ExamKrackers vs The Berkeley Review

[lovecraftfan87]

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Hello all,

So I am considering taking the MCAT in late May/early June. I took the MCAT once on January 30th of this year, and since the majority of my friends have ended up taking it twice, I expect that there is a strong possibility that I will also take it again. I think that the main flaw in my studying was that I focused so much on content (which I feel confident that I have mastered) ,and looked at so many of my wrong answers on the MCAT as indicators that I needed to study more content, that I failed to realize that the MCAT is primarily a passage-based test.

I have heard that ExamKrackers and TBR are the two best MCAT prep materials available (I took a Kaplan course and still have its materials. It was pretty helpful, though far more content-focused and in-depth than required). I listened to the Audio Osmosis lectures 3-4 times before I took the MCAT and found them really helpful, especially for distilling info. So I am leaning toward ordering their books and following their Home Study Plan. However, I have read about a lot of goodwill toward TBR on these boards, especially with regard to their practice tests.

Any suggestions on which materials I should purchase? I like EK's plan of studying 2-3 hours a day because it appears to acknowledge that students (like myself) who end up studying 6-8 hours a day 1.5 months before the test end up burning out, but I am concerned that EK may not be as up-to-date as TBR in terms of content and passage format on the MCAT.

 

[SN2ed]

Biology: 1. EK Bio (for content) + BR Bio (for passages and further topic depth if needed) 2. TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Extra Practice Material: 1. TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook + TPR Hyperlearing Science Workbook, good source of practice passages 2. EK 1001 series, helps nail down basics

 

[lovecraftfan87]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like TBR is the MCAT source to beat due to its passages. I'm still a little reluctant to order TBR books because they are fairly pricey and I already have the Kaplan materials and some of the ExamKrackers books. But all those MCAT passages make it sound appealing (I can't believe I actually wrote that a surplus of MCAT passages sounds appealing. What the hell is wrong with me?!?!?)

I noticed you don't have EK ranked for Physics. Is it that terrible?

 

[SN2ed]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like TBR is the MCAT source to beat due to its passages. I'm still a little reluctant to order TBR books because they are fairly pricey and I already have the Kaplan materials and some of the ExamKrackers books. But all those MCAT passages make it sound appealing (I can't believe I actually wrote that a surplus of MCAT passages sounds appealing. What the hell is wrong with me?!?!?)

I noticed you don't have EK ranked for Physics. Is it that terrible?

It's not that bad. It's probably around 4th. The thing is, there's no point in getting it when BR, Nova, and TPRH are all better. BR and Nova are especially good because they contain practice passages. BR is higher because is contains primarily passages while Nova has too many discretes.

Also, it's not weird that passages practice sounds appealing because it's more enjoyable than reading and re-reading chapters. Then again, I just used enjoy while talking about studying for the MCAT, so I'm not the best person to comment.

 

[je6ch]

BR and Nova are especially good because they contain practice passages. BR is higher because is contains primarily passages while Nova has too many discretes.

You mention that your rankings have something to do with the amount of practice passages/questions contained in the books. How about in terms of just teaching the content?

Do your rankings change if I'm only concerned with pure content review?

Thanks so much. Helps a lot.

 

[SN2ed]

You mention that your rankings have something to do with the amount of practice passages/questions contained in the books. How about in terms of just teaching the content?

Do your rankings change if I'm only concerned with pure content review?

Thanks so much. Helps a lot.

Remember that practice passages are FAR more important than content review.

In terms of content review, it's basically between TPRH and BR.

Bio: TPRH
O-chem: TPRH, a good number prefer BR
- In the past, more people preferred BR. Both TPRH and BR are probably about equal with style preference being a large factor.
Gen chem: BR, some prefer TPRH
Physics: BR, some prefer TPRH

I don't list verbal because verbal is basically all practice.

 

[DrSmooth]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like TBR is the MCAT source to beat due to its passages. I'm still a little reluctant to order TBR books because they are fairly pricey and I already have the Kaplan materials and some of the ExamKrackers books. But all those MCAT passages make it sound appealing (I can't believe I actually wrote that a surplus of MCAT passages sounds appealing. What the hell is wrong with me?!?!?)

I noticed you don't have EK ranked for Physics. Is it that terrible?

What is your target MCAT score? If someone offered to magically give you that score for $200 would you spend it? My advice is buy the books. Using the best resources available to maximize your chances of getting into medical school is a sound investment. Using books just because you already have them is a waste of your time and potential. Especially in the case of Kaplan which already did not work for you apparently.

 

[luckyt66]

what is your target mcat score? If someone offered to magically give you that score for $200 would you spend it? My advice is buy the books. Using the best resources available to maximize your chances of getting into medical school is a sound investment. Using books just because you already have them is a waste of your time and potential. Especially in the case of kaplan which already did not work for you apparently.

i couldn't have said it better myself....

 

[LucileDupin]

Biology: 1. EK Bio (for content) + BR Bio (for passages and further topic depth if needed) 2. TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Extra Practice Material: 1. TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook + TPR Hyperlearing Science Workbook, good source of practice passages 2. EK 1001 series, helps nail down basics

SN2ed,

I know that you must already get tons of questions about this, but I just have a quick query:

In your post you rank EK Verbal higher than TPRH Verbal.
Following your 3-month schedule should one substitute EK Verbal instead of BR Verbal if we can't get a hold of TPRH Verbal?

Thanks!

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

...should one substitute...
Thanks!

Not to step in on a question aimed for someone else, but I want to drop my two cents here. You should feel okay to substitute any material you like into any schedule you find. Not all materials work the same for every student, so allow yourself some flexibility. Some styles are more conducive to what you need. Any list at SDN is a general suggestion based on what worked for that individual. You'll notice that while there are some near universal commonalities (EK for verbal and BR for gen chem come to mind), there is a good deal of variation in other areas. Match the material to your needs.

The only thing I believe that cannot be disputed is that you need to do passages and the best materials have the best answer explanations. That's where you'll do the majority of your learning. Reading content review and learning mnemonics and shortcuts is all well and good, but it's practice and learning from your mistakes that builds your score.

 

[FitnessDoc2012]

I agree. I started using EK home study this week. It seems to really be concise and to the point. It emphasizes the basics b/c the mcat is all basic science content knowledge that then needs to be used in conjunction with passage comprehension to answer a question. I would suggest EK b/c it makes sure you understand the basics and then reinforces it with the 1001 practice books. From what it seems, you really just need to know the base content knowledge and really work on comprehending passages and being able to determine which answers are definitely not correct and which answers look like a correct answer. I took the gre, and most of it is using logic to reason out why one answer must be right. I think understanding the basics of the sciences is plenty as long as you focus when reading and look for clues in the passages. It seems inefficient to try and study from 10+ different companies b/c the bottom line is, everyone has an opinion as to which they should use and we all learn differently, therefore, everything that is said on sdn in regards to which materials to use is 100% subjective to that individual's learning/study methods. My advice: use any company you feel will help you understand the basic content, and then, do a bunch of practice problems/tests from anywhere to help learn a logical approach to answer the questions.

 

[SN2ed]

SN2ed,

I know that you must already get tons of questions about this, but I just have a quick query:

In your post you rank EK Verbal higher than TPRH Verbal.
Following your 3-month schedule should one substitute EK Verbal instead of BR Verbal if we can't get a hold of TPRH Verbal?

Thanks!

Do you mean using BR Verbal instead of TPRH Verbal? Both EK Verbal and TPRH Verbal are used in my guide. If you can't get TPRH Verbal, then BR Verbal is really your only somewhat decent option. It's not very good, but that's all you have left.

 

[LucileDupin]

Do you mean using BR Verbal instead of TPRH Verbal? Both EK Verbal and TPRH Verbal are used in my guide. If you can't get TPRH Verbal, then BR Verbal is really your only somewhat decent option. It's not very good, but that's all you have left.

Thank you for the advice BerkReviewTeach; and thank you for clearing up my confusion SN2ed.

 

[ridethecliche]

What is your target MCAT score? If someone offered to magically give you that score for $200 would you spend it? My advice is buy the books. Using the best resources available to maximize your chances of getting into medical school is a sound investment. Using books just because you already have them is a waste of your time and potential. Especially in the case of Kaplan which already did not work for you apparently.

I would agree with this but here's the advice I've been given by friends who have taken the test and either gained admission or scored very well.

Anyway, they've told me to take a strategy and stick to it. Take practice tests along the way every week or every other week. If the scores stagnate, then change what you're doing.

I have a lot of old kaplan stuff from friends. I breezed through the big fat full review book (everything other than verbal) in a month and took my first practice test to establish a baseline. Now I'm going to use the EK stuff to do a 2-3 month detailed run through while taking practice exams going along.

I think from what I've read on here and been told, that the biggest mistake people make is to study the material ad nauseum and not really do practice exams till it's too late. I was told to take the first one the second I started studying, but I held off because I know myself well enough to know that I'd freak if I took it without doing any additional prep. So I spent a month doing that, and now have a few more months for they May exam.

I didn't know about TBR, so I'm glad you guys pointed that out. I think their practice exams will come in handy. Are they electronic?

Thanks!

 

[ModernAlchemist]

I would agree with this but here's the advice I've been given by friends who have taken the test and either gained admission or scored very well.

Anyway, they've told me to take a strategy and stick to it. Take practice tests along the way every week or every other week. If the scores stagnate, then change what you're doing.

I have a lot of old kaplan stuff from friends. I breezed through the big fat full review book (everything other than verbal) in a month and took my first practice test to establish a baseline. Now I'm going to use the EK stuff to do a 2-3 month detailed run through while taking practice exams going along.

I think from what I've read on here and been told, that the biggest mistake people make is to study the material ad nauseum and not really do practice exams till it's too late. I was told to take the first one the second I started studying, but I held off because I know myself well enough to know that I'd freak if I took it without doing any additional prep. So I spent a month doing that, and now have a few more months for they May exam.

I didn't know about TBR, so I'm glad you guys pointed that out. I think their practice exams will come in handy. Are they electronic?

Thanks!

Yes, they are electronic. If you are using EK, I strongly suggest you use the wikipremed videos and 1001 questions as well. I have all the MCAT materials you could think of and EK (except bio) isn't enough for the current mcat in my experience, but those other two sources are awesome supplements. Good Luck!

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I think from what I've read on here and been told, that the biggest mistake people make is to study the material ad nauseum and not really do practice exams till it's too late.

I'd have to agree that this is one of the two biggest mistakes people make in their preparation. Review is great, but it's all about practicing. This couples to a second mistake people make, and that is to focus on free-standing questions and not do enough passages in their preparation. The exam is over 80% passage-based questions (21 passages with 118 passage-based questions plus 26 stand-alone questions.)

If you look at the post-MCAT postings (the day of the exam responses), several people complain about weird passages and things they'd never seen before. Those threads will tell you all you need to know about what you should be doing to prepare. Eighty percent of your practice should be on passage-based questions.

When you open up your exam and there's a passage about some women standing on a conducting sphere rotating clockwise in a magnetic field as she juggles optical torches and chants sounds that pass through glass and water to fish swimming at a constant elevation in the water, you don't want to be shocked. Stand-alone questions and the reviewing of text do not prepare you for this sort of passage, where questions will be conceptual and often addressing multiple subjects.

Just my $0.02.

More tests followed by thorough reviewing of the exam! More practice passages!

 

[ModernAlchemist]

I'd have to agree that this is one of the two biggest mistakes people make in their preparation. Review is great, but it's all about practicing. This couples to a second mistake people make, and that is to focus on free-standing questions and not do enough passages in their preparation. The exam is over 80% passage-based questions (21 passages with 118 passage-based questions plus 26 stand-alone questions.)

If you look at the post-MCAT postings (the day of the exam responses), several people complain about weird passages and things they'd never seen before. Those threads will tell you all you need to know about what you should be doing to prepare. Eighty percent of your practice should be on passage-based questions.

When you open up your exam and there's a passage about some women standing on a conducting sphere rotating clockwise in a magnetic field as she juggles optical torches and chants sounds that pass through glass and water to fish swimming at a constant elevation in the water, you don't want to be shocked. Stand-alone questions and the reviewing of text do not prepare you for this sort of passage, where questions will be conceptual and often addressing multiple subjects.

Just my $0.02.

More tests followed by thorough reviewing of the exam! More practice passages!

😱

This almost made me postpone my test again.

 

[ilovemcat]

I LOL'd at the exampe BRTeach gave... oh God..

 

[ridethecliche]

Yes, they are electronic. If you are using EK, I strongly suggest you use the wikipremed videos and 1001 questions as well. I have all the MCAT materials you could think of and EK (except bio) isn't enough for the current mcat in my experience, but those other two sources are awesome supplements. Good Luck!

Thanks. I did better than I thought on the first practice exam with an 8 on both the PS and BS and a 10 on the verbal. Setting up with a 26 baseline is more than I was hoping for.

Now I'm looking for more practice exams to take. You mentioned the TBR ones. Do you know if Kaplan sells the electronic version of tests as well? If I want to do them once a week, I have to make sure that I save most of the AAMC ones for last. So the TBR ones exist, but what about PR and Kap stuffs? I only see links for their courses and know that people get access to their resources with the course. Is there any other way to get all their billions of tests?

In addition, I feel silly for saying this now, but I just started with EK Bio today and man it feels much more like a textbook. I liked the Kap premier program 'fat book'. I could read it much easier, it was barebones, and the text didn't hurt my eyes. Haha. I guess that's why EK is 'better', since it has more info.

I just have to remember to tone it down and think big picture. Looking back at my notes from today I wrote a ton about stuff that is wayyy too detailed...

Thanks for the wikipremed tip. How would you suggest an incorporation of this material into studying?