Examcracker?

[chillingpanda]

I'm planning on studying the mcat spring semester right after I graduate in fall. Has anyone had success with examcracker? I noticed that for mcatjelly's schedule, EK was used instead of kaplan, or princeton. But noticed that many people who got 510+ on this forum had used princeton or kaplan as their company of choice when preparing for the exam. Appreciate any input you can provide.

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[Coltuna]

It's okay. Considered one of the more concise prep companies. Their practice tests are considered some of the best.

 

[etp123]

I was looking at the EK 101 Passages and the reviews for it on Amazon were very negative. However, a couple people in the 509+ study habits thread mentioned it helped them with CARS, so I'm wondering if those Amazon reviews were fake or just a really disgruntled handful of people...

 

[Coltuna]

AAMC CARS Packs>>>>TPR>EK>All other companies for CARS in my opinion.

 

[chillingpanda]

It's okay. Considered one of the more concise prep companies. Their practice tests are considered some of the best.

Is concise considered a good thing? When people mention Princeton going too in depth, why is that viewed negatively?

 

[Coltuna]

Is concise considered a good thing? When people mention Princeton going too in depth, why is that viewed negatively?

There's just soooooooooooooooooo much to know. You will literally see like 20% of whatever you studied on your actual MCAT, so going super in depth with content review is seen as futile by many. That time could be better spent doing practice problems which is considered the highest yield for study returns.

 

[chillingpanda]

There's just soooooooooooooooooo much to know. You will literally see like 20% of whatever you studied on your actual MCAT, so going super in depth with content review is seen as futile by many. That time could be better spent doing practice problems which is considered the highest yield for study returns.

Ahh, that makes sense! It just worries me since I forgotten almost all of gen chem & physics since I took it like 2 yrs ago. Should I still use EK in my situation?

 

[Marcos95]

I used Examkrackers review books (except the CARS one) for my studying and they were enough for me (518). The most valuable parts are probably the 30-min. exams that sharpen your research/reasoning skills. I stayed well away from the 101 CARS passages because the reasoning/inference is too far of a leap for my liking.

 

[etp123]

I used Examkrackers review books (except the CARS one) for my studying and they were enough for me (518). The most valuable parts are probably the 30-min. exams that sharpen your research/reasoning skills. I stayed well away from the 101 CARS passages because the reasoning/inference is too far of a leap for my liking.

That is exactly what many of the reviews said for the 101 passages. If I may ask, what did you use if any to practice CARS? I have a Kaplan review book and the CARS workbook from the 1st TPR 2015 edition, but I'm looking for more practice

 

[Marcos95]

@etp123 I used NS Strategies & Practice first, followed by TPR CARS workbook, then TPR in-class compendium, and finally, AAMC official guide and question packs. I did 2 passages per day. I bought the TPR books off of SDN classifieds.

When I did do the Examkrackers full length, I did the CARS section just for the sake of timing and comprehension and didn't worry a whole lot of the "why" of each correct answer.

 

[rmalia]

I'm planning on studying the mcat spring semester right after I graduate in fall. Has anyone had success with examcracker? I noticed that for mcatjelly's schedule, EK was used instead of kaplan, or princeton. But noticed that many people who got 510+ on this forum had used princeton or kaplan as their company of choice when preparing for the exam. Appreciate any input you can provide.

It's alright...nothing to rave about, though.

 

[chillingpanda]

I used Examkrackers review books (except the CARS one) for my studying and they were enough for me (518). The most valuable parts are probably the 30-min. exams that sharpen your research/reasoning skills. I stayed well away from the 101 CARS passages because the reasoning/inference is too far of a leap for my liking.

Did you remember a lot of the info from the classes you took? From my research, many are saying that EK should be primarily used if you already have a strong foundation of the courses. I'm starting to review the bio book just to familiarize myself with it, but it seems like I have forgotten like 70% of what I've learned since I took bio my freshmen year.

 

[Marcos95]

@chillingpanda

I had a pretty strong background in bio since I took biochem the semester before and TA'd anatomy/physiology as I was studying for the MCAT so that helped. I forgot most of chem and was weak on physics, but I think Cornell prepared me well with the reasoning aspect of the MCAT so a brief review was enough. Whenever I was iffy on a topic, I turned to Khan Academy to clear things up.

In hindsight, maybe if I went more in-depth with review, I might have scored a little higher.