Learn material from MCAT study guides?

[Van Chowder]

Helllllllllo! Im just wondering if anyone here has used MCAT review books ( Kaplan, EK, etc.) to teach oneself the necessary material for the MCAT? Im thinking about doing it for Physics and Organic Chemistry.

Thoughts?

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[JohnSnow]

Helllllllllo! Im just wondering if anyone here has used MCAT review books ( Kaplan, EK, etc.) to teach oneself the necessary material for the MCAT? Im thinking about doing it for Physics and Organic Chemistry.

Thoughts?

Have you even read through the threads? lol. Most people on here have used review books.

Kaplan, in general isn't viewed as the best resource for teaching yourself.

Most people are fans of The Berkeley Review (TBR) or The Princeton Review (TPR) but there is a strong preference for TBR for all the science subjects.

I used TBR & TPR to prepare. TBR's best book is General Chemistry. TBR Physics is good too although some people prefer NOVA. For O Chem I used TBR & TPR, I thought they were about the same in terms of content. I used TPR for biology, although some people like EK or TBR.

 

[kimicurtis]

Have you even read through the threads? lol. Most people on here have used review books.

Kaplan, in general isn't viewed as the best resource for teaching yourself.

Most people are fans of The Berkeley Review (TBR) or The Princeton Review (TPR) but there is a strong preference for TBR for all the science subjects.

I used TBR & TPR to prepare. TBR's best book is General Chemistry. TBR Physics is good too although some people prefer NOVA. For O Chem I used TBR & TPR, I thought they were about the same in terms of content. I used TPR for biology, although some people like EK or TBR.

I think this person may be referring to actually using the books to teach them self (i.e maybe, they didn't take these classes). Notice the OP didn't use the words study/review.

OP have you taken these courses?

 

[JohnSnow]

I think this person may be referring to actually using the books to teach them self (i.e maybe, they didn't take these classes). Notice the OP didn't use the words study/review.

OP have you taken these courses?

If that's the case then he should use TPR as it's probably the most in depth of all the series... but unless you're preparing to go to medical school overseas you're going to need to take the MCAT pre-reqs...

 

[Van Chowder]

I think this person may be referring to actually using the books to teach them self (i.e maybe, they didn't take these classes). Notice the OP didn't use the words study/review.

OP have you taken these courses?

I always find it funny how quick people are to burn people on here - ouch!.

I have not taken the courses yet. I go to NYU but have run into some financial-snafus when it comes to paying for college, so I wanted to get a head start on my learning and MCAT review books is how I want to do it.

Thank you so much for your responses!

 

[kimicurtis]

I always find it funny how quick people are to burn people on here - ouch!.

I have not taken the courses yet. I go to NYU but have run into some financial-snafus when it comes to paying for college, so I wanted to get a head start on my learning and MCAT review books is how I want to do it.

Thank you so much for your responses!

I really did not mean to burn you. I was trying to come of as rude at all. I apologize if it came of that way.

So, you are taking of a semester? or a year?

 

[Godric]

TBR all the way, no one covers detail like they do. They take the time to explain everything instead of just teaching you to memorize facts.

 

[colberag]

Helllllllllo! Im just wondering if anyone here has used MCAT review books ( Kaplan, EK, etc.) to teach oneself the necessary material for the MCAT? Im thinking about doing it for Physics and Organic Chemistry.

Thoughts?

I started studying for the MCAT without ever taking Physics II and also having been out of college for almost 3 years (so the last intro bio/chem/orgo class I had taken was 5 years prior). I had to teach myself all of physics 2 (electricity, magnetism, optics), and basically had to re-learn a lot of the other stuff, especially orgo.

I did not take a class, but I dedicated 2.5 months to studying primarily from ExamKrackers as my guideline for what is on the test, and using Princeton Review for more detailed learning needed for physics and orgo (and if I needed more help I went on the internet to a variety of sites).

So to answer your question - YES! I taught myself MCAT material for the first time exclusively from a review book, and I did well (35 - 12BS, 12PS, 11V)

 

[JohnSnow]

TBR all the way, no one covers detail like they do. They take the time to explain everything instead of just teaching you to memorize facts.

In some ways the review books a bit better than a standard college course because they're only teaching you what you need to know for the MCAT.

College courses, understandably, teach outside the scope of the MCAT, and while they cover most of the material that you're responsible for on the MCAT they will skip certain things and add in things that you don't need to know for the MCAT.

TBR is a really good series, in terms of overall quality, but I found TBR Physics to be very much a review material. I hadn't taken physics in years, pretty much had to teach myself from scratch, and TBR kept referencing topics they hadn't covered yet which just left me confused (especially in the early chapters). I also used TPR to supplement my physics study.

TBR General Chemistry is a godsend. I literally can't describe in words how good both books are cover-to-cover. They're worth way more than the $60 TBR charges for them and they're some of the best science books I've ever studied from.

TBR Organic Chemistry (I've got an older edition) was adequate. I don't think you would encounter any issues using it to self-teach. TPR does a really good job at starting you off with fundamentals of Organic Chemistry which can be helpful if you haven't taken it in ages, or haven't taken it recently.

I didn't use TBR Biology, used TPR, so I can't comment on it's quality. I thought TPR was plenty good though.

 

[valkener]

As others have said, TBR and EK are the "cookie cutter" and I recommend it. TBR for extensive reviews and lots of passages for practice. EK because they are concise and can tie things together for you when you get lost in TBR madness.

 

[kimicurtis]

I started studying for the MCAT without ever taking Physics II and also having been out of college for almost 3 years (so the last intro bio/chem/orgo class I had taken was 5 years prior). I had to teach myself all of physics 2 (electricity, magnetism, optics), and basically had to re-learn a lot of the other stuff, especially orgo.

I did not take a class, but I dedicated 2.5 months to studying primarily from ExamKrackers as my guideline for what is on the test, and using Princeton Review for more detailed learning needed for physics and orgo (and if I needed more help I went on the internet to a variety of sites).

So to answer your question - YES! I taught myself MCAT material for the first time exclusively from a review book, and I did well (35 - 12BS, 12PS, 11V)

Yay! congrats! I too will be taking it without physics 2 so i intend to intensely study physics.