Berkeley Review Psych/Soc Book?

[banana_phone]

Hi everyone...I looked through the forums and did not find much opinion on this, specifically. Most people just said that BR was the best, and old versions would suffice. I'll be getting TPR Psych/Soc..but am wondering how TBRs is? I can't find much info on if its worth the $50 or if TPR will be enough. I know TBR Psych/Soc comes with passages, but not sure about TBR.

Thanks everybody!

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[Dr. Trenb]

I know TBR Psych/Soc comes with passages, but not sure about TPR.

I assume this is just a typo, and you are asking about TBR. I don't think you'll hear much about their psychology book because it has not been that long since it came out. I finished about 2/3 of the book, and so far, I like it.
However, two things to point out:
1. Since the book is new, I suspected to find some typographical errors (and I did, so keep an eye on that).
2. Although they have included passages at the end of each chapter, it is not as much as I expected or hoped to see. The questions are divided to two parts: first part is 10 individual questions (no passages), and the second part contain, on average, 3 passages. In comparison, their biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry books contain 100 question per section (or roughly 10 passages).
Overall, I still think it was worth it

 

[banana_phone]

@Dr. Trenb thank you for your insight (and for catching my typo!) Have you taken the MCAT yet? Wondering about similarity of TBR passages to MCAT passages

 

[Dr. Trenb]

I have not taken the exam yet. However, there are few threads made regarding the exam and the general thoughts on it you can look up.

 

[Bleu]

The sociology book has not been released. I was so confused by all the posts on this board. I'm using the old version of BR as it was updated for this exam in most areas. I'll buy the psych and sociology(not out yet). Also using new EK, new AAMC and based on what BR states the OLD AAMC tests which are golden. The followers is the BR response to my questions.


RECENTLY RELEASED PRACTICE EXAM and NEW FORMAT
The AAMC has recently released a new practice exam for the MCAT that is scheduled to begin in April of 2015. They said that this is the only practice exam they will release for the 2015 exam dates. We think they know that one exam is not enough to practice with, so hopefully they will release a few more practice exams as the year progresses. However, we are not expecting that as this is the same transitional pattern that they used when the exam radically changed in 1991. Back then it took years for them to release new material.

We have seen the newly released practice exam and the only thing that sticks out is the format change to the exam (e.g., the sciences are now 95 minutes and 10 passages instead of 70 minutes and 7 passages) and the addition of the new Psychology / Sociology component. The materials in the first three sections of the exam are pretty much the same as it has always been. The new section will require one to be familiar with Psychology and Sociology.

Because there were no radical announcements after the AAMC's November 2014 meeting in Chicago, we think the exam format is pretty much set at this time.However, they have said that their evaluation of the new exam will be ongoing and that if they need to make adjustments, they will. (Please reread that last sentence.) And as an interesting aside, at their San Francisco conference they even said that they would consider reintroducing the Writing Sample in a few years if they felt it was necessary.

MATERIAL UPDATE (BOOKS / EXAMS (CBTs))
Since the first three sections of the exam are almost identical in content to the current exam, we have decided to use the same materials we currently have for our lecture-based review program for the spring and summer of 2015 and for the current set of Home Study books. The content and the passages in the current books will be fine for the new exam. However, our projected updates for our materials are:
Biology Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Organic Chemistry Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Psychology Book: IT HAS BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Book: Scheduled to be updated and released by late October 2015

General Chemistry Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Physics Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Sociology Book: Currently in its beta stage. Possible release during late summer 2016.

CBTs: Currently there are three (3) mock exams available. A fourth mock exams will be available in December.


OLD AAMC MATERIAL
One item of interest here: The AAMC has said that once the "old" version of this exam ends on January 23, 2015, they will be removing from circulation the practice CBTs they currently offer. One needs to ask: "What are they going to do with those practice passages?" It is not likely that they are going to throw them away. Maybe they will be recycled? The AAMC has invested too much time and money into their development. If they were good enough to study with for the old exam, they will be good enough to study with for the new exam as the core content has not changed. What a number of students who are taking the new MCAT in 2015 have been doing is purchasing the "older" material from independent sellers on the internet (think eBay) and using that material to supplement what they already are using. And they are purchasing our current books so they can get a jump on their studying and passage-taking skills. They are also going to purchase the one newly released AAMC exam as well. To put this a different way, we find that students are now starting their studying for the upcoming spring/summer 2015 exams a lot earlier than they have in past years.

I hope all of this helps.


Sincerely,

Joshua
The Berkeley Review

 

[xxabi]

The sociology book has not been released. I was so confused by all the posts on this board. I'm using the old version of BR as it was updated for this exam in most areas. I'll buy the psych and sociology(not out yet). Also using new EK, new AAMC and based on what BR states the OLD AAMC tests which are golden. The followers is the BR response to my questions.


RECENTLY RELEASED PRACTICE EXAM and NEW FORMAT
The AAMC has recently released a new practice exam for the MCAT that is scheduled to begin in April of 2015. They said that this is the only practice exam they will release for the 2015 exam dates. We think they know that one exam is not enough to practice with, so hopefully they will release a few more practice exams as the year progresses. However, we are not expecting that as this is the same transitional pattern that they used when the exam radically changed in 1991. Back then it took years for them to release new material.

We have seen the newly released practice exam and the only thing that sticks out is the format change to the exam (e.g., the sciences are now 95 minutes and 10 passages instead of 70 minutes and 7 passages) and the addition of the new Psychology / Sociology component. The materials in the first three sections of the exam are pretty much the same as it has always been. The new section will require one to be familiar with Psychology and Sociology.

Because there were no radical announcements after the AAMC's November 2014 meeting in Chicago, we think the exam format is pretty much set at this time.However, they have said that their evaluation of the new exam will be ongoing and that if they need to make adjustments, they will. (Please reread that last sentence.) And as an interesting aside, at their San Francisco conference they even said that they would consider reintroducing the Writing Sample in a few years if they felt it was necessary.

MATERIAL UPDATE (BOOKS / EXAMS (CBTs))
Since the first three sections of the exam are almost identical in content to the current exam, we have decided to use the same materials we currently have for our lecture-based review program for the spring and summer of 2015 and for the current set of Home Study books. The content and the passages in the current books will be fine for the new exam. However, our projected updates for our materials are:
Biology Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Organic Chemistry Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Psychology Book: IT HAS BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Book: Scheduled to be updated and released by late October 2015

General Chemistry Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Physics Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Sociology Book: Currently in its beta stage. Possible release during late summer 2016.

CBTs: Currently there are three (3) mock exams available. A fourth mock exams will be available in December.


OLD AAMC MATERIAL
One item of interest here: The AAMC has said that once the "old" version of this exam ends on January 23, 2015, they will be removing from circulation the practice CBTs they currently offer. One needs to ask: "What are they going to do with those practice passages?" It is not likely that they are going to throw them away. Maybe they will be recycled? The AAMC has invested too much time and money into their development. If they were good enough to study with for the old exam, they will be good enough to study with for the new exam as the core content has not changed. What a number of students who are taking the new MCAT in 2015 have been doing is purchasing the "older" material from independent sellers on the internet (think eBay) and using that material to supplement what they already are using. And they are purchasing our current books so they can get a jump on their studying and passage-taking skills. They are also going to purchase the one newly released AAMC exam as well. To put this a different way, we find that students are now starting their studying for the upcoming spring/summer 2015 exams a lot earlier than they have in past years.

I hope all of this helps.


Sincerely,

Joshua
The Berkeley Review

Shoot, wish I had known this. Taking the MCAT May 2016, I guess I should've waited until they released the new GenChem and Physics books prior to purchasing the set.

 

[banana_phone]

@xxabi I'm with you. I am taking the MCAT April 23, and am unsure if I should buy the BR books now or wait for the release of new Gen Chem and Physics. They said late fall 2015 release, and the timetable on that is waning...hoping to start studying Jan 12-ish, and want the books by then.

@Bleu can you comment on this? Should we expect the books soon, or am I better off buying now? I've emailed Berkeley Review directly but have yet to hear back.

 

[minnie94]

i'm also taking april 23rd and i just got the orgo, bio, and psych books for now and am planning to get the others once theyre released. i also emailed TBR about it and was told late december/early january for the remaining books besides the sociology one

 

[dontstopbelievinggg]

I have TBR Psych book. It is out

The sociology book has not been released. I was so confused by all the posts on this board. I'm using the old version of BR as it was updated for this exam in most areas. I'll buy the psych and sociology(not out yet). Also using new EK, new AAMC and based on what BR states the OLD AAMC tests which are golden. The followers is the BR response to my questions.


RECENTLY RELEASED PRACTICE EXAM and NEW FORMAT
The AAMC has recently released a new practice exam for the MCAT that is scheduled to begin in April of 2015. They said that this is the only practice exam they will release for the 2015 exam dates. We think they know that one exam is not enough to practice with, so hopefully they will release a few more practice exams as the year progresses. However, we are not expecting that as this is the same transitional pattern that they used when the exam radically changed in 1991. Back then it took years for them to release new material.

We have seen the newly released practice exam and the only thing that sticks out is the format change to the exam (e.g., the sciences are now 95 minutes and 10 passages instead of 70 minutes and 7 passages) and the addition of the new Psychology / Sociology component. The materials in the first three sections of the exam are pretty much the same as it has always been. The new section will require one to be familiar with Psychology and Sociology.

Because there were no radical announcements after the AAMC's November 2014 meeting in Chicago, we think the exam format is pretty much set at this time.However, they have said that their evaluation of the new exam will be ongoing and that if they need to make adjustments, they will. (Please reread that last sentence.) And as an interesting aside, at their San Francisco conference they even said that they would consider reintroducing the Writing Sample in a few years if they felt it was necessary.

MATERIAL UPDATE (BOOKS / EXAMS (CBTs))
Since the first three sections of the exam are almost identical in content to the current exam, we have decided to use the same materials we currently have for our lecture-based review program for the spring and summer of 2015 and for the current set of Home Study books. The content and the passages in the current books will be fine for the new exam. However, our projected updates for our materials are:
Biology Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Organic Chemistry Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Psychology Book: IT HAS BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Book: Scheduled to be updated and released by late October 2015

General Chemistry Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Physics Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late fall 2015

Sociology Book: Currently in its beta stage. Possible release during late summer 2016.

CBTs: Currently there are three (3) mock exams available. A fourth mock exams will be available in December.


OLD AAMC MATERIAL
One item of interest here: The AAMC has said that once the "old" version of this exam ends on January 23, 2015, they will be removing from circulation the practice CBTs they currently offer. One needs to ask: "What are they going to do with those practice passages?" It is not likely that they are going to throw them away. Maybe they will be recycled? The AAMC has invested too much time and money into their development. If they were good enough to study with for the old exam, they will be good enough to study with for the new exam as the core content has not changed. What a number of students who are taking the new MCAT in 2015 have been doing is purchasing the "older" material from independent sellers on the internet (think eBay) and using that material to supplement what they already are using. And they are purchasing our current books so they can get a jump on their studying and passage-taking skills. They are also going to purchase the one newly released AAMC exam as well. To put this a different way, we find that students are now starting their studying for the upcoming spring/summer 2015 exams a lot earlier than they have in past years.

I hope all of this helps.


Sincerely,

Joshua
The Berkeley Review

 

[banana_phone]

I have TBR Psych book. It is out

The psych book is out, but they are releasing a soc book separately late next year. I was confused about this too!

 

[Bleu]

I'm using the old books. I'll order the psych book after the new yr and the soc when it comes out.

All I know is in the email BR sent me. Remember they promised the psych book last summer and it didn't come out until I believe Oct. It is NOT a soc book.

I wouldn't stress about which version of books you have just use the post that links BR to EK and Kahn Academy. BR states last yrs book was already updated. SN2 is written for the older books and they have practice and test ?s. Also, get your hands on the old AAMC tests! BR believes they are critical.

 

[nightowls]

I received a reply from BR recently and this is their updated schedule:

MATERIAL UPDATE (BOOKS / EXAMS (CBTs))
Since the first three sections of the exam are almost identical in content to the current exam, we have decided to use the same materials we currently have for our lecture-based review program for the spring and summer of 2015 and for the current set of Home Study books. The content and the passages in the current books will be fine for the new exam. However, our projected updates for our materials are:
Biology Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Organic Chemistry Books I & II: THEY HAVE BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Psychology Book: IT HAS BEEN UPDATED for the NEW EXAM (2015)--

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Book: Scheduled to be updated and released during late December/January 2015/2016

General Chemistry Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late December/January 2015/2016

Physics Books I & II: Scheduled to be updated and released during late December/January 2015/2016

Sociology Book: Currently in its beta stage. Possible release during late summer 2016.

CBTs: Three (3) mock exams will be available in mid-December. A fourth mock exams will be available late winter 2016.

 

[xxabi]

i'm also taking april 23rd and i just got the orgo, bio, and psych books for now and am planning to get the others once theyre released. i also emailed TBR about it and was told late december/early january for the remaining books besides the sociology one

That was a smart idea. Sadly, I did not do that so I just received the books today that I ordered. Not too worried about Verbal, but wishing I had waited to purchase GenChem and Physics.

 

[RN2MD2014applicant]

That was a smart idea. Sadly, I did not do that so I just received the books today that I ordered. Not too worried about Verbal, but wishing I had waited to purchase GenChem and Physics.

Me too, I hope they will let us trade in physics and Gchem. I just got them too.

 

[xxabi]

Me too, I hope they will let us trade in physics and Gchem. I just got them too.

I inquired about this, and Elliot responded to my email reassuring me that the "old" (2013 editions) books for GenChem and Physics would be plenty to do well on the new MCAT. They are even using these books for the spring in-person course, so I'm just going to use them and hope for the best!

 

[KoalaT]

I just received the TBR psych book recently. I have only completed 1 chapter and here's my take thus far (I will reply later when I get through more):

/TLDR. Skip to conclusion if you want to know the basics.

- Depth: It does seem rather dense. There's a ton of material, and it doesn't seem to be entirely clear on what is most important.

- Clarity: Like most TBR books, the book does a very good job of explaining material even though it does go into great depth. Very similar to other books in this manner.

- Practice (discrete): There are 10 discrete for each chapter. The 10 discretes just sort of grab random facts from the chapter. As well, there are some questions that aren't even answered in the chapter and seem ridiculous and unnecessary for the MCAT.

- Practice (Passages): There are 3 passages for each chapter. THESE WERE MY LARGEST COMPLAINT ABOUT THE BOOK (**see edit. I think their actually appropriate in difficulty compared to comments about the real thing). These passages are ridiculous. The texts themselves are extremely long-winded. I'm talking they actually printed the passage in smaller font because it wouldn't fit on a full page, that kind of long winded. Also the questions were insanely hard. TBR is known for harder passages sometimes, but these are beyond that. There are about 2 answer explanations per page because they are so long winded, and they'll make your head spin.

CONCLUSION: Pretty similar to other TBR books when it comes to context and information. The major difference is the practice. The discretes are just factoids and the passages are so ridiculous its almost worthless (**see edit). Also studied the full TPR psych/soc book. I honestly think it taught me the material in a way that sticks better than TBR did. Khan academy probably is your best spot for practice.

**Edit: I got through more of the book. The content is still extremely dense. It takes me much longer to get through these chapters than other material. Also, I still feel a lot of it may not be entirely necessary (too much detail to shuffle through when what the MCAT likes is the big picture). However, I think the end passages actually are pretty good. Are they very hard? Yes, but they do a good job of making you think. Also, the major comments about the new psych section is that it contained a TON of material people didn't know, required tons of experimental interpretation, and was overall pretty darn difficult. Thus, I think TBR might be the best practice for the difficulty of the Psych section.

 

[detroitstudent]

Any updates on this? Debating if I should use my TBR Psych book or get TPR (second edition of this is coming out/might be out btw). I don't want to use TBR if it has too much extra information as I would probably burn out and I have a habit of focusing too much on content.

 

[supremus]

Any updates on this? Debating if I should use my TBR Psych book or get TPR (second edition of this is coming out/might be out btw). I don't want to use TBR if it has too much extra information as I would probably burn out and I have a habit of focusing too much on content.

I would go with TPR, they cover every point in the content outline with the right amount of information.

 

[detroitstudent]

I would go with TPR, they cover every point in the content outline with the right amount of information.

I think that is what I'm going to do, thanks.