Which Textbooks to keep?

[Guest Layla]

Since school is about to start again, I was wondering which of my 1st year textbooks I should sell back to the bookstore. Could have some insight onto which textbooks will be useful for studying for the MCAT?

Here's what I have:

 

Physics by Serway (1st year physics)

Chemial Principles by Zumdahl (General Chem)

Biology by Campbell (1st year bio)

 

Will the material covered in the general chem text be repeated in the organic/inorganic chem texts? Thanks.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi Layla,

 

If you're planning on writing the MCAT then it may be a good idea to keep the first year chemistry textbook. Organic chemistry texts, as you may soon discover, focus pretty much on--surprise!--organic chemistry and its myriad reactions. Therefore, for the Biological Sciences section of the MCAT your orgo class will be indispensible. For the Physical Sciences section, the general chemistry covered will be primarily that found in your first year course, e.g., periodic table, kinetics/equilibrium, thermochemistry, gases, phases, solutions, redox chemistry, etc. Additionally, you may also refer back to your gen. chem. textbook to refresh your memory or clarify some concepts covered early in the first term of organic chem., e.g., sp3, sp2, sp hybridization, bonding, energy diagrams, acid/base chemistry.

 

(Can you tell that chemistry is featuring pretty prominently in life these days--both an orgo final and and the MCAT coming up within the next two weeks--eek!)

 

Good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest JSS02]

Buying a good MCAT review book and studying primarily from that would definitely be better than using just your textbooks, as they will have way too much detail compared to what you need to know. The MCAT doesn't require the knowledge of too many little details, just a good understanding of the basic concepts. You might want to keep your textbooks around just for reference, but it's not really necessary. That's what I have been doing so far...

[Guest bibs74]

If your only reason to hang on to old textbooks is for MCAT study purposes, then don't bother. As someone else said, the good MCAT review books give you a thorough review of the concepts important for the MCAT.

 

Cheers.

[Guest Ian Wong]

If there's a course above that you were particularly weak in, or you've "personalised" your textbook with notes/highlighting that you like, or you just found it to be an easy to use, and easy to understand book, then I'd keep it.

 

However, the MCAT prep books do tend to cover the bases quite well, and don't go into the exhaustive detail that a regular textbook would. If you could see yourself using the textbook to figure out concepts, or could see yourself doing the practice questions that are often included in a textbook, then you might as well keep them. You could always sell them back the next year, assuming that a new edition didn't come out.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3