MCAT Examkrackers 1001 Question Books

[EKTestPrep]

Dear SDN Members:

The 1001 Questions books are resources for extra practice questions, and they follow the outline of the course manuals. They make an excellent complement for students enrolled in the comprehensive course or for those using the MCAT Complete Study Package who would like more questions to tackle. The questions in the 1001 books are particularly useful for building confidence and for MCAT troubleshooting—addressing your specific weaknesses by practicing on questions related to a particular sub-topic. The questions and explanations are designed to teach you to think intuitively. Conceptual thinking is encouraged, while lengthy calculations are discouraged, which is exactly how you should approach the MCAT. We’ll show you how the memorization of basic formulas is required, but will usually not, in itself, provide the fastest method of reaching the answer. Questions are conveniently arranged by topic, and their difficulty ranges from easy to very challenging. You’ll find that the questions are formatted identically to those on the MCAT, and that the answers and explanations provided in the back of the book are insightful and helpful. The titles available are:

Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Biology
Price: $39.95

Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Chemistry
Price: $29.95

Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Organic Chemistry
Price: $29.95

Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Physics
Price: $29.95

(2nd Edition) Examkrackers 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning*
Price: $39.95

*This book is the verbal companion to the 1001 Questions series books. It includes:
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· Fourteen 60-minute full length practice MCAT verbal exams
· 14 Solid hours of MCAT verbal testing
· 560 MCAT verbal questions in total
· 2,240 explanations for correct and incorrect answer choices
· 14 tear-out answer sheets for simulation accuracy

If you have any questions about the 1001 question books or 101 verbal passages book, please post them here.

Yours,

The EK Team
www.examkrackers.com

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[BP Examkrackers]

Just so we're clear on the purpose/format of these books...

The bio 1001 book is passage based. The others are discreet only. The "complete set" includes a lot of practice problems, half discreet, half passage-based. They comprise a comprehensive set and are all that's really necessary for most students (all I ever used). They feature every bit of absolutely essential information as well as every type of question you're expected to be able to answer.

The 1001 books aren't for everyone. We work hard to not overwhelm students with materials and information, the way many other major test prep companies do, and so we don't recommend that students go out and buy all of our books just because they're there and try to do all of the problems. You should only buy a 1001 book if you're weak in that entire subject, or especially weak in some topic in that subject. For example, if you hate torque problems and realize you need lots of practice in them, pick up the 1001 Physics problem book and do all the torque problems.

If you're weak in all of physics, however, then we recommend you buy that book and do every fifth problem and then go through the explanations carefully. When you come across a problem for which the explanation doesn't grant complete clarity, or that you feel you need more practice on, go back and do all the problems around that problem. The 1001 books aren't for learning all the material but just for focused practice on your weakest topics. If you try to do all 4004 questions, you'll likely burn out and that's not our intention.

The 101 VR Passages book, on the other hand, is a must-have for everyone. Practice makes perfect in verbal and we can all use more practice.

 

[raltima07]

Im using these books now, and they are great for practice.

 

[DescartesK]

If an individual had only one choice: get either the EK content books or the EK 1001 books. Which would you recommend?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

If an individual had only one choice: get either the EK content books or the EK 1001 books. Which would you recommend?

Oh, undoubtedly the EK content books, the "complete set." They're comprehensive and unless you desire a ton of practice, they're all you really need (plus maybe a few diagnostic exams). The 1001 books, as I explain below, are there as a supplement, ONLY if you need them. The advice I give my students, which I followed myself, is if they can master at least 80% of the questions in the comprehensive set - that is, if they can understand them well enough to explain to another person why the right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong - then they're set to do well on the MCAT. I've yet to meet someone for whom that is not true. Extra practice beyond those problems isn't necessary for most people, and HOW you practice is really important. Whether it's practice problems or diagnostic exams you use, remember that doing the problems doesn't improve your score. Reviewing the problems does. So if you spend at least as much time reviewing any practice problems as you do taking them, if you examine the underlying concept being tested and how you are expected to get to the answer simply and efficiently, and what test taking skills or strategies you must adopt to do that, that would be a studying technique I would recommend and which will bring you lots of success. Best of luck!

 

[baburf]

How do you compile the questions in the series?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

How do you compile the questions in the series?

That's really a question for the authors. All I know is that they are arranged by the topics presented in the lecture books and aim to attack those topics from every angle at a depth that is much greater than what is ordinarily required on the real MCAT. It's helpful for people who lack a conceptual/intuitive understanding of difficult concepts or who just need a lot of practice before they can feel confident and quick.

 

[ridethecliche]

No offense, but amazon has these for way cheaper...

Isn't the point of this week to give a 'discount' or such?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

We forgot to mention earlier that, as in past years, we will be holding a raffle at the end of this week. We will be choosing randomly from all the commenters who have contributed meaningfully to the respective threads and giving away the following two prizes:

One free 9 week comprehensive course this summer
One free complete set of EK books

Here's the fine print:
The course must be in any of the locations schedules for the summer 2011, it is not transferable to anyone else and it can be deferred to another semester. Taxes, shipping will be covered.
For the winner of the study pack, it will be shipped free of charge anywhere in the US.
Neither raffle prize can be exchanged for money or anything else.

All you have to do to be eligible is to follow the guidelines given by SDN here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=790797 and to have posted in the respective threads (EK employees, of course, are not eligible). After this week wraps up, I will pick the winners randomly and post their names on the threads, as well as contact them via private message with the email address and confirmation code they should use to redeem their prize. Go to the above link to make sure you are eligible and be sure to check in to see if you've won, as I'll be following the reprizing guidelines there in case I don't hear back from the winner.

I want to emphasize again that anyone interested should visit that SDN page, because some of the most prolific commenters on these threads are still not eligible according to those guidelines. It's not too late to change that!

As always, students in Examkrackers courses get a 30% discount on all other EK materials (applicable only once per title).

Best of luck to all of you!


UPDATE
SDN handles the raffle and has/will notify the winners independently. We are not involved in that process and don't determine or contact the winners. Sorry for the confusion

 

[BP Examkrackers]

No offense, but amazon has these for way cheaper...

Isn't the point of this week to give a 'discount' or such?

ridethecliche,

You're right, you can usually find our books cheaper elsewhere, which has to do something with the fact that EK is the publisher and is not able to place these on sale as wholesalers like Amazon can. My advice is to get them wherever you can, even used, so long as they're not too old (5th, 6th or 7th edition should be fine). As for this week, we aren't offering a discount on books, but we are raffling off a free set of books and also a free comprehensive course (which includes a set of books). These are comprehensive sets (meaning each of the subject lecture books plus a diagnostic exam), so as long as you've been active elsewhere during this week (or are for the rest of today), you'll be eligible to win those sets (oh, and as long as you've posted in the respective threads, not on this one - so make sure you do that soon!).

Sorry for not having the raffle information up earlier. We forgot this year in our setup for this week, but thanks so much for reminding me!

Take care and best of luck in the raffle and in your test prep!

 

[ridethecliche]

ridethecliche,

You're right, you can usually find our books cheaper elsewhere, which has to do something with the fact that EK is the publisher and is not able to place these on sale as wholesalers like Amazon can. My advice is to get them wherever you can, even used, so long as they're not too old (5th, 6th or 7th edition should be fine). As for this week, we aren't offering a discount on books, but we are raffling off a free set of books and also a free comprehensive course (which includes a set of books). These are comprehensive sets (meaning each of the subject lecture books plus a diagnostic exam), so as long as you've been active elsewhere during this week (or are for the rest of today), you'll be eligible to win those sets (oh, and as long as you've posted in the respective threads, not on this one - so make sure you do that soon!).

Sorry for not having the raffle information up earlier. We forgot this year in our setup for this week, but thanks so much for reminding me!

Take care and best of luck in the raffle and in your test prep!

Thanks! But don't give me the raffle win for EK! I already have all your stuff. No, seriously! I have all the course books and all the 101/1001 books, so I'm all set.

Hope they go to someone deserving. Thanks for your product!

My only complaint is that the physics and gen chem books could do with more examples/practice problems in the chapter text. I.e. making the student work alongside the book. That might make the books a little longer, but I think that the setup works a lot better for students. Many of my friends that have used your books have expressed the same sentiment especially when shown another physics book such as NOVA's.

Keep up the good work!

 

[BP Examkrackers]

Thanks! But don't give me the raffle win for EK! I already have all your stuff. No, seriously! I have all the course books and all the 101/1001 books, so I'm all set.

Hope they go to someone deserving. Thanks for your product!

My only complaint is that the physics and gen chem books could do with more examples/practice problems in the chapter text. I.e. making the student work alongside the book. That might make the books a little longer, but I think that the setup works a lot better for students. Many of my friends that have used your books have expressed the same sentiment especially when shown another physics book such as NOVA's.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep you out of the running then. As for the Physics and Chem books, that's interesting. I guess I was always really intuitive about those subjects, and I'm very concept-driven, and I had excellent professors in those courses, so what you're describing is what I do for my students in lectures. One of the resources I've made available (and to which several EK instructors have added a lot of theirs) to my students and anyone else using our books is http://hellobirju.googlepages.com Check it out. Thanks for the recommendation, though. We have our books the way that they are because they aim to help the average student, while some students will definitely need less than that and others will need more depending on their skill sets and backgrounds, but the NOVA book would be good for us to look into to see if we can improve our books without losing sight of our goals. Take care!

 

[MikeB14]

Ive noticed that the dates on some of the books say (on amazon) from 2001, 2002, etc. They seem old. Does this matter? Have they been updated at all? Do they need to be?

 

[BP Examkrackers]

Ive noticed that the dates on some of the books say (on amazon) from 2001, 2002, etc. They seem old. Does this matter? Have they been updated at all? Do they need to be?

There might be some errata that need to be corrected, but other than that, no, they don't need to be updated as the methods, concepts and material are all just as useful now as when they were published (which is why they still sell well and get good reviews). Orgo has been given a lesser role in the MCAT, so that makes the whole Orgo book less important these days. You can always look at the errata section of the EK forums if you do any problems for which the answer/explanation seems to be erroneous.

Also, before you go and buy any or all of the 1001 books, please read what I wrote above about if/when you might need to use them and how to use them. The 101 VR passages book is the only one that I'd say EVERY student needs to buy and use. The other books in that series are not necessary for everyone.

 

[premedstudent55]

I have been doing problems on the 1001 series and i found some questions to be very challenging.. most of the stuffs I have never even thought of... or did any of my professors had ever mentioned in the prequisite courses... it's so discouraging =.= sometimes doing these EK problems lol.. feels like i dont really know my science !

 

[malaika]

I have been doing problems on the 1001 series and i found some questions to be very challenging.. most of the stuffs I have never even thought of... or did any of my professors had ever mentioned in the prequisite courses... it's so discouraging =.= sometimes doing these EK problems lol.. feels like i dont really know my science !

Yea, you don't!
Hope you do now.