Best MCAT prep book

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futuretrashwoman

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Hi everyone,

What would you recommend for MCAT study material?

Thank you!
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I exclusively used Google after I found an MCAT content list online, then I just bought a bunch of practice tests (I forget the name of the company, but I think they had about 10-12 tests at the time). No need to be fancy. And don't fall into the trap of thinking a set of books will simply "prepare you" for the exam.
 
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futuretrashwoman said:
Hi everyone,

What would you recommend for MCAT study material?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
I took Kaplan's prep course back in 2002-3, and I thought it was terrifically helpful. Princeton Review also has a course, I believe, and there may also be others.

That said, you don't need to take a commercial course to kill the MCAT. I can't advise you on specific books to use (my 2¢ was that the Kaplan course was good) but I can offer some useful tips about preparing for and taking the exam.

1. Start studying early, but don't overdo it. The best way to transfer into from short- to long-term memory is repetition with adequate recovery time. I recommend starting your preparation 3-4 months ahead of time and studying no more than 2-3 hours per day. I also recommend having dedicated "recovery days" during which you do no test prep.

2. Develop a study schedule, write it down, and stick to it. You should include days dedicated to specific subjects, as well as days open to shoring up any subject in which you feel weak. Incentivize yourself by building in rewards for adhering to your schedule.

3. Take practice exams, but not at first. In addition to your knowledge and reasoning, the MCAT tests your mental stamina. You should take several full-length practice exams during your preparation, replicating as closely as possible the actual exam conditions. However, starting those exams early in your test prep is going to freak you out.

4. Don't panic. You're going to have good days and bad. Anxiety over past or future events will only rob you of productivity in the present.

5. Remember that every answer is right in front of you. That's the thing about multiple-choice tests: the writers can include as many distractors as they want, but they also have to give you the correct answer.

6. Answer the easy questions first. The hardest question on the test is worth one point...and so is the easiest. If you don't know an answer, flag the question and move on to another. Don't waste time puzzling over the tough ones. Collect the low-hanging fruit first.

7. Rule out incorrect answer choices. If you don't know the answer but do know that one of the choices isn't the answer, rule out the incorrect one and guess between the remainder.

8. Answer every question. Unlike some other standardized tests, the MCAT doesn't penalize incorrect answers. Even if your answer is a stab in the dark, you have nothing to lose by guessing.

9. Don't study the day before the exam. Use the day to rest and recharge.

10. Get a full night's sleep before the exam. Duh.

Happy studying!

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I bought and almost exclusively used the Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review from Amazon for about $160. It came with a book from each major subject, and each book had practice questions at the end of every chapter. There were also some helpful suggestions and mnemonics within the chapters. The set came with 3 full length practice tests and some other online components (videos, practice questions etc). I highly recommend it, as it doesn't break the bank and you get a good amount of material.

Best of luck!
 
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vsmed said:
I bought and almost exclusively used the Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review from Amazon for about $160. It came with a book from each major subject, and each book had practice questions at the end of every chapter. There were also some helpful suggestions and mnemonics within the chapters. The set came with 3 full length practice tests and some other online components (videos, practice questions etc). I highly recommend it, as it doesn't break the bank and you get a good amount of material.

Best of luck!
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If you don't mind me asking, what did you get on the MCAT? And did you use any official AAMC material?
 
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I used the Kaplan 7 book set and supplemented w/ my textbooks if I needed further clarification. Personally, I would stay away from the Khan Academy videos, they are riddled with errors.
 
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The Berkeley Review (TBR) for the sciences (used is fine), Examkrackers for CARS, khan for Psych/soc (also liked Princeton Review for that as well). I used khan academy for review on science as well. I also bought the AAMC pack and supplemented with Next Step and Examkrackers exams. I set up a schedule where I would review one chapter from TBR and do 3-5 passages for practice. After my first week of review, I started adding a few passages from previous chapters to stay fresh. I took 3 months to study and did a total of 10 practice exams. Scored 99th percentile.


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DBC03 said:
The Berkeley Review (TBR) for the sciences (used is fine), Examkrackers for CARS, khan for Psych/soc (also liked Princeton Review for that as well). I used khan academy for review on science as well. I also bought the AAMC pack and supplemented with Next Step and Examkrackers exams. I set up a schedule where I would review one chapter from TBR and do 3-5 passages for practice. After my first week of review, I started adding a few passages from previous chapters to stay fresh. I took 3 months to study and did a total of 10 practice exams. Scored 99th percentile.
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Hey, how'd you use my identical set of study materials but score so much higher?! 🙂
OP, I scored lower than DBC03 (87th percentile/512)) because I did not *use* all of these fine materials as much as I should have. You'll definitely want to use all of the official AAMC materials, and Khan is free, so that's always an option, specifically for P/S. I thought TBR was excellent for the sciences and their books include tons of practice passages - doing passages is key. Once you get into it and start to see where you are stronger and weaker, come back here for more suggestions in the topics you need the most work on.
If I were to do it again, I'd also make way more use of the official topic list. Many people need practice on test-taking skills, but my weakness really was gaps in content. I'd start at the top of that list and do some extra studying when I got to a topic I wasn't as strong on.
 
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I’ve checked a lot of books and even purchased some, but find them of little use. They are all too general and do not help unless you simply have never taken science courses. I would recommend UWorld MCAT app, it gives you realistic test questions and really good explanations of the concepts you need to know. The UWorld MCAT app is definitely worth every penny....prep books are crap in my opinion
 
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Content Review - Exam Krackers. I found it concise and covered a majority of topics well enough. If i was weak in a science topic I would read that section in Berkeley Review.
CARS- I did daily passages 2-4 ( TPR, EK, Khan), and just found what worked best for me. I gave up reading the book for that.
Practice Passages - I found EK to be most realistic. But I used EK, TPR, old TBR, and Khan Academy. Definitely use Khan Academy for Psych/ soc passages I found it really helped me. Passages are crucial.
Practice Tests - I used a few from Next Step (even though a little ridiculous), EK (I thought these were somewhat realistic), TPR free (I did these first because they were content heavy), and AAMC tests (of couuuurse).

There are a lot of student posted study schedules available online. I recommend finding one that you like or making your own. Test it out and see if it is possible to stay on track. If you like it just stick with it. All of these test prep companies ( TPR, Kaplan, EK, TBR) will cover content well, but for passages/tests I recommend utilizing multiple sources. GOOOD LUCK!!!
 
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Check out the website studybuddymd. This is a new free website where students, residents, and docs submit and vote on the best study resources. It just launched this week, but new content is added every day. There is a section for the MCAT. You can also add your own favorite resources.
 
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Having just recently gone through this, for me it's Examkrackers. In terms of the Kaplan vs Princeton Review discussion, I understand from friends that Kaplan is the superior resource. You will find a lot of other resources, that's great if you have time but honestly not necessary. Just my 0.02$.
 
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It really doesn't matter. What will set you apart on the exam isn't content review (which is what the books are about) but rather practice (which is what the AAMC materials and Khan Academy are about). It's entirely possible to do very well on the MCAT using only free Khan Academy resources. All of the test prep companies are similar with respect to content review - some will just do it in a more roundabout way than others and that's why you get different page counts from each company. Content review is just that - review. If you don't have a solid foundation, extensive content review isn't going to help you. If you have a solid foundation, you don't need extensive content review. So any book or even free Khan Academy resources will do.

In terms of practice, AAMC is obviously highest yield but Khan Academy passages (at least for the non-chemistry/physics sections) are great and quite representative.
 
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I studied with Kaplan materials (7 book set and the 528 book). I found them to be sufficient for all the info I needed with a little extra in terms of quality. They also provide 3 full lengths online, which were awesome. I did feel they lacked in the psych/soc parts so I had to find ways to supplement.


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I bought a lot of different resources (Kaplan, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc) But the best book HANDS DOWN is Princeton Review’s MCAT Elite (Advanced Strategies to Score 528)

This is a test taking strategy guide. The MCAT is less about content knowledge, and more about efficient and timely critical thinking and analysis. This book teaches you HOW to take the MCAT. Highly highly recommend!!

MCAT Elite, 2nd Edition: Advanced Strategies to Score a 528
 
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Used Kaplan and EK. EK is superior. Content review is concise. Kaplan contains superfluous information, will waste time. EK has emphasis on test strategy and realistic practice questions after every chapter. Find FL practice wherever you can. NS, TPR, Kaplan, AAMC is what I used for FL practice. AAMC FL predicted real score within one point. Every other exam underestimated.
 
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So many opinions here. I agree with the most common one that TBR owns the sciences, mostly because they give you so many passages. Their tricks and answer explanations are gold. For psych/soc, I personally liked TPR the best. I used Khan as well. For CARS, it's a toss up between EK and TPR. The important thing is to do passages.
 
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I highly recommend the following MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review 2018-2019. This book is organized in such a way that you allow your time according to the most heavily tested questions and answers. You can learn from the very basic level topics to the advanced level at a glance. The best MCAT preparation book compares to other. No outside tutoring necessary
 
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Have to agree with Swagster on this. TBR absolutely dominates the sciences. Great strategies, a zillion practice questions based on passages, and the best explanations anywhere. I also like TPR for P/S, but feel like it is more important to thoroughly review the reddit document and do KA passages. I suck at CARS and tried nearly everything out there and after nearly six months of grinding, I still suck at CARS. What are you going to do?
 
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Just took the exam a few days ago so while it's fresh in my head here is what I found for my test,

C/P: TBR chemistry, physics, and orgo are far and away the best materials out there, Period! I felt 100% prepared because of their way of reasoning through questions. I hated some of their tough questions at the time, but it was super helpful to develop correct thinking. The only other thing you should do is the AAMC section banks.

CARS: Pray! I did pretty much everything I could get my hands on and never got faster or a better grasp of how to get their questions. I guess I'm not built that way.

B/B: AAMC SBs are the most important thing by far. I also found E/K FL practice exams for this section to be as close to the real deal of anything. I used the TBR books as my primary source for practice and that was helpful in mastering the material, especially stuff I hadn't seen in school. You need to grind through material to do well here.

P/S: I used TPR and KA for this section and liked them both. If I had to choose one over the other, I think KA was more helpful. Definitely use the reddit notes! I chose the 100 page version and it was plenty. Know your basics really well. In looking back, TBR FLs were the most realistic compared to my exam. I sort of regret using those for studying and not as practice sections on my FLs.

Good luck to everyone studying for January. You got this!
 
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Kaplans books were really good imo. I pretty much exclusively utilized the 7 book content review and then a couple AAMC practice tests and scored really well. The psyche/sociology is slightly deficient though. It's got good stuff you need to know, but I would supplement it with some other source. Wish I knew which one lol
 
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Took MCAT x 3 , first one to third one, all in ~ one year.

first time AAMC + Next Step (personal tutor) 506

second time AAMC + Next Step FL 507 (was getting 515 on AAMC because must have done FL/section banks 3 times by then, so it was familiarity breeding misleading)

third time UWorld + 300 page (Khan P/S) + Next Step/ Altius (just spare subsection for lowest score sections) 515

What really worked was = two months of summer study, no class work to distract study.
Need UWorld to cover all the basics, I am pretty sure if you know UWorld and nothing else, that should bring you to at least 510
Know Khan 300 pages P/S, not the 100 pages (too dicy), that will bring you to at least 129

Just knowing AAMC inside out, will not bring you up to par. Done that twice, did not work.
If your goal is 505-510, knowing just AAMC inside out should be enough. To punch up 512-515, you need UWorld inside out + Khan 300. To get above 515, you need more FL from Next Step/ Altius. But if you do just Next Step/ Altius FL, that would be like just knowing AAMC, will keep you in the 505-510 range.
 
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SteyrFWB said:
Took MCAT x 3 , first one to third one, all in ~ one year.

first time AAMC + Next Step (personal tutor) 506

second time AAMC + Next Step FL 507 (was getting 515 on AAMC because must have done FL/section banks 3 times by then, so it was familiarity breeding misleading)

third time UWorld + 300 page (Khan P/S) + Next Step/ Altius (just spare subsection for lowest score sections) 515

What really worked was = two months of summer study, no class work to distract study.
Need UWorld to cover all the basics, I am pretty sure if you know UWorld and nothing else, that should bring you to at least 510
Know Khan 300 pages P/S, not the 100 pages (too dicy), that will bring you to at least 129

Just knowing AAMC inside out, will not bring you up to par. Done that twice, did not work.
If your goal is 505-510, knowing just AAMC inside out should be enough. To punch up 512-515, you need UWorld inside out + Khan 300. To get above 515, you need more FL from Next Step/ Altius. But if you do just Next Step/ Altius FL, that would be like just knowing AAMC, will keep you in the 505-510 range.
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I heard UWorld was a bit too much in terms of difficulty, but the CARS was great for practice. Any truth to that? My goal is to get over 510, but my struggle lies from C/P and CARS.
 
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You have been reading all your life.

Nothng an't going to change nothing.

But the only thing that you can work on is your INTEREST in reading the passage.

Read it with intense interest, use someone's voice.

Use Obama voice, use Trump voice, use whatever snickering voice you can come up with.

That will get you engaged.

ENGAGEMENT is the key.

Other than that, nothing ain't got nothing going to change nothing on nothing.
 
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