Kaplan’s 2015 MCAT Prep Live Online Course: Initial Impressions

This blog’s wide range of coverage from Septuagint studies to parenting updates, from musings about the good life (and good music) to app reviews… is nothing compared to the amount of content my wife has to learn for her MCAT exam.

To help her prepare, she’s taking an MCAT prep course through Kaplan Test Prep. Here are some of the books I’ve seen her working through regularly the last months:

More specifically, she’s doing the Live Online MCAT Prep course:

Enjoy the structure, support, and convenience of learning from an engaging, score-qualified MCAT instructor in an online classroom environment. Off-camera instructors are also available during every class to answer your private questions in real-time. Plus. you’ll get additional live instruction from our highest-rated MCAT experts via The MCAT Channel.

As she draws near the testing date, I think it’s the full-length practice tests that have been most useful–a dozen are included. You receive your score right away, with a chance to work through missed questions. There’s plenty of good science content, of course, and the test-taking tips and strategies offer an extra boost in preparation.

The course includes many hours of live, interactive, and pre-recorded video instruction. I’ve also seen my wife take advantage of the MCAT Channel, which is live instruction above and beyond the regular weekly course time. Eric Chiu, Executive Director of Pre-Medical Programs at Kaplan, puts it this way:

And we’re the only company that offers the MCAT Channel. It makes available live instruction, six days a week: Monday through Thursday evenings, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, as well as weekday summer afternoons. Students can log in to the channel if they need more help. This allows students to pinpoint where they need content review. We place our most expert (10 best, top-rated by others) instructors here. The MCAT Channel allows students to get questions answered in real time.

(Read more of part 1 of my interview with Eric here.)

Here are some more initial impressions from the course, courtesy of the course-taker herself:

• It’s well-structured and well-staffed
• It’s flexible, but to take advantage of the offering, it requires a significant investment of time–for the class, the homework, and the reading
• The staff are encouraging and available–they want to be in touch to help
• The online course has been technically smooth, even though we have an old computer (2008! going strong… sort of)
• The program and videos have all streamed smoothly
• There’s helpful information about applying for med school and AAMC updates
• Instructors are knowledgeable
• The course includes very helpful online resources with instructions and encouragement to use them

We’ll write more about individual components of the course later on, as well. Learn more about the Live Online MCAT Prep course here.

Many thanks to Kaplan for giving us access to the Live Online MCAT Prep course for the purposes of offering an unbiased review. More to follow.