Very bad with orgo and general chemistry. Which prep books are best?

[R35]

I'm great with physics, fairly good with biochemistry, and horrid with general/organic chemistry. So, which books are best for the chemistry?

(Also, which book is best for biochemistry? I'm alright with it, but I think I could be better.)

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[Happy_Puppy5000]

R35:

There is really no one size fit all. However, the Berkeley Review seems to have done an excellent job on both Chemistry subject. Nonetheless, if you read the 509+ thread you will notice that many people did well with Kaplan, some with EK and others with TPR. Since, Kaplan and TPR are readily available at your local Barnes and Nobles, I suggest you swing by maybe this weekend and spend an hour or two with both company's book and see which feels right for your purpose.

Having said all of that I would really go with the Berkeley Review General and Organic Chemistry. For one, they both contain a "ton" of practice problems with excellent explanations, which may be far more valuable than just content review. So spend a few hours at your local Barnes and Noble (good public or private library), go through Kaplan and the Princeton Review, see if you like either best. But at the end of the day I highly recommend Berkeley Review for both Chemistry. Best of luck.


P.S.
Biochemistry seems to be an area that Kaplan have done a fairly decent job with their book. However, be sure to supplement with a lot of practice questions and passage (Khan Academy has some free passages.)

 

[bisonbison]

I liked Kaplan a lot, but have no experience with any of the other book sets.

 

[R35]

Thanks, I'll give TBR a look over first.

 

[ownthesky]

I like TPR because they have a TON of examples and practice problems to work through as you study, whereas Kaplan typically reads more like a classic textbook with practice problems at the end - their "concept checks" review your understanding of topics, but doesn't really give you hands-on practice.