Hi!! I just joined this site, so apologies if this question has already been answered. I was just wondering what is the best company to use to buy MCAT preparation books? I'm looking to start studying soon but I just wanted some advice about what books/study bundles I should get! Thanks!
MCAT Study Bundle/Books??
- Thread starter kinzlvr1
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TBR (The Berkeley Review) for sciences. Some supplement with the Kaplan biochemistry book but it’s not necessary.
TPR and the 100/300pg khan academy doc for psych/soc
Jack Westin, EK 101, NS108 for CARS
U world and AAMC for everything too
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If you ask a dozen people you will get a dozen answers.
Without getting too deep into the woods, AAMC and UWorld are gold standards. Find a book for review and find a book for learning. For me it was EK for reviewing the subjects and TPR for subjects I needed deeper relearning in. Khan Academy MCAT did not exist back in my day (oof I feel old) and they tend to be a great place to start if you are lost on a topic
Do your research and don't try and do too much. Being overresourced is almost as bad as being underresourced
Hope this helps,
David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors
Without getting too deep into the woods, AAMC and UWorld are gold standards. Find a book for review and find a book for learning. For me it was EK for reviewing the subjects and TPR for subjects I needed deeper relearning in. Khan Academy MCAT did not exist back in my day (oof I feel old) and they tend to be a great place to start if you are lost on a topic
Do your research and don't try and do too much. Being overresourced is almost as bad as being underresourced
Hope this helps,
David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors
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I found TPR (Princeton Review) to be really good for content review. It does get into more detail than strictly necessary, but personally I feel it's comprehensive enough to suffice as your only content review book if you're limited on funds. I used their big bundle with the content books and giant workbook containing practice passages and full exams.
AAMC material was my holy grail for practice when I was 1-2 months out from the test (all their stuff - full lengths, q packs, section banks). Why not do the most practice with stuff from the people who write the exam?
AAMC material was my holy grail for practice when I was 1-2 months out from the test (all their stuff - full lengths, q packs, section banks). Why not do the most practice with stuff from the people who write the exam?
Slow down a bit. First, what is your major, and current cumulative GPA? Message me privately if you don't want to give out that information here. The minimum coursework you need to take the MCAT are Physics I and II, General Chemistry I and II with lab, Organic Chemistry I and II with lab, General Biology I and II with lab, Biochemistry, and a course in statistics. You also need to have completed Psychology and Sociology to be prepared to study for the behavioral science section of the MCAT. Those are bare minimums. I would also suggest completing courses in Human Physiology, Genetics, and Microbiology BEFORE you begin studying for the MCAT. Most people take a light load the Spring of the Junior year to begin studying for the MCAT, so 12 hours is a good load to take if you are used to taking 15-18 credits per semester, which gives you time to study about 10 hours a week. The average study time for the MCAT is 400 hours, with a range of 300-500 hours. Some take MCAT prep courses as well, but I didn't. Most people take 10 full length practice exams before taking the MCAT, which are 8 hours per exams, so 80 hours of that 400 is taking exams. The CARS books you buy are 10% strategy and 90% CARS MCAT sections. Google and find recommended MCAT study schedules, because without a review class you need to structure your time, and those schedules will suggest spending 25% of each day or 2 hours per day working on CARS practice, so 25% of the 320 hours or 80 hours on CARS. Then most schedules will have you rotate thru each of the other sections of the MCAT on a weekly basis, so not 2 weeks of solid physics, 2 weeks of gen chem, 2 weeks of organic, etc. Instead, rotate thru on a scheduled basis and stay on track. 12 weeks is ideal.
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I agree with most of your points! But I will disagree on the first point about coursework. Taking all this coursework prior to the exam is helpful, sure, but I don't feel it's necessary/the "bare minimum" to do well. Especially in the case of statistics and psych/soc, which can be effectively self-studied to the level that MCAT requires, and Genetics/micro which aren't really necessary. I commend OP for thinking about taking the MCAT this early. I do agree with u though about taking a lighter course load, allowing lost of study time, etc.
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This is exactly what I found too. TBR is all you need for the sciences, but you need to get something else for P/S and CARS,
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I'd recommend getting TBR books right now and look at them concurrently while you're taking classes. Just skim the content and do some of the questions. I did this Winter and Spring quarters, before starting my hardcore review in the summer, and it helped ease the transition into full time studying. Just get their science books. They are incredible and with a little time to start them casually you'll be able to finish them faster when summer rolls around.
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deleted1001426
Probably an Unpopular opinion but I found the kaplan books to be perfect. Some people complain that theyInclude too much info that you’re unlikely to be tested on but as someone who comes from a nonstem background and only took roughly half of the prereqs before sitting for my mcat, the additional details were really helpful in forming a strong foundational knowledge base.
like everyone else I also strongly advise getting all of the aamc resources
like everyone else I also strongly advise getting all of the aamc resources
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@Ak09, It's not that they are bad, but there are many materials better than Kaplan. Reading text is not going to help you as much as you think. Other books spend more time working through realistic questions. What I loved about the combination I used (the one recommended in the 100-day SDN schedule) is that there were tons of practice passages. The explanations were so great that I focused on learning from those. I attribute my C/P and B/B (132 in each) to the books I used. According to my premed advisor's calculation (based on SAT, ACT, and grades in key classes) I was only supposed to get a 504. The SDN recommendation got me a 516.
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deleted1001426
I agree with most of what you said but this isn’t necessarily true. The psych/soc section is primarily interpretation of study results and regurgitation of memorized concepts. A quick pass through a prep book, repetition of that 300 page doc that’s floating around and practice passages are more than sufficient for this section for a lot of people and if I were OP I wouldn’t go out of my way to take soc or psych if it isn’t already a required course for their major
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deleted1001426
Obviously practice will yield higher returns than merely reading. Hence why almost everyone advised the aamc resources/ other private question banks or fls but that doesn’t change that ops initial question was regarding what company to purchase prep books from.
In regards to other companies offering higher quality materials I can’t really refute that as I only used kaplan and aamc but just from my subjective experience, my last few Kaplan fl averages were nearly identical to my actual score and I found their questions/passages (while sometimes more heavy on calculations than the actual test) were fairly similar to the real deal. Granted I’ve always been a fairly proficient standardized test taker so it’s possible that I would’ve had the same outcome regardless of what prep company I used as most of my time was spent learning the material from the courses I was yet to take
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The SDN 100-day plan has been proven to work time after time after time. It recommends TBR science books for a reason. I got a score well above what I was suppose to get because of them. So to address your comment about it being obvious to do problems, that is EXACTLY why the OP should use TBR over Kaplan. They have great review that is built around sample questions and you get something like 1000 passages and 6000 questions in their science books (it might be more). You get the review books and the "private question bank" you mentioned all in one. You get more from TBR books than Kaplan books and UWorld combined, and for less money. That is my point. Kaplan does a good job, but why not get the best you can use? There is a reason why the SDN study set has been so successful for many, many years. I personally am super glad I used Nymeria's plan.
Before I started my review, I looked at Reddit and SDN for about two weeks and kept a log of what people used who did well (510 to 516, where I was dreaming I could get) and who did poorly (below 500, where I feared I could end up). The 510 to 516 crowd had many different combos that worked, with the SDN plan being the biggest one. So based on that, it seemed that one was only slightly better than the other plans. But of the people who did poorly, not a single one did the SDN plan and the majority of the bad scores were people who used Kaplan. So based on both surveys, it was obvious that I needed the Nymeria/SDN plan, although I modified it slightly to fit my schedule.
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deleted1001426
I'm glad your 100 days with tbr worked for you and that you were able to outscore your advisers expected score (although if there is one thing ive learned from this site its that most advice offered by prehealth advisers is about as useful as that of your relatives who insist that you apply to school x because "my heart doctor went there and shes very nice"). Its also wonderful that your perusal of reddit led you to find a prep plan which fit your specific needs. I never said kaplan was the only way to find success on the mcat. All I did was offer my experiential advice based on what led me what I think 99% of people would consider a successful score despite limited time and starting at a pretty significant disadvantage in regards to prior knowledge.
In the end, some people do extensive research on what plan to follow and then use tbr for 100 days and others schedule their mcat then trade a friend a bottle of wine for access to remaining month of their aamc and kaplan subscriptions. There are millions of ways to find success on the mcat. Its up to OP to gauge their specific needs and choose which path is best for them.
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I love your post!
My advisor is pretty good, but it's next to impossible to make an appointment. It's some formula where you enter your SAT, ACT, and grades for your second quarter of General Chem, Organic, and Physics and then grades for molecular biology, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry. It compares it to what other people at our school have gotten on the MCAT and then tells you that you suck and should drop any dream of hope of becoming a doctor.
My advisor is pretty good, but it's next to impossible to make an appointment. It's some formula where you enter your SAT, ACT, and grades for your second quarter of General Chem, Organic, and Physics and then grades for molecular biology, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry. It compares it to what other people at our school have gotten on the MCAT and then tells you that you suck and should drop any dream of hope of becoming a doctor.
Tobirama
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I highly recommend using both Kaplan and TBR for all the sciences, supplementing the soc/psych with the 89 page KA doc, and UWorld for all topics. I got a 516 using this method, here's the general outline
- Kaplan | ochem, genchem, biochem, physics, bio, soc, psyche
- TBR | ochem, genchem, biochem, physics, bio, soc, psyche
- KA 89 page doc | psyche, soc
- UWorld | all practice questions and CARS
- AAMC all practice question sets, CARS, and all four practie exams
