Berkeley Verbal?

Reaction said:

Is it as difficult as the real MCAT? Does anyone know if it is good?

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It's "ok" practice. Nothing is difficult as the real mcat.

I didn't use the TBR Verbal book when I studied but I used Berkeley's practice tests and the verbal was okay. It seemed a bit different than the real thing. I would say (and its stated many times on this forum) that the best verbal practice is AAMC practice tests, EK 101, and TPRH verbal workbook.

TBR Verbal has a bed rep but for practice... it's good enough. There are tons of material in there.

With that said, I personally think Princeton Review's verbal has the best stuff. I remember them being difficult and pain in the foot to read. That's pretty much how the real MCAT is.

mightymoose02 said:

TBR Verbal has a bed rep but for practice... it's good enough. There are tons of material in there.

With that said, I personally think Princeton Review's verbal has the best stuff. I remember them being difficult and pain in the foot to read. That's pretty much how the real MCAT is.

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I agree, TPR and EK are the only ones you need!

Unfortunately the TPRH Verbal Workbook is more difficult to come by than the others, but EK 101 Verbal is easily obtainable online.

gettheleadout said:

Unfortunately the TPRH Verbal Workbook is more difficult to come by than the others, but EK 101 Verbal is easily obtainable online.

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Yeah, you can even buy EK from a bookstore.

Erythropoietin said:

I agree, TPR and EK are the only ones you need!

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yeah EK 101 is good if you are really struggling.

Sometimes, I found that it was "fun" to read some of their passages which allowed me to score into the 10-11. But I figured it wasn't gonna be this interesting on the MCAT... and it wasn't. lol

Still, it's good.

OP, just remember that reading on paper vs. computer may be very different especially when you factor in nerves during the real test.

For me, I read slower on computer than paper.

Yeah paper vs screen reading can really have an effect on your score. I guess that's another reason why people save AAMCs for last, in addition for being the best practice out there.

EK101>TPR Verbal workbook>TBR verbal... In my opinion.

But all practice is good practice even if some is better then others.

gettheleadout said:

Unfortunately the TPRH Verbal Workbook is more difficult to come by than the others, but EK 101 Verbal is easily obtainable online.

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Yeah, it is a real shame that the TPRH Verbal Workbook is so difficult to come across (and very expensive if you do find it).

I found that TPRH was the best prep for the verbal section especially in terms of how the passages were written. EK 101 is very good as well but all (or the vast majority) of the passages are pretty straight forward and not too difficult to read. They also include more "fun" topics which the AAMC doesn't tend to include on the actual MCAT (at least in my experience).

I think TPRH does a better job of mixing in some tougher passages here and there which you are likely to encounter on the real thing. That's no stab against EK 101 - I think its a great tool and their questions are pretty spot on. In terms of the reading you are going to encounter on the MCAT, though, TPRH is as good of a resource as there is out there. Its a shame its not more easily accessible.