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Does anyone know where I would be able to get a cheap copy of Qbank?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Cheap copy of Qbank?
- Thread starter ussdfiant
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copy of qbank? do you mean qbook? qbank is online, ain't it?
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It is online, but you can get a copy of screen shots off of ebay. I have one and it is completely useless.
They do offer group rates for 50+ students which runs about $70 cheaper than their published price.
I don't think this is something that you want to skimp on. If you think about it, you are paying $100,000+ for medical school, why skimp on a $200 study aid for perhaps the biggest and most important test of your life? Your scores are pretty much going to tell you when, where, what, and how you are going to practice the rest of your life.
Try to scrape by using screen shots and 6 year old questions???? Not a chance. Suck it up, pay the $200, and rock the boards!!!!! Then when you are pulling in $500/colonoscopy which takes 20 minutes, you can think "boy, that was silly when I was worrying about that $200 QBank thing"
They do offer group rates for 50+ students which runs about $70 cheaper than their published price.
I don't think this is something that you want to skimp on. If you think about it, you are paying $100,000+ for medical school, why skimp on a $200 study aid for perhaps the biggest and most important test of your life? Your scores are pretty much going to tell you when, where, what, and how you are going to practice the rest of your life.
Try to scrape by using screen shots and 6 year old questions???? Not a chance. Suck it up, pay the $200, and rock the boards!!!!! Then when you are pulling in $500/colonoscopy which takes 20 minutes, you can think "boy, that was silly when I was worrying about that $200 QBank thing"
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I have a copy of QBank that is in word format (i dont know how they did it) so it is better than the screen shot version, but still isnt interactive and doesnt simulate the real thing. I still went ahead and bough QBank.
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not that i'm advocating a copied version of qbank, but seeing as if theyre the same questions with the same answers/explanation shouldnt the same amount of knowledge as well as the usefulness of it be equivalent to that of the real qbank?
granted you wont be able to track your score (i assume you'll have to manually do it)....
just wondering and curious.
granted you wont be able to track your score (i assume you'll have to manually do it)....
just wondering and curious.
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I "have a friend" 
that has Qbank and IVQbank on CD. It is in web format much like the Web Path CD that you can click through just as if you were online.
They're out there.
that has Qbank and IVQbank on CD. It is in web format much like the Web Path CD that you can click through just as if you were online.They're out there.
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Originally posted by Goofyone
I "have a friend"
They're out there.
That's what I had in mind.
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I rummaged around on the CD that I have and it has that type as well.
It's in HTML format, but the differences is that it:
1. doesn't keep track of what you've missed/passed
2. doesn't log what you've reviewed, or provide feeback
3. when you want to look at an answer, you have to scroll through ALL the answers. i.e. it does pull up an answer list, but it has all answers to the entire block. so if you are on #53, you start at answer number 1, every time.
The CD that I have also has the BSS, which acts much more like a program w/feedback and selected answers etc.
Hope this helps.
BTW, I'm not a salesman for Kaplan, I obviously bought the CD from Ebay for the same reason, and I am not going to use it for the QBank stuff as much as for the BSS. It was listed on Ebay for around $12, and title is something like 10,000 exam Q's for USMLE etc.
It's in HTML format, but the differences is that it:
1. doesn't keep track of what you've missed/passed
2. doesn't log what you've reviewed, or provide feeback
3. when you want to look at an answer, you have to scroll through ALL the answers. i.e. it does pull up an answer list, but it has all answers to the entire block. so if you are on #53, you start at answer number 1, every time.
The CD that I have also has the BSS, which acts much more like a program w/feedback and selected answers etc.
Hope this helps.
BTW, I'm not a salesman for Kaplan, I obviously bought the CD from Ebay for the same reason, and I am not going to use it for the QBank stuff as much as for the BSS. It was listed on Ebay for around $12, and title is something like 10,000 exam Q's for USMLE etc.
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That's the way mine, er I mean my "friend's" is. The answer thing to me is a minor problem. I'd rather take a block of 50 or so questions under timed conditions, and then go back and look at my answers. This way I'll get in a rhythm of thinking more efficiently.
It's a minor inconvenience, I think, for the hundreds of dollars that my "friend" is saving.
Funny thing is, if they charged a reasonable price, I'd bet they'd sell way more subscriptions and make way more money.
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Yeah, $$$ is a pain in the butt.
I just sent out a group email to the class and got about 120 people that where interested. I then asked the admin to chip in some money (after all, our pass rate directly corrolates w/thier status as a good school). They chipped in $2000, and then Kaplan gave us around $80 off for the group rate. Final amt was $163/person for 3 months. Not too bad, but I agree, it is spendy, but then again, what isn't spendy in medical school??
I just sent out a group email to the class and got about 120 people that where interested. I then asked the admin to chip in some money (after all, our pass rate directly corrolates w/thier status as a good school). They chipped in $2000, and then Kaplan gave us around $80 off for the group rate. Final amt was $163/person for 3 months. Not too bad, but I agree, it is spendy, but then again, what isn't spendy in medical school??
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not to offend anyone, but qbank and iv qbank together is really only around $350 for 9 months. now when that is compared to the $35,000 that you are paying per year for tuition, is saving a couple hundred dollars worth it when it might mean just one more challenge to studying for the boards? i guess just another point of view. not to condone the price qbank goes for...
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that price is off. qbank aone is 149 a month, and IV qbank is like 99 a month. our school got us a deal for qbank for 3+ months for 249.
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oh. maybe every deal with Kaplan is different. this year, it cost me 349 for nine months of qbank and iv qbank combined. it all got set up through our AMSA president. i guess you just have to negotiate with them. good luck on the boards no matter what you pay for qbank. cheers.
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When BRS path (which is more superior than any book Kaplan writes) only cost $30, I do not think it is reasonable for Kaplan to charge so much for their products. Look at the prices on Kaplan sites, $750 for webprep (80 hours of audio and seven books) or $500 for Homestudy (two big books plus Qbook).
Just because we spend $30K on tuition doesn't mean we should spend $200 on one Kaplan book. I mean, we do not go out to buy a $100 beer, don't we?
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Just for the record, I believe in the free market and the protection of property rights and I don't think we should look to pirate copies of qbank. We can all sit around and talk about why we think the price is overinflated but the simple truth is the Kaplan people went and saw an opportunity to offer real value, worked hard to create a meaningful, useful, powerful tool and now are trying to recoup their investment, extend their brand, and get a reasonable rate of return on their investment. If you disagree with them, beat them out by offering a product that delivers more value.
Think of the some of the costs to them.
1. The difficulty in maintaining a strong brand. Think about it, Kaplan like Coke, or McDonalds is the undisputed leader in educational preparation. QBank is basically universally recommended as good amazing, one of the best etc etc. They worked had to build an awesome prep tool because they couldn't have put out a bad product without damaging a VERY successful brand. Don't think carrying out something of this magnitude is easy.
2. Hire experts, not just random people, to write ~2500 questions, fake answers, AND explanations as to why each answer is right and each answer is wrong. And the questions are good. really good.
3. Write software to design, code, program, test, maintain, support, market and improve the product. (building it was easily a 10-15 person 12-15 month job just to design and implement that cost them millions, and yes I used to design ebusinesses)
4. Maintain the infrastructure to support these people: office staff, rent, heat, IT, network, health care insurance all adds up and it isn't cheap.
4. The cost of capital to fund this project, and expected ROI. Let's say the cost to fund this initially was $1-3 million USD and that might actually be low. They've got to expect some reasonable return right? And remember, time value of money, maintenance, support and upgrade costs, etc.
5. Risk they take on in starting the product and fighting off competitors like BPI, Princeton review, etc.
If you think they're making such a killing, get your friends together after the boards and make a competing product and price it lower and make a killing. This is what the authors of First Aid did and they've started a cottage industry. Textbooks are readily available for knowledge. Apache, JBoss, PostgresSQL, Java or Perl, are all widely available open source (free) tools to build such a website. All you need is content, technical know-how, capital, and courage.
What I disagree with and what is rampant amongst us on this board is a sense of entitlement and lawlessness where we just take other people's copyrighted, trademarked whatever material (btw, IANAL), because we "can't afford it". That to me is illegal, immoral, unfair and unethical. Ask yourself honestly if you don't think you're stealing from Kaplan. A disappointing showing from the medical community, a group that prides itself on the opposite standards, and which society holds to the same standards. Because I choose to criticize, i will not do so anonymously.
David Chen
Think of the some of the costs to them.
1. The difficulty in maintaining a strong brand. Think about it, Kaplan like Coke, or McDonalds is the undisputed leader in educational preparation. QBank is basically universally recommended as good amazing, one of the best etc etc. They worked had to build an awesome prep tool because they couldn't have put out a bad product without damaging a VERY successful brand. Don't think carrying out something of this magnitude is easy.
2. Hire experts, not just random people, to write ~2500 questions, fake answers, AND explanations as to why each answer is right and each answer is wrong. And the questions are good. really good.
3. Write software to design, code, program, test, maintain, support, market and improve the product. (building it was easily a 10-15 person 12-15 month job just to design and implement that cost them millions, and yes I used to design ebusinesses)
4. Maintain the infrastructure to support these people: office staff, rent, heat, IT, network, health care insurance all adds up and it isn't cheap.
4. The cost of capital to fund this project, and expected ROI. Let's say the cost to fund this initially was $1-3 million USD and that might actually be low. They've got to expect some reasonable return right? And remember, time value of money, maintenance, support and upgrade costs, etc.
5. Risk they take on in starting the product and fighting off competitors like BPI, Princeton review, etc.
If you think they're making such a killing, get your friends together after the boards and make a competing product and price it lower and make a killing. This is what the authors of First Aid did and they've started a cottage industry. Textbooks are readily available for knowledge. Apache, JBoss, PostgresSQL, Java or Perl, are all widely available open source (free) tools to build such a website. All you need is content, technical know-how, capital, and courage.
What I disagree with and what is rampant amongst us on this board is a sense of entitlement and lawlessness where we just take other people's copyrighted, trademarked whatever material (btw, IANAL), because we "can't afford it". That to me is illegal, immoral, unfair and unethical. Ask yourself honestly if you don't think you're stealing from Kaplan. A disappointing showing from the medical community, a group that prides itself on the opposite standards, and which society holds to the same standards. Because I choose to criticize, i will not do so anonymously.
David Chen
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Way to put it. I fully believe in exactly what you said. When I bought the CD from Ebay it was titled "Thousands of USMLE type Questions", only after I recieved it did I realize that it had QBank, USMLE, BSS, and several others all compiled. What the seller did was just milk those companies for their product, market it as his own and is now pulling profit from thier expense.
Kaplan is an outstanding company, and it baffles me when students say "I'm not going to buy this because it is $200" when they turn around and spend $30,000 on med school, not to mention cable TV etc. Bottom line is, that if you use thier product without paying for it, you are a THEIF. Not a cheapskate, not a starving student, but a THEIF who is no better than the exact same ones that steal car stereos. You can rationalize it any way that you want, but you are using someones product without paying for it=stealing.
Like I posted above, the CD that I bought on Ebay was NOT GREAT, save your money!!!! I don't think that it helps nearly as much as the real QBank (yes, I did eventually purchase the QBank and ditched the disk) which provides full feedback.
Lastly, Kaplan offers a buttload of products that are cheaper when given as a group rate. All you have to do is email them and they'll get the ball rolling for your school. I know that several options were well above $100-$300 off just by getting 50 people to sign up, which is pretty damn easy.
(oh, and my screen name is my real name, I'll stand behind what I post)
Kaplan is an outstanding company, and it baffles me when students say "I'm not going to buy this because it is $200" when they turn around and spend $30,000 on med school, not to mention cable TV etc. Bottom line is, that if you use thier product without paying for it, you are a THEIF. Not a cheapskate, not a starving student, but a THEIF who is no better than the exact same ones that steal car stereos. You can rationalize it any way that you want, but you are using someones product without paying for it=stealing.
Like I posted above, the CD that I bought on Ebay was NOT GREAT, save your money!!!! I don't think that it helps nearly as much as the real QBank (yes, I did eventually purchase the QBank and ditched the disk) which provides full feedback.
Lastly, Kaplan offers a buttload of products that are cheaper when given as a group rate. All you have to do is email them and they'll get the ball rolling for your school. I know that several options were well above $100-$300 off just by getting 50 people to sign up, which is pretty damn easy.
(oh, and my screen name is my real name, I'll stand behind what I post)
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In a free market like ours, Kaplan is free to charge whatever the market will bear. Obviously, enough people are willing to part with their $350 so that Kaplan can keep the price high. If you think that is a lot, my company charges clients $300,000 for our software that is very specialized for a particular function but could never compare to what Microsoft produces technically. It's all about what the consumer is willing to pay for it.
