Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review with CD-ROM, 2005 Edition

Rating:
Summary: Proceed with Caution
Review: Kaplan is like a rapist in a bar looking for a naive girl who needs a ride home. They will tell you that they help people improve their MCAT score by an average of 8 points by enrolling in their program. A little thought can help one realize however, that this is far from the truth. In fact they have no ideal about how writting is graded on the MCAT or what sophisticated biology material looks like because they know that they can sell the old stuff and make the same ammount of money. They forget to tell you that an added pressure of 1200 spent dollars sits on your shoulders as you are taking an exam where PRESSURE AND STRESS DETERMINE ALL. Needless to say, real statistics show that Kaplan hinders more than it helps. About 85% of currently enrolled medical student's IQ was reflected in their choice to have not used Kaplan. Try this out for your self. Ask around. It is true. Proceed with caution before purchasing anything from this company!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Proceed with Caution
Review: Kaplan is like a rapist in a bar looking for a naive girl who needs a ride home. They will tell you that they help people improve their MCAT score by an average of 8 points by enrolling in their program. A little thought can help one realize however, that this is far from the truth. In fact they have no ideal about how writting is graded on the MCAT or what sophisticated biology material looks like because they know that they can sell the old stuff and make the same ammount of money. They forget to tell you that an added pressure of 1200 spent dollars sits on your shoulders as you are taking an exam where PRESSURE AND STRESS DETERMINE ALL. Needless to say, real statistics show that Kaplan hinders more than it helps. About 85% of currently enrolled medical student's IQ was reflected in their choice to have not used Kaplan. Try this out for your self. Ask around. It is true. Proceed with caution before purchasing anything from this company!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good Review of Science
Review: This book is a very good review of all the science topics if you have already learned them. I didn't find them very confusing. They were concise for the most part. Every so often, the author(s) would start naming body parts, or enzyme precursors that you really didn't need to know, but I have heard that other books are even worse. I think this book will reteach you just about everything you need to know for the MCAT. Good Luck!

Rating:
Summary: Good Review of Science
Review: This book is a very good review of all the science topics if you have already learned them. I didn't find them very confusing. They were concise for the most part. Every so often, the author(s) would start naming body parts, or enzyme precursors that you really didn't need to know, but I have heard that other books are even worse. I think this book will reteach you just about everything you need to know for the MCAT. Good Luck!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is excellent for MCAT review. In so many ways it was better than my actual textbooks. I wish I had it when I was taking the classes that it was reviewing. I especially liked the comments and notes in the sidebars. It also gives review questions after each section as well as a full lenght exam. I haven't taken the actual MCAT yet as my testing center was closed this past August when I was scheduled to take it, so I am opting to take it in April of next year. But, I am confident that with this book I will have no problem.

Rating:
Summary: Don't use this book as your only study guide!
Review: This book provides a very good summary of everything that you need to know for the MCAT, but I didn't find it detailed enough to really understand the information well. It does have good tips, clinical examples that you might find on the MCAT, and connections between the different subjects. However, I think that the most important thing is to do practice problems on the material, so you know what you understand and don't. This book has very few practice problems. I would recommend this as a good summary book if you are taking an MCAT class or have learned the material very recently, not as a primary study material. If you aren't taking an MCAT class, the only series I have found to be excellent is Berkeley Review. I am studying from these books now. The quantity of material is similar to what you would get from taking the Kaplan or PR course for a fifth the price, and you can self pace. Unforetunately, you have to buy the books directly from them, so many people outside of California don't know about them.

Good luck!