A warning about EK Verbal

[K M R]

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I used EK materials (both content and practice tests) to prepare for MCAT VR. Regarding EK's verbal content review, let me say this: It's awesome. It's not going to magically take you from a 4 to a 14, but it has good strategies and shows you how to "get inside" the passage and truly understand it.

Now, let's discuss EK 101 Passages in Verbal Reasoning. I recommend this book, as it has 14 MCAT-style tests (each with 7 passages and 40 questions) and is a good practice tool. But, I have two beefs. First, some of the passages are very interesting. Real MCAT passages are simply not that interesting. Second, the passages are a bit shorter than what you find on the real MCAT. I didn't see this coming and felt a bit rushed during the exam. But, the practice I got with these materials was enough for me to get a decent VR score. So be forewarned: EK is the bomb but there are some minor issues with their materials.

Oh, and EK materials get a bad rap because they're allegedly full of typos. This is false. There are a few meaningless mistakes (a space between the last word of a sentence and the period, for example) but nothing that will throw you off . And EK publishes all its errata online, for free.

Good luck with your MCAT preparation!

 

[Temperature101]

I used EK materials (both content and practice tests) to prepare for MCAT VR. Regarding EK's verbal content review, let me say this: It's awesome. It's not going to magically take you from a 4 to a 14, but it has good strategies and shows you how to "get inside" the passage and truly understand it.

Now, let's discuss EK 101 Passages in Verbal Reasoning. I recommend this book, as it has 14 MCAT-style tests (each with 7 passages and 40 questions) and is a good practice tool. But, I have two beefs. First, some of the passages are very interesting. Real MCAT passages are simply not that interesting. Second, the passages are a bit shorter than what you find on the real MCAT. I didn't see this coming and felt a bit rushed during the exam. But, the practice I got with these materials was enough for me to get a decent VR score. So be forewarned: EK is the bomb but there are some minor issues with their materials.

Oh, and EK materials get a bad rap because they're allegedly full of typos. This is false. There are a few meaningless mistakes (a space between the last word of a sentence and the period, for example) but nothing that will throw you off . And EK publishes all its errata online, for free.
Good luck with your MCAT preparation!

What was your EK 101 average and what is your VR score on the MCAT?

 

[scottydsntkno]

Ek is useful in that there are only so much practice material you can get for verbal however I definitely agree you need to take a few precautions. Use ek during the first couple months of studying, and make the time lower than it recommends or else you won't be prepared for the amount of reading per time on the real mcat. A month before your exam, switch over to aamcs and the verbal assessment ONLY. Your first time will be rough because you will realize the differences (so do the assessment first followed by a very in depth post test analysis), and then the aamcs. Don't look at eks at this point because I feel it can throw you off.

This is what worked for me

 

[TheShaker]

EK actually did have typos in their answer keys which might make it a good idea to manually check the answers in the explanation section. It wasn't very apparent in most of the tests but i remember 2 of them having about 4-5 answers off.

I think that EK is good as a beginning experience in Verbal, just to ease a person into it. There are harder passages out there (TPRH VW) and it's wise to get accustomed to those after you've played around with EK for a while.

 

[K M R]

What was your EK 101 average and what is your VR score on the MCAT?

EK 101:

n = 7
mean = 10.5
range: 9 - 12

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05/31/2012 MCAT: VR 13

 

[pfaction]

EK actually did have typos in their answer keys which might make it a good idea to manually check the answers in the explanation section. It wasn't very apparent in most of the tests but i remember 2 of them having about 4-5 answers off.

SO MANY ****ING TYPOS. Double check each and every answer.

 

[Mehd School]

My scores through the first three 101 tests are: 6, 9, and 9.

I just took AAMC 3 and scored a 7. I found the aamc passages to be considerably longer, more complex, and less interesting. I also found myself searching the passage for exact verbiage for the answer as opposed to EK where I have to make many more inferences and analyzations.

N=1 so far, but the first thing that popped up in my head during aamc VR is "man this seems different". Hopefully this changes through the rest of my aamc full lengths. That 7 was an insult.

 

[rbolt25]

My scores through the first three 101 tests are: 6, 9, and 9.

I just took AAMC 3 and scored a 7. I found the aamc passages to be considerably longer, more complex, and less interesting. I also found myself searching the passage for exact verbiage for the answer as opposed to EK where I have to make many more inferences and analyzations.

N=1 so far, but the first thing that popped up in my head during aamc VR is "man this seems different". Hopefully this changes through the rest of my aamc full lengths. That 7 was an insult.

The exact same thing happened to me. AAMC passages are longer and a much more complex read. I was doing better on the EKs and then got a rude awakening on AAMC 3 & 4. I am switching to TPRH because the passages are more complex and less interesting. I would rather sacrifice question difficulty for more practice with deciphering complex passages.