How necessary are these?

[CoolRX]

After reading a few specific posts of successful applicants, it appears EK is the best study guide for the MCAT. I also learned that EK is best for students who need a refresher rather than relearning the material (after having taken those courses long ago); Kaplan Premier Program is best for more detailed explanation if relearning. I will need a refresher and then relearn some.

I'm one of those who tend to keep my science books after end of semesters. So I still have my excellent Campbell biology text, physics, inorganic/organic chemistry texts.

Can I just review for the MCAT with these books given the content outline provided on AMCAS and then use EK 1001 questions as well as the AAMC questions to gauge my strength or weaknesses for the real test?

Or should I cough up the money for EK complete package?

Also, would I be missing any software/online code to a test bank (for example) if I bought the complete package used?

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[kehlsh]

I would suggest u to just sell those textbook and get legit prep materials...

people don't use textbooks for a reason

 

[zeppelinpage4]

You can find a decent used set of the EK study package within $100 or so on Amazon, which is about the price of one text book. I'd go with the prep books, having been through more than 2 months of studying, it's big help to have all the key info. presented in one set of books.

I kept my text books which were a big help if I needed to look up a topic that the prep books did not cover well, but otherwise I'd stick with prep books for convenience sake.

 

[Bumbl3b33]

After reading a few specific posts of successful applicants, it appears EK is the best study guide for the MCAT. I also learned that EK is best for students who need a refresher rather than relearning the material (after having taken those courses long ago); Kaplan Premier Program is best for more detailed explanation if relearning. I will need a refresher and then relearn some.

I'm one of those who tend to keep my science books after end of semesters. So I still have my excellent Campbell biology text, physics, inorganic/organic chemistry texts.

Can I just review for the MCAT with these books given the content outline provided on AMCAS and then use EK 1001 questions as well as the AAMC questions to gauge my strength or weaknesses for the real test?

Or should I cough up the money for EK complete package?

Also, would I be missing any software/online code to a test bank (for example) if I bought the complete package used?

all the EK books are on bittorrents if you don't want to fork over the money

 

[kehlsh]

all the EK books are on bittorrents if you don't want to fork over the money

I would say this is a terrible advice

 

[paul411]

all the EK books are on bittorrents if you don't want to fork over the money

Don't be a tool.

 

[paul411]

After reading a few specific posts of successful applicants, it appears EK is the best study guide for the MCAT. I also learned that EK is best for students who need a refresher rather than relearning the material (after having taken those courses long ago); Kaplan Premier Program is best for more detailed explanation if relearning. I will need a refresher and then relearn some.

This is correct. I suggest using EK as a guide to studying and relearn any topics you need to using resources like Wikipedia, Khan Academy, Chad's videos, and your textbooks.

I'm one of those who tend to keep my science books after end of semesters. So I still have my excellent Campbell biology text, physics, inorganic/organic chemistry texts.

While textbooks are great resources, they are not very useful for MCAT prep. If you want to do well on the MCAT, everything has to be learned in the context of how it's going to be tested on the MCAT. In this sense, EK is an excellent guide.

Can I just review for the MCAT with these books given the content outline provided on AMCAS and then use EK 1001 questions as well as the AAMC questions to gauge my strength or weaknesses for the real test?

Don't use the science textbooks. Definitely use the topic lists from AMCAS to keep track of your content review. EK 1001 questions should only be used for weak content areas. EK 1001 questions do not accurately reflect the MCAT question style at all, so they are useless for gauging MCAT performance. They are, however, useful for getting basic concepts down well.

Or should I cough up the money for EK complete package?

If you're going to use EK to prep, it seems fair to purchase it so that those who worked hard on developing that stuff are rightfully compensated. Try visiting a bookstore and browsing through the EK books to see if their style suits your learning needs before you decide to buy them. Each of the subject books are about $20 on Amazon, it's not even that expensive (especially compared to science textbooks )

Also, would I be missing any software/online code to a test bank (for example) if I bought the complete package used?

No.