Viewpoint: review courses suck!

[Hawaiiandoc04]

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These professional review courses PREY on the insecurities of VULNERABLE pre-meds only to make a sizable PROFIT ... Don't believe a single advertisement they put up...ie "the average student raises their MCAT score by 10 points from our course!" , For one thing, they make the diagnostic test incredibly hard so that people already begin with a score so low that you must be sub-human to not raise it immensely...And secondly, its not the Course responsible for raising your score by 10points, its You. In order for a test prep company to prove true results they would need to carry out a comprehensive study comparing the improvements made by test prep students and a control group of students studying on their own.

I took kaplan and got a 35Q...If my parents weren't so wealthy, there is no way I would be shelling out $1400. That is ridiculous! I feel that I would have gotten the same score had I studied on my own.

I admit, the only group of students who could actually benefit enough from these courses to justify the cost are either a) students who have done poorly in their pre-medical requirements and really know nothing or b) non-traditional students who have not taken a science course in years and really know nothing . . .

Just remember, $1400 is the yearly income of 5 iraqis'. . . are we so pompous as to throw away this amount of money just to cater to our base needs, shame on us!

 

[sgilani]

are you saying that looking back on your experience you would have preferred not to have taken a review course?

 

[edik]

I originally took MCAT without any prep courses and got 28O. After Kaplan -- 36Q.
In terms of Kaplan costing too much... Did you know that there are scholarships available? I know a person who only ended up paying around $300 for a Kaplan MCAT course.
So no one is left out.

 

[peterockduke]

Originally posted by edik
I originally took MCAT without any prep courses and got 28O. After Kaplan -- 36Q.
In terms of Kaplan costing too much... Did you know that there are scholarships available? I know a person who only ended up paying around $300 for a Kaplan MCAT course.
So no one is left out.

So no one is left out - believe what you want. I'll believe you have half a brain.

 

[edik]

Originally posted by peterockduke
So no one is left out - believe what you want. I'll believe you have half a brain.

That's the attitude! You'll get far in life.

 

[peterockduke]

i believe i will

and i won't even have mommy and daddy's money and connections helping me out which means i won't be a sniveling brat who believes that everyone can afford additional prep courses for a standardized test! - what a stupid thing to believe edik, seriously....

edik, i hope your attitude and character get you even farther in life!

 

[chaeymaey]

Well, there are loans available for everyone from the test companies like Kaplan.

 

[edik]

Originally posted by peterockduke
i believe i will

and i won't even have mommy and daddy's money and connections helping me out which means i won't be a sniveling brat who believes that everyone can afford additional prep courses for a standardized test! - what a stupid thing to believe edik, seriously....

edik, i hope your attitude and character get you even farther in life!

Ahh! Assumptions... Lets see...
I am a 29 year old computer consultant with a 6-figure salary... I came to America with my mother 13 years ago. We spent quite a few years on welfare and in public housing. I took MCAT in 1995 (the one where I got 28), but didn't get in anywhere. I couldn't afford to take a year off for volunteering and MCAT prep, like I should have, due to my financial situation.
So every penny I made since 1996 is my own. My father has been dead for a long time, and my mother is making less than 20K a year. I help her out a lot.
So, as far as I am concerned, I have already gotten petty far in life.
Is this the picture of what you had in mind? And DO tell me more about poverty...
Not to mention the fact that the only reason for my original posting is to indicate that Kaplan offers scholarships. Unfortunately, your well-thought-out and laconic reply was less than self-explanatory.

 

[peterockduke]

Originally posted by edik
I took MCAT in 1995 (the one where I got 28), but didn't get in anywhere. I couldn't afford to take a year off for volunteering and MCAT prep, like I should have, due to my financial situation.
So every penny I made since 1996 is my own.

Looks to me like you have a lot of excuses. I thought anyone could afford a Kaplan course?! You pretty much said it earlier. So why couldn't you do it yourself? What's the excuse for that 28 again? Don't contradict yourself, either everyone can take a prep course or they can't.

All that self-righteous and self-aggrandizing and you don't even have a good score. Well.... at least you have a good job.

laconic enough for ya?

 

[dan0909]

Haha! I love it...you guys crack me up.

Well...bottom line is, if you can study diligently on your own, then there is no need for a prep course. But, there's probably many of us that don't study too well on our own. And you might think that every Pre-Med would study well on his/her own, but the fact of the matter is school hasn't really been too hard for many of us (whether we're just smart or we just went to an easy school) and the magnitude of the MCAT is something that we've never had to deal with. So the MCAT can be a difficult experience. I know it was for me. I took Kaplan and feel that it helped me out a great deal. But it wasn't necessary. I could have learned the same stuff with only the books. And $1400 isn't much to pay for a prep course, especially compared to what one would be paying for medical school.

But...keep fighting...it's entertaining.

 

[HanS0L0]

Did you know that there are scholarships available? I know a person who only ended up paying around $300 for a Kaplan MCAT course.

Edik or anyone, do you happen to know how to apply for those scholarships?Should I just contact the prep course companies directly? Thanks much!

Have a good day!

=o)

 

[R_C_Hutchinson]

Originally posted by dan0909
Haha! I love it...you guys crack me up.

Well...bottom line is, if you can study diligently on your own, then there is no need for a prep course. But, there's probably many of us that don't study too well on our own. And you might think that every Pre-Med would study well on his/her own, but the fact of the matter is school hasn't really been too hard for many of us (whether we're just smart or we just went to an easy school) and the magnitude of the MCAT is something that we've never had to deal with. So the MCAT can be a difficult experience. I know it was for me. I took Kaplan and feel that it helped me out a great deal. But it wasn't necessary. I could have learned the same stuff with only the books. And $1400 isn't much to pay for a prep course, especially compared to what one would be paying for medical school.

But...keep fighting...it's entertaining.

eh, i dont quite agree with that. i went in blind after reviewing on my own, so i had no clue as to how well prepared i was. hearing all the kaplan kids talk about how "that section was like diagnostic 5r or 1619 etc." was pretty intimidating, and i know that when i get intimidated, i sometimes do worse than otherwise. that's why im stoked on the idea of free mcat prep- there's something about having someone who's been there and done that help you that i dont think is quantifyable. that said, i'll never make the case that many social progressives do about kaplan, BR, PR etc. (its a tool of the burgeosie (sp?) to perpetuate the autocracy! wok wok wok)

I say we make it a point to get post-MCAT SDN'ers to start their own mcat prep courses and put all the material/curriculum up on a site as free, in the public domain. who's with me?

 

[Mistress S]

HanS0L0,
I applied for and received scholarships from Kaplan and TPR after my adviser informed me about their existence. Just contact the local offices near you and they should be able to tell you what they have available and send you the application materials. Just be aware though:

-scholarship amounts vary by area--even after receiving the scholarships, I still couldn't afford a prep course because they were only $300-400 scholarships, leaving the total cost of the course still hovering around $1000. That was the most they had available near me. It is true that there are loans available, however for those of us already living off student loans to pay rent and go to school, another $1000 of debt for a review course doesn't sound so great, especially when those loans won't be deferred and you have to start paying them back pretty much immediately.

-the scholarships are mostly need-based, and they did require extensive documentation of my income (both from work and fin aid) and accounting for how I spent it. They also had at least one essay apiece to write, and apparently at least in my area there is some competition for them and not all qualified applicants receive one. Anyway, good luck!

 

[indo]

Hi. I'm a pre-med and I'm never wrong about anything....ever. If someone thinks I'm wrong then they are helping the terrorists. In real life, I am the guy who sits in the corner of the class and is too shy to say anything or look anyone in the eye but online I will argue with anyone and everyone and be the first one in line to tell you that you are stupid.

 

[jatroswellpk]

lmao

 

[HanS0L0]

Thanks Mistress S,
$1,000 is still a lot of money, cant afford it. I think I will just study on my own, since my friends gave me different kinds of review books. We'll see what happens....
But thanks for your reply! I really appreciate that.
Have a great day, everyone~

=o)

 

[edik]

Originally posted by HanS0L0
Edik or anyone, do you happen to know how to apply for those scholarships?Should I just contact the prep course companies directly? Thanks much!

Have a good day!

=o)

I would just call Kaplan. Make sure to do this well in advance before the start of their MCAT course. Otherwise they will talk you into paying first and getting reimbursement later... Which is a total nightmare.
The scholarships are need based only.

 

[Alexander99]

I see Kaplan and similar MCAT prep courses useful for rich students with little motivation to study on their own. If you have the motivation, there is no point to taking a course--you can just buy books and practice tests and kill the test. For example, 2 of my buddies both scored over 40 and never took a prep course. I used their method of studying and scored mid 30s without wasting my money on a course.

Alexander

 

[jiy76]

Could u share what exactly u did to get in the mid thirtees without a prep course? I think prep courses are useless to some and helpfull to others. I am interested to know what you did to get your great score.


thanks

 

[Alexander99]

All I did was buy the AAMC practice MCATS (3R-6R) and go through all the problems. Whatever I didn't know how to answer, I got out a book (I personally used Kaplan ones but even college texts are fine) and did those types of problems until I could answer them really easily. I didn't bother trying to relearn or review what I already knew and studied about 6 straight weeks before the test. Good luck.