The Berkeley Review versus Swartwood?

[126990]

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Which one should I take? Please advise. Thanks!

 

[Ssina]

Which one should I take? Please advise. Thanks!

idk anything about swartwood, but I am taking Berkeley review right now and maaaaaan these ppl are good! you can't go wrong with TBR, def recommended!

 

[126990]

thank you, that's great to hear. if you have the time, would you tell me what's great about it? thanks!

 

[Ssina]

I feel like reading the TPR/ExK books will give you a solid background for their stuff... the content is just heavier (not the volume) and different in style, compare to others... it puts you on the mind set for the test (at least in my case) with harder and weirder passages and examples.... not only in their books, but also the hand outs you get with every class! (great resources)

classes in general don't focus solely on telling stuff you can read by yourself from the book, they go over a lot of related examples, tricks, and short-cuts, etc

many ppl feel as though their stuff is waaaaay beyond the actual content you need (and they might be right) but I know trying to work through harder questions and passages I understand the content waaaay better. With that said, have not gone through their FL tests, so we will see!

hope that give you some idea!
ps. I took the test 2 yrs ago and took the TPR classes... BELIEVE ME BR is WAAAAAAY BETTER!

 

[126990]

very helpful. i took tpr, as well, and then tested 3.5 months ago. i'm doing tbr this time around and testing in april. i'm excited!

 

[Erythropoietin]

Never heard about Swartwood but haven't heard any negative comments on here about TBR.

 

[Ssina]

very helpful. i took tpr, as well, and then tested 3.5 months ago. i'm doing tbr this time around and testing in april. i'm excited!

good luck!! same here... this time just feels different!!!

 

[rawrsy]

I've heard pros and cons about both -- but I think the best thing to do is just go to the classes/offices or whatever and check them out.

I'm personally not taking classes yet but I've had some good girlfriends of mine take Swartwood, Kaplan and TBR.

Kaplan's def the largest and tends to have the most stuff online to analyze your work. One of my friends loved that at first but soon got overwhelmed with it so she just decided to keep to studying/books, and the Kaplan classes...and she did fine on her MCAT.

My friend who took TBR then Kaplan said TBR was fine but she didn't like how practice exams were handled, and she also felt that she was overwhelmed with content..and her verbal score DROPPED. So she went to Kaplan. She hasn't really improved tho so...its probably just her. I'll be honest. But from what I gather - TBR as homely, a little less corporate feeling...so if you prefer that, go to them. If you want a ton of online analysis of your work, go to Kaplan.

Swartwood is similar to TBR in the sense that they are more down to Earth and you don't feel incredibly stressed out during classes or after. I've done a few class reviews with them to get a feel for it (plus it was like $20 - cheaaap). I'd def need to go back for the MCAT class but from what I got...John is very smart and chill. He knows his material and explains it in a way that breaks down the information to help you think through it all...not just ..spit out facts from memorization and not know what to do with it.

Also - one big thing that I think Swartwood gets a bad rap for is the website or the ads. I mean, I was in the class and there were more chicks than guys, but I've seen that in a lot of my classes too. I'm sorry - maybe more girls are getting into the field?

But its really hard to honestly take any of this info and make a decision...I think its better to go visit the classes to see how they run/work. Both TBR and Swartwood are obviously good bc people still go to them..its more about what YOU want from your MCAT prep class.

 

[Wintergirl05]

I took Swartwood before and I would recommend it if you're not someone who doesn't need a lot of reviewing. If you forgot a lot about your Biology, Physics, Chem, Ochem then it's probably better to go with TBR. TBR books are more detail oriented but there are a lot of excess info which you probably will not need for the MCAT. Swartwood doesn't have books like TBR..it's mainly going to lectures and writing notes and listening to John (the instructor). I forgot a lot of my sciences so when I was in lecture, I felt a little lost when John was teaching us some tricks but now after reviewing by myself I look back at my notes from Swartwood and see how the tricks work.

With Swartwood, you can retake the course as many times as you want and they give you the code for all the AAMC tests so you won't have to buy any of the tests.

Shoot me a message if you want more info. I'm studying for the MCAT by myself for now and I can give you the pros and cons of going through with the prep courses and studying by yourself.

 

[mightymoose02]

Questions you should ask yourself before taking MCAT classes:

1. Do they have their OWN computerized practice tests??

The Berkeley Review gives you not only the most DETAILED prep books in the business, but they give you the BEST non-AAMC practice tests out there. (Note: IMO, Princeton Review's tests are pretty good as well)


2. Who are the teachers?

I've never taken Swartwood but they seem like a newer company than the other ones. For Berkeley Review, the FOUNDERS are teaching and they also wrote their books. One of the founders also founded Hyperlearning before they were bought out by Princeton Review. So we are talking about many many years of experience in the business.

I just took TBR this past summer at Westwood and one of the student-teachers got a 15 on the Physics section and we had another teacher who was a non-student and she was VERY good. On top of that, their Bio teacher was very organized during lecture and experienced at teaching.

Btw, I believe the Berkeley Review rep on SDN is also a teacher at one of the locations. Pretty sure he's a good teacher. I didn't have him tho.

3. Do they give you enough passage-based practice problems?

Berkeley Review (as stated by everyone) gives you overwhelming amount of practice problems.

The people who order books online and do home-study, they are definitely missing out on the in-class material/passages and extra material that they give you towards the end. A lot of it are sectional tests.


Btw, the worst thing you can do is make your decision based on your friends' test scores.

Just because someone's score jumped or dropped 10 points, does not mean you will. Take it because if FITS YOU not because it fit or did not fit someone else.

 

[cpfeiffer]

I am a current student in a Swartwood class (October cycle). I don't want to repost my comments since I already wrote on a different thread. But I think that it's really unfair to pretend to have taken Swartwood and then write about it. If you've ever taken the course (as I am doing now), you'd know that John reteaches everything and it makes sense. I've never seen him use "tricks." Sorry, but it just bugs me when some people here pretend to be in the course.

I'm a big fan of the Swartwood course so, naturally, I am biased. I started checking out SDN and noticed that people who have NEVER taken the course are posting. There's even someone who clams to have taken the course and says thatJohn is great but the other they have for Verbal is not as good. How can that be? Everyone knows that ONLY John teaches the Verbal----- unless he has an evil twin???

I've NEVER taken BR so I can't comment. My friend Natalie has taken BR and then took Swartwood. She prefers Swartwood but that's her opinion. You can message me if you want her information. I think she's even on the Swartwood website. I know that she them for them now. But at least she's a REAL example!

For example, Wintergirl05, if you really took the course, how many breaks do we get?
In my class it's always the same number. What's the "challenge question" John asks at the start of the second half of the course? He just asked it for my group. I know it's the same since I knew the answer from my friend who took it before me.

I think it's wrong that you pretend to be have taken the Swartwood course and then tell people to message you about a course you never took. I'm going to inform Swartwood. I hope someone from there contacts SDN.

 

[funnyengineer42]

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation deciding between Swarthwood and TBR. I live and work on Orange county so Swarthwood is a really far drive, while there's a TBR class near UCI.
Please give me some more details about Swarthwood, for example, the materials provided...online access?
I graduated from colleges 2 years ago so I'm very rusty on the content. do you think it would be a good idea to re=learn through John's lectures?

Thank you very much

I am a current student in a Swartwood class (October cycle). I don't want to repost my comments since I already wrote on a different thread. But I think that it's really unfair to pretend to have taken Swartwood and then write about it. If you've ever taken the course (as I am doing now), you'd know that John reteaches everything and it makes sense. I've never seen him use "tricks." Sorry, but it just bugs me when some people here pretend to be in the course.

I'm a big fan of the Swartwood course so, naturally, I am biased. I started checking out SDN and noticed that people who have NEVER taken the course are posting. There's even someone who clams to have taken the course and says thatJohn is great but the other they have for Verbal is not as good. How can that be? Everyone knows that ONLY John teaches the Verbal----- unless he has an evil twin???

I've NEVER taken BR so I can't comment. My friend Natalie has taken BR and then took Swartwood. She prefers Swartwood but that's her opinion. You can message me if you want her information. I think she's even on the Swartwood website. I know that she them for them now. But at least she's a REAL example!

For example, Wintergirl05, if you really took the course, how many breaks do we get?
In my class it's always the same number. What's the "challenge question" John asks at the start of the second half of the course? He just asked it for my group. I know it's the same since I knew the answer from my friend who took it before me.

I think it's wrong that you pretend to be have taken the Swartwood course and then tell people to message you about a course you never took. I'm going to inform Swartwood. I hope someone from there contacts SDN.

 

[funnyengineer42]

Hi! I saw your posts about MCAT Prep TBR vs Swarthwood and I'm debating which one to choose as you know they are both very expensive so I'm trying to choose the one that I'd benefit the most. Could you tell me more about the Pro and Cons of each company. I know Swarthwood has a larger class size and their method is lecture only.

I live in Orange County so TBR has a closer location for me.

Thank you very much!

I took Swartwood before and I would recommend it if you're not someone who doesn't need a lot of reviewing. If you forgot a lot about your Biology, Physics, Chem, Ochem then it's probably better to go with TBR. TBR books are more detail oriented but there are a lot of excess info which you probably will not need for the MCAT. Swartwood doesn't have books like TBR..it's mainly going to lectures and writing notes and listening to John (the instructor). I forgot a lot of my sciences so when I was in lecture, I felt a little lost when John was teaching us some tricks but now after reviewing by myself I look back at my notes from Swartwood and see how the tricks work.

With Swartwood, you can retake the course as many times as you want and they give you the code for all the AAMC tests so you won't have to buy any of the tests.

Shoot me a message if you want more info. I'm studying for the MCAT by myself for now and I can give you the pros and cons of going through with the prep courses and studying by yourself.