Customer Reviews

Examkrackers: 1001 Questions in MCAT in Physics

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has a pro and a con associated with it. The pro is that it is a plethra of free standing questions and will definitely prepare you for that aspect of the MCAT without a doubt. The con is actually only a semi con...there are no passages in this book which means you won't get practice in scanning for important facts. This isn't the end of the world, though, because the MCAT physical sciences section is highly conceptual, and this book drills the concepts like there's no tomorrow. For practice with passages, you can go to the AAMC site and download a few of their practice tests.

This book contains many questions in basic physics for the MCAT. All relevant topics are covered; however, I feel that this is not the best book for review. The main objection I have is that the question format is NOT what appears on the MCAT. Most MCAT questions are based on a reading passage and very few of the Examcracker's questions are in that form. Those that are based on a passage are very simple when compared to the real MCAT questions. I scored well on the physics section but it was because I worked through real MCAT practice exams. Do not use this book as your sole source for physics preparation. I've said this dozens of times to friends, "If you purchase a 'comprehensive' review book make sure you also use old college books, old college notes, and work through old MCAT exams."

I used the 1001 physics book and a national prep course to prepare for my MCAT. I scored a 12 on the physical sciences. I found the 1001 physics book to be accurate in the science and a strong pedagogic tool for learning the concepts. There were some (but really very few) typos in the book, and I didn't find them myself, but they were posted on the examkrackers website and appear to be updated regularly. Additionally, Examkrackers provides a bulletin board where Jon Orsay himself actually responds quickly to science questions that relate to the book. Mr. Orsay explains on this site that the 1001 books are designed to teach MCAT science and that passages allow you to answer questions without knowing the science. That's why these questions are not passage based. He actually suggests using a different book if you are already scoring 10s in the science section and he says that you should definitely supplement this book with a review book and full length exams. Anyway, I thought the book was pretty good, and I don't think I would have done so well without it.

The book contains over 1001 practice questions for MCAT. The shear amount of practice from this book is guaranteed to help you prepare for MCAT one way or another.
How similar the questions are to actual MCAT physics questions is a whole another matter. And in truth not too similar. Firstly, actual MCAT physics questions are often based on a passage, all the physics questions from Examkrackers are standalone questions. Actual MCAT questions vary in topic from one question to the next, in this book questions are grouped together by topic. So if you're trying to simulate MCAT testing conditions while doing the exercises in this practice book it wouldn't be a realistic simulation. Secondly because all questions are standalone, it's hard to set time limits for a number of questions. Of course you're always trying to do the questions as fast as you can, being as careful as you can. But taking the MCAT requires a good sense of timing that you probably won't get from this book. Thirdly, the content of the questions in this book rely on what is extra to the MCAT. So there may be questions that require a bit of memorization and knowledge from other sciences. In itself this is not a bad thing, but it should dictate the way you use the book.
If you have time, I would recommend doing all the questions in there. And then moving on to more realistic practice from other books.
I hope this was a helpful review.

This book is one of the two books I focused on for my MCAT. I used this book and the 1001 Chemistry questions to "freshen up" on my weak areas.

Examkrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Chemistry (Examkrackers)

These books are NOT designed to be worked all the way beginning to end, but either randomly or specific sections. It even mentions that in the books. These are not to be confused with the Examkrackers textbooks or testbooks, and these should not be purchased instead of on those. These are only a supplement to the examkrackers program for the MCAT.

When I took my practic tests (AMCAS is the best because they make the MCAT) I found out my weak areas. I then when back in the Examkrackers textbooks and reviewed that passage, then I did all of the problems for that section in the problem book which was only about 15 per topic (e.g. linear acceleration). The alternate method would be doing every 4th or 5th question till you find something you aren't skilled in.

The problems are ordered in increasing difficulty, with explanations in the back of the book and best way to attempt the problem. Best of all, if you use it with the textbooks it explains how to do the problems in your head efficiently. By the time I was ready for the MCAT, I learned more physics from these books than a whole year in college. In college I just memorized formulas, with these problem books you learn the concepts and how it relates. This one beats out Kaplan, and Princeton by long shot (I used both). I never memorized one single formula for the MCAT, and my score was very competitive.

I really found this book very, very helpful. I thought it covered every topic on the MCAT. Some of the questions were a little easier than McAT, and some seemed a little more difficult than MCAT, but they all seemed like McAT questions to me. You can't beat the online help offered with this book. THe author himself answers your science questions. Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

Did you get your MCAT score back and feel like a retard? I went from a 5 to an 8 in the physics section of my MCAT after I did the problems in this book. I did about every 3 problems. It took 2 months to do but was well worth it. If physics is your problem area, do as many problems as you can. The problems in here are simple and teach you the basic concepts. The format is not the same as the MCAT, because on the MCAT there are passages. But if you don't have the basic concepts of physics down, doing lengthy passage questions won't help you. My suggestion to you is to practice with this book first and use another book for physics passage questions. The KAPLAN books are not as good (at least for physics prep) in my opinion. When I only used kaplan I got a 5. Go with this book for your physics preparation!

Good luck!

This is a great study guide to make sure you have all the topics covered. I went through the entire guide and scored a 15 on the physics section. All of the 1001 EC books are great. Using primarily these books I made a 38Q overall on the MCAT. Highly recommended.

One important note. These books are NOT in MCAT format. They are simply problems to go through to make sure the concepts are fully understood. Then you can tackle the real thing. All concepts are covered ad nauseum and practice makes perfect.

This is a great review book for practicing various physics topics. It will improve your speed and your thinking in approaching physics problems on the real MCAT, thus allowing you to finish the section in time. I improved my scores from 08 to 12, when i used this book 4 years after taking physics I & II. I highly recommend it.

This book was just what I needed to really get the MANY practice problems that I longed for after the basic Examkrackers Physics book. The book provided MANY problems for each subject to the point where you have no choice but to understand the subject by the end of problem set. The author does a great job producing MCAT like questions. Though there are no passages followed by questions like in the real MCAT, trust me, you will definitely understand the topics by the end of this book and thats the most important thing. If you understand a topic/subject no matter how the passage is written or what the real MCAT questions ask...you will know how to understand and answer them because you have a strong foundation...via this book.