Oh man, is NOVA Physics THAT good? I was reading reviews for that mcat nova book

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alexfoleyc

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I was reading reviews for that mcat prep nova book for physics and one of the raters said that they did awful in both semesters of physics and basically had to relearn everything and apparently after reviewing this book that person did really well on the mcat. Does this seem true? What makes this book THAT good? Is like that for all subjects for nova series?
 
it's not like that for all subjects.

it's pretty good for physics. I think it's just good for building fundamentals though. It offers lengthy problem sets after each chapter for the purpose of solidifying understanding, but as far as mcat-style realism, you'd have to look elsewhere. still useful if you've got time and need to build some physics foundation.
 
it's not like that for all subjects.

it's pretty good for physics. I think it's just good for building fundamentals though. It offers lengthy problem sets after each chapter for the purpose of solidifying understanding, but as far as mcat-style realism, you'd have to look elsewhere. still useful if you've got time and need to build some physics foundation.

Yea, where can I find mcat style passages? Is kaplan good for that?
 
Bloody ell I'm off the ball today. I thought "passages" meant VR passages. EK doesn't have a lot of passage books. I used Kaplan for a few practice passages, but I didn't buy a book of passages or notice anything about them.
 
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Yea, where can I find mcat style passages? Is kaplan good for that?

The general consensus from SDN people who have used multiple books seems to be that Nova is a good review for physics and BR is a good source for passages and techniques for solving questions quickly. That combo is the best there is for physics.

You should do a search of "MCAT materials" and see what the threads say.
 
Nova physics is worth it. I used EK's physics book first, but felt much more comfortable after supplementing with Nova. I would also recommend EK 1001 questions book, there's no passages, but enough questions to get you ready for practice exams.
 
I used NOVA, I liked it. I think it's really good and builds things up from the basics which helps if it's been a while since your Physics class. I ended up getting a 12 in PS.

NOVA and BR are both good, but BR has a lot more practice passages. I guess it depends on how much time you have.. if you're on a tight schedule go with NOVA. But if you have more time do BR or both of them together.
 
BR's physics passages will help. The TPR Hyperlearning science workbook also has some passages that are decent (along with plenty of discretes).
 
BR's physics passages will help. The TPR Hyperlearning science workbook also has some passages that are decent (along with plenty of discretes).

This is how I studied: mixed and matched. TBR for PS, TPR & EK for VR, and TPR for BS. I enjoyed the wealth of passages TBR had, but if Nova is like how other people describe it on the board then that should suffice as well. IMHO if you need to resolidify your fundamentals in PS then TBR or Nova are good options, while if you are already strong in these areas TPR or Kaplan would be fine.
 
Nova is overrated. Their chapters on torque and fluid dynamics are poorly taught and have very difficult questions that are not representative of the mcat. also, the passages are not as helpful as you would think. i personally was unimpressed by nova.
 
Nova is overrated. Their chapters on torque and fluid dynamics are poorly taught and have very difficult questions that are not representative of the mcat. also, the passages are not as helpful as you would think. i personally was unimpressed by nova.

I'm with you on this, although I only looked at Nova a little.

It gets some good feedback here, so I checked out a couple chapters (translational motion and electric circuits). I really wasn't impressed. Their questions aren't very good. I'd recommend BR over Nova, because the passages, questions, and especially the explanations are so good. But there are definitely people here who liked Nova. The reading part is what people like, but I was more interested in extra questions.
 
I used Nova almost exclusively. This was after having to teach myself physics because it conflicted with other classes. I got a 14 on PS. I didn't use BR because I didn't have time to add in more prep books, but for me, Nova was basically all I needed. If I wanted practice beyond that book, I just went to my physics textbook for additional problems.
 
Nova is overrated. Their chapters on torque and fluid dynamics are poorly taught and have very difficult questions that are not representative of the mcat. also, the passages are not as helpful as you would think. i personally was unimpressed by nova.


I'm glad it wasn't just me. Fluids and torque made absolutely no sense to me. In fact, I had to look at a college physics text to get a better explanation. And some of the explanations to the answers seemed like they were done half-*ssed. There was also a question or two in which the algebra was wrong. Other then that, I thought the book had a lot of good practice problems. I don't have the cash to buy all of the Berkeley Review books. If I did I probably would have gotten BR physics instead.
 
I dont see how can a book bet "THAT" good...especially in physics...I mean come on you can only teach it so many ways lol..If you really want to learn it just get a text book.
 
lol... i actually looked through nova for a quick explanation on the doppler effect sunday and i didn't get it. TBR did a good job at making me get it to the point of being able to work problems but the real understanding came from going back to my text.

I dont see how can a book bet "THAT" good...especially in physics...I mean come on you can only teach it so many ways lol..If you really want to learn it just get a text book.
 
lol... i actually looked through nova for a quick explanation on the doppler effect sunday and i didn't get it. TBR did a good job at making me get it to the point of being able to work problems but the real understanding came from going back to my text.

I think that sums it up perfectly. BR did a great job at teaching me to solve questions quickly and pick right answers, but I don't think I ever got physics at a deeper level. I learned it just well enough to do well on a multiple choice test, but when I tried to help an undergrad in my lab with his homework, I was sort of lost. I know how to get a good PS score on the MCAT, but I have little beyond that.
 
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