Anybody out there using Examkrackers for Aug02?

[Mr. Z]

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Just wanted to get in touch with people using examkrackers for the mcat this august. See how you feel about the study materials, mini exams etc... Anyone?

 

[missbonnie]

I used it for april, does that count?

 

[Mr. Z]

you bet it counts, might even be better.

I just finished my first pass through the physics book and i was alarmed at my performance on the mini exams (at the back of the book). My scores have been all over the place, near perfect in some sections, and in others completely and utterly pitiful (I earned a scaled score of 5 on the exam for test 7) Wanted to know what other peoples experiences have been. In your case, what were your experiences and how did they translate to the real thing? did you feel confident, did you finish the sections, anything not covered in the review books crop up?

thanks

 

[missbonnie]

don't bother scoring the mini exams. they are mean to be super hard. jon has toldus that the "Scoring" was meant to be fun but it turned not so fun ...

physics was my "weak" spot at first. I started with a 7 in physical, and right before the real deal I was getting 12-13s in the aamc tests. I felt relly good about physical sciences on the real thing. I took the actual examkrackers course too and also had the cds.

I thought the physics book was one of their best books. I took physics in 97 or 98 and didn't really learn anything, so I felt like I was relearning it alot of times.

 

[Mr. Z]

thanks missb

I agree that the physics book is great. I've looked at the kaplan and flowers books closely, and i can honestly say examkrackers kills both of them. I've learned a great deal just working through the book one time, hopefully by Aug I'll be in good shape.

I hope what you say is true about the mini exams, because i'm starting to feel like i have a bipolar disorder. One chapter I'm happy and fun and 20 pages later i wanna tear the book in half.

I've just started the chemistry book, heard its good, though not as strong as the physics. This is a subject i'm much more familiar with (vs. physics) so i'm hoping the review will go a little more smoother/quickly than physics. We will see...

 

[Bikini Princess]

For physics you pretty much just need to know a few basic equations, and you can reason out the rest.

Like:
F=ma
V=IR
w=Fd
F=mg
etc.

AMCAS tries to make it so you don't need to study anything extra; they are trying to only test reasoning ability.

 

[Mr. Z]

bikini- I think that might be understating things just a wee bit. Thats like saying to play music like Eric Clapton all you need to know is what a guitar and a pic are. :wink:

sure you posted in the right thread? this was about examkrackers?

 

[Sweet Tea]

Hey Mr. Z--

I took the Kaplan class for April's MCAT, and was totally disgusted by their physics review so I bought the EK physics and gen chem books. After I started using their books to study (and I mean, really study) my score went from 8 in PS to 11-12 on the AAMC practice tests and Kaplan exams. PS was my weak point and I think the EK really helped. I'll find out in 2 days if it really DID help...

 

[lady bug]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Sweet Tea:
•Hey Mr. Z--

I took the Kaplan class for April's MCAT, and was totally disgusted by their physics review so I bought the EK physics and gen chem books. After I started using their books to study (and I mean, really study) my score went from 8 in PS to 11-12 on the AAMC practice tests and Kaplan exams. PS was my weak point and I think the EK really helped. I'll find out in 2 days if it really DID help... •••••I agree, I am totally disgusted by Kaplan's physical sciences review. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

[relatively prime]

Hmmm... I took Kaplan and went from 8's on PS to a 12 on the real thing... so I guess it just depends.

 

[relatively prime]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Mr. Z:
•bikini- I think that might be understating things just a wee bit. Thats like saying to play music like Eric Clapton all you need to know is what a guitar and a pic are. :wink:

sure you posted in the right thread? this was about examkrackers?•••••Actually... I agree with bikini... and like I already said I did pretty well on PS on the real test. However, she forgot a few, like e=mc^2 (who could forget that one? ) v=(wavelength)x(frequency) and the 2 optics formulas... but other than those... you really don't have to know that many.

You may not realize it yet... but a lot of the forumlas you think are unique are really combinations of formulas... take this for example..

V=IR and P=I^2R gives P=(V^2)/R

There are lots of these examples...

 

[sng33]

sweet tea, what do you mean you REALLY started to study? What did you different from what you were initially doing? At what point did you start this type of studying? As far as I know all you can really do is take notes while you read, and then do problems. Is there another more efficient way you know of?

 

[Mr. Z]

Well Prime, I guess we can agree to disagree. For me, knowing the equations and how to derive the formulas you need is the easy part of mcat prep. IMO just knowing these equations is not even half the battle of doing well on the exam. I'm sure 90% of people who take the mcat can rattle off those equations you guys have listed. But, certainly 90% of the people don't score as if that's all you need to know.

Those who do well on the mcat not only know the equations, but, they also know how to apply those equations in situations with which they are not familiar. They know the proportionalities, the exceptions, all the scenarios which might change the way an equation will be used etc... This level of understanding, at least for me, doesn't come from just knowing a few equations and their derivatives.

Anyway, this thread has deviated from the original intentions of the post so i'm gonna

 

[Sweet Tea]

sng-- sorry if i wasn't clear. i studied the kaplan stuff hard-- it's been a long while since i've had physical science stuff, so i used all the kaplan resources (went to lectures, watched the tapes, did the practice tests) but i wasn't happy with the way they were explaining things-- it just wasn't getting through my head. i didn't really use any different methods to do the examkrakers books (i read, made notes, did problems, reviewed notes, did problems again), but i thought the way they explained things was better. when i say "i really studied the examkrackers" books, i mean i didn't just skim the books hoping to absorb the information without doing any problems. it wasn't that i was studying differently, it was that the material was presented in a way that made more sense to me.

i hope that makes more sense!

 

[dnetko]

Sweet Tea~
Overall, did you feel that Examkrackers was more beneficial than the Kaplan review? I am finding that Kaplan isn't helping me out a whole lot and I am debating whether or not to purchase the Examkrackers package.

 

[sng33]

Thanks for the clarification sweet tea, what practice tests did you use?

 

[Sweet Tea]

Wow!! Look at all these questions for me!! Aw shucks... y'all are making me feel important.

For the PS stuff, I liked Examkrackers way more than Kaplan, but I was fine with Kaplan's review of BS and VR and didn't use anything else. However, I'm much better at BS and VR than I am at PS.

I did every single practice Kaplan test (6-12 sucked...they should be thrown out and re-done b/c the questions were terrible), and I did AAMC practice tests 3-5. I also did all the practice materials that Kaplan offers. Yes, I lived in the Kaplan center for a few months, but I figured if I was gonna spend $1350 then I was gonna get my money's worth.

Counting down the hours til I get my scores...

 

[sng33]

Sweet tea, one more question. What time frame did you finish the "reviewing" stage and start the practicing stage? Or did you kind of mix it up the whole time? I am planning on reviewing all of the material while doing some section specific practice problems. Then ideally I would like to do only practice problems as test day approaches. Just not sure when to shoot for to have all the material review done?

 

[Sweet Tea]

i pretty much reviewed all along-- it had been a long time since i had the material, and i didn't do too in gen chem when i was taking the class (mostly b/c i slept through the class). i stopped reviewing about a month before the test. from then on i did practice problems (kaplan and examkracker), and only reviewed things that consistently gave me trouble (which means i spent A LOT of time with ohm's law). the week before the test i did a couple of VR passages and made sure i was well-rested.

that was my plan. and as soon as the mcat office gets it's act together, we'll find out if it was a good plan.

 

[Sweet Tea]

i don't think i answered your question very well.

i did practice problems and reviewed until about a month before the test, and then i just did practice problems and only reviewed stuff i kept missing.

sorry for not answering your question the first time-- it's early and i'm still waiting for the caffiene to hit my bloodstream.

 

[relatively prime]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Sweet Tea:
•
I did every single practice Kaplan test (6-12 sucked...they should be thrown out and re-done b/c the questions were terrible)...•••••Oh my Lord, don't even mention tests 6-12. They were pure misery. I don't think I got higher than a 27 on any of those tests. However, I think I learned a lot by meticulously going over them.

You know what we should do? I think we should ask people to post what materials they used and what they got on the actual test. That might be more helpfull... I don't know... just an idea.

 

[sng33]

Sounds good Relatively Prime, now we just need the scores then lets make the thread...

 

[Doctor Octopus]

I did Kaplan 6-9 (they didn't have 10-12 yet) and found them to be considerably more difficult then 1-5 or any of the AAMC tests. I also did them first, before I completed my review.

 

[docmira]

Hey,
I"ve registered for Kaplan and have been using their books. I'm having extreme difficulty with the Physical sciences though.
Should I purchase the Examcrackers Physics and Chemistry books?
What would be a BETTER buy? Buying just the Phyics and Chemistry 1001 books or buying the Exams Crackers set??

Also,
Those who used Kaplan books for OChem, who found other books more helpful? which ones??

One more question...i know this is asked a lot..
using these books, how much did u study daily and how long before the mcat??

Thanks for the help..

 

[WonderBoy]

For those buying examkracker material, you should get it from <a href="http://www.bn.com" target="_blank">www.bn.com</a> or from <a href="http://www.bamm.com" target="_blank">www.bamm.com</a> They are the cheapest place. Bamm is the cheapest just takes about a week to get the books.

You should get the 1001 books, if you are scoring around a 6 or so in the respective sections. Don't get the orgo book, it sucks.

Should be studying between 4-6 hours a day, anymore is probably ineffective. Of course this varies for each individual

 

[Talus]

I highly recommend Examkrackers! When it comes to getting into medical school, why waste resources? Don't leave anything to chance! The Examkracker series are the best. I owe my success to using both the books and Audio Osmosis. While the CDs follow closely to the books, there are actually more hints and test taking strategies on the discs!

I'm about to place my set of discs on Ebay, so you should be able to get a set cheaper than buying from Amazon!

 

[WonderBoy]

Talus, I sent you a private messages.