EXAMCRAKERS Impressions??? (name changed)

[SuzyQ]

Hey, I just heard from a couple of people that Examcrackers was nothing but a scam. That it really doesn't prepare studnets well enough at all for the MCAT. Does anyone else out there agree with this? I am worrying because I just got the set of examkrackers books cause i was hearing so many great reviews about it. I am wondering if the people posting these reviews are all in on this particular so called Test prep and just want to make money on vulnerable pre-meds?? I am just asking cause I havent heard about examcrackers until a few weeks ago when i starting posting on this website and it seems as if EVERYONE who has examcrackers loves it and thinks so highly of it and im wondering if it is merely a scam. Can anyone please either support or refute my comments!!

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[Street Philosopher]

it's not a scam

 

[Mudd]

Like you, I had not heard much about it until I logged on a week or so ago. I had the same feeling about it seeming like a scam, but I think MissBonnie pulled me to the convert side. The way she describes the class sounds pretty good.

Still, I don't plan on recommending Exam Krackers to anyone until I actually see a reference to their quality in a reputable, independent book like First Aid for the MCAT. Not that they aren't legitimate, but being cautious can't hurt.

 

[Mr. Z]

I have the full set of books, and I can honestly say it's no scam. If E/K is scam, then so is Flowers & Silvers, Kaplan Comprehensive Review, the Betz guide. I've looked at all of them and at this point of my review(because I haven't taken the exam) EK appears to be just as good if not much better than those listed above. Personally, I found the EK physics book to be awesome, the chem book is good but not great, the bio appears to be very good (haven't gone through it closely yet). Naturally I'll be able to give a more informed opinion after the exam. And I'm hoping beyond hope that i'll be able to rave about them

 

[Lavndrrose]

SuzyQ, who did you hear this from? Are they reliable sources?

 

[wsu]

Suzy,

I haven't used examcrackers when I took it. However, I think it comes to simply puttng in the time irregardless of materials used generally speaking.

Just go with a set that works for you. If you find that it doesn't work even when other people say its the best thing in the planet, go with another and start investing the time studying.

The MCAT is a rite of passage. And although some people have difficulty doing well on this exam, I found for myself that studying 4 hours in the moring basic science material, lunch, and 4 hours-doing test questions, and 2 hours reviewing the test questions and concepts worked well for me.

Just try to develop a structured, organized approach in studing and you'll do fine. And do hang out with people that are nervous about the exam. it'll make you become nervous as well. Good luck.

 

[Sm00th13]

Actually I'm taking their course at Columbia University and by judging of the first class, I can say I'm pretty impress (In Physics, there was a way to do mechanics problems without relying too much on the formulas) . The guy who started Examkrackers is by Jon Orsay. Here's a tidbit, if you have any Princeton Review course books, look on the first page of contributors, you are gonna see he worked for Princeton Review. So has insight on how Princeton Review did it's thing.

 

[SuzyQ]

Hey, I just wanted to say I'm not saying at all that Examcrackers is scam. I am just being cautious about everything. I had no reliable sources that said they were a scam and was thinking this just because I have never heard about Examcrackers. I just figured if it was well known and a good prep course then I would have heard about it by word of mouth. I am COMPLETELY WRONG and I apologize to Mr. Orsay for posting this.

 

[Real]

Hi all,
Like most of u guys, I discoved EK on this forum about 2 months ago. I took time to read every coment and became conviced that I should try the VR first, so I ordered for it and quickly read through. Amazingly, after practicing with their method, I took a practice test and got a 10. I have consistently improve since then. So I bought the phy and I'm about to finish it. Next, I'm going to buy the GChem and Orgo. I can tell u that EK books that have used so far are very good. After reading through the phy book, I'm using PR workbook to practice and it's just easy. Give it a try and work on the material and u will be happy with the progress u can make with it.

 

[AntGod22]

I have to say that I have ordered the following books from <a href="http://www.DOUBLEDISCOUNT.com" target="_blank">www.DOUBLEDISCOUNT.com</a>
EK BIO
EK Chem
EK Orgo
EK VERBAL
EK 1001 for all the subjects
and I ordered the NOVA Physics MCAT review

I have yet to recieve them in the mail yet but I have looked thru the EK Physics book and the thing is like 10 times better to read and understand then Kaplans Physics review. I have a friend who is taking the exam krackers course at Columbia University and at Adelphi University and she so far loves it. I have heard of exam krackers for at least 3 years now. I hope they can help me out. Gotta go from a 20 on the april MCAT to hopefully a 30 on the August.

 

[missbonnie]

Hey-

I took EK for the april 2002 mcat. They do not pay ppl to post great things here (not big enough to spend money like that anyway), people who took the course (like me) rave about them because we loved the course and think it's the best out there and want others who are looking to improve their score to see all the options, that's all.

Not sure how long they've been around total, but I think they've gotten alot bigger the past yr.

As for hyperlearning, I think they are PR outside of Cali. I've heard of Berkeley review, but that's also a cali think. EK is definately a NYC area thing since , right now, the courses are only in the NYC area, with the biggest class at Columbia Univ.

To those who recently ordered the ek books, congrats! I only used EK materials (& aamc) to get a 34 on the real thing. I think I would've scored higher but I slacked offthe last few weeks before the test. But remember, great books are only a good thing if you are really committed to putting in the time and effort to get the score you want.

-b

 

[Street Philosopher]

I took hyperlearning/tpr in Los Angeles. They pretty much called themselves Princeton Review.

 

[Street Philosopher]

Yup, I've mentioned time and time again that TPR's lectures were not useful (not necessarily bad, mind you...) but that the science books were very good. In fact, for the two times I studied for the MCAT, I've used TPR's science books and practice tests. The materials are in my opinion excellent. It is the lectures I didn't find useful, part of the reason being that I am not a good passive learner, as most people aren't.

I have disagreed with TPR's approach to the verbal section, and tended to agree with the approach taught in the EK verbal book. In the end, I chose to use a combination of the two approaches. I will however make it clear that the score from 4/01 and 4/02 were identical (4/01 with TPR methods, 4/02 with combination).

I used the 1001 series for Ochem because that was the subject I needed to be grilled on. I also bought the Physics book based on high recommendations, but didn't use it because I found the combination TPR's science book and AAMC tests were sufficient for me. If you search my history you'll see that I haven't recommended the Physics book because I haven't used it enough to know much about it.

I took the Hyperlearning/TPR in 2001. I believe there were several locations in LA, one being in Westwood, the other at USC, and some others just outside of LA. The teachers were decent and competent, but I didn't find the lectures of any use to me whatsoever.

 

[Street Philosopher]

Yup Adrian taught the Verbal Accelator course and was the organizer for the rest of the HP/TPR course. He was on his way out by the middle of the course though.

Inquartia is promoted like mad around here. Most of the TPR info sessions (the ones that introduce new people to the course) have someone from Inquartia speaking there. I think everyone pretty much knows that these kinds of 'services' are pretty much useless money making schemes. God help those who don't know.

I agree with you on the organic chemistry section of TPR. My instructor rushed the hell through it, and the book wasn't too helpful. It wasn't ALL a list of facts, but I never felt like it was helping me. (Which is why I drilled ochem with the 1001 book).

The physics was good. I heard Leduc taught the year before me somewhere in LA, so that would have been cool, but the book was good enough so no complaints.

Gchem lecture was pretty boring. I didn't think there was too much to know about. The gchem portion of the MCAT is pretty much 'look at the chart and tell me what it says'.

I didn't take the Berkeley course because like I said, I'm not a passive learner. I made the mistake of doing the TPR course, and I wasn't about to do it again with BR. I did do their practice tests though, and it was a good help, even though the format wasn't exactly like the MCAT.

 

[relatively prime]

I've always been a fan of Kaplan myself.

 

[Sweet Tea]

after getting frustrated with kaplan's PS review, i bought 2 EK books after hearing about them on this forum. i loved them, they worked for me, i raved about them on other threads, and if EK is a scam then i want a cut for all the advertising i've done for them...

 

[CoffeeCat]

I bought the Examkrackers Audio Osmosis and I'll I know is that I couldn't do physics before and now I can do it in my head (mechanics at least). I think the reason why they are promoted so much on this board is that 1) they're the underdog and everyone loves a stellar underdog trying to overtake the big guys and 2) everyone's looking for the "key" to taking the MCAT, the way to get ahead of the other guys and do their best. In addition, I think Examkrackers write more FOR the person taking the test rather than reciting facts/info. TPR info just wasn't sticking.

Check out <a href="http://www.examkrackers.com" target="_blank">www.examkrackers.com</a> ...the other thing I like about them is that they take time to post mistakes and answer questions.

EK/Kaplan/TPR/whatever it is...good luck!!

 

[SDN]

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