Sorry I jumped on the TBR bandwagon

[kgpremed11]

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Seriously. Im doing the equilibrium chapter of TBR chemistry right now and holy crap😡 all of this complex math is not needed. And please don't get me started on TBR bio and Ochem. This stuff is more confusing than helpful. I'll see If I can find the TPRH book for physical sciences. TBR physics is good though.

 

[MedWonk]

Seriously. Im doing the equilibrium chapter of TBR chemistry right now and holy crap😡 all of this complex math is not needed. And please don't get me started on TBR bio and Ochem. This stuff is more confusing than helpful. I'll see If I can find the TPRH book for physical sciences. TBR physics is good though.

I didn't think it was that bad. Most of the problems focused more on Le Chatelier's Principle, and a lot of times you could avoid doing calculations, and the majority of calculations you had to do weren't that difficult. Just estimate and use numbers that are easier to work with. You don't need to calculate an exact answer to get it right.

The only tough part for me in TBR OChem is getting used to IUPAC names and recognizing common molecules like acetone. The rest was easier than what I did in class.

TBR Bio is a *****, though. Physiology isn't so bad, but the Cell/Molecular Bio book can be crazy difficult. I crush biochem-related questions, then have to really push my brain when it comes to other questions.

I have no complaints about TBR Physics.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

I didn't think it was that bad. Most of the problems focused more on Le Chatelier's Principle, and a lot of times you could avoid doing calculations, and the majority of calculations you had to do weren't that difficult. Just estimate and use numbers that are easier to work with. You don't need to calculate an exact answer to get it right.

The only tough part for me in TBR OChem is getting used to IUPAC names and recognizing common molecules like acetone. The rest was easier than what I did in class.

TBR Bio is a *****, though. Physiology isn't so bad, but the Cell/Molecular Bio book can be crazy difficult. I crush biochem-related questions, then have to really push my brain when it comes to other questions.

I have no complaints about TBR Physics.

Everything you said are correct except for the equilibrium chapter, which I think went way overboard.

 

[Narmerguy]

I actually was surprised at the amount of math and calculation I had to do on my MCAT for the PS section. Don't underestimate that.

 

[gettheleadout]

"Don't just be ready be over-prepared."

- Hakeem Seriki

Worst case scenario you find the actual MCAT easy.

 

[Mehd School]

"Don't just be ready be over-prepared."

- Hakeem Seriki

Worst case scenario you find the actual MCAT easy.

Worst case scenario is getting bogged down in the frivalties that tbr presents and being greatly discouraged from passage scores, IMO.

Tbr is a gold nugget for a lot of people, but it isn't a magic arrow. Personally I wasn't a fan and have begun using other material with better success.

Diff'rent strokes.

 

[Narmerguy]

Worst case scenario is getting bogged down in the frivalties that tbr presents and being greatly discouraged from passage scores, IMO.

Tbr is a gold nugget for a lot of people, but it isn't a magic arrow. Personally I wasn't a fan and have begun using other material with better success.

Diff'rent strokes.

It's not for everyone, but from reading around there's not a lot of complaints about TBR chem or physics. It's mostly Bio and Organic that people feel went too far. Don't just see stuff that you don't like and then decide "well, this is TMI anyway." Try to read around and see what people who have taken the thing think about how TBR and other books prepared them.

 

[Mehd School]

It's not for everyone, but from reading around there's not a lot of complaints about TBR chem or physics. It's mostly Bio and Organic that people feel went too far. Don't just see stuff that you don't like and then decide "well, this is TMI anyway." Try to read around and see what people who have taken the thing think about how TBR and other books prepared them.

I slowly formed my opinion over the course of 2 months. I surely didn't let my preferences or emotion get in the way. I completely finished 7/8 books.

I did think that physics was ok, and gen chem was quite good. Bio was a joke, and orgo was ridiculous. The 50 page chapters not counting passages just felt largely unnecessary to me. To me, spending 6+ hours reading a single chapter seemed inefficient as I could read and annotate an EK chapter twice in three. The remaining 3+ hours could be spent on applying the knowledge to passages.

Again, to each their own. I have a friend that got a 39 using 100% tbr and an acquaintance that scored a 37 using 100% Kaplan. I hardly believe the content resource is that significant of a score factor.

 

[Mtrader]

Seriously. Im doing the equilibrium chapter of TBR chemistry right now and holy crap😡 all of this complex math is not needed. And please don't get me started on TBR bio and Ochem. This stuff is more confusing than helpful. I'll see If I can find the TPRH book for physical sciences. TBR physics is good though.

Agreed. The only things good about BR is SN2s schedual and tons of passages...ive finshed all of BR books one of the worst decisions ive made. They dont even have an index so good luck looking anything up.

BR CBTs the content is okay...but they dont auto score, they just check right or wrong wihtout tallying it up. The CBTs also dont annotate what part of the books you should go over if you missed a question like ALL other CBTs. Combine this with no index and you have yourself lots of wasted time.

The ordering process and "computer limit" for cbts are just sick jokes.

 

[gettheleadout]

Agreed. The only things good about BR is SN2s schedual and tons of passages...ive finshed all of BR books one of the worst decisions ive made. They dont even have an index so good luck looking anything up.

Honestly you guys kinda just sound bitter because you find TBR hard.

 

[mr chievous]

Honestly you guys kinda just sound bitter because you find TBR hard.

Nope, I find them quite easy (other than Bio) but still prefer TPR's Science Workbook over TBR's passages.

 

[random1234]

Nope, I find them quite easy (other than Bio) but still prefer TPR's Science Workbook over TBR's passages.

Are you kidding?! Bio is the easiest.

 

[Hemorrage]

BR is no doubt difficult but it's better to practice with harder questions so you can find real the MCAT questions easier

 

[HotHamH2O]

Unnecessary or not, the success that people have had with SN2ed's schedule utilizing mostly TBR does not lie. There is no doubt that there is a lot of material in TBR that would be provided in the passage and therefore some people deem it unnecessary, but, I always do substantially better on a passage that contains a concept that I already read about in TBR. I'll take my chances on having more information.

Even TBR bio, which is the bane of my existence, has proven useful because I have seen concepts pop up even in TPR passages that are only covered in TBR. As far as EK for bio, idk how any of you guys use that. It's about as vague as it comes and it's proven when you get to EK 1001 and see questions that are not even covered anywhere in the chapter you just read.

 

[TwinsFan]

The worst case scenario is that you completely adapt to the BR stuff and start over thinking your AAMCs and the real deal. If you have a tendency to do this keep it in check.

 

[MedWonk]

It's not for everyone, but from reading around there's not a lot of complaints about TBR chem or physics. It's mostly Bio and Organic that people feel went too far. Don't just see stuff that you don't like and then decide "well, this is TMI anyway." Try to read around and see what people who have taken the thing think about how TBR and other books prepared them.

I agree that Bio seems to be a bit too dense, but I feel like people who have trouble with TBR Orgo either didn't do so well in the Orgo class, or they took an Orgo class that was watered down and did a poor job of preparing them, because TBR Orgo is not that hard.

 

[Mehd School]

Honestly you guys kinda just sound bitter because you find TBR hard.

Who said anything about the difficulty? Length and depth is not equal to difficulty.

But go on, keep defending the books 'til your death.

 

[gettheleadout]

Who said anything about the difficulty? Length and depth is not equal to difficulty.

But go on, keep defending the books 'til your death.

Hard to learn from, hard to use as prep, most likely from lack of sufficient understanding of the concepts beforehand. Hard doesn't necessarily refer to the passages, though I would expect it to as well.

 

[gettheleadout]

Nobody else has to find TBR helpful just because I do, but suddenly everyone hates TBR and thinks the books other than Bio are too complicated? I think people are just frustrated with their prep and ignoring the fact that the MCAT doesn't have to give them simple or easy questions or passages.

 

[Mtrader]

Nobody else has to find TBR helpful just because I do, but suddenly everyone hates TBR and thinks the books other than Bio are too complicated? I think people are just frustrated with their prep and ignoring the fact that the MCAT doesn't have to give them simple or easy questions or passages.

Not haveing an index, not having auto grading CBT, not being able to order online, not being able to use more then 2 computers and having to wait weeks for books to arrive has nothing to do with the test or difficulty content.

It has everything to do with a company that cuts corners at the expence of their customers. The book has no index! WTF?! how does a book with such extensive content have no index?

 

[Hemorrage]

Not haveing an index, not having auto grading CBT, not being able to order online, not being able to use more then 2 computers and having to wait weeks for books to arrive has nothing to do with the test or difficulty content.

It has everything to do with a company that cuts corners at the expence of their customers. The book has no index! WTF?! how does a book with such extensive content have no index?

What are you talking about? The books are divided into sections which clearly state what each section covers

 

[gettheleadout]

Not haveing an index, not having auto grading CBT, not being able to order online, not being able to use more then 2 computers and having to wait weeks for books to arrive has nothing to do with the test or difficulty content.

It has everything to do with a company that cuts corners at the expence of their customers. The book has no index! WTF?! how does a book with such extensive content have no index?

I have no experience with their CBT's, but I received my books within a week of mailing the order form, and I don't live near Cali.

 

[Mtrader]

What are you talking about? The books are divided into sections which clearly state what each section covers

Thats not the type of index im talking about. im talking about the type of index they have in their physics books.

for example you come accross a problem in a CBT or some question and its in radians ...well oops i forgot what the heck a radian is. i go to the back of my BR physics book and in alphabetical order it tells me radians are discussed on pg79. Done.

You cannot do that with the other books. The whole point of index is to help if you dont know anything about the word but the word itself. if you dont know what that word means how will you know what section its in?

 

[kgpremed11]

I have no experience with their CBT's, but I received my books within a week of mailing the order form, and I don't live near Cali.

Ordering from them was not a big deal for me. I live in Mississippi and got my books within 10 days, but I only ordered the physics and chem books. Now, as someone who has taken the MCAT twice🙁, there are some chapters where the excess of material just isn't needed (equilib chapter). The bio section of the MCAT test reasoning ability so EK bio and ochem are good enough for content review of that section. I already have TBR books so ill keep using them, but honestly, getting behind schedule because of content review is not worth it. Your time is better spent taking a ton of practice test and reviewing. Also for sections like verbal you have to use deep introspection and think about WHY you missed an answer and identify flaws in your reasoning and thought processes. I know a lot of people here love TBR, but personally I think

1. tprh
2. tbr
3. kaplan=EK

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

I think TBR gets promoted on this site mainly due to the SN2ed movement and people kind of latched on to the "hype". You can learn the material from any resource. TBR is good and the passages are great, but you can get just as much practice with Kaplan online. It boils down to having confidence in your materials and understanding concepts. Not promoting or hating on TBR, for the record. Good luck to everyone in their studies!

 

[kgpremed11]

I think TBR gets promoted on this site mainly due to the SN2ed movement and people kind of latched on to the "hype". You can learn the material from any resource. TBR is good and the passages are great, but you can get just as much practice with Kaplan online. It boils down to having confidence in your materials and understanding concepts. Not promoting or hating on TBR, for the record. Good luck to everyone in their studies!

yep

 

[gettheleadout]

I think TBR gets promoted on this site mainly due to the SN2ed movement and people kind of latched on to the "hype". You can learn the material from any resource. TBR is good and the passages are great, but you can get just as much practice with Kaplan online. It boils down to having confidence in your materials and understanding concepts. Not promoting or hating on TBR, for the record. Good luck to everyone in their studies!

Much of SN2ed's reasoning in recommending TBR is their value based on $ per passage, especially considering you get passages and content all in one.

 

[cuculici1]

My main problem with TBR was that their answer explanations were just way too long, thus it took forever to review their questions. TPR Science Workbook probably has the perfect length in explaining the correct answers, with Examkrackers probably being a bit on the brief side. I used TBR for Orgo, Physics, and Gen Chem and in hindsight I kind of wish I just used TPR for everything because I find their review books a bit more enjoyable and easier to read. But to each his own.

 

[ToldYouSo]

I found the solubility section of TBR chem difficult but I'm glad I went over it. Orgo was overkill for my MCAT considering I remember only having a couple orgo questions, and bio prepared more for verbal than actual bio haha.

 

[phunky]

Bio is the only section I would agree with you on. Way too much detail. Most biology questions on the MCAT are very logic based. While Ochem is probably overkill as the MCAT reduces it's Ochem emphasis, it's really not very difficult stuff, and I'd rather over-prepare. If you took a rigorous Ochem course and did well in it, most MCAT Orgo should be second nature at this point. Physics and Gen Chem are really top notch. A few concepts I didn't understand when I took the classes were made brilliantly clear by TBR.