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!
 
Just got slayed by CBT 8 and 9


CBT 8 : 11/7/10 - 28 (I thought I did really well on BS but still only got 10)
CBT 9 : 11.5/9/10 - 30.5

I am really fed up with not breaking above 8-11 range on all the section.

I mean, whats the point of keep taking these tests if my points aren't improving? I mean they are good reviews and all, but I feel like I am getting nowhere and my test date is approaching rather soon.

How do your aamc's compare?

My TBR's averages were in the high 20's and my aamc's have been averaging 31's so far for the most part.
 
TBR score range is 11-12 and 13-15 etc..

I haven't done any aamc yet.

TBR CBT 1: 11.5/10/11 (32.5)
TBR CBT 2: 11.5/9/9 (29.5) I think the verbal test was cr*p !
TBR CBT 4: 11.5/11.5/11.5 (34.5)
TBR CBT 7: 11/11/11 (33)
TBR CBT 8 : 11/7/10 - (28) (I thought I did really well on BS but still only got 10)
TBR CBT 9 : 11.5/9/10 - (30.5)

Should I push my testing date back?
 
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Curious. How do you get an "11.5"? Wishful thinking?

It looks like you need to go back and solidify the basics. I'd stop wasting the AAMCs, consider pushing back your test date, and do some solid targeted review. It's clear you're weak in some areas if you're feeling good and ending up w/ a 10. Further, your VR is killing you and that requires time. You need to bring that up consistently.

Don't you think TBR vr is kinda hit or miss?

Not to vent, but some questions and answers choices are presented rather screwie

Also, most of questions I get wrong are not because i do'nt know them, but because I misread something and second guessed myself and reasoned myself out of something. ugh!
 
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TBR CBTs online don't give exact score conversions, rather 13-15 as 1 set, 11 - 12 as another, 9 - 10, etc. so if getting 42 - 46 gives 11 - 12 and he gets 44...then it's in between 11 and 12.

btw, I think you're ready for the real deal. My aamc avg was 2-3 pts higher than my tbr cbt avg.

@zoner...i also thought there were too many specific questions on TBR CBTs...but guess what, that's what the real MCAT was like.
 
TBR CBTs online don't give exact score conversions, rather 13-15 as 1 set, 11 - 12 as another, 9 - 10, etc. so if getting 42 - 46 gives 11 - 12 and he gets 44...then it's in between 11 and 12.

btw, I think you're ready for the real deal. My aamc avg was 2-3 pts higher than my tbr cbt avg.

@zoner...i also thought there were too many specific questions on TBR CBTs...but guess what, that's what the real MCAT was like.

hey man, thanks for making me feel better about my scores, hopefully, they do get better on aamc and the real mcat. did you mean you avg was better for which aamc? the free ones or the ones you bought?

i don't mind specific questions, but i find that tbr has way too many awkwardly or weirdly phrased questions and answer choices. i mean if i read them many times, i would understand what they were asking or telling me, but reading them once its incomprehensible. did the real mcat have lots of questions like that? purposefully written to confuse you or mislead you to pick the wrong asnwer...
 
I'm late in responding here, but this question gets PMed from time to time so it seems like a good general answer to put up.

Trying to do a section a day is insane for a couple reasons. First, it is a ton of work to read the chapter and do the multiple choice questions in that reading (two to three hours per section on average) and then do the 100 questions that follow (two hours and 15 minutes just to do the questions if you follow actual MCAT timing). That has you at five hours and then you need to review the questions thoroughly (which you have to do or you're missing the real strength of the books), which could take another couple of hours. To do a chapter right, you're looking at 6 to 8 hours total, which if you try to do for ten straight days, you'll burnout and your retention will drop.

Second, that's not the optimal way to learn. You need some digestion time, which is the whole idea behind the strong suggestion you do homework in phases. In the time between phases, you have a few things incubate and you formulate new ideas to add to the concepts you learned. When you do each subsequent phase, you keep building on this pool of information. You also end up reassuring yourself that you're retaining the information, which is quite helpful in terms of building confidence.

Studying 6 to 8 hours a day is definitely doable, but you need to spread that out amongst subjects and not spend it all trying to complete one chapter.

Is a passage the same thing as a chapter? SN2ed's three month schedule has us doing a chapter a day. Are you saying that is not likely to be sustainable?
 
TBR score range is 11-12 and 13-15 etc..

I haven't done any aamc yet.

TBR CBT 1: 11.5/10/11 (32.5)
TBR CBT 2: 11.5/9/9 (29.5) I think the verbal test was cr*p !
TBR CBT 4: 11.5/11.5/11.5 (34.5)
TBR CBT 7: 11/11/11 (33)
TBR CBT 8 : 11/7/10 - (28) (I thought I did really well on BS but still only got 10)
TBR CBT 9 : 11.5/9/10 - (30.5)

Should I push my testing date back?

I think you should take an aamc or two and see where you stand. Your TBR average is pretty good. It looks like you're weak on a couple of content things that you need to fix. That and you need to get consistent for verbal.
 
I think you should take an aamc or two and see where you stand. Your TBR average is pretty good. It looks like you're weak on a couple of content things that you need to fix. That and you need to get consistent for verbal.

Its funny, I consistently got 11-12 ish on TPR verbal test whereas I always got 9 ish on TBR and EK
 
That doesn't matter.

See how you stack up on an AAMC. You should be aiming for an 8 on VR at the VERY LEAST. 10 is the magic number.
 
but which aamc? i heard that the free ones are really easy and are not representative...

You should take all the aamc's before your exam.

At the very least you should take 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

If you can afford 3, take the last three. Anything less is doing a disservice to yourself since your exam is soon and you have no idea what an aamc looks like.

I would do 3 and then buy 9, 10, 11. I bought all of them and I don't regret it.
 
hey man, thanks for making me feel better about my scores, hopefully, they do get better on aamc and the real mcat. did you mean you avg was better for which aamc? the free ones or the ones you bought?

i don't mind specific questions, but i find that tbr has way too many awkwardly or weirdly phrased questions and answer choices. i mean if i read them many times, i would understand what they were asking or telling me, but reading them once its incomprehensible. did the real mcat have lots of questions like that? purposefully written to confuse you or mislead you to pick the wrong asnwer...

I can't remember whether the questions were 'purposefully' misleading, but what I can say for a fact is that 4-5 questions cumulative on my actual mcat were testing the same odd concepts that I got wrong in practice. Needless to say, I don't think I made the same mistake twice on basically the SAME question.
 
Not sure if this has been answered before but where are you getting tests 8 & 9? I just purchased 1-7 and am working through them now but I'd love to be able to get additional material if possible.
 
i have just began my tbr studying and my question is:

-how do u know when u r ready 2tackle the phase passages? i am so focused on making sure that i can do all of the examples within the chapters and that i have the content review w/in the chapters down that I don't know exactly when to attempt to tackle the phases.

-should i just jump into doing the phases right after the chapter has been done?
.....any advice? thanks in advance!!
 
Not sure if this has been answered before but where are you getting tests 8 & 9? I just purchased 1-7 and am working through them now but I'd love to be able to get additional material if possible.

i think you can get 8 and 9 when you take the actual tbr class
 
Ahh ok, guess I won't be able to get them then. It's too bad they only teach in CA, I would've taken their class if they were on the east coast.

except for a few teachers, I think its plenty to just study from the book after having taken bunch of CBTs. However, some information taught certain way by a certain teacher was golden
 
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You know, I am in an odd position with TBR scores.

On the book passages, including the supposedly "impossible" equilibrium chapter and other such notorieties, I usually get 12-14.

On the exams (TBR that is), I hang out in the 11-12 range for PS and 10-11 for BS. What do I make of that? Really want to get rid of this discrepancy, and yes I am timing myself accurately on the book passages.
 
You know, I am in an odd position with TBR scores.

On the book passages, including the supposedly "impossible" equilibrium chapter and other such notorieties, I usually get 12-14.

On the exams (TBR that is), I hang out in the 11-12 range for PS and 10-11 for BS. What do I make of that? Really want to get rid of this discrepancy, and yes I am timing myself accurately on the book passages.

Your composite on AAMC's will usually be 1-2 pts higher than on the TBR's.

I averaged 29 on the TBR exams and 31 on aamc's.
 
Hope so! It's just weird because I always hear people saying how hard the book passages are. I don't think they're too bad. Hopefully that's a good sign, will be finding out soon as I start AAMC's.
 
Hope so! It's just weird because I always hear people saying how hard the book passages are. I don't think they're too bad. Hopefully that's a good sign, will be finding out soon as I start AAMC's.

Totally agree with - I feel they aren't that bad; just don't know what to expect as of now :S

Can anyone post what their BR results where from the passages and what they really got on the real thing?
 
Stop trying to project scores with everything you do.

You'll know soon enough with the AAMC's.

If your projected scores on the TBR sections are in the 10-11 range, you should be pleasantly surprised when skipping to aamc from all I've gauged so far. I only took their exams though.
 
Honestly, this is like being a grade monger. You're being distracted by numeric validation. Don't be. Concentrate on timing and understanding now. When you get those down, everything else will fall into place.
 
You're SO right, RTC... but I like numeric validation. Besides, aren't grade-mongering and pre-med mutually exclusive terms? 😉

I too, am still crapping shrapnel from TBR-5.
 
...i also thought there were too many specific questions on TBR CBTs...but guess what, that's what the real MCAT was like.

Best way to learn is to figure out what you don't know. How better to do that then through passage practice.

I too, am still crapping shrapnel from TBR-5.

Just wanted to repost three excellent quotes from this page.

Feipar, your are so on the mark. The real MCAT is a mixed bag of many different things and it varies from exam to exam, so the best preparation is a mixed bag of conceptual questions, detailed questions, math questions, and logic questions. Be familiar with everything and prepared for anything.

I have concur with ridethecliche that exposure through passages followed by detailed analysis while grading is the best way to get ready for this exam.

And epsilon, you made me snort soda out my nose when I read your quote. Not to laugh at your pain, but that was darn funny!
 
So whats the general consensus for everybody? Do all the passages on the same day after reading chapter, OR spread em out on different days? Also do you guys time all your passages, or just phase 3 ones? Right now, using phase 1 and phase 2 to get the material down. Not worrying about timing at all.

Also, do you guys take notes when you read? I have found that to be VERY time consuming, and so can't focus as much on the passages. I have a month for content review, so i have to keep moving!
 
I don't have time for all this reading crap. I'm switching up to just passages and EK 1001 questions. I'll learn (err review) material as I go and gain lots of practice in tackling passages to the best of my ability with concepts I'm not completely familiar with.

Gl all
 
Just doing BR one chapter reading, phase I passages and review is taking me the whole day? How long are you doing content review? Are you finding kaplan, EK, PR to be helpful? If so, how? I want to be done with BR in a month and then FL's.

I do not do ALL BR passages in one day for a given section. Instead, I read a chapter in BR, do the corresponding Phase 1 problems (e.g., 25-question end of chapter test in the physics books), do the corresponding EK 1001 problems, as well as some PR/Kaplan stuff in one day.

In a few weeks, I will do Phase 2 for that section and some more PR/Kaplan stuff, and a few weeks later, I will do phase 3 for that section and some additional PR/Kaplan stuff. This is somewhat similar to SN2ed's schedule, but instead of doing the first third of the passages for a given BR chapter, I do the first phase according to the schedule with phases posted in BerkReviewTeach's signature.

I do not take reading notes, although I do sometimes write little reminders to myself in the books (I am not planning to sell these so I don't mind marking them up). I also use different color pens for different phases, as well as for different types of notes (e.g., pink pen dots = "got this question wrong on my first pass", pink dot with a tan square around it = "got this question wrong on my first and second pass and need to figure out what is going on", etc.). I just do this because it is kind of fun and the colors cheer me up 🙂.

For timing for phase 1, I set the timer on my watch to beep after 6 minutes and then to continue running until I hit stop. I start it as I start a given passage and stop it when I am finished. At the top of the page, I write TIME (in red 🙂) if I was still working on the passage when my watch beeped, and then I record the additional time I spent. For example, if I spent 7 minutes 53 seconds on the passage, then I would record "TIME (1 minute 53 seconds)" in red on the top of the page. I take as long as I need but I like being able to see how long I am spending. Just doing this, I have figured out that I finish verbal passages with time to spare, but I need to learn to use more short-cuts and tricks when doing physics passages. For phase 2 and 3, I will follow the instructions in BR - I think most do involve taking the passages under timed conditions, IIRC.
 
12 50-minute hours is 10 hours of studying, not 12. For example, if I were doing biology, it would not be 10 hours of biology studying -- the final four 50-minute hours includes verbal and writing stuff. This is what I am trying right now, but if it doesn't work or if I feel like I am burning out, then I will modify it.

what else do you do during the day? How much sleep do you get a night?
 
Thats pretty organized! I'm not convinced that its sustainable though. But Good Luck! I think i'll finish the BR before everything else cause there is soo much and I don't have alot of time. During Fls I will use some of the other sources to work on weaknesses.

I try to do three sets of four 50-minute hours (study for 50 minutes + 10 minute break). Usually I can read a BR chapter, work through the in-chapter sample problems, and work on EK 1001 problems in one 4 hour chunk (which is really 200 minutes of work when you factor in my 10-minute breaks). Then, in the next four 50-minute hours, I can review the EK 1001 problems, do BR phase 1 problems, and review BR phase 1 problems. In my final four 50-minute hours, I do Kaplan/TPR problems and review those. For me the trick to getting through content review reading is to put a question mark (in pencil) next to anything confusing (for review later). I do not let myself spend a long time on any one page or issue when I read the text. Later in the day, either during one of my breaks or when I am done working, I try to review my question marks in the text, and I look up the issue in one of my school textbooks or in the Q and A forum on SDN. I find that if I don't let myself get stuck on a problem or area of confusion, I can get through the text in a reasonable amount of time (e.g., two and a half 50-minute hours, so around 125 minutes).

TPRH's Sciences workbook does not have many passages so adding TPRH sciences workbook passages just means basically adding 1-3 extra passages to BR phase 2 and phase 3. TPRH sciences workbook standalone questions are harder than EK 1001 standalone questions. I think it's helpful to start with EK 1001 questions and work through those until I don't make mistakes, then I can move onto TPRH science workbook standalone questions until I do not make mistakes. If I am still making mistakes with TPRH science workbook standalone questions, then I think doing additional Kaplan science questions can be helpful (for weak areas).

I personally find using EK, Kaplan, and PR in addition to TBR to be helpful, especially for verbal. I don't mind Kaplan's verbal, which many people criticize for not being representative of real MCAT verbal questions. I feel like the Kaplan verbal questions are meant to teach/force you to think about the passage's organization, structure, style, even if Kaplan's verbal is not representative of the real MCAT. EK and PR verbal passages are helpful because they provide a better sense of what the real MCAT verbal passages will be like. I think BR's verbal is somewhere in between Kaplan's verbal and EK/PR verbal in the sense that about 1/3 of the BR verbal questions seem to be designed to teach you how to approach the passages/questions (similar to Kaplan questions), and the remaining 2/3 of the passages/questions are designed to resemble real MCAT questions (like EK and PR verbal). In short, I like mixing PR, BR, Kaplan, and EK because I think each company has something to offer.
 
For those of you who are doing phases, what are you doing about BR physics phase 3? Are you going to divide phase 2 in half? Do you think it is worth it to buy an older edition to get extra passages for physics phase 3? (Just to clarify, the current TBR Physics book (2011) does not have the exact same passages as the previous edition: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10227238&postcount=573 TBR has not released a phase III for physics yet, so I was thinking of buying one of the older TBR physics books and using the extra passages for phase III.

Just wondering if anyone has tried doing this?

Also, in the For Sale forum, someone is selling 2012 TBR books. I have the 2011 set, which I purchased a few months ago. Is there a 2012 set?😕

I got mine less than a month ago and they are 2011 so there better not be
 
These BR Bio passages are so tough..I'm having to read them 2 to 3 times to even understand what it's saying. Bit discouraging.

Also falling behind a bit on schedule since Bio & Chem workload is so high.
I'm probably just going to keep on with Chem and use EK for bio content. BR Bio content in second book is excessive.

Physics & Chem are way better though. Like them so far.
 
i'm kind of at a weird point in my preparation. almost done with book 1 for physics, ochem, and gen chem from TBR. i've been following a modified SN2, i just do passages 1, 4, 7, 10 and then 2, 5... but here is the issue that i am seeing: the passages in the "last phase" are more comprehensive and tie in tons of different stuff into the passages. taking these passages without finishing your content review could leave you a little confused when you get to these passages.

great books, except sometimes the book tries to make a point and it doesn't hit home (a very small number of questions). also, its a hard knock life. lots of stuff that is tested in the passages isn't covered in the review, but it is basic enough that it is in most textbooks. you know what though, i'd much rather learn it fast in TBR than read through an entire chapter of a textbook. although i will occasionally open up a textbook just to brush up on something that i'm still confused about conceptually.
 
I know that many of you have expressed how tough test# 5 was. How predictive do you feel #5 is relative to the other Berkley full length tests? Perhaps some of you could chime in with your score on #5 and whether your score was on par with your results on the other tests in the series. thanks!!!
 
The TBR's vary in difficulty.

Number 3 and 5 are some of the hard ones, I believe. There's a pdf somewhere. I don't have it at work.
 
Click on the thread in my signature. It's an attachment in one of the threads (can't recall which one, but there are only two).


I ordered and received the newest edition of the physics books.

What passages correspond to phase 3?

I believe the links in your signature have phase 1 and 2 listed but not phase 3.
 
this is kind of a dumb question. whenever i go over explanations for problems, the reasoning and logic seems rather simple. but when i try to do the passages on my own, i start thinking 'wt F i am stuck' how do you guys get over this? do you guys just get better with more practice?
 
this is kind of a dumb question. whenever i go over explanations for problems, the reasoning and logic seems rather simple. but when i try to do the passages on my own, i start thinking 'wt F i am stuck' how do you guys get over this? do you guys just get better with more practice?

I understand how you feel. When I first started studying for the mcat, I was trying to do the BR passages hand in hand withe EK content. I felt like wt F is going on when I did the passages so I stopped doing them. This was a bad idea because I ended up with a 25 on my MCAT. Now I am retaking the beast and this time all I am doing is BR passages. I am not feeling like wt F anymore because I have mastered the content and am doing well on the passages.

SO, the key is to learn ALL the content first THEN do the BR passages. I promise you this will help you. I am saying this because the BR passages incorporate other chapter's content into another chapter's passages. For example in chapter three of Orgo, One passage expects you to know about amino acids which are in the bio book.

I really love the BR passages and I feel like they are really good prep for the actual thing. I am so happy I bought these books, and I feel like it will raise my score big time. I only wish the content was better..
 
Hey,
Im not sure if this is allowed in this forum but Im having a brain fart and need a little help. Im doing physics passage 9 #57, in the chp about equilibrium and torque. I really don't understand why they center of mass is 10cm and not 20cm (half the length of the rod). Im sure its really something simple im messing up. Help! thanks
 
You should just search the QandA subforum next time, or post a new thread there if there hasn't been a question on it.

The CoM isn't at 10cm. The answer explains that it is 10 cm AWAY from the fulcrum, which is 20 cm from the edge of the rod. This is the center of mass of the rod. Since the CoM is 10 cm away from the fulcrum, this is the distance we calculate the net torque for.
 
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