I love the BR passages in all topics, but I've been wondering whether perhaps there content is a bit too detailed in the Physical Sciences and Gen Chem. I love some of the EK mnemonics and the fact that they clearly mark what is important to remember- when I look at BR, I just see tons of equations and don't know which are the most important. Has anyone else found this to be the case? Are there ways to work in the EK Books (or Kaplans which I have as well) to the S2N study plan?
Is BR content too detailed?
- Thread starter Omega3MD
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I think it really depends on what kind of a learner you are...
I feel it provides the optimum level of detail....not too much like a textbook and not too little like EK...I like to really understand whats going on rather than just memorizing tricks so I love BR (I just have the Gen Chem and Orgo books)
I feel it provides the optimum level of detail....not too much like a textbook and not too little like EK...I like to really understand whats going on rather than just memorizing tricks so I love BR (I just have the Gen Chem and Orgo books)
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I agree that the Chem might appear a little detailed. Especially for those of us that have a decent grasp on Gen Chem.
I got an A+ in G-chem and P-chem and O-chem... I find myself flipping through the G-chem book and the little math tricks, and little useless bits of info, actually help. Come to think of it, I think the reason I got my 8 in PS was because I was prepared for a calculation heavy physical sciences the first time I wrote.
Sadly, I was mistaken, my physics was convoluted and distorted, not representative of the AAMC. The chem was weird, I had calculations, nothing extensive, no more than 2 or 3 lines MAX. Lots more thinking though. I feel like a solid background in quantum theory helps too. I mean knowing the ins and outs of stoich and atomic theory is essential. I remember one passage on f-block elements on my exam. I got through it, but it was more conceptual.
It's been said before, the MCAT doesn't test how well you can memorize. Yeah, you need to know some equations. But on the whole, the test really makes you scratch your head.
BR does an excellent job of keeping the content, focused, and relevant to the MCAT. Whereas EK and PR examples just aren't that great. Anyone can plug and chug, but not everyone can think...
I got an A+ in G-chem and P-chem and O-chem... I find myself flipping through the G-chem book and the little math tricks, and little useless bits of info, actually help. Come to think of it, I think the reason I got my 8 in PS was because I was prepared for a calculation heavy physical sciences the first time I wrote.
Sadly, I was mistaken, my physics was convoluted and distorted, not representative of the AAMC. The chem was weird, I had calculations, nothing extensive, no more than 2 or 3 lines MAX. Lots more thinking though. I feel like a solid background in quantum theory helps too. I mean knowing the ins and outs of stoich and atomic theory is essential. I remember one passage on f-block elements on my exam. I got through it, but it was more conceptual.
It's been said before, the MCAT doesn't test how well you can memorize. Yeah, you need to know some equations. But on the whole, the test really makes you scratch your head.
BR does an excellent job of keeping the content, focused, and relevant to the MCAT. Whereas EK and PR examples just aren't that great. Anyone can plug and chug, but not everyone can think...
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I think if you start of with TBR you would have a solid content review and since TBR has a lot of passages it cannot harm you to start with TBR then take a few practice tests see how its going and then decide from there...
BUT the genral consensus on SDN seems to be that TBR is not all that good for VR and little too detailed for biology...
It is great for Gen Chem and Orgo though
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I was reading through EK Bio over break. They summarize and oversimplify things to the point where some of their statements are just plain wrong. I had a deep understanding of some topics and it irritated me to see them dumb everything down like that. I think the TPR/BR books would be better (detail oriented).
