I am about to start studying for the MCAT. My tentative test date is August 18. I plan on spending the next 3+ months studying. The MCAT will be my main priority. I am getting ready to start and I have been going back and forth between EK and TBR for my content review. I’ve done well in all my prerequisite classes but for stuff like gen chem it has been a while (2 years). One way I was going to approach studying was using EK for content supplemented with TBR passages for practice. In this case I would likely finish content review faster but I am concerned I will not have a strong enough understanding of the content just using EK. I assume in this case I would be able to fit more practice tests in but that’s is speculation. The alternative i was considering is using TBR for content review and for practice questions supplemented by EK 30 min exams. Since TBR content is significantly longer and more in depth I assume this would take me much longer than EK content review. In this case I may have a better understanding of the content but less time for practice tests etc. I would appreciate any insight or suggestions you guys may have!
EK or TBR content review
- Thread starter Silac
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I have the same books for the sciences and I prefer the TBR chapters for review. They have better strategies and ways to remember the material. I am doing Phase 1 and Phase 2 for each chapter along with review. I plan to use EK for questions once I'm done with all of the Phase 1 and 2s. After then it's on to Phase 3 and then move to AAMC material. It's working super well so far.
What I have found is that TBR is more in depth for biology, but about the same for physics and chemistry. Their books are longer because they have more sample problems. So they will take more time, but time that is well spent doing questions.
What I have found is that TBR is more in depth for biology, but about the same for physics and chemistry. Their books are longer because they have more sample problems. So they will take more time, but time that is well spent doing questions.
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I studied using both EK and TBR (EK for content and 30M exams, TBR for practice passages), and I I honestly wasn't that impressed with TBR's practice. I didn't feel like it was very reflective of what the real thing was like. The passages in EK's 30M exams and 101 passages (biomolecules/biology of living systems) were all great, and Khan Academy's passages were the best I found for P/S. TBR bio is basically useless, and I found TBR's organic chemistry books to be too in depth in both their content and practice passages.
Were you successful in using EK for content review? I am not opposed to picking up the EK101 books and using those for practice in combonation with EK for content review. I don’t want to waste my time with TBR if it’s not going to be helpful.
Also do you mean the TBR physiology book and biochem/cell bio book or just one of those is not good?
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Deleted member 737595
Actually, the TBR passages aren't meant to be exactly like AAMC. They are meant to drill content while offering up a format similar to the exam. Only Phase III of the problems starts to look like AAMC MCAT. The rest is pure practice.
TBR Bio is not useless; they have excellent practice passages. Their content is sort of garbage in this book but not really that bad.
TBR Orgo is incredibly well written, similar to their Physics book, and full of excellent hints. The MCAT is unpredictable from one version to the next, and you never know what will be on it. TBR prepares you so that, while those who targeted "high yield" material which never ended up on the exam get stuck on material they have never seen before, you have worked similar things with TBR. Finally, TBR prepares you for dealing with obscure passages with material you have never seen.
In the end, it doesn't matter which books you use, OP. You can get a 520+ using just AAMC material, Khan Academy and a few NS exams. Its not about the material; its about how you study and approach the MCAT. In the end, all of the books can be found illegally on the web if you wanted to look through and see for yourself which you would like best.
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Yes, I actually just got my score (514) back yesterday haha There wasn't really anything that I came across on the C/P or B/B sections of the real deal, FLs, or section bank that wasn't covered during content review with EK. P/S is another story as neither of EK/TBR's books are good, you'll want the Khan Academy 300 pg or 100 pg documents for that, along with premed95's anki cards from Reddit (and even then it could still be a disaster, it seriously felt like I needed a PhD in psych for the 4/6 test
).I only used the EK bio 101 passages book but they were both great, almost entirely experimental which is reflective of the new MCAT (though I have not heard good things about the physics/chem books). I think that's the main difference I saw between EK/TBR's passages. TBR's practice is still more related to content rather than experimental analysis. Every passage in EK 30 minute exams and 101 passages books are based on a scientific journal article that you're asked to analyze, just like the AAMC section bank, FLs, and the real MCAT that you'll take. It much more important to practice quickly analyzing primary scientific research and answer questions about it than it is to memorize all the minutia you're expected to know in TBR passages. TBR's organic chem and bio books (mainly the biochem/molecular bio one) are the ones that do this the most, however their Gen Chem and Physics books are still great practice, especially considering you can have a C/P section that surprises you with hard passages in these topics (such as the one I took unfortunately haha)
I have both an EK set and TBR set. What I may do is use TBR for OChem, Gen chem, Physics, and EK for bio.
I understand that I’m probably focusing a little bit too much on the books I use. I want to make sure I set myself up for success as much as possible. I appreciate your insight!
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They are certainly well written and comprehensive books, though I would argue that they are far too in-depth. Still, if I had the time I would probably use TBR books for content review because, as you said, they will cover anything and everything you could see on the MCAT. Most people don't have 6 months to study for this thing though, and I felt EK covered everything I needed to know in a much more efficient way. This allowed me to move quickly through content review and get to practice Qs/passages, which is by far the most important part of MCAT prep.
Also, having done a bunch of TBR passages in both the TBR bio and orgo books I'm not sure what you mean when you say phase III starts to look more like the MCAT. They seemed pretty consistent throughout. They were good passages to review content, however their experimental analysis questions left a lot to be desired (as I said in my post above this one)
That's basically the approach I took. I read EK books for content, supplemented them with TBR/Khan academy for any topics I sucked at, and did practice passages from all over the place. Like you and premstudent said though, it doesn't really matter what prep company you use. Just make a schedule and keep to it so you can get to AAMC practice and full-lengths.
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Your comment that not everyone has 6 months to study is my main concern with TBR. I have 3 months of full time studying and my goal is a 520. TBR seems like it would take nearly 2 months to get through which seems like longer than I’d like.
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I gotcha, well don't let me scare you off from doing it haha The priority should be doing practice passages/full-lengths not content review and I liked EK because it allowed me to get there the fastest. I'd say a rough layout for you would be to do content review during the first month (while doing around 3-5 practice passages per day for the chapter you're on at the time), and then starting 8 weeks out do a FL every week with review/more practice passages in between. Good luck!
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Deleted member 737595
You don't need 6 months to go through TBR. Common misconception is that you have to fully read the chapter. But you don't. You read what you forgot, and the rest you can skip and get to practice problems quickly. If you forget most or all, then maybe EK or Kaplan for content review...
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I'm wondering where this notion that it takes two months to work through the TBR books is coming from. I'm studying half-heartedly for the time being, until I'm done with my classes this quarter, and I can knock out two chapters a day. I am saving Phase 3s until the end. To read or browse a chapter, do Phase 1 and Phase 2, and review questions after the fact takes about three to four hours depending on the chapter. The reason I chose TBR as the anchor of my study plans, besides their reputation and posts from people like Zenabi90, is that I learn so much going through their answer explanations. I'm learning how to take the test. That is where they blow everything else away. I figure that learning how to get every possible type of question right is the most important thing I can do. I will do some EK questions later after I have done TBR because the EK explanations are way too short to help me. I too am aiming for a 520.
That’s good to here. I am guessing that the length of time it takes to complete a specific chapter is unique to each individual. I will be working on them in a couple of days so I’ll see for myself.
When you go through a chapter do you take notes or just read through the material? How about when you do the passages?
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For the chapters, I skim or read the text part and work out the sample problems and only take notes if I miss one of the questions. Doing all of the embedded questions is what eats up my time. But I've found that Phase 1s go super well when I do it this way. Going over Phase 2 is where I spend most of my time and take copious notes.
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Common misconception is that TBR are content review books. They are NOT. Going through TBR is a combination of content and practice, and can be used for a majority of the time up to the last month, where AAMC material should take priority.
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Numerous posts in this thread have given me the confidence to move forward with the TBR materials I've ordered, which will be delivered tomorrow. I'm a slow reader who doesn't trust their content knowledge enough to go easy, but I have excellent grades and always grasp material that I am taught. Like OP, one of my primary concerns has been whether I'd struggle getting through the TBR material, simply because their books are dang near triple the length of other companies. I think I have an understanding now, that much of the TBR books' length is due to the amount of passages and embedded chapter problems, which is exactly what one needs in order to learn abd understand the application of material, instead of just trying to memorize it. I do wonder if I should grab any EK books and may do so, just for these supposed AAMC-style experimental questions. Can't hurt.
I am a super nervous, extremely ambitious non-trad, looking to 520 this exam. 515+ would be just fine, but aiming too low can be a recipe for failure. Thank you to all MCAT forum contributors. There are a few of you whose posts I've read over and over again, over the past few week. I mean, it's pretty much all I've done with my time, once I realized that I had O-Chem 2 well handled and could afford to start planning ahead. I sincerely appreciate the information you've all provided, hope that one of the two study schedules I'm devising works out, and will certainly provide updates at the appropriate time.
I am a super nervous, extremely ambitious non-trad, looking to 520 this exam. 515+ would be just fine, but aiming too low can be a recipe for failure. Thank you to all MCAT forum contributors. There are a few of you whose posts I've read over and over again, over the past few week. I mean, it's pretty much all I've done with my time, once I realized that I had O-Chem 2 well handled and could afford to start planning ahead. I sincerely appreciate the information you've all provided, hope that one of the two study schedules I'm devising works out, and will certainly provide updates at the appropriate time.
OP here. Well I took the mcat over a year ago now. I honestly ended up not using TBR for the most part. I used it lightly for practice passages but my primary source was EK for content review. To be honest I found it perfectly adequate for that purpose. UWorld is an absolute must for MCAT prep in my opinion. I don’t know what your plan is but I wouldn’t spend more than a month on pure content review and even when you are doing content review you should be completing passages every day IMO. Using EK, UWorld, and KA/ Anki for P/S I was 522+ on all of my official practice tests. Unfortunately I ended up doing significantly worse albeit pretty good on the real thing.
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UWorld is a solid resource for practice passages with high quality explanations. I don’t think it is best utilized as a pure content review tool but rather to identify gaps in knowledge after some initial content review. It is great for PS and BB, pretty good for CP. It’s fine to practice with for cars but be aware that nothing is really like AAMC cars.
