EK as the only study source?

[Apparition]

I'm taking the April MCAT and because I don't have much time, I'm studying only from the EK review books. I also plan on doing 3-4 aamc practice tests. Those of you guys who studied mostly from the EK books without taking any prep courses, how did you do? Is it enough to use only EK? Thanks!!!

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[bigbaubdi]

I used the EK books plus the Kaplan comprehensive. Also I listened to EK AudioOsmosis in the car. The EK books are quite thorough but you definitely need to get the AAMC practice exams.

Studying on your own can be done but you have to be pretty disciplined in planning your time out. The advantage to self study is that you have more flexibility in focusing on areas that you need help in. I am very happy with my score.

 

[nrosigh]

I have been out of school for a few years, and only used EK to study for the MCATS. I got closer to 40 than 35 so it worked pretty well for me. I think you might be spreading yourself too thin by trying to study both TPR and EK - EK definitely has enough meat, and the material is presented in a much more appealing way. Good luck!

 

[nrosigh]

I should add that I also went over the four online AAMC practice exams very carefully, those are an EXCELLENT resource!

 

[WatchingWaiting]

The Kaplan stuff is pretty dry and tends to take a kitchen-sink approach to the material, whereas the examkrackers has a much more interesting style, is in color, and is more concise. I would say that the examkrackers approach is much more high-yield in that you would have a harder time memorizing everything in the kaplan books than everything in the examkrackers books.

In any case, your motivation to work, quality of preparation via the pre-reqs, and brain power will be the overwhelming determinants of your actual MCAT performance. I agree with one of the other posters-- focus on one set of books and learn it thoroughly. They all cover the essential material, so trying to learn two sets of books will not help you in any way. It may even hurt you since you will have a less focused prep and may end up wasting time re-reading your strong concepts in two sets of books.

 

[ForensicPath]

I highly recommend the EK books. Thats all that I used. Go through all the books then take the AAMC tests and go over them carefully to spot your weaknesses.