BR Physics

[Dylan4081]

So, I just finished chapter three in the Berkeley Review Physics. I'm having trouble grasping the concepts in the book. When I do the problems in the back I miss half of them due to calculation errors and not understanding the concept. How did you all overcome this?

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[shahcoco]

Are you timing yourself? Because that could be stressing you out. If so, you can try doing 1/3 of the passages untimed and going over any mistakes you've made. Then, do the next 1/3 timed, after you reviewed the first set of passages.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

So, I just finished chapter three in the Berkeley Review Physics. I'm having trouble grasping the concepts in the book. When I do the problems in the back I miss half of them due to calculation errors and not understanding the concept. How did you all overcome this?

I think BR physics is overrated. I think BR physics is good for people who have good physics background. I don't think they explain the basics at all IMO. You should do Nova physics first before diving into BR if physics is not your strong suit. That was what helped me getting 10-11 in PS on these AAMC FLs. I know 10-11 in PS is not a good score by SDN standard, but it is good for me nonetheless. On the other hand, BR Gen Chem and Orgo are GREAT.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Wikipremed Flashcards nuff said
I wish they made Chemistry flashcards too lol

 

[brood910]

I think BR physics is overrated. I think BR physics is good for people who have good physics background. I don't think they explain the basics at all IMO. You should do Nova physics first before diving into BR if physics is not your strong suit. That was what helped me getting 10-11 in PS on these AAMC FLs. I know 10-11 in PS is not a good score by SDN standard, but it is good for me nonetheless. On the other hand, BR Gen Chem and Orgo are GREAT.

Really? I thought TBR physics was really dense. Too many unnecessary details. Its passages are fabulous, however.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

Really? I thought TBR physics was really dense. Too many unnecessary details. Its passages are fabulous, however.

With physics you have to understand the basics first before diving into problems... Don't get me wrong! TBR physics is a good book in term the # of passages and the tricks they give you to do quickly these problems. However, you have to understand the basic concepts first in order to do these problems, which I think they (the books) don't do a good job at. That is why it was better for me to do Nova physics first. Then I read quickly TBR chapter after each Nova chapter I did. That helped me get around 75% average in TBR and 10-11 in PS on these AAMC FLs. I scored 50-60% on the first 2 chapter without using Nova. And after I used Nova physics in tandem with TBR, I was scoring above 70%. I must say that my background in physics was very weak since I took physics years ago.

 

[TheVitalReview]

yeah TBR passages are tough-- you need to make sure you have a strong fundamental knowledge of physics concepts to do well on their questions.

Nova is good. Another resource that I thought was helpful was smartphysics. I used it when I took physics in undergrad, it comes with a bunch of animated video lectures that explain the physics topics VERY well. much more interactive than reading a book too.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Hyperphysics and Thephysicsclassroom helped me a ton when I taught myself Physics II for the MCAT.

 

[Dylan4081]

I think BR physics is overrated. I think BR physics is good for people who have good physics background. I don't think they explain the basics at all IMO. You should do Nova physics first before diving into BR if physics is not your strong suit. That was what helped me getting 10-11 in PS on these AAMC FLs. I know 10-11 in PS is not a good score by SDN standard, but it is good for me nonetheless. On the other hand, BR Gen Chem and Orgo are GREAT.

My problem with Physics is I come from a university with a poor physics background. I don't understand the concepts and thus can't answer the questions efficiently. However, I'm a boss when it comes to gen. chem, org, and verbal. Physics has been a real struggle. I've been able to memorize all of the functions and values for cos and sin, but the concepts aren't explained (IMO) very well. You all suggest NOVA for this though? I've never really heard much about it.

 

[DocWinter]

I agree TBR has too much minutia and doesn't focus enough on the big picture and concepts.

I used them alongside TPR science workbook, which I thought was more MCAT-like in its approach

 

[Happy_Puppy5000]

My problem with Physics is I come from a university with a poor physics background. I don't understand the concepts and thus can't answer the questions efficiently. However, I'm a boss when it comes to gen. chem, org, and verbal. Physics has been a real struggle. I've been able to memorize all of the functions and values for cos and sin, but the concepts aren't explained (IMO) very well. You all suggest NOVA for this though? I've never really heard much about it.

I have not officially started studying as yet. However, I have read several chapters of Nova's physics. If your physics background is weak, I highly recommend you start with Nova's Physics. It breaks the topic down in a very conceptual way. Having said that, it is absolutely important that you also obtain Berkeley Review's Physics--if only for the vast among of quality practice questions. Good Luck with your studies.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

My problem with Physics is I come from a university with a poor physics background. I don't understand the concepts and thus can't answer the questions efficiently. However, I'm a boss when it comes to gen. chem, org, and verbal. Physics has been a real struggle. I've been able to memorize all of the functions and values for cos and sin, but the concepts aren't explained (IMO) very well. You all suggest NOVA for this though? I've never really heard much about it.

You probably have not heard about it that much because TBR physics is the 'Gold Standard' for many in here... I went with TBR first, but it did not work for me since I took physics about 10 years ago. Then I saw someone suggested Nova; I went ahead and bought it (it was cheap), used it along TBR physics and I was doing a lot better in these TBR passages and the AAMC FLs.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

I have not officially started studying as yet. However, I have read several chapters of Nova's physics. If your physics background is weak, I highly recommend you start with Nova's Physics. It breaks the topic down in a very conceptual way. Having said that, it is absolutely important that you also obtain Berkeley Review's Physics--if only for the vast among of quality practice questions. Good Luck with your studies.

You are right... MCAT Physics is very conceptual and I think Nova did a good in explaining conceptually a lot concepts. The problem with Nova is that they don't have enough passages and their passages are not representative of these AAMC FLs. That is where TBR is very helpful though.

 

[ChodeNode]

I'll echo the sentiments of others. TBR Physics was too detailed in places it didn't need to be and not very detailed in the basics. I think their attitude is to push you to drive 100mph so that you're comfortable driving at 60mph. I found the process completely demoralizing. I spent WAY too much time trying to figure out things I didn't need to, which may be due to the edition I have. I too was averaging about 50-60% on some chapters. Despite that, I'm getting 9-11's in my AAMC FL's.

If I had it to do over again, I would mostly use the Physics EK1001 book for practice with some TBR Physics passages here and there. I'll agree that the TBR book for Gen Chem was great. The version I have for O-chem covers a lot of things that don't seem to be in the MCAT anymore, so I would say it was about 75% useful.

 

[OneDoctor]

I'll echo the sentiments of others. TBR Physics was too detailed in places it didn't need to be and not very detailed in the basics. I think their attitude is to push you to drive 100mph so that you're comfortable driving at 60mph. I found the process completely demoralizing. I spent WAY too much time trying to figure out things I didn't need to, which may be due to the edition I have. I too was averaging about 50-60% on some chapters. Despite that, I'm getting 9-11's in my AAMC FL's.

If I had it to do over again, I would mostly use the Physics EK1001 book for practice with some TBR Physics passages here and there. I'll agree that the TBR book for Gen Chem was great. The version I have for O-chem covers a lot of things that don't seem to be in the MCAT anymore, so I would say it was about 75% useful.

Is 2012 edition for orgo good? Or they updated it in 2013 edition? thanks

 

[Dylan4081]

The other thing I'm struggling with is Bio passages. I guess I don't know how to apply what I know and the passages are usually pretty intimidating. I have both EK bio and EK bio 1001.

 

[Dylan4081]

So I just bought the Nova Physics book. I have read to chapter 3 in the BR book do you all suggest I start from the beginning of the nova book or go to where it would correspond to the place I left off in BR?

 

[xerxesc]

So I just bought the Nova Physics book. I have read to chapter 3 in the BR book do you all suggest I start from the beginning of the nova book or go to where it would correspond to the place I left off in BR?

Start from Scratch... Really act like you don't know anything, let yourself learn from the beginning, it'll be a bit annoying but the payoff is great. Don't skim with Nova, really do the work. You will develop great intuition, then supplement with either Princeton Review passages or Berkeley Review passages. Nova is really good at letting you understand the concepts behind Force, Gravity, etc. (the chapters on equilibrium and rotational equilibrium are a bit weak). Do the whole book and really understand the stuff, then go back to Berkeley Review. Berkeley Review is tough, it's dense but it will become clearer as you study the concepts. The passages are great, harder than what you will see on the test. Both Physics and General Chem on the actual MCAT are not that hard. They really just test the basic concepts, it's very important to remember and own that (owning comes from having thorough review and lots of practice passages and review of said passages).

 

[brood910]

Doesnt really matter which books you use to grasp the concepts, but if you miss TBR passages, you are making a huge mistake. They are golden.

 

[Lamel]

The other thing I'm struggling with is Bio passages. I guess I don't know how to apply what I know and the passages are usually pretty intimidating. I have both EK bio and EK bio 1001.

BR Bio passages are generally pretty tough, as is their bio content review.

 

[Swagster]

The best passages are found in TBR books, period. I think that's what 90% of SDN posters would agree on. It's the majority opinion in this thread, and I agree. When it comes to content review, it's all about your style of learning. I honestly never noticed anything about depth in terms of what TBR physics presented. What I liked most were the strategies, tricks, and emphasis on how to solve problems. The way they taught free fall shortcuts makes it easy to do even the hardest possible questions from any source you'll find. Their lens and mirrors shortcut is a gold mine. I think what some people are seeing as minutiae were different examples of how to apply their tricks. I loved the way they applied physics to other topics. IMHO, if you don't learn the tricks in the physics and general chemistry books, you are literally giving away points on the PS section.

 

[Dylan4081]

The best passages are found in TBR books, period. I think that's what 90% of SDN posters would agree on. It's the majority opinion in this thread, and I agree. When it comes to content review, it's all about your style of learning. I honestly never noticed anything about depth in terms of what TBR physics presented. What I liked most were the strategies, tricks, and emphasis on how to solve problems. The way they taught free fall shortcuts makes it easy to do even the hardest possible questions from any source you'll find. Their lens and mirrors shortcut is a gold mine. I think what some people are seeing as minutiae were different examples of how to apply their tricks. I loved the way they applied physics to other topics. IMHO, if you don't learn the tricks in the physics and general chemistry books, you are literally giving away points on the PS section.

I just want to know how people's TBR scores were compared to the real MCAT.
I'm supplementing bio with EK and have scored consecutive 9's on the first three lectures.

 

[Paul Darlington]

So, I just finished chapter three in the Berkeley Review Physics. I'm having trouble grasping the concepts in the book. When I do the problems in the back I miss half of them due to calculation errors and not understanding the concept. How did you all overcome this?

Go to course saver.
Subscribe to Chad, use his videos for content
For every chapter of his video you watch, do a passage on them
If you still struggle, get EK 1001 and work on that area
Get back to TBR again
Learn from mistakes and question types you get wrong and you will be fine