<p>Has anyone been in the MCAT Kaplan Summer Intensive Program? I am thinking about enrolling in it for the next summer, but it costs about $8,000, and thats not including room and board. It seems like an intense course and it might just be the right program for me to score high on the MCAT. Is the program worth it? Any insights from someone who has been in the program would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>It’s no different than several of the options Kaplan offers for studying for Step 1, so it’s not that preposterous given the relative importance of each exam.</p>
<p>JWP07 I would suggest that you order some online prep materials or a huge packet of review materials and force yourself to work with them. Maybe even take the online Kaplan course. But $8000 plus tax is so beyond ridiculous that it is not even funny. If you desperately need the structure imposed on you look into a crash course program at your local school or something. Don’t spend the equivalent of a used car on a month or so of classes.</p>
<p>$8,000 is expensive but might be worthwhile considering it is an investment for the future and that it’s only 6 weeks long of hardcore studying. But I guess I can still do fine if I commit myself to studying a lot for one summer.</p>
<p>I guess it also depends on your personal commitment, I know that norcalguy got a 37 after studying pretty seriously on his own combined with a Princeton Review course and that probably didn’t set him back a third of what you were talking about. It’s your life though man and if you think that will be worth it I don’t want to discourage you. Keep in mind though that you are paying for the structure not the material. You can find all of this material from other sources cheaper. If you want that structure, if you think it will improve your score, and if you think that it will build your confidence maybe that is the answer for you. I just think you’d be better off paying for one of the classroom courses, buying yourself some nice review materials, and having a good chunk of pocket change left over. But maybe that’s because I can’t afford $8000. Your financial situation may be completely different and only you can decided whether or not you need that extra boost.</p>
<p>The problem isn’t just that this will cost $10,000 but what exactly are you getting for the $10,000? </p>
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<li><p>320 hours of instruction. Isn’t this only around twice as many hours offered by traditional $1600 prep courses?</p></li>
<li><p>Access to AAMC and Kaplan exams. Any TPR or Kaplan $1600 prep course will offer this. </p></li>
<li><p>A few more hours of office hours and some private tutoring. Heck for an extra $8000, I’ll live with you and tutor you at 4AM if needbe. </p></li>
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<p>If you look at their sample schedule, it’s essentially 1 lecture, a couple of study groups, and a study hall per day. YOU CAN DO THAT AT HOME. Get together a couple of people from your prep course and study together outside of class. Boom. Instant “recitation.” Study at home or in the library. Boom. Instant study hall. Book a private tutor if you need private tutoring to supplement your studying.</p>
<p>Do you have any statistics about score improvement in this program vs. traditional programs? Does Kaplan offer some sort of score guarantee?</p>
<p>The guy I spoke to from Kaplan said that most people come into the program from anywhere in the 20’s and less, and they all leave the program scoring above 30. One student came in with 22 and left with 35, it all ranges. They only guarantee a higher score. He said if you want to do the best you possibly can on the MCAT, this is definitely the program to be in (obviously hes trying to sell). In a way he is right. For example, the program offers instructors that are on call until 11 PM for any questions you may have and there are only 50 students in the program, so you will have lots of 1 on 1 time with the many instructors that are working. Without a doubt, I would do this program if it was much much cheaper than $8,000. I guess the first thing I will do is take a practice MCAT and go from there. If you guys don’t mind me asking, what were your scores the first time you took the MCAT (or practice) and your final score after taking a prep course (include which kind of prep course). Thanks for all of your posts, they have been really helpful in saving me thousands of dollars!</p>
<p>Are you really going to have a burning question that just can’t wait to be answered at your next classroom session or via your next email?</p>
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<p>Private tutoring costs less and give you even more 1-on-1 time.</p>
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<p>Kaplan classroom course, also a nine point increase.</p>
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<p>You could go from there, or you could consider that several very successful MCAT takers think this is ridiculous overkill.</p>
<p>If you’ve got $8000 to burn, spend $1500 or whatever on a prep course or private tutoring. Use the other $6500 to pay college tuition or something.</p>
<p>Even anecdotaly, this isn’t anything extraordinary. As I said on another recent thread, most of the 35+ scorers I’ve seen scored in the low-mid 20’s on their diagnostic.</p>
<p>If he wants to sell you the program, he needs to show that this $10,000 program is better than the $1600 program. That means pulling out a chart that says “People in the $1600 program had an average 10 pt. increase. People in the $10,000 program had an average 15 pt. increase.” I don’t think you can make a convincing argument for this program without proving that it works better than the $1600 program. </p>
<p>Now, if he’ll guarantee a 30 or above or your money back, then that’s at least something (although I personally still wouldn’t do it). But, I’m guessing he’s not going to do that.</p>
<p>I know someone who took the standard Kaplan course last year and improved from a diagnostic score of 27 to a 39 on the MCAT.</p>
<p>What do you expect them to say? It’s not worth it? They are trying to sell the $8000 programs…and they have to sell four plus regular programs to equal the revenue of one “intensive” program.</p>
<p>Save your money, take the regular program and take lots of practice tests.</p>
<p>Yes people do sign up for them. There are a lot of nervous pre-meds out there with parents who have too much money. I don’t mean to stereotype but this type of program also draws in a lot of foreign students who likely had a very poor initial MCAT. I think to some extent cultural biases and thoughts on education play a large part in the appeal of such a program. There are certain countries where the expectation is that if you simply spend enough time studying, you’ll eventually learn everything, and you’ll have no choice but to succeed. I know that some of my ex-gf’s classmates fit this stereotype when it came to boards prep. They literally felt they had to know everything for the USMLE and scoffed at me for focusing only on high yield topics. </p>
<p>Personally, I took a standard Kaplan course and saw an 8 point increase.</p>
<p>My class technically ran from May 23rd to August 3rd (with practice exams, etc.), but the classes themselves (with the instructor) ran from June 1st to July 28th. We met twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, from 6-9 PM. Friends started similar length Kaplan courses from up to two weeks earlier than me to a week later.</p>