Will Examkrackers texts be enough?

[unique135]

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I am studying from Examkrackers textbooks...Will this be enough to get 35+ or need to study other textbooks as well?

Thanks

 

[PRamos]

I am studying from Examkrackers textbooks...Will this be enough to get 35+ or need to study other textbooks as well?

Thanks

No it won't. You need passages. EK is excellent for verbal and biology, but lacking in chemistry, organic, and physics. You should supplement those areas with better books. There are a million and one threads on this, and SN2ed has the site list that I'm sure will be posted soon.

You might want to look at this thread.

 

[unique135]

No it won't. You need passages. EK is excellent for verbal and biology, but lacking in chemistry, organic, and physics. You should supplement those areas with better books. There are a million and one threads on this, and SN2ed has the site list that I'm sure will be posted soon.

You might want to look at this thread.

Crap, I just finished reviewing from all EK books and was wondering if I should read other texts or power up with exams.

 

[SN2ed]

As already stated, EK texts alone aren't enough, you need passages. Taking tons of timed practice passages is the most important part of MCAT prep.


Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Extra Practice Material: 1. TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook + TPR Hyperlearing Science Workbook, good source of practice passages 2. EK 1001 series, helps nail down basics

 

[NYR56]

I know I've read that a lot of people say that EK alone isn't enough but I'm going to disagree. I'm taking the MCAT on 1/29 so I haven't taken it yet but the two practice AAMC tests I took so far were 4 (12PS 10VR 13BS) and 8 (12PS 10VR 15BS). I was worried that my EK only strategy was going to leave me unprepared to hit the upper 30s based on this site but it clearly hasn't been the case for me.

To give you a little background, I'm a postbacc and I took Orgo 1 twice in undergrad, getting a D and B+ a few years ago. I took Orgo 2 a year ago and got an A, which definitely helped me to get a feel for the orgo on the MCAT. I took physics 6 years ago, AP chem 8 years ago and AP Bio 9 years ago (and some physiology in college). I love science but I certainly didn't remember a lot since it's been so long. I've exclusively used EK books and so far I have found that everything on the MCAT is covered by them. Every question I've gotten wrong on PS so far has been either careless or something that I just forgot but is definitely covered in EK. The EK questions themselves may cover subjects not very well covered by their own book but I don't think that has happened on the MCAT questions I've seen.

I'm just one person and I know a lot of people disagree but it also depends greatly on you. I would study with EK and once you are done, take a few MCATs and see how you do. If you are bad in any one particular section then you may want to look to supplement it with outside information but I definitely don't think you need to read an entire review book from someone else.

 

[unique135]

Reviewing multiple books, I believe, would cause more confusion. So for now, this is my plan. Let me know if I am making a grave mistake.

1. I will master from EK books and make sure I have covered all MCAT topics from AAMC study list and BR's top ten section goals.

2. Revise and Test with EK passages

3. Test with EK 1001 Questions (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

4. Practice with Kaplan passages (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

5. Practice with Nova passages (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

6. AAMC Complete exams

7. Revise EK books again

8. AAMC Complete exams

9. Relax

10. Give MCAT


Also, can anyone tell me which one of these (EK/NOVA/Kaplan) have most difficult passages?

Thanks

 

[SN2ed]

Also, can anyone tell me which one of these (EK/NOVA/Kaplan) have most difficult passages?

Thanks

None of those companies make particularly good passages in all subjects. EK is okay in Bio and good in verbal; Nova is only good in physics; and Kaplan is okay in the sciences, but doesn't really replicate the MCAT. Overall, I still think it's best to go with the top books in each category. Then again, that shouldn't be surprising considering the schedule I made.

 

[PRamos]

Reviewing multiple books, I believe, would cause more confusion. So for now, this is my plan. Let me know if I am making a grave mistake.

1. I will master from EK books and make sure I have covered all MCAT topics from AAMC study list and BR's top ten section goals.

2. Revise and Test with EK passages

3. Test with EK 1001 Questions (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

4. Practice with Kaplan passages (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

5. Practice with Nova passages (Learn from mistakes and if any new concepts)

6. AAMC Complete exams

7. Revise EK books again

8. AAMC Complete exams

9. Relax

10. Give MCAT


Also, can anyone tell me which one of these (EK/NOVA/Kaplan) have most difficult passages?

Thanks

Your timeline sounds good, but I think you are going to run out of passages unless you have a large Kaplan pool or you plan to use the ones in your BR books. EK doesn't have that many and the ones in Nova aren't all that great from what I hear.

Because you have all of the different books at your disposal (BR, EK, Kaplan, and Nova) so why not mix and match?

I tend to disagree with your comment that reviewing from multiple books would cause confusion. I think reviewing from a bad book would cause confusion. In college, you had a different author for your physics textbook, chemistry textbook, organic textbook, physiology textbook, biology textbook and so on. It wasn't confusing then, so I think you are making a tactical error to not use the best review book for each subject, especially when you already have them at your fingertips.

For my prep, I'm following SN2ed's list with a few variations based on what books I have available to me.

 

[surftheiop]

Im going EK and AAMC practice test only.

I made myself a 5 week study schedule and am taking test Jan 30, Ill let you know how it goes. Im shooting for 33 so not quite same score your after, but is in same ball park.

 

[unique135]

Im going EK and AAMC practice test only.

I made myself a 5 week study schedule and am taking test Jan 30, Ill let you know how it goes. Im shooting for 33 so not quite same score your after, but is in same ball park.

Thanks for letting me know. And Good Luck for your MCAT...you will get 35+....

 

[loik22]

As already stated, EK texts alone aren't enough, you need passages. Taking tons of timed practice passages is the most important part of MCAT prep.

For physics and Chem (PS) I found EK to be more than enough (books+1001's). I scored 14 on the real deal in the PS section. Understanding concepts is the name of the game, and MCAT is limited in physics or chemistry. Practice will help not wasting time, and maybe with one of these discrete questions you have seen during practice. Everything else is checking if you understand concepts or can do the math. I thought EK covered all the concepts I came across in AAMC's and real exams.

I am more reserved about the orgo, but I self taught myself orgo with EK in 2 weeks while having a full time job! I found the book too dense, but it may be nice review.

 

[BennieBlanco]

I am studying from Examkrackers textbooks...Will this be enough to get 35+ or need to study other textbooks as well?

Thanks

EK + lots of different prep company passages 👍 and FL👍

 

[Qwe55]

For physics and Chem (PS) I found EK to be more than enough (books+1001's). I scored 14 on the real deal in the PS section. Understanding concepts is the name of the game, and MCAT is limited in physics or chemistry. Practice will help not wasting time, and maybe with one of these discrete questions you have seen during practice. Everything else is checking if you understand concepts or can do the math. I thought EK covered all the concepts I came across in AAMC's and real exams.

I am more reserved about the orgo, but I self taught myself orgo with EK in 2 weeks while having a full time job! I found the book too dense, but it may be nice review.

What do you mean by self taught? Did you take orgo in college?

 

[njh219]

I'm doing EK and AAMC only.
So far I've gotten practice AAMC's as high as 37 with an average of ~34/35.

Aiming for at least a 34 come test day.
I've found that any question I missed on the AAMC (with the exception of like 5 across ~600 questions) was due to me not remembering something from the book or not understanding the question.
The only things I can't remember EK going over was
1. Partially filled D orbital causes color
2. AlF6 is octahedral (i think, still can't quite remember)
3. Light doesn't reflect off gases
4. Thermal versus kinetic control (too brief a mention to count).
5. I'm sure I'm missing one, but hard pressed to remember

 

[njh219]

I amend the above post; rereading through the books it turns out everything was covered; I just didn't read carefully enough.

 

[loik22]

What do you mean by self taught? Did you take orgo in college?

No, I had not taken orgo at the time. Since then I did, and my measly 2 weeks of self study gave me an appreciable head-start.

 

[watchntv]

As already stated, EK texts alone aren't enough, you need passages. Taking tons of timed practice passages is the most important part of MCAT prep.


Biology: 1. EK Bio + EK 1001 Bio, non-detail oriented 1. BR/TPR Hyperlearning, detail oriented 3. Kaplan

Physics: 1. BR 2. Nova 3. TPR Hyperlearning 4. Kaplan

Verbal: 1. EK Verbal + EK 101 Verbal 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. BR 4. Kaplan (Avoid if possible)

Organic Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

General Chemistry: 1. BR, by far 2. TPR Hyperlearning 3. EK/Kaplan

Extra Practice Material: 1. TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook + TPR Hyperlearing Science Workbook, good source of practice passages 2. EK 1001 series, helps nail down basics

so I get most of my passage work from TBR? but what if I need to actually take real tests, what are the good FLs to use?
AAMC?
Kaplan?
other stuff?
are all discretes alright to use or just from certain sources?

 

[moneymill4569]

I personally believe sticking to all the EK books and resources, as well as the AAMC practice tests, does a great job in preparing a student for the MCAT. This is based on my experiences of taking the MCAT twice over the past 4 months.

 

[watchntv]

I personally believe sticking to all the EK books and resources, as well as the AAMC practice tests, does a great job in preparing a student for the MCAT. This is based on my experiences of taking the MCAT twice over the past 4 months.

so why did you have to take it 2x?
were you using the examkracker guide?
http://www.examkrackers.com/mcat-home-study-week-1.php

dont take that the wrong way, I'm really just trying to learn all i can so I dont muck up