General concensus on best MCAT prep?

[Jas0n]

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Hey everyone!

I am hailing all the way from Australia and in 4 months will be sitting an exam equivalent to the MCAT (we call it GAMSAT here).

I was just wondering what was the overall consensus on the best pre-MCAT notes?

I don't have any valuable notes for any of the subjects required for the examination and am looking for a thorough yet focused set of notes. Who would you recommend?

Thank you so much.

P.S.

I do not necessarily require any of the newest editions that complement the CBT protocol. In Australia we are keeping it 'real' and doing it old school (paper-based).

 

[SN2ed]

For Books:

Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/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

 

[Jas0n]

For Books:

Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/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

First of all, I truly appreciate the reply, thank you!

Just a few questions:

1. For biology, would the EK and BR books complement each other or would BR with the addition of perhaps the EK 1001 be the way to go? Also, does the BR provide focused and relevant info to what is needed to know or does it just dump everything there is at you?

2.How much do the TPR Hyperlearning Verbal workbooks go for? I only managed to find a 2nd hand one of amazon for ~USD80. Is this normal is this book this much in demand?

3. Would anyone know if BR ships overseas? I emailed them a while back but they seem pretty reluctant responding.

Thanks again!

 

[SN2ed]

First of all, I truly appreciate the reply, thank you!

Just a few questions:

1. For biology, would the EK and BR books complement each other or would BR with the addition of perhaps the EK 1001 be the way to go? Also, does the BR provide focused and relevant info to what is needed to know or does it just dump everything there is at you?

2.How much do the TPR Hyperlearning Verbal workbooks go for? I only managed to find a 2nd hand one of amazon for ~USD80. Is this normal is this book this much in demand?

3. Would anyone know if BR ships overseas? I emailed them a while back but they seem pretty reluctant responding.

Thanks again!

1. For your needs, I think EK Bio + EK Bio 1001 would be the way to go. BR provides a thorough review of Bio which probably isn't what you want. That said, if you go with BR Bio, you will be fine with just that book. There's no need for EK Bio 1001 because all BR books contain tons of practice passages.

2. Pricing really differs. You'll probably be able to find it much cheaper on the For Sale forum on here.

3. Unfortunately, BR does not ship overseas. Your best bet is again to buy the books from the For Sale forum. You should be able to easily buy them on here since they pop up frequently.

For Sale forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=230
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=676388

 

[Jas0n]

1. For your needs, I think EK Bio + EK Bio 1001 would be the way to go. BR provides a thorough review of Bio which probably isn't what you want. That said, if you go with BR Bio, you will be fine with just that book. There's no need for EK Bio 1001 because all BR books contain tons of practice passages.

2. Pricing really differs. You'll probably be able to find it much cheaper on the For Sale forum on here.

3. Unfortunately, BR does not ship overseas. Your best bet is again to buy the books from the For Sale forum. You should be able to easily buy them on here since they pop up frequently.

For Sale forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=230

Very helpful!

Thanks for taking the time.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

1. For your needs, I think EK Bio + EK Bio 1001 would be the way to go. BR provides a thorough review of Bio which probably isn't what you want. That said, if you go with BR Bio, you will be fine with just that book. There's no need for EK Bio 1001 because all BR books contain tons of practice passages.

2. Pricing really differs. You'll probably be able to find it much cheaper on the For Sale forum on here.

3. Unfortunately, BR does not ship overseas. Your best bet is again to buy the books from the For Sale forum. You should be able to easily buy them on here since they pop up frequently.

For Sale forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=230
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=676388

I second that you should find the cleanest and latest used BR books from the classifieds here at SDN rather than buy them new from BR if you are outside the US. The shipping is substantially cheaper if it's from a person rather than BR.

If you know someone in the states, they could buy them new from BR and ship them to you, which would also save a bundle of money.

It all depends on whether you want new or high quality used books, both of which will probbaly cost about the same with shipping.