How did Khan Academy prepare you with regard to Psychological/Soc?

[NeuroPA]

I have heard many say that Khan Academy for the Soc/Psych is the best, and if one were to solely use this resource they will be well prepared for this MCAT section. Is this true??

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[NeuroPA]

By best , I mean reasonably concise for what is tested.

 

[number9]

I mean, this is my n=1 personal experience, but the only resource that I used besides AAMC practice exams and occasionally Google/Wikipedia was Khan Academy, and I scored 520+ (psych/soc subsection was 131). I did take intro to psych (relatively helpful) and intro to sociology/anthropology (totally useless) in college before the exam.

For the most part it seems to me like I was prepared for what was tested (though occasionally there were random things I didn't recognize). I'm not sure if I would consider KA concise; watching through all the videos at 2X and taking notes took a few weeks at 3-4 hours/day. I did feel prepared though, and often finished that section with over 30 min to spare.

 

[aldol16]

You could use Khan Academy for content review for all MCAT sections and do well. It's quite a good resource.

 

[NeuroPA]

The reason I am focusing on Psych/Soc in this post is due to the overall lack of resources. The physical science, biochemistry, and biology concepts are beautifully done by Kaplan (my opinion) so as a result I will not deviate. Also, from my understanding conceptually the MCAT hasn't changed in the science aspects. It can be said that emphasis on science material has changed though.

 

[Saigon]

Are you aware of Reddit mcat? Go read what people have to say about preparing for P/s in the wiki section. Consensus is that reading tpr and watching khan/doing khan practice passages is the way to go. There are thorough, ready made khan academy notes on the Reddit page

 

[SwordOfTheMorning]

I didn't use it that much, so I can't say if it helped a lot. But I will say that on my actual MCAT, there was a free standing question that was basically the exact same question with the same answer choices as one of the KA soc questions. Of course I didn't see it on KA until after my test so I guessed and got it wrong!!!

That's just one question though. But it was very specific and not mentioned in the Kaplan or TPR books -I checked. However, it was discussed in the free soc wiki that the AAMC links to. They have a huge psych/soc reference table with different book/web resources to check out on their website that covers the section's topics. (It's a lot and I never did check them out before my test, still managed a 128 on the section though.) Anyways I would use KA for at least some practice questions.

My only preparation for the section was the Kaplan book and practice passages from: TPR full lengths (& science workbook), Kaplan full lengths, aamc section bank/full lengths, and KA passages. If I didn't feel like taking a 7 hour full length from Kaplan or TPR, I would just practice individual sections when needed. So that's also an option for more practice material.

 

[NeuroPA]

Do you mean the 10 questions before each section on KA?

 

[NeuroPA]

Also, is there a newer edition of TPR for Soc/Psych?

 

[andelJ94]

The TPR book and NS book have been great for Psych/Soc for me.

The Psych/Soc Khan videos have the same problem as the other Khan videos, they were never made for the MCAT so you spend hours and hours watching material that will never show up on the MCAT. I would focus on the top Psych/Soc MCAT books like TPR and NS, use the Khan videos only if you do nto understand something and want in-depth detail.

However, I will say that while most of the Khan practice passages stink (bu hey, free) their Psych/Soc passages are pretty useful. Took the AAMC Sample test recently and got 90% on the P/S section, and they have helped me with the AAMC section bank as well.

Long story short, use the passages, not the videos, get a good MCAT book.