EK books?

[champSJL]

That MCAT I took yesterday was so hard, I've come to blame myself for not being prepared. I was averaging upper 20's on my practice MCATs but, upon further review, looks like I'll be taking this exam again come April.

How do you all feel about EK review books? I'm not going to sign up for a prep course and I have been using Princeton Review books this whole time but I don't like how the Princeton Review books are organized. The content is fine, the organization was not.

So am I doing the right thing w/ EK books? are they a really good source of studying? For those of you who took the MCAT over the weekend (both 1/27 and 1/29) how did you feel about EK's prep - did they do a good job of preparing you for the test?

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[FlStudent]

I used PR books and EK books mostly, and rarely an all-in-one Kaplan book, wikipedia or mcatpearls.com to clear up something for me. No prep course.

If you are going to take your studying into your own hands, you don't have to rely on just one text. If you go back and forth, you will probably understand some nuance you didn't get before! But if you are good at the topic and get the concept down in one read through, just move on to the next. Only switch texts when something isn't clear. Go at your own pace, quicker on parts that are easy for you, slower on things that are not. That is the best thing about home study.

I took the MCAT 1/27, and it looked to me like the MCAT just wanted to make sure you understood the concepts behind the formulas, etc, and not just memorizing facts.

I thought the EK books did a great job overall focusing you on the concepts behind the formulas, and why the formulas themselves are important. Better than my other books, in my opinion.

PR and EK sometimes delivered the info in a different way, so it was good variety in my opinion, but the info presented in each wasn't significantly "clearer" or better in itself.

Hope this helps. PM if you have any further questions!

 

[champSJL]

I used PR books and EK books mostly, and rarely an all-in-one Kaplan book, wikipedia or mcatpearls.com to clear up something for me. No prep course.

If you are going to take your studying into your own hands, you don't have to rely on just one text. If you go back and forth, you will probably understand some nuance you didn't get before! But if you are good at the topic and get the concept down in one read through, just move on to the next. Only switch texts when something isn't clear. Go at your own pace, quicker on parts that are easy for you, slower on things that are not. That is the best thing about home study.

I took the MCAT 1/27, and it looked to me like the MCAT just wanted to make sure you understood the concepts behind the formulas, etc, and not just memorizing facts.

I thought the EK books did a great job overall focusing you on the concepts behind the formulas, and why the formulas themselves are important. Better than my other books, in my opinion.

PR and EK sometimes delivered the info in a different way, so it was good variety in my opinion, but the info presented in each wasn't significantly "clearer" or better in itself.

Hope this helps. PM if you have any further questions!

Appreciate your insight - I found a EK bundle package (5 books) for $95 on Amazon.com and decided to purchase them. I'm thinking maybe a fresher perspective on MCAT subjects will improve my score

$95 seems like a steal compared to the $180 I've seen on their site so people, if you're going to buy EK books - look on half.com and amazon.com

 

[DrBowtie]

EK is very high yield. If you know the EK books, you should get 10+ on the sciences. They are also good b/c they offer the 101 passages for verbal and 1001 biology which are passage based.

 

[theunremarkable]

champSJL, what did you think about the PR science workbook? Was it at all helpful? I have it and am wondering whether I should utilize it.

 

[Nonnahs]

I really liked the EK books in comparison to the Kaplan book. The information in EK is presented so clearly in a relatively simple language. The pictures and diagrams are helpful, especially if you are a visual thinker/learner. I also used EK's Audo Osmosis and it was hilarious! Some of the stuff they say in there is not meant for young ears.

 

[Funky]

there's no book that's going to cover every possible question on the mcat. EK is good because it covers the basics and the advanced questions will be in passages. I am a pretty big fan of EK because it has helped me and many other people (read mcat 30++++ thread)

good luck studying!

 

[shahalam]

i was thinking of buying the ek 1001 books, but only the ones that are passage based...can someone tell me which ones i need to get?

 

[FlStudent]

Verbal 101 and Bio are the two passage based.