The Berkeley Review Chemistry

[premedk]

I just got TBR Gen. Chem. book and I am a bit overwhelmed by the amount and detail of the material. For those who used these books for gen. chem. review, what kind of time line did you use, and how long did it take to get through the book. I took Chemistry a long time ago so I really don't know the material that well, and what to know it well enough for the MCAT.

Thanks.

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[Parthenon89]

I just got TBR Gen. Chem. book and I am a bit overwhelmed by the amount and detail of the material. For those who used these books for gen. chem. review, what kind of time line did you use, and how long did it take to get through the book. I took Chemistry a long time ago so I really don't know the material that well, and what to know it well enough for the MCAT.

Thanks.

it takes me at least a couple of hours to read each chapter, but then again, i take detailed notes during them.

as for the passages, i do the phase I passages about an hour after reading. I'll do one passage, review it and move on. I don't suggest you do the passages and then review them all...i did that in the beginning, its not as efficient as far as learning goes. If I make a mistake in passage 1..review it and learn from it..im better prepped for passage 2. Also, I found a many times that after doing all the passages..i really didn't feel like review them. But if I go one by one, I have no trouble reviewing them all.

So I really move at a rate of one chapter per day, but every 5 days or so I'll do the phase II passages

 

[alexfoleyc]

it takes me at least a couple of hours to read each chapter, but then again, i take detailed notes during them.

as for the passages, i do the phase I passages about an hour after reading. I'll do one passage, review it and move on. I don't suggest you do the passages and then review them all...i did that in the beginning, its not as efficient as far as learning goes. If I make a mistake in passage 1..review it and learn from it..im better prepped for passage 2. Also, I found a many times that after doing all the passages..i really didn't feel like review them. But if I go one by one, I have no trouble reviewing them all.

So I really move at a rate of one chapter per day, but every 5 days or so I'll do the phase II passages

Do the books assume that you already have a good understanding for chemistry? Because I was lost in both semesters of chem. I really need to hone my chem.

 

[Rayhaan]

A chapter a day, so 10 days if you did it straight chem only. I don't know how much more time you would need though if you have forgotten it all. I would never use an MCAT course book to teach you the stuff though. My first MCAT sitting I had not taken ANY orgo. I used the Kaplan books, and it didn't help. I ended up having no idea what to do when the orgo passages came up on the real thing, and I think that's what lowered my score.

 

[Don Draper]

it takes me at least a couple of hours to read each chapter, but then again, i take detailed notes during them.

as for the passages, i do the phase I passages about an hour after reading. I'll do one passage, review it and move on. I don't suggest you do the passages and then review them all...i did that in the beginning, its not as efficient as far as learning goes. If I make a mistake in passage 1..review it and learn from it..im better prepped for passage 2. Also, I found a many times that after doing all the passages..i really didn't feel like review them. But if I go one by one, I have no trouble reviewing them all.

So I really move at a rate of one chapter per day, but every 5 days or so I'll do the phase II passages

This is good advice.

I've moved at different paces, the most I've done is 4 lectures in a day with no passages, but this is only during the front load of content. After you've covered half the content you can start implementing lots of passages. I've always been a fan of spaced repetition, so I never do phase I passages on the same day, I like to do them 3-5 days later because I don't want my short term memory to be used in problem solving ever. Forcing recall is huge when you are studying under time constraints.

If my prep time was > 6 weeks I wouldn't worry as much about these types of strategies.

 

[Don Draper]

BR is conceptually strong and therefore LONG. You don't need to know 50% of the stuff in every chapter, but knowing it helps you in problem solving.

Some people are able to intuit the concepts from a more brief description than BR, they likely were very strong in the classes and have done lots of problems. If you are weak, BR is going to be better. But it is dense.

 

[ams83]

How long did it take you guys to do Ch. 2? Even though the material is still pretty basic chem, it's a longer chapter and so taking me longer to do it. Is it the same for the rest of you?

 

[fullset]

one chapter a day...read the chapter and then do passages one by one but according to the phases recommended by the author...thats what i did.

 

[sankara]

I just got TBR Gen. Chem. book and I am a bit overwhelmed by the amount and detail of the material. For those who used these books for gen. chem. review, what kind of time line did you use, and how long did it take to get through the book. I took Chemistry a long time ago so I really don't know the material that well, and what to know it well enough for the MCAT.

Thanks.

mmh I took gen chem a long time ago and received a low overall grade in the course. You're probably in better shape than I am but I really have to allow the material to sit for a while before tackling the passages. My approach, which I would only recommend to those with a poor science background and who have ample time before the MCAT, is do 3 chps. per wk and the following week, practice practice practice. Keep a log book of your errors and learn from them.

For chp. 1 has 30 pgs, chp 2 has 25 pgs. and chp 3 has 35 pg. I break up the content review of those 3 chps. over the wk so in total I do 18 pg. per day. The following wk, I do chp. 1,2 &3 practice question but am also going over the content of chp. 3, 4, and 5. With this method, you'll get through a section in 1 month. To not spend all of your study time on content review of just chem, do physics, VB and WS simultaneously. The following month do BS, VB and WS simultaneously. That being said, if you stay on schedule you will have completed a really thorough content review within 2 months. Hopefully, you still have 1-2 months to do some practice tests.

But honestly, to each their own!

 

[Parthenon89]

How long did it take you guys to do Ch. 2? Even though the material is still pretty basic chem, it's a longer chapter and so taking me longer to do it. Is it the same for the rest of you?

yeah that atomic theory chapter is a long bitch, i must admit it took me a while too. Majority of it comes off as 'simple', but the subtle nuances about atoms that you learn in that chapter do in fact help learn from the rest of the chapters. and you don't wanna be lazy about atomic theory, the stuff is relatively easy, so learn it damn well, its silly to lose points on a question that asks something on atomic theory.

 

[Don Draper]

How long did it take you guys to do Ch. 2? Even though the material is still pretty basic chem, it's a longer chapter and so taking me longer to do it. Is it the same for the rest of you?

No chapter ever took me more than 4 hrs, most chapters took me around 2 hours. I take semi-detailed notes though. If I didn't take notes my time would cut by 25% probably, but I would retain much less.

 

[ams83]

No chapter ever took me more than 4 hrs, most chapters took me around 2 hours. I take semi-detailed notes though. If I didn't take notes my time would cut by 25% probably, but I would retain much less.

Here is an example:

notes are good because you can review all the major concepts you didn't know pretty quickly.

Hey, thanks for the notes. The chapter took me about 3.5 hours, just because I try to take good notes so I can just review them later and since they are in my own words, it makes reviewing easier. But I don't see myself taking as much time on the later chapters.

 

[Don Draper]

Hey, thanks for the notes. The chapter took me about 3.5 hours, just because I try to take good notes so I can just review them later and since they are in my own words, it makes reviewing easier. But I don't see myself taking as much time on the later chapters.

My longest chapters were equilibrium/acid base/buffers, maybe gases (the ones that are calculation heavy). Probably because I take my time solving the problems and thoroughly understanding. I never did passages same day as lecture because I went over the chapter problems thoroughly

 

[jmpatt29]

Has anyone found errors in the BR books? I have found a couple conceptual mix-ups as well as spelling and grammar errors? I have the 2010 version so that may be why...