Need help about MCAT

[pizzamaker]

Hi everyone! I am currently planning to take the MCAT this spring, and I am too poor to afford to enroll in one of those 2k MCAT courses. I know I will be in a gross disadvantage to those that take it, but I was just wondering to study for the MCAT and do well, what books should I get, what should i study for and what topics should i learn more about. Thanks guys

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[iA-MD2013]

Moved to MCAT forum.

 

[Live4Life]

Hi everyone! I am currently planning to take the MCAT this spring, and I am too poor to afford to enroll in one of those 2k MCAT courses. I know I will be in a gross disadvantage to those that take it, but I was just wondering to study for the MCAT and do well, what books should I get, what should i study for and what topics should i learn more about. Thanks guys

If you are financially disadvantaged, go talk to your local Kaplan and Princeton Review offices because they have discounts/scholarships that they award financially disadvantaged students.

 

[RySerr21]

Hi everyone! I am currently planning to take the MCAT this spring, and I am too poor to afford to enroll in one of those 2k MCAT courses. I know I will be in a gross disadvantage to those that take it, but I was just wondering to study for the MCAT and do well, what books should I get, what should i study for and what topics should i learn more about. Thanks guys

You arent at a gross disadvantage. If you study hard on your own, you will be fine. Trust me.

One of the resources you can use that is VERY helpful is the MCAT forum on this site. You can talk with other students who are going through the same thing you are. You can ask study questions, questions about books, practice tests, study habits, etc. etc. If you click on pre medical, you'll see the MCAT forum as one of your choices.

Just some brief suggestions of things to use for studying material. A lot of people use Exam Krackers review books, which Ive heard good things about, as well as the Exam Krackers 101 question books, which they have for each subject. Kaplan also has a review book, which I used. It has all the subjets in one giant book, along with practice questions and practice tests. No matter what review book you get, it will cover everything you need to know for the MCAT. Ive heard that EK sometimes goes in to too much detail, but it cant hurt to know more than you need to. Once you are finished reviewing your material and feel you are ready to start taking tests, take as many AAMC tests as possible. There is one that is free, but the others cost 35 dollars a piece. There 8 tests in total (one of which is free). These are said to be the best predictors for your real test score. You can take other practice tests, such as Kaplan, but these should be used more for just practice questions as opposed to using them to gauge your score.

Youll get in to a groove, and it will work out if you put in the time. That was kind of a lot in one post, and I grazed over some stuff, but if you have any other questions you can PM me. GL!

 

[cyclin M]

Hi everyone! I am currently planning to take the MCAT this spring, and I am too poor to afford to enroll in one of those 2k MCAT courses. I know I will be in a gross disadvantage to those that take it, but I was just wondering to study for the MCAT and do well, what books should I get, what should i study for and what topics should i learn more about. Thanks guys

If you can afford 100 dollars, get the exam krackers package.

Then use your school books or the internet to supplement parts that the book covers a little too thin for your liking.

If you have discipline you do not need a 2K course btw.

 

[SN2ed]

Don't worry. You are not in any way at a "gross disadvantage." What's your budget look like? Also, check your library to see if they have any MCAT prep books. Sometimes they do.

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.

 

[sarahl86]

I did better studying on my own than I ever did dropping $2000 on a Kaplan course. Get the ExamKracker series and do as many AAMC practice tests as you can. Study like its a full-time job and you'll be fine.

 

[pizzamaker]

Thanks guys. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me where to go to buy the ExamKracker series? I went to a bookstore and they had this elementary MCAT book which I purchased for 40 dollars

 

[SN2ed]

Amazon is your best bet or the EK store.