Which test prep company has the best practice passages?

[AOT11]

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I am aware that everyone is obsessed with TBR. However, after doing a ton of research on this site, I was surprised to find that many people recommended TBR because of the amount of passages. What I mean is this: yes, it seems that TBR is very challenging and will prepare you, but if you compare 1 TBR passage vs. another test prep company, TBR wouldn't always win.

With that being said, I have made a poll for us 2013 test takers. The content isn't all that important, as I'm sure you all know. Let's make sure we use the best practice out there!

Please do not vote unless you have been exposed to more than one test prep company (for example, do not vote for TBR if you haven't seen princeton or kaplan's subject tests). I know this is very specific, but I think it will do us good to see people that have seen all 4.

I personally have all 4 at my fingertips and will voice my opinion as to what I believe is best after a few people have voted.

 

[Roxas]

This is a good idea for a poll, but it seems like it should be divided up according to subject. I haven't gone through any of these materials yet, but from what I've read it seems to be that TPR bio > TBR bio, and TBR is superior for gen chem/physics/orgo due to their increased difficulty. I'm not trying to answer or dismiss your poll, just saying that different companies could have better prep for different subjects. Also "best" is somewhat of an ambiguous term. "Best" could mean most like the real thing, or maybe not as much like the real thing, but prepared someone better because their passages were tougher, ect. Again, I'm not trying to troll or anything like that (I also think TBR is very over-hyped on this site) but this just seems like a difficult question to answer.

 

[AOT11]

This is a good idea for a poll, but it seems like it should be divided up according to subject. I haven't gone through any of these materials yet, but from what I've read it seems to be that TPR bio > TBR bio, and TBR is superior for gen chem/physics/orgo due to their increased difficulty. I'm not trying to answer or dismiss your poll, just saying that different companies could have better prep for different subjects. Also "best" is somewhat of an ambiguous term. "Best" could mean most like the real thing, or maybe not as much like the real thing, but prepared someone better because their passages were tougher, ect. Again, I'm not trying to troll or anything like that (I also think TBR is very over-hyped on this site) but this just seems like a difficult question to answer.

No, you're right. I completely agree. I also read that TBR Bio passages were pretty useless (they're difficult to understand and dense, but the questions ask too many content based questions).

 

[Gauss44]

EK 101 Verbal Reasoning has good passages.

 

[mcloaf]

TBR bio is absurd, but for the other three it should probably be your go to resource.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

If you're deadset on only using one prep company's materials, TPRH is probably the best way to go. However, if you want the best in everything then you need to look at multiple sources. IMO:

Bio - TPRH
Verbal - TPRH and EK101
Gen Chem - TBR
Orgo - TBR
Physics - TBR

 

[AOT11]

If you're deadset on only using one prep company's materials, TPRH is probably the best way to go. However, if you want the best in everything then you need to look at multiple sources. IMO:

Bio - TPRH
Verbal - TPRH and EK101
Gen Chem - TBR
Orgo - TBR
Physics - TBR

I heard the Kaplan tests were even harder than TBR for the PS. Is that not true?

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I heard the Kaplan tests were even harder than TBR for the PS. Is that not true?

I never took the TBR tests, but if you're talking about the passages in the books, then yes, the PS on the Kaplan FLs and section tests is way harder than TBR, and leagues beyond anything you'll find on the actual exam. I'd recommend it if you have access to it though. It may be ridiculously hard, but after you do the FLs and section tests even TBR will seem like a breeze in comparison. Hell, after doing Kaplan PS passages the AAMC FLs and the real MCAT's PS all seemed like a joke in comparison.

 

[Narmerguy]

Though this isn't a bad idea, understand that few people have enough experience to actually make a meaningful vote here. You're going to get answers from people who have only used one source or perhaps only two.