Best Prep Material for Each Section

[coramDeo]

Hey guys,

I'll be taking the MCAT in May and I'm starting my prep in the coming week! I'm sure this has been discussed a whole lot on this subreddit, but I just wanted to see if there was a consensus on each section for which books to use!

I plan on buying the package that the AAMC sells, and I have the entire set of EK content review books, but I'm not sure if using EK for every section is the best idea. I've been reading a lot that for P/S, the best way to go is the 300-page document + KA, and that EK is good for CARS. I'm wondering which picks are good choices for B/B and C/P.

If you guys have any suggestions/advice for B/B and C/P, and different opinions on CARS and P/S, I would love to hear it!

Thanks in advance.

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[Lawpy]

EK is excellent for practice passages and learning test taking strategies. It's good for everything and has a great CARS strategy (but not so good passages).

Everyone has their own preferences and strategies for doing well, but a common suggestion is:

C/P: EK (especially EK 101 passages); AAMC Section Bank

CARS: EK for CARS strategy; NS 108 and TPRH CARS Workbook for passages; AAMC CARS Q Packs are excellent

B/B: EK; KA passages; AAMC Section Bank

P/S: EK + 300-page KA document (use Anki to help memorize all the terms) + KA passages; AAMC Section Bank

Kaplan and TPR are also good but EK ideally works well because it's really focused on test taking strategies and how to tackle difficult passages. KA covers the content review for everything exhaustively.

Definitely use the AAMC Section bank but ideally around the end of your practice and closer to the real deal. They have excellent, difficult passages that will prepare you well for test day. Review everything actively and understand the reason behind the answers.

 

[Lawpy]

As an update, TBR is also a great option for C/P and B/B. Would also highly recommend.

Am I using TBR effectively?

UWorld is also a great resource to use for practice.

 

[coramDeo]

@Lawper @The_RZ_Method Thank you guys for your answers! They were very insightful . Couple more questions!

1. Using these prep books for study should leave me in a good place to score well (given my understanding reaches a proficient level)?

2. What's your opinion on Jack Westin passages for CARS practice?

 

[Lawpy]

@Lawper @The_RZ_Method Thank you guys for your answers! They were very insightful . Couple more questions!

1. Using these prep books for study should leave me in a good place to score well (given my understanding reaches a proficient level)?

2. What's your opinion on Jack Westin passages for CARS practice?

1. Yep. Just be sure to review your answers thoroughly and understand the reasoning. Test taking and reasoning skills are important to do well.

2. Are you referring to this? Jack Westin is usually recommended on here to improve CARS and his passages are found to be pretty good for extra practice. I think you could use them for additional practice. He also condensed the KA passages into AAMC-like format which is pretty good.

 

[NearbyLab]

Everyone has their own preferences, here is what I like:

Chem/Physics/Bio/ Biochem: Princeton - the best prep books for science IMO.

Psychology/Sociology: Kaplan

CARS: Princeton Review CARS workbook, JW passages if you have extra time, but I would not recommend JW course.

Practice Exams: AAMC Section Banks, UWorld.

Personally, I feel Khan Academy is not as good as the above companies

 

[Swagster]

Chemistry/Physics: TBR by far and away is the best. They teach you tricks you won't find anywhere else.

Biology: toss up between EK and TBR

CARS: toss up between TPR and EK

Psychology/Sociology: KA and their monster PDF

When it's all said and done, the most important thing are the passages. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to how things are presented, but that is superfiluous. The only thing that really matters is how much you learn reading their answer explanations to their question.