** Official EK schedule/material users thread **

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Whether you're using the study schedule, just the books, or just the 1001 series, check in here. We can update each other on progress, and ask questions. I did my first practice MCAT today, and got a 24-25 depending on who you ask. I'm fairly satisfied.

Feel free to post anything here. Doesn't even have to be MCAT related :)

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Thanks moogy! I am going to go back to the verbal section tomorrow and try to dissect the questions I got wrong to find areas I can improve on for the next exam. I think I might sacrifice a couple of the EK 101 exams too so I can do one passage a night for a while. You are right though...things will get better with practice. Good luck to you with your studying :luck:
 
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im doing okay going through the books, but the physics 30-min are killing me, heres the breakdown so far:

translational motion: 9
force: 8
equilibrium, torque, energy: 7
momentum, machines, radioactive decay: 8
waves: 9

im so scared of PS, hows everyone else doing on these??
 
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Is any one using just the Osmosis CDs and just taking notes on it? Let me know if any one out there is doing that and then the 1001 subject books.
 
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check the EK web site if you are just using audio osmosis and not the books. They have a web page with all of the errors on the CD


FrogE7 said:
Is any one using just the Osmosis CDs and just taking notes on it? Let me know if any one out there is doing that and then the 1001 subject books.
Click to expand...
 
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Following the EK home study guide, I've found myself doing much better on the AAMC cold tests than on the EK 30 minute practice exams or the Verbal full lengths- are other people finding themselves in similar situations?
 
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Reimat said:
Following the EK home study guide, I've found myself doing much better on the AAMC cold tests than on the EK 30 minute practice exams or the Verbal full lengths- are other people finding themselves in similar situations?
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In verbal, yes, very much so. In the 30 min tests I got 9,9,8 and the first 101 Verbal test I got 11. AAMC 3R 12VR, AAMC 4R 14VR. The EK verbal stuff is so much more ambiguous; some of the answers seem to relied on very strained logic. Maybe the later AAMC exams are more like EK though.
 
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Hey everyone,

Hope your studying is progressing well. Could somebody post a link to the 10 week schedule? I'm taking the August MCAT and trying to plan out my studying time. Thanks.
 
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Is anyone else taking notes on lectures to be reviewed later? I am and its taking freeking forever to get through primary review. I still have Orgo and 2/3 of Bio left.

I guess I'll update my 30 min scores:

Verbal: 10, 10, 7
Chem: 13, 11, 10, 9, 12, 10, 12
Phys: 13, 11, 13, 10, 12, 11, 7, ?
Bio: 14

Was burned out of phys after lecture 7 so I'm holding off on doing lecture 8.

Also, for those of you with the 1001 series books: should I bother with those or try to do passage based review? I have the 1001 books for Phys, Chem and Bio (the 101 passages book) and also 10 kaplan full lengths. I'm debating whether to work the 1001 book for Phys and Chem, or just use the time to go through all 10 Kaplan physical science sections from the full lengths? The kaplan stuff is passage based and full-length, so presumably great practice prep for pacing and actual test like questions, but the EK 1001 books, though discreet, are a much better value--ie they make you *think* more conceptually than Kaplan and are a better way to exercise your understanding of the material.

Any suggestions?
 
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do both. on the EK 1001 do every third problem and at the end of each section there is usually a short passage that you use to answer 3-7 questions so do all of those.

Nice work on the 30 min exams.

As far as notes I only made a notebook for orgo and tried to condense the already condensed material for rapid review. I used both audio osmosis and their book.

junebuguf said:
Is anyone else taking notes on lectures to be reviewed later? I am and its taking freeking forever to get through primary review. I still have Orgo and 2/3 of Bio left.

I guess I'll update my 30 min scores:

Verbal: 10, 10, 7
Chem: 13, 11, 10, 9, 12, 10, 12
Phys: 13, 11, 13, 10, 12, 11, 7, ?
Bio: 14

Was burned out of phys after lecture 7 so I'm holding off on doing lecture 8.

Also, for those of you with the 1001 series books: should I bother with those or try to do passage based review? I have the 1001 books for Phys, Chem and Bio (the 101 passages book) and also 10 kaplan full lengths. I'm debating whether to work the 1001 book for Phys and Chem, or just use the time to go through all 10 Kaplan physical science sections from the full lengths? The kaplan stuff is passage based and full-length, so presumably great practice prep for pacing and actual test like questions, but the EK 1001 books, though discreet, are a much better value--ie they make you *think* more conceptually than Kaplan and are a better way to exercise your understanding of the material.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
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I'm taking notes and it does take forever, like 5hrs a chapter forever. but i find its the only way for me to remember things. also i find that when i write things down, i pick up more concepts that i missed when i was reading the lecture.

I think the EK books are helpful for teh lectures you scored the lowest in. but you already seem to be doing well, so they may not be that helpful to you. I really liked gen chem, i don't like physics as much.

i've taken parts of 2 kaplan test (9 R and 10R) and i don't think they are like real MCATs at all. The bio section was mostly reading. maybe 2 or 3 passages had graphs. From what I can remember, the AAMC 6R, 9 out of 10 bio passages have graphs. also i though kaplans PS is more based on math than on concepts. kaplan's topical test are challenging though.

from what i've seen TPR books are teh closest to AAMC MCAT style. See if you can get their ICC (in class compendum book) and their A-D practice test book.
 
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Finally took EK-1G
PS 8 BS 7 V7

On the verbal I got every(8 of them) question wrong on passage 2 which seemed to be an easy passage. I had to guess on 8th passage because I moved too slow during the first 4 passages.

PS and BS I am about 1/2 way done with review and still hope to finish all of my review before the month is over so I missed some pretty simple questions.

Next week I start doing AAMC exams I hope my verbal starts looks good on that.
 
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30 min in-class Organic Exams

Chapter 1: 6 pwned!!!
Chapter 2: 9
Chapter 3: 12

I got hosed on chapter 1 which I thought would be cake. I have to get used to passage based problems. Very discouraging.

Chapter 2: realizing a lot of the answers are actually in the damn passage like everyone said

Chapter 3: seemed a little easy and straight forward.

regarding the EK 1001 Physics:
I am going to tone down the time I spend on 1001 physics. Those damn calculations in the EK physics are a BIG time drain!!! I still recommend the book since half the problems are not heavy calculations and you have more access to problems to use on all the equations.


I have changed my study plan for the 37th time
-do a rapid review and finish ALL of the EK complete series in the next 5 days(18 days earlier than planned)
-go over Kaplan big book in 3 days
-concentrate on the passage based EK 1001 bio
-do all of the 30min in-class exams since I have only done the 3 orgo ones
-spend some quality time on reviewing my full lengths
-do what EK says for verbal(going back and doing question stem only,main idea,etc).

Hope to score at least a 27 on AAMC 5R saturday. Someone predidicted that those scoring 8's on EK 101 verbal should score well on this one. :luck:
 
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Peace of mind: It may have better explanations on some topics and may cover some topics not in EK.

I want to possibly do some passages from there, but I'm sick of non AAMC PS and BS passages.


nishi said:
stoleyerscrubz said:
-go over Kaplan big book in 3 days


hey, is there a reason why you are going to go through kaplan's book as well?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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We need a bump here. I still have a little Biology review left (i.e. the 1001 EK Biology questions), but am feeling pretty good about where I am with the EK package. My focus for the next 3 weeks will be completing as many practice exams as I can manage. I know others are finishing up the EK 10 week study plan. How's it going? Good luck. :luck:
 
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Hey I am fairley new here and I just have a few questions, mabye someone can help me out.

1.) I have the EK study package but I think it is the 4th edition (not) quite sure, the thing is I really did not get in to the studying like I wanted to and now mcat time is here again. I am going to take the test in aug. but I have seen there is a 5th edition, the question is should I buy this newer edition to study from???

2.) Where do can I get the EK study schedule from?

3.) What are these "test" that folks are reffering to? Are these test that are in the books or are these seperate that you hav eto buy from EK. Or are these AAMC test from the web site??

4.) How heplful are the 101 series, and do I have to buy them all seperately, is there anywhere that I can get them together?

Thanks all
Anne
 
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MeMyselfI said:
Does anyone have the updated EK home study schedule that includes EK 1001 Bio questions????
Click to expand...


just wanted to know also i'm new sorta kinda
 
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jtank said:
anyone doing a full length this saturday? im gonna do 5r.
Click to expand...


I'm right there with you. 5r this weekend too. My Plan is to take a full length every weekend until April 16. I can't wait till this is over though so I can have my weekends back again!
 
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jtank said:
anyone doing a full length this saturday? im gonna do 5r.
Click to expand...
Yes, I am doing 4r. 5r will be shortly thereafter...maybe mid next week.
 
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jtank said:
anyone doing a full length this saturday? im gonna do 5r.
Click to expand...
I was planning to do 5R this Sat, but someone argued in another thread it's better to do more recent tests first so you get better feedback about your weak points (i.e. if genetics is more emphasized on recent exams you don't want to wait until the week before the real thing to find that out). So I think I'll take AAMC 7.
 
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jrdnbenjamin said:
Although that link is broken, there is a working, up-to-date link to the current EK schedule a few posts back...it's on page 5...
Click to expand...
I think it might be a problem from your end. I just checked it and had no problem. :confused:
 
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jrdnbenjamin said:
Although that link is broken, there is a working, up-to-date link to the current EK schedule a few posts back...it's on page 5...
Click to expand...
Whoa. Wait a minute. You are right. I don't know what the problem is, but I have a copy if anyone wants to PM me to get it. Sorry about that! :D
 
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Yes, of course I'm right. There's an ellipsis in the link, because someone copied it improperly. Also IIRC that version doesn't have the 1001 stuff in it. As I said, there is a working link on page 5, but in case people are too stupid or lazy to find that, here it is again:
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jordanb/ek-schedule.doc
 
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How many ppl are on schedule and how many ppl are behind/ahead? I'm on schedule now, but I think I want to try and get about a week ahead so I have an extra week to re-review
 
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I revise my schedule every week so I am on schedule. That is the only way for me to feel comfortable that I have the BEST study plan.

I am going to take 6R this weekend.

I looked at my 101 Verbal RAW scores and they are all in the range of 40-46 for exams 1-7. I scored a 10(45 and 46 raw) two times and on the AAMC 5R I took last week I got a 42 raw score.

I am finishing all of my exams with about 2 minutes to spare. I look at my watch after EVERY passage to be sure that I am staying near 9min/passage.

The last EK exam I changed from the correct answer twice, changed to the correct answer once, and misbubbled once. I'm thinking what is seperating me from a 9 and a 10 is luck, silly mistakes, and confidence. I'm hoping that my brain matures and I can move my range upward a little.

Good luck all.
 
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I'm done with all the EK review chapters and am now working through some 30-minute chapter tests and the 101 Verbal tests. My goal is to finish the rest of the 30-minute tests ASAP and then in the next few weeks do all the verbal and biology passages, a lot of the 1001 o-chem questions (a weak spot for me) and some of the 1001 physics & g-chem Q's. And AAMC 7, 6R, & 5R.

I was working through the Mini-MCATs but I'm not sure if I'll keep doing them.
 
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misanne said:
Hey I am fairley new here and I just have a few questions, mabye someone can help me out.

1.) I have the EK study package but I think it is the 4th edition (not) quite sure, the thing is I really did not get in to the studying like I wanted to and now mcat time is here again. I am going to take the test in aug. but I have seen there is a 5th edition, the question is should I buy this newer edition to study from???

2.) Where do can I get the EK study schedule from?

3.) What are these "test" that folks are reffering to? Are these test that are in the books or are these seperate that you hav eto buy from EK. Or are these AAMC test from the web site??

4.) How heplful are the 101 series, and do I have to buy them all seperately, is there anywhere that I can get them together?

Thanks all
Anne
Click to expand...


just wondering if anyone had any suggestions
 
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jrdnbenjamin said:
I was planning to do 5R this Sat, but someone argued in another thread it's better to do more recent tests first so you get better feedback about your weak points (i.e. if genetics is more emphasized on recent exams you don't want to wait until the week before the real thing to find that out). So I think I'll take AAMC 7.
Click to expand...

i don't think you should take 7 until the week of the mcat. there's not that much of a difference between 5r, 6r, and 7. i think 5r will give u an accurate reading of ur weak/strong points.
 
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misanne said:
Hey I am fairley new here and I just have a few questions, mabye someone can help me out.
Click to expand...
Your questions have all been addressed in other posts and in this thread. It would be helpful to read some of those or at least the rest of this thread before posting questions.

misanne said:
1.) I have the EK study package but I think it is the 4th edition (not) quite sure, the thing is I really did not get in to the studying like I wanted to and now mcat time is here again. I am going to take the test in aug. but I have seen there is a 5th edition, the question is should I buy this newer edition to study from???
Click to expand...
Check other posts for this. I know there are a lot of errata fixed between the two editions.

misanne said:
2.) Where do can I get the EK study schedule from?
Click to expand...
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jordanb/ek-schedule.doc

misanne said:
3.) What are these "test" that folks are reffering to? Are these test that are in the books or are these seperate that you hav eto buy from EK. Or are these AAMC test from the web site??
Click to expand...
People talk about a lot of tests in this forum, including the actual administered MCAT, AAMC practice MCATs, full-length practice tests from EK, Kaplan, TRP, etc., chapter tests from EK books, topicals from prep companies...I can't answer about a reference someone's making unless you point it out specifically. There are short tests at the end of chapters in the EK books, also there are full length practice tests they sell separately and they have a book of 11 full length verbal tests (101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning).

misanne said:
4.) How heplful are the 101 series, and do I have to buy them all seperately, is there anywhere that I can get them together?
Click to expand...
I don't think you can buy them together. I got them from walmart.com, amazon.com and bn.com. The 101 Verbal is really good, I strongly recommend it. 1001 Biology is also passage based and looks good but I haven't started using it yet, but my guess is it's worth it. The other three 1001 books are not passage based and are said to be primarily useful if you have weaknesses in the science and want to work on particular areas.

Hope this helps. Good luck in your prep.
 
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I'm so behind on the schedule, I won't ever catch up. I may as well face the jury and realize that in April, it's gonna be the first shot, and it will be only for practice. I'll have to study this summer when I have more time on my hands and rock the August test. Sure is an expensive "practice" though :(
 
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Is everyone done with their EK 1001 BOOKS FOR CHEM/PHYS AND BIO?? i have just started doing chem, halfway done with phys and bio...i think it will bve a good way to practice the material from the books..where is everyone on their EK schedule?
 
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shuzee said:
Is everyone done with their EK 1001 BOOKS FOR CHEM/PHYS AND BIO?? i have just started doing chem, halfway done with phys and bio...i think it will bve a good way to practice the material from the books..where is everyone on their EK schedule?
Click to expand...

i'm having issues with 1001 physics
i get EVERY SINGLE QUESTION WRONG... u can tell i'm frustrated
i'm thinking i'm gonna switch to TPRs practice problems... or maybe kaplans...
is it just me???i just read the AC (alternating current) very short lecture and thought i understood it and got maybe 2 question correct out of 10. i wish they'd explain things better in the lecture book so that i can actually apply the info when it comes to doing problems :mad:
 
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nishi said:
i'm having issues with 1001 physics
i get EVERY SINGLE QUESTION WRONG... u can tell i'm frustrated
i'm thinking i'm gonna switch to TPRs practice problems... or maybe kaplans...
is it just me???i just read the AC (alternating current) very short lecture and thought i understood it and got maybe 2 question correct out of 10. i wish they'd explain things better in the lecture book so that i can actually apply the info when it comes to doing problems :mad:
Click to expand...

yea some of the questions in 1001 physics are so complicated and require so much calculation that they would never ask them on the real mcat.
 
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shuzee said:
Is everyone done with their EK 1001 BOOKS FOR CHEM/PHYS AND BIO?? i have just started doing chem, halfway done with phys and bio...i think it will bve a good way to practice the material from the books..where is everyone on their EK schedule?
Click to expand...

im done with the 1001 bio, i found it really helpful. im half done with 1001 chem and physics.
 
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Ok Score Update and some musings:

Verbal: 10, 10, 7
Chem: 13, 11, 10, 9, 12, 10, 12
Phys: 13, 11, 13, 10, 12, 11, 7, ?
Bio: 14, 9, 12, 12, 12, 7, 13, ?, ?

EK Verbal 101 Scores (for those of you who are also following along in the other thread): 10, 10, 10, 9

That GFR crap in the Lecture 6 Bio Exam killed me! They did a really poor job explaining that stuff...plus I felt burned out after doing 6 bio lectures in 5 days. I

I still havent taken a single full-length or even started reviewing Orgo!!! I am MASSIVELY SCREWED!!! I looked, merely looked, at 3r's verbal section and was unable to keep pace after 3 passages. I'm spazzing out right now. Gonna take 4r this Friday and probably EK's 1g on Sunday. I had hoped to complete 1001 Chem and Phys, and 101 Bio, but thats not gonna happen now.
 
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junebuguf said:
Ok Score Update and some musings:

Verbal: 10, 10, 7
Chem: 13, 11, 10, 9, 12, 10, 12
Phys: 13, 11, 13, 10, 12, 11, 7, ?
Bio: 14, 9, 12, 12, 12, 7, 13, ?, ?

EK Verbal 101 Scores (for those of you who are also following along in the other thread): 10, 10, 10, 9

That GFR crap in the Lecture 6 Bio Exam killed me! They did a really poor job explaining that stuff...plus I felt burned out after doing 6 bio lectures in 5 days. I

I still havent taken a single full-length or even started reviewing Orgo!!! I am MASSIVELY SCREWED!!! I looked, merely looked, at 3r's verbal section and was unable to keep pace after 3 passages. I'm spazzing out right now. Gonna take 4r this Friday and probably EK's 1g on Sunday. I had hoped to complete 1001 Chem and Phys, and 101 Bio, but thats not gonna happen now.
Click to expand...


well, with the scores ur getting on the 30-min, i wouldnt worry too much, except maybe for verbal...
 
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Hope everyone is hanging in there!!! Just think...this will all be over two weeks from today!

Good luck to everyone with their final two weeks of studying :luck: :luck: :luck:
 
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We should post our AAMC test scores in here as well. For comparison with our EK scores.

The only full-length I've taken so far is AAMC 7 on Friday. Have not reviewed any Orgo and thought I would do worst in Bio. Thought I was ok in Verbal and strong in Phys. So instead, I got...Verbal 10--though from the other thread it seems AAMC 7 has the toughest verbal section so I guess a 10 is good. Phys 11--Missed some optics questions because I havent reviewed EK Phys Lecture 8 yet. Bio 13--totally unexpected. I got more than half the orgo questions right and missed none of the Bio stuff. I thought it was really easy. I'm hoping that its not just AAMC 7.
 
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well here is what I did as far as full lengths went:
Diagnostic
AAMC 3R: P7 V9 B7

TPR online exam. They do not give scores from 1-15 but only show your percentage but it looked like I scored about a 7/8 on each section.

EK1g
P8 V7 B8

After 4 weeks of review
AAMC 5R: P8 V9 B8

EK Verbal 101 passages:
1:7
2:9
3:10
4:10
5:9
6:8
7:9



looking back at my scores I was not doing so bad when I took AAMC 5R March 19th but I saw people already scoring 27+ and it seemed everyone was done reviewing all of their material so got psyched out. The fact I was not done reviewing should have made me hang in there.

I'm taking the August MCAT. I just could not keep up with my orgo class and MCAT studying. I'll be taking history and some literature class in the summer so I should have more time to study. Good luck everyone.

Also cancelled my April 16th reservations at Peter Luger's
 
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