MCAT 2015- Study Material-Kaplan? TPR? Examkrackers?

[aspiringdocO]

(Unfortunately) I will be taking the new MCAT this summer (May/June) and I wanted to start my content review now. However I'm torn between what materials to use for my prep. This is my 3rd retake. The first 2 times I took the MCAT, I self-studied with a combo TPR + Examkrackers + TBR. I'm now wanting to lean towards Kaplan, just because I haven't tried their books and out of all the prep companies, they seem to be the most prepared in prep material (just from the outside look of things, anyway).

While I would like to enroll for a Kaplan course, I just don't have the funds and since I've all ready graduated I don't qualify for Kaplan's Tuition Assistance Porgram.. So now I'm looking into using Khan Academy + AAMC to study, but I don't think these materials are enough.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

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[NeuroMaster316]

First, we need to address what happened the first two times. Did you not allocate enough time to study? Did you get nervous during the exam? etc...
Second, per recent reviews it seems that ExamKrackers are good but may be lacking a few details. Alternatively, you could use your old books and match the topics with the AAMC outline. Obviously you'll still need books for psychology and sociology which again I think EK is the way to go.

 

[aspiringdocO]

First time: I didn't dedicate a lot of time + test anxiety. Second time: dedicated a little more time + i was calm during the test, but I may have not done a lot of extra practice. I focused primarily on taking practice tests and analyzing my weaknesses through those exams. Verbal killed my score both times (<7), so I know that is definitely something I need to address this time especially, which is why I want to know which material does a good job prepping for verbal/CARS section?

 

[NeuroMaster316]

Well for verbal it's usually EK101 and TPR that are the most recommended. And I highly doubt the old books are no longer valid for this section.
Now this time around you have to really focus on reviewing content for the other sections, since
A- There's not a whole lot of practice material
B- Content has always been the most important thing, and is now even more important since you're basically mixing a lot of different concepts together.

 

[aspiringdocO]

Thanks! Yeah I want to focus on content right now, I'm just gauging which prep company would provide the best books to fit the new exam's content. I don't want to re-use the materials I have.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

Well so far, EK is taking the lead over Kaplan (more passages in EK as I understand). Unfortunately TPR is said to be plagued with typos, but I heard good things about the psychology and sociology books.
If you want, you could start your review with Khan Academy until the Berkeley sets are revealed and further reviews are out, so as to concretely decide which prep company you should use.
You have 4-5 months so you could afford to wait while in the meantime you watch the videos.

 

[aspiringdocO]

Very true. I guess I will start with Khan Academy + AAMC materials and then go from there. Also, I will work on finding funds to enroll in a structured course (most likely Kaplan) so that I can have more resources. This time around, I don't want to only self-study as I don't think I was able to properly assess my weaknesses (especially in Verbal/CARS) section. Thanks again for all of your input! Are you also taking the new MCAT or did you take the old one?

 

[NeuroMaster316]

Always happy to help as much as I can!
I actually took the old one and self studied using a modified SN2'd schedule. It was a hellacious summer as I studied everything in over a month and a half, but it was worth it.
So my advice is you can definitely do it alone, you just need to write down a schedule and stick to it. It's really not worth spending all that money on a course when you have everything you need right in front of you. You can for example start practicing verbal now, just time yourself and do about 3 passages a day from EK101.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

Starting with Khan Academy and AAMC is a great, but I recommend getting some books (Kaplan, TPR, NextStep, etc.) to supplement that info simply because it's better to have more avenues to learn through as well as books will provide more practice.
Also, take a look at this thread. It should help condense and organize a lot of information out there.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/

Good luck!

 

[aspiringdocO]

Thanks, I will check this out.

 

[futuredocpd]

Starting with Khan Academy and AAMC is a great, but I recommend getting some books (Kaplan, TPR, NextStep, etc.) to supplement that info simply because it's better to have more avenues to learn through as well as books will provide more practice.
Also, take a look at this thread. It should help condense and organize a lot of information out there.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/

Good luck!

Thank you so much for linking that! I was wondering if you knew which class is better to take? I am trying to decide between TPR and The Berkeley Review, and am leaning towards TPR because I have heard they have a lot of practice exams. Have you heard anything about either class/ do you recommend either one? I also have the EK 9th edition set and will use that to supplement my class/ studying!