BERKELEY REVIEW scores/discussion

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capn jazz

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Just like the EK Verbal 101 thread, this is a thread to talk about how you're doing with the TBR passages. I don't know how people are generally going through these, but I'm doing Phase I and II after reading the chapter, and saving Phase III for after I finish all content review.

I'm currently working on Gen Chem.

Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

So far I LOVE the book. I hated Gen Chem and I'm enjoying reading this and I really feel like it's helping me grasp the topics. Hopefully future chapters will continue this trend...

Now it's up to you guys! Keep this thread alive!

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It may sound sick, but I am looking forward to these tomorrow!

No, I totally understand. I was SO excited when my books came in the mail and I actually look forward to reading them every day. Sick as it may be, it's probably a GOOD thing to want to study for the MCAT.
 
I totally understand. I like there material layout. I like their questions and how they incorporate certain points from different angles, all to reinforce the knowledge base. I'll post scores as I move along. I'm almost finished with the first gen chem book. But haven't followed a strict order of passages, I usually do at least the first 3, and then any other suggested for phase I.

People, you seriously should invest in these books if you want solid scores. EK is good, but the passages in these books are gold. Gimme da gold
 
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I'm currently working on Gen Chem.

Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

No one else?

Chapter 3: I screwed up. I took 'phase I' in the morning, but apparently can't read roman numerals, so I took a few of the wrong passages, and didn't realize until halfway through phase II and needed to pick 3 passages at random to do, so I got pretty flustered/unfocused and actually went 2 minutes over.

Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

A few of my mistakes were stupid math errors, but a ton of them were legitimately not understanding the question/method for the solution.

Is it just me or are the calculations on some TBR Qs a little time-intensive?
 
No one else?

Chapter 3: I screwed up. I took 'phase I' in the morning, but apparently can't read roman numerals, so I took a few of the wrong passages, and didn't realize until halfway through phase II and needed to pick 3 passages at random to do, so I got pretty flustered/unfocused and actually went 2 minutes over.

Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

A few of my mistakes were stupid math errors, but a ton of them were legitimately not understanding the question/method for the solution.

Is it just me or are the calculations on some TBR Qs a little time-intensive?

Definitely time-intensive at times. I tried to do each passage in 6 minutes minimum and 8 minutes maximum, although I definitely continued to do the passage if I went over time. I know it says to only time Phase II passages, but my time was a big issue for me so I started timing from starting in Phase I. In Phase III I haven't timed as closely since I know I can do passages quick enough now and I'm just reviewing. Your actual scores you get on them don't correlate at all with your real MCAT score. Don't worry about it. Does the real MCAT have 7 passages of ONE topic? No. So the score is meaningless, although TBRTeach has some stats comparing those TBR scores to real MCAT scores. I think he said the average person misses 3 questions/chem passage and 3.5 questions/physics passage and gets an average of 10.5-11 on the real PS section.

Also, I just today finished ALL PHASES of BR chem, physics, and ochem. My real test is this Saturday. Don't be too worried if you get destroyed by Phase III passages. They're really hard hahaha. Half of the passages I'll miss 0 but then the other half I'll miss like 4-5/8 questions ooopps.

To give you an idea on how BR has increased my scores, I went from scoring ~9 on PS to 12-13 and on the BS section I almost never miss a single ochem question. :thumbup: The only questions I miss on AAMC tests are due to careless errors, usually arithmetic errors. I'll have the math written out correctly on my scratch paper but will forget to divide by one of the numbers or something, errrr. My # of wrong per BR passage was about 2 questions/chem passage and 2.5 questions/physics passage.
 
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I too used BR for physics and gen chem; my test is this Saturday.

BR Scale:
Gen Chem: 9-12
Physics:9-11

AAMC PS Average (Everyone but AAMC9)
12-14

I took all the passage questions in one sitting. (all 100 of gen chem; and 70 for physics) While it was a grueling 100+mins, the practice AAMC PS section feels like a joke now: Only 52 question in 70 min. I built up my stamina so concentrating for 70min is nothing now. I would really recommend doing it that way.
 
I would, except I'm not done with all my content review and apparently that's recommended for completing phase III.

My lesson today was to not screw around during my morning break, which made me take phase II at 5 PM after a 4 hour lab. I'm sticking to the mornings.
 
I too used BR for physics and gen chem; my test is this Saturday.

BR Scale:
Gen Chem: 9-12
Physics:9-11

AAMC PS Average (Everyone but AAMC9)
12-14

I took all the passage questions in one sitting. (all 100 of gen chem; and 70 for physics) While it was a grueling 100+mins, the practice AAMC PS section feels like a joke now: Only 52 question in 70 min. I built up my stamina so concentrating for 70min is nothing now. I would really recommend doing it that way.

I don't know if this is a good idea. the reason they split them up into 3 phases is so you use them as review. if you're cramming all the BR in 2-3 weeks before your MCAT, then I guess it's okay. if you're using BR the way it's designed over a few months, you should break them into phases like it instructs. say you are taking a few months to go over BR...by the time your MCAT comes around, you aren't going to remember Chapter 1 very well from 2 months ago if you did all the questions in one sitting right after you finished reading the chapter.

PLUS, for phase 3 especially, they designed those passages to do AFTER you are done with ALL of your content review because those passages interrelate topics from all over. you're going to waste Phase III passages that include Chapter 7 physics with Chapter 2 when you are only on chapter 2. you'll likely miss all of those questions since you haven't reviewed that other material yet. that'll just waste those passages...the point is to do the passages after you are done with the content. doing Phase I is fine because those passages only include that chapter's topic.
 
I'm going through the Chem and Physics. I wish I got these books earlier.

For chem I've done section I phase 1 and 2. For section II, I only did phase I (I did it un-timed but I kept track of how long it took me to do the whole thing).

So far:

Section I:
Phase I: 36/41
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time for last 3 questions)

Section I was hard in my opinion. Most of the time I was like "wtf?" Phase I took me forever to do. The passages sometimes made me nearly want to smash my head against the table. Maybe I just dislike tables with a lot of numbers.

Section II
Phase I: 30/37

Although, percentage-wise I did not do as well as Section I...the passages seemed less scary lol and I could actually finish on time.
 
I'm going through the Chem and Physics. I wish I got these books earlier.

For chem I've done section I phase 1 and 2. For section II, I only did phase I (I did it un-timed but I kept track of how long it took me to do the whole thing).

So far:

Section I:
Phase I: 36/41
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time for last 3 questions)

Section I was hard in my opinion. Most of the time I was like "wtf?" Phase I took me forever to do. The passages sometimes made me nearly want to smash my head against the table. Maybe I just dislike tables with a lot of numbers.

Section II
Phase I: 30/37

Although, percentage-wise I did not do as well as Section I...the passages seemed less scary lol and I could actually finish on time.

it can get very frustrating. that's fine, though. it doesn't matter how many you miss in practice. you do it to learn. you actually learn better when you miss questions because then you really analyze why you missed it.

you'll straight up own the AAMC PS and ochem ?s on the BS if you do read through and do all of the BR physics, chem, and ochem books. for bio itself, I heard BR isn't good. the SDN recommendation is EK bio with EK 101 passages or TPR science workbook.

I'll admit I've slacked a lil bit on the bio passages. I read through all of EK bio, worked the inclass passages but have only done like 20 TPR passages. That + passages in actual FL CBTs are my only bio practice. Bio is so much reading comprehension so it's harder to study for.
 
What do you guys mean by Phase I/II/III? I'm flipping through my BR chem book and all I see are just passages after each section..
 
I don't know if this is a good idea. the reason they split them up into 3 phases is so you use them as review. if you're cramming all the BR in 2-3 weeks before your MCAT, then I guess it's okay. if you're using BR the way it's designed over a few months, you should break them into phases like it instructs. say you are taking a few months to go over BR...by the time your MCAT comes around, you aren't going to remember Chapter 1 very well from 2 months ago if you did all the questions in one sitting right after you finished reading the chapter.

PLUS, for phase 3 especially, they designed those passages to do AFTER you are done with ALL of your content review because those passages interrelate topics from all over. you're going to waste Phase III passages that include Chapter 7 physics with Chapter 2 when you are only on chapter 2. you'll likely miss all of those questions since you haven't reviewed that other material yet. that'll just waste those passages...the point is to do the passages after you are done with the content. doing Phase I is fine because those passages only include that chapter's topic.


Just to preface my reasoning: I spent the first 1.5 months doing content review with the BR books by just reading them and doing EK 1001 problems. After I finished with that, I went back and did all the passages in BR Phys and G.Chem in little under a month. I had a firm handle of the material already, and used the BR passages to dot the i's and cross my t's.
 
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The page RIGHT before the passages start lays out the phases.

yea except for the physics. they havent released their final copy yet so physics isn't broken into phases yet. I have the whole study plan with the physics phases if you want me to email it to you. Todd, the owner of BR, sent me it bc I emailed him asking him about it when i first started BR like 3 months ago. :thumbup:
 
No one else?
Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

Chapter 3:
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

Next up... Chapter 4!
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

Exactly the same as last time! Weird!
 
do the TBR books give workbooks of nothing but passages and practice problems, or is it just content review with a few questions after given chpts? if its the latter, how many questions follow per chpter?
 
do the TBR books give workbooks of nothing but passages and practice problems, or is it just content review with a few questions after given chpts? if its the latter, how many questions follow per chpter?

They're content chapters followed by passages - between 10 and 14 passages PER chapter/topic. Each subject comes in 2 books, with around 10 chapters, so that's 100-140 passages PER subject.
 
Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

Chapter 3:
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 4!
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

No one else is posting! Come on guys... I know someone has to be using these books!

Chapter 5:
Phase I: 25/35 = 72% = 11
Phase II: 32/41 = 78% = 11-12
 
Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

Chapter 3:
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 4!
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

Chapter 5:
Phase I: 25/35 = 72% = 11
Phase II: 32/41 = 78% = 11-12

I have a dream... that one day, people will post their scores in this thread...

Chapter 6:
Phase I: 21/27 = 78% = 12
Phase II: 20/29 = 69% = 10
 
I'm going through the Chem and Physics. I wish I got these books earlier.

For chem I've done section I phase 1 and 2. For section II, I only did phase I (I did it un-timed but I kept track of how long it took me to do the whole thing).

So far:

Section I:
Phase I: 36/41
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time for last 3 questions)

Section I was hard in my opinion. Most of the time I was like "wtf?" Phase I took me forever to do. The passages sometimes made me nearly want to smash my head against the table. Maybe I just dislike tables with a lot of numbers.

Section II
Phase I: 30/37

Although, percentage-wise I did not do as well as Section I...the passages seemed less scary lol and I could actually finish on time.

---------------------------
Section I:
Phase I: 36/41 87% ~13
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time) 75% ~11

Section II
Phase I: 30/37 81% ~12
Phase II: 28/35 ~13

Section III
Phase 1: 33/41 80% ~12
Phase II: 25/34 73% ~11 (ran out of time and lots of stupid mistakes; potential 27/34 if didn't run out of time)
(I loathe solubility and equilibrium passages especially with gases and in TBR-style)

Section IV
Phase I: 32/35 91% ~13-14(?)
Phase II: n/a (will do soon)

Section V
Phase I: 23/33 69% ~ 10
Phase II: n/a (will do soon)
(made a lot of stupid mistakes and math mistakes like forgetting factors of 2 or whatnot...grr. I guess doing these types of questions at 2 am isn't a good idea.)
 
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I'm about halfway through Gen Chem for BR. I've gotten a 12 or better on every passage except for one, which I got an 11. I can't remember which set that was.

I really like the BR Gen Chem. I haven't taken Gen Chem in 9 years, but it really feels like I still understand it.

Now, if only BR Bio was that easy ;)
 
I've done 3 sections of Physics so far. I didn't know what is phase I, II, or III so I just picked the 3 passages that looked hardest and saved them for phase III. I looked at the study plan rocketbooster posted but it doesn't seem like the phases are right for my book.

Section I: 43/49; Made some stupid mistakes
Section II: 40/49; I missed 3 on passage II (satellite orbit)
Section III: 43/49; I missed 3 on passage X (gravitational potential energy)

I've done pretty well so far, but that's partially because I did the passages that looked easiest.
 
hey guys, looking on here, i'm seeing some really impressive results (good work!), i've been using the EK and TPR material, but I'm just not getting a good grasp of the material and problems, so I'll be ordering the TBR stuff for gen chem and physics. Had a few questions, for those who really struggled in the beginning, how much of a change did you see? Also, how long would it take to complete all of the material in both sets of books? I'm thinking of delaying my test date to fit in the TBR material, thanks.
 
hey guys, looking on here, i'm seeing some really impressive results (good work!), i've been using the EK and TPR material, but I'm just not getting a good grasp of the material and problems, so I'll be ordering the TBR stuff for gen chem and physics. Had a few questions, for those who really struggled in the beginning, how much of a change did you see? Also, how long would it take to complete all of the material in both sets of books? I'm thinking of delaying my test date to fit in the TBR material, thanks.

Most people do one section per day. There are 10 sections for each subject so 20 sections total. If you have 1 break day each week and save the phase III questions for the last few days it will take ~4 weeks. But if you are out of school and are going to be studying like 8 hrs/day I think you could do all of it in 2 weeks--especially if you have already reviewed the material with other sources.
 
thanks dr. seuss, i've been doing the EK material, and will finish in june, what I was gonna do was dedicate about 4 to 5 hours a day, no break during the week towards BR material for gen chem and physics. how much time does it take to finish each section approximately? i heard that its reasonable to finish the material in about 3 weeks, figured that would be enough.
 
SAE, It's only taken me about 2 hours for each physics section (I'm saving 3 passages per section), but that is because physics is my best section and I pretty much just skim through the content. The chemistry will take longer. There are more passages and I think it will take me longer to review the content. I figure it will take me about 3 hours per chem section but I think other people have said 4 hours.
 
Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

Chapter 3:
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 4!
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

Chapter 5:
Phase I: 25/35 = 72% = 11
Phase II: 32/41 = 78% = 11-12

Chapter 6:
Phase I: 21/27 = 78% = 12
Phase II: 20/29 = 69% = 10

Chapter 7:
Phase I: 19/27 = 68% = 10

I thought there was one really hard Q in this set, passage V. You're essentially asked to find the greatest mole fractions of methanol from 3 solutions, and after getting frustrated with the solutions and using a calculator, the mole fractions are 50%, 58%, and 59%... there's no way an estimated answer would EVER distinguish the last two! I'm not sure how the hell I was supposed to "estimate" those numbers via division.
 
Is there a new edition of BR physics due out very soon?

If so, any idea when it is slated for release?
 
did any of you guys, really struggle with physics before doing the BR material, how much of an improvement did you see. Physics and Gen Chem are killing my score, and I just cant seem to grasp the concepts down to practice them on the passages. I'm hoping BR can help me, where EK hasn't
 
I have always hated Gen Chem and I've been trucking along with the TBR books as you can see above. I think it's INCREDIBLE that I'm doing as well as I am given how I felt about Gen Chem while taking it. The TBR books are really engaging, and have definitely improved my PS abilities.
 
thanks for the input jazz, how well are the concepts taught, did you find yourself having to go back to the reading material while doing the practice problems? also, how long do you spend per chapter, reading content, and passages?
 
I rarely go back to the actual content review, it's more helpful to refer back to example questions. Reading each chapter takes me about 2 hours. Going through phase I and phase II can take 3 or more hours depending on how thoroughly you review your answers.
 
Hey guys..im new on this thread....i wanted to know if anyone is selling their TBR Books...Im interested in buying the physics, bio, chem, and verbal...Also, people who have taken the MCATs already can you tell me if the verbal passages for TBR are similar to the AAMC ones? Are the CBT practice exams they sell helpful too?
 
---------------------------
Section I:
Phase I: 36/41 87% ~13
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time) 75% ~11

Section II
Phase I: 30/37 81% ~12
Phase II: 28/35 ~13

Section III
Phase 1: 33/41 80% ~12
Phase II: 25/34 73% ~11 (ran out of time and lots of stupid mistakes; potential 27/34 if didn't run out of time)
(I loathe solubility and equilibrium passages especially with gases and in TBR-style)

Section IV
Phase I: 32/35 91% ~13-14(?)
Phase II: n/a (will do soon)

Section V
Phase I: 23/33 69% ~ 10
Phase II: n/a (will do soon)
(made a lot of stupid mistakes and math mistakes like forgetting factors of 2 or whatnot...grr. I guess doing these types of questions at 2 am isn't a good idea.)

----

Section IV:
Phase II: 19/27 70% ~10
(I think I freaked out and kept watching the timer ticking down, which distracted me from doing the math correctly; most of my mistakes were due to freaking out and not being able to undivided attention on the questions; like on Q's 39-41)
 
Is there a new edition of BR physics due out very soon?

If so, any idea when it is slated for release?
This was posted in another thread:

Yeah, the physics book is being redone, so I think they are printing them that way (he was talking about the black binding) as they finish the editting. I did some editting back in January and thought that the new legitimate looking physics books was suppose to be out this past spring. I have seen chapters from it, but I haven't been given a copy of the new version in a nice bound form yet, so that blacktape version is the latest one. The new version looks really good and they've included more passages and more strategies.
 
Did you want to mail me your set? :D I've been watching and waiting for a great used deal on these books to come along. It may be a good thing I won't be taking the mcat for a while since these books seem to be worth the wait.
 
I have the EK orgo and the my EK instructor told me it was sufficient for the MCAT. I am already getting the BR physics and chem, should I get the BR orgo?
 
Section I:
Phase I: 36/41 87% ~13
Phase II: 15/20 (ran out of time) 75% ~11

Section II
Phase I: 30/37 81% ~12
Phase II: 28/35 ~13

Section III
Phase 1: 33/41 80% ~12
Phase II: 25/34 73% ~11 (ran out of time and lots of stupid mistakes; potential 27/34 if didn't run out of time)
(I loathe solubility and equilibrium passages especially with gases and in TBR-style)

Section IV
Phase I: 32/35 91% ~13-14(?)
Phase II: Phase II: 19/27 70% ~10
(I think I freaked out and kept watching the timer ticking down, which distracted me from doing the math correctly; most of my mistakes were due to freaking out and not being able to undivided attention on the questions; like on Q's 39-41)

Section V
Phase I: 23/33 69% ~ 10
Phase II: n/a (will do soon)
(made a lot of stupid mistakes and math mistakes like forgetting factors of 2 or whatnot...grr. I guess doing these types of questions at 2 am isn't a good idea.)

----

Section V:
Phase II: 35/41 85% ~13
(I was lucky in that I ended up skipping one passage that was giving me a hard time in terms of being really time consuming and really saving me lots of time and potentially wrong questions. I'll definitely learn to swallow my pride and guess on a question that is taking me more than 1 minute to figure out how to do.)
 
Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

Chapter 3:
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

Chapter 4!
Phase I: 28/35 = 80% = 12
Phase II: 18/34 = 53% = 8

Chapter 5:
Phase I: 25/35 = 72% = 11
Phase II: 32/41 = 78% = 11-12

Chapter 6:
Phase I: 21/27 = 78% = 12
Phase II: 20/29 = 69% = 10

Chapter 7:
Phase I: 19/27 = 68% = 10.

Chapter 7:
Phase II: 30/36 = 81% = 12

I'm pretty sure there are typos in the answer choices to #65 - the answer key CLEARLY states that the FP decreases by 2x as much IF the impurity dissociates, but all the answer choices say "if the impurity did NOT dissociate".

Chapter 8:
Phase I: 27/38 = 71% = 10
Phase II: 20/28 = 71% = 10
 
I started to look at my scores and realized that they don't match your list. You're basing it on the phases according to their books, right? I actually went by the phases given in class, which also included the inclass passages and questions.

I went back and looked at scores for the book phases. Here's what I think it is for general chemistry:

Chapter 1
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 12/20 = 60% = 9
Phase III: 30/39 = 76% = 11

Chapter 2
Phase I: 27/37 = 73% = 11
Phase II: 26/33 = 79% = 12
Phase III: 24/30 = 80% = 12

Chapter 3 (I hate this section)
Phase I: 25/35 = 71% = 10
Phase II: 22/34 = 65% = 9
Phase III: 20/31 = 65% = 9

Chapter 4 (Favorite chapter)
Phase I: 32/35 = 91% = 13
Phase II: 25/27 = 93% = 14
Phase III: 34/38 = 89% = 13

Chapter 5 (This lecture was amazing)
Phase I: 32/35 = 91% = 13
Phase II: 39/41 = 95% = 14
Phase III: 20/24 = 83% = 12

Chapter 6 (Reality check for me)
Phase I: 15/27 = 55% = 7
Phase II: 20/29 = 69% = 10
Phase III: 30/44 = 68% = 10

Chapter 7
Phase I: 18/27 = 67% = 10
Phase II: 27/36 = 75% = 11
Phase III: 28/37 = 76% = 11

Chapter 8
Phase I: 26/38 = 68% = 10
Phase II: 21/28 = 75% = 11
Phase III: 27/34 = 74% = 11

Chapter 9 (Touch section)
Phase I: 21/35 = 60% = 8
Phase II: 17/23 = 74% = 11
Phase III: 14/22 = 64% = 9

Chapter 10 (Another amazing lecture that really helped)
Phase I: 20/27 = 74% = 11
Phase II: 25/34 = 74% = 11
Phase III: 34/39 = 87% = 13

I'll post my actual PS score when I get it next week.
 
I have the EK orgo and the my EK instructor told me it was sufficient for the MCAT. I am already getting the BR physics and chem, should I get the BR orgo?

I really liked BR for organic chemistry, but my test had so little organic on it that it's hard to say what you need.
 
Are phase I passages the easiest? or are they just more focused towards the specific topic.

I don't do all the Berkeley passages because I like to mix and match passages from other sources. From Berkeley I usually just do the in-class booklet passages and phase I passages (if I have trouble, I do more). Now my goal is to just understand the topic at hand, and passage style.

Also, if you could pick and choose the most useful BR Organic Chemistry chapters, what would they be (Carbonyl chapter?)? Because I have another book, but I know Berkeley is great for more detail.
 
Are phase I passages the easiest? or are they just more focused towards the specific topic.

I don't do all the Berkeley passages because I like to mix and match passages from other sources. From Berkeley I usually just do the in-class booklet passages and phase I passages (if I have trouble, I do more). Now my goal is to just understand the topic at hand, and passage style.

Also, if you could pick and choose the most useful BR Organic Chemistry chapters, what would they be (Carbonyl chapter?)? Because I have another book, but I know Berkeley is great for more detail.

Phase I passages are generally topic specific and meant for review. Phase II are a little easier than phase I, but are taken under timed conditions. Phase III are the most MCAT realistic ones, because they usually mix multiple concepts and topics.

As far as organic chapters go, Lab Techniques is a must. Carbonyls is a good idea too, because it also covers some biochemistry.
 
Phase I passages are generally topic specific and meant for review. Phase II are a little easier than phase I, but are taken under timed conditions. Phase III are the most MCAT realistic ones, because they usually mix multiple concepts and topics.

As far as organic chapters go, Lab Techniques is a must. Carbonyls is a good idea too, because it also covers some biochemistry.

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I have some of your booklets which you gave out in class (not the in-class passages, but the "party" stuff), so I plan on doing those once I finish everything. They look pretty challenging and good practice for "mcat style". But for now I'm doing the phase I, plus in class-booklet (3 passages per topic I think), plus passages from other source for rounding out.

Your organic chem book looks good as well, but I have the princeton review book and a limited amount of time to do everything (as most people), so I'm struggling about the best way to go about it. I want to feel confident but not go into excessive amount of depth:

For some reason I'm tempted to read the first three sections about structure, elucidation, sterochemistry etc because that's the basis for a lot of stuff, as well as the carbonyl & lab techniques, leaving the rest to princeton.

or would you suggest going the other way, reading about structure etc from princeton, and focusing on the rest (carbs, amines) from berkeley, because the first chapters are the really massive ones?
 
Finished Gen Chem:

Chapter 9:
Phase I: 12
Phase II: 12

Chapter 10:
Phase I: 10
Phase II: 12

Started physics... talk about a blow to my ego. I can't remember any of the formulas for kinematics which really screwed me over.

Chapter 1:
Phase I: 8
Phase II: 7

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 9
 
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