MCAT studying after 4 years

[crazylot]

Hey guys, I took Biology, orgo, chem, about 4 years ago, plus I have about 1 year left to finish my electives (took a break due to life stuff) I can honestly say that I dont remember much on those 3 topics. Would studying from the new 2015 MCAT books be enough to take the MCAT at a much later date and get a decent score?

Did anyone have to start studying for the MCAT after a super long break and not remembering much? what did you do?

I dont mind spending any amount of money, so anything you guys tell me to get I can. I have these in my amazon cart. Is this too much? or should i get others?

• Princeton Review MCAT Subject Review Complete Box Set: New for MCAT 2015 (Graduate School Test Preparation) by Princeton Review

$195.99

• MCAT Verbal Practice: 108 Passages for the new CARS Sectionby Bryan Schnedeker

$26.42

• 9th Edition Examkrackers MCAT Complete Study Package (EXAMKRACKERS MCAT MANUALS) by Jonathan Orsay

$195.89

• Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review: Book + Online (Kaplan Test Prep) by Kaplan

$143.74

• MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills: Strategy and Practice: Timed Practice for the New MCAT Verbal Section by Bryan Schnedeker

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[aldol16]

Kind of overkill. All the test prep companies' content reviews will prepare you for the MCAT to the same extent. Some will be long-winded and have a lot of extraneous information, but in the end, it all boils down to practice FLs. So I would pick one of the content review packages, work through it using Khan Academy for concepts you're struggling with, and then use your money wisely to buy FLs. I know Kaplan includes 3 free with the book series and I've heard NS FLs are great. Khan Academy has great practice passages - great because they're free.

 

[mcatmatt]

Kaplan and Princeton Review's full sets are similar in scope and depth, so you wouldn't need both. Examkrackers is a less in-depth, but probably more focused, alternative to those. I usually recommend EK for people who prefer to do a lighter content review, and The Berkeley Review for people looking for more depth. The chief benefit of The Berkeley Review books is the wealth of practice passages in each book, which, along with full-length practice tests, are ultimately more important than content review. Hope that helps.

 

[mcatmatt]

And, for what it's worth, I think it's completely possible to just use the prep books to prepare for the test, regardless of your time away from school.

 

[Medgrant]

Just order one set and spend the rest of your money on practice material and FLs. TPR seems to be a good set. If you feel you're having a difficult time with something and whatever MCAT material you're using isn't enough, buy a textbook for that course and supplement.

 

[pbeitei]

same to me,Just order one set and spend the rest of your money on practice material and FLs. TPR seems to be a good set

 

[To be MD]

Hey guys, I took Biology, orgo, chem, about 4 years ago, plus I have about 1 year left to finish my electives (took a break due to life stuff) I can honestly say that I dont remember much on those 3 topics. Would studying from the new 2015 MCAT books be enough to take the MCAT at a much later date and get a decent score?

Did anyone have to start studying for the MCAT after a super long break and not remembering much? what did you do?

I dont mind spending any amount of money, so anything you guys tell me to get I can. I have these in my amazon cart. Is this too much? or should i get others?

• Princeton Review MCAT Subject Review Complete Box Set: New for MCAT 2015 (Graduate School Test Preparation) by Princeton Review

$195.99

• MCAT Verbal Practice: 108 Passages for the new CARS Sectionby Bryan Schnedeker

$26.42

• 9th Edition Examkrackers MCAT Complete Study Package (EXAMKRACKERS MCAT MANUALS) by Jonathan Orsay

$195.89

• Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review: Book + Online (Kaplan Test Prep) by Kaplan

$143.74

• MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills: Strategy and Practice: Timed Practice for the New MCAT Verbal Section by Bryan Schnedeker

Hey,

I've been out of college for 2.5 years, and I haven't had Physics in 4 years/Orgo in 4/Chem in 5. I've been studying full time for 2 months, and I have the test in a month. I'm on trajectory right now to score ~512, but I'm hoping for better.

1. I strongly do not recommend buying 3 sets of books. Choose EK / Kaplan / TPR / TBR as your main set of books. EK is what I recommend because they're "big picture." If you buy full sets from multiple companies, you will not have an appropriate schedule / mindset for all the material.

The best thing to do, from what I've seen and personal experience, is to buy a full set (e.g. EK) and buy an extra book for their weakest subject (in EK's case, the weakness supposedly is psychology, but I hear people still end up doing fine) and buy TPR psych standalone.

Read this forum or, better, https://www.reddit.com/r/MCAT for reviews of each company.

2. Testing Solutions will get your through verbal. Save your money. Buy EK 101 and TPRH as your only verbal material, use their guide, and master CARS. Supplement with Qpacks from the AAMC and Khan. You can buy Testing Solution's exams, too, quite cheaply. They're über hard, though... probably a bad place to start.

3. Really, any concept that you can't comprehend from a book can be learned on Khan. So just watch the videos when you need to.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

If you have been away from the material for a while, then choose the set you feel teaches you best. You are counting on prep materials to build your foundation, teach you strategies, and give you useful practice passages with enlightening answer explanations. Not all materials are designed the same (or even close), so you should take time to actually look at a few pages from each of the materials suggested here and see what speaks to you.

 

[sleepyhead22]

Hey guys, I took Biology, orgo, chem, about 4 years ago, plus I have about 1 year left to finish my electives (took a break due to life stuff) I can honestly say that I dont remember much on those 3 topics. Would studying from the new 2015 MCAT books be enough to take the MCAT at a much later date and get a decent score?

Did anyone have to start studying for the MCAT after a super long break and not remembering much? what did you do?

I dont mind spending any amount of money, so anything you guys tell me to get I can. I have these in my amazon cart. Is this too much? or should i get others?

• Princeton Review MCAT Subject Review Complete Box Set: New for MCAT 2015 (Graduate School Test Preparation) by Princeton Review

$195.99

• MCAT Verbal Practice: 108 Passages for the new CARS Sectionby Bryan Schnedeker

$26.42

• 9th Edition Examkrackers MCAT Complete Study Package (EXAMKRACKERS MCAT MANUALS) by Jonathan Orsay

$195.89

• Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review: Book + Online (Kaplan Test Prep) by Kaplan

$143.74

• MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills: Strategy and Practice: Timed Practice for the New MCAT Verbal Section by Bryan Schnedeker

I am 6 years out of undergrad (so almost 10 years for some of the pre-req's) and I've been studying for the MCAT for 2 months and have another 2 months to study and I think I'm doing okay based on full length performance (as in i've been getting over 60% right so far and feel like that's decent since i'm only halfway through the material right now). I originally only purchased the ExamKrackers 2015 books. I like them a lot, but they're pretty brief. For biology, a subject i've used since pre-req's, it's been more than enough. But for chemistry and physics, I was really struggling and having to look in my textbooks a lot. A friend had an old copy of The Berkeley Review books, and I REALLY prefer them. They are MUCH more detailed. What I do now is go through the ExamKrackers books because they only cover what's going to be on the MCAT, then I go to that section in TBR for the nitty gritty details, and then I come back to EK for practice questions. Hopefully you didn't already buy all of these books that you listed since they're pretty similar (EK and TPR are at least). I think TBR would be a great supplement, but they're a pain to purchase which is why I'm really thankful that I was able to inherit an older set.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Thanks for the kind words sleepyhead22. A candid and positive perspective from someone who used our books is always appreciated. The books offer many strategies and applied concepts, which makes them more detailed. Sadly, they are a pain to order. This fact is probably the number one reason why our books are not the top seller. I really wish you would have gotten to use the new organic chemistry books, because they are so far beyond everything else. The used physics, general chemistry, and biology books you used were more than adequate. Our new ones are out now, so the used book market will be saturated with those soon.

Our courses have a disproportionate number of older students compared to the applicant pool, which I assume stems from exactly what this thread dis getting at. If it's been a while, then you need more foundation, mnemonics, and fundamentals (details).