What is missing from Examkrackers?

[Dr Gerrard]

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I am not trying to find out whether or not it is sufficient preparation. If I do not understand something from there, I will read about it on my own.

However, I plan on only using EK, and I don't want something to be there that was not on the MCAT. For example, I heard that EK has nothing about solenoids (don't even know if this is true), but the MCAT does test solenoids.

 

[SN2ed]

The thing with EK is that you have to supplement it. EK, by itself, is fine for content review, but you barely have any MCAT style practice material. The only books they offer that provide a decent amount of practice is EK Verbal 101 and EK Bio 1001. You'll be severely lacking in the other subjects. I strongly suggest you supplement EK with some other books. Some good options here are Berkeley Review's books and/or TPR's hyperlearning workbooks. I'm pretty sure BR offers more practice material in their books, so I'd go with them. Plus, BR is better for content review in certain subjects. Furthermore, in order to score well, you MUST buy some good practice tests, such as, the AAMC practice tests. Should you be unable to afford everything, you should go with only BR or TPR's hyperlearning series along with AAMC's practice tests. There is FAR more to the MCAT than pure content review. The MCAT is mostly about drowning in practice problems. If one focused solely on content review for the MCAT, they would do poorly.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

So EK does not say something is not on the MCAT, or not go over anything, when in reality it is?

I just want to make sure that in terms of content review, the EK my sister already got me is fine.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

Oh, and I do have plenty of practice tests already. I have verbal 101, Kaplan FLs, AAMC FLs (although the latter two are of the older format), so I am not really worried about practice material. I am just worried about content.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

Anything I need to be aware of? I remember at one point people were talking about the solenoids not being in the book but being on the MCAT, and that got me scared.

 

[FuSoYa]

I went thru the entire EK series and I felt pretty well prepared. The only non-EK book I used was Nova's physics book, and they cover the same topics, but in different ways. I actually think EK covered a couple things that Nova didn't, can't remember exactly. But there was nothing new in Nova. Also, for O-chem, because they haven't updated their books yet, they still cover things like alkenes and other topics no longer being tested. In all my practices (AAMC and Gold Standard CBT's) I can't really remember seeing anything unanswerable due to missing study material.

Remember, the MCAT can always throw you an odd topic thru passage selection. So it may appear like un-studied material, but the idea is to integrate the passage info plus what you've studied in order to answer the questions. This is why practice is so vital to success.

 

[physics junkie]

I went thru the entire EK series and I felt pretty well prepared. The only non-EK book I used was Nova's physics book, and they cover the same topics, but in different ways. I actually think EK covered a couple things that Nova didn't, can't remember exactly. But there was nothing new in Nova. Also, for O-chem, because they haven't updated their books yet, they still cover things like alkenes and other topics no longer being tested. In all my practices (AAMC and Gold Standard CBT's) I can't really remember seeing anything unanswerable due to missing study material.

Remember, the MCAT can always throw you an odd topic thru passage selection. So it may appear like un-studied material, but the idea is to integrate the passage info plus what you've studied in order to answer the questions. This is why practice is so vital to success.

+1 on using Nova instead of EK physics. I don't know why you think the two had the same material though--EK was missing PLENTY of stuff in the physics section.

Overall I found EK general chemistry to be their strongest book, bio/o chem next, then physics.

 

[FuSoYa]

i never did a side-by-side comparison, but i dont remember learning anything new from Nova as far as content.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

Oh, and one last thing. Is it pretty true that EK covers all of what is required for the MCAT?

 

[ORELL]

Oh, and one last thing. Is it pretty true that EK covers all of what is required for the MCAT?

According to my experience EK was just not enough for the MCAT. i used the berkeley review and was very satisfied with it. i thought it was the best out there.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

According to my experience EK was just not enough for the MCAT. i used the berkeley review and was very satisfied with it. i thought it was the best out there.

what do you mean not enough? did it cover the concepts, but you just needed more understanding of them, or did it miss out on a whole bunch as well?

i needed it for review, not to learn everything over again, does that make a difference?

 

[FuSoYa]

what do you mean not enough? did it cover the concepts, but you just needed more understanding of them, or did it miss out on a whole bunch as well?

i needed it for review, not to learn everything over again, does that make a difference?

My feeling was that EK covered all the concepts you need to know. I just used non-EK material to help me better understand some of the more difficult concepts.

 

[SAEbrodel]

this is how I have felt thsus far, I have read and worked on the TPR material, but I feel i can grasp and retain the info better with EK, although I do find myself supplementing TPR every once in a while.

 

[hilary88]

I am looking at taking examkrackers to study for the MCAT and will have princeton review book from a friend if I need them. I've heard kaplan classes are better though because they teach you test taking strategies that you can't learn from the review books. Is this true?

 

[azrk]

I am looking at taking examkrackers to study for the MCAT and will have princeton review book from a friend if I need them. I've heard kaplan classes are better though because they teach you test taking strategies that you can't learn from the review books. Is this true?

There is nothing they can teach you that you cant learn or deduce yourself.

As far as EK goes I am studying from it now and I strongly suggest supplementing the material with a textbook if you dont understand the material well. I use google 😉 along with various textbooks in conjunction with EK.

Like many others have said EK is for those who just need to brush up on their material.

I really would like to purchase some BR books but it seems like such a hassle to order them. I really wish Amazon or BN sold them.

 

[kzhan11]

I'm using solely EK right now and doing all of the practice AAMC old version tests...

I use wikipedia a lot and oh, don't forget YOUTUBE! Youtube has some excellent animations for physiological stuff... I've noticed that if i watch a video on heart function before I read the chapter, it makes learning it 20 times quicker and easier...

just my 0.02$

 

[Red Leader]

I really hate EK physics. I made it through nearly 7 chapters and now it is like pulling teeth. The explanations in the back don't help much either. I feel like they are screwing with me.

 

[musafirah]

yeah i use wikipedia a lot 👍

 

[BlueAether]

Which one goes further in depth? I hear Kaplan gives deeper explanations, where as EK is more for just brushing up, refreshing your memory.

 

[a winner is you]

EK covers everything you need to know to score very very well. Supplement with practice exams of course.

 

[Tutmos]

Oddly there was a discrete Alkene question on my test in July.