Examkrackers Complete MCAT Study Pkg - 5 Book Package 8th Edition

Although this edition of the EK MCAT study package is going to be phased out soon, I figured I might write a review so that people who are buying the newer edition for the 2015 MCAT will know a little bit about how this company has performed in the past.The EK study package is definitely not your typical study package. The manuals are MUCH more concise and present material in a much more digestable way than do other books: the language is not dense, extraneous materials is eliminated, the Cracker guy always gives you hints as to what is most important, and there are very useful mnemonics scattered throughout. They only cover the material that you absolutely need to know. I believe that this approach is great because the MCAT truly is a basic science test that only requires you to apply BASIC science concepts to novel situations. EK covers all of the basic science concepts, and their practice problems are a great way to get used to thinking the "MCAT way" about the various concepts.One disadvantage is that EK does not provide a large number of problems. You can solve this by either buying their 1001 series of workbooks or finding practice tests from other prep companies. One thing about the 1001 workbooks is that they are mainly meant to solidify the foundation of your science knowledge - they do not ask questions that are truly "MCAT" caliber (except for the 1001 Biology workbook since it is organized slightly different). Thus, I found that using practice tests from other prep companies was extremely useful to make up for the lower number of practice problems from EK. I also highly recommend buying the 101 verbal passages from EK: it provides a LOT of good practice.EK's recommended 10-week schedule is a good starting point, but I found it to be a little too "easy". I would recommend doing more practice on the side in addition to the EK work.All in all, I would highly recommend this study package for the MCAT - it makes self-studying very effective and it helped me get a score of 40 on the MCAT (14 physical, 13 verbal, 13 biological). Also, given the quality of the 8th edition, I have no doubt that their 9th edition (tailored for the 2015 MCAT) will be just as great and effective. Thanks, EK!

This is a great set to study from. Just to clarify as the description of this item is not clear, you will receive 5 study books in the package. A chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, physics, and verbal reasoning study manual. They come in a convenient box to hold them in and it also includes a full length, separate practice MCAT. It is cheaper to buy this box set than the individual books and it includes the practice test, which is a great resource to have. Also, this is the newest edition out there. The last edition (7th) is from 2007 and therefore a little dated where these ones are from 2013 and therefore up to date.As for the books themselves, I've only gone through the physics and organic chemistry ones so far, but they are actually kind of fun to read! They include vivid, color pictures that describe the concepts incredibly well. Usually, I just skip over complicated diagrams and pictures in text books, but the ones in the manuals are very helpful and easy to understand. These manuals also do not read like traditional text books. Writing is broken up and only the essential, need to know ideas are included to avoid waisting your time learning topics that will not be found on the MCAT. However, if you are not familiar with some concepts and ideas than these manuals can make you a little confused as the author kind of assumes that you have a general knowledge of what he is talking about. So if you have never taken a physics class before or remember barely anything from it, then these books might confuse you as they skip some fundamental points.I did a lot of research on whether to go ExamKrackers or Kaplan Review for MCAT books, and I can say I'm glad I bought this set. I'll be sure to update this review once I've taken the MCAT to see if these books really helped me.

Clean, delivered with care, exactly what was needed.

I was recommended this set of books to study for the mcat. The books are good at highlighting the major principles and concepts that you need to know. They are horrible, however, at explaining these concepts. The text is often dense and poorly worded, and the examples unclear. They also do not address how to actually solve problems. The books are also full of errors, both scientific and grammatical. The authors list a disclaimer about errors being a "normal" part of science, but the amount of errors in these books are unacceptably high. In my opinion, these books need a very thorough editing to make them more clear and accurate. If you purchase these, I would use them as an outline to study. Refer to them to figure out the major concepts that you need to study, and then go back to your textbooks from your classes to review the material. Also, make sure you purchase another set of study questions as well because there are definitely not enough practice questions in the set to adequately prepare you for the exam.

Previous posters are disappointed with EK for MCAT studying. Please note that this is not a comprehensive review-course-in-a-box. Topics are review style, and you are left to your own devices for studying topics that you are unfamiliar with. This is the reason why profs tell their pre-med and grad school hopefuls to NOT GET RID OF YOUR TEXBOOKS. Use EK as a guide to teach yourself what you are well versed in, and what you need to hit the textbooks or Khan Academy for. Ideal for a motivated self-studier who has access to the subject matter.

I got this due to the high recommendations it has received since first coming out. The books are bright, colorful, and easy to read. It comes with multiple practice test and one full test. The books are smaller than some in other sets that I have seen, but they do not lack information. I think it makes them less daunting when you first start studying.I ended up going with a Kaplan course online as opposed to these books, but it was a great buy and I would recommend them to anyone who decides to not do an online course.

Pros:Books are not as thick as TPR (motivates you more)Colorful pages and fun to readDifferent writing style than most textbooksMcqs available every 5 pages with explainations to the right and wrong answersCons:Not enough examples for physics and orgoRequires a higher than expected level of comprehension of the material beforehandSuggestions: should probably check out the EK web page where the extra tools and forums areBuy the TPR book for physicsGet Kaplan practice tests for $30+ on amazon( the difficulty is rumored to be Kaplan>mcat>aamc

ExamKrackers probably has the best prep books for MCAT. It covers all the topics on the MCAT, and explains the concepts quite well. So far, I haven't had the need to use textbooks. They also have a very attractive layout of the material that makes reading enjoyable. I also appreciate that it comes with a full MCAT past paper, in addition to the multiple practice questions already in the books.If you had to choose just one prep company to go with, go with ExamKrackers.

Very concise, good resource if you've already taken the subject courses. Plus it highlights (in bold) what you need to know.