Hello everyone, I know that a lot of you may want to know a little bit more about the review programs that are out there so I thought that I would step-up and write one for the Kaplan course that I took. Hopefully this will encourage others to do the same, (especially for the rivaling PASS program in Illinois).

I started the Kaplan Live Lectures in P****ena, California on January 9th and just finished yesterday on February 25th. That’s 7 weeks at 6 days a week, you are forced to take one day off per week in order to relax and allow your brain to rest. Kaplan claims that this has proven to be a better method than studying 7 days a week. They have the numbers to prove that people who take a day off do better on Step 1.

First impressions: The test center is located in a very nice area of Los Angeles county, where great hotels, motels, and restaurants are easily found. The test center’s largest classroom is used to house the Step 1 class. Each class has a proctor in it to help the students with anything that they may need. Surprisingly, the class was filled with FMG’s from other countries, and a handful of us Caribbean med students. There were no more than 8 U.S. medical students in my entire class. Most of the FMG’s were already doctors in their home countries who only needed to pass all 3 USMLE Step exams in order to practice in the US.

Transportation: Unless you live pretty close by, I wouldn’t bother commuting. Los Angeles is famous for horrid traffic and P****ena proves that stereotype true almost daily. I think it would be best to stay at a local motel like I did, in order to lessen your stress. I live only 45 minutes away in Orange County, and even I decided against driving from home to the test center everyday, since I would have to get up at 5am in order to fight the hellish morning traffic that would turn my commute into a 2 hour ordeal of misery. Not to mention that classes let out in the afternoon, which means you have to fight traffic back home too. In a nutshell, the less you commute the better.

Lodging: The test center has a list of hotels and motels that are nearby that you can stay at. I preferred the Travelodge Motel, because it was cheap yet not lacking in too many amenities. I paid $324 + tax per week, which came to $372.15 per week.

Course outline: The course begins with a multi-subject assessment exam that allows them to gauge your strengths and weaknesses. After each topic is finished, you will be given another assessment exam that is on the subject you just finished. The course is taught by the same professors that wrote the Kaplan books. Needless to say they are very knowledgeable and thorough in their teaching. The Kaplan test center has a USMLE director that meets with everyone at least once to teach them how to study on their own once the course is over. You see the Kaplan Live Lectures are designed for you to take good notes in so that you may then review the material that was taught, twice. The first time is a thorough review, the second time is a quick review using Qbook. Then you do the Qbank thoroughly. It may take you 3 full months after the course is over until you are truly ready for the exam. So, if you don’t feel that you can or want to give up that much time, then this course is clearly not for you.

Note: I know that SMU tells us all to study, take, and have our Step 1 scores sent out in one semester’s time. But for many students such as myself, this is an impossible task. Especially if you had to take Path 2 your fifth semester because you were a transfer student, since that meant you were never able to study your Kaplan books or videos during 5th semester.

Misconceptions: First off, I know that few people at SMU are happy that Kaplan was forced on them, and have yet to associate Kaplan with anything positive, but the fact of the matter remains that Kaplan has been around longer and has trained more future physicians than any other test preparation company. Secondly, I know that many students find the Kaplan books to be lacking. I actually agree with them, because the books were designed to be used in conjunction with the live lectures or at the very least the videos.

Conclusion: Personally, I felt that this course was well worth the money. The instructors were excellent for the most part, and seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of what the USMLE will test you on. They gave me both direction and discipline. However, truth be told, my true studying does not begin until tomorrow. That’s where the rubber meets the road and you have to take it upon yourself to study diligently. Therefore, if I’m absent from this forum or unable to answer your questions, you will have to forgive me. So wish me good luck, and I wish the best for you as well. Hope this post helped make your decision a bit easier. Take care.

Good luck Mehrdad, and I hope you crush the boards. Thanks for sharing your experience with Kaplan. I'm sure people will find the info useful.

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Juni

bummer, I wanted to read this after exams where over. I never would have thought to look for it here . Too many places to read.

Thanks for the thorough heads up

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"Wisdom begins in wonder"