MCAT Examkrackers 1001 Question Books

[XM Examkrackers]

Dear SDN Members:

The 1001 Questions books are resources for extra practice questions, and they follow the outline of the course manuals. They make an excellent complement for students enrolled in the comprehensive course or for those using the MCAT Complete Study Package who would like more questions to tackle. The questions in the 1001 books are particularly useful for building confidence and for MCAT troubleshooting—addressing your specific weaknesses by practicing on questions related to a particular sub-topic. The questions and explanations are designed to teach you to think intuitively. Conceptual thinking is encouraged, while lengthy calculations are discouraged, which is exactly how you should approach the MCAT. We'll show you how the memorization of basic formulas is required, but will usually not, in itself, provide the fastest method of reaching the answer. Questions are conveniently arranged by topic, and their difficulty ranges from easy to very challenging. You'll find that the questions are formatted identically to those on the MCAT, and that the answers and explanations provided in the back of the book are insightful and helpful. The titles available are:

· 1001 Questions in MCAT Biology
· 1001 Questions in MCAT Chemistry
· 1001 Questions in MCAT Organic Chemistry
· 1001 Questions in MCAT Physics

101 Passages in Verbal Reasoning
This book is the verbal companion to the 1001 Questions series books. It includes:
· Fourteen 60-minute full length practice MCAT verbal exams
· 14 Solid hours of MCAT verbal testing
· 560 MCAT verbal questions in total
· 2,240 explanations for correct and incorrect answer choices
· 14 tear-out answer sheets for simulation accuracy

If you have any questions about the 1001 question books or 101 verbal passages book, please post them here.

Yours,

The EK Team
www.examkrackers.com

Examkrackers will giving away one free set of Examkrackers 1001 Question books to one lucky member. Winners for each raffle will be drawn from among the members who post questions about the product or otherwise meaningfully contribute to the discussion.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Artimacia]

I'm having a lot of trouble with Physics. Do you have any statistics or feedback on how much your physics book can possibly help someone who is struggling?

 

[bostonmedical]

Do the answers in these books reference the books from the Complete Study Package?

For example.
Say Answer the answer for a question option number 1. F=ma would it say see page/Chapter 4 in EK Physics book?

 

[ratherberocking]

Are there any major, significant differences between the newer and older editions? Thanks!

 

[equityrange]

could you clarify what the difference between 1001 and 101 bio?

 

[HumDoc]

How would you compare the difficulty of the problems in this particular book set to that of the actual MCAT questions?

 

[XM Examkrackers]

I'm having a lot of trouble with Physics. Do you have any statistics or feedback on how much your physics book can possibly help someone who is struggling?

Hi Artimacia,

Unfortunately, I don't have any independent statistics. However, I do know that a lot of people besides me recommend the 1001 Qs books if you have trouble with a particular subject because the books are designed to help you really understand each topic in physics. The way the 1001 books are set up is that there are a series of questions from really easy to way harder than the MCAT broken down by topic so that you are really focus in on what you have trouble with.

If you are having a lot of trouble with physics, I think the 1001 Question should really help you out.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Do the answers in these books reference the books from the Complete Study Package?

For example.
Say Answer the answer for a question option number 1. F=ma would it say see page/Chapter 4 in EK Physics book?

Hi Bostonmedical,

The 1001 books do not reference the complete study package. However, the 1001 books generally follow the same flow of topics in the complete study package.

I would actually use the complete study package first and only turn to the 1001 question books if you have any particular topics or subjects that you need in depth help with.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Are there any major, significant differences between the newer and older editions? Thanks!

Hi ratherberocking,

There is only one edition of the 1001 books so far.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

could you clarify what the difference between 1001 and 101 bio?

Hi equityrange,

There is only a 1001 Questions book for bio. The 101 verbal passages book is different and only focuses on verbal.

All of the four subjects (physics, chem, orgo, bio) have an associated 1001 Qs book while there is no 1001 Qs book for verbal, just the 101 verbal passage book.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

How would you compare the difficulty of the problems in this particular book set to that of the actual MCAT questions?

Hi HumDoc,

The 1001 Qs books are not set up like MCAT questions. They are set up from easy to really hard to help you understand a particular topic, not to help you answer questions in an MCAT format. However, some of the harder questions in the 1001 Question book are way harder than anything you will ever encounter on the MCAT, but will really test your understanding of the subject matter.

The study package books are set up in the MCAT format, with the 30 minute question packages being harder than the actual MCAT.

 

[apumic]

You mentioned that the questions in the 1001 books are not formatted the same as MCAT questions (while the complete study package books' quizzes are) but how do the actual questions and their content compare with that of the MCAT itself?

Also, if we could only buy one of the 5 books (the subject books or the verbal), which would you suggest?
Which would you suggest avoiding or going elsewhere for? (Or if it's easier to answer this way -- which 4 of the 5 would you select first?)

 

[jiayo]

Are the 1001 series matched up with the study set? Or are the topics scattered throughout all the questions?

 

[beckhunter116]

Are all the questions discrete or are some passage based too?

 

[PhoenixBlaze500]

Is there an EK forum that goes over answers or mistakes in the 1001 books? If so, does one have to pay to view this forum?

 

[XM Examkrackers]

You mentioned that the questions in the 1001 books are not formatted the same as MCAT questions (while the complete study package books' quizzes are) but how do the actual questions and their content compare with that of the MCAT itself?

Also, if we could only buy one of the 5 books (the subject books or the verbal), which would you suggest?
Which would you suggest avoiding or going elsewhere for? (Or if it's easier to answer this way -- which 4 of the 5 would you select first?)

Hi apumic,

The 1001 question books are separated by topic, i.e. projectile motion, momentum, etc. In each of these topics, there are a series of questions that go from very easy (to help introduce you to the subject), to super complex (which really test your knowledge of the subject). I would say the MCAT probably tests at a level that is equivalent to the range of questions towards the latter half of each set of questions, but not the ones at the very end.

As for which book to buy, I usually tell my students in class to not buy any of the 1001 books until they have completely gone through the 5 study books. However, I do recommend the 101 verbal book because it is extremely helpful (as attested to many times on SDN). After they have gone through the 5 study books and still have areas that they need help on, then I would direct them to only buy the 1001 book for that particular subject like physics or bio, rather than purchase the whole set of 1001 books. In most cases, having every single 1001 book is a bit of the waste because most students do not have the time to do over 4000 questions.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Are the 1001 series matched up with the study set? Or are the topics scattered throughout all the questions?

Hi jiayo,

The 1001 books do not reference the complete study package. However, the 1001 books generally follow the same flow of topics in the complete study package.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Are all the questions discrete or are some passage based too?

The Verbal and biology books are all passage based. The physics, chem, and o-chem are all discrete questions.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Is there an EK forum that goes over answers or mistakes in the 1001 books? If so, does one have to pay to view this forum?

Hi PhoenixBlaze500,

All of the books have answer explanations that are pretty detailed and will actually take you some time to go through and digest the answers. I would also suggest that if you are using the 1001 books for questions, to not skip reading the answers even if you got the questions right, because there is a lot of content in the answers that is very helpful.

There is not a forum specifically for answers in the 1001 books. However, if you are having trouble and want to ask an MCAT expert to explain things further, the EK forum is designed for exactly that purpose. You can also access the EK forum for free for a month if you buy any books, which gives you access to the MCAT experts as well.

Pricing options:
1 Month - this is free with purchase of any MCAT Study Manual, 1001 book or Audio Osmosis. Proof of purchase required.
3 Month – Price $12.99
6 Month – Price $19.99
1 Year – Price $29.99 (this is free with student registration and enrollment in prep course)

 

[BlitzSleep]

What year were these books published?

 

[DownFracture]

Would one be thoroughly prepared for the MCAT by using the audio osmosis tapes, the 1001 series and the EK books? Are they meant to complement one another and be used together?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

What year were these books published?

I'm too lazy to go out in the cold to see when my copy of the 1001 series was published (besides, I've had it for a while), so I checked on Amazon and you can see here that the Physics book was last updated in late 2001. As XM Examkrackers has said above and in other threads, the specific topics tested on the MCAT have changed (mostly in proportion), but the science itself has not, so these books are as good now as they always were at helping you to understand the concepts from every conceivable angle and at every conceivable depth. Trust me on that...I absolutely love Physics, but even as an instructor, when I tried going from #1 to #1001, I gave up in the 400s. As stated above, these books are very good, but only worth using if you need them and for the specific topics in which you need extra help. Otherwise, the comprehensive set is plenty.

 

[BP Examkrackers]

Would one be thoroughly prepared for the MCAT by using the audio osmosis tapes, the 1001 series and the EK books? Are they meant to complement one another and be used together?

Yes, that should be plenty for all but the most non-traditional students. The CDs and the 1001 series are a supplement to the comprehensive set. I'd recommend you get the comprehensive books as well as Audio Osmosis and the 101 Verbal Passages book off the bat and to not get any of the other 1001 books unless you've gone through the other materials and see a need for more help. The 101 VR passages book is the only one from the 1001/101 set that I tell students to get no matter what because the only real way to do well on the VR section is to learn our methods (unless you're already a humanities student who thinks/reads in that way) and then to practice--A LOT. Most students could use some additional practice after that which is provided in our VR book and any practice tests they purchase (or get with our course).

Both Audio Osmosis and the 1001 books are arranged according to the subjects/topics in the Comprehensive books.

 

[mdfirst]

ok, so i brought all the Exam Krackers books, and I thought that the questions were considerably harder than the questions on the actual MCAT. so, I dont know what to make of this. My score didnt reflect it the first go round. We'll see how I do on the second go around.

 

[BP Examkrackers]

ok, so i brought all the Exam Krackers books, and I thought that the questions were considerably harder than the questions on the actual MCAT. so, I dont know what to make of this. My score didnt reflect it the first go round. We'll see how I do on the second go around.

The questions in our books are generally harder than those on the MCAT. Their purpose is not to show you how well you'd do on the real MCAT, but instead to help you to understand the concepts better (and to make sure you know what you need to know). The MCAT is a test of understanding. The questions are so hard because they force you to understand concepts at a level that you wouldn't otherwise. For example, it's easy to say that someone who pulls with a force of 400N on a rope tied to a tree introduces a tension of 400N in the rope. But what if another person is on the other end, pulling with a force of 400N in the opposite direction? This little twist (that is given in a similar way in one of our practice problems) forces you to understand the concept of tension beyond the basic explanations given anywhere that you learn about the concept. Will you get that exact question on the MCAT? Possibly, but improbably. But understanding that question through and through will give you more confidence with the concept for when you are hit with a question on tension/force unlike any you've ever seen while taking the MCAT.

I'm not sure what you're saying about your scores, but I'll say this about the problems in our books. I don't care what my students get on those. I took those same problems over and over, at least 4x each before taking a real MCAT. The first time around, I rarely got more than 60% of any set of problems right (except maybe in biology), but I wasn't concerned with my score. Those problems are thorough in testing all the things you absolutely must know/understand/be able to do on the MCAT, and I wanted to review them until I knew all of that "like the back of my hand," which is exactly their purpose.

 

[protonate]

I was wondering why the bio 1001 series is in passage form?

 

[emno]

If i can buy either 101 or 1001 set (due to budget), which one is recommended?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

I was wondering why the bio 1001 series is in passage form?

Bio is mostly straight memorization in terms of studying. In application, though, it becomes more difficult partially because it's administered at the very end of the test and partially because of the passage form. The passages seem to confuse and mislead students from their knowledge base more on that section than others, and so it's good to have a passage-based 1001 book for biology. Besides, for the other subjects, there are concepts that need to be applied to be understood, while biology is more just a bunch of information that you must know. It doesn't warrant 1001 discrete questions in the same way.

 

[BP Examkrackers]

If i can buy either 101 or 1001 set (due to budget), which one is recommended?

My answer to this is always to buy what you're weak in. There is no 101 set, just one 101 Verbal Reasoning Passages book, so it should be far cheaper than the 4 1001 books combined. Nevertheless, of these five books, if there's one I'd recommend that everyone buy, it's the 101 VR Passages book, as not everyone needs extra help in any given science (and if you're already getting a 9 or 10 in any science, you probably shouldn't bother with a 1001 book...unless you're shooting for a 15), but everyone could use some more VR practice.

 

[Mister T]

How do students tend to do before and after using the EK 1001 books? Do their scores go up significantly?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

How do students tend to do before and after using the EK 1001 books? Do their scores go up significantly?

As with the other questions of the same ilk above, this depends on the student. Students who use these books systematically to target the sections of their knowledge that are in most need of improvement can expect a significant improvement, especially if they are of the mindset of fine-tuning their understanding and realize that the explanations for the questions are in the back of the book and will help them to improve their understanding (as juxtaposed by those who are daunted by the questions and take their difficulty to mean that they are more clueless about the science than they previously believed). If students use the books as tools in a quest to do every problem out there in order to be able to say/feel that they had the most complete, and therefore effective, praparation regimen possible, they'll probably just end up burnt out and their score worse off.

Point being, so much depends on your attitude and intentions. EK prides itself on doing a very thorough job of teaching everything, and only, what you really should know (and even so, there is a lot of information in our thin books that can be considered as "background" information). We do not want to overwhelm students with everything that they could possibly ever need to know or be tested on. And so we don't want them to take our 1001 series and use them to make our course like any other course out there. Essentially, you should use as few materials as are absolutely necessary, and to know them as well as possible. Use our comprehensive books and know every question posed in the book inside and out. Know as much of the orange text as possible. Beyond that, use the 1001 books only where you're really struggling, and go to other books and guides only when you've done all of this to completion. Take as many practice tests as you'd like, but only if you're going to spend as much time reviewing them as you did taking them. That's really the case with all of this preparation...if you're going to do problems without reading EVERY explanation and working to understand it, then you're wasting your time, unless you have the most brilliant of minds. Your score doesn't improve from taking practice problems. It improves from reviewing and understanding those practice problems.

 

[Mohammed1989]

I have the MCAT Complete Study Package from EK, and I have read a lot of complains about the 1001 question books. Do the books really have gramatical errors? By using the 1001 question books how many times would we have to go over it to be completely ready for the MCAT? Should I use the study package and be familiar with all the topics then do the 1001 questions or can I do them together?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

I have the MCAT Complete Study Package from EK, and I have read a lot of complains about the 1001 question books. Do the books really have gramatical errors? By using the 1001 question books how many times would we have to go over it to be completely ready for the MCAT? Should I use the study package and be familiar with all the topics then do the 1001 questions or can I do them together?

I used the 1001 questions sparingly when I prepared and use them while teaching other students. Whatever typographical errors there are, I don't even remember and didn't find to distract from the purpose of the books, which is to further my understanding. I'm surprised to hear that people are upset enough about typos to complain about them, unless they're just perfectionists and find imperfect publications to be offensive to their sensitive sensibilities. Haha, I jest, but only partially.

As for how to use the 1001 books, only buy them if you find yourself weak in those sciences or very weak in some specific topics in them. Use the questions and explanations in the comprehensive set to diagnose your weak areas and if you don't feel you can correct your misunderstandings using only the explanations in the back of the book (or if you feel more practice before those concepts will be ingrained in your mind), go to those specific subjects in the 1001 books for more practice.

 

[Sentinel]

After having used these books I can definitely say they are extremely awesome. The questions ARE on the harder side - a set of them won't define what the section will look like on the MCAT... but then again when you train for a marathon, you don't run the distance of the marathon, you run twice that amount or some such.

Point is Yes these are the hard questions, but they definitely prepared me for the MCATs!

 

[tnfifn]

Has the 1001 Orgo book revised to reflect the changes in organic section of the MCAT (elimination of E1, E2...)? Same Q for organic book.

 

[UW09]

Do you think this product would be useful for someone who is planning on taking the DAT?

 

[Lunkerpike]

These look like great books. I had a chance to review an older version of the Chemistry book a friend showed me and like it very much,

 

[Walleye]

Is there a list of the biology topics covered?

 

[XM Examkrackers]

After having used these books I can definitely say they are extremely awesome. The questions ARE on the harder side - a set of them won't define what the section will look like on the MCAT... but then again when you train for a marathon, you don't run the distance of the marathon, you run twice that amount or some such.

Point is Yes these are the hard questions, but they definitely prepared me for the MCATs!

Hi Sentinel,

I'm glad you found these books useful. A lot of these questions will really test your knowledge of the subject matter, in a manner that you won't see on the MCAT.

On a side note, I thought people that train for marathons just run a lot each day, but don't actually run the full length until the actual marathon... although having never trained or ran in a marathon, I can't really say from personal experience.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Has the 1001 Orgo book revised to reflect the changes in organic section of the MCAT (elimination of E1, E2...)? Same Q for organic book.

Hi tnfifn,

I don't believe the 1001 Question books have be updated to take out those sections yet. However, as these books are not designed for you to go from cover to cover, but instead as a study aid to tackle specific sections, I don't think this will be a big issue, as you can just ignore those sections.

I'm sure the next edition of the organic book will probably contain that change to keep it more in line with the MCAT. However, there are a few areas in the books where we cover a bit beyond what is on the MCAT, (clearly labeled as purely background knowledge) which do help you comprehend the material that is actually tested better.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Do you think this product would be useful for someone who is planning on taking the DAT?

Hi UW09,

I'm not that familiar with the DAT, although I have heard students using our materials to study for the DAT.

Again, as these questions are designed to help you understand a topic in more detail, I think they would work perfectly fine for that purpose, provided that you are actually using a DAT book as well to study.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

These look like great books. I had a chance to review an older version of the Chemistry book a friend showed me and like it very much,

Hi Lunkerpike,

Thanks and good luck with the raffle.

If you don't happen to win, you can buy these books from the Examkrackers store or a local or online bookstore.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Is there a list of the biology topics covered?

Hi Walleye,

I don't have a specific list of all of the biology topics covered. I would suggest going to a local bookstore and just browsing through the 1001 bio book to see if it would be helpful. However, since it pretty much covers all of the topics on the MCAT, I don't think you would be missing anything by using these.

 

[XM Examkrackers]

Dear SDN members,

Thank you for checking out Examkrackers, offering your great comments and opinions, asking good questions and giving us some excellent suggestions during test prep week!

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach us at 1-888-KRACKEM!

Have a good weekend!

 

[peludoguy]

When were these books last updated?

 

[PolymerMan]

Are these books meant to be used in conjunction with the Complete study guide or can it be used separately from the study guide?

Thanks!

 

[jrguin]

Do these books' chapters correspond to the EK MCAT course books?

 

[aepike]

This set looks like a very neccessary tool for practice. How clear and concise are the solutions? I know some solution manuals out there do not give fully detailed answers.

 

[dutch24]

do you suggest getting the most current edition of the 1001 or is there a more useful older edition?

 

[tbh4]

Ok, so I'm preparing for the late May MCAT and I just received the 1001 EK books in the mail, as well as the EK bio text (i'm using other texts for the other subjects). Just finished reading Chapter 1 text, did the questions in that book, got them all right, and then confidently went to the corresponding 1001 passages. I did OK, but missed a decent number of questions dealing with topics that the EK bio text explicitly said "you do not need to know the details of <this topic> for the MCAT". My question is, why would the practice questions in 1001 test you on material that according to whomever wrote the EK book, you do not need to know for the MCAT? Also, all the questions in the 1001 book assume you have studied all the bio material already, right? A lot of the questions in the first chapter of 1001 draw from topics that aren't covered until much later in the EK bio text - for example, I remember several questions in the first Chapter of 1001 that required you to know the physiological effects of insulin/glucose regulation - and this isn't covered in the EK text until much later. Should I wait until I've reviewed all the material in the text to do the 1001 questions? Just making sure I'm not crazy and/or not performing well in the 1001 book.