EK Bio 1001 vs TPR science workbook bio

[cthomas737]

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I am in a time crunch so I was wondering which book is better to strengthen Bio. I have been getting 10s (but last diag i got a 9) on bio however I know it is my borderline subject so I want to strengthen it. So between EK 1001 bio or TPR science workbook bio passages--which is better?

 

[dr seuss]

I was wondering about this too. It seems like EK Bio is more common here but I think it might be because it is easier to get than TPR workbook. Is there anyone who has used both?

 

[Will Hunting]

I was wondering about this too. It seems like EK Bio is more common here but I think it might be because it is easier to get than TPR workbook. Is there anyone who has used both?

TPR science workbook passages blow EK 1001 out of the water. They are mcat like. Ek 1001 is more knowledge based and good for letting your practice while improving your knowledge.

 

[MD2B in 2010]

I am going to have to disagree, with the comment that TPR Workbook blows EK 101 out of the water. I feel as though they are both pretty comparable in difficulty with EK 101 actually having more tricky questions as compared to TPR "Advanced Passages." I think that honestly (OP) you can get both books and do them at the same time if you get the 2009 TPR Edition and the syllabus from a friend because it is split up nicely in the book by topic, so you could potentially do all the EK 101/TPR on the Nervous System for instance in one day and be good. That is what I am doing, and I find it pretty productive thus far. Good luck bruh or gal for that matter.

 

[cthomas737]

I am going to have to disagree, with the comment that TPR Workbook blows EK 101 out of the water. I feel as though they are both pretty comparable in difficulty with EK 101 actually having more tricky questions as compared to TPR "Advanced Passages." I think that honestly (OP) you can get both books and do them at the same time if you get the 2009 TPR Edition and the syllabus from a friend because it is split up nicely in the book by topic, so you could potentially do all the EK 101/TPR on the Nervous System for instance in one day and be good. That is what I am doing, and I find it pretty productive thus far. Good luck bruh or gal for that matter.

I actually have both already--i just dont have time to do both🙁 Would it be sufficient to do ONLY the passages (leave out the discretes) from the both books? Thanks--its gal.

 

[MD2B in 2010]

Well, it depends, I mean what are you planning on doing the same day that you do these Bio passages? If you are only going to be doing Biology practice on these days, then you can finish both books to be honest? I mean TPR has like roughly 7-10 passages per section with like 10-15 discretes and EK has ~11-12 passages and like 40-45 per section (8 hour day if time permits). So if you can not do both, then go for EK because you will get more practice out of each section by the math. However, I think you really need to do both because theres not as much overlap in these books as people seem to think. I have read Kaplan, TPR, and EK Bio books and I think you need to read and do passages from all three to get an in-depth understanding of biology depending on your background and what each prep company wants to stress as "high yield." You slowly begin to see what sections each company emphasizes with doing practice from multiple companies and I think it puts you in the best position. So just try. When is your exam? However, your idea of leaving out the discretes from both sounds like a good idea as well, do that. You'll be str8.

 

[Will Hunting]

I am going to have to disagree, with the comment that TPR Workbook blows EK 101 out of the water. I feel as though they are both pretty comparable in difficulty with EK 101 actually having more tricky questions as compared to TPR "Advanced Passages." I think that honestly (OP) you can get both books and do them at the same time if you get the 2009 TPR Edition and the syllabus from a friend because it is split up nicely in the book by topic, so you could potentially do all the EK 101/TPR on the Nervous System for instance in one day and be good. That is what I am doing, and I find it pretty productive thus far. Good luck bruh or gal for that matter.

Well, popular opinion sides with me. The vast majority of EK 1001 can be answered with apriori knowledge. How is EK more difficult? EK is good for foundation but the genetics of TPR are more difficult. Ek 1001 is JUST as valuable. Their EKG passages are great. EK is excellent for understanding the major concepts but lacks experimental questions. If you do a search, this is it's biggest disadvantage. The mcat likes asking questions that force to extrapolate and EK bio 1001 lacks this. In my honest opinion Kaplan Bio passages from their section tests and full lengths are the best. They are full of experimental questions. 2. TPR Bio passages from workbook and full lengths 3. Ek 101 bio passages.

 

[Will Hunting]

This quote summarizes the new BS well:

I agree with you on the BS section... it was a lot tougher than those of the practice full lengths I had done; it was way more technical and experimental oriented, in fact, it reminded me a lot of some labs which I had done in the past and most of it was result interpretation and it was pretty complicated and twisted with the words which they used to describe everything (it was like verbal part II) to the point where I felt so discouraged cause usually bio had been relatively easy compared to the rest. Verbal I had to guess about 1 and a half passage because I ran out of time and physical sciences had a whole lot of calculations and with the stress of having it be "the real deal" I kept getting flustered and screwing up which threw me off! Anyways, I hope that this time will be better, I want to improve my test-taking skills and work on timing and critical thinking especially.

Which is why I and many others believe TPR BS passages blow Ek 101 out of the water. OP, if you had the time, I would go through EK 101 and then go through the corresponding topics in TPR. The front of the workbook has a topic list of the various 83 passages. I still think EK 101 is essential because it allows you to nail all the subject matter and delve into passage based questions. However, their questions don't require the interpretive/extrapolation that the real test will require. If you feel comfortable, then go through TPR. However, consider delaying to July 2 or June 18. It wouldn't take that long to complete both.

In closing, MD2B2010 we can agree to disagree. I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding the importance of Ek 1001 to nail the subject matter. For a strong student, I would advise EK 1001 because with that nail content matter they won't have trouble with the experimental passages. However, for many students they aren't good at these so when they take the test the BS shocks them.

OP, I would do both. Do all the genetics and molecular biology in TPR workbook and the same in EK. That is the most important part and then go to areas like nervous system and muscle etc. Good luck.

Will

 

[sv3]

been stalking this thread and the info about BS being focused more on experiment-type passages is great info. It sucks for me though as I've been out of school for a long long time and forget every single lab i ever did. Perhaps I should grab a seperate resource to briefly review lab work before going into the bio section......is this a good idea? Or can i pick it up enough from Bio content reviews. I have the TPR book which is heavy as hell and the Ek content review.

thanks
steve

 

[Will Hunting]

been stalking this thread and the info about BS being focused more on experiment-type passages is great info. It sucks for me though as I've been out of school for a long long time and forget every single lab i ever did. Perhaps I should grab a seperate resource to briefly review lab work before going into the bio section......is this a good idea? Or can i pick it up enough from Bio content reviews. I have the TPR book which is heavy as hell and the Ek content review.

thanks
steve

not necesary. I would read TPR bio. It has good within the chapter questions that are MCAT like and do all the corresponding passages in the TPR workbook. Then when you get closer to your test, read EK Bio which puts everything together nicely.

 

[sv3]

that's what I've done with other topics. TPR first and then Ek. I don't find Ek that helpful though after going through TPR. The inconsistencies and different styles also trip me up from a being effecient point of view. But of course I'll cave and do them both. I do really like TPR for the in the chapter questions - something Ek desperately needs i think but its also not meant for rookies i take it. I don't do any Ek questions due to the volume of questions I've done with TPR. Hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me but I figure there are only so many practice (non-AAMC) questions one can do! I left Bio till last though.......

thanks very much
steve

 

[cthomas737]

Thanks to all for the help--the consensus is do both so I will try to do both--especially in mol bio and genetics since I have read from recent test takers there is more of a focus on these categories.

For those who have taken the MCAT--would you say that for the physiological systems' (Cardio, digestive, Reprod etc) passages alot of background knowledge is needed, or is there a good amount of reading comp/given from the passages?
Since I am in a slight time crunch I may not do both TPR and EK 1001 for some these. If I were to do both books for some systems--what systems would you recommend that need mastering? I have most of them down but in the AAMC tests I noticed alot of it is reading comp.

 

[Will Hunting]

Thanks to all for the help--the consensus is do both so I will try to do both--especially in mol bio and genetics since I have read from recent test takers there is more of a focus on these categories.

For those who have taken the MCAT--would you say that for the physiological systems' (Cardio, digestive, Reprod etc) passages alot of background knowledge is needed, or is there a good amount of reading comp/given from the passages?
Since I am in a slight time crunch I may not do both TPR and EK 1001 for some these. If I were to do both books for some systems--what systems would you recommend that need mastering? I have most of them down but in the AAMC tests I noticed alot of it is reading comp.

Yes, the physiological ones CAN be answered WITHOUT outside knowledge. HOWEVER, if you have great background, they can be answered much faster leaving time for the tough passages. SV3, Just read TPR bio. It's awesome. If you like TPR, stick with it. Plenty, and I mean, plenty of people have smoked the BS on that alone. Remember, the most important part of MCAT is doing massive amounts of problems and passages.

 

[sv3]

Yes, the physiological ones CAN be answered WITHOUT outside knowledge. HOWEVER, if you have great background, they can be answered much faster leaving time for the tough passages. SV3, Just read TPR bio. It's awesome. If you like TPR, stick with it. Plenty, and I mean, plenty of people have smoked the BS on that alone. Remember, the most important part of MCAT is doing massive amounts of problems and passages.

Sweet! Thanks. I'll try to review Ek quickly afterwards as I'm always worried I'll miss something by just using one book (although that sounds crazy considering TPR's depth - but they did miss some orgo reactions) but great to hear the good results with TPR. I figure that although memorization is important, it seems that for Bio especially comprehension is even more important as I have read its quasi-verbal now. Wish there was a list on what to memorize and what not to (I'm sure I can figure out by the time I do the AAMC tests but would be great to know before......ya i know im greedy). I'm sure the discretes will still need memory work to answer them though so might as well give it a go.

cheers
steve

 

[TheBoondocks]

Sweet! Thanks. I'll try to review Ek quickly afterwards as I'm always worried I'll miss something by just using one book (although that sounds crazy considering TPR's depth - but they did miss some orgo reactions) but great to hear the good results with TPR. I figure that although memorization is important, it seems that for Bio especially comprehension is even more important as I have read its quasi-verbal now. Wish there was a list on what to memorize and what not to (I'm sure I can figure out by the time I do the AAMC tests but would be great to know before......ya i know im greedy). I'm sure the discretes will still need memory work to answer them though so might as well give it a go.

cheers
steve

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/creatingstudyplan.htm

scroll down, it'll give you a link to PDFs of what you're responsible for BS and PS.

 

[sv3]

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/creatingstudyplan.htm

scroll down, it'll give you a link to PDFs of what you're responsible for BS and PS.

Hey thanks. I have those saved on my PC but I'm more worried about what to memorize but it seems like alot of people have the same concern. This leads me to believe there isn't a solid source for that and I should err on the side of caution and try to remember as much as I can without my head exploding..........But the more and more I hear about the test, it really does seem like its more about comprehension at least.

thanks
steve