom does is help you practice their own method of attacking questions, reading passages and maximizing your score. Stick to one method to avoid confusion and put your energy into practicing problems. If unlimited funds is your problem, buy one prep classroom course and spend the rest of the money buying out practice problems from other prep courses and from the AAMC. Having a ton of questions to work on is the benefit there.
 
Thanks everyone. I've read all you're comments, very helpful. I agree.

Now. When would be the ideal time to take the course in reference to when you take the MCAT.

If I take the course the semester before, then I won't have time to take MCAT practice tests right?

How many of you take a prep class over the summer? fall? spring?

now that they offer the MCAT classes more often, would it be best to take it after the school year ends in may?

Thanks again!
 
I think that if you do one semester of complete consistent study a person should do fine. Like everything it depends on the person. Self-directed study in a time period like this works for me...
 
If I take the course the semester before, then I won't have time to take MCAT practice tests right?

I took a Kaplan course over the summer. There are a number of Kaplan-written practice tests built into the class itself, and you can print out additional ones to take at home or take them at the test center. You're also able to take the AMCAS tests at the center, so don't bother buying those if you're going to enroll in a class.

I would advise you to take the class right before your MCAT, as that's really when you'll be the freshest with the material and with the test itself. The way my class was scheduled, we had a practice test about every other week or so for most of the summer, then at the end we'd have them every week (and one weekend with a test on Saturday and Sunday). I also did 3-4 AMCAS tests during the week before the MCAT (I took the week off from my fulltime job). I felt like I had plenty of practice after all of those tests, and thought the Kaplan tests did a pretty good job immitating the real thing.

I am a strong advocate for taking the test over the summer, even with a fulltime job.
 
Just pick a course and study hard following their curriculum. Taking two courses is a waste of your time. Take more practice tests than they require you to and always simulate test conditions. The differences between the different test prep companies is much less important than how much quality work you put in on your own. Limit your outside obligations and try to keep some balance in your life so you don't go crazy.

Keep track of your diagnostic scores and identify areas of deficiency. If you're not satisfied (within reason) with your diagnostic test scores when test time comes, put off the test and keep studying until you are either satisfied with your score or have stopped improving. Try not to focus on the details and instead find patterns in the problems you're missing.

Again, I want to emphasize that it's really in your interest to take lots and lots of practice problems and critically analyze why you get particular groups of questions wrong. I've only taught mcat courses a short while but I've noticed that a lot of my students spend all their time reviewing the subject material and relatively little time working passages. Finding your weaknesses helps you study smarter and get the most out of time you could spend hanging out with your friends.

Study for and take the test when you can free up the most time to focus. Time it so you have your scores by the June preceeding the year you apply. You might want to take it a bit earlier so you have the opportunity to retest if you're not happy with your score. A few months of hard work should be plenty of time.

edit: I don't know about tpr or the other companies, but with kaplan if you take the course and do not feel ready for the exam or are unsatisfied with your score you can repeat it for free during the following three months. If you score lower than your initial diagnostic you can retake the course pretty much whenever, at least that's what I think. Check the fine print at http://www.kaptest.com/hsg/ if you're curious about it and double check.
 
I know someone who studied by themselves and got the highest score I've ever seen. I'll leave the score to your imagination, but it was well over 40.
 
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