IvyHall MCAT Verbal Reasoning Passages Top 50: AAMC Based

[tennischamp822]

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This book seems to have good (but possibly fake) reviews on Amazon...

Has anyone on here used it?

 

[mzblue]

I write tons on review on amazon. I'm also in amazon's vine program and after all these years, i can spot fake reviews when i see them. I tend to see those with when it comes to the big companies, Eg: someone trashing kaplan books when they only have like one review to their names, someone trashing EK books and you look at their history and see all their reviews are geared towards trashing EK or someone doing the same to TPR and vice versa.

The reviews are not fake. I actually have both ivy hall books. i purchased the 50passage ones from their website because while i love amazon to death and get points for shopping there, it was cheaper at the publishers website. I used the blue book last year for about 2 weeks and it brought my verbal score up 2points. i'm sure i could've done better if i'd taken time follow the program dilligently. I looked through the 50passage book and it looks good. I spoke to an advisor at a school that uses it for the MCAT program and she was kind to explain why their program adopted it for the 2nd year.
The choice is yours.

 

[plzNOCarribbean]

I was wondering the same thing. I have used the EK verbal and of course, like everyone says, it is the best source for verbal practice but I need more.

Is the IVY hall a reliable source? is there anyone else who has bought and thinks its indicative of AAMC verbal? thanks. ( I also used the TPR verbal on both their tests and the actual classroom book, and it was OK.)

 

[mp595]

I write tons on review on amazon. I'm also in amazon's vine program and after all these years, i can spot fake reviews when i see them. I tend to see those with when it comes to the big companies, Eg: someone trashing kaplan books when they only have like one review to their names, someone trashing EK books and you look at their history and see all their reviews are geared towards trashing EK or someone doing the same to TPR and vice versa.

The reviews are not fake. I actually have both ivy hall books. i purchased the 50passage ones from their website because while i love amazon to death and get points for shopping there, it was cheaper at the publishers website. I used the blue book last year for about 2 weeks and it brought my verbal score up 2points. i'm sure i could've done better if i'd taken time follow the program dilligently. I looked through the 50passage book and it looks good. I spoke to an advisor at a school that uses it for the MCAT program and she was kind to explain why their program adopted it for the 2nd year.
The choice is yours.

hey, would you mind sharing how the two books are different? Does the blue book also contain practice passages? Is getting just the blue book be sufficient? Would you say both books are recommended in that one contains the strategy and the other has practice passages?

 

[mzblue]

the blue/purple book is more about reading comprehension. The new book is passages. 50 passages. One warm-up passage and 7 FL exams.

The first 3 chapters in the purple book i thought was useless. it goes over the mcat and verbal and other stuff you probably know about. However, it has other chapters that identifies the types of questions asked, It gives advice like the 3 point analyses, other chapters concerning reading comprehension, which i found very helpful because i had problems focusing. It goes over basic logic briefly. It also has the neurovisual program thingamajig. i only read the 2 pages on that part and then it has passages without questions to help you with different aspects of reading and comprehension. I wish i'd gone through those.

I can read but somehow, i read and don't know the main idea is among a host of other things. Plus i had other issues with reading so i found it helpful. I wish i'd put more time in it and practiced the stuff more.
If you don't have any problems with reading, then i'll say go ahead and just get the 50passages book. I wish it had 10 in stead of 7 full lengths.

 

[Got Em]

In my honest opinion, all 4 of the reviews are FAKE. 3 reviewers have only 1 review, which of course, is the Ivy Hall book. The other reviewer has 3 reviews total, in which 2 of them were completed on 10/2/10, and the other one (Ivy Hall) was completed on 10/3/10. He gave a few sentences for the other two books and a completely detailed one on Ivy Hall's. So yes....most likely all these reviews are fake. However, I may still try this and see how good or bad it is.

 

[mzblue]

If you think they're fake, don't buy it. There are several verbal books out there. Kaplan has their store book, princeton has their store book although you may be able to buy the hyperlearning verbal from someone who took the course, EK has a great verbal book, BR is also available.

I find your post logically flawed. I find it amusing when people on sdn trash stuff just because they're unfamiliar with it. sometime ago, there was a thread thrashing verbal virtuoso. I personally know someone who scored 5 twice on the MCAT verbal, used it and scored 11. He actually tried it as the last resort because he'd already tried everything else.

Why would you buy it when you think the reviews are fake?! Try something else then instead of throwing your money away at a book of dubious quality to you.

In my honest opinion, all 4 of the reviews are FAKE. 3 reviewers have only 1 review, which of course, is the Ivy Hall book. The other reviewer has 3 reviews total, in which 2 of them were completed on 10/2/10, and the other one (Ivy Hall) was completed on 10/3/10. He gave a few sentences for the other two books and a completely detailed one on Ivy Hall's. So yes....most likely all these reviews are fake. However, I may still try this and see how good or bad it is.

 

[Got Em]

If you think they're fake, don't buy it. There are several verbal books out there. Kaplan has their store book, princeton has their store book although you may be able to buy the hyperlearning verbal from someone who took the course, EK has a great verbal book, BR is also available.

I find your post logically flawed. I find it amusing when people on sdn trash stuff just because they're unfamiliar with it. sometime ago, there was a thread thrashing verbal virtuoso. I personally know someone who scored 5 twice on the MCAT verbal, used it and scored 11. He actually tried it as the last resort because he'd already tried everything else.

Why would you buy it when you think the reviews are fake?! Try something else then instead of throwing your money away at a book of dubious quality to you.

When did I trash Ivy Hall? Somebody asked if the reviews were fake and YOU said that you could tell when reviews are fake, but theses were not the usual ones. If you looked a little deeper, you would have known that these were probably fake.

As for my logic...let's see. I have EK and TPR, so I don't need those. Kaplan focuses too much on the details, so it's not a good representation. I have TBR as well, but the passages are longer than the ones on the real test and the questions are a lot easier. So, if I'm looking to buy another book, then I really don't have another good choice. It seems like nobody on SDN can give a full review on the passage book, so this is why I'm willing to try it and see for myself.

 

[CodeBlu]

When did I trash Ivy Hall? Somebody asked if the reviews were fake and YOU said that you could tell when reviews are fake, but theses were not the usual ones. If you looked a little deeper, you would have known that these were probably fake.

As for my logic...let's see. I have EK and TPR, so I don't need those. Kaplan focuses too much on the details, so it's not a good representation. I have TBR as well, but the passages are longer than the ones on the real test and the questions are a lot easier. So, if I'm looking to buy another book, then I really don't have another good choice. It seems like nobody on SDN can give a full review on the passage book, so this is why I'm willing to try it and see for myself.

I've been using this book for the past week. I will admit the book is no Examkrackers Verbal 101. However, it's something for you to practice out of. Regardless, the AAMC tests are the stuff you should be focusing on. Those actually come from the folks who write and administer the test, so they should be the best representation. People have been saying that verbal passages have been getting longer, and when I this summer I got an 11 in verbal and an 11 in bio and a crummy 8 in physics. (BR LOVE ALL THE WAY THIS TIME AROUND).

The passages on my exam this summer seemed a bit longer, but nonetheless, still doable.

Good luckkkkkkk

 

[HD Eva]

I have their reading comprehension book and it's really diluted. I can't tell you how many times they define what the main idea is through out the book. The margins are unbelievable, they are trying so hard to have as many pages as possible. Compared to TPR, which I own as well, this IvyHall book is useless.

But for the book you are referring to, I have no comment.

 

[CodeBlu]

I'm reviving this thread to highly suggest that everyone avoid purchasing the Ivyhall book.... it's INSANELY diluted and hard. Not reflective of the AAMC passages at all. Their answers and explanations make no sense most of the time. And the passages are beyond MCAT obscure.

Stick to EK1001 and TPR in my opinion.

 

[murfettie]

these ivyhall books.. so trash.

 

[CodeBlu]

these ivyhall books.. so trash.

No kidding. Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[drgioiadds]

No kidding. Couldn't have put it better myself.

I thought it was just me - I can score between 8 -10 on the AAMC exams and barely get one right in the ivey books.

 

[Ghayoour]

I bought this book hoping it can provide good practice. After doing the first 3 full exams (21 passages) I was scoring around 6. The passages are too hard and the questions are just ridiculous. I did TPRH and scored 8-10 and on kaplan around 9.

So in my opinion the book is too hard.