Is studying the MCAT prep books enough?

[mac_kin]

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[TheMan21]

I have been out of undergrad for a few years now. For instance, it has probably been about 6-7 years since ORGO. So I am wondering if the MCAT book is enough.

If I study the book (Kaplan) thoroughly is that the extent of knowledge they will ask on the EXAM. There are many more concepts in biology and chemistry that they do not touch on. So is it safe to assume that only what is in these prep books, is what will be tested??

In terms of books, I only used Kaplan. However, their online tests/tutorials were extremely helpful as well. I don't think you can access that stuff unless you are actually enrolled in the course.

 

[non trad dad]

I would definitely recommend to take a course. Like the previous poster mentioned, there is a wealth of resources that you can access online with the course syllabus. IMO the books alone will not cut it.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I have been out of undergrad for a few years now. For instance, it has probably been about 6-7 years since ORGO. So I am wondering if the MCAT book is enough.

If I study the book (Kaplan) thoroughly is that the extent of knowledge they will ask on the EXAM. There are many more concepts in biology and chemistry that they do not touch on. So is it safe to assume that only what is in these prep books, is what will be tested??

More than review, you need practice passages. You have to work on weird passages to get your mind in the right state for the MCAT. This can be done using the standard set of recommended books most SDN veterans suggest (see SN2ed's threads for a great summary). If you think you need a course, it could help. But it's not an absolute necessity, and many people do great without one. But getting the right books is essential if you study on your own.

 

[loveoforganic]

Beyond practice passages, taking all 8 of the AAMC practice tests is an absolute must. That should be the single common element of absolutely any MCAT prep plan.

 

[Mithril]

Beyond practice passages, taking all 8 of the AAMC practice tests is an absolute must. That should be the single common element of absolutely any MCAT prep plan.

It's not an absolute must, especially considering that the old AAMC exams are severely outdated and don't represent the difficulty of the exam anymore.

 

[loveoforganic]

They're more similar than anything else I've encountered, and they provide a very realistic estimate of your score on the real thing

 

[Pons Asinorum]

They're more similar than anything else I've encountered, and they provide a very realistic estimate of your score on the real thing

Gotta agree with LOO on this one. The AAMC exams are the strongest prediction tool available, and they do give you a reasonable expectation of test conditions/format/pacing/etc. Doing them, and then doing an exhaustive review of the exam (as discussed elsewhere) is key. And yes, the material contained in any of the test prep company books is sufficient for adequate content review. Being able to apply that content is another matter, hence the recommendations for practice passages.

 

[fizzgig]

no you don't necessarily have to take a course. my prereqs were years ago. oldest was 8yrs ago. it does require more content review IMO. practice tests and other passages you can get ahold of ARE key, but do the content review required to bring it back. i went through all of the EK books twice and essentially outlined them, then went back through those notes more than once too, doing the lecture questions both times to reinforce to myself that just because i thought i 'got it' did NOT mean i was going to breeze through the questions. depends on how well you got it the first time. maybe EK isn't so hot for orgo, but if that's not the case then my lackoflovefororganic 🙂 is probably why i found that conceptually toughest to dredge back up.

 

[Rabolisk]

I think most of us here at SDN would say that prep books and AAMC tests, as well as any other online sources (wikipedia, MIT open courseware, etc.) are more than enough. Then again, your average SDN regular probably got a 37S, and doesn't understand how anyone cannot get at least a 30.

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

They're more similar than anything else I've encountered, and they provide a very realistic estimate of your score on the real thing

I'd agree that 7-10 are fairly accurate, particularly 10. But 3-6 were all originally paper tests, so the pacing is a little off. But you should take them all if you have time, it can't hurt. Remember that the verbal passages in particular have gotten longer. You can compensate for this by taking a little time off of the section, ie 55 minutes instead of 60. I find that it ratchets up the pressure nicely.

 

[aerodoc]

Some personal experience:

I took the MCAT this August, and although I took the bio classes and organic chemistry classes this summer, the rest of the stuff, Chemistry and Physics I took back between 2003 and 2005 (Non-trad student). I studied with only the Kaplan books for review, did some of the Kaplan tests and ALL of the AAMC practice tests and got a 30+ on the real MCAT, and it was dead on my practice test average.

I think if you can be disciplined about studying, you will be fine just using the books to study, and I think the majority of the information you have to know will be right there. Case in point, my Biology classes this Spring were "Molecular and Cellular Biology" as well as "Organismal Biology", neither of which incorporated the body systems such as kidney, heart, lungs, all of that sort of stuff. In other words, I learned that all from the Kaplan books and got a good score in the Biological Sciences portion of the MCAT.

Bottom Line, if you are disciplined with your studying (and you'll have to be diligent, I studied for about 4-5 months) then you probably don't need to take a class, but as others said above, make sure you take all of those AAMC practice tests.