is text book (un)necessary?

[PUMA19KING]

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I took my 1st year chem and physics during 97~99 academic years...(got like B range on pretty much all of those courses)

I plan to use PR books and EK "total" package to prepare for this beast.....is anyone buying Chem and/or Physics TEXT BOOKs? is this recommended for "B range" dude like me?
😕

 

[Jeffy]

i was worried about whether or not textbooks are necessary to study for the exam. but to be honest, the pr review books (im sure kaplan as well) are very thorough and should be all you need. i did just fine by studying from those books for about 2 weeks and taking practice exams.

 

[gdk]

i'm going thru ek 5th edition now and i'm finding i need to refer to my textbooks in a few places. i didn't take genetics and bio at my school was weak in human phys, so the textbook does a good job introducing new topics slowly to facilitate learning.
if you get stuck with a topic in the review book, just check out a textbook in the library... probably not worth buying unless you find the review books consistently hard to follow

 

[UCLAstudent]

I have been using my old physical chem. textbook. The review book that I'm using assumes a strong background in every topic, which is fine (that's why it's a review book 😉 ), but I just feel more comfortable with my trusty chem. book by my side to clear up any confusing topics.

 

[Cerberus]

i've been using my genetics text and general bio text. They have been pretty useful.

 

[Anka]

I used Kaplan's big book and columbia review. The only reason I used a textbook was b/c I couldn't get the whole oxidation/reduction thing right.

Anyway, I got a 40. The test doesn't test the detail you'll find in most textbooks b/c most of it is passage based; the big thing is understanding experiment design, what things do and don't tell you, and having enough background to read the passage.

So, know Kaplan cold. If you need a textbook to do that, get one and read only those portions you need. The fund of knowledge you need for the MCAT is pretty limited.

Anka

 

[Amy B]

You do not have to buy a textbook. Everything you would need for the MCAT is in the big Kaplan book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0743241509/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-7633693-2999306#reader-link