EK vs Kaplan vs Princeton Review 2015 mcat

[popKP753l]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Content Review....would you recommend EK, Kaplan, or Princeton Review?

 

[mcatjelly]

How far out are you from your prereqs/how well did you perform in them/how well did you understand the material?

 

[I'mNoSuperman]

I'm currently using the new EK manuals. They provide a thorough enough review of any content that you'll be responsible for and have a 30 minute practice exam at the end of each lecture. It's not about what materials you use, as much as it is about sticking to a schedule. Pick a package, stick to it, and do as many practice tests as you can.

 

[Montisumo]

i would stay away from kaplan. im in the class now. the class is useless, big waste of time, ZERO content review in class (6 hrs a week). Their practice exams are loaded with errors and extremely ambiguous answer choices (sometimes wrongly answered by Kaplans people).

Their books are slow and boring (their physics book is decent however). Kaplan CARS..... stay away.

EK is pretty good for everything. Only downside is physics, I wish there were better explanations in chapter.

 

[fugacitybrah]

New EK seems more restructured for the new mcat. From what I've read TPR rushed to release 2015 material (they had 2015 mcat books already released when the old mcat was still administered) so they used a lot of their old material and rehashed it for the new mcat. I would also consider looking into NS but no one knows much about them. What I do know is that their books are separated into content books (with discrete topic practice) and strategy & practice books (filled with practice passages). It seems well organized and content books helps build foundation knowledge aimed to prepare you for passages on the other books. As it stands right now I'm leaning on using EK 9th edition in addition to using old TBR for PS topics (Physics and Chemistry) for extra practice. You could use an excel posted somewhere that breaks down TBR by section and aligns it with other MCAt material such as EK, Kaplan, etc. so you know which parts of TBR are useful for practice. If you have a solid background in bio maybe even the TBR bio passages would be help...however I would steer clear trying to use it for content as it reads more like a textbook rather than an mcat review book. The sections written by Todd are invaluable though.

edit: i tried posting the link to the excel but it keeps messing up. The original can be found around sdn though.

 

[I'mNoSuperman]

New EK seems more restructured for the new mcat. From what I've read TPR rushed to release 2015 material (they had 2015 mcat books already released when the old mcat was still administered) so they used a lot of their old material and rehashed it for the new mcat. I would also consider looking into NS but no one knows much about them. What I do know is that their books are separated into content books (with discrete topic practice) and strategy & practice books (filled with practice passages). It seems well organized and content books helps build foundation knowledge aimed to prepare you for passages on the other books. As it stands right now I'm leaning on using EK 9th edition in addition to using old TBR for PS topics (Physics and Chemistry) for extra practice. You could use an excel posted somewhere that breaks down TBR by section and aligns it with other MCAt material such as EK, Kaplan, etc. so you know which parts of TBR are useful for practice. If you have a solid background in bio maybe even the TBR bio passages would be help...however I would steer clear trying to use it for content as it reads more like a textbook rather than an mcat review book. The sections written by Todd are invaluable though.

edit: i tried posting the link to the excel but it keeps messing up. The original can be found around sdn though.

Thanks for all the insight! Much appreciated

 

[FOUR2004]

I am currently registered for a Kaplan Mcat on site prep course that starts in May; however, I am hesitant about proceeding with this plan because I fear that this course would expose me mostly to kaplan practice exams granted that there is only one AAMC full length exam available in turn limit my practice. Thus, I am thinking about canceling my registration and using the refund to buy a variety of prep material and practice in an effort to broaden my exposure.
I would really appreciate any advice.

 

[ItsB]

Anyone notice that TPR CARS book keeps mentioning that there are 10 passages on the new MCAT for the section (and organized their pacing guidelines around it) whereas the Official Guide to the MCAT (AAMC) explicitly says 9 passages? I know trusting the AAMC source is more logical, but it seems strange to have such a blatant mistake in the TPR book.

 

[Abraxas305]

On second thought, Kaplan's Physio and Biochem is actually really, really good. Been using their chapter reviews for Bio instead of TBR's for the past month and I noticed that I can still score relatively high on the TBR exams (75-80%) which is considered good for the notoriously hard TBR bio passages that everyone complains about.
Their PS books are decent, but man, TBR's PS books are top-notch!

 

[popKP753l]

Are TBR bio passages representative of the AAMC's practice test?

 

[StarFall]

Are TBR bio passages representative of the AAMC's practice test?

+1

 

[Abraxas305]

The consensus on earlier TBR Bio threads were that the representativeness is half and half. Some of them are really good, but some of them require too much specific background information. I just pick out the good ones (usually ~6-8 good ones each chapter) and complete them.
Difficulty varies with questions honestly. Some questions I can answer due to basic knowledge, and others are heavy critical thinking questions.
They are definitely great practice, but I would also supplement with TPRH Bio.

 

[Corey11824]

New EK seems more restructured for the new mcat. From what I've read TPR rushed to release 2015 material (they had 2015 mcat books already released when the old mcat was still administered) so they used a lot of their old material and rehashed it for the new mcat. I would also consider looking into NS but no one knows much about them. What I do know is that their books are separated into content books (with discrete topic practice) and strategy & practice books (filled with practice passages). It seems well organized and content books helps build foundation knowledge aimed to prepare you for passages on the other books. As it stands right now I'm leaning on using EK 9th edition in addition to using old TBR for PS topics (Physics and Chemistry) for extra practice. You could use an excel posted somewhere that breaks down TBR by section and aligns it with other MCAt material such as EK, Kaplan, etc. so you know which parts of TBR are useful for practice. If you have a solid background in bio maybe even the TBR bio passages would be help...however I would steer clear trying to use it for content as it reads more like a textbook rather than an mcat review book. The sections written by Todd are invaluable though.

edit: i tried posting the link to the excel but it keeps messing up. The original can be found around sdn though.

I have tried finding the spreadsheet, but have not. I was wondering if you could please post the link to the forum it's on or the excel spreadsheet again.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

Anyone notice that TPR CARS book keeps mentioning that there are 10 passages on the new MCAT for the section (and organized their pacing guidelines around it) whereas the Official Guide to the MCAT (AAMC) explicitly says 9 passages? I know trusting the AAMC source is more logical, but it seems strange to have such a blatant mistake in the TPR book.

Yes, its definitely 9 passages in CARS; it wasn't just a random blatant error though, the first pre-released info said that the section would have 10 and AAMC settled on 9 passages by the time they released the Official Guide-2015. So the error is the result of TPR printing their book before the final info was out from AAMC. The same thing happened with the final version of the topics list, Kaplan and TPR are lacking several topics on the AAMC MCAT-2015 list in their books because the AAMC added quite a few topics in the final round. You might look to see if they have a version update of some sort on their website with these things updated to be accurate.

 

[mcatjelly]

I have tried finding the spreadsheet, but have not. I was wondering if you could please post the link to the forum it's on or the excel spreadsheet again.

Go to my profile --> then my signature.