Archive MCAT (and possibly other exams) Prep videos

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Shane Walters

13 Haziran 2020 00:03

Hello!

I recently noticed that Khan Academy is planning to focus efforts on specific subjects according to their mission statement. It's not a bad choice and I am not criticizing! Limited resources means focusing efforts, and especially with COVID-19 concerns, K-12 is critical.

My concern with this is specifically related to MCAT videos, but also applies to other test prep videos as well. To the best of my knowledge, Khan Academy offers the most comprehensive and FREE collection of videos covering topics on the MCAT exam. I personally could not afford the $250+ MCAT books offered by various for-profit testing companies, and I imagine I am not alone in that. Applying to medical school is going to be expensive enough as it is, and prohibitive testing and application fees is one of those processes that acts to gatekeep, whether deliberately or unintentionally. Khan Academy prep is one thing that lowers that barrier for many.

With the knowledge that hosting MCAT videos and maintaining prep questions on the website is not sustainable for KA with their limited resources, I would ask that the videos at the least are not discarded. If possible, I think an ideal solution would simply be to collect the same topics into playlists and channels on youtube as a sort of archive, so that they are still accessible in an orderly, easy to follow manner. These videos are such a fantastic resource for pre-med students preparing for the MCAT, and I've recommended them to my mentees in the past, and it would be so devastating if suddenly the topics were unavailable. Can these videos be made available on youtube, even if the practice questions can not? (In general, practice questions are much easier to come by; detailed topics, not so much)

I know several of the topics were actively made specifically with the AAMC to meet the foundational concepts required for the MCAT exam; if using youtube as an archive is not feasible, would it also be possible for the AAMC to participate in or support the hosting of these videos?

tl;dr are there any ways to preserve the MCAT topic videos? KA is the only free resource available for MCAT prep with enough detail for pre-med students to prepare in depth.

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Delaney Villarreal

13 Haziran 2020 22:04
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I found this board with the intention to post this idea myself, but I couldn't have said it any better than Shane already has.

In addition to the financial burden the path to medical school places on students (especially those already in a lower socioeconomic status), I would like to point out that Khan Academy MCAT videos are extensively used simply for their applicability to hard college courses, in addition to the exam prep. These are extremely valuable videos and articles that have been a staple in my college education throughout all years. I don't know if I would have been able to get through some of the hard, basic science courses without the KA resource material currently classified as "MCAT Test Prep". It is a common practice for students of all levels to reference KA when they need their material explained another way. I was so impressed and thankful that KA could still help me, even as a senior in university, as much as it helped me when I was in grade school.

It would be a loss for all college students, as well as all pre-med students, for these resources to become unavailable.
Regina Litman

13 Haziran 2020 23:15
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Was there actually a message posted somewhere regarding the removal of various subjects such as the MCAT test prep? If so, can someone please post a link to it here, or click-through instructions on how to find it.

That said, I've noticed that many of the MCAT Test Prep videos are also stored in the Physics, Chemistry, and probably Biology courses. I hope this doesn't mean that these basic science courses are going to disappear soon! I am about halfway through Chemistry and have not yet started Biology but was hoping to do so by the end of 2020.
Shane Walters

13 Haziran 2020 23:27
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Hi Regina!

I've gotten my information from this page here: https://khanacademy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043801271?utm_email_kaid=kaid_627993830185253927557338

The short of it is that certain topics are being prioritized so that KA can focus resources closer to their Kindergarten through early college education goals.

You're right that there is a huge overlap between chem/phys/bio courses, and I imagine a lot of that will still be intact; I hope that those videos/topics that don't share that same overlap will be preserved in some way, preferably in the same organized format as the current MCAT prep videos are. Even if these topics and practice questions can no longer be hosted on the Khan Academy website, where the questions, comments, and videos are maintained by KA, I am hoping that at least the videos could be stored/archived on youtube in similar formats so that the study materials are right there for future pre-meds looking to save money on MCAT prep costs.

Hope that clarifies!
Regina Litman

14 Haziran 2020 00:00
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Thanks for this information. I think I'm going to immediately take a hiatus from Chemistry and do Math for Fun and Glory and some of the partner content. I don't usually go into that part of the help area, so I never saw this message.
Sunlight

18 Ocak 2021 19:58
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I would hate to see this course get deleted. There is so much valuable information, not just for medical students, but for everybody that wants to learn physiology, psychology, anatomy, and medicine.

Deleting this course would be a huge waste.

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