Customer Reviews

examkrackers 16 Mini-MCATs (Examkrackers MCAT Manuals)

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

 

 

The premise behind 16 mini-mcats was apparently to closely parallel the information covered in the examkrackers prep books, all the while requiring small chunks of time to do so. While they did succeed in doing this, there were some important problems that I encountered as I simultaneously worked through the prep books and supplemented my practice with this workbook.

First. The 'schedule' is suspect. They include an order in which each mcat should be taken to stress the concepts that would have been recently covered if you were working with the examkrackers prep books at the same time, i.e. take practice test 1 after completing ch. 1 in Bio, ch. 1 in inorganic chem, and ch.1 in physics, etc. This really is not a great idea, as what they are trying to, and in my opinion do so faithfully, is replicate the actual content found in mcat passages. Anyone who has actually taken the test could tell you that any given passage stresses multiple concepts, and not just those from ch.1,2,3 of a prep book. This workbook is similar to the actual test, so to fully benefit from the material, you really should start to take these after you have essentially finished your initial prep. While each practice mcat will superficially stress specific concepts covered in the specified chapters, following that schedule will limit the effectiveness of this book.

Second. Expect typos/suspect answers. I did not find this to be a huge problem early on, but towards the second half of the workbook I did encounter some problems. This should be expected for verbal, given the ambiguity of the questions. This should not, however, come up in the science sections, where precision is important. Alas, the only way to know that a mistake has been made is to go on to examkrackers website and pay a $15 fee to be allowed access to the proper forum. Again though, this is not a very big issue with the book.

Third. Don't be disheartened at first. It seems that examkrackers may have tried to elicit a 'shock' response with some of the initial sections. I say this because I found the first three verbal and the first two biological science sections to be inordinately difficult. These were unlike what I had seen on the real deal. Do not be discouraged if this happens to you, as it is not a recurring theme.

So... Is this a good buy? I would say so. I think that the 20 minutes that you get for each section is too much, since each section only has two passages, and sometimes a few stand alones. If you can complete these in 15 min, you will probably be better off for the test. These are inferior to the aamc online tests, and if you really want to know where you stand, then that is the best way to go. Otherwise, the only way to improve on your mcat score is to practice, and this is a pretty good option. Hope this was helpful.

I found this book to be moderately helpful but not accurately representative of how MCAT passages really are. Can definitely use it as a guide for what subject material you need to study, but overall, it's not worth the rather expensive price. I found other Examkrackers products to be more helpful, especially the "1001 questions" series (although those are also quite expensive).

A good book to supplement your other study materials, especially if you use other examkrackers books. The 1 hour format of each mini mcat makes it easy to fit into your study schedule. The only drawback is at times the questions can be overly hard, especially in biology. But a good book none the less.

This book is a great supplement to the ExamKracker 1001 books and for MCAT content review, but there are a lot of typos. The answers are correct in the back of the book, but some questions have such bad wording/typos you cannot even answer them. (As a note for personal use: the key to each test is NOT correct, but when you look at the descriptions to each question/answer, the correct choice is highlighted).

Do NOT use this as your only source of practice problems! There aren't enough questions to re-iterate all of the information you need for the MCAT.

The built-in schedule and the passage based approach to the questions are very helpful. I used this book, EK1001s, and Berkeley Review and scored a 37. I broke up the tests in the following way (I did this after I completed my initial content review):

I took 1,3,5,7,9,11,13, and 15 on consecutive days (with a break every Sunday). After a week break I took 2,4,6,8,10,12,14 and 16 on consecutive days. I reviewed all of the information I was lacking while going through the passage the next day, and reviewed EVERY problem, right or wrong.

Overall, it's worth the money.

As stated before there are several passages that can be insanely difficult. I do not know if this was intentional or them just trying to put many concepts into 1 passage. But it is very easy to become discouraged after taking a few of these.

Also, I noticed that some concepts being tested in certain exams are not even covered until later chapters in the regular books. For example, test #7 Physical sciences deals with thermodynamics and machines. However, a few questions were asked on topics (in particular Q = MC delta T for calorimetry) not covered until later chapters. So it may be wise to do an initial study of all topics before taking these tests.

I would recommend the practice tests given by the MCAT home site first in addition to the 1001 Examkrackers series to really get a feel for the topics. Then if you want more punishment this is for you.

Nobody edited this book. There are too many spelling and grammatical errors too count in this book. Some of the errors are so egregious that you have a hard time understanding what examkracker actually intended to write. I wouldnt have bought this book had I known it.

I feel that there are a lot of prodcuts out there that are both beneficial than this book. It is good for early morning practice to stimulate your brain, but I would not use it as a primary means of studying.
First of all, the book is full of typos. For some, this might not be a problem, but I found it highly distracting.
Secondly, the explanations for correct answers was poor. I found myself referring back to other books to figure out the answers.
Third, these are only one hour mini-tests, so that introduces two new issues. You cannot really use these tests as an assessment, because they are so short. On the same day, I could score 6/16 on the biology section. Later, the same day, I could score 14/16. Also, being short, they do not help with preparing endurance for the actual exam.

While I did not find this book very helpful, I would recommend the 1001 question series. I used the o-chem and physics books, and found those questions much engaging.

The book's not that bad. Its questions are similar to its examkracker lesson set. overall good practice for drilling yourself into remembering the material.

I purchased this book several months ago and began taking practice exams only to find it riddled with errors. The verbal sections have excessive typos that hinder the ability to read. There are repeated words, choices with out letters, and questions that stop mid-section. A classmate of mine has another copy of this book that is the SAME edition but does not have any of these mistakes. The book was obviously corrected, and I was under the impression when buying this copy that I was purchasing the most recent version. VERY dissatisfied with this purchase as I now have to go buy the correct copy.

This book was shipped the day after I ordered it and I received it on time and in good condition.