For those that have used Berk Review books...

[Ari1584]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am retaking in jan and have just received my shipment of BR books. I looked through them and wanted to set up a schedule to stick with. Ideally, i wanted to finish going through all the passages and the books by dec 1. But for the past two days, i have been going through 2 sections and have realized that its extremely difficult to do more than one section from a book per day. For example, i wanted to do section 1 from chem and sec 1 from bio yest, but by the time i was done with reading through chem and doing all the passages, then reworking all my mistakes, i was pretty spent. Do you guys think i can extend my date of dec 1 for finishing up these books? Or is that allowing too much time to content review. I guess using these books isn't ALL just content, its passages too which is what i like. Also, for those of you that have actually used these books, and for BerkReviewTeach, is going through one section per day a good amount? Or should i be doing more than that per day. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[marele86]

... Wow. One section a day?

I'm sure that's okay if you have a section you're just stellar with - that's sort of how I attacked physics at first - but to really understand the material you have to take it much, much slower. Otherwise, a lot of your performance on the practice passages could be just due to having reviewed the specific subject immediately before taking it, which might not translate into remembering the material.

Even if you understand a section completely, I would still suggest taking at least a couple of days with a section just to really fine-tune any weak points, take notes, and do all the practice problems while understanding exactly why you missed the ones you were wrong about.

I'm using BR, and I'm going with about 1 week per section, on average. (Things that were easier for me, like the first 4 sections of physics, I managed to do in 2 1/2 weeks, whereas I took 3 weeks just for fluid dynamics. But most sections, 1 week.)

I would suggest going through it slower. As much as it would be optimal to have at least 1 month of just doing practice tests, the practice tests should just be helping you identify weaknesses and fine-tune your understanding of the material/test-taking skills- so you need to really feel like you have a solid handle on everything before the practice tests will maximally help.

 

[Mei]

Yeah, I think 2 sections/day is a little much. I'm taking a class and supplementing it with TBR for Physics and Gen Chem. I do all my TBR review on weekends. For instance, on a Saturday I would finish reading/taking notes on a section and maybe do at least a third of the end-of-chapter questions and grade / go over solutions. I consider this a good, low-on-procrastination study day for me. After all of this, I'm already pretty spent and I put aside the remaining 60 or so questions for the next day or two.

I'm afraid if I finish one chapter and do ALL the questions and go over the solutions, that I might not be able to do them as through and as effectively. I can probably squeeze all that in on one weekend day but I'm just really hesitant to develop a cramming style of studying which can be disastrous since my exam is not until May and I might forget a lot of these things.

 

[Ari1584]

I guess the problem is that i only have till jan...so taking a week for each section is out of the question. Is it possible to go through a thorough review of these books in about 2 months?

... Wow. One section a day?

I'm sure that's okay if you have a section you're just stellar with - that's sort of how I attacked physics at first - but to really understand the material you have to take it much, much slower. Otherwise, a lot of your performance on the practice passages could be just due to having reviewed the specific subject immediately before taking it, which might not translate into remembering the material.

Even if you understand a section completely, I would still suggest taking at least a couple of days with a section just to really fine-tune any weak points, take notes, and do all the practice problems while understanding exactly why you missed the ones you were wrong about.

I'm using BR, and I'm going with about 1 week per section, on average. (Things that were easier for me, like the first 4 sections of physics, I managed to do in 2 1/2 weeks, whereas I took 3 weeks just for fluid dynamics. But most sections, 1 week.)

I would suggest going through it slower. As much as it would be optimal to have at least 1 month of just doing practice tests, the practice tests should just be helping you identify weaknesses and fine-tune your understanding of the material/test-taking skills- so you need to really feel like you have a solid handle on everything before the practice tests will maximally help.

 

[J ROD]

Here is my two cents after using them this summer.

The gchem and physics are good. I did a section a day with all the passages. If I did really well, I might skip a passage or two.

The bio is not that great. I would use something else like EK or Princeton. I did about 3 sections and it was not like the MCAT to me. It seemed too Biochem.

Their org chem books are great. But, they are too detailed for the amount of ochem that shows up. I did go through them and learned alot but I would use an easier, less indepth source.

I did the reading in the mornings and did the passages in the late afternoon. That way I could see what I remembered and not burn out.

I think a section a day is reasonable. You will have to do more than that in med school content wise. GL!