BR, EK, Kaplan... Confused about books?

[AZRobbins]

I'm just starting to make a personal plan for studying for the MCAT, and I'm a bit confused.
I've been reading through the forums, and most of the study plans for the MCAT that I see encourage you to use at least three different books (or sets), but each book seems to be used for different things.

I am wondering if someone can break down what, in their view, each book's strengths are. Do I really need to purchase many different sets? Does EK not have as accurate or helpful CARS prep as BR does?

~Confused about book recommendations

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[Coltuna]

If I understand correctly, BR is recommended due to its depth and amount of practice problems; EK is recommended for someone who wants concise information (but needs to be supplemented with something like Khan Academy); and Kaplan is kind of in between. Do a little browsing on here and you'll find that BR is probably the most widely recommended source for studying.

 

[sjcha]

To add to the above poster, BR is somewhat overkill (which is not a bad thing). If you don't have 3+ months, then BR *may not* be the best set to get due to lack of time. I think TPR is pretty similar to Kaplan, from what I got on here.

It may be in your best interest to get two sets and/or 1 set, but supplement it with Khan Academy videos. One set of books might not give you everything that you need. Some books miss concepts, while other books might emphasize other topics more.

From my research, it seems BR is good for the sciences, Kaplan for Biochem, TPR/EK for CARS, and Kaplan/KA vids for psych/soc.

 

[Coltuna]

From my research, it seems BR is good for the sciences, Kaplan for Biochem, TPR/EK for CARS, and Kaplan/KA vids for psych/soc

^^^ From what I've seen, this is what I would recommend

 

[sjcha]

I forgot to mention that EK just came out with a new cars book: EK 101 CARS. I have both EK 101 verbal and EK 101 CARS, but would recommend the new version.