Review of MCAT Prep Materials

Once upon a time, I sat in my physics class next to a guy with an MP3 recorder. "I'm planning on going over these later for the MCAT." Yeah, right! That has got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. You've got a boring lecturer covering topics in more depth and breadth than you'll ever find on the MCAT. No thanks!

Here's a brief overview of the resources I'm using as I study for the MCAT:

Examkrackers has some terrific material, but they aren't without problems. As I've mapped out the next few weeks, I've basically followed their 10-week MCAT study schedule with a few changes. I really like the basic subject books: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Organic Chemistry. The material is broken-down pretty well with fairly clear explanations of the quiz answers. Visually, Examkrackers is very skilled at setting apart key items for memorization while offering good mnemonics. There are times when I feel like there just isn't enough information given in the book. That's not because I want more detail, per se, but I just don't feel like the review is adequate. When I want a little more, my favorite place to go is Khan Academy.  Khan Academy has too much information to review all of the science subjects there, but it is very helpful for pulling up one small section at a time. Wikipedia also has some "chunked" information with just the right level of detail. I found the SN1 explanation (for example) very helpful.

My local library had Audio Osmosis, which I checked out for a month. I listened to it in the car on some long trips. Honestly, it didn't really do much for me. I've also tried listening to the program while taking notes. That wasn't so great, either. The non-stop corny jokes were a distraction, but I could see how they might appeal to someone else. The recordings follow the chapters of the subject books, but not exactly, so it wasn't always apparent which section they were in. After going through the audio program a couple of times, I really didn't feel much more comfortable with the content. I took my first practice MCAT (CBT 3) and scored P:8, V:10, B:8. This was lower than I had hoped for.

Though I wasn't a big fan of Examkrackers' verbal strategy book, I decided to buy 101 Verbal Passages. I'm not thrilled. My test scores have varied from 8-12 which seems like a pretty big spread (50th percentile to 85th). The explanations for some of the questions are fairly asinine, and I pray that the real MCAT is not like that. A couple of times I've grabbed my husband and asked him to evaluate the question--I'm afraid that they really are clearly worded and I'm just missing something, but usually that's not the case. There are quite a few typos in the book, too. Still, I think that some practice is better than none, so I have continued to use them. There are 14 verbal tests in the book and so far I've completed 6.

I also own 16 Mini-MCATs and have taken 3 of them so far. I've heard repeatedly that the best way to prepare is to take as many practice tests as possible. Each of the sections (P, V, and B) are designed to take just 20 minutes. Because they are so short, the sections roughly correspond to designated chapters in the subject books. (There is a table in the front to tell you when to take each test.) The explanations given for answers aren't as clear as the explanations in the subject books.

A friend of mine has the Gold Standard videos that she has let me borrow. So far, I've really enjoyed the videos I've watched. The explanations have more depth than Examkrackers books, but the content seems to be a little too narrow. I mean, can you really fit everything I need to know about Chemistry into just four hours of lecture? Dr. Ferdinand is unintentionally funny to watch, which adds to the entertainment value. He strikes you as the kid who always knows the answers and just wants everyone else to know it. His pronunciation of some words (e.g., skeletal and carbonyl) is a little different from what I'm familiar with, so every now and then I have to take a second to figure out what he is saying. The graphics are just whatever he draws on the whiteboard behind him. Simple and effective.

A year ago, when I was taking physics, I purchased a deck of flashcards from Wikipremed.com. Due to unknown difficulties, the flashcards did not show up until many, many months (and many, many emails) later. The content on them is pretty good, but I honestly haven't used them much. They seem more like problem/answer cards than concept-teaching cards. I don't know if I will use them, as I already have quite a few resources to go through and not much time to do it.

Another full-length CBT (test number 8) is on my calendar for this weekend.