Link Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 whats better: kaplan or princeton review? Did you feel the class time was useful? How helpful were they when it came to the essay component? (that will be my component i need the most work on....not sure if its worth two grand) If you don't recommend the review....what books are better? kaplan, princeton review or examkrackers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I'd say do the course.. in the grand scheme of things the 2g wont mean too much, and i personally feel it made the difference between a good score first time round and a rewrite for me. That being said if you have a science background doing Kaplan will be a much better use of your time. If you are not a science major I would do Princeton. They both have essentially the same strategy for the essays, so its just a matter of practising and getting essays marked by the company's graders. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rext Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I would definitely recommend TPR over Kaplan for several reasons, the main one being Kaplan's ridiculously terrible Verbal Reasoning strategy (it is pretty much unanimously agreed upon that Kaplan has one of the worst VR strategy of any prep company). In addition to this, even if you have a science bkgrnd, TPR will really help you focus on what you need to know and learn which high yield topics there are on the MCAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I would definitely recommend TPR over Kaplan for several reasons, the main one being Kaplan's ridiculously terrible Verbal Reasoning strategy (it is pretty much unanimously agreed upon that Kaplan has one of the worst VR strategy of any prep company). In addition to this, even if you have a science bkgrnd, TPR will really help you focus on what you need to know and learn which high yield topics there are on the MCAT +1. I wish I could get my money back for those kaplan VR books I naively bought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickserve Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Whichever review course you take, I'd recommend ExamKrackers for Verbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Agreed on kaplan verbal being rubbish (the strategy is perfectly fine its just that their practise passages are not very representative of the actual MCAT), i bought the ExamKracker book to do verbal. I know a LOT of people who did TPR (every single one of them are rewriting) and I stand by my choice of taking Kaplan if you're a science major. They also go over the high yield topics etc, and unless TPR upgraded their books its a lot more fun to go through the Kaplan material (they throw in dumb jokes and stuff to make you smile so that you don't go insane with the booooring slough of material you need to get through) Whichever company you choose, the biggest thing they offer you is tons of practise and a structured system to get through the material. As long as you put in the time, make sure to ask for help when you need it, and stay on top of things you'll do fine I would definitely recommend TPR over Kaplan for several reasons, the main one being Kaplan's ridiculously terrible Verbal Reasoning strategy (it is pretty much unanimously agreed upon that Kaplan has one of the worst VR strategy of any prep company). In addition to this, even if you have a science bkgrnd, TPR will really help you focus on what you need to know and learn which high yield topics there are on the MCAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb35 Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Agreed on kaplan verbal being rubbish (the strategy is perfectly fine its just that their practise passages are not very representative of the actual MCAT), i bought the ExamKracker book to do verbal. I know a LOT of people who did TPR (every single one of them are rewriting) and I stand by my choice of taking Kaplan if you're a science major. They also go over the high yield topics etc, and unless TPR upgraded their books its a lot more fun to go through the Kaplan material (they throw in dumb jokes and stuff to make you smile so that you don't go insane with the booooring slough of material you need to get through) Whichever company you choose, the biggest thing they offer you is tons of practise and a structured system to get through the material. As long as you put in the time, make sure to ask for help when you need it, and stay on top of things you'll do fine I agree with a lot of this. As a science major, Kaplan summarized what I needed to know and how important everything was to know, and didn't go into more detail than I needed. Their VR strategy is solid, but their passages aren't, in my opinion. I applied their strategy to the EK passages and got marks that were almost exactly what I got on test day. I was getting 13's and 14's consistently on Kaplan VR, and mostly 11's with some 10's and 12's (one 13 I think) on EK. I scored an 11 on test day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamboVipi Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'm confused about taking the actual MCAT. I know you cannot take a calculator in with you. Do they give you the formulas or do you need to memorize any that you think you may need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'm confused about taking the actual MCAT. I know you cannot take a calculator in with you. Do they give you the formulas or do you need to memorize any that you think you may need?Memorize what you think you'll need. The only info they give you is the periodic table (and whatever is written in the passages). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamboVipi Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 and they don't write the formulas in the passages do they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 and they don't write the formulas in the passages do they?They sometimes give you some random formulas (that you've likely never seen before), but things in the MCAT study books are fair game and likely won't be given to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 and they don't write the formulas in the passages do they? Sometimes they might give you a formula that you can use to help you on a question. Sometimes they might give you a formula that is relevant to the topic but irrelevant to the questions. Its kind of hit and miss with the mcat, who knows what the AAMC is thinking when they make it.. As a rule of thumb though assume they give you nothing and make sure to memorize formula's and proportionality's. It might seem overwhelming right now but by the end of your studying you'll just have them in your head. As for not getting a calculator, calculations are all done on scrap paper (if you cant do it in your head) and you just round the numbers Numbers from problem: 4.8 * 3.2 = 15.36 Numbers you use: 5 * 3 = 15 So you get 15 and the answers will be 10.82, 15.36, 30.92, 50.53 or something like that where, provided you did the question properly, you'll know which answer to pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamSuperDoctor Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 princeton review all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revert_style Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So, take ExamKracker books for verbal and TPR if you've no science background? Take Kaplan just to keep you on track then? Does anyone have experience with both (in terms of VR)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So, take ExamKracker books for verbal and TPR if you've no science background? Take Kaplan just to keep you on track then? Does anyone have experience with both (in terms of VR)? In the Kaplan classroom course they DO go over all of the topics you will need to know for the mcat just not nearly as in-depth as TPR. I know a girl in Arts and Humanities that took the Kaplan course (same class as me) and she did just fine (she put in a lot of work on her own time to learn the material though). The instructor will cover everything and answer any questions about a certain topic. If you have problems you can't solve they'll help you etc etc. The course is more geared towards effective test taking strategies since the mcat is first foremost (in my own as well as Kaplan's opinion) a critical thinking test, not a content test. And yes, EK for verbal. If you mean Kaplan versus Princeton for verbal, the Princeton passages are hard and the Kaplan one's really aren't. EK's the way to go, just apply whatever strategy your test company teaches to the EK books and see if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamboVipi Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So then for someone with no university science background would you or wouldn't recommend the Kaplan classroom course? I was originally signed up for the online class and didn't find it helpful, but they assured me that the classroom one goes over the theory and helps those with little exposure to science. Or should I just be looking to a different company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So then for someone with no university science background would you or wouldn't recommend the Kaplan classroom course? I was originally signed up for the online class and didn't find it helpful, but they assured me that the classroom one goes over the theory and helps those with little exposure to science. Or should I just be looking to a different company? Its up to your ability to learn material on your own. The highest level material on the mcat is actually organic chemistry, which is a second year course. Almost everything else was covered in gr. 12 / first year so the material itself is pretty basic. If you feel comfortable learning things on your own i would say Kaplan. If you're ever stuck there are tons of resources available to help you out. If you feel very uncomfortable learning material on your own, I would look at another company. Can't think critically if you don't understand what you're supposed to be thinking about Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTPEOPLE Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 They may... but just as often do not and expect you to fill in the holes... or they might give you a partial equation... The most infamous one is where they give you a horrible engineer eque electrical formula (with like 7 variables) and you have to relate it back into the form of a more familar electrical force equation. Or they can just throw a completely new equation at you in the passage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacemaker Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Just a clarification then.....I have a science background (missing orgo though) but it was like 3+ years ago that I did general bio, general chemistry and physics and feel that I would really need to review the material....I am sure that it will come back to me pretty fast but I do need that review.......in that case, would TPR be better for me? (I am kind of getting a mixed response after searching the thread here and I am confused ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirop Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Just a clarification then.....I have a science background (missing orgo though) but it was like 3+ years ago that I did general bio, general chemistry and physics and feel that I would really need to review the material....I am sure that it will come back to me pretty fast but I do need that review.......in that case, would TPR be better for me? (I am kind of getting a mixed response after searching the thread here and I am confused ) I second this question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 I second this question. It's really up to you to decide which is better. Both host free events where you can view their books or talk to their instructors...anonymous anecdotes from users here do help, but at the end of the day it's really dependent on your learning style. Kaplan's books are available @ chapters/indigo. Why not start there to see if you remember most of the material written? It may be for you then. TPR's books (I have the 2007) are quite extensive, but I do like how they go over every detail required...but some people have told me that it sometimes teaches things not on the MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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