whystress? Posted May 29, 2010 Report Share Posted May 29, 2010 Hey fellow pre-meds! Right now I'm studying for the MCAT by taking the Princeton Review in class course, and I also have the Exam Krackers books. I find that when I thoroughly study through the PR material and do all the homework, I undestand the concepts and do great on the questions that are asked. However, when I go to a EK practice test, I find the questions and style of passage much more difficult. Based on this, should I be focusing on studying from TPR material or EK? I feel as though TPR will be a huge waste of money if I could have just studied from EK..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkmedic Posted May 29, 2010 Report Share Posted May 29, 2010 Hey fellow pre-meds! Right now I'm studying for the MCAT by taking the Princeton Review in class course, and I also have the Exam Krackers books. I find that when I thoroughly study through the PR material and do all the homework, I undestand the concepts and do great on the questions that are asked. However, when I go to a EK practice test, I find the questions and style of passage much more difficult. Based on this, should I be focusing on studying from TPR material or EK? I feel as though TPR will be a huge waste of money if I could have just studied from EK..... I was in the exact same situation as you last year. Last year, I took TPR course. I liked their materials, but then I was also hearing rave reviews about EK, and so I bought the EK set. I found that EK goes into much more detail than PR and the questions are different and even more challenging (?). However, at other times, I found TPR explained certain concepts better than EK. If you have the time, go through the EK set. I think the PR class is a waste of time, but their materials are quite useful. It really comes down to the amount of time you have. The more types of questions and passages you go through, the better prepared you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkmedic Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 Did you find that EK gave you a better idea of the MCAT-style questions over TPR? And you mentioned that the resources are quite useful... are you referring to the PR diagnostics tests and workbook? Thanks for your help! Ya, TPR's large 300+ passage workbook is quite useful. I went through almost all of them. The PR diagnostic tests are also useful, but I found them quite challenging compared to the AAMC practice tests. If I recall (I already sold my EK set and I wrote the MCAT last year), the EK set only has one sample exam - the rest are 'mini-tests' (3 passages per chapter). I don't really recall which gave me a better idea of MCAT style questions; I think both companies do their best to mimic the actual MCAT. I know that for VR in particular (because I struggled with it), both TPR and EK do a good job, while Kaplan's VR stuff is terrible (looked at a friend's Kaplan book). I think your TPR course includes access to all AAMC exams? Try one of those - those exams would be most representative of the actual MCAT. Overall, I think I just went through both TPR and EK quite evenly. At the end, I went through the AAMC checklist on topics that could be tested for each subject, and I made sure I understood them as best as possible. If I didn't, I would review from whichever series (EK or TPR) explained the topic the best. When are you writing the MCAT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 I was in the exact same situation as you last year. Last year, I took TPR course. I liked their materials, but then I was also hearing rave reviews about EK, and so I bought the EK set. I found that EK goes into much more detail than PR and the questions are different and even more challenging (?). However, at other times, I found TPR explained certain concepts better than EK. If you have the time, go through the EK set. I think the PR class is a waste of time, but their materials are quite useful. It really comes down to the amount of time you have. The more types of questions and passages you go through, the better prepared you are. I actually feel the opposite (based on my limited experience with EK as of yet...still working through them)...I found PR actually goes into much more detail (EK has it sort of condensed, and I felt like I needed a deeper explanation, of which PR did a great job). TPR does explain certain concepts better than EK, but I found their passage probs harder than EK's 30 minute exams...but perhaps that was because I did the EK exam after I went through about 30+ passages from the PR workbook, so the concepts were quite drilled into my head by the time I got to EK lol. Both have their strengths, and I am quite happy with using both. I feel EK does better at developing your mcat intuition, while PR drills the material into your brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 I haven't tried any of the EK passages but I feel like I'm getting burned badly on TPR's passage problems. When I read and review the material, I get it, but I always end up getting a lot of the questions wrong...so frustrating. Any advice on which book helps better with application skills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkmedic Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 I haven't tried any of the EK passages but I feel like I'm getting burned badly on TPR's passage problems. When I read and review the material, I get it, but I always end up getting a lot of the questions wrong...so frustrating. Any advice on which book helps better with application skills? I can relate to your situation. I knew the material, but ended up answering the questions wrong. I think it has to do with critical reading/thinking skills? I tried both EK and TPR strategies, but none seemed to really 'work'. I was scoring low 30s on the AAMC practice tests, and then on the real thing, I got 30S (12/8/10/S... yikes!). I wish I could give better advice, sorry. Looking back now, I don't think one can follow their marketed, cookie-cutter strategies word for word and expect a high score. I think you eventually have to develop your own strategy for tackling questions on the MCAT, which was what I did in the end. But in your situation in particular, I think you should review carefully the questions you got wrong. Note what type of questions you are getting wrong and why you got it wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 I can relate to your situation. I knew the material, but ended up answering the questions wrong. I think it has to do with critical reading/thinking skills? Totally agree. I read the material thoroughly, then go do the practice probs and answer lots of them wrong Hopefully someone can enlighten us haha. "Not sure if you've tried this strategy but trying skimming through the BS and PS passages, answer all the questions you can without the passage, and THEN go back and look at the passage for questions looking for specific details. It seems to be working for me...." I find that only sometimes works for me. If I answer based only on my knowledge, there could be something in the passage that proves it wrong, or adds something else to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 Totally agree. I read the material thoroughly, then go do the practice probs and answer lots of them wrong Hopefully someone can enlighten us haha. "Not sure if you've tried this strategy but trying skimming through the BS and PS passages, answer all the questions you can without the passage, and THEN go back and look at the passage for questions looking for specific details. It seems to be working for me...." I find that only sometimes works for me. If I answer based only on my knowledge, there could be something in the passage that proves it wrong, or adds something else to it. Yeah it's disheartening. I get so discouraged because I think..if I suck at this, ... am I going to be a good doctor? Do I really have the strong problem solving/critical thinking skills to be a good doctor? lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apixaban85 Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Yeah it's disheartening. I get so discouraged because I think..if I suck at this, ... am I going to be a good doctor? Do I really have the strong problem solving/critical thinking skills to be a good doctor? lol. Don't say that! Don't let the MCAT win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkmedic Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 I wrote a TPR diagnostic for the first time and got a 9-VR 8-BS 5-PS and Q-WS. I wasn't too surprised about PS, I haven't really looked at that stuff since high school or first year. I find it suprising that you liked EK and TPR equally for verbal since I've heard great stuff about EK's verbal techniques though! Ya, I found EK and TPR equally quite good. If you already haven't bought it yet, then I highly recommend EK's Verbal Reasoning 101. It's very helpful (however, my VR score still sucked. I scored an 8 on VR the two times I wrote it last summer.) Do you have a link to the AAMC checklist? I don't think I've seen that anywhere yet. It's not really a checklist, but more like an outline of the topics tested. It's still useful nonetheless. They are PDF files, one for PS and one for BS. If I remember correctly, I think TPR course gives some sort of a checklist too? http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/start.htm I write Aug 13 so I have just over two months, but I work as well so my time is a bit condensed considering the time left betwen work and the class to actually study. How much are you working right now, if you don't mind me asking? If there was one thing I could change about how I studied for the MCAT last year, then it would have been to take time off work and spend about a month hardcore studying for it. It's amazing though that you are pulling off work and TPR course at the same time. Not sure if you've tried this strategy but trying skimming through the BS and PS passages, answer all the questions you can without the passage, and THEN go back and look at the passage for questions looking for specific details. It seems to be working for me.... I think the 'strategy' I ended up using last year was just reading it carefully once, and then attempt to answer the questions without refering to the passage again, unless needed. Also, I think I just ended being so stressed in the end that I don't really know what I did... Yeah it's disheartening. I get so discouraged because I think..if I suck at this, ... am I going to be a good doctor? Do I really have the strong problem solving/critical thinking skills to be a good doctor? lol. Don't let this one test bog you down! Stay positive! The MCAT is only one part of the entire admission process. I'm not sure where you are applying, but for most Ontario schools, as long as you meet the cut-offs, then you are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whystress? Posted May 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 How much are you working right now, if you don't mind me asking? If there was one thing I could change about how I studied for the MCAT last year, then it would have been to take time off work and spend about a month hardcore studying for it. It's amazing though that you are pulling off work and TPR course at the same time. Right now, 6-8 hours a day and 2-3 hours of class. Needless to say there are some late nights and painful mornings lol. I wonder how many other pre-meds are juggling work and studying.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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