** Why Kaplan Didn't Work For Me Thread **

[dhoonlee]

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[BaLeavaMD]

How do you prepare for August between now and then. I can't go through that Kaplan Syllabus again!! Kaplan was bad for me because the instructors were aweful. We were not in a Kaplan center so we didn't have access to the actual building...even though they say the online stuff is just as good!!

 

[snowhite]

Kaplan was HORRIBLE!

I would not even recommend it to my worst enemy. Do the Princeton Review instead!

 

[TommyGunn04]

I think the LEAST important part of Kaplan is the classes, meaning it really shouldn't matter if the instructors aren't great...they're often undergrads anyway, like most MCAT takers. Most of my friends didn't even attend the classes! It's really the MATERIALS that make Kaplan worth it, but if you don't take the time to carefully go through all the online materials and do a bunch of full length exams at the center, I wouldn't expect much of a return on your investment.

 

[TheFlash]

Kaplan did work for me. Given, the instruction varies from center to center, but it's the content review material and unexhaustable amount of practice tests that make Kaplan the reason many students succeed after using it. My scores steadily increased as I reviewed their thorough science books and practiced constantly at their library. You only get out what you put in. A lot of students think signing up with Kaplan is like taking a magic pill to a better score. It's not. You've still got to work at it, since all the course does is give you the potential to do well. That said, I doubt I would've scored anywhere above the 95th percentile if it hadn't been for Kaplan. I liked them so much that I now teach for them.

 

[Doc Martins]

try exam krackers. i've heard many good things about their books, espciall from people who've already done kaplan.

 

[SurgeryRA]

I took the MCAT two years ago and took the Kaplan prep course. I thought the course was definitely helpful. My instructors were great and I actually found out about this website and interview feedback through them (I don't know if I should thank them or not considering how much time I've spent on this site ). With these prep courses, however, I really don't think you can rely too much on the instructors because it's ultimately up to you in how much effort to put in studying for the MCAT. The instructors can't make you study outside of class, and I think the most important factor in scoring well on the MCAT is how much time is put into it outside of the designated classroom time, taking advantage of the resources they have at the test center. Most of the material in the lesson book I thought I could review myself but the instructors were very useful if something came up while you were studying. So IMHO I think you need to be pro-active with these prep courses to get the most out of them.

 

[dnelsen]

I used Kaplan and it worked, but I bet PR, EK, etc. would have worked as well. It wasn't the instructor that made a difference, but it was simply a structured environment with plenty of review material and practice tests that made the difference.

You get out what you put in. You cannot expect to just show up for the classes for any of the review programs and expect to get a good score. I busted my a55 for 3 months to get a good score.

 

[wylie313]

kaplan was horrible, the only thing they really tryed to teach to you was to "map the passage" which is a load of **** bc when im taking that test, i dont have time to doodle things after each paragraph. my instructor was terrible as well. on many many occasions the class was correcting him, and teaching him. he was very incompetant and frankly immature. the practice tests were not indicative of the level of difficulty of the actual mcat either, so it was pretty much pointless killing yourself over them. and i know what some might say, if theyre harder then the actual test will seem easier. well thats only if you learn from the kaplan tests, which are basically another language alltogether. they dont even test the topics in the same way as the MCAT they put way too much emphasis on complex calcs and hardly no theory. STAY FAR AWAY FROM KAPLAN WHATEVER YOU DO 👎

 

[KNightInBlue]

kaplan was horrible, the only thing they really tryed to teach to you was to "map the passage" which is a load of **** bc when im taking that test, i dont have time to doodle things after each paragraph. my instructor was terrible as well. on many many occasions the class was correcting him, and teaching him. he was very incompetant and frankly immature. the practice tests were not indicative of the level of difficulty of the actual mcat either, so it was pretty much pointless killing yourself over them. and i know what some might say, if theyre harder then the actual test will seem easier. well thats only if you learn from the kaplan tests, which are basically another language alltogether. they dont even test the topics in the same way as the MCAT they put way too much emphasis on complex calcs and hardly no theory. STAY FAR AWAY FROM KAPLAN WHATEVER YOU DO 👎

I have to disagree.
I took both Princeton Review and Kaplan, and they each have their own merits. It all comes down to 2 things - a)practice material and b) instructors

As far as practice material goes, Kaplan has way more than PR. Yes, some of it is much harder than the actual MCAT, but overall they are pretty good indicators. In fact, I just got my april 2004 score and the split was exactly the same as in my last diagnostic with kaplan. Granted that there may have been some coincidence involved, but generally speaking, they are pretty good indicators.

As for instructors, NOONE can determine which course is better. Princeton has diff teachers teach diff subjects, one for physics, one for GChem etc while Kaplan has one instructor teach them all. Some of my PR instructors blew, some rocked. My Kaplan instructor overall blew, but then again, I have had friends who had great teachers for Kaplan. Point is, noone can tell you who you are getting for the course you signed up for because the teachers choose the courses they want to teach depending on their schedule. You may luck out and get a great teacher or on the other hand, like in wylie's case, one who sucks. So you cant make the judgement call that kaplan sucks (or PR sucks) because you had ONE bad instructor, because excellent teachers do exist and others can get them.

Basically, it comes down to the individual. If you like the material to be taught like in a class, go with PR, but make sure you get as much practice material as you can (like buying Kaplan stuff from someone who is taking it). If you like to study on your own, but want more practice, go with Kaplan.

Also, I have heard some very good things about exam krackers. If you dont take their course, I would recomend getting their 1001 series as a supplement.

Good Luck

P.S. By the way, I just signed up to teach for Kaplan. PR also offered me a position, but I picked Kaplan (NOT cause PR blows or Kaplan rocks!), mostly cuz I like Kaplan's style of emphasis on the fact that its not WHAT you know for the MCAT but how you APPLY what you know.

 

[bigdan]

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit out of context here, 'cause I didn't take any review course. I scored a 29 on my lonesome; but I would take a course if I sucked on the April...but if I took the Kaplan up front and sucked, what is my fall back crutch? I'd say give the test a go on your own - yes, this means not doing what everyone else is doing, and you have to focus - but you can always take the course later if you need to...

best,

dc

 

[wylie313]

I have to disagree.
I took both Princeton Review and Kaplan, and they each have their own merits. It all comes down to 2 things - a)practice material and b) instructors

As far as practice material goes, Kaplan has way more than PR. Yes, some of it is much harder than the actual MCAT, but overall they are pretty good indicators. In fact, I just got my april 2004 score and the split was exactly the same as in my last diagnostic with kaplan. Granted that there may have been some coincidence involved, but generally speaking, they are pretty good indicators.

As for instructors, NOONE can determine which course is better. Princeton has diff teachers teach diff subjects, one for physics, one for GChem etc while Kaplan has one instructor teach them all. Some of my PR instructors blew, some rocked. My Kaplan instructor overall blew, but then again, I have had friends who had great teachers for Kaplan. Point is, noone can tell you who you are getting for the course you signed up for because the teachers choose the courses they want to teach depending on their schedule. You may luck out and get a great teacher or on the other hand, like in wylie's case, one who sucks. So you cant make the judgement call that kaplan sucks (or PR sucks) because you had ONE bad instructor, because excellent teachers do exist and others can get them.

Basically, it comes down to the individual. If you like the material to be taught like in a class, go with PR, but make sure you get as much practice material as you can (like buying Kaplan stuff from someone who is taking it). If you like to study on your own, but want more practice, go with Kaplan.

Also, I have heard some very good things about exam krackers. If you dont take their course, I would recomend getting their 1001 series as a supplement.

Good Luck

P.S. By the way, I just signed up to teach for Kaplan. PR also offered me a position, but I picked Kaplan (NOT cause PR blows or Kaplan rocks!), mostly cuz I like Kaplan's style of emphasis on the fact that its not WHAT you know for the MCAT but how you APPLY what you know.

i think you have to hold kaplan at fault for even putting someone who is incompetant in such a position. ONE bad professor means at least 20-30 students suffering from low test scores. we brought our concern to the director of the queens college kaplan center, and he told us we would have a different more experienced teacher, which was great. then he changed his mind again after viewing the instructor in action (and yes he made many more mistakes!). he said he was as good as we were gonna get. what is that saying about the caliber of the kaplan instructors?????? so we ended up getting twisted and turned around in all directions , but still ended up with the same guy. one more thing. my friend scored a 32 on her mcat, and they called her up to teach. now im not knocking my frined at all, bc i wish i scored that, and all of you that scored in that range im jealous of you , and you did a greeat job! BUT that is not the score i want the guy whos supposed to be an expert teaching me with. i want at least high 30s and even 40s. many of us paid 1400 for this course out of our own pockets(including me) i think thats the least we deserve. i guess all im saying is that i want a prep company who is dedicated to putting the best people on the job, and to give us the best opportunity to excel on the mcat. and i did not get that feeling or result from the kaplan course.

 

[elephunt]

I have to disagree.
I took both Princeton Review and Kaplan, and they each have their own merits. It all comes down to 2 things - a)practice material and b) instructors

As far as practice material goes, Kaplan has way more than PR. Yes, some of it is much harder than the actual MCAT, but overall they are pretty good indicators. In fact, I just got my april 2004 score and the split was exactly the same as in my last diagnostic with kaplan. Granted that there may have been some coincidence involved, but generally speaking, they are pretty good indicators.

As for instructors, NOONE can determine which course is better. Princeton has diff teachers teach diff subjects, one for physics, one for GChem etc while Kaplan has one instructor teach them all. Some of my PR instructors blew, some rocked. My Kaplan instructor overall blew, but then again, I have had friends who had great teachers for Kaplan. Point is, noone can tell you who you are getting for the course you signed up for because the teachers choose the courses they want to teach depending on their schedule. You may luck out and get a great teacher or on the other hand, like in wylie's case, one who sucks. So you cant make the judgement call that kaplan sucks (or PR sucks) because you had ONE bad instructor, because excellent teachers do exist and others can get them.

Basically, it comes down to the individual. If you like the material to be taught like in a class, go with PR, but make sure you get as much practice material as you can (like buying Kaplan stuff from someone who is taking it). If you like to study on your own, but want more practice, go with Kaplan.

I completely agree with this post. I wanted to take PR but couldn't--the closest PR class offered was an hour away, and Kaplan offered a class at my school. I'm so glad now that it worked out that way. What KNightInBlue said was on the money as far as the difference btw the two; I had the materials from PR b/c one of my friends was an instructor for them, so I was able to compare. I knew the material pretty well but needed a structured environment for studying and LOTS of practice materials to get me ready for the types of questions that would be on the test; Kaplan gave me exactly that. If you are a little more shaky on the actual material, then maybe PR would be the best way to go. I also completely agree with the other posts that you get out of a review class what you put into it. I did a lot of the practice materials and then went back over the lesson-type material for any questions I missed or had to guess on, and that REALLY helped me identify my problem areas and brush up on stuff I had forgotten. I'm more of a study-on-your-own kind of person, so this format worked for me; if you work better in groups or in a classroom setting, you might like PR better.

Also, just as an aside, I was taking 19 credit hours last semester and it seemed like the Kaplan class was like an extra five or six hour class in terms of time commitment (i.e., last semester was NO FUN AT ALL.) You really have to put a lot of time and effort into reviewing the material, going over your notes, taking practice tests, etc. in order to get the maximum benefit out of the class. I would recommend to anyone considering taking a review class to try to make your class schedule a little lighter that semester--you'll be glad when April rolls around.

 

[HipToBeSquare]

kaplan is supposed to only look at teachers who score in at least the 90th percentile (prefer 95th) on each section. if kaplan truly has one teacher teach ALL the sections, they should be scoring at least a 33...now, true, i would rather have a teacher who scored in the mid to upper 30s, if they want me to consider them as an expert...but who knows what other factors get in the way when they interview MCAT teachers (e.g. shortage of qualified instructors?)

 

[neoncandle]

Ok.. I took the practice whatever thingie and got a 29.. totally unexpected as I hadn't even had the second halves of ochem, phys and bio. However, I studied my arse off. And I ended up getting a 35 on the real thing. What I did was every single freakin practice material they had... more than once if I thought I was slipping.. I listed to Audio Osmosis and I went over the list AMCAS gives you to make sure that I covered every thing I could think of. My VR actually went down in the course of the class, but I got a 14 on BS so I am just going to call it even. I don't think Kaplan itself made the difference, but having access to lots of study materials is nice. Oh and my teacher wasn't really that nice. But both of them were smart... not that that made any difference. The MCAT covers BASIC science... and I mean BASIC. So stick to the basics, study, study and I hope you will do AWESOME.

 

[Brickhouse]

I teach at Kaplan. 🙁

 

[meltmyfaceoff]

I teach at Kaplan. 🙁

me too 🙁

no one in austin complained about me that bad

 

[Xandie]

I'd just like to point out that there are many things that make a good teacher. Knowledge is definetely one of them, and the MCAT is the best way to determine who knows what. However, everyone that scores in the high-30s is not necessarily going to be a great teacher. Some of the worst professors I've had in undergrad were the smartest--intelligence does not equal good teaching skills.
Also, Kaplan centers can only work with what they have. If only one person applies to the position, and their scores aren't high-30s (i.e. all of the teachers at my center were between 31-35), then Kaplan can't create people out of nothing.
I'm a Kaplan teacher (obviously) and, after my students emailed me their scores today, I can say this: if all you do is show up to class, you're not actually doing the Kaplan program. You have to actually do the entire program to comment on its effectiveness and to see where it can take you.

 

[wylie313]

I teach at Kaplan. 🙁

dont get me wrong guys, this is absolutely not a knock on you! i am truly greatful that you guys give your time to teach us. my problem is with the way the center was run in my area. my teacher was new and wasnt acquainted with the teaching style it takes to relay information of such magnitude. and i understand that it will take a while for someone to get comfortable teaching that material. my concern is that i felt i was a guinea pig used for his training, while i needed to prepare for the most important test of my life. this problem starts from the top, and stays there. and like you said noone has complained about you guys, that means youre great teachers! and i wish i could have had you instructing me!!! keep up the good work. 🙂

 

[wylie313]

I'd just like to point out that there are many things that make a good teacher. Knowledge is definetely one of them, and the MCAT is the best way to determine who knows what. However, everyone that scores in the high-30s is not necessarily going to be a great teacher. Some of the worst professors I've had in undergrad were the smartest--intelligence does not equal good teaching skills.
Also, Kaplan centers can only work with what they have. If only one person applies to the position, and their scores aren't high-30s (i.e. all of the teachers at my center were between 31-35), then Kaplan can't create people out of nothing.
I'm a Kaplan teacher (obviously) and, after my students emailed me their scores today, I can say this: if all you do is show up to class, you're not actually doing the Kaplan program. You have to actually do the entire program to comment on its effectiveness and to see where it can take you.

i agree 100% and that was a major problem with my instructor. he was very bright, but also very timid, and unsure of himself. and i know that with time he will learn to relay the material in a much more professional and confident way. but what i think should have happened was maybe give him more time to train and grow comfortable with teaching. and also i have taken the whole course and done all the practice materials, and even bought q-bank which i thought was kinda a waste, but what ya gonna do, i tried everything under the sun that kaplan had to offer bc they do have a lot of material.

 

[HawkeyeBFP]

I teach at Kaplan too. 🙁

I didn't take a course at all to prepare, but scored well enough (yes, 95th percentile, which you need in my area) to teach. And I agree with the person above who said they decided to teach there because Kaplan's method made sense to them. I found that they advised many of the same things I did, just because that's the way I study or take tests or think through questions.

I do sympathize with those who have less than spectacular teachers. It's a built-in problem: if your primary standard for teacher qualification is that the person has scored well on the MCAT, you're going to wind up with a lot of people who are either about to go or are in med school. Teaching long-term is not in their plans. And you have to teach for a while in order to be a good teacher no matter how good you are with the subject matter.

However, I will tell you what I tell every class I teach on the first day: the classes are NOT intended to "teach the material". Neither I nor Stephen Hawking nor Albert Einstein could teach you two semesters of physics in nine hours. The Kaplan lessons are designed to touch on the material, but more importantly, to illustrate HOW IT WILL BE USED on the MCAT. That's the value of the classes--to use the material to get you thinking the way the test designers are.

I know perfectly well that in any given class there are people who are better at each science than I am. How could there not? My degree isn't in biology, so if yours is, you certainly ought to know more than me about it. I'm here to show you how to apply biology to the MCAT.

FWIW, my experience is that many of the students who are disappointed after taking a course--any course--did not really anticipate the commitment involved in studying for MCAT. Right now I have a number of students who are trying to take the course while also taking orgo or physics or biology--complete with labs. These people are not being realistic, IMHO.

(Sorry about the long post. Rant over now. Ahem.) 😀

 

[docjolly]

I am currently taking Kaplan, in preparation for the August MCAT administration..

I completely agree with HawkeyeBFP..Studying for this beast of an exam is something that is primarily individualistic, and heavily dependent upon what you put into studying for it..Granted, Kaplan does have a responsibility to provide knowledgeable, excellently trained teachers so that students who are having difficulty/may have difficulty can seek guidance through help from the instructors..This is a given. But, the situation becomes problematic when anyone develops a complete dependency upon Kaplan, Princeton Review, Examcrackers or any other test prep. company to perform well on the test. Kaplan should be held accountable for the quality of teachers that they provide, but they should not be blamed for someone earning poor test scores...I've seen several exams where the quality of teaching has been poor, but certain students (most being my friends)have performed well on the MCAT (scoring 30 or above). Clearly, it was not the quality of teaching that affected their performance on the MCAT...So, can't the same concept be valid for others?

Just a thought...

 

[superunknown]

My feeling about Kaplan is that their course is probably great for non-trads who've had a few years interim since those science courses and need review on all the topics. I, however, didn't, and in retrospect, i can see that sitting thru the classes and doing the assigned homeworks was a mistake. I didn't need to cuz the subject material was still fresh in my mind from school.

So, if you took all the science courses recently just use Kaplan's (and AAMC's) practice resources and skip the class. If its been a while, Kaplan's good.



and &*%# mapping the passages!!!!!!

 

[dpill]

I took Kaplan in 1991 and changed my mind and decided not to go to med school (then). The books they gave me last fall were EXACTLY the same as my 1991 material. I couldn't believe it. IDENTICAL content...just different covers. Kaplan simply must update their material. The verbal tests are way too easy compared to the actual exam and the PS tests are ridiculously hard. I found myself getting discouraged after taking the PS exams but scoring well (30+). The grading scales were way off compared to the real exam. People in my class said Kaplan wanted to make their tests harder so we would think the actual exam was easy. Well, that is nice but the grading scales don't translate. You can't miss nearly 1/2 the questions on the real MCAT and get a good score (which was the case on some of the practice tests). AND the verbal was way too easy compared to the real test... so that theory is out the window. The biology MUST be updated to reflect the changes in the MCAT. There was not nearly enough molecular/ genetics/ immunology. The amount in presented in the study material was inadequate to say the least. A friend gave me his old Princeton Review books and I found those books and practice tests (esp. the workbook) MUCH more helpful than the Kaplan material. I did most of the Kaplan practice tests, but found the PR material a much better representation of the MCAT. I also watched the Kaplan foundation review tapes- what a waste of time! I literally found mistake after mistake in the materials. How freakin' hard is it to make a quality video tape??? I was extremely frustrated throughout the Kaplan course that I had paid so much money [600+ in 1991 and 1300 or so (can't remember exactly) in 2004 for the same class] but that Kaplan had not updated their basic materials to reflect changes in the MCAT. Yeah, they added online practice sessions and flash cards, but the basic material (esp. books) need to be drastically improved. (Again, PR books were much more detailed. I haven't seen EK, so that might even be better). One final note: I scored really well on the Kaplan practice verbal sections, so really didn't study for VR. I felt blindsided by the degree of difficulty of the VR during the actual exam. Even though I did fine (11 VR), I sweated it out for months. I thought for sure I made a 6 (I had form AM, hard verbal. I heard having a hard test can work in your favor... it must have for me). Furthermore, I second the post that discussed the bull@$*! "mapping strategy" If I had tried that crap on the actual exam, I never would have finished a section. Especially verbal! Overall, I made a 31 (11VR, 10, 10, P). I give most of the credit to old text books and BORROWED PR material versus the Kaplan course. I wish far fewer people would sign up for the Kaplan course, so Kaplan would be better "encouraged" to provide good customer service. Yeah, it is better than nothing, but in my opinion there must be better options. BOTTOM LINE: if they want people to pay 1300, they need to provide consistently good instructors and the most up to date material. PERIOD. I have been really pissed since I took the course (regardless of my scores) and I am glad I finally have the opportunity to vent. Of course, this is just my opinion... and from the number of posts I have made on SDN, you can see I generally keep my opinion to myself. I am "passionate" about this one! SO KAPLAN, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, GET IT TOGETHER AND STOP RIPPING PEOPLE OFF!!! 😡

 

[mandalonius]

Yea what is with mapping the passage? Like we have the time to do that! I heard Berkeley Review tells the students to try to answer hte questions first and then see if they need to read the passage (for sciences). Such different strategy. I believe Kaplan is a big name rip off.

Also they never chance or update their cirriculum. Despite the fact that MCAT does not cover a lot of the ochem anymore, they still try to force it down our throats.

 

[superunknown]

i feel ya on the ochem. The kaplan books even say that a lot of the ochem they teach isn't on the test, but that they teach it to give their students a perspective on the overall subject.
You can look on the AAMC site at the list of subjects the MCAT covers and there's very little ochem.
It just chaps my hide!! (although setting your wristwatch to noon is bad@$$)

 

[wylie313]

i didnt underestimate the difficulty of the MCAT or the work i needed to put into it, i merely overestimated the Kaplan prep course. im mostly annoyed bc i feel as if i wasted 1499 bucks. bc i ended up just studying on my own throughout the latter half of the course, and i did well enough to get me into the school i want to go to (thank god!). i didnt want kaplan to give me the answers, rather an edge to put me ahead of the curve. but from my experience i would be in the same situation with the same score if i had just bought the books and the AAMC tests 3-7 on ebay for about 50 bucks 🙄

 

[wylie313]

i just wanna make one thing clear. i am not nor was i ever trying to attack any of the instructors. so whatever beef i have is def. not with you guys, bc you have to stick to a curriculum so i understand that your hands are pretty much tied to what is in the books. although kaplan didnt work for me the way i wanted it to, there are many students who benefit from your time and expertise. and for that ill say thank you. also ill say i wish i had one of you guys instructing my class. 🙂 maybe it wouldnt have been soo damn frustrating 😀

 

[MechE]

I took a Kaplan review course for my ACT test and it didn?t help my scores at all. I didn?t even consider them for something much more important like the MCAT. I would recommend The Princeton Review to anyone who wants a good prep course. They helped me get my 30.

 

[KNightInBlue]

i think you have to hold kaplan at fault for even putting someone who is incompetant in such a position. ONE bad professor means at least 20-30 students suffering from low test scores. we brought our concern to the director of the queens college kaplan center, and he told us we would have a different more experienced teacher, which was great. then he changed his mind again after viewing the instructor in action (and yes he made many more mistakes!). he said he was as good as we were gonna get. what is that saying about the caliber of the kaplan instructors?????? so we ended up getting twisted and turned around in all directions , but still ended up with the same guy. one more thing. my friend scored a 32 on her mcat, and they called her up to teach. now im not knocking my frined at all, bc i wish i scored that, and all of you that scored in that range im jealous of you , and you did a greeat job! BUT that is not the score i want the guy whos supposed to be an expert teaching me with. i want at least high 30s and even 40s. many of us paid 1400 for this course out of our own pockets(including me) i think thats the least we deserve. i guess all im saying is that i want a prep company who is dedicated to putting the best people on the job, and to give us the best opportunity to excel on the mcat. and i did not get that feeling or result from the kaplan course.

I will give you that that one teacher does ruin it for 20 students, but like i said, its ONE factor!! There are so many other variables, the most important being practice. I even said in my post, I had a sucky ass teacher, but I still did pretty well, well enough to get recruited to teach.......mostly cuz I practiced my ass off.

As for your friend getting hired, did you find out what she was hired for? I mean was she hired to teach the entire course or just parts of it? Cuz I got a 12PS, 11VR, 11 BS and I might teach just the PS part. Maybe the VR and BS too but I havent decided yet. A 12 is >92nd percentile so I think thats pretty adequate enough to teach. But if your friend was hired to teach the whole course, then yes, I would have some reservations about that too.

Look wylie, in the end, it all comes down to the individual. There are always going to be obstacles, but that just means you gotta put in that much more effort. I am sure this sounds like lame advice and in all probability you will ignore it, but as a fellow sju premed 🙂, I'd suggest you jump back into the ring. If kaplan is not your cup of tea, take examkrackers or PR, doesn't matter which, just make sure you practice till you drop.

Good Luck.

 

[Brickhouse]

Actually - Kaplan didn't do that much for me either - I did ****ty on my MCAT as most know but I did well in practice exams which allows me to teach - except on VR - I did in fact get 95% on the actual test...that notwithstanding - I think my strength as a teacher is that I'm not a BS-er - I know how to connect with the people - I am good at keeping peoples attention, I'm good at explaining things - I make people laugh and smile, they remember me - they remember what I say. I think that is what a good teacher does - they are not necessarily the smartest person in the world - but they believe in what they are doing and they show genuine concern for the students - it's like a good doctor - a big part of being a healer is just understanding, listening, showing true interest - even if you didn't go to Harvard and graduate with honors or whatever. You know what I'm saying? I believe in what I'm doing and I believe in the dream of obtaining your goals. And I know that the enolate ion acts as an electrophile. No offense taken from you Kaplan haters. My center is a mess, too.

 

[neoncandle]

The most important thing is to do all the practice materials you can get your hands on and to really understand the basic material. I made sure that I really understood the stuff, not memorized... and I did fine. Of course, I wish there had been more plug and chug on the PS stuff... but still survived that section too. As for VR, I think mostly that is something you can't teach. My score actually went down trying to do the stupid Kaplan method. And, believe me, I practiced..... oh well...

 

[Premedtomed]

i didnt underestimate the difficulty of the MCAT or the work i needed to put into it, i merely overestimated the Kaplan prep course. im mostly annoyed bc i feel as if i wasted 1499 bucks. bc i ended up just studying on my own throughout the latter half of the course, and i did well enough to get me into the school i want to go to (thank god!). i didnt want kaplan to give me the answers, rather an edge to put me ahead of the curve. but from my experience i would be in the same situation with the same score if i had just bought the books and the AAMC tests 3-7 on ebay for about 50 bucks 🙄

Same freakin here 😡

 

[lynnier79]

i took kaplan for the April 2004 sitting, and now I teach for them, but i'd like to think this isnt a completely biased post.

mainly, I just wanted to echo what HawkeyeBFP said so eloquently in his post -- that no one can teach 2 semesters of Physics, Orgo Chem or whatever in 9 hours. And that Kaplan does not pretend to do that. I remind all my students on the first day that I am not able to review as much content as I'm sure they would like, but that there are resources to help them, and that if they need extra content help there is always a way to work that out.

as for the "mapping" thing. its a strategy. kaplan does a ton of research on their strategies and determined (however they do that) that the mapping seems to work best for the most people. that obviously does not mean that it will work for YOU personally, but statistically it works for many. as for comments about not having time to map -- mapping DOES take time, but really the "extra time" is during practice. ANY strategy takes time to be integrated into a study or prep routine. if you dont practice it A LOT you are never going to get faster at it and its never going to help. if you really practice, though, you are going to integrate it and get faster. that said, i know that people dont always have a lot of time to study for the MCAT, but i dont think that it's Kaplan's fault.

 

[neoncandle]

I don't know anyone who boosted their VR with the Kaplan method.

 

[Chronotropic]

Is this scored in the 90th percentile req thing new? When I took Kaplan (two years ago) not one of our instructors had ever taken the MCAT.

 

[wylie313]

Is this scored in the 90th percentile req thing new? When I took Kaplan (two years ago) not one of our instructors had ever taken the MCAT.

wow.......

 

[Xandie]

Is this scored in the 90th percentile req thing new? When I took Kaplan (two years ago) not one of our instructors had ever taken the MCAT.

You can score in the 90th percentile on the real MCAT or on a subject test -- for example, I trained with a couple of people who were doing their PhDs in physics and were teaching the physics section. Obviously they didn't take the MCAT to gauge their knowledge, since they didn't know general chemistry, but they did take a physics test (the science diagnostic the students take at the beginning of the course) and scored well (not sure on the score).

 

[willthatsall]

You can score in the 90th percentile on the real MCAT or on a subject test -- for example, I trained with a couple of people who were doing their PhDs in physics and were teaching the physics section. Obviously they didn't take the MCAT to gauge their knowledge, since they didn't know general chemistry, but they did take a physics test (the science diagnostic the students take at the beginning of the course) and scored well (not sure on the score).

I think I would much rather have a PhD student in the subject they are teaching than a med student. Then they would know the subject they are teaching, instead of just learning what is on the class lesson. My teacher (med student) doesn't know much except what is on the lesson. I could teach the class better, IMO.

 

[aingeal]

I think the LEAST important part of Kaplan is the classes, meaning it really shouldn't matter if the instructors aren't great...they're often undergrads anyway, like most MCAT takers. Most of my friends didn't even attend the classes! It's really the MATERIALS that make Kaplan worth it, but if you don't take the time to carefully go through all the online materials and do a bunch of full length exams at the center, I wouldn't expect much of a return on your investment.

i agree. i took kaplan and had an ok instructor, but the books and online schedule were the most helpful part

 

[MediCane2006]

I was a Kaplan instructor for 3 years, till the USMLE Step I took over my life, and I also took the Kaplan prep course for the MCAT. So I guess I've got kind of a dual perspective.

My personal experience with Kaplan was great - we had a very non-conventional teacher who focused most of the lessons on test strategy and taught very little in terms of foundation knowledge. Since my foundation was pretty strong this was ideal for me because I could review on my own and then come to class for tips on how to apply the basic science concepts to the test. However, many students in the class were very upset and disappointed and felt that the teacher should have focused more on teaching the basic science concepts.

I found this strategic approach to be great - my Verbal score improved from an 8 to a 15.

As a teacher I always tried to focus more on strategy and quick review as opposed to "today we're going to review Sn-1 and Sn-2 reactions along with all possible permutations of each." Because as a previous poster very astutely pointed out, there is NO WAY I can undertake to teach two year's worth of basic science in 3 months. I felt that by guiding my students' study towards high-yield material and training them to "think like the testmaker" I empowered them to maximize their score. However, I always emphasized self-directed study rather than spoon-feeding them the information. I had great feedback from many of my students and really enjoyed the teaching experience.

There's no denying though that Kaplan has quite a few sub-par teachers on their staff. Some are very smart with no people skills, some are very engaging but don't have a very solid knowledge base. From what I've seen the company is very reluctant to replace these instructors, and I have a feeling it's because there just aren't that many teachers out there.

So my advice to prospective Kaplan students is, if you are unhappy with your teacher BE PRO-ACTIVE. Go to another Kaplan center, sit in on another section, until you find a teacher who fits your style and who can give you the preparation that you paid all that money for!