TPR vs Kaplan

well, I took the kaplan course in january and now I feel it wasn't much use. I have to tell you though that I didn't put much effort into it either because I was taking 15 credits also and they say studying for your MCATS is like taking an additional 6 credits. I thought the classes were boring. I don't know I guess I study better on my own. Plus everyone in my class seemed so prepared and competitive that they imtimidated me. I heard from others that Princeton Review was better though. I think I should have taken that.

 

I took TPR and thought it was great. I'm the kind of guy that won't study it unless I have it in a class (kinda lazy). I definitely feel it helped my score, which I will just say I feel is very competitive.

 

Attending review courses is a superfluous endeavor, unless you are "Joe Procrastination" or are really unprepared for the MCATs. Kaplan is a waste of money. Buy the books for 50 bucks and study by yourself. Take full timed tests by yourself. Also you can go on ebay and by the other KAP books (which can't be purchased in stores) from random people if you really like their study aides.

 

Dig out your old textbooks, buy Kaplan, TPR, and other review books, and study. In my opinion, review courses don't help. You need to get familiar with the material and MCAT test-style. Period. The only way to do this is to reacquaint yourself with the material, review it, and practice being asked about it in MCAT-style tests under timed conditions.

 

Review courses THEMSELVES don't help; the books do. I took TPR the summer BEFORE I took the MCAT and used their books to study on my own from January to April. I didn't really know anyone who had TPR books (or was too lazy to look and ask around anyhow). But with the books, I had more than enough practice materials. I am very happy with my score, and I really have no regrets paying the 1000 bucks or whatever it was.

 

I wasn't going to add anything to this post because I figured someone else out there would have for me. However, I can see that that hasn't happened.
I took Kaplan and I was very impressed with it. I cannot say though that is was better than TPR simply because my experience limits me to Kaplan.
You DO get what you put into it. In my case, I put my whole heart into it while working full-time in lab internship AND going through my first 2 months of marriage.
The books are tremendous and some of the questions on the real MCAT seemed to come right out of our books. I enjoyed the classes because they paced me. You may THINK you KNOW EVERYTHING about half-reactions until the instructor throws a curve ball at you. You must know this stuff inside out. If you simply read the books on your own you may gloss over some material that you THINK you already know. . .only to find out later you were wrong.
The practice MCATs at Kaplan are murder and they discouraged me from the start. The instructors told us that they are made to be more difficult than the real MCAT. They weren't kidding. The real MCAT was "fairly" easy (verbal reasoning is always the exception ) for me. As a matter of fact, I never scored above a 26 on the Kaplan MCATs but got a 32 on the real one.
Now, keep in mind, this is how it worked for me. Someone earlier said that the courses are for joe-procrasinator, well in that case, just call me Joe. One must be honest with themselves when it comes to medical school process. You MUST know and identify your weaknesses early. Very few people are perfect students and the sooner you learn what works best for you the better you will be at succeding. cm7b5 knows he/she is not a procrastinator so her/his judgement is accurate on this subject. For myself, I needed the course and it helped.

That's my $0.83

 

I've taken both Kaplan and TPR. And I would definitely say that Princeton Review was better. I am a book learner and their tests and materials were much more clear and concise. I would highly recommend TPR>

 

I took TPR and it is worth it in my opinion. Fact of the matter is they know how to prepare you and provide you with everything you need. If you take the class and do what they tell you, you are almost guaranteed a decent score.

For those that say classes are useless...it just depends if you are a visual or audio learner. If strictly visual, the class itself won't help much but the books will and vice versa.

I have no regrets about forking over the money for TPR. I know I wouldn't have done as well without it.

 

I took Kaplan, but teach (ah, spending money!) for TPR. I think that says it all.