Kaplan Review Book--does it cover too much?

[Green912]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was comparing the material outlined in the AAMC "MCAT Student Manual" with the material covered in Kaplan's "2001 Comprehensive Review". It looks like Kaplan indulges in covering material not mentioned by the AAMC. Some of the unmentioned material include Alkynes and their reactions; Sublimation and Centrifugation of organic compounds (just to name a few). In contrast the 2001 "Betz" guide seems to follow AAMC almost to the letter.
Is this "extra" information worth spending time on (who has any to spare?), or is it safe to assume that if it's not mentioned by the AAMC it won't show up on the test.

Thanks,
Green

 

[DZT]

Hey Green,
I'm taking Kaplan as well, and boy that 900 pages of rote memorization is purgatory. I think that the AAMC really does expect you to know the extent of that Kaplan book and really loves to surprise you. Most of the time, the AAMC tests have only surface material on what is covered on the Kaplan books, but they sometimes delve deep and throw some really ludicrous curveballs. On the sciences, if you want something in the range of 9-11, I think that gaining a rather cursory understanding of the Kap materials will do. But if you're gunning for >11, then you really have to know everything in the books and do the Kap Tests right away.
I got a 26 on my diagnostic, and since statistically people score 4-5 points better on ther real thing, I think that comes to be a 30-31. At the time being, I'm happy to report that I'm getting 29 and 30's on the real thing and I have not really eyeballed the materials to such a great extent. Right now I'm studying like a maniac and hope to go up 3 or so more points by really getting into the material and understanding it beyond the formulas and mneumonics. I think that your goal should be not only to read it all, but really, really understand it all. Take care and good luck on the MCATs, Green. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />