Examkrackers MCAT: Complete Study Package (Examkrackers) [Paperback]

Jonathan Orsay (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1893858367 | ISBN-13: 978-1893858367 | Publication Date: January 2003

Five-volume set includes: Verbal Reasoning, 5th edition, c2003; MCAT Organic Chemistry, 5th edition, c2003; MCAT Chemistry, 5th edition, c2003; MCAT Physics, 5th edition, c2003; MCAT Biology, 5th edition, c2003; and one full-length MCAT practice exam. All softcover in display case. Previous edition: c2003.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1072 pages
• Publisher: Osote Pub (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893858367
• ISBN-13: 978-1893858367
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 3.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Education & Reference > Education > Test Guides - Graduate & Professional > MCAT

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

521 of 538 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore people who say they used their textbooks to study..., October 31, 2004

By 

James T. Scribner "Medical Student" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Examkrackers MCAT: Complete Study Package (Examkrackers) (Paperback)

MY STORY:
Lets start with my score on the first MCAT I took... 13. (8V, 3PS, 2BS) My score on the MCAT of Aug/03 was 35. (12V, 12PS, 11BS) I am not that smart but at the moment I am at Georgetown School of Medicine with a scholarship and I owe it completely to Examkrackers. I never took a prep course and I also only took 32 hours of science courses ever. I was a finance major.

HOW I PREPARED:
I studied at a bookstore for the MCAT and in addition to having my textbooks, every widely available MCAT resource, and every esoteric text I could buy on Amazon, I bought all the examkrackers stuff. I also bought the past exams available from AAMC. After the first month, I realized using anything but Examkrackers stuff and the AAMC stuff was detrimental to my progress. I spent around 450 HOURS STUDYING and taking practice exams. My practice exams came from Gold Standard, Kaplan, Examkrackers, and the actual past exams from AAMC. You should take a practice exam every week but only trust your scores from the examkrackers and the aamc's. The rest are just practice.

MY ADVICE:
TEXTBOOKS?!? If someone tells me they used their textbooks to study, I wonder if they have even been to the AAMC website. Look at the content description for the MCAT!

Examkrackers is the only company that covers the stuff on the MCAT with great detail and ignores everything else. They also keep it interesting with illustrations, jokes, etc. Want proof? Why hasn't Kaplan changed their books or the content of their prep course (that course is a joke) after the AAMC changed the content of the MCAT? Examkrackers is interesting and it provides you with a plethora of questions to practice.

If I had it to do over again, I would buy the past exams from AAMC (a must, you are cheating yourself if you don't) and everything possible from Examkrackers (the CD's are a must too). After doing that I would look myself in a room with them for around 400-500 hours and then sit the exam. This is a guranteed recipe for success.

MY WARNING:
You may be successful doing other things or spending less time studying but let me warn you that nothing is more time consuming or expensive then spending an extra year in college or doing some lame research because you couldn't get into med school on the first try. Dish out the money on these prep materials, put in the time and you will be in med school in august.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need is here, July 14, 2004

By 

C. Chastine "literary femme" (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Examkrackers MCAT: Complete Study Package (Examkrackers) (Paperback)

I cannot recommend this set highly enough. I used these books and virtually nothing else to study for the MCAT. In fact, I recommend that you NOT use anything other than the ExamKrackers books (backed up by your textbooks as necessary when you need a particular topic clarified). They present absolutely everything you need to know -- and, more importantly, they tell you what you DON'T need to know. The MCAT covers an overwhelming amount of material as is, and these books tell you what not to waste your time studying. Every time I picked up a different company's study guide, I was sorry almost immediately due to their wealth of irrelevant content and confusing organization.

The ExamKrackers books present their information with full-color drawings on glossy pages, written in colloquial language that holds your attention. Formulas that must be memorized are written in bold red centered font and compiled at the end of each chapter. If a topic is particularly important, it tells you so; if a topic is background and won't be tested directly, it tells you so. Helpful mnemonics and diagrams abound. The book on general math skills and verbal reasoning provides real, very helpful strategies. Even if you don't find their mascot, Salty the Kracker, amusing, his presence helps lighten the mood, which in turn helps you maintain your concentration.

The ExamKrackers books were absolutely indispensable for my MCAT preparation. When I bought the set one month before the MCAT, I felt completely overwhelmed by the task of studying for the MCAT. Using these books (and devoting my entire spring break to them), I was able to wrap my brain around all of the necessary subject matter. I'm not a science major and I started taking the premed classes less than a year before I took the MCAT. Do these books work? Judge for yourself: I scored 14P 13V 13B S.

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am so glad I found these books! Highly recommended!, January 30, 2006

By 

K. Harrell "Enjoying the Journey" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Examkrackers MCAT: Complete Study Package (Examkrackers) (Paperback)

These books helped me get into the top medical school of my choice,and I was accepted to every school to which I applied. At my undergrad institution it is not typical for students to do well on the MCAT (they usually score in the teens). When I took my first practice test I scored a mere 15 in my junior year. Then the summer before I took the August MCAT I discovered this series and what a difference it made. I can't imagine what I might have scored if I had more than 3 months to study.

Examkrackers only teaches the stuff you really need to know for the MCAT and puts it in clear examples so you can understand. It does not simply just reprint all of your science textbooks in one volume, like Kaplan and Princeton Review.

Also the 30-Minute quizzes at the back of each book are extremely good indicators of how you will actually score on the real test. I found that sticking to a study schedule and actually working through the examples was very effective.

Pay attention to Salty, he gives excellent memorization tips and they really stay with you.

If you want to do well on the MCAT, then purchase this series. It will be well worth it.