Is Examkrackers enough?

[Tappinfool66]

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Hi everyone,

I'm getting ready to start preparing for the MCAT and I'm looking for some advice. I'm a Spanish major. The only science classes I've taken so far have been the pre-requisites and a systems neuroscience course and I'll be taking biochemistry this spring. However, I've done well in the science classes I have taken (3.92 BCPM gpa). So, I'm just not sure what kind of prep I should use (i.e. basic overview, in-depth science, etc.).

Right now, I have the Examkrackers box set of subject books (7th edition - I think it's the most recent) as well as the most recent set of Kaplan books that a friend lent me. I'm also going to get the 101 verbal passages book from Examkrackers and I should have access to all of the practice tests Kaplan has (I think they're the actual AAMC exams).

Is there any other book / series that anyone's used that they felt was absolutely essential to them doing well on the actual MCAT? Is there another series that goes into the science more in depth? Do you guys think that I'll need something like that?

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys have!

 

[BrianK0220]

Examkrackers 101 passages in verbal reasoning increased my verbal score by four points, did one passage per day.

 

[i5hina]

Examkrackers 101 passages in verbal reasoning increased my verbal score by four points, did one passage per day.

That's incredible. Did it actually increase it by 4 points on the actual exam? Or just your practice sessions. Because the consensus shows that the actual MCAT has passages that are slightly longer, and I know EK verbal passages are quite short and could give a false sense of security.

I personally advise mixing it up a bit and getting TPR verbal book. It's expensive but using it in combo with the EK book puts you at an advantage and gives you the best of the mediocre of both worlds. By that, I mean that those two books are close, but no where compared to the real kinds of passages you will encounter. The purpose of these books is to help yourself develop a technique for attacking passages and also developing a feel for the 'MCAT Answer'.

As for myself, I can say that I started out with getting like 1 right per passage and by practicing and utilizing some of the techniques displayed in the forums, I'm looking at about 2 wrong per passage and for the complex passages, maybe 3. So practice does come in handy.

Good luck.

 

[kimicurtis]

Do you guys think the Kaplan passages match the difficulty of the real ones or are they just convoluted and poorly written? Can nothing accurately match the difficulty?

 

[Captain Sisko]

Do you guys think the Kaplan passages match the difficulty of the real ones or are they just convoluted and poorly written? Can nothing accurately match the difficulty?

Comparing my Kaplan verbal practice scores to ek and aamc test questions my Kaplan numbers are a couple points higher, on average. On one practice I got 37/40, which is unheard of for me. I thought they were actually easy to read with easy to follow questions, but I guess everyone thinks differently!

 

[kimicurtis]

Hmm, I have taken a Kaplan FL and there were 60 problems, not 40. I got the same that I did on my AAMC as on the Kaplan-9. I need to go study 🙁

 

[SKaminski]

The kaplan sectional tests are hit and miss. For Sectional tests 7 and 8, i pretty much stopped grading halfway through, because i disagreed with their explanations, their logic, their answers, and the places in the passage where they pulled in the information. I could point to other passage locations that more directly answered the question, but where given no explanation for why they could be wrong.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Hmm, I have taken a Kaplan FL and there were 60 problems, not 40. I got the same that I did on my AAMC as on the Kaplan-9. I need to go study 🙁

Also sounds like you have an older, paper version. Before they switched to the computer based exam, verbal was 60 questions. Now it's only 40.

 

[kimicurtis]

Also sounds like you have an older, paper version. Before they switched to the computer based exam, verbal was 60 questions. Now it's only 40.

Oh, no wonder. I wonder if it is a bad idea to use them then? : /

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

How much do you remember from your classes? That's the deciding factor on whether or not to use EK. If you just need to do a quick review to get all the way back up to speed, then use EK. If you've already forgotten most of what you learned, use a more thorough review source like TBR or TPR. Also keep in mind that EK doesn't have many practice passages. If you go with EK then I'd recommend picking up the TPRH workbooks for more practice.

Do you guys think the Kaplan passages match the difficulty of the real ones or are they just convoluted and poorly written? Can nothing accurately match the difficulty?

Kaplan PS is leagues harder than the real MCAT's PS. If you can hold your own against Kaplan PS, you will destroy the real thing. In regards to BS, Kaplan is slightly harder than the real thing. I can't comment on VR since I never bothered with Kaplan VR.

Oh, no wonder. I wonder if it is a bad idea to use them then? : /

I've heard the only difference between the old paper versions (at least those from 2003) and the current Kaplan FLs and section tests is that the current ones cut out some material from the old ones that aren't relevant anymore. The test hasn't changed that much in the last 10 years and the '03 materials are still very relevant. The worst thing that will happen is you'll end up wasting time studying something that hasn't been on the test in years (like benzene reactions).

 

[kimicurtis]

How much do you remember from your classes? That's the deciding factor on whether or not to use EK. If you just need to do a quick review to get all the way back up to speed, then use EK. If you've already forgotten most of what you learned, use a more thorough review source like TBR or TPR. Also keep in mind that EK doesn't have many practice passages. If you go with EK then I'd recommend picking up the TPRH workbooks for more practice.



Kaplan PS is leagues harder than the real MCAT's PS. If you can hold your own against Kaplan PS, you will destroy the real thing. In regards to BS, Kaplan is slightly harder than the real thing. I can't comment on VR since I never bothered with Kaplan VR.




I've heard the only difference between the old paper versions (at least those from 2003) and the current Kaplan FLs and section tests is that the current ones cut out some material from the old ones that aren't relevant anymore. The test hasn't changed that much in the last 10 years and the '03 materials are still very relevant. The worst thing that will happen is you'll end up wasting time studying something that hasn't been on the test in years (like benzene reactions).

Thanks! I will use them then. I just won't focus on reviewing anything that is not in my review books when I review the FL's.

 

[janutt345]

Yes. Any of the prep companies are fine. Chemistry is still chemistry, biology is still biology etc. You can only be tested on certain topics, and it's highly unlikely any of the well-known companies skip out on them.

 

[BrianK0220]

Need practice reading longer passages and searching for details? Kaplan. Need practice answering questions that are closer to what you will see on the mcat? Examkrackers. The EK verbal strategy is spot on. Don't actively attempt to remember things as you read. Read the passage once like you would a novel. Practice one passage at a time until you develop a reliable method. Don't waste resources.

Look for wrong answers.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Yes. Any of the prep companies are fine. Chemistry is still chemistry, biology is still biology etc. You can only be tested on certain topics, and it's highly unlikely any of the well-known companies skip out on them.

The difference isn't that companies skip material, but rather the depth they go into.

EK is practically cliff notes. It tells you only what is absolutely necessary and nothing more. It doesn't explain topics very thoroughly, it just assumes that you'll immediately remember everything there is to know about a topic with a brief recap of it.

TBR, in contrast, reads like the textbooks you used in your classes. It assumes you don't remember anything and need to be retaught on every subject. It not only devotes pages upon pages to topics, but also throws in a liberal amount of contextual/background information to further aid your comprehension of the topics. The bio book in particular is notorious for the amount of unncessary background info it has, going so far as to even describe all the steps of glycolysis and the krebs cycle and teaching you how to read michaelis-menten graphs (a topic that's only covered in biochem and is far beyond the level of the MCAT).

TPR is somewhere in the middle of the two.