Which MCAT Prep Course to take?? MCAT Date: 04/01

[ColonialDolphin10]

All comments are welcome. A little about me: Took the previous MCAT twice, scored a 26 and bombed the second time around--as you can tell, my confidence is at 0. The two previous times I took the MCAT were during/directly after the semester. Now, after finally graduating and taking some time for myself, I'm ready to take this beast on by the horns! The previous two times I took the MCAT, I self-studied and gave myself very little time (<2 months). I haven't taken BioChem either, and after reading some other forums, also realize that it is something that I'll need to spend a lot of time on, in addition to other material covered on the exam. Any advise on which MCAT prep course to take? I don't want to go about this test, especially with the new format, on my own.
Dual Major: Biology/Speech & Hearing Sciences (con: Brain & Language)
Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Lost in Translation]

I've got nothing for you but a bump and best of luck.

Are any prep courses proven to be good? The 2015 MCAT is still new so I'd imagine PR and Kaplan don't have all the kinks worked out yet?

 

[efle]

Self study remains >>> prep course. You can get all the same prep materials and have freedom in pacing yourself on different topics (plus saving major $$$). Just give yourself like double the time, especially if you're learning biochem from scratch

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Normally I would also recommend self study but if that hasn't worked out the first two times, I would try taking a class. I've heard good things from friends who took kaplan classes

 

[Lawpy]

Self study remains >>> prep course. You can get all the same prep materials and have freedom in pacing yourself on different topics (plus saving major $$$). Just give yourself like double the time, especially if you're learning biochem from scratch

Normally I would also recommend self study but if that hasn't worked out the first two times, I would try taking a class. I've heard good things from friends who took kaplan classes

Yeah self-study is the efficient way to proceed, since courses are usually structured along a general, classroom format (unless OP wants to throw in more $$$$ for an individual tutor). But self-study just simply accomplishes a lot more for a lot less money in a set period than a course could because self-study is clearly tailored to your own strengths and weaknesses.

Something to think about OP. But if you are really needing a course, Kaplan or TPR is your best bet.

 

[Satire5Texul]

Try to pair yourself up with someone who will motivate you to study. If I am with someone, I study a hell lot harder. Even if its sitting next to a stranger. I feel compelled to study hard and stay on task.
Just be very careful with a course, if and only if, you decide to go that route. I have seen people do the twice weekly sessions, they walk out and say to themselves "ahhh I studied for the MCAT" when in reality they did the equivalent of watching a lecture (and we know that alone doesnt work for a test).

tread lightly. Your third attempt has got to be on par.

If you see a method doesnt work 2 weeks in at this point, change it.

 

[Dral]

I self studied my sophomore year...29

I self studied my senior year...30 (at least one point increase)

Did a PhD that took 7 years...scores expired of course.

Took a Kaplan course and went full force into it....37 (8 years out of Ochem and I pulled off a 14 in Bio sciences somehow...one of the mysteries of my life that I accept and don't question)

I believe the structured practice tests leading up to the real thing were the main things that helped. I basically took 4 full length exams in the two weekends leading up to my real exam...given at the Kaplan center.

So I hate to plug Kaplan, but yah...that is my n of one.

 

[GrapesofRath]

When there are clear gaps in knowledge(which there will be for someone who hasn't ever taken biochem) and they've already tried self-studying twice without any success, I think it's worth considering taking a course. The main thing with courses is they are basically just memory regurgitation and just focus on facts themselves. This is in general why I'm not a big fan of either Kaplan or PR for MCAT prep; they don't teach the way the test asks questions. But in your case, without knowing any biochem when its such a huge part of the test, I think a structured class that stresses on learning the material and knowing the facts could help you.

Honestly, either Kaplan or PR does the job. I like PR's questions better; I think there CARs/Verbal is much better and they at least make some effort to make their questions like the real thing in terms of making you analyze passages to find the answer and not just make questions you don't need passages for. But honestly, either one will work. If you are in CA, I highly recommend considering the Berekley Review course if it is available. While I've nevertaken it, based off what I've heard from friends who've taken it and based off what the program sounds like and how good BR material is, I think that is by far the best option for a prep course.

Regardless of what prep course you do you need to at all costs
a) Address the spots for the MCAT that really cause you serious problems(ie is it verbal, is it physics, what is it)
b) Use prep material well beyond either Kaplan or PR. Like I said, both those companies don't simulate the real test very well. EK, Next Step, BR and old AAMC material do a much better job at simulating the real MCAT IMO.
c) Do tons and tons of practice problems and give yourself enough time to prep. Your basically on strike 3, your MCAT card is going to be punched out after this attempt. There's no going back now; give it all you got one last time until you've prepped all you can and are willing to accept whatever results that may come with it.

 

[efle]

Can anyone explain to me why a course would work better?

Is it really so difficult to take that pile of the exact same materials used in the course, set yourself up a calendar to follow, and do it yourself? Do you really need $1000+ sunk into it to make you do the work?

Pros of self-study instead of class:

• save money
• can go faster over things you know well / have more time for things you struggle on

Cons

• ???????

 

[GrapesofRath]

Can anyone explain to me why a course would work better?

Is it really so difficult to take that pile of the exact same materials used in the course, set yourself up a calendar to follow, and do it yourself? Do you really need $1000+ sunk into it to make you do the work?

Pros of self-study instead of class:

• save money
• can go faster over things you know well / have more time for things you struggle on

Cons

• ???????

While I get your question and its a reasonable one, it's one of those things that's hard to understand if you are a naturally good self studier.

Some people just retain and learn information alot better when there is an instructor telling them something as opposed to them reading it.

Some people learn better when there's a structure of "we're going to talk about this in class, then you should specifically read this on your own as well" as opposed to figure out the order to read things and learn it all themselves.

Some people learn better when there are specific questions to answer at the end of an assignment as opposed to having to scramble and figure out which questions in your review books you buy independently to review and when is best to do them.

Some people learn better when instructors explain confusing concepts in a crystal clear way as opposed ot having to learn them alone or the instructor has valuable little tips and tricks that add up over the course of the class.

And frankly, some people just suck at making a calendar schedule and sticking with it unless there's a class structure. Doesn't mean they are necessairly lazy or dis-interested, it's just harder for them then having one set in place for them. Also having an instructor to answer their specific questions and go over things with them can also make a huge difference.

In general I think classes might be more helpful for those who are slower learners.

The cost to me isn't a huge deal unless you are in a situation financially where a $1000 will take a serious sacrifce on your part. When you've screwed up on the MCAT twice, a $1000 is a tiny price to pay for many given this one last attempt is the differnce between having a chance at med school and having to go on to Plan B. And like I said, OP has already screwed up twice doing it the "study yourself approach". They'll need to make serious changes to their approach. It's very possible it'll be much easier for them to make and integrate those serious changes by taking a structured course.

 

[efle]

I certainly get the appeal of having a teacher and structure, I just don't understand how someone can be a successful college student when most prereq classes are giant impersonal lectures and you can't survive if you need babysitting to stay on top of your work. Like it seems the prereqs would select for competent self-studiers. But agree if it's likely to help it's worth the cash in the long run

 

[GrapesofRath]

Meh the MCAT is kind of its own beast in and in itself. It's a lot difference than alot of these pre-req courses. Also, in pre-reqs you get a professor to teach you or at least go over all the material. So I'm not sure if that's a valid comparison.

We all know or remember that god awful professor we have who couldn't teach for s**t, was really confusing and gave tests nothing like we expected or were taught on. For those classes we basically had to self study and figure out everything on our own without the guidance of a professor or what they said in class or wrote on the board. In some ways, that's kind of what independent MCAT prep could be like for some people and I think we'd all agree regardless a clear professor who explained things well and didn't leave things vague or to our own judgment is far superior.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

I certainly get the appeal of having a teacher and structure, I just don't understand how someone can be a successful college student when most prereq classes are giant impersonal lectures and you can't survive if you need babysitting to stay on top of your work. Like it seems the prereqs would select for competent self-studiers. But agree if it's likely to help it's worth the cash in the long run

there's a huge difference between classes and mcat. you can't study for a week and do great, it takes many weeks of studying. Op's problem might be procrastination. I think taking a class would be a good solution

 

[BluMist]

having impersonal lectures is still more structured than self-study; at least there is a syllabus/schedule laid out for you
I know that I CAN succeed by self-studying from experience, but it requires more mental effort to fight procrastination.

It is also possible to procrastinate due to how overwhelming MCAT can be.
If the class has a set schedule and breaks down to sizable chunks, it is much more comforting in a sense.

I certainly get the appeal of having a teacher and structure, I just don't understand how someone can be a successful college student when most prereq classes are giant impersonal lectures and you can't survive if you need babysitting to stay on top of your work. Like it seems the prereqs would select for competent self-studiers. But agree if it's likely to help it's worth the cash in the long run

 

[efle]

Meh the MCAT is kind of its own beast in and in itself. It's a lot difference than alot of these pre-req courses. Also, in pre-reqs you get a professor to teach you or at least go over all the material. So I'm not sure if that's a valid comparison.

We all know or remember that god awful professor we have who couldn't teach for s**t, was really confusing and gave tests nothing like we expected or were taught on. For those classes we basically had to self study and figure out everything on our own without the guidance of a professor or what they said in class or wrote on the board. In some ways, that's kind of what independent MCAT prep could be like for some people and I think we'd all agree regardless a clear professor who explained things well and didn't leave things vague or to our own judgment is far superior.

But, I'd say Khan academy >> most lecturers, so I still heavily favor the free do it yourself package

there's a huge difference between classes and mcat. you can't study for a week and do great, it takes many weeks of studying. Op's problem might be procrastination. I think taking a class would be a good solution

Procrastination kills you in prereqs! Putting off studying Ochem until the few days before the exam is suicide

having impersonal lectures is still more structured than self-study; at least there is a syllabus/schedule laid out for you
I know that I CAN succeed by self-studying from experience, but it requires more mental effort to fight procrastination.

It is also possible to procrastinate due to how overwhelming MCAT can be.
If the class has a set schedule and breaks down to sizable chunks, it is much more comforting in a sense.

That's whats weird to me though - you can schedule yourself a calendar of sizable chunks to track progress. That's what I and a million other SDN people did with an SN2ed type plan. So somehow the fact that it's generic and expensive, instead of tailored to me and free, makes the schedule comforting or easier to actually stick to??

 

[GrapesofRath]

But, I'd say Khan academy >> most lecturers, so I still heavily favor the free do it yourself package

For you that's fine. That's kind of the point. KA is better for you. Not everybody's gonna agree. I thought alot of KA lectures were largely useless.

Also there's a difference between procrastination for an exam you study months for vs an individual ochem exam. Huge difference. How much did people realistically study for an ochem exam in college? Maybe 2 weeks before the exam, put in 1-2 hours a day. 7-10 days before, up it to 2 hours. 5 days before, up it to 4 hours or so. In the 2 days leading up to the exam, have a day where you go 8 hours or something. Many in college even for their hardest courses never study more than that for an exam.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Also while we're on the subject of ochem(or at least somewhat on it lol) elfe you go to WashU right, I always wondered are these ochem exams they release on their site similar to the ones you took?

http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/courses/spring-2014/organic-chemistry-ii-lab

 

[Glazedonutlove]

But, I'd say Khan academy >> most lecturers, so I still heavily favor the free do it yourself package


Procrastination kills you in prereqs! Putting off studying Ochem until the few days before the exam is suicide



That's whats weird to me though - you can schedule yourself a calendar of sizable chunks to track progress. That's what I and a million other SDN people did with an SN2ed type plan. So somehow the fact that it's generic and expensive, instead of tailored to me and free, makes the schedule comforting or easier to actually stick to??

some people are good at getting info down quickly and it works for them, even for ochem. It's not till mcat that they might realize that this technique does not work. I know we are independent learners, but you can't tell me there aren't people in your classes that can't study long term without any external motivation (like from a class)

 

[efle]

Also while we're on the subject of ochem(or at least somewhat on it lol) elfe you go to WashU right, I always wondered are these ochem exams they release on their site similar to the ones you took?

http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/courses/spring-2014/organic-chemistry-ii-lab

Those 2014 ones were the exams I took. That's for Ochem II though, which was quite a bit kinder than Ochem I. I can send you my pdfs of those too if you're curious.

you can't tell me there aren't people in your classes that can't study long term without any external motivation (like from a class)

Well yeah, it just seems to me that after I've gathered my materials and put together my schedule, the whole "this test is as important as my entire undergraduate GPA" thing kind of gets you motivated

 

[efle]

elfe

ಠ_ಠ

 

[GrapesofRath]

Those 2014 ones were the exams I took. That's for Ochem II though, which was quite a bit kinder than Ochem I. I can send you my pdfs of those too if you're curious.


Well yeah, it just seems to me that after I've gathered my materials and put together my schedule, the whole "this test is as important as my entire undergraduate GPA" thing kind of gets you motivated

If it's easy for you to send them to me sure I'd be curious but it's not really a big deal at all if you can't. What were the averages of those ochem2 exams? That's what I'm more interested in the distribution of the class scores.

My impression looking at them were the NMR and theory type questions were definitely challenging and id imagine graded like a bitch . The reaction pages and what not seemed just like generic memorization questions id expect of a State U ochem class although it's still probably harder than the StateU programs ones. I'll also add the final seemed way harder than the midterms

 

[swagg]

I would HIGHLY suggest finding a personal tutor from an established MCAT tutoring company. Your story sounds very very similar to mine. I was able to raise my MCAT score by 8 points because I had a tutor that knew a lot about the MCAT but wasn't going at a pre-prescribed pace. If I knew O-Chem very well but didn't particularly understand buoyancy she would not focus on O-chem and instead give me specific MCAT-like buyoancy questions to practice with and would explain things along the way. It's better to have the curriculum tailored to your needs and in this way you can still self study.
**motivation will still be a BIG factor though. I had to wake up every day and tell myself that this was the last time I was going to take it.

I wish you the best of luck, and NEVER give up! It'll be worth it when you're on the other side

 

[efle]

If it's easy for you to send them to me sure I'd be curious but it's not really a big deal at all if you can't. What were the averages of those ochem2 exams? That's what I'm more interested in the distribution of the class scores.

My impression looking at them were the NMR and theory type questions were definitely challenging and id imagine graded like a bitch . The reaction pages and what not seemed just like generic memorization questions id expect of a State U ochem class although it's still probably harder than the StateU programs ones. I'll also add the final seemed way harder than the midterms

Averages were usually mid 70s, A cutoff mid 80s iirc, most people would get close to perfect on the easier "what's the product of this" type questions, and then lost points on the tougher "generate arrow mechanism" and NMR stuff. The time limit was really the only big challenge for his tests. I'll send you the Ochem I stuff, that class was a nightmare