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[Aruarian Reflection]

Not to rip off the LSAT topic, but it was coincidental that thread was posted today.

Anyway, can anybody who's taken the MCAT in the past recommend good study books? Are any of the test preparation courses like Kaplan and such useful? I aced the SAT and ACT (literally) but I'm a bit worried about the MCAT.

 

[Draff]

I know people who just buy Kaplan books.

I'm planning on taking Princeton Review this summer, although I'm still not entirely sure since I've heard that Kaplan has better prep exams but has more inexperienced teachers. (And less emphasis on Verbal wrt PR).

 

[Richard Cranium]

I took Berkeley Review around 97 or so and Princeton Review in 03. I found the Princeton book to be much more readable and concise, although the Berkeley book is a good reference. There were only two questions on my MCAT that weren't covered in my Princeton Review books.

Other than that, I think it really depends on who's teaching your classes. My PR teachers were quite good for the most part, but the Ochem teacher was awful. I think I knew more about Ochem than she did, and it's my worst subject. I also stopped going to the verbal lectures because I thought they were useless. In fact, the verbal teacher basically said, if you can get a 10 on the verbal section, don't even bother coming.

 

[IAmtheFMan]

The Princeton Review book was probably the most helpful; it explained the stuff really well, and the tests seemed more like those that you'd actually find on the actual Exam. If you can, hit up a pre-med office or something, and see if they have any old MCAT exams; that's probably the most useful.

Kaplan was a mixed bag. I thought they did a decent enough job of going over the material, but the tests weren't great IMO. For one, the tests seemed a lot harder than the actual one and Princeton Review, and I didn't feel like I was doing an actual MCAT, but a Kaplan-made version of the MCAT, if that makes any sense. BTW, the year I took the MCAT was both the '03's, so I don't know if the books changed or not.

Good luck, it's a horrible, horrible exam.

BTW: The only class I took was the one offered at the university, so I don't know how the actual classes are.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Princeton Review helped me jump a good 8 points. About my best endorsement.

 

[videogamer]

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[Aruarian Reflection]

Yeah, I'm not too keen on taking a MCAT class. Seems like a waste of time for me, especially since I know most of the material already and just need to do some problems and get a feel for the test. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out the Princeton Review book

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Do practice exams. Timed. It helps to know how much time you have for each question (72 seconds if I remember correctly).

 

[Richard Cranium]

Some of these prep classes will let you take practice exams in similated testing conditions for a fee. That might be something to think about if you have problems with time or are uncomfortable in these types of testing conditions.

9 point improvement from practice exam to the real thing. Kaplan.

10 point improvement from Princeton Review. =P

Yeah, I'm not too keen on taking a MCAT class. Seems like a waste of time for me, especially since I know most of the material already and just need to do some problems and get a feel for the test. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out the Princeton Review book

I was actually in a pretty similar boat when I took it. I did pretty well on my first practice test, so I didn't actually study all that much until I freaked out two weeks before the MCAT and crammed like a madman. However, I had attended all of the physical and biological science lectures, which helped a lot, I'm sure. If you're lazy like me, these prep classes are pricy, but can be quite helpful.

 

[GXAlan]

I got a 15 on one of the sections...

I'd spend the time and do every single practice you have available. Once you're done, take the time to do the LSAT Verbal sections... when you're prepared, you'll be fine.