canucks89 Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Hey everyone, I'm taking the MCAT in August and I am thinking of getting the following prep books: Kaplan MCAT 2010-2011 Premier Kaplan MCAT Complete 5 Book Subject Review 2009-2010 I'm looking for books that will provide sufficient summaries and reviews on all subjects and I've heard that Kaplan is good for that. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Is the 5 book subject review worth it? Thanks a bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estairella Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Any book you can buy in a bookstore for Kaplan or TPR is crap. (That's how they draw you into signing up for a course). Your best bet is to try to find someone who recently took the course and try to buy it off them. ... or you can just get the Examkrackers set, which is infinitely better in my opinion. xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 ... or you can just get the Examkrackers set, which is infinitely better in my opinion. xD +2 EK is the way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks89 Posted April 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Ok, thanks!! I've heard that examkrackers is good.. what is the difference between Kaplan and Examkrackers? Also, can't you buy examkrackers in a bookstore? I'm kinda confused... are the books they sell for Kaplan in bookstores different than the ones they get in the kaplan course? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estairella Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Ok, thanks!! I've heard that examkrackers is good.. what is the difference between Kaplan and Examkrackers? Also, can't you buy examkrackers in a bookstore?I'm kinda confused... are the books they sell for Kaplan in bookstores different than the ones they get in the kaplan course? Yes you can buy Examkrackers in a bookstore (and if not, you can order it online). Examkrackers started off as an MCAT book company (before branching out into other subjects), in contrast to TPR and Kaplan, who both started off as tutoring companies. Examkrackers only teaches you the concepts that are absolutely essential and their aim is to get you the highest score you can get. Of course the ones they sell in the bookstore are different. Look at any of the inclass books, you will see they have "NOT FOR RESALE" somewhere on there. Signing up for one of the courses, that's also one of the conditions you agree to. (Fortunately, that is bullsh*t and would never hold up in any court of law, but the point is, they don't want people selling the books for $120.. they want people to take the course for $1200). If you go to Amazon.com Kaplan MCAT 2010-2011 Premier - 2 ratings, average of 3/5 stars Kaplan MCAT Complete 5 Book Subject Review 2009-2010, 4 ratings, average of 2.5/5 stars Examkrackers Complete MCAT Study Package, 116 ratings, average of 4/5 stars I know those are relatively new Kaplan books, but look at any of them on Amazon. Very few people buy those books. /And before you accuse me of being some Examkrackers lackey, I used to teach for one of the big two. Their inclass courses can be useful for certain people. Their inclass books are decent. It's just the stuff they sell in bookstores are crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Let me just add a third opinion that Examcrackers is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks89 Posted April 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The reason I think I am hesitant to buy the Examkrackers is because before looking on this site, I had no idea what they were. I've looked at a few reviews on amazon and a lot of the people say that they don't give clear reviews. I've read that general concepts are not covered to great enough depth to fully understand them... is this true? Other than that, I should definitely NOT buy the Kaplan books from the bookstore right? One idea I had was to buy the examkrackers for a good overview and then buy another book that explains concepts really well.. is there such a book? lol, sorry I'm just really confused on what to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange123 Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The reason I think I am hesitant to buy the Examkrackers is because before looking on this site, I had no idea what they were. I've looked at a few reviews on amazon and a lot of the people say that they don't give clear reviews. I've read that general concepts are not covered to great enough depth to fully understand them... is this true? Other than that, I should definitely NOT buy the Kaplan books from the bookstore right? One idea I had was to buy the examkrackers for a good overview and then buy another book that explains concepts really well.. is there such a book? lol, sorry I'm just really confused on what to buy. Yeah, go w/ EK, and supplement w/ TPR for further info. A lot of posters in the used books thread are selling it at a good price (incl moi ), and some of the books are brand new (i.e. no writing/marking). Give that a shot if you'd like. That's the way I did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper_187 Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Personally, I think you should mix and match to get the best possible prep material. ExamKrackers I though for me was good for the verbal reasoning portion while TPR helped a lot for both sciences sections and the WS. You probably already know this but no one has posted it but definitely get all the AAMC practice tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks89 Posted April 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Thanks for all your input! It helped a lot!! So here is what I am thinking of doing (let me know what you guys think): -Examkrackers complete mcat study package 7th edition -Cracking the mcat 2010-2011 edition (princeton review) OR Kaplan mcat 2009-2010 premier program -An examkrackers book on verbal reasoning (not sure which one.. any tips?) Also, what is the difference between the princeton review book and the kaplan book that I listed above? I've heard tons and tons of negative things about kaplan.. is princeton review a lot better for giving informative reviews and describing concepts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estairella Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The Examkrackers Complete Package includes the Verbal Reasoning one. The only thing that might be useful to add would be the 101 Verbal Reasoning Passages from Examkrackers, which is just filled with VR practice items (only if you feel like VR is a weak point though). I would really recommend you try to get the inclass books somehow... both Kaplan and TPR books are decent. And yes, I agree with getting as many AAMC practices as possible. Actually, try to get as many full lengths as possible... Examkrackers, Kaplan, TPR, doesn't matter. The more practice you get, the better you'll be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTPEOPLE Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The Examkrackers Complete Package includes the Verbal Reasoning one. The only thing that might be useful to add would be the 101 Verbal Reasoning Passages from Examkrackers, which is just filled with VR practice items (only if you feel like VR is a weak point though). I would really recommend you try to get the inclass books somehow... both Kaplan and TPR books are decent. And yes, I agree with getting as many AAMC practices as possible. Actually, try to get as many full lengths as possible... Examkrackers, Kaplan, TPR, doesn't matter. The more practice you get, the better you'll be. I agree, except for one thing, the AAMC tests are much easier than the real MCAT, so dont regard them as diagnostic. k? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks89 Posted April 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 The Examkrackers Complete Package includes the Verbal Reasoning one. The only thing that might be useful to add would be the 101 Verbal Reasoning Passages from Examkrackers, which is just filled with VR practice items (only if you feel like VR is a weak point though). I would really recommend you try to get the inclass books somehow... both Kaplan and TPR books are decent. And yes, I agree with getting as many AAMC practices as possible. Actually, try to get as many full lengths as possible... Examkrackers, Kaplan, TPR, doesn't matter. The more practice you get, the better you'll be. Thanks! Ya, I will probably get the 101 VR Passages from Examkrackers because I think that may be a weak point of mine. If I am unable to get the inclass books, which one from the bookstore should I get? TPR or Kaplan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estairella Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 I agree, except for one thing, the AAMC tests are much easier than the real MCAT, so dont regard them as diagnostic. k? Did you think so? I scored 1 point lower on my real MCAT than on my most recent diagnostic (which was AAMC 9R)... and the average of my last 3 diagnostics was exactly my final score lol I felt the real MCAT was harder but you have to keep in mind the real MCAT also has experimental questions and you're being compared against everyone else... so I don't think your score really changes that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTPEOPLE Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Did you think so? I scored 1 point lower on my real MCAT than on my most recent diagnostic (which was AAMC 9R)... and the average of my last 3 diagnostics was exactly my final score lol I felt the real MCAT was harder but you have to keep in mind the real MCAT also has experimental questions and you're being compared against everyone else... so I don't think your score really changes that much. Perhaps not for the other sections, but i consistently scored higher (about 2 points) on the AAMC VR section than my actual VR, while I consistently was at or 1 point below my actual VR (11) for the princeton tests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ace of Spades Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 I scored the same on the real MCAT as every practice AAMC test I'd written (n=4). And I scored +- 1 point in each section, attaining the same composite average each time. So I find them to be the best indicator there is for your actual test. Unless of course you suffer from extreme test anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTPEOPLE Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 I scored the same on the real MCAT as every practice AAMC test I'd written (n=4). And I scored +- 1 point in each section, attaining the same composite average each time. So I find them to be the best indicator there is for your actual test. Unless of course you suffer from extreme test anxiety. Interesting, then I guess the AAMC way of VR just oddly clicked with me... until the real one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Femto Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hopefully I am not hi-jacking a thread, but this seems relevant enough... Is there a published list of material that could be on the MCAT? Say, for example, a list of all the possible inorganic chem topics. Would I be safe to assume that all of the topics discussed in a review book to be it? Femto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTPEOPLE Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hopefully I am not hi-jacking a thread, but this seems relevant enough... Is there a published list of material that could be on the MCAT? Say, for example, a list of all the possible inorganic chem topics. Would I be safe to assume that all of the topics discussed in a review book to be it? Femto Basically, but you could get a passage based on something you've never heard of before... and thats fair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Hopefully I am not hi-jacking a thread, but this seems relevant enough... Is there a published list of material that could be on the MCAT? Say, for example, a list of all the possible inorganic chem topics. Would I be safe to assume that all of the topics discussed in a review book to be it? Femto http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/creatingstudyplan.htm Please see section on the right that says "Content Outlines" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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