Liz30 Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 I live in Toronto and the last time I did any science was at least 7 years ago, and I never took physics. I'm having a hard time trying to study on my own as I definitely do not work a 9-5 job. Any suggestions for which course I should take? I keep hearing a lot of pros and cons about both and given that I'll be shelling out a fair bit of money to take one of these courses I need a bit of guidance to find one that has decent materials and teachers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repede Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I can't speak about the course itself, but based on what I've seen with the self-study materials, I'd have to favour EK. EK is VERY good at giving you what you need to know, and they generally leave out the extra details so you don't have to worry about "should I learn this or not". Especially Organic Chemistry - Princeton and Kaplan go pretty over-the-top with the information in that section. EK materials also try to have you understand things so you have an intuitive feel, rather than just plug things into formulas, which is a massive help under time constraints. As for VR, I really dislike Princeton's approach, but find EK's very very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tberry3 Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I can't speak about the course itself, but based on what I've seen with the self-study materials, I'd have to favour EK. EK is VERY good at giving you what you need to know, and they generally leave out the extra details so you don't have to worry about "should I learn this or not". Especially Organic Chemistry - Princeton and Kaplan go pretty over-the-top with the information in that section. EK materials also try to have you understand things so you have an intuitive feel, rather than just plug things into formulas, which is a massive help under time constraints. As for VR, I really dislike Princeton's approach, but find EK's very very helpful. I've been leaning towards choosing EK for myself, although I've heard a few people say that in some instances it doesn't give enough information (especially if you don't have a strong background in a particular area). I've never taken an Organic Chemistry course; for those who have used EK, would you say it would be enough to prepare me for that section of the MCAT? Or would I be better served to try something more in-depth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerBlue Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I just took prep 101 this past summer, and honestly i didn't think it was worth the money. I never took any physics, and the teacher they had for that section was the worst! they also give you their own books for each section in addition to the EK books which are good but definitely not as good as the EK books. they also give you access to 8 practice exams which is awesome, but you can buy the codes yourself. so what i would do is buy the EK books, and buy the exam codes...theyre 35 bucks an exam so all in all you would be spending around 750 compared to the 2000 you would for prep 101. The teachers vary though depending on where you are, so maybe the teachers in your area will be better than the ones we had. I pretty much just self studied in the end and got a 36R (but only a 7 in PS) so I am gonna re-write the exam after i take physics in the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerBlue Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I've been leaning towards choosing EK for myself, although I've heard a few people say that in some instances it doesn't give enough information (especially if you don't have a strong background in a particular area). I've never taken an Organic Chemistry course; for those who have used EK, would you say it would be enough to prepare me for that section of the MCAT? Or would I be better served to try something more in-depth? i never took physics and the EK book was alright..i ended up only getting a 7 in PS...but for ochem, I could see the EK books being good enough. I only took the first ochem (and only got a C in the class) and got a 15 in the BS portion of the exam so the EK definitely was enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 I took Prep101 too and overall I liked it, but in the end, it comes down to YOU in terms of how well you will do. I liked it because they used EK books, and supplemented that with their course companions (of which I especially liked the biology and chemistry one...orgo was good too), and the AAMC exams which they made you do every week (which, IMO is better than doing practice tests from other prep companies, unless you are looking for additional exams then they are useful I am sure). The teachers depend on your location, mine were overall good, especially Verbal which was where I was struggling the most. But if you haven't taken the science in quite a while, I'd recommend the course. TPR is better for the subjects you are really struggling with as they are much more comprehensive (their chem/physics book is great), but stick with EK for bio and verbal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebe Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 I took Kaplans this past summer and rather enjoyed it, but I have a science major. I have the Prep101 and EK study materials, and I feel that Kaplans and Prep101 are rather similar in terms of structure and content. Both Kaplans and Prep101 has a nice focus on the basics but they do require a certain level of background understanding (high school science is probably enough). The books for Prep101 are much more detailed (I'm not sure if the content will be covered in as much detail in class), but I felt it went a bit overboard in terms of the sheer amount of materials there are. I found Kaplans pretty good overall (they actually managed to teach me orgochem!), the important stuff are found in the books while the background are available online.(I never looked at them, so I don't know how good they are. ) EK books are good only if you have a good grasp of the information already, it focuses on the high-yield questions and concepts. I would say that it is great for renewing and reinforcing your understanding of materials that you already know, but it doesn't teach novel concepts to enough detail for you to completely grasp them (which is very very important for the MCAT). Overall, I'd recommend (Kaplans or Prep101) + EK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz30 Posted November 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Thanks for the responses. Looks like Kaplan is the only one that will remotely fit my schedule and I'm debating taking their online version. Anyone have any experience with that? Seems like it mimics the traditional in class course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheStead Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hi, I have been out of school for 3 years now and was worried about refreshing the material for the mcat. I took Prep101 this summer and I found that it was really helpful. Because I am also working, the flexible schedule allowed me to get to most of the classes. The instuctors were great and the books they provided were very helpful. I hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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