Must Have Books for Self-Study

[iPremed]

Hey!

I am currently a sophomore and I plan on self studying for the MCATS over the summer (abroad). I will take a Kaplan course during the fall if necessary.

Questions

1. I was wondering if you could list the most important books that should be used to prepare for each section. I don't want to carry too many books abroad. (I would appreciate it if you could first list all the books I should get to prepare and then single out the ones I should take with me)

2. Would you get new books or just buy used from amazon?

3. Should I get the complete ExamKrackers books? Or are only a couple of them good? TPR? Should I not get Kaplan books if I plan on taking the course?

4. What would be a good schedule to follow? 2-3 hours/day for most of the summer enough?

5. Should I just focus on content review over the summer and then start taking tests during my junior year?

6. Do the books have enough passages to practice with or should I buy some full length exams before I leave?

7. Did you all take detailed notes while studying?

Thanks!!

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[darshan22030]

I would say that you should probably take ONE diagnostic, if you have not done so already, in order to get an idea of what type of test the MCAT is.

Next choose TWO of the four sciences on the MCAT, depending on which classes you have already taken. so, if you have taken 1 yr. Bio and 1 yr. Chem, then choose those. Take EK Bio & Chem with you ONLY (don't try to take too many books) and take a textbook for each, just in case you need to reference back.

As for schedule, if you can discipline yourself to study 2-3 hrs every single day (maybe take a break on one or two days of the week, after all, you are going abroad), that will be very beneficial.

I am not sure how comfortable you are with verbal, but often, when people start studying for MCAT 2-3 months before the test day, they realize that verbal is not their thing and then have to "cram" for verbal by taking tons of practice tests. I would suggest that if you have the time, get in the habit of reading consistently. So, if you read every single day for 1 hour, and there are no breaks on this one, that would be good.

Also, you should read medicine related books like those by Atul Gawande or for that matter bios of great doctors like Harvey Cushing. Get in the habit of reading diverse material.

 

[kwokkit]

Here you go.

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.

 

[BlueElmo]

Must needed for self-study: all the EK books.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I recommend EK verbal 101 and NOVA physics. Not so sure about the other stuff.

 

[0Complications]

Hey!

I am currently a sophomore and I plan on self studying for the MCATS over the summer (abroad). I will take a Kaplan course during the fall if necessary.

Questions

1. I was wondering if you could list the most important books that should be used to prepare for each section. I don't want to carry too many books abroad. (I would appreciate it if you could first list all the books I should get to prepare and then single out the ones I should take with me)

2. Would you get new books or just buy used from amazon?

3. Should I get the complete ExamKrackers books? Or are only a couple of them good? TPR? Should I not get Kaplan books if I plan on taking the course?

4. What would be a good schedule to follow? 2-3 hours/day for most of the summer enough?

5. Should I just focus on content review over the summer and then start taking tests during my junior year?

6. Do the books have enough passages to practice with or should I buy some full length exams before I leave?

7. Did you all take detailed notes while studying?

Thanks!!

If I were you and I was going abroad to study, I would spend most of my time enjoying my new surroundings. That said, if you are determined to study I would say to go with the referenced list above quoted from Boondocks (I think it was actually posted by SN2ed though).

I will give my 2 cents on Nova physics, it's good, but if you're not strong in physics definitely go with BR over Nova. Nova seems to go from 0 to 100 mph in about half a page, so you still need some fundamentals.

I don't think you bog down your travel bag to have one of each of these books. Just carry them in a backpack on the plane.

I also think one thing that might be nice while abroad would be to read some literature classics that might pertain to the area you're in. This will help you with your verbal and give you a better feel for the area you're located and some of the culture there.

Above anything else, enjoy your trip! Don't waste it all studying, you could do that here!

 

[SN2ed]

0Complications: Nope, it was posted by that user. I was gone for most of the day so I missed it.

I agree with 0Complications, if you're studying aboard, the last thing you should be doing is studying for the MCATs. The whole point of studying aboard is the experience of being someplace new.

 

[iPremed]

I'm actually not studying abroad..i'm volunteering/researching...so except for being distracted by relatives, I should have enough time to devote to the MCATS...i really don't have a choice..i have to study for them and maybe if I have enough done, I can plan on taking the exam January.

a tangent question: is it okay that I'm volunteering at my home country or would this just be looked at as a vacation? I really am going to volunteer and have a research project in mind..i plan on spending most of my day doing this...so does it count??

what is the most efficient method to studying for the exam?

should I take a diagnostic test and go from there?
should i focus on one subject a day and alternate or do a little bit of each 4-5 days/week??
should I work on passages more than conceptual? or perhaps focus just on the conception info during the summer and then take the tests in the fall??

Thanks!!

 

[iPremed]

bump

 

[kwokkit]

what is the most efficient method to studying for the exam?

should I take a diagnostic test and go from there?
should i focus on one subject a day and alternate or do a little bit of each 4-5 days/week??
should I work on passages more than conceptual? or perhaps focus just on the conception info during the summer and then take the tests in the fall??

Thanks!!

What is efficient for people varies from individual to individual. Check out how people studied in the 30+ MCAT thread, at the top of this forum. I agree with SN2ed (see above) about how diagnostic tests are virtually worthless. I think that you need to alternate between PS and BS topics, but I think you need to do some VR every day or as regularly as possible. I would personally integrate problems and related passages into my content review as I feel that consolidates material better than just doing pure content review (which is boring anyways), then moving on to practice problems, then moving on to timed FLs.