MCAT Prep Books

[cocimonster115]

So I am really confused,

Considering the large (or what I think is large) volume of students that take the MCAT every year it is surprising that a search on Amazon or Google for MCAT test prep books turns up search results where big names in test prep (i.e. Princeton Review) are not even sold directly from Amazon but through individual sellers, and not very many at that. There may be only about 5 reviews for one product which is not helpful in seeing a whollistic rating system. And what's weirder is that of the hordes of people I know that are taking the MCAT, or stressing about it, why is the selling of MCAT test prep books online so scattered (and i mean on large online bookstores, not these forums).

Is it just me or is anyone seeing this too??

So in light of my confusion I have been searching this forum, and right now I've not found cohesive information on what prep books are better than others. What are the differences between the books, and more importantly where is best to buy *brand new!!* and up-to-date books.

As far as I see there is one thing that shares the most consensus and that is purchasing the Exam Krackers 1001 series. Other than that I am at a lost.

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[fullset]

The Berkeley Review books are probably the best in terms of practice and content. They have a lot of passage based questions that mimic AAMC. Unfortunately, the only good way to buy them is on their website: berkeley-review.com. You can't order online, and you have to mail in an order form, and it takes a little while to actually get them.

 

[NYR56]

I'm not sure which Amazon you're using but I bought the EK package directly from them. A quick search also turned up both Kaplan and TPR.

 

[SN2ed]

Biology: 1. EK Bio (for content) + BR Bio (for passages and further topic depth if needed) 2. TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Extra Practice Material: 1. TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook + TPR Hyperlearing Science Workbook, good source of practice passages 1. AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT Exam (most representative material available) 2. EK 1001 series, helps nail down basics

 

[cocimonster115]

Okay, so I know the amazon search brings up results, but the thing is when I look for Princeton Review's official lineup of their test prep books for MCAT, i can't seem to find it. I checked on their website and all I could find was a Hyperlearning course that the offered. So what is the original price for these books?

Are these books usually sold at borders or barnes and noble??

Also, I have very detailed notes from outlining my textbooks for my prerequisite classes (gen chem, gen physics, etc.) is the Berkley Review going to be unnecessarily detailed or is it just the right amount of review (i know that the ExamKrackers is definitely more concise)?

And also based on preference is BR better than TPR Hyperlearning ??
Sorry for the excessive amount of questions - I'm new to anything MCAT right now

 

[cocimonster115]

Please ignore the first part of the last post. I just realized that TPR hyperlearning is not a series of books as they are course materials, hence why they are not sold directly by amazon.

 

[SN2ed]

These are the links I use in my schedule:

To buy the AAMC FLs: http://www.e-mcat.com/

Bare Minimum Set-up:

$245 for AAMC FLs (http://www.e-mcat.com/)

$240 for BR Physics, O-chem, Gen Chem, Biology (http://www.berkeley-review.com/TBR/home-study.html)

$26 for EK Verbal 101 (http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243226173&sr=8-2)

$30 EK Bio (http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243226173&sr=8-9)

Prices vary on TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook, search the For Sale forum on here for copies. They regularly show up.

Total = $541 + TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook


Set-up with EK 1001:

$18 EK Physics 1001 (http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253483527&sr=1-4)

$20 EK O-Chem 1001 (http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253483527&sr=1-2)

$19 EK Chem 1001 (http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253483527&sr=1-3)

Total = $598 + TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook

 

[garymartin]

Amazon site is known for the MCAT Books. A lot of MCAT books are displayed in the Amazon site. Just visit that site and read the content and choose best MCAT Book.