Is EK Bio Enough for 2014 MCAT? (Also TPR question)

[hubristicphantasm]

A question for you all:

I'm a bit removed from most of my biology courses (as in 2-3 years) and am wondering what you all recommend for best preparing for the biological section of the MCAT. I have EK Bio, but I worry that it's not going in-depth enough to adequately prepare me (I'm certainly not doing well with TBR passages!). For those that have taken the 2014 MCAT and used EK as their primary source, did you find that it had all the information needed? Or should I look elsewhere for another source to study from?

As for TPR, I did pick up their TPRH science workbook and the non-hyperlearning PR Bio review, but would you recommend that I get the PRH Biological Sciences Review? I'm just a little worried about making sure I have all the basics down come the big day!

Thanks so much!

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[dnrs]

I thought it was enough.

 

[IslandStyle808]

TPR and TPR hyperlearning are much better than TBR. The former is more than enough, the latter is just overkill that can go off on tangents (even their passages).

 

[TheAnonymous]

I think EK Bio is sufficient for the most part but based on my own experience writing the MCAT, there were several questions that EK didn't cover (you know how they say in their book: you only need to know X, MCAT doesn't test you on the other things, well MCAT does!) .. the other thing to keep in mind is that it varies from test to test. Some bio sections have been experiment heavy (i.e. requiring minimal content review) but the one I wrote required a good amount of background info...

It all boils down to how much time you have and how you can make the best use of your time! Reading TPR over EK Bio might be advantageous but not if you can, let's say, use that time to do another 100 practice passages, you know what I mean?

GL

 

[DocKingh]

I'm going to be taking the August 21 MCAT. What I am doing is using EK Biology for the major content review and supplementing with mcat-review, Kaplan, TPR, etc. The EK Biology book seems to get straight to the point (unlike TBR Biology). I have been told by previous test-takers that TBR Biology passages tend to be much harder than what is on the real test. However, TBR passages are good in the sense that they allow you to have practice with some of the tougher stuff, so if you are presented with a difficult passage come test day you don't freak! Overall, the EK book seems to have the same stuff that is present in Kaplan and TPR. One section that was missing was fetal circulation... be sure to look over that from a different source. Good Luck!