Customer Reviews

ExamKrackers MCAT Verbal Reasoning & Mathematical Techniques

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book as part of the EK Complete Study Package and have been studying for a few months now. The strategy takes a lot of practice to master, but it works. Just keep in mind that you have to keep practicing their strategy and realize that you do need to devote a sufficient amount of time to it.

The only bad thing about this book is that even though it claims that it's updated to reflect the new CBT format, it really isn't. On the first two pages it gives you a breakdown about the advantages of the computerized format and the changes in questions and time, but after that, they didn't change anything. When talking about writing the essay (which is a very short section, btw), it ends by saying to "write 2 pages" and "above all, write neatly." Obviously neither of these applies when you are typing your essay. Then it begins the Verbal Reasoning section by saying that there are "nine passages" (there are 7), "for a total of 60 questions" (there are 40), and "the test taker has 85 minutes" (you have 60 minutes). It even has sections called "Marking Your Test to Improve Your Score" and "When to Bubble." On the CBT you don't physically bubble in an answer sheet, and there is no place to put little X's, -'s, and O's.

The quick breakdown of math on the MCAT and the detailed strategy for the Verbal Section warrant a 5 star rating, but these extensive errors in regards to the time for the test and marking the test easily drop it down one star, thus I give it a 4 overall.

I tried using the strategies of another large test prep company (the one I work for now, actually) and the best I could do after 3 months was a 9. After 2 weeks with this book, I was regularly getting an 11, and that's what I got on the MCAT. If I had just picked up this book earlier, I probably would've gotten 12+.

Bottom line: If you're taking a TPR/Kaplan course right now, forget what your verbal teacher says and just go by this book.

(About me: Current MCAT Instructor, 3 Med school acceptances, 35 MCAT

Unlike most reviewers up here, I am not applying directly into med school and actually took the MCAT for admission into a post-bac pre-med program b/c I know I'm not competitive as of right now. I only needed a twenty with no individual score below a 6. To make a long story short, this book and it's strageties are no short than amazing. After finding out I had to take the MCAT on short notice with only one month of prep time alloted, I jumped three points and it had been almost six years since I had taken the MCAT.

I makes me wonder how much higher it could have went if I had the whole three months recommended. I don't review much and I'm reviewing. Buy this book.

This is a small book that is a great asset to anyone taking the MCAT. I took Kaplan and the strategies in this book is better than any Kaplan verbal strategy.

This is a very good book when you want to start working on the MCAT's verbal section. However, it does not have enough passages to practice.

The Verbal on the MCAT was my weakest section. I used Princeton Review materials but for some reason I could never score higher than a 7. 3 weeks before my test, I started to panic because I was sure that my Verbal score was going to pull me down to a 30 or less. I searched everywhere on tips to raise my score, and everyone kept recommending this ExamKrackers book. I gave it a try and in about a week, my score started to bump up by 2-3 points! I recommend you give yourself more time than I gave myself to prepare. Make sure to read the book cover to cover (it's a very short read anyway) and thoroughly go through the practice exercises. This book really does help when you put in the effort.

There are so many typos. The moment I opened this and went straight to the math section, they used different numbers when solving the same problem. This results in frustration and leads to mistrust. Consequently, you end up doubting what you're reading for the rest of the book.


For example, they would use 10^2 + 10^4 as a question
but on the solution they would do 10^2 + 10^-7
so then you're like wth?? then you pop out the calculator and see which question matches with the actual answer, then you
gotta acknowledge that this is an actual typo, then you gotta confirm yourself... it's very time consuming and demotivating. Did I mention frustrating?


The tips and strategies, however, seem to help even though they already sound intuitive (as in I could have figured that out on my own) ie. rounding, which is obvious since we don't have a calculator


overall this book just gives advice, strategies, and workouts. less than i expected. but the book is thin so I guess that's why.

you would think after 4 years they would come up with an updated version...

very good technique taught. It clearly stated things that took me months to pick up. I'm scoring elevens

MCAT Verbal Reasoning & Mathematical techniques provides the reader with key insight into deciphering verbal reasoning passage questions. It breaks down the seemingly complex tasks to reveal possible interventions for vast improvement. A fairly short book, the ideas presented are designed to/and only work if the exercises are practised daily with meticulous effort. In saying this, ideally it should be purchased in conjunction with MCAT 101 passages in MCAT to ensure adequate retention of the appropriate skills. Its best asset is that it builds on what the reader has already aqcuired in life, eventually fine tuning certain areas to cater for the challenging questions of the MCAT verbal reasoning section.

Disclaimer: I'm not one of those miracle students who claim to have no background knowledge and ended up with a 45 thanks to this set. I'm a regular student with a shaky foundation in the sciences the MCAT tests, since I messed up my freshman and sophomore years. I studied for one summer, and ended up with a 34Q (12 PS, 10 VR, 12 BS); a modest yet decent score. I did, in fact take a Princeton Review course, but I barely opened their huge coursebooks mainly because attending their classes gave me a false sense of security - I became lazy and didn't feel the need to study. Three to four weeks before the exam date, the realization of the danger I was in finally hit me, and I almost completely relied on Examkrackers for study. I scanned the table of contents in every book except the verbal, and marked off what I didn't understand. I read every page under those marked sections. I appreciated the succinct nature of their explanations, but in physics some amount of understanding was sacrificed in a few topics (mainly E&M)- for those, I referred to the Princeton Review book. (Keep in mind my foundation in physics was especially troublesome). Because of the nature of my studying for the MCAT (I essentially used the EK as an emergency reference) I didn't have the chance to learn how helpful this book would have been in reasonable study conditions. If I have time I may properly study for, and retake the MCAT. Nonetheless, I am grateful for this bookset for bringing me a fairly good score.