Prep Book for Retaker

[BloodySurgeon]

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SORRY I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE BACK MY ORIGINAL POST... got a little frustrated today and was trying to think of alternative study plans, but I am now clear minded. I have figured out a simple plan so I think I'll be cool. For those who still want to read my original post I will copy it down on a reply and you can view it if you like when you scroll down. I am going to go through the BR review books (just problems) for PS practice, Kaplan sections/Q-bank for BS and EK/Kaplan for verbal. I also got a free GS practice test and will see if its worth the money. Thanks for those who've responded thus far...

However, I would still like to hear other ppls opinion on redoing old material (i.e. verbal passages).

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[Mandek]

what prep books did you use before? did you use any of the EK books (review books) and Ek 1001s?

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I think with your limited time reading the Economist might be a waste of time. You need practice reading small excerpts and answering questions. Try some practice LSAT passages or something.

 

[Mandek]

I think with your limited time reading the Economist might be a waste of time. You need practice reading small excerpts and answering questions. Try some practice LSAT passages or something.

amwatts, what would you consider a "limited time"? In your opinion, would a year from the test date be a waste of time reading The Economist?

 

[BloodySurgeon]

I think with your limited time reading the Economist might be a waste of time. You need practice reading small excerpts and answering questions. Try some practice LSAT passages or something.

Are the LSAT passage helpful? I've heard that the passages are the same but with a more narrow scope of topics and it has different question types.

 

[iA-MD2013]

Are the LSAT passage helpful? I've heard that the passages are the same but with a more narrow scope of topics and it has different question types.

lsat passages are completely different! i would use those only as a last resort. can you get the tpr verbal workbook? i think its good (though i currently suck at verbal ). getting it may be a little difficult though.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Oh ya, forgot to mention that I have full access to TPR and Kaplan online material. However, I do not have any of the TPR books. I felt the the verbal for the Princeton review tests were extremely hard and much harder than I needed for the test. Kaplan, however, had a lot of verbal passages but were only ok. The aamc verbals were of course the best and the examkrackers were actually great practice for me to improve on. In all, AAMC-->good to give me an idea of what to expect (only later ones though), EK-->To improve my score, Kaplan-->To sustain my score and practice strategy. Of course, these were the only verbal practices I have used.

Also, for those who did not get it from my first post.... I only did EK 101 VR, none of the other EK books. I only did BR g-chem/physics and none of the other books. I have done TPR online diags and none of the books. I have done the classes + online material + tests of kaplan (almost everything).

Now, I was wondering if people could give me advice/details about the PR hyperlearning science workshop, newer vs. older version of EK VR, and Golden Standard Practice Tests. I have heard that the Golden Standard tests have crappy verbal practice and should be used only for the sciences. Then I had heard that the BS sux as well. I do not want to buy the tests if PS is the only good practice, especially since its the other two sections I want the practice on.

 

[prettyslick]

Oh ya, forgot to mention that I have full access to TPR and Kaplan online material. However, I do not have any of the TPR books. I felt the the verbal for the Princeton review tests were extremely hard and much harder than I needed for the test. Kaplan, however, had a lot of verbal passages but were only ok. The aamc verbals were of course the best and the examkrackers were actually great practice for me to improve on. In all, AAMC-->good to give me an idea of what to expect (only later ones though), EK-->To improve my score, Kaplan-->To sustain my score and practice strategy. Of course, these were the only verbal practices I have used.

Also, for those who did not get it from my first post.... I only did EK 101 VR, none of the other EK books. I only did BR g-chem/physics and none of the other books. I have done TPR online diags and none of the books. I have done the classes + online material + tests of kaplan (almost everything).

Now, I was wondering if people could give me advice/details about the PR hyperlearning science workshop, newer vs. older version of EK VR, and Golden Standard Practice Tests. I have heard that the Golden Standard tests have crappy verbal practice and should be used only for the sciences. Then I had heard that the BS sux as well. I do not want to buy the tests if PS is the only good practice, especially since its the other two sections I want the practice on.

Why don't you do the EK 101 passages all over again? I guess the main point of practicing for verbal is to acquire the thought process. I think doing the EK 101 passages and then looking at their explanations again should help you. Repetition works (alteast for me). I would do them once again!

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Why don't you do the EK 101 passages all over again? I guess the main point of practicing for verbal is to acquire the thought process. I think doing the EK 101 passages and then looking at their explanations again should help you. Repetition works (alteast for me). I would do them once again!

actually this is something I really want peoples opinion on... Is repeated work, good practice? I have been debating about this for a while. The problem is that some of the passages are somewhat fresh in my mind cuz I took the mcat in January. If so, I will have a lot of verbal material to go over and then my only problem will be bio. Should I do the same with old online tests?

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Ok. So I am going to list the content that I have already completed, then describe my weaknesses and strengths, then what I am doing at the moment, and finally explain what im trying to look for in my prepping. Hopefully, some of you can suggest a good prep book or practice tests that I can take for my second time around. [Edit] SCROLL DOWN FOR SHORT VERSION [/Edit]

Completed:
All the AAMC tests
All the Kaplan FLT
All but 2-3 of TPR Online Diag
A chunk of kaplan Q-bank for all sections
Most of the content on Kaplan Online material (still have a bunch of sections left)
Half of the passages on EK 101 VR (2002 edition)

Strengths
Both G-chem and O-chem (usually get none wrong on a test, but I still feel unprepared for o-chem b/c I didnt study as much and am relying on a good background on the subject)

Weakness
100% Verbal.... Been working on it for a very long time now. Before I took the test, I've noticed that I had a big improvement on reading the passages but I still had problems finding the answers quickly from the questions and start freaking out during the reasoning.

Writing- I am a pretty decent writer when I get the chance. The problem is, I have a huge problem writing when I am pressured for time. Without the luxury of time, I have difficulty writing coherent and structured essays. My writing style is usually very business-like, mid-to-low vocabulary with good supporting sentences (perfect for mcat). But when i take the test, I start thinking very abstractly and my sentences have very poor sentence structures. Luckily writing is not as important as the other other sections.

I am going to also post Physics in this sections too. My PS is pretty much carried through by my g-chem and although I score pretty high on PS, I still make careless mistakes on physics. I get tricked a lot and I always over analyze the physics and get the question wrong, even though my reasoning is correct.

Plan
Verbal- I think this section deserves the bold text. I will be finishing the EK 101 VR, Kaplan Sections, and then Kaplan Q-bank. Around 40 questions per day. Also, will read a few articles a day from The Economist (subscriber) until test day.

Physics & G.Chem- I have been using the BR books for these two. I have to admit, the review books were quite helpful and I will have to take back everything I said about them (at least only on these two subject ). Now, I only do the problem sets, b/c I feel my content on the PS is adaquent from the first mcat I took.

Bio- Kaplan Section tests and topicals.

What I'm looking For
1) I need some Full-length Tests that I haven't taken already. Somewhat of a problem too b/c i've taken so many already from the first mcat. I heard GS have some problems, but I may have no other option.

2) I need a book with a good set of bio and o-chem problems. Something similar to the BR problem sets for PS. I would do BR again, but I was told that their BS are not as good as their PS review. Also, I like paper-based problem sets, b/c i do more work that way. I use to score an average of 12 on the Biological Science section, but I still feel my bio content is weak. My reasoning is pretty strong for bio though. I am considering buying the Princeton Review hyperlearning science workbook, but I haven't heard much of it. Is it for PS & BS and are the bio problems good practice?

3) I need more verbal practice! I have the older EK VR book (2002 edition) and I was wondering if the newer version was any different. The EK was the single most helpful practice i had for my first mcat and I would like to continue it.


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Sorry for the long post. Now for the short version:

Strengths: Science. Weakness: Verbal. Second Time MCAT-taker. Average practice test: PS-13;VR-9;BS-12... but scored much lower on real thing. Need more resource, please help! Looking into TPR workbook and GS practice test.

 

[prettyslick]

actually this is something I really want peoples opinion on... Is repeated work, good practice? I have been debating about this for a while. The problem is that some of the passages are somewhat fresh in my mind cuz I took the mcat in January. If so, I will have a lot of verbal material to go over and then my only problem will be bio. Should I do the same with old online tests?

Here is what I think about "repeated" practice (IMO) - so take it with a grain of salt:

I think repeated practice especially on verbal is helpful as it reinforces the thought process. In order to do this, you should be reading the explanations thoroughly and see WHY you got each question RIGHT OR WRONG. This is extremely important, IMO. On the other hand, I would not use the same repeated practice for accurately predicting your "score" since some material will fresh in your mind or it will just look familiar. At the same time, I think it will help as repetition of explanations will make sense and you will learn about the 'thought process' in answering the questions for verbal section. Good luck!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I thought you had pretty much exhausted all the material out there, but if you still have MCAT material definitely use that instead of LSAT.

I am not to sure about repeated materials.

Limited time IMO is probably a few months, you are not going to significantly improve you VS by reading a magazine for a couple months. Verbal is something we have been practicing all our lifes and when studying for the MCAT you should focus on perfecting your technique through passages with questions.