Princeton Review Hyperlearning Workbook vs. MCAT

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yanks26dmb

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I'm planning a July 25th retake (pending my score next week) and am going through every passage. I'm doing markedly better than I was when I did these passages sparingly during my first exam's prep. After seeing how different the MCAT is from the AAMC tests, I wanted to focus more on passages which relied on experiments/reading than strict fact recall. TPRH workbook seems like it accomplishes this pretty well..

I'm getting about 85% right in BS. Any idea how this will correlate to the MCAT? Am I simply wasting my time and/or should I be using another material to practice passages?
 
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yanks26dmb said:
I'm planning a July 25th retake (pending my score next week) and am going through every passage. I'm doing markedly better than I was when I did these passages sparingly during my first exam's prep. After seeing how different the MCAT is from the AAMC tests, I wanted to focus more on passages which relied on experiments/reading than strict fact recall. TPRH workbook seems like it accomplishes this pretty well..

I'm getting about 85% right in BS. Any idea how this will correlate to the MCAT? Am I simply wasting my time and/or should I be using another material to practice passages?
Click to expand...

Crap if the AAMC FL's are not like the the real thing, should I even bother taking them? Instead, should I focus on TPRH? My date is Sep. 12
 
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Oh_Gee said:
Crap if the AAMC FL's are not like the the real thing, should I even bother taking them? Instead, should I focus on TPRH? My date is Sep. 12
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AAMC is WAY too easy imo.

Especially the PS section.. it is NOTHING like the real thing and it seems like they're getting calculation heavy as it goes on. I have been taking Kaplan Section tests which are SUPER calc heavy and I feel like the level of difficulty is realistic. Like I don't really get AAMC.. and why they make people spend all this money purchasing practice material then they drop this heavy bomb on people on test day. #shady
 
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orangetea said:
AAMC is WAY too easy imo.

Especially the PS section.. it is NOTHING like the real thing and it seems like they're getting calculation heavy as it goes on. I have been taking Kaplan Section tests which are SUPER calc heavy and I feel like the level of difficulty is realistic. Like I don't really get AAMC.. and why they make people spend all this money purchasing practice material then they drop this heavy bomb on people on test day. #shady
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dang i just bought all of them today lol. a lot of the practice passages after each TBR physics chapter have calculations. do you think those are accurate? also when did you take your MCAT
 
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Oh_Gee said:
dang i just bought all of them today lol. a lot of the practice passages after each TBR physics chapter have calculations. do you think those are accurate? also when did you take your MCAT
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I took my last summer I am retaking.. I just personally don't feel like theyre accurate but they are good practice!!
 
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orangetea said:
I took my last summer I am retaking.. I just personally don't feel like theyre accurate but they are good practice!!
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so you felt the real MCAT had more calculations in PS than the AAMC FL's. hmm
how does the BS and VR of the AAMC FL's compare to the real ones
 
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Oh_Gee said:
Crap if the AAMC FL's are not like the the real thing, should I even bother taking them? Instead, should I focus on TPRH? My date is Sep. 12
Click to expand...

Definitely take them...but just realize they are nothing like the real thing. Still good practice but much easier than the real mcat..
 
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Oh_Gee said:
so you felt the real MCAT had more calculations in PS than the AAMC FL's. hmm
how does the BS and VR of the AAMC FL's compare to the real ones
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truthfully, I think it depends on the test you get.

My test, PS felt a lot like the AAMC tests...verbal felt a bit harder, but maybe it was nerves. Bio on the other hand was in another league. It was like very hard verbal passages with some experimental data thrown in and complex questions requiring deep levels of thinking. Then of course there was the ochem.....which anyone from 6/21 can tell you about...
 
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yanks26dmb said:
truthfully, I think it depends on the test you get.

My test, PS felt a lot like the AAMC tests...verbal felt a bit harder, but maybe it was nerves. Bio on the other hand was in another league. It was like very hard verbal passages with some experimental data thrown in and complex questions requiring deep levels of thinking. Then of course there was the ochem.....which anyone from 6/21 can tell you about...
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was 6/21 like 50% ochem?
 
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I found the AAMC FLs to be closest to the actual MCAT. AAMC 10 and 11 were really representative of the type and structure of the questions I got on my actual test. I've taken tests from TPR and they just do not feel like the MCAT. Even though TPR can be great practice, it just doesn't feel the same as the AAMCs. I used the Hyperlearning Science Workbook throughout my studying and found that it was very useful, though. It's really good practice and I think doing it helped me a lot, since I found that practice problems were super important in the science sections. It's a great resource because it gives you so many questions to do, although I found that the earlier sections of Physics were neglected a bit. The AAMC FLs are absolutely NOT a waste of money though! All the prep material save the AAMC FLs feels different from the real thing. I think the problem is that the earlier AAMCs are rather easy, so perhaps that is why orangetea doesn't like them? Either way, the bio in the last few FLs was pretty accurate for my MCAT.
 
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MsSuperPanda said:
I found the AAMC FLs to be closest to the actual MCAT. AAMC 10 and 11 were really representative of the type and structure of the questions I got on my actual test. I've taken tests from TPR and they just do not feel like the MCAT. Even though TPR can be great practice, it just doesn't feel the same as the AAMCs. I used the Hyperlearning Science Workbook throughout my studying and found that it was very useful, though. It's really good practice and I think doing it helped me a lot, since I found that practice problems were super important in the science sections. It's a great resource because it gives you so many questions to do, although I found that the earlier sections of Physics were neglected a bit. The AAMC FLs are absolutely NOT a waste of money though! All the prep material save the AAMC FLs feels different from the real thing. I think the problem is that the earlier AAMCs are rather easy, so perhaps that is why orangetea doesn't like them? Either way, the bio in the last few FLs was pretty accurate for my MCAT.
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dang now i'm worrried. I've gotten 10's for BS on AAMC 3 and 4 so far. Any tips for a beginner?
 
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I wouldn't worry too much about what some people say on this forum. They are trying to freak you out. I took the MCAT a few months ago and while i only got a 28 (11/7/10) The physics and bio sections weren't too bad. TBR and EK prepped me well. I am retaking on sept 4th because I feel like i got screwed on VR with the 7 and BIO with the 10. I honestly walked out of that test feeling i got at least a 12 on BS and I ended up with a 10. bottom line is every test is different, so to take the advice of a single person on this website is foolish. I felt like my PS section was very conceptual and not calculation heavy at all. It was more regarding understanding relationships and proportions than anything else. The BS section is honestly like a mini verbal, so the sooner you get used to analyzing the questions and what they are asking you, the better off you'll be. I cannot stress enough that the test writers emphasize CRITICAL READING as opposed to memorizing basic science facts. It may get you by in PS but definitely not BS.....
 
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markymark71990 said:
I wouldn't worry too much about what some people say on this forum. They are trying to freak you out. I took the MCAT a few months ago and while i only got a 28 (11/7/10) The physics and bio sections weren't too bad. TBR and EK prepped me well. I am retaking on sept 4th because I feel like i got screwed on VR with the 7 and BIO with the 10. I honestly walked out of that test feeling i got at least a 12 on BS and I ended up with a 10. bottom line is every test is different, so to take the advice of a single person on this website is foolish. I felt like my PS section was very conceptual and not calculation heavy at all. It was more regarding understanding relationships and proportions than anything else. The BS section is honestly like a mini verbal, so the sooner you get used to analyzing the questions and what they are asking you, the better off you'll be. I cannot stress enough that the test writers emphasize CRITICAL READING as opposed to memorizing basic science facts. It may get you by in PS but definitely not BS.....
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how are you altering your methods to practice for BS now?
 
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I definitely agree with the idea that Bio is a lot of critical reading. The questions generally seem to test your ability to synthesize the information they give you with what you already know. For BS, I used EK Bio + TPR Orgo + TPRH SW for my studying, and AAMC FLs as tests. I did a few TPR tests, but I found them absurdly difficult compared to the AAMCs (although I did ones that many people agreed were hard). My background in Bio and Orgo are both kinda weak, but I managed to do fine on the AAMCs anyway, probably because there's a lot of problem solving rather than regurgitation.

Of course take everything I'm saying with a grain of salt. I'm only one individual on a forum of a bunch of internet strangers, so if your experience is vastly different from mine, don't worry about it. Everyone does their own thing differently.
 
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orangetea said:
AAMC is WAY too easy imo.

Especially the PS section.. it is NOTHING like the real thing and it seems like they're getting calculation heavy as it goes on. I have been taking Kaplan Section tests which are SUPER calc heavy and I feel like the level of difficulty is realistic. Like I don't really get AAMC.. and why they make people spend all this money purchasing practice material then they drop this heavy bomb on people on test day. #shady
Click to expand...

I've heard this frequently that the real MCATs are way more calculation heavy. Can you please provide an example of what that really means? Also, is TPRH or TBR more equivalent to the REAL MCAT? Thanks.
 
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The Brown Knight said:
I've heard this frequently that the real MCATs are way more calculation heavy. Can you please provide an example of what that really means? Also, is TPRH or TBR more equivalent to the REAL MCAT? Thanks.
Click to expand...

So once you take the AAMC practice tests you will see that in many of them (with the exception of 5 and 11) there arent many calculations to do, it's more conceptual or answers could be taken from inferences from the passage. But when I took the MCAT my first time that was not the case. For example I would get my answer but then the answer choices were in different units(and weird units, not like converting kg to g). Or there was equation manipulation, or multiple equations, which just eats time.


I am using both TBR and TPRH just to keep practicing and I think both are great sources. I think that TBR is better as far as difficulty goes but TPRH is more "fair". Just keep practicing as MUCH as you can so when you see a PS problem you can AUTOMATICALLY identify what concept they are testing and you will be good to go!
 
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orangetea said:
AAMC is WAY too easy imo.

Especially the PS section.. it is NOTHING like the real thing and it seems like they're getting calculation heavy as it goes on. I have been taking Kaplan Section tests which are SUPER calc heavy and I feel like the level of difficulty is realistic. Like I don't really get AAMC.. and why they make people spend all this money purchasing practice material then they drop this heavy bomb on people on test day. #shady
Click to expand...

Very true.

As the years go by, these practice tests just become less and less accurate. They are far more useful as evaluation tools rather than learning tools IMO. The first timers who take these get the most value out of them really.
 
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I feel the passage quality of TBR is much better than TPRH regarding gen chem, physics, and orgo. TPRH WB physics is especially a joke (Lack of passages) and even the passages they have are literally discretes in disguise. The Gen chem is better than physics in TPRH. But where TPRH is king is with bio passages, much more experimental then TBR which is good. Also kaplan bio subject tests are good. If I were you do gen chem passages, physics, and organic from TBR and just use TPRH for bio passages. Don't want to overload on material--TBR has more than enough passages for practice. TBR is key because of the tricks they teach. Like how you can solve any log by just knowing log of 2 (0.3) and log of 3 (0.48) --TPRH in their content review presents virtually NO MCAT tricks--and these tricks are $$$ I feel. Even when stuff gets "calc" heavy all the diff TBR tricks like with projectiles (t=sqrt 2h/g) or for weak acid PH calc pH=1/2 pka-1/2 log[HA]. All of these tricks allow you to rape calculations when you encounter them. TPRH and kaplan will have you doing pages of calculations with the way they solve stuff. TBR says your not getting credit for a **** load of calculations so do the minimal to get the right answer--even if it is an estimate (this is multiple choice test) --I have all the materials and TBR is the way to go for PS I feel. Good luck. My friend who used TBR exclusively for PS told me this---after he made it thru all of TBR for gen chem and physics and did all the passages (he averages around 80% correct on the passages btw) when he started taking the AAMC FL's he literally would start laughing at the PS section--he said thats how easy it was. :laugh: compared to TBR. He ended up with 14 on PS and said the real deal PS was much harder than practice AAMC's and almost up to TBR level, but the scale is obviously better for the harder exams. So I feel prepping with TBR is way to go--well see if it helps me. lol
 
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orangetea said:
So once you take the AAMC practice tests you will see that in many of them (with the exception of 5 and 11) there arent many calculations to do, it's more conceptual or answers could be taken from inferences from the passage. But when I took the MCAT my first time that was not the case. For example I would get my answer but then the answer choices were in different units(and weird units, not like converting kg to g). Or there was equation manipulation, or multiple equations, which just eats time.


I am using both TBR and TPRH just to keep practicing and I think both are great sources. I think that TBR is better as far as difficulty goes but TPRH is more "fair". Just keep practicing as MUCH as you can so when you see a PS problem you can AUTOMATICALLY identify what concept they are testing and you will be good to go!
Click to expand...
when you say diff and weird units
do you mean like joules*density*time like weird combinations of other units
 
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The Brown Knight said:
I've heard this frequently that the real MCATs are way more calculation heavy. Can you please provide an example of what that really means? Also, is TPRH or TBR more equivalent to the REAL MCAT? Thanks.
Click to expand...

From my experience taking the MCAT in April, it was not calc heavy AT ALL. It was all conceptual. That is not to say there is no need to know formulas. Just don't spend an absurd amount of time memorizing eqns IMO
 
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What's with this "calc" scare. So a few tests lately have been calc heavy and people are getting screwed (I'm genuinely sorry :/)...isn't it a little drastic to say the test is evolving (for the lack of a better word) towards being more calc heavy?

my friend took AAMC #3,4, 5, and 6 and she said the test she took in august was exactly like the practice tests she took.
 
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