Kaplan Materials Enough

[stanford05]

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hey guys,

I have been looking over the kaplan materials in their science reviews, and they seem to give only the very basics. Do you guys think this is enough or should this be supplemented with other textbooks or review books? If so, in which areas do you think Kaplan is weak?

Thanks in advance.

 

[solid snake]

Originally posted by stanford05
hey guys,

I have been looking over the kaplan materials in their science reviews, and they seem to give only the very basics. Do you guys think this is enough or should this be supplemented with other textbooks or review books? If so, in which areas do you think Kaplan is weak?

Thanks in advance.

I also used EK. Kaplan bombards you with lots and lots of formulas for the Physics section, so I used EK to see what I need to know, but it doen't hurt to memorize the formulas. EK Physics is good. I thought all the review books were basic. But, I'm pretty sure other people will give you advice.

-solid snake

 

[lady bug]

Like solid snake, I also felt that Kaplan overwhelms you with lots of formulas and minutiae that you don't really need to know for the mcat. You'd be better off using your time only reviewing the little bit of basic science you need to know for the mcat and practicing passages. I really liked EK b/c it cut down on all the useless science and told you only what is relevant to the mcat.

 

[usmaple]

I third the EK recommendation. Kaplan is so tedious with extra information and small details that you will NEVER need to know for the actual test, while EK seems to give only the information that's needed, nothing more and nothing less.

Remember, these things are supposed to be overviews for material that you've already had in classes before. In the case of things that you've never had before at all (e.g. in my case my physics class skipped lens/mirror optics), NONE of these books is enough, and you should really go to a textbook. But that's only to pick up the loose ends - for everything else, just go with EK.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[Mudd]

Kaplan bombards you with the wrong minutiae. It isn't that it's a case of not enough, it's a case of the wrong approach to the material. Like everyone has said before, they try the "here are tons of formulae" approach, which isn't ideal. The test is conceptual.

I also agree that EK text is pretty good, especially physics. Where EK falls short is in passages. Their problems have an excessive number of trick questions. A few are good, as they make you think. It just seems that for having such tricky questions, their answer explanations are minimal and leave the reader with a sense of uncertainty.

You need a coctail of materials to be best prepared. For text, EK is very good. For passages, PR and BR are very good. For fusing concepts and showing you several ways a question can be asked and answered, BR is the way to go.

You'll be best served by getting something from everyone. Kaplan has good topical exams, but the rest of the stuff I have seen doesn't seem that great.

 

[tBw]

Don't forget that the MCAT is a 'different' kind of test. It's not just about what you know but about being able to apply it, so if the choice were between reading and memorizing extra minutae or working through extra problems then you should definitely do the latter. Kaplan is a little heavy on details I think but it would be better to do one thing thoroughly (eg Kaplan or EK0 plus lots of questions rather than doing BOTH Kaplan and EK and not any questions 🙂

 

[deez4life]

i didn't feel overwhelmed by kaplan's ps material... well maybe a bit on their optics review, but otherwise i thought it was pretty standard. i've only heard good things about the ek materials, so i'm not going to knock them, but kaplan is defintely manageable if you pace yourself. if you remember a lot of your physics and gen chem courses, then you probably know the formulas anyway. kaplan's notoriously hard ps sections on their tests only help reinforce the concepts, so when the real mcat comes around, it's a breath of fresh air. try ek or kaplan, but don't bog yourself down by doing both. good luck 😎