Non-trad Torn between MCAT Prep materials...

[holyravioli]

I'm in a pickle and hoping someone can offer some insight asap. I have two potential offers for book sets for mcat studying:

Either the Princeton Review Hyperlearning science and verbal workbooks and the subjects books (no online course access), or all the books described in the SN2 3 month mcat schedule... I'm nervous to choose because I've heard really good things about both, but my wallet can't handle getting both. I'm a non-trad who graduated a few years ago, and these past 2 years I've been retaking classes as an informal post-bacc. I'd like something that will refresh me/teach me stuff I probably forgot, while also simulating test questions.

Thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[theparty]

i was a non-trad (currently 27 having just spent the last year doing a 1 year masters certificate), and really liked TBR books for physics/chem/orgo + EK for bio (the books in sn2ed). i did not find TBR passages very helpful, but got TPRH science workbook for $25 on this forum. in place of spending the money on the EK 1001's science books described in sn2ed (imho they're literally useless) i would buy that workbook instead.

 

[clairephillips]

Will you be getting the TPRH Verbal workbook either way? Without it, the SN2 isn't going to have enough good quality verbal. Can you afford to add Chad's videos to either one? Those are phenomenally helpful for those of us with extremely rusty science content knowledge. I took many of my prereqs more than a decade ago, so I find TPR's hand-holding style extremely helpful, but I have Chad's videos to raise my knowledge further. I LOVE TPRH Science workbook. It really gives you the chance to drill your knowledge but also trains you to look for information in the passages. TBR is overwhelming to me. It gives you great hints for quickly working problems, but also throws an overload of details at you, and the practice problems are super tough. For those of us that have low confidence to begin with, it can lead to real intimidation. That being said, it is extremely popular for many. Here's my schedule, if it helps:
1) Watch the Chad's video section that corresponds to a TPRH chapter. Then take the quiz that corresponds to that video on Chad's video. Do that until I get a 100% on the quiz. Then read the chapter in TPRH. After, I do 1/3 of the problems in TPRH science workbook corresponding to the chapter. Grade and postgame. I cover about a chapter a day.
2) After I finish that with every chapter, I will next start taking AAMC exams once a week. Between those, I'll be going through the TBR practice sections and EK 1001 and working problems corresponding to my weakest areas. I will also start doing 6-7 verbal passages every day, alternating the source they come from.

That being said, Chad's videos aren't the only source of great videos. People find wikipremed to be awesome, as well as Khan academy. The single most important thing you MUST have are the AAMC practice exams. Without them, you are aiming blindly.

I know I didn't answer your question totally, but it really depends on what way you learn best. That is entirely up to you.

 

[holyravioli]

Thanks so much for all the insight, much appreciated! Between these awesome tidbits and czarcasm's advice, I definitely think I'm going to go with tprh offer, which comes with the verbal workbook. Sounds like a solid resource, if I can, maybe I'll get some tbr science texts to supplement when I finish tprh. Thanks again!

 

[Strudel19]

I'm really liking the SN2ed set. I would highly recommended it. Good luck with everything!

 

[Mad Jack]

Fellow nontrad, did Sn2 books, scored well. TPR has nothing on the Sn2 set.

 

[holyravioli]

Strudel, are you a non-trad too? I'm working full time and I've seen the sn2ed mcat schedule (which looks amazing), but I don't have time so I would definitely have to tweak that if I ever followed it.

I heard tprh is great for not being overwhelming, while still being comprehensive. I'm kinda rusty with my pre-reqs so I'm looking for something like what I've heard is tprh. I heard tbr is a little overrated and dense...

Any tips for the sn2 books as a non-trad, Mad Jack?