Customer Reviews

Kaplan MCAT Complete 5 Book Subject Review 2009-2010 (Kaplan MCAT Complete Subject Review (5v))

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been out of college 20 years and just took the MCAT in January and got a 32 after 5 months of review with these excellent books. I am very happy with that score. I would cut out a chapter and read it on the train to work. When I finished one complete subject book I would take one actual AMCAS practice exam on the computer. Once you finish all four practice books then just do one practice test a week and in the interim of the week review chapters that you didn't score well in the prior week. Continue until test and you will get your best personal score. In my opinion the last part of each subject book "High Yield Problems" is not worth the time and you are better off taking the practice exams over and over.

I plan to take the MCAT this coming May and I must say, these books are incredible. Due to my financial situation, I can't afford to take the Kaplan courses so purchasing these books was the next best thing. I have glanced over all the books and have currently started delving into the general chemistry book, it has become an invaluable asset to me. The books relate difficult concepts with and without the scientific jargon necessary for the MCAT. The books cover material that was loosely covered in my studies here at college. I really like how it gets straight to the point and how there are practice questions at the end of each chapter with complete explanations of both correct and incorrect answers. If you buy nothing else in preparation for the MCAT, buy this!

These books provide a solid background for the MCAT. The descriptions are clear and diagrams make it easy to understand. My main problem with these books is that they are filled with errors and typos. Different passages in the text contradict each other, there are answers to problems with incorrect math, and sometimes the answers they give are just wrong. If your looking for a book to help review and get some useful tips then this might work. If however, you don't have a strong background in science/math I would not suggest these books. It is both frustrating yet fun to see how many errors you can find. There is at least one error/chapter that I have found so far.

There are a couple errors in the material of the books, but it is not in every chapter. Kaplan has come a long way from the beginning. These books are not only easy to study from and cover all topics on the MCAT, they are easy on the eyes and allow for optimal reading. Color diagrams and pictures only add to the +. A lot of questions they have in the books, they use in their $1,500 prep course. I highly recommend these books and a complement to other forms of MCAT study.

I am glad to see I am not the only person noticing errors in the books. I have made it through only the first chapter of Physics and I cannot believe how many errors I have found on practice problems. I usually have the wrong answer, or solve it and can't find the correct answer in the multiple choice. When I go to the back of the book, I am frustrated to see that the way the authors solved it involved incorrectly doing math, or pulling numbers out of nowhere. Thankfully I am ok at physics, enough to figure out their mistakes. However, for the parts that I struggle with, I am nervous to use this book.
It seems like this book wasn't proofread. Sometimes I even find charts that belong on one page showing up randomly a page later. My advice to others- buy another textbook. Who cares about the Kaplan name or guarantee. I wrote to them complaining about the errors and got no assistance from them.

Kaplan is good, but I thought they did have some typo and wrong answers to some practice questions. The book makes you think and that is what the MCAT is designed to do. The book has too much conversation and it doesn't tell you directly need to know info. It's almost like you have to search though all this extra unneeded information.

I found this series of books to be a good total review for the MCAT. The writers try to make the material fun, but at times it is full of too much fluff. There are far too many mistakes in content, grammar, and numbering in the series. I wrote Kaplan about the issues and that I was disappointed that such an expensive product contained so many errors. They told me to go to their publishing website to find corrections to the text. I found this very annoying and unpractical due to the number of issues. Overall, good series but kaplan needs a new editor.

I am happy with this review so far. I am half-way through the physics books with practice problems and am looking forward to practicing the high-yield problems as well. There are definitely some errors, but I imagine that the people reading this book can look past them and accept this book for the great tool that it is. Throughout most of the book, the author integrates comical situations with the concepts and helps the reader get through some of the more drab equations. I would definitely recommend this set of books for post-bacs or people who need a thorough review after being out of the classes for a little while. It has been 5 years since I was last in Physics and Chemistry, so I am going through the book thoroughly.

Typos run rampant in these books. To help illustrate the frustration, on several occasions I consulted the answer key for an (A),(B),(C), & (D) type multiple choice only to find the answer listed as (E)! More bothersome are the authors' attempts to accentuatue the importance of notation only to make the exact same notation mistakes that they so adamantly warn against (i.e. the importance of notating Gibbs free energy versus notating Gibbs free energy at standard conditions). Proofreading & editing were obviously not included in the budget for these books, and I'm sure Kaplan is reaping the rewards.

I bought this book set to help me get through undergraduate premed work. I was taking organic this summer and thought it would be helpful to see as I learned the material how much of it would be on the MCATS. Its pretty much lived up to the expectations- beautiful pictures and nice explanations, and I haven't found any math errors that people were complainig about in previous editions. However, I did find that it isn't that helpful as a supplimental text to my class- there simply isn't enough detail and not enough practice questions. Overall, though, it was a good purchase and I think it will be very helpful when I start seriously studying for the MCATs