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Prep Courses: Are They Worth the Money?

Pinchiehchiang272x723Pin-Chieh Chiang -- It’s that time again. When the prep course representative comes to visit your school, you know there must be a big test coming up. I’ve taken prep courses for SATs and MCATs. Now I get to look forward to that wonderful big end of 2nd year: boards. MDs in training take USMLE, and DOs in training take COMLEX. I will probably be taking both, but that discussion is for a whole other entry.

Statistics have shown that there are no differences in students’ performances on boards between those who’ve taken prep courses and those who opted not to. My professors have told my class many times that if we do well in classes, we will pass the boards. However, what if you want more than to just “pass” the boards? I don’t even want to start and think about the residency match process and all that fun of dressing up for interviews again.

So, a prep course representative came to my school a couple of weeks ago to give a presentation about what they offer. Just to show how nervous we already are about boards, all this was actually organized by fellow classmates. The representative explained to us what their classes were like, how their questions were structured so similar to the real thing, and the price breakdown. Basically, the grand package with all the questions, internet interface, and classes comes to $1099. Plus, if you sign up right then and there, you get this handy dandy orange book of questions that you can carry around with you anywhere you go.

Do I want to spend $1099 for a prep course? Do I really need this to do well on the boards? On the other hand, considering how much I’m already in debt for my education, what’s another $1099? I’ve wished I had first-hand knowledge of what’s it like taking exams without having gone through a prep course. However, I’ve always been the type that needed some hand-holding to get through the process. I can’t even follow a set study schedule for school, not even close, so where am I going to find the discipline to study on my own? As of now, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be following that prep course route all over again.

What do the rest of you think about prep courses for boards? For 3rd and 4th years who’ve recently gone through this process, what did you do? Any advice you guys can offer for 2nd years like me?

October 16, 2006 | Permalink

Comments

Though I haven't taken any part of the USMLE, I remember taking the MCAT twice (yay!) My school offered a prep course where professors reviewed material and volunteer faculty 'proctored' a few practice MCATS. I did that my first time around. My second time around, I helped organize an informal study group with friends where we would teach each other our weakest subject in hopes that in learning it to teach it, we could really understand it. What follows is pros and cons of both:

PREP-COURSE
Pros:
*You really get a sense of what the test is like
*Faculty / trained people teach the material
*It's in a set schedule, so you are disciplined to study

Cons:
*The cost
*Less customization of material (example: we only spent 1 week on O-Chem when some of us would have benifited from a few days more of review)
*It tended to be just like another lecture with not much time to ask clarifying questions for fear of delaying the lecture for the rest of the students

STUDY GROUP: (between 3-4 people with all teaching at least one subject)
Pros:
*It's free!
*The group's pace is set by the students involved
*Lessons can be customized to each individual person
*Students feel less guilty or embarrased asking questions because it's not in lecture format

Cons:
*Not as much time spent taking mock tests
*There may be more temptation to be lax on frequency of meeting times
*Study group members may not know how to best study for the exam, so members may study for the wrong things

Hope this helps you and all the other second year students reading this!

Posted by: KT | Oct 17, 2006 7:27:24 PM

I would advise being careful about which course you take. There are a million prep courses out there for Step 1. Just as there are a million different styles to study for the test. Make sure the prep course appeals to your learning style, so you don't feel like it's been a waste of money or time.

Good luck.

Posted by: Med Student | Oct 24, 2006 4:02:39 PM

The current trend at my medical school is to use qbank (from Kaplan), and First Aid (reorganized in the 2006 edition to be systems-based). I am fairly certain that no one in my class took a prep course. My whole class passed. I'm sure there was a range in scores, but some students did exceptionally well, probably based on how much time they invested in studying.
My recommendation is to spend 2-4 solid weeks before boards with First Aid and QBank doing practice questions to get used to the test format. It will also help you work on timing if that is an issue for you. In my opinion there was a strong correlation between topics emphasized in these two review materials and content of the actual exam.
Don't start freaking out yet! If you do your best to be diligent in second year and put aside a few weeks (I took 2) to study really hard right before boards, you can score well above the mean. Of course, if you know your own study habits, you can tailor any program to suit your own needs. Good luck!

Posted by: CO | Oct 24, 2006 6:41:22 PM

I'm a big fan of Kaplan Q-bank: it tracks your correct vs. incorrect answers by topic (i.e. anatomy vs. physiology vs. pathology on Step 1 and pediatrics vs. OB/GYN vs. surgery on Step 2 prep.) It also keeps track by system, i.e. cardiology vs. GI. And the timed scoring makes a huge difference for the actual mechanics of pacing yourself on an all-day timed exam. I used Q-bank for Step 1 and Step 2CK and was very happy with my scores. I don't believe I would have done as well without it...passed, probably, but not above the 50th percentile without the prep. I highly recommend Q-bank! Also for the shelf exams in 3rd year, I recommend Pre-Test, and there's a website where you can download them for Palm Pilot, at www.brainglue.com -- everytime I got through all 500 questions I scored honors on the shelf. I think they really help!

Joe Goodman, MS4
Michigan State (CHM)

Posted by: Joe Goodman | Oct 25, 2006 4:36:19 AM

I got a good score on step one as a foreign student - maybe even better than you'd expect from my grades, and did one month of Kaplan Qbank - no lessons or anything else, and even that not all that much. Probably, the lessons would have helped more - as they target the exact material and really spell it out for you, but I just couldn't justify the money. Also, I wanted to feel like *I* did it, and not because I spent $2000 on their lecture set having it spelled out for me. I didn't want to "buy" my score. (Yes, I probably need therapy.)

The Kaplan analysis of what I was good at and not was fairly useless - it's just not enough questions to really be statistically right. And believe me, everyone in medical school knows what they are good at or not.

The only thing that was really useful was being able to select a subject or system and just test on it.

Posted by: sara | Oct 25, 2006 11:54:26 AM

Having taken the Falcon Review Course, I feel it was a waste of money. The Kaplan Qbanks, First Aid & Goljan are much better.

Posted by: medstudent | Oct 27, 2006 1:03:28 PM

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