For those of you who are or have taken the Kaplan course in the classroom setting, what do you think you get in addition to what I may be getting from taking the course online. Im just wondering, since you have access to the online stuff plus the classes, whats the difference?
Also, hows it going so far?
Tim
Hey,
As a whole I was disapointed with the class room version of the Kaplan review course that I took. The quality is probably highly instructor dependent but I found a lot of facutal errors being put out in the class that were often not corrected when questioned. This made me highly skeptical of all the other information (that I did not know) being presented. Examples that come to mind are: 1) the “AV node is located in the apex of the right ventical”, 2) "just a tip for all the girls out there, don’t have your weight measured in high heels because the increased pressure of the heel on the scale will make you weigh more, and 3) “when you hear the word pastoral it is telling you that a story will be told”. These are a few that come to mind immediately. There were unfortunately, many more.
Just my 2 cents based on my experience but I would think that the online study program is higly scripted and that the script has been editied for content. My advice is whatever you choose, make certain to take all the practice exams that you can.
Good luck! Barring the great fortune of getting admitted this spring, I will be suffering along with you this April.
I would say that the biggest “extra” people get from the classroom course is the ability to ask the instructor questions. Of course, like the previous poster said, the usefulness of that is going to depend on the experience of the instructor. I would advise anyone planning to take a course, whether at Kaplan or any other company, to research the instructors beforehand. This isn’t always easy to do, as there tends to be high instructor turnover at all test prep companies, and many classes may be taught by multiple instructors. TPR actually does that on purpose, arguing that their instructors are each “experts” on their particular topic. At Kaplan, it depends on the instructor. Some tend to teach only one or two subjects for more than one class section, and others, like myself, teach an entire course from start to finish for a single class section. I personally think that most students prefer to have a single instructor, and if this is YOUR preference, you should definitely ask about it when signing up for a course.
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For those of you who are or have taken the Kaplan course in the classroom setting, what do you think you get in addition to what I may be getting from taking the course online. Im just wondering, since you have access to the online stuff plus the classes, whats the difference?
Also, hows it going so far?
Tim
My take, after the first 3 weekends of Kaplan were over, was that I would get a LOT more out of really getting the ExamKrackers stuff down cold (I have the CD’s and the books). I have been working furiously on that stuff and it is really paying off for me. I intend to use Kaplan for some test-taking strategy (they’re pretty good at that, it seems), their online materials, their organization of my time to prepare for the practice exams, and of course most importantly for the full-length, practice exam experiences themselves. Otherwise, sitting in the classes and expecting to get content is pretty much a waste of time I could be spent using ExamKrackers for a MUCH better presentation of the content I need.
As mentioned by others, however, this is perhaps largely dependant on the instructor. Ours is about 23 years old, oriental (I say this for the following reason) and TOTALLY reminds me of Sandra Oh’s character on Grey’s Anatomy. She has the personal communication skills of maybe a rock, is really inexperienced and kind of has one of those “I know more than anyone else here” attitudes (I don’t think she really means to come off that way, but she seems a little insecure and maybe it just comes out because of that).
Anyway, I think Kaplan classroom is ok for the first reasons above, but as far as depending on it for content, my opinion is “no way,” at this point.
Sam
Sorry to hear that your instructor doesn’t live up to your expectations. I somehow doubt that her ethnicity has anything to do with it (based on experience 
).
I have heard that the quality of instruction can vary greatly by region and by office. The three teachers I have had here in Boston have all been superb. My main man is a Harvard senior and he is excellent; patient, funny, knows his stuff. The other two were very good.
I like the live classroom approach because the social interaction helps keep me entertained. Plus I would probably not be as committed and dedicated if I were just doing the books or the online lecture format. Part of what motivates me to keep up with the reading is to not look like an ignoramus in front of the others, sort of a competitive thing I suppose but there’s a satisfaction to being both the oldest one in the class and still able to keep up with the young’uns 
I have to admit though, last night I was in a class with some undergrads who were so smart it was scary.
Premed studies; keeps ya’ humble!
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Sorry to hear that your instructor doesn’t live up to your expectations. I somehow doubt that her ethnicity has anything to do with it (based on experience
Yeah, that definitely wasn’t my meaning, but the comparison to Sandra Oh’s character in Grey’s Anatomy is close enough to be almost scary.
Sam