Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy volume, but not appropriate for everyone, May 19, 2009
This review is from: Kaplan MCAT 2009-2010 Premier Program (Kaplan MCAT Premier Program (W/CD)) (Paperback)
This volume is Kaplan's alternative to their $2000 in-person prep course which comes with course books. This is a large, heavy tome--weighing in at 5lbs and nearly 1100 pages--containing condensed course notes for chemistry, physics, biology and organic. The material in this single volume is, for all intents and purposes, nearly identical to the notes you receive in the classroom course.
Now the big question: "Is this the right book for YOU??"
Did you take great notes in biology, chemistry, organic and physics? If you did (and kept them safe) then this book is probably not for you.
Did you send your invaluable course notes and old exams to the landfill after final exams? If you did, then this book is probably for you.
**90% of the pages in this book are NOTES not practice questions. If you already have great notes in the major subject areas, your money is better spent on a set of the Examkrackers 1001 Question books and official AAMC practice MCATs.**
If your surviving course notes leave much to be desired or failed to survive your undergraduate career, then you might consider this book or, alternatively, the Examkrackers Mcat Complete Study Package. The difference in price is not that significant though the Examkrackers books are a bit more in-depth and rigorous than this Kaplan book.
In either case, this book does not stand alone as a COMPLETE resource for MCAT prep, which is why I have given it 4 stars instead of 5. There's simply not enough practice material in this book to develop your MCAT test-taking skills. Kaplan does sell a book of practice MCAT's which compliments this book nicely. The subject notes in this book are concise and complete, however, and may prove to be an excellent timesaver for individuals who find themselves flustered or confused on "where to start."
Overall, I recommend this one for students with gaps in their subject knowledge or library of notes. Pass on this one and spend your money on practice testing material for those who have a firm grasp on the subject matter already. "A-"
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book, April 25, 2009
This review is from: Kaplan MCAT 2009-2010 Premier Program (Kaplan MCAT Premier Program (W/CD)) (Paperback)
Very well-done book... has comprehensive science review with plenty of advice for the writing sample and verbal reasoning sections. The color pages and diagrams are a major improvement over the 2007 ed. They've also gotten rid of the CD in favor of a completely online companion (this is less cumbersome and much better for the environment). The book questions and online questions come with complete, thorough explanations.
One of the best features is that taking their diagnostic test (and full simulation tests) the program tells you specifically what your weaknesses are. Your overall score can be separated into your biological sciences score and physical sciences score. From here, e.g., your biological sciences score is separated into biology and organic chemistry. If you select biology it will list the topics that were tested and the amount of questions you got right out of how many questions touched on that particular topic. From this you know what your specific weaknesses are... such as the function of carbonic anhydrase in the circulatory system.
This is a major improvement over the 2007 ed. and very helpful in terms of having an exhaustive review of all the material on the test.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Soild Backbone for any MCAT Preparation, June 5, 2009
This review is from: Kaplan MCAT 2009-2010 Premier Program (Kaplan MCAT Premier Program (W/CD)) (Paperback)
Kaplan's Premier Program was a pretty sound investment, and I used it a lot more than the Exam Krackers material that I also used in my preparation. They are good complements to each other, in my opinion.
I think EK is a little more "user-friendly" as far as presenting information, though.
Anyway, there's a lot of breadth in this book, with appropriate depth, especially in the organic chemistry and biology sections. The cell metabolism and and cell cycle sections were really, really solid, I grew to love reviewing them, haha.
The "clinical correlates" and "Kaplan exclusives" really aren't that useful in my opinion, because they are rather superficial and too short.
I was happy with the chemistry and physics sections, though more practice problems would have been nice.
The book's practice sections could have tested your critical thinking abilities a little more, but for that, I'd recommend MCAT 45 or "MCAT Advanced" as I think it's called now.
I scored in the 85th percentile in April 2009, and I owe a lot of that to practice and drills from the Kaplan online course, but this book formed the backbone of my study. Focus on getting the content down, then testing yourself.
After reading this a couple of times and studying it really thoroughly, and memorizing a lot, you'll be able to do well on the MCAT, provided you have good critical thinking abilities and can successfully apply what you know to novel situations.
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