Which MCAT books are the best prep tools?

[David Yoshimoto]

I plan on takeing the MCAT in about a year and I found a old kaplan book (2002) and practice tests for 25$. I am reading it right now and I was wondering if it would be better to purchase a newer book. Based on reading other posts on this topic here is what I have gathered.

Berkley Review- Essientally god's gift to MCAT students. Best comprehensive review tool but sending a money order to a P.O. box makes some students a little nervous.

Kaplan- Average, does an okay job of preparing students

Princeton Review- About right on with kaplan, doesn't make much of a difference one way or the other

Exam Krackers- A good series of questions to do after a great deal of preparation useing other sources, Texts provide a broad over view of material

Am I about right on or am I way off?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SN2ed]

Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

 

[Norah89]

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Why is Kaplan bad for Verbal Should i not look over the KAplan material i have because i do also have the EK 101 book?????

 

[SN2ed]

Why is Kaplan bad for Verbal Should i not look over the KAplan material i have because i do also have the EK 101 book?????

Kaplan is bad in verbal because it doesn't stress the same things as the actual MCAT. For the MCAT, the main idea and author's point of view/opinion are the keys to success. Conversely, Kaplan focuses more on the detail oriented questions; the kind of questions which make you go back over the passage to find the minute detail being tested. On the MCAT, going back to the passages will kill your timing. Furthermore, you rarely receive such questions and when you do get them, they can typically be answered with the main idea or author's opinion.

 

[Norah89]

Ok thank you for the information but now i have another question for you....Kaplan taught me to do the 3 Step method they call it which is to write the Scope, Purpose, and Topic --> thats for the whole passage so basically u sum up the whole passage and they also taught me to pause after every paragraph and write a 1 sentence paraphrase do u think i should do that i am very weak at Verbal and im trying to change my methods bc Kaplan's method is not working for me ?????

 

[Malayna]

Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Having access to tons of different materials for the sciences and having tried everything in the world for verbal, I completely agree with this list. BR owns chemistry and physics and EK owns biology and verbal. This should just be a sticky somewhere so you don't have to repost it every time someone new comes on to ask the question again. Search isn't working.

Ok thank you for the information but now i have another question for you....Kaplan taught me to do the 3 Step method they call it which is to write the Scope, Purpose, and Topic --> thats for the whole passage so basically u sum up the whole passage and they also taught me to pause after every paragraph and write a 1 sentence paraphrase do u think i should do that i am very weak at Verbal and im trying to change my methods bc Kaplan's method is not working for me ?????

You don't have enough time to do that, even if it did work. Look at EK for techniques and if you can get your hands on them the BR class notes for verbal reasoning. EK has really good techniques and suggestions and BR notes have great exercises where you practice their techniques. To be honest, the EK, PR, and BR techniques all sort of blended for me, so it probably doesn't matter which source you use (if you already have one of those books). If you are still shopping, I think EK is the cheapest book, so you might as well use that one.

Just make sure you focus more on analyzing questions than reading the passage. If the BR verbal teacher taught me anything it was that it's far, far better to be able to work through questions than it is to be able to break down a passage. As she said, "apparently they only give you points for answering questions."

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

This should just be a sticky somewhere so you don't have to repost it every time someone new comes on to ask the question again. Search isn't working.

Didn't they use to have a FAQ thread?

 

[ChinaDoll]

I know people have asked this before...it has become a cliche...however I just want to make sure that I am getting the best books before I spend any of my money on them...My MCAT is next year so I am getting a head start

I already got the EK study set and 1001 set..
I just want to buy something else to do more study

1. Physics:
I heard NOVA physics is good... BR or TPR which is better?
2. General Chemistry:
BR or TPR?
3. Biology:
BR or TPR?
4. O Chem:
I heard TPR is the best...
5. Verbal:
Have no idea...

Good TPR hyperlearning set is hard to find...so this is a hassel..
I heard a lot of good things about Berkeley Review..what do u think?
Is Goldstandard any good???
Is Kaplan really garbage???

Thanks guys!!!

 

[redlight]

a quick search and you'll have your answer. this has been beaten to death on this forum and ive only been here like 2 weeks

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Yeah, this question does seem to come up quite often.

 

[wait4me]

Ive been hearing about these books for physical science but cant find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I can get it? and is it one PS book or are chem and physics separate?? I see one copy on amazon but it is part II. How many parts are there?!

If I cant find this could i just get EK physics and chem?

 

[SN2ed]

http://www.berkeley-review.com/TBR/home-study.html

Also, check the For Sale forum on here.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Ive been hearing about these books for physical science but cant find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I can get it? and is it one PS book or are chem and physics separate?? I see one copy on amazon but it is part II. How many parts are there?!

If I cant find this could i just get EK physics and chem?

Amazon is a terrible resource for BR books. They are usually really old and more expensive than new ones directly from he company. If you are going to buy them anywhere besides their website, you should buy them from the SDN classifieds.

 

[CTAATGT]

Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

For for detail-oriented Bio, which is better: TPR or BR? You ranked them equally, but if you had to pick one, which one would you choose and why?

 

[SN2ed]

For for detail-oriented Bio, which is better: TPR or BR? You ranked them equally, but if you had to pick one, which one would you choose and why?

BR because it contains practice problems. TPR Hyperlearning is equal in terms of content review, but the practice problems are in the science workbook.

 

[RedSoxSuck]

And TPR has only 80 passages or so but BR has around 150 passages.

 

[PRamos]

I already got the EK study set and 1001 set.

While EK was really good for a quick review, stay away from their 1001 books. They aren't like the actual MCAT questions and their answer explanations are a joke. Spend your practice time on better materials like BR or PR.

And TPR has only 80 passages or so but BR has around 150 passages.

I really liked that BR books have passages organized by subjects in the books for reviewing and random passages in practice tests for realism. PR would be smart if they organized their workbook like the BR books.

I'd rank the books BR > PR > EK.

 

[Magnetek Blue]

To the OP (and anyone else who has yet to buy test prep stuff):

Don't get a McGraw-Hill! I bought their book, and it had A THEORY ERROR. In one of the first sections, they divided by zero!!! WTF! Anyone who has had 4th grade math can tell you that isn't possible! Plus, the book was riddled with typos and mistakes in calculations. Granted, it was a 1st edition, but still--I was really, really dissatisfied with it.

But then...

I bought EK, and I jizzed. In. My pants.

 

[Vince86]

The best source of knowledge for the MCAT is in many books. But one book will suffice.

Bio - EK and Kaplan does a pretty good job on covering all the basics and general info. I would use the Kaplan online sectional tests and practice exams. Why kaplan online? Cause they present alot of different scenarios of different bio passages that can get confusing. It will help train you for using the passage to answering questions. I found this to be the most similar to the bio section of my mcat. The real mcat had some confusing passages but also some discretes that were strictly memorization based.

Verbal - Kaplan + EK + TPR. I just practiced from all the books. One helps you train for one aspect of the test. I found Kaplan helped me with training to find specific details of the passage. EK helped with main idea questions. TPR helped similar to kaplan but with slightly harder passages to read. Best strategy here was to use different sources cause you never know what kind of verbal you will get.

Physical - Kaplan + My physics textbook and very little EK. EK has good practice questions in the 1001 book but some of these questions are kind of too tricky and kind of too deep. Kaplan teaches the information well. Physics textbook helped with understanding the information and theory. If you are really struggling with physics, go find a physics tutor to help you grasp the basics and what is covered on the mcat. For practice i used the kaplan online tests; this really helped apply the information. Doing alot of timed practice sectional tests helped really drill everything in.

Overall i would buy just kaplan and EK. For physics, i would just use a physics textbook. Use kaplan for alot of good practice questions to get timing and hard passages. Do the aamc tests. And then youll be set.

 

[g8orlife]

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Hello all,

SN2ed, I am about to order the EK 101 Verbal passages, but I am confused. Do the EK 101 Verbal passages have helpful tips and strategies within its book?... or do I need to order the EK verbal book for those tips and strategies along with the 101 passages?

Thank you.

 

[Jumpman04]

well personally i used TPR Hyperlearning. Once you're done with content review, the best way to practice i think is using TPR Science Workbook. Hundreds of passages similar to AAMC structure for orgo, chem, physics, and bio... well worth it.

 

[sw1sschez]

I plan on takeing the MCAT in about a year and I found a old kaplan book (2002) and practice tests for 25$. I am reading it right now and I was wondering if it would be better to purchase a newer book. Based on reading other posts on this topic here is what I have gathered.

Berkley Review- Essientally god's gift to MCAT students. Best comprehensive review tool but sending a money order to a P.O. box makes some students a little nervous.

Kaplan- Average, does an okay job of preparing students

Princeton Review- About right on with kaplan, doesn't make much of a difference one way or the other

Exam Krackers- A good series of questions to do after a great deal of preparation useing other sources, Texts provide a broad over view of material

Am I about right on or am I way off?

You are a bonehead. Allow me to qualify. Berkeley Review is excellent it was spawned for the UC market in California. In North, they used to have Columbia Review which was very good too. In the south they had Hyperlearning, which got bought out by Princeton. Hyperlearning is a very good review as well as it explains things in a very simple way...albeit wordy. Princeton Review hasnt done crap to it since they bought Hyper. All they done was stick in a PR cover and have not added to it since they bought them years ago.

Exam Krackers is like the Cliff Notes to the MCAT. It is very brief and has barely any practice problems....yet you give them higher marks then Princeton...and by extension Kaplan...since you claim they are equivalent.

Berkeley Review has a website too. They offer a classroom version too if you can take it in Cali.

Buy one based on your learning style. If you need a lot of hand holding then get PR. If you are okay and just need refreshing and pointers, get Berkeley. My friend used Columbia Review and he talked trash about BR.

 

[SN2ed]

Hello all,

SN2ed, I am about to order the EK 101 Verbal passages, but I am confused. Do the EK 101 Verbal passages have helpful tips and strategies within its book?... or do I need to order the EK verbal book for those tips and strategies along with the 101 passages?

Thank you.

While the EK 101 Verbal book does not contain tips or strategies, you can easily find those on here. Vihsadas wrote a good verbal guide as did other members. If you're short on cash, just get Verbal 101.

Vihsadas's guide: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6022602&postcount=96