MCAT: What kind of review books would you recommend: Princeton Review or Kaplan.

[FuturesomMD]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello All,
I need to start studying and the preparation for the MCAT as soon as I finish this semester so that I can study the whole summer for the MCAT. Those of you who are studying for the MCAT or those who already took the exam, which books did you find very helpful.

 

[ksmi117]

Hello All,
I need to start studying and the preparation for the MCAT as soon as I finish this semester so that I can study the whole summer for the MCAT. Those of you who are studying for the MCAT or those who already took the exam, which books did you find very helpful.

I give TPR two thumbs up. 👍 👍 Lots of details that you don't need to know but lots of practice figure out stuff from reading like the passages.

But I've never looked at Kaplan, it could be just as good.

 

[SN2ed]

Originally Posted by TheBoondocks
This question gets asked like every three days. In short, EK series are stripped down with the basics you need to know. Get EK bio, it is by far the best for bio, all the responses on SDN say this. Know this book cold. If you don't believe me, type in EK bio in the search function. Personally, you learn the best from passages, If you have time and the cash I highly suggest purchasing Berkeley Review Gen Chem and Ochem. There physics is good too, but with PR it may be redundant. You will thank me later. You'll probably want EK biology review and EK 101 biology passages and EK verbal 101. PR is good, however, if you want to kill the MCAT you have to be able to integrate material. That's what BR does better than anyone else. Like, be able to answer questions if you see the circulatory system wired in parallel series.

bio - 1. EK bio and 101 bio passages 2. Kaplan 3. PR/BR however, these don't suck, they're just detailed which turns off many people.

Physics 1. BR/Nova 2. PR 3. Kaplan I really think BR but they're are a lot of people who swear by Nova on this site

Verbal 1. Ek verbal and 101 passages 2. PR 3. BR 4. Kaplan (read stay from)

Gen Chem 1. BR by far 2. PR 3. Kaplan/EK

O Chem 1. BR by far 2. toss up between Kaplan/PR/Ek

That is a general list of what i have read on SDN for the past 4 years, i came here and lurked throughout highschool. Good luck and hopefully this will help. EK is for people who KNOW the material and want review. If you are weak in something BR is the best since it's the most detailed and PR is detailed too, Kaplan is in the Middle, and EK is the least detailed but that doesn't mean it's bad. Just depends on the person. If you can I would buy the BR Chemistry books and Physics book. If you complete the PR science workbook along with BR passages and EK bio, you will kill the sciences. Ek Verbal should help you out with verbal.

 

[FuturesomMD]

Originally Posted by TheBoondocks
This question gets asked like every three days. In short, EK series are stripped down with the basics you need to know. Get EK bio, it is by far the best for bio, all the responses on SDN say this. Know this book cold. If you don't believe me, type in EK bio in the search function. Personally, you learn the best from passages, If you have time and the cash I highly suggest purchasing Berkeley Review Gen Chem and Ochem. There physics is good too, but with PR it may be redundant. You will thank me later. You'll probably want EK biology review and EK 101 biology passages and EK verbal 101. PR is good, however, if you want to kill the MCAT you have to be able to integrate material. That's what BR does better than anyone else. Like, be able to answer questions if you see the circulatory system wired in parallel series.

bio - 1. EK bio and 101 bio passages 2. Kaplan 3. PR/BR however, these don't suck, they're just detailed which turns off many people.

Physics 1. BR/Nova 2. PR 3. Kaplan I really think BR but they're are a lot of people who swear by Nova on this site

Verbal 1. Ek verbal and 101 passages 2. PR 3. BR 4. Kaplan (read stay from)

Gen Chem 1. BR by far 2. PR 3. Kaplan/EK

O Chem 1. BR by far 2. toss up between Kaplan/PR/Ek

That is a general list of what i have read on SDN for the past 4 years, i came here and lurked throughout highschool. Good luck and hopefully this will help. EK is for people who KNOW the material and want review. If you are weak in something BR is the best since it's the most detailed and PR is detailed too, Kaplan is in the Middle, and EK is the least detailed but that doesn't mean it's bad. Just depends on the person. If you can I would buy the BR Chemistry books and Physics book. If you complete the PR science workbook along with BR passages and EK bio, you will kill the sciences. Ek Verbal should help you out with verbal.

This is a very helpful info. Thanks for sharing it with us. I have one question. The Princeton Review-Do they have reviews for every subject like Chem, Bio, etc or they just condensed all subjects into one book. Can you please clarify it for me?
Thanks

 

[JasoniusUW]

This is a very helpful info. Thanks for sharing it with us. I have one question. The Princeton Review-Do they have reviews for every subject like Chem, Bio, etc or they just condensed all subjects into one book. Can you please clarify it for me?
Thanks

Depends, if you get the book from a bookstore its all condensed in one (these suck). If you take the course (1600) then you get books for every section of the MCAT plus practice materials. You can buy these books second hand from people though. That's what I did (100 bucks vs. 1600). I never go to class since I fall asleep and I learn better on my own. There's no point for me paying for the class.