Byrne Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 I'm looking into taking an MCAT prep course this summer, but due to my work schedule and the date I have selected to write the MCAT (July 30th), there are no in-class sessions that work for me. Princeton doesn't really have an online course and Kaplan's is CRAZY expensive, but I was wondering if anyone can provide some insight on Prep101's online course? I think it's new this year, but at $995 + GST, it seems like pretty good value (also includes access to 8 AAMC tests, which I would be purchasing anyway) and the video lectures are a nice feature (does Kaplan have this?). I used the Princeton and Kaplan books last year and feel as if I need something that will provide a little more structure this year and keep me focused. Here's the link if any of you want to check it out and share your thoughts: http://www.prep101.com/mcat/courses-online.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldnk Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Personally I have a very large vendetta against Prep101 from their shoddy work at the University of Western Ontario. I don't and I have never taken a prep course before, I always looked at it as someone just retelling me the notes, something I could get from having a study group of peers for free. About three years ago there was a big issue where their instructors taught material wrong for their organic chemistry course. They plagiarized the course notes without permission (for all courses that they were teaching) and it led to a lot of students faring poorly on certain sections of the exam. The professor for the course (Felix Lee) went on a huge tear against Prep101 and they no longer teach the Organic Chemistry prep course at Western. I can't speak to the quality of their sessions. I can't speak for the accuracy of their instructors, and I don't want to guarantee that they are good or bad, but that is the one experience I know of with Prep 101. Maybe they learned from that experience and improved their recruitment process or made sure to know what their instructors were saying, I don't know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endeavour Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Personally I have a very large vendetta against Prep101 from their shoddy work at the University of Western Ontario. I don't and I have never taken a prep course before, I always looked at it as someone just retelling me the notes, something I could get from having a study group of peers for free. About three years ago there was a big issue where their instructors taught material wrong for their organic chemistry course. They plagiarized the course notes without permission (for all courses that they were teaching) and it led to a lot of students faring poorly on certain sections of the exam. The professor for the course (Felix Lee) went on a huge tear against Prep101 and they no longer teach the Organic Chemistry prep course at Western. I can't speak to the quality of their sessions. I can't speak for the accuracy of their instructors, and I don't want to guarantee that they are good or bad, but that is the one experience I know of with Prep 101. Maybe they learned from that experience and improved their recruitment process or made sure to know what their instructors were saying, I don't know for sure. I can add some comments on this topic. From the undergrad prep courses at UofT (my own experience as an undergrad + peers opinion) prep101 has always ran really "shaddy" sessions. It was disorganized, the material was almost irrelevant to the term tests, the instructor was lost most of the time....... overall a really bad experience ... I'm sure other people on this messageboard (from UT undergrad) had some experience they can share about prep101 . I see they are now running courses for MCAT/LSAT etc ..... From their instructor's biome posted, it seems like they're just taking the same people teaching their undergrad prep courses to teach the MCAT course. I would not recommend this program to anyone. Personally, I've taken the PR, although expensive as hell (went into financial troubles paying for the course) it was worth it . Can't comment on Kaplan, heard they were okay as well. I would recommend PR as well, but if you don't have the time, I would just buy used books and AAMC tests and go from there. But yah....I would not spend money on any of prep101 services. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldnk Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 And again, these aren't guarantees that the course would be bad. Ask to speak to someone from Prep101 and see if you can sit in on a lecture first. Make your decision based on your own experience. What was bad in London might be great in another city. It will really depend on who the instructors are. Overall there isn't a huge amount of variation in teaching material between the different courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lost__in__space Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Personally I have a very large vendetta against Prep101 from their shoddy work at the University of Western Ontario. I don't and I have never taken a prep course before, I always looked at it as someone just retelling me the notes, something I could get from having a study group of peers for free. About three years ago there was a big issue where their instructors taught material wrong for their organic chemistry course. They plagiarized the course notes without permission (for all courses that they were teaching) and it led to a lot of students faring poorly on certain sections of the exam. The professor for the course (Felix Lee) went on a huge tear against Prep101 and they no longer teach the Organic Chemistry prep course at Western. I can't speak to the quality of their sessions. I can't speak for the accuracy of their instructors, and I don't want to guarantee that they are good or bad, but that is the one experience I know of with Prep 101. Maybe they learned from that experience and improved their recruitment process or made sure to know what their instructors were saying, I don't know for sure. I remember that. Poor Felix Lee was so pissed off!!!!! I find Prep101 to be a joke, that only students who never went to class are desperate enough to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiceandsausageburglar Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I've had varying experiences w/ Prep101, some were fantastic while others were dismal. IMO I think your experience really depends on your instructor and how familiar they are w/ the course they're teaching. In my first year I used prep101 for general chem and calculus. The G-chem prep session was amazing b/c they hired a former TA for that course! So he went over all the important principles and practice exams and I ended up w/ a 97% on that test. As for calculus, the instructor had NO CLUE, he mumbled and taught us concepts we weren't even expected to know so I walked out of there after 30 minutes and demanded my money back. In my 3rd year, I took an economics prep session w/ prep101 and the instructor was on top of the ball, helped me get an 85%. So it's really about the instructors and how familiar they are w/ the course. I think it's unfair to generalize one or two bad experiences to the whole of Prep101. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rpuff Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I've only taken prep101 for undergrad courses but I found them to be really boring and not that useful. Test prep companies like Kaplan and PR put a lot of money into researching the standardized test, and give you great strategies and practice material. I'd personally recommend Kaplan online program over prep101....they have online lectures and the same material the classroom kids get, which is incredibly extensive. Plus you get 10 AAMC practice exams and 11 Kaplan full lengths Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamer Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 I tried Prep101 twice in 2nd year. Worst use of 100 dollars ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badapple Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I took Prep101's online MCAT course and i thought it was really good. They partnered with ExamKrackers which in my opinion are the best books on the market to make this and they gave me access for one full year They include books for each subject and they give you all 8 simulated MCAT's which can cost you $40/each from the AAMC. I would recommend this course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan0105 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 wait, it was only 100 bucks... kaplan is like 2000! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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