kaplan -

[ArchivalUser]

guest

hello dear every one,
first of all many congratulations on passing the other steps, and best of luck for ur upcoming step 3 exam.

i am an img, and due to my passion to medical field would like to go for the monster called step one exam. but my negative voice stops me from doing so constantly and i do waste my time just thinking whether i can do it or not.
any how, i am a keen reader of ur posts and replys for the past few times and most of my questions have been and are being answered through ur posts and replys, so in this regard i do thank u all for helping each other in this busy life. and the reasone i post my q's here is : as u guys are done with ur other steps so i thought may be u guys can help or u may share your experiences.

my todays q's are about kaplans live lectures to those in the u.s:
-is there any one who has gone through the 14 wks of kaps live lecture? if yes would you plz share ur experience,

-and how about 6 or 7 wks live lectures, i know its an intence course, but is it really enough time to review all topics?

-as i have gotten from some posts that its good to be prepared or have gone through the notes 2 times before the live lecture, what if one due to some prob starts with live lectures and then do the center or self study, can one manage the live lectures as starting point with nice out come?
(though ones own hard work will bring a nice out come but still i would appreciate ur advises)
thanks in advance for ur kind replys
best of luck to all
guest

[ArchivalUser]

Brian

Don't take the Kaplan live lecture course. It's the best way to waste your money. I took the both live lectures ( step 1 and step 2) in Pasadena CA and I'm regretted. It's not worth it. Kaplan just wants to take as much money from us as it can. The same thing in video course but shorter, that's it.

[ArchivalUser]

IMG

GUEST THE CHEAP PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T TAKE KAPLAN LIVE LECTURES ARE STRUGGLING HERE LIKE SHEEP BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAP TO PAY FOR LIVE LECTURES AND THEY ARE HERE ASKING OTHER SHEEP ON HOW TO PASS THESE EXAMS. KAPLAN LIVE LECTURES ARE THE BEST. I TOOK THEM FOR ALL STEPS AND GOT 95, 99, 93. AND NOT IN ENT RESIDENCY. WHILE THESE SHEEPY MORON KEEP POSTING.

[ArchivalUser]

guest

dear brain,
thanks for taking the time and sharing your experiance, i appretiate it. do u think that each kaplan live prep center, i mean the lecturers are diffirent in each kaplan center, or the same.

dear IMG,
thanks for sharing your experiance, and congratulations on ur nice scors. i dont agree with your cheap people idea, plz take it easy, no ppl discrimanation plz, u can share ur experience with out being offensive to your fellow doctors.
which center u were taking those live lectures dear img, if u would let me know, i heard a lot about goljan, which center he teaches in, i think he is not anymore with kaplan do u have any idea about.

thanks again from ur suggestions, but i m really confused. so i would highly appreciate if others would also share thier experience in this regard, or any study plan suggestion most welcome.
regards

[ArchivalUser]

ucla

Guest all the kaplan centers have the same material. Live lectures are excellent in the sense that it gets you motivated to sit for 8 hours a day with other students like you. If you can study on your own then just buy the kaplan material ans do that, however in live lectures the instructors are there to expalin any questions you might have. True kaplan is costly however it is a good investment if you have the money. From my experience when you take a ive lectures the instructors will have up to date info that was just tested and they will go over it, while on the other hand if you just have the books you will not get that extra tip. all in all Kaplan is the way to go. Good Luck in your studies and ace that exam.

[ArchivalUser]

ucla

Brian, I am just curious on why you did take step 2 after you have completed step 1 and was disappointed? I wonder about that. but anyways good luck to you too.

[ArchivalUser]

guest

dear ucla,
thank you so much for answering my q's, ur suggestions, and ur nice wishes. i have some more questions, in case i was going with the live lecture option, which center (location wise) u will suggest, and how well i need to be prepared before the lectures (i am a slow reader), i know my own hard work counts first, but is the 6 week live lecture enough time to get the most out of it.
sorry for silly q's but i am really worried which way to go.
thanks in advance for taking ur time answering my q's
best wishes

[ArchivalUser]

ucla

Guest, you are very welcome and I hope i can help. First of all, I don't know what state you are located, but if Live lectures are not offered there then I guess any center would be good. For me I took mine in Pasadena California because I live here. When i had my live lectures I was not aware of the different instructors they have. After I took it I was told that for pathology the best instructor is Jojlan and make sure you go to the Live lecture that is going to have joljan for pathology because from what i heard and friends told me , he is theking of patho. Secondly, the 6 or 7 weeks does go by pretty fast and they do cover lots of material very fast, so if you are not familiar with the material you will fall behind. What I recommend you do is before you take the live lecture read the kaplan books that they send you if you can 2 reads before you sit in for the live lectures, if you are able to do this trust me then it will be a reivew and you will not be lost at all. Last, after the lectures are over you should not spend more than 6 weeks befe you take the exam. This is my recommendation but again you know where you stand once you start reading. Oh don't forget to do the qbank of kaplan, they have 2000 questions and they are almost like the real exam. Guest if it takes you 6 months or even longer it does not matter, the important thing is you understand all the concepts. for some they take longer to prepare and for others less time, depending there backrounds and other factors. So the bottom line is do it right from the first time so you don't have to review all over again. Again good luck and if you have any other questions post them up and I will answer them the best that i can. Good luck

[ArchivalUser]

guest

dear ucla,
thanks a million for your nice informations and suggestions, i appreciate it.
i am in california, but there are no more lectures held in pasadena for the rest of this year, so if i decided to go for it, i will go either to new jersy or newyork centers. i dont know how are the housing costs in these states. and as i got from step two forum goljan is no more with kaplan.
thanks once more for taking ur time and offering ur help. i will be very happy and thankful, if i will have ur email address, coz once i officialy started studying so i can easily get to u for some or any other related question, i m leaving my email add here, if u send me an email, i will have ur email add. and if u would not prefer to do so, its totally ok, i can post my q's here in this forum for u anytime.
r u preparing for step 3 now, if so wish ya best of luck.

u really helped me make my decision about the program.
best wishes
insightful_m

[ArchivalUser]

Brian

I bought the step 1 and step 2 whole package deluxe prep. That's why I took both live lecture courses. Our group is 3 people. I bought the deluxe prep including live lecture. My 2 friends just studied with video tapes. The time we spent are the same but the scores are different. Both of my friends had around 10 points higher than mine each step ( the 2 digit scores). I'm so disapointed with the live lecture courses because I obviously investigated more than them but gained less. The people in Pasadena center are very nice I mean Kathy Brook ( manager) and George, and they talked about the live lecture exactly like UCLA wrote. I have no idea with IMG because he/she is quite rude. Anyways, I just want to tell you guys my case, no intension to tell you what to do. That is the beauty of this forum,
Brian