Which of these books would you use?

[Emh_omega-323]

Hey! I am just starting out scheduling my MCAT study plan for a late January test date. I'm self-studying and managed to second-hand purchase lots of books cheap. That said I can't actually read/note take all of them for content review while still keeping plenty of time for practice (I have UWorld and all AAMCAS material). Which would you use for content review among Kaplan, ExamKrackers, and Berkeley Review? Or are there certain topics I should do in one book over others?

So far Kaplan seems in-depth but I'm finding it a really dry read, EK is written with a bit more flair, but will I miss out on anything content-wise? For reference, I'm a post-bacc who has very recently taken these courses. Historically I've been very good at standardized tests and will hopefully be aiming high.

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[BerkReviewTeach]

It is definitely a case that some sources make better books for one subject than another, and the consensus is generally that the best books for chem and physics are by one company, while the best bio book are by another, biochem by another still, and CARS by yet another. Hopefully people will chime in as to what is best in each area. If you look at the great scores thread (511 and above), you can see what people have chosen.

I may be biased here, but given that BR is out of business, I'm hoping it will come across as not being self-serving.

The strength in selected BR books are the strategies associated with POE and answer choice analysis (ask around to know which books people rave about and which ones are considered birdcage liner--I will not say myself, but feedback at SDN is pretty clear). While I think they include useful text, students for years chose to skim the text portion and only did the embedded questions, before moving on to the passages (considered the best part of selected books).

Make sure to read through the answer explanations. as that will give you the test strategy and rehash material from the reading. Old BR books work quite well (and in some cases are essentially identical to the most current versions), so you are fine in terms of the editions you're using. Another advantage is that you can read about many of the questions in the books in the SDN Q&A section, and get great insights from other posters. Some questions may go back twenty-plus years and be numbered differently, but if you search SDN you will find most of them and be surprised to read great comments from some of the great posters of the last two decades.

 

[Happy_Puppy5000]

Be sure to focus a lot on practice questions/passages, especially since you just recently took the classes. That is, do not spend too much time on pure content review. As far as books:

Kaplan: great for Biochemistry content review.

Princeton Review: Their Physics and Biology books are pretty decent.

Nova: Great for physics. May be light on a few topics.

Berkeley Review: Tons of practice passages and questions. Simply the best for General Chemistry, Physics and Organic Chemistry.
The biology passages are good practice, however, content wise there are better options.


Khan Academy: Can be used for a lot, but especially good for Psychology/Sociology. Khan Academy videos and 300/86 page P/S document.

Best of luck my friend.

 

[jhmmd]

Hey! I am just starting out scheduling my MCAT study plan for a late January test date. I'm self-studying and managed to second-hand purchase lots of books cheap. That said I can't actually read/note take all of them for content review while still keeping plenty of time for practice (I have UWorld and all AAMCAS material). Which would you use for content review among Kaplan, ExamKrackers, and Berkeley Review? Or are there certain topics I should do in one book over others?

So far Kaplan seems in-depth but I'm finding it a really dry read, EK is written with a bit more flair, but will I miss out on anything content-wise? For reference, I'm a post-bacc who has very recently taken these courses. Historically I've been very good at standardized tests and will hopefully be aiming high.

1. Take a course. It's easier than studying on your own.
2. Kaplan is great for content review. Annotate EK with Kaplan.
3. Aim high no matter what.
4. Good luck

 

[LateBloomer111]

I may be biased here, but given that BR is out of business, I'm hoping it will come across as not being self-serving.

Does this mean that I can no longer order new TBR books from their website? Or does it apply only to their classroom programs?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The classroom course and online course have folded, and that was basically what TBR specialized in. Courses were their dominant product and students in their classes got astounding scores. When you read about TBR greatness on SDN, people are generally referring to the course they took. The courses are what folded, but TBR is still a book vendor.

The inventory of books they have on stock are still being sold through the website. In fact, that is the only place you can find new TBR books. Places like Amazon, SDN classified, FB classifieds, etc... only sell used books (albeit some are in great shape). If you log on to the TBR website, you'll notice a listing for courses in several different California cities, but live classes haven't happened since pre-COVID so those links can seem a little misleading. There is also a link for online classes, but again, that link is not a live link. When you click on them you'll get redirected to the book selling page that also offers a package deal.

If you opt to buy used TBR books, which I know are generally less than half the price of new books, then I'd strongly recommend you buy them from a student who actually took the class. A former student will be able to offer great insights into how to use them and what they couple well with. It all comes down to doing passages and getting realistic practice, so whatever you end up doing, make sure you doing thousands of questions and review how you get the best answer in the most timely fashion, be it from information in the passage or testing strategies you employ.

Good luck!