Customer Reviews

Kaplan New MCAT Premier Program, 2007 Edition (Kaplan MCAT Premier Program (W/CD))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a ok book. It does not go into detail, whihc may be a good thing or a VERY bad thing, depending on how much help you need to the MCAT's. The book gives more of an outline of the important things without going into detail, whihc again may be good for sum, like me, but bad for sum1 who hasnt taken any science courses in a while. What I do with this book is usually use it as a reference to the princeton review material that I got from taking the princeton review course. Those books (princeton review) are just like the textbooks so you are getting TONS of info that is pretty much not needed and the books never teach you any strategies..the MCAT is not a MEMMORY test or else every1 with a 4.0 would get a 45..the MCAT is a THINKING test...so its not what you really know, it how you APPLY what you know...memorizing formulas wont do u any good if you cant apply them to the specified problem...so Kaplan is ok when it comes to giving "strategies" but if you want real practice..get the AMCAS exams and get EXAMKRACKERS VERBAL and BIO 1001 QUESTIONS those things are amazing! Hope this helps!!!

I really like the way the book is set up. It comes with a CD and an online program. You can take a diagnostic quiz to help determine what to focus on. Inside the book there are lots of useful tips on test strategies and there is material to help study for each section. Probably the best book out there to study for the MCATs. If you're going to buy one, I would definitely recommend this.

This book gets three stars, because it did contain pretty much all the information you need to take the MCATs, and made a good attempt to prepare you for the actual test.

However, as a study aid, it left a lot to be desired. First of all - no index. I find this inexcusable. Part of my reason for getting this book was so that if I missed a question on, say, stereoisomers on a practice test, I could quickly look up stereoisomers and review them. Don't expect to be able to do that here.

The much vaunted practice tests in here are pretty useless. According to a study I came across, they don't predict your scores on the real test at all - see [...]. One reason is probably that the raw-to-scaled scoring system in this book seems really off; it's much easier to get a good scaled score in here than it is on the real MCAT.

There were also a few errors that just annoyed me. Occasionally there will be careless typos in science sections, like writing 10^6 as 106 or mixing up an HO and H - seemingly minor, except that if you trust the book you can spend hours trying to figure out why the answer seems to be opposite to everything you've learned, and get very confused. And there was one part mentioning that you didn't have to be perfect because on some MCAT tests people got seventeen questions wrong and still got scores of 11 - without mentioning that those MCAT tests had half again as many questions as the current test.

So, all in all, I think this makes an okay review of biology, chemistry, physics, etc, but you wouldn't want to use it as an actual MCAT preparation aide.

I don't really prefer kaplan's review text (the way the information is explained is to shallow/superficial for me), but I do have to say that the text is totally worth getting for the CD companion alone. Containing 2 CBT tests (with FANTASTIC explanations) and flashcards, the CD companion that the text comes packed with is totally worth the cash.

Great for those who don't want to pay for the course from Kaplan. It is pricey though.

The book is not bad at all since it provides a good review of important concept for the MCAT. Nonetheless, I'm giving this product one star because eventhough it clearly stated in the cover that a full lenght test was available online this is a complete lie. The test they offer online contains 45 questions for each section: Biological Science, Verbal Resoning and Physical Science when the real test has 52-40-52 questions for each section. The only full lenght test offered is in the book, which is not even worth doing since the new MCAT is computer based.

This book is very poorly written, i bought it hoping that it would help me fill in some gaps i had on the biology section. I have to say that if you're hoping to use this as a textbook and actually learn any material from it - do not buy this book. it can only serve as a reference sheet and assumes that you already know the material. it's a much better idea to get a regular textbook. it does contain some practice material, but in my experience the actual MCATs i purchased were the best prep. in all, i wouldn't buy this book again, it is definitely not worth the money. you can always go to borders and work with this book for a couple of hours at the store.

The book with its CD was new as it was described but
the bag that was shipped in was torn. i beleive it was not good enough for
a five pound book.

The Kaplan MCAT review series with CD gives me a better understanding on what I should be concentrating on whem preparing for the MCAT exam.

Overall, this is good value for your money.

I bought this book even though I will not be taking the MCAT for some time. However, I am using it as a study aid for my current coursework until then. It's very helpful and has great tips about HOW to take the MCAT not just what is on it. To all who are taking the test-- GOOD LUCK :0)