Can you use old content test book for new mcat?

[browneyes124]

Can you use older content review books for the new mcat? Like for chemistry and physics and stuff? I mean I wouldn't think the material that's on both the new and old mcat would change that much. Obviously I would use a new content book for biochem, psychology and sociology. Are the old content review books that much different then the new ones? Like 2014 vs. 2016? I've been looking over the current content outline and there are a few things I don't remember well, that's why I'm interested in the content books.

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[Poppin]

I used the old version of TBR books (pre-2015) and supplemented with TPR/Kaplan for Psych/Soc. If anything it was just annoying to go through the AAMC official content list to see what was cut in physics and organic chemistry. Do not use any old practice exams though.

If you can help it, it may just be worth it to get the new stuff so you aren't wondering whether information is relevant for the exam.

 

[deleted647690]

I used the old version of TBR books (pre-2015) and supplemented with TPR/Kaplan for Psych/Soc. If anything it was just annoying to go through the AAMC official content list to see what was cut in physics and organic chemistry. Do not use any old practice exams though.

If you can help it, it may just be worth it to get the new stuff so you aren't wondering whether information is relevant for the exam.

Aren't old practice exams still good for verbal? And why wouldn't old practice exam science questions be usable?

 

[Poppin]

This information is based on the AAMC content list which is publicly available and lists concepts tested on the MCAT and the foundational skills that are required for the exam.

I would assume they would be okay for verbal, however the way that (and the concepts covered) in the new exam are somewhat different. The new exam has a tendency to essentially give you a real world research paper on science topics that are relevant to the concept being tested. Being familiar with reading and extracting information from science papers at least at a basic level is an important skill for the new MCAT. So for example, (and I'm just making this up) you may be given a section of a paper that describes the effect of some drug that effects blood vessels and the underlying concepts tested may include vasodilation, flow rate, the structure of vessels, etc. Actually, even for verbal, keep in mind that the old verbal sections required reading science based papers (for comprehension unlike what I described above) which is different from CARS which does not include any science topics.

In the beginning I was looking at AAMC Practice Exam #3 for the old MCAT and I noticed that the questions on the old MCAT (assuming AAMC 3 was a reasonable indicator) were much more straight forward in testing specific concepts. What I mean by this is, you may get a passage on Ksp problems and the whole passage will describe a scenario or simple experiment and asks you to answer questions based on this. There will be no roller coaster scenarios to test the concept of mechanical energy on the new MCAT is what I mean. You will get real world scenarios/papers important to the science concepts on the new MCAT.

The testing styles of each version of the MCAT have some substantial differences. I think the new practice exams are good at preparing you for the 2015 MCAT.

I think everyone should take any advice they get on this site with a grain of salt. I would highly encourage you to look at an old practice exam and compare it to a new one and form your own conclusion. Hopefully this helps a little and I hope other people can chip in with their opinions based on their experience.

 

[Seattle Mariners Fan]

Old TBR books are solid for physics and chem. They're (massive) overkill for current organic. Their biology is strong but there's no biochem.

 

[DaAlienist]

Old TBR books are solid for physics and chem. They're (massive) overkill for current organic. Their biology is strong but there's no biochem.

Any good recommendations for a biochemistry resource? How did your prep go with the old books?