Textbooks vs. Review books

[abadri421]

After my experience of taking the August MCAT, I realized that some of the information on the exam wasnt in the review books. I went through the review books several times before the test and then I looked through them again after the test to confirm if the material on the test was in fact in the review books or not. It turned out that there was some information that i had seen on the test that was new to me and i didnt find them in the review books. The review books i am referring to is the examkrackers 5th edition review books.

So is it worth going through textbooks to study or not? I realized after taking the test that the most important tool you need to take the test is not your content(which of course is very important) but rather your critical thinking ability in relation to your content background. This may seem to most of you as an obvious statement and it was obvious to me also before taking the test. However after taking the test that obvious statement wasnt a reality in my preperation. I relied heavily on my content background and panicked when i saw new information that i had not come across in my studying.
So the question stands: should i prepare with my textbooks in conjunction with the review books??

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[shantster]

When I took the test, the only time I looked at my textbooks was when I was completely lost on a topic and needed the review or more examples gone through for me.

To make sure I didn't miss out on a topic that might not have been covered in the review books, I printed out the AAMC list of topics that appear on the test and reviewed things on there that I didn't see in the books.

 

[estairella]

Wikipedia is your friend.

Also, Examkrackers is condensed, as mentioned in this thread, there will be questions that you will simply have to guess on.

But I would say it's not worth it. The difference of 2-3 questions might bump you from a 43 to a 44, or a 44 to a 45, but for any of the other grades, it just won't make too much of a difference.

 

[DrBowtie]

Textbooks = Really Low Yield.
Review Book = Really High Yield.

 

[igotodavis]

might be a good idea to use a genetics textbook instead of just ek. or just take the class imo.

 

[Wrigleyville]

Never use textbooks unless you are totally confused on a topic. Hopefully you already know the content pretty well from your classwork, and you can spend time getting familiar with the format and bare-bones information you'll find in review books.

There is just too much crap to wade through in textbooks. Review books are the only way to go.

 

[Beau Geste]

I agree. Gen Chem is a little rusty, but EK will remind me of how to figure out problems. Kinda like riding a bicycle. And then practicing those problems helps me not to forget again.

 

[abadri421]

do u guys think doing practice problems from a physics or chemistry book will help for the mcats?

 

[xylem29]

Textbooks = Really Low Yield.
Review Book = Really High Yield.

Agreed - it's all about efficiency. MCAT specific review books are the way to go.

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

Textbooks are too thick to get what you need!

 

[bigserve99]

I disagree....textbooks are useful even as a primary source.

To do well on the MCAT you need to have an understanding of the underlying principles of the science as well as the plug and chug portions. Unfortunately, the prep courses, and their review books seem to give you an either/or, and it would seem never both. EK, for example, does an adequate job with the principles but does a pretty bad job with problem solving and more algorithmic portions of the science. Kaplan suffers from the opposite, explaining the detail somewhat effectively but completely lacking when it comes to the explanation of the pricniples (as in why? howcome? etc.). Most textbooks are inherently good at both. In the end you cannot get "something for nothing". You can consolidate and take your chances such as with review books. However, if you're willing to the expend the energy and effort, textbooks are the way to go!