EXAMKrackers or Kaplan or Princeton Review?

[chemdoctor]

Ordering a full box set. Shelling out over $100.00

Ideally would only have to buy one. Leaning towards Princeton but...


TIA

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[Lawpy]

I used ExamKrackers books and supplemented them with Khan Academy videos. These books and their 101 Passages books are really good practice (though these passages are harder than the real deal). The content in ExamKrackers might be brief but I used Khan Academy videos (and Wikipedia articles) to fill in any content gaps.

Others prefer Kaplan or Princeton Review but it really depends on your preferences in the end.

 

[chemdoctor]

I used ExamKrackers books and supplemented them with Khan Academy videos. These books and their 101 Passages books are really good practice (though these passages are harder than the real deal). The content in ExamKrackers might be brief but I used Khan Academy videos (and Wikipedia articles) to fill in any content gaps.

Others prefer Kaplan or Princeton Review but it really depends on your preferences in the end.

Yeah I definitely need content review especially for Physics and Orgo. I'm good with Gen Chem stuff, not good at CARS and needs help on the other stuff. Still have a year to take it tho. You said you supplemented ExamKrackers with Khan Academy videos? Personally, I never really liked Khan academy videos... Which set would be good for content review? I'm just down to TPR and KAPLAN after reading some reviews...

 

[Lawpy]

Yeah I definitely need content review especially for Physics and Orgo. I'm good with Gen Chem stuff, not good at CARS and needs help on the other stuff. Still have a year to take it tho. You said you supplemented ExamKrackers with Khan Academy videos? Personally, I never really liked Khan academy videos... Which set would be good for content review? I'm just down to TPR and KAPLAN after reading some reviews...

I used Khan Academy mainly for psych/soc because EK books were too brief in the area (TPR is also good for psych/soc). I thought EK covered chemistry, physics and ochem pretty well and their practice passages are excellent. They have a lot of good shortcuts and tricks to help solve those difficult math problems that you may encounter.

Kaplan and TPR are also good resources and personally, I'd pick Kaplan over TPR if I had to choose mainly because we have a larger sample size of test takers who went by Kaplan and did well on test day.

 

[chemdoctor]

bump

 

[deleted965487]

I think EK is great if you have less than three months of dedicated study. Any time more than that use Kaplans.

I covered all material twice in about a month and a half and used the remaining month for practice and exams.
Tested 511 (128/126,127/130) but had a bad test day. I was pulling 515 on AAMC practice tests

Tl;dr: I thought EK was good for 2.5 months of dedicated study

 

[chemdoctor]

I think EK is great if you have less than three months of dedicated study. Any time more than that use Kaplans.

I covered all material twice in about a month and a half and used the remaining month for practice and exams.
Tested 511 (128/126,127/130) but had a bad test day. I was pulling 515 on AAMC practice tests

Tl;dr: I thought EK was good for 2.5 months of dedicated study

If you don't mind sharing, what were your grades in the prerequisites? I have over four months to study for this MCAT. Most likely a year. So I guess I'll just order the KAPLAN books then.

Here's the thing, I have a KAPLAN set from the OLD MCAT exam... doesn't make sense to keep it though, right?

 

[PursuingHappy]

The 101 passages from EK are great for practice. Super hard but definetly worth it.

 

[deleted965487]

If you don't mind sharing, what were your grades in the prerequisites? I have over four months to study for this MCAT. Most likely a year. So I guess I'll just order the KAPLAN books then.

Here's the thing, I have a KAPLAN set from the OLD MCAT exam... doesn't make sense to keep it though, right?

3.58 sc GPA
3.7 cum GPA

Pre-reqs grades weren’t that important because I felt I needed to relearn everything to be competent in all the material. I don’t know much about the old MCAT other than the new MCAT is longer and the cars section is different (take this with a heavy grain of salt because I’m unsure). I would recommend the new books

 

[chemdoctor]

3.58 sc GPA
3.7 cum GPA

Pre-reqs grades weren’t that important because I felt I needed to relearn everything to be competent in all the material. I don’t know much about the old MCAT other than the new MCAT is longer and the cars section is different (take this with a heavy grain of salt because I’m unsure). I would recommend the new books

Oh yeah no, it IS true. I just figured... yeah I guess I'm gonna order the new books then. Still debating between Kaplan and TPR... I feel better with TPR because they're harder and I've used TPR before for previous tests I've taken and have done well. I guess I'll just go with Kaplan then.

I agree, prerequisites grades aren't the most important since I'm gonna have to relearn everything anyway...

 

[deleted965487]

Oh yeah no, it IS true. I just figured... yeah I guess I'm gonna order the new books then. Still debating between Kaplan and TPR... I feel better with TPR because they're harder and I've used TPR before for previous tests I've taken and have done well. I guess I'll just go with Kaplan then.

I agree, prerequisites grades aren't the most important since I'm gonna have to relearn everything anyway...

Make sure you leave all AAMC material for the very end of your studies, leave it to the last couple weeks


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[deleted965487]

The 101 passages from EK are great for practice. Super hard but definetly worth it.

Definitely agree, they’re not that expensive either. The CARS passages will make you want to quit but are worth it LOL


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[PlsLetMeIn21]

I really liked TPR for P/S. I used TPR and EK for CARS and they seemed good. For the sciences, however, I wouldn't recommend any of those three. But if you only want to spend $100, then my suggestions are beyond your budget.

 

[Ad2b]

Using EK books (content, passages) + 2nd Ed 2015 Kaplan books + Khan videos + 100 page psy/soc; making sure the 63 double-sided AAMC official guide is thoroughly conquered with content knowledge before I move onto practice exams.

 

[NearbyLab]

I really like Princeton for science sections. I did EK, NS and free MCAT CARS practice from Twain Reasoning for CARS. Personally, I hate Khan academy videos, I need to write notes on the margin.