Are my old books useless for the MCAT 2015?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

CaliGirl14

No worries.
Removed
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
8,779
Reaction score
11
I had the intentions of taking the MCAT in 2014 so my parents bought me the Berkeley Review, ExamKrackers, TPR Hyperlearning,e.t.c off of Ebay. Unfortunately I won't be able to take it in time and I will have to take the 2015 MCAT. Will I be able to still use these books next year or should I sell them?

Members don't see this ad.
 
They're good up to January 2015. If you can take it that date. However, I'm really not sure how much the contents changed

https://www.aamc.org/students/services/343550/mcat2015.html

It seems like they're gonna add emphasis on biochemistry, add a psychological science section, and just changed the name verbal reasoning to critical analysis and reasoning (cooler name?). The verbal should be the same.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey i've actually e-mailed AAMC myself about the same question and the answer was:

"The new 2015 content will not be administered until the Spring. "

So your books should be good until Spring 2015. However, i don't know what date/month exactly that would correspond to.
 
I had the intentions of taking the MCAT in 2014 so my parents bought me the Berkeley Review, ExamKrackers, TPR Hyperlearning,e.t.c off of Ebay. Unfortunately I won't be able to take it in time and I will have to take the 2015 MCAT. Will I be able to still use these books next year or should I sell them?
The new MCAT will have a much greater focus on testing the general science topics in a "physiological" and/or "biological" manner. The AAMC even stated that gone are the days of a passage describing a ball rolling down an incline plane. These types of concepts will be discussed with a much more biological flavor.

All of that said, the old books would not be "worthless" per se, but I wouldn't use them as my sole studying tool. The content may share some similarities, but the passages & discrete will have a much different flavor on the new MCAT. I would honestly sell them and buy one of the new Kaplan's or TPR's review sets, and don't forget about Khan Academy.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Answer to title: The current science topics of physics, gen chem, org chem, and biology will remain on the exam. Those sections of current MCAT books might still be useful. I know people who are preparing for the 2015 MCAT right now by studying 2014 Examkracker science material. Once the 2015 books come out, they will begin working on biochem, psych and soc.
 
I would go to your local B&N and take a look at the new books & compare it to the ones you have. Check if there are any added chapters & see if the chapters which are the same are still same content wise. Also I would compare practice exam questions in the back. I'm assuming they changed the questions to fit the new exam structure .
 
I would say the old books can be useful, however, I would be careful. Stick to the content outlines provided by the AAMC. If there are a topic in a book or a question that is not covered in the outlines, do not look at it/ do not do the question.
 
I expressed the same concern with the advisors at my school. They said the old books ("current through spring") can be useful, but I wasn't really satisfied with that answer. So this is what I answered back:

As one of the first students taking the new MCAT, I want to have every bases covered and I want to make no mistakes. I also want to abstain from wasting time, money, or missing important information. Therefore, with all due respect, I would like to be certain that the books I own, the ones you refer to as current, have more than just the potential of being useful. I understand I will have to purchase the materials covering the humanities section, but will the 2014 science books (chem, bio, orgo) be commensurate with the 2015 science books? Would you endorse making a 5-month study plan with them? According to the 2009 MR5 report (the report that gave rise to the 2015 MCAT), certain sections such as general chemistry and physics scored below average on an importance rating, thus making me believe that questions on those topics will become less pronounced or perhaps altered in some way. Even more concerning, the AAMC and Exam Krackers have not mentioned anything regarding using old books or buying new ones. This is why I am concerned.

What do you guys think??? Any thoughts?
 
@Hybridezed29er how would they know the answer to that question?? No one has taken the new exam yet. Whatever answer they choose would be BS. For certain use the resources that AAMC is endorsing and some books for content review/ practice problems and follow the AAMC outline.
 
I had the intentions of taking the MCAT in 2014 so my parents bought me the Berkeley Review, ExamKrackers, TPR Hyperlearning,e.t.c off of Ebay. Unfortunately I won't be able to take it in time and I will have to take the 2015 MCAT. Will I be able to still use these books next year or should I sell them?

They're not "useless." They're lacking. They are lacking the new 2015 topics. To my understanding everything on the old 2014 MCAT will still be tested on the 2015 test (even if it's not called by the same name), but new subjects will also be added.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Ive got the outlines and text books...and will be using the old version of TPR science workbook and TBR for practice...Im scared.
 
TTo my understanding everything on the old 2014 MCAT will still be tested on the 2015 test

Careful here - that's wrong and if you just went through all of your old 2014 books you'd be wasting a bit of effort.

You absolutely can use your 2014 books but you need to get the AAMC Official Content outline and use it in close conjunction with your books. Some things have been removed from the test (most of the named orgo reactions, things like fungi in bio, some other random stuff).

What I'd suggest doing is this - as you start each chapter in your books, take a quick skim through of the topics. Then download the free PDF version of the official AAMC outline and do like a keyword search in the document just to make sure the topic is still on the new MCAT.

Good luck!! :)

b.
 
Top