EK1001 or TPRH Science Workbook for Practice?

[cska]

Hey all!
SN2ed (and others) have mentioned that even though the the EK1001 questions are not in the MCAT format but are very good for content review.
What if I follow the SN2ed study methodology (i.e. use TBR for physics, gen chem, and organic chem) but instead of doing the EK1001 problems for these subjects, I would work through the TPRH Science workbook for practice, since they contain lots of passages.
Do you think that's a good idea, or would I be harmed from not working through the EK1001 problems, given people mentioned that the EK1001 problems helped them nail down your understanding of the various topics tested on the MCAT? What are your thoughts?
Thanks!

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[Skizzard]

I am interested in the same thing. Currently following SN2ed's three month schedule and just recently purchased TPRH Science Workbook. Would be interested in feedback about how to incorporate this book into the schedule.

 

[pencap]

Also I have a question that is making me somewhat confused. I should buy The Berkeley Review books rather than the Pricneton Review set right according to the 3 month plan. Or do I buy both. I was kind of lost about that.

Thanks

 

[Skizzard]

Also I have a question that is making me somewhat confused. I should buy The Berkeley Review books rather than the Pricneton Review set right according to the 3 month plan. Or do I buy both. I was kind of lost about that.

Thanks

TBR is recommended for the content review. He mentions that TPR can be used as a alternative, though. TPRH Verbal is recommended for daily passages.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I've been using both, and my opinion is that EK 1001 is really only something you should use when you're having trouble with a concept and need to hammer it down with a lot of practice. Indeed, this is even what EK alludes to in all of their MCAT materials since they only recommend the 1001 series to students who are getting less than 10 on the relevant sections. When it comes to actual practice and review, 1001 is pretty mediocre.

TPRH science workbook is sets of passages (along with hundreds of discrete problems), typically similar to those in the TBR books, although noticeably easier in most cases. It's much better for review and practice. That said, it has a big flaw in that it only labels passages by the section (ie bio, orgo, gen chem, physics) NOT by topic. As a result, if you want to, say, study carbonyl reactions in orgo you can't just flip it open to the carbonyl passages and get cracking. You have to flip it to the orgo section and then quickly scan each passage to see if it relates to carbonyls first. Then upon finding a carbonyl passage you can be assured that the next few will also relate to carbonyls, although you'll have no idea you've finished all their carbonyl passages until you hit one about amines.

As far as verbal goes, both TPRH and EK 101 are on par with each other from what I've seen, although I'll admit I haven't done much of TPRH yet since I've still got five more practice tests in EK 101 to go. For the record, EK 101 seems to be surprisingly representative of the test (at least judging by the AAMC practice tests). While I've yet to see anything in it that's on the same level as the Confuscious and TV passages in AAMC #3 (which, to be fair, I haven't see anything like them in AAMC 4 and 5 either), my scores in EK 101 and AAMCs 3-5 have been identical which I think speaks strongly for how well EK 101 matches MCAT VR.

Also, keep in mind that if you're following SN2ed's advice and going through all the TBR passages there is no way you're going to do all of TBR and all of TPRH. I've been using TBR for most of my studying and the only reason I have the TPRH science workbook (and classroom compendium) is because they came with the verbal workbook which I managed to get for significantly less than what it normally goes for.

 

[cinamin]

I felt that EK 1001 questions weren't representative of MCAT discretes at all. They are good practice as fundamental type questions as another poster mentioned, just to make sure you can plug and chug, etc. but it doesn't mimic the type of critical thinking being tested on MCAT discretes (talking about the real test version not the practices). They can focus on random details over and over again as well.

TPRH science workbook is good because they do have some data analysis passages and also, if you're trying to time yourself for getting through a passage in under 8 minutes, for instance, it's good practice.

If you have a good grasp of the science basics, try to do the TPRH science workbook passages. This book also has a discretes section that tests basic facts.

 

[Mash43]

I've been using both, and my opinion is that EK 1001 is really only something you should use when you're having trouble with a concept and need to hammer it down with a lot of practice. Indeed, this is even what EK alludes to in all of their MCAT materials since they only recommend the 1001 series to students who are getting less than 10 on the relevant sections. When it comes to actual practice and review, 1001 is pretty mediocre.

TPRH science workbook is sets of passages (along with hundreds of discrete problems), typically similar to those in the TBR books, although noticeably easier in most cases. It's much better for review and practice. That said, it has a big flaw in that it only labels passages by the section (ie bio, orgo, gen chem, physics) NOT by topic. As a result, if you want to, say, study carbonyl reactions in orgo you can't just flip it open to the carbonyl passages and get cracking. You have to flip it to the orgo section and then quickly scan each passage to see if it relates to carbonyls first. Then upon finding a carbonyl passage you can be assured that the next few will also relate to carbonyls, although you'll have no idea you've finished all their carbonyl passages until you hit one about amines.

As far as verbal goes, both TPRH and EK 101 are on par with each other from what I've seen, although I'll admit I haven't done much of TPRH yet since I've still got five more practice tests in EK 101 to go. For the record, EK 101 seems to be surprisingly representative of the test (at least judging by the AAMC practice tests). While I've yet to see anything in it that's on the same level as the Confuscious and TV passages in AAMC #3 (which, to be fair, I haven't see anything like them in AAMC 4 and 5 either), my scores in EK 101 and AAMCs 3-5 have been identical which I think speaks strongly for how well EK 101 matches MCAT VR.

Also, keep in mind that if you're following SN2ed's advice and going through all the TBR passages there is no way you're going to do all of TBR and all of TPRH. I've been using TBR for most of my studying and the only reason I have the TPRH science workbook (and classroom compendium) is because they came with the verbal workbook which I managed to get for significantly less than what it normally goes for.

I have Ek, TPRH and TBR....With only 2 months to study. Do you think its best to do EK and TPRH for passages or just the EK and TBR for passages?

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I have Ek, TPRH and TBR....With only 2 months to study. Do you think its best to do EK and TPRH for passages or just the EK and TBR for passages?

Where are you at? Have you finished your content review or have you not even started anything yet? Are you a typical pre-med who can devote their entire day, every day during the summer to studying, or are you a non-trad who has to work from 9-5?

Assuming you've got two full months that you can devote entirely to MCAT studying and haven't started anything yet, I'd say do your content review with EK since reviewing with TBR is going to take way too long with your timeline. As for whether to use TBR or TPRH for passages, I'd say go with TBR. Far more passages, much harder, and much better explanations for answers to questions (that will also teach you test taking skills in addition to content). That said, you can get through TPRH a lot faster than TBR, but at the same time there's no point in completing all of TBR if you don't need to. The quality of both TBR and TPRH's passages, btw, is great. TPRH is probably more representative of the exam, but TBR is harder and if you can do well on TBR passages and complete them within a 6-8 minute time limit then you're golden for the MCAT.

 

[Mash43]

Where are you at? Have you finished your content review or have you not even started anything yet? Are you a typical pre-med who can devote their entire day, every day during the summer to studying, or are you a non-trad who has to work from 9-5?

Assuming you've got two full months that you can devote entirely to MCAT studying and haven't started anything yet, I'd say do your content review with EK since reviewing with TBR is going to take way too long with your timeline. As for whether to use TBR or TPRH for passages, I'd say go with TBR. Far more passages, much harder, and much better explanations for answers to questions (that will also teach you test taking skills in addition to content). That said, you can get through TPRH a lot faster than TBR, but at the same time there's no point in completing all of TBR if you don't need to. The quality of both TBR and TPRH's passages, btw, is great. TPRH is probably more representative of the exam, but TBR is harder and if you can do well on TBR passages and complete them within a 6-8 minute time limit then you're golden for the MCAT.

I am non-trad but with a part time job right now. I had been studying for the test before but ended up voiding it cuz i wasnt prepared well enough. I will mostly review with EK again and only use TBR for supplemental review i guess. I will def try some of the TPRH passages and some TBR so i have a good balance of difficulty levels.

thanks for your help

 

[cska]

Thanks a lot for the posts, I really appreciate it!