Customer Reviews

Examkrackers MCAT: Complete Study Package (Examkrackers)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Ek bio - this is the STUFF!! I pwned the BS MCAT by reading this book 3 times and difficult topics 2-3 more times. Was able to teach myself microbiology and human physiology with this book. you don't need advance classes like genetics, cell bio, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry etc.

EK Orgo- Very condensed. Excellent chapter on experiments. Very solid review book but Bio book is still tops. note cards tear out of book that's on heavy stock of paper. memorize those. I needed to use a chart from my Pavia Ochem lab manual to figure out solubilities. Solubility Test is CRUCIAL for MCAT passages.

EK Chemistry - Good book. Wish it had more examples in the Acid/base chemistry. Electrochem chapter probably needs a small amount of further explanation. Everything else is solid. Supplemented with textbook and kaplan comprehensive review(for more examples of problems). One caveat: I took general chem well over 10+ years ago.

EK Physics - Good book. E&M chapters needs more work. The Thermo chapter is actually very good. Thermo is just a tough topic. Should have an example on incline planes explained in the readings before heading into problems. The Optics chapter is actually very good if you spend some time on it. This is a solid book but I had to supplement 2 chapters with a physics text book and kaplan comprehensive review(for more examples of problems). One caveat: I took physics well over 10+ years ago.

The end of chapter topic questions in EK PS/BS are right on par with the MCAT. I redid these with each reading and can say they are challenging so that you are not going to simply memorize the answers. You really need to activate the thought process. the 30 minute exams are great as well. Don't do the 30 minute exams until you feel comfortable with the material.

If I took Chemistry and Physics within the last 2 years like I did with orgo and bio I'm sure I would not need to supplement with textbooks. When I took the exam I only completed basic sciences so need for upper division science classes. Get the AAMC MCAT Topic list then be sure to buy AAMC exams and EK Verbal 101. With each passing week concentrate on your weaknesses and cut back on topics you have mastered. August 2005 MCAT score: 10P 10V 12B

These books are entertaining and informative. Most important, they are to the point on what you really need to know. I appreciate the way they organize the formulas that are necessary to memorize. Similar commercially available test prep materials (Kaplan -cough-) attempt to provide the information Exam Krackers (EK)does, but they are less direct and in many ways not much better than the textbooks you already own. This is not to say that their material isn't useful. I found Kaplan's test strategies much more helpful for getting my timing down on the individual sections, but EK provides better foundation review and retention methods. I suggest using both, but if money is a factor, go with EK. I have spent almost $3,000 studying for this exam and wish I had discovered EK earlier--it would have saved me some financially. If you are preparing for the MCAT, go with EK and dish out some cash for as many AAMC oficial exams you can get your hands on and good luck!

These set of books are a great way to study for the MCATS. I recently finished a degree in computer engineering and decided that I wanted to study towards becoming a doctor. I have very little biology and organic chemistry background and I find these books to be clear and concise, with great diagrams to aid in making the reader understand the material. I have so far only went through the biology book and so far, my studying has been going very smoothly. Hope these books work as well for you as they have for me. Good luck!

I researched MCAT study guides extensively, and I don't regret getting the Examkrackers books. I believe their advice is superb, as well as the content. My recomendation is getting the complete study package (but not the audio CD's unless you have $$ to burn). The books are great. I've only had 1, ten week biology course, but after studying examkrackers bio hard core for 1 week, I was scoring 10's in the AAMC practice tests 4R and 5R for biology. Good luck on the MCATs!

I found these books to be valuable for my studying because I am already a science student. Not only that, I was already in my third year when I took the test so I think that that also helped, I can't imagine having taken the MCAT without having taken my physiology class. The biology section is definately worthwhile. I dont recommend the orgo or physics books to people without a firm grasp of the topics already. The Chemistry is decent, but not amazing either, but it's worth the money. In short, if you have a background, this book is relatively worth it, if not-you'll need something more in-depth.

I studied independently using only these materials and scored a 34 on the MCAT. The only other book you may need is "16 Mini MCATs," also by Exam Krackers.

I awarded this book a 4 since nothing I believe can be perfect and this book comes quite close to that distinction. It's well organized and I never felt my study plans confused while going through this book. Secondly it cuts the stuff and extra details the MCAT would never test. This is the major point where all other prep company's falter. Just remember to keep steady over your study schedule and over all the info presented in the book. Everything is presented in an easily comprehensible manner and can be grasped with comfort.

Good Luck.