Study Guide Books: a good way to learn material, or too time consuming?

[Buppy99]

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I'm a biology major, specializing in pre-med. I have been trying to find a good study guide. The books made by Schuams are of special interest, because many are designed specificaly for college level work and also recieve excellent reviews, on Amazon.com. The only thing that I am wondering about is if trying to learn from a book like this would be too time consuming.
One of the reviewers of the Schuams study guide for college chemistry wrote, "If you are looking for a brief review of a subject, you should look elsewhere. If you are taking a course in general chemistry and need a little help with some areas of it, you should look elsewhere--preferably, ask someone with a thorough grasp of the subject to explain those areas to you.
The Schaum's Outlines are best used as a self-study tool. Let's face it, reviewing an entire subject and solving all the problems to gain a solid grasp on the material is difficult and time-consuming, and I suspect few students already enrolled in a course will have the extra time to rehash what they've already been told by reading through a Schaum's Outline, and even fewer will want to go through so many problems--at least in my courses, the problems we are provided are too much to begin with."
So, does anyone know if this type of study guide is the best tool for learning, or if using a tutor or other source would probably be more helpful? Thank you!

 

[the duck]

I'm a pre-med major. Lately, I have been trying to find good study guide. The books made by Schuams are of special interest to me, because many are designed specificaly for college level work and also recieve excellent reviews, on Amazon.com. The only thing that I am wondering about is if trying to learn from a book like this would be too time consuming.
One of the reviewers of the Schuams study guide for college chemistry wrote, "If you are looking for a brief review of a subject, you should look elsewhere. If you are taking a course in general chemistry and need a little help with some areas of it, you should look elsewhere--preferably, ask someone with a thorough grasp of the subject to explain those areas to you.
The Schaum's Outlines are best used as a self-study tool. Let's face it, reviewing an entire subject and solving all the problems to gain a solid grasp on the material is difficult and time-consuming, and I suspect few students already enrolled in a course will have the extra time to rehash what they've already been told by reading through a Schaum's Outline, and even fewer will want to go through so many problems--at least in my courses, the problems we are provided are too much to begin with."
So, does anyone know if this type of study guide is the best tool for learning, or if using a tutor or other source would probably be more helpful? Thank you!

I've never used any review books like that. Personally I find just googling concepts I'm unsure about often helps, when that fails, it's probably best to fine a real live person who can help you. A review book seems like basically a waste of money, for fairly limited return.

but as I said, I've never actually tried using one, so other people may have a better prospective.

 

[Monocles]

It all depends on how much time you have left before you take the MCAT. I spaced out my studying fairly well and so I've been going through all the examkracker books since January of this year. If you have a couple of months left then there's nothing wrong with reading through an entire set of study books, but if you're taking the test in a few weeks then you might want to focus on your weak spots and do more practice problems.

 

[Silverfalcon]

First of all, you are most likely not a "pre-med major." If you are, then I suggest you to become a real major, like biology or English or music or something.

Second, I suggest you to consult study guides AFTER going through the notes. Do you take good notes? Do you do all the problems? Do you understand every diagram in the chapters? If the answer's no, you need to go back to the drawing board and learn the basics. Study guides are really what they are - study "guides." Pay attention in lecture and you will be able to do well for most cases (most since there's additional factor like labs..)

 

[northpenn]

Use the internet as your study guide to supplement your notes. Seriously, there are some great websites available for all of the intro science courses.