Worried MCAT prep too simplified

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Seldon

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Should I be concerned about how simple all of Kaplan books are? They skim over an incredible amount of important details. I'm concerned that their simplification will give an incorrect understanding of the material that will cause issues on the actual test. Is this a valid concern?

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People have been using them for a long time, so I'd think they're pretty reliable. I'm more concerned with the fact that I've woken up to an email from them everyday for the past five years.
 
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People have been using them for a long time, so I'd think they're pretty reliable. I'm more concerned with the fact that I've woken up to an email from them everyday for the past five years.
God, that's so annoying right? I didn't even take the class yet and they've been sending me emails about being an instructor. Give a kid a break, Kaplan.

Anyway, the books are like 1/4 the difficulty of an actual class. It literally only took me 3 days to completely memorize everything in their biology book. Red flags and sirens are going off in my head now.
 
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God, that's so annoying right? I didn't even take the class yet and they've been sending me emails about being an instructor. Give a kid a break, Kaplan.

Anyway, the books are like 1/4 the difficulty of an actual class. It literally only took me 3 days to completely memorize everything in their biology book. Red flags and sirens are going off in my head now.
Well, it certainly shouldn't be the same difficulty as a real class. That's why it's a review! You don't have to know all of the minutiae that you might have to know in a true class. I will say that I used the Berkeley Review books because I heard that they went into a little bit more detail than most, which I like. But that was for the old MCAT so take that with a grain of salt.
 
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It is only meant for review, its better to know the themes than the minutiae on the MCAT
 
Should I be concerned about how simple all of Kaplan books are? They skim over an incredible amount of important details. I'm concerned that their simplification will give an incorrect understanding of the material that will cause issues on the actual test. Is this a valid concern?
OP - yes and no. Sometimes you need to know random keen details - the kind of details that are hidden away in ancient textbooks that are 1000s of pages long. However, rest assured that those questions are very infrequent. Expect between 1 and 3 on the entire MCAT like that (out of 230 questions).

Kaplan books are a bit simplistic, I agree on that end. I used Kaplan for my first attempt on the new MCAT, and I found their books to be not that helpful. However, you can always use other books. I personally really enjoyed NextStep's books. They're extremely detailed lol.

The overall direction the AAMC is shifting the MCAT towards is towards critical thinking. That doesn't mean you don't need to know details - you must have 100% mastery of content. However, you need to be able to adapt your thinking to attack all the questions and answer all the unique situations the MCAT throws at you.
 
Should I be concerned about how simple all of Kaplan books are? They skim over an incredible amount of important details. I'm concerned that their simplification will give an incorrect understanding of the material that will cause issues on the actual test. Is this a valid concern?

I recommend using either The Berkeley Review or Khan Academy if you need a thorough content review.
 
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The overall direction the AAMC is shifting the MCAT towards is towards critical thinking. That doesn't mean you don't need to know details - you must have 100% mastery of content. However, you need to be able to adapt your thinking to attack all the questions and answer all the unique situations the MCAT throws at you.
That's sort of the concern. I don't need a very thorough content review in the traditional sense. It's more like jazz. You need total mastery of music theory and plenty of practice in order to be able to improvise on the spot.

Edit: I'm worried that studying from the cliff's notes will cause me to make an incorrect leap in logic during the test.
 
That's sort of the concern. I don't need a very thorough content review in the traditional sense. It's more like jazz. You need total mastery of music theory and plenty of practice in order to be able to improvise on the spot.

Edit: I'm worried that studying from the cliff's notes will cause me to make an incorrect leap in logic during the test.
I personally felt like kaplan left out/didn't go indepth enough on certain major topics.
 
I personally felt like kaplan left out/didn't go indepth enough on certain major topics.
What do you suggest I do? I spent months making incredibly detailed outlines of every book. It would be a waste to restart with a different book set. I've been annotating my notes, filling in the missing details, but I can only notice so many things.
 
What do you suggest I do? I spent months making incredibly detailed outlines of every book. It would be a waste to restart with a different book set. I've been annotating my notes, filling in the missing details, but I can only notice so many things.
The psy/soc section was the least detailed. Use the khan academy summary notes (google that...). The other sections were hit or miss; I too annotated/added details in after completing questions/full length exams to beef up the sections I felt Kaplan lacked in.
 
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@aldol16 might be able to chime in. He used Kaplan for content review and got 520+

In addition based on some of your previous posts I've seen you have a sky high GPA and extensive research experience. So the work you put in during undergrad will be more helpful so to speak.

Every year a lot of people use Kaplan for content review and do just fine on the real thing. Finish you're Kaplan work then take the Next Step half length diagnostic to see where you are: afterwards take a bunch of practice tests and fill in any content gaps as necessary

You'll be fine! :)
 
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The psy/soc section was the least detailed. Use the khan academy summary notes (google that...). The other sections were hit or miss; I too annotated/added details in after completing questions/full length exams to beef up the sections I felt Kaplan lacked in.
The Khan academy summary notes are amazing (and absolutely massive). It may actually be too much. Do you know how reliable they are?
 
The Khan academy summary notes are amazing (and absolutely massive). It may actually be too much. Do you know how reliable they are?
There's 2 versions: 300 page and 100 page. I prefer the 100 page. They're highly reliable. Certain topics you can gloss over, for example, when they discuss sound conduction and all the different receptors and the chemical pathway to hearing. That the MCAT will not test. However, knowing the different anatomical parts of the hearing system and basic theories about it will be on the mcat and is well represented on practice exams.
 
There's 2 versions: 300 page and 100 page. I prefer the 100 page. They're highly reliable. Certain topics you can gloss over, for example, when they discuss sound conduction and all the different receptors and the chemical pathway to hearing. That the MCAT will not test. However, knowing the different anatomical parts of the hearing system and basic theories about it will be on the mcat and is well represented on practice exams.
Does the 300 cover literally everything or is it just one topic?
 
Does the 300 cover literally everything or is it just one topic?
everything lmao. the 300 page document is super thorough. Depending on when your test date is (3months+) use the 300 page. If its in 1 month use the 100 page document.
 
I agree with you - Kaplan seemed to be missing quite a bit. I found Berkeley had a lot that more info that seemed relevant, and hit the mark on some biology items that many test takers thought of as low yield. I think the big companies are good at summarizing enough to help the majority of test takers get a better score, but you won't get that blow away number with review books alone.


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everything lmao. the 300 page document is super thorough. Depending on when your test date is (3months+) use the 300 page. If its in 1 month use the 100 page document.
Dooooope
 
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I agree that the Kaplan books were a little too watered-down; however, I just used them for broad review (like remembering what Ksp values were and the physiology stuff). When it came time to crunch the minutiae for the test, I got the Barron's flash cards and for each section, made a new card on my own for anything in the Kaplan books that were not already in the notecards. I think it worked pretty well for me (516).
 
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The best book, in my opinion, will give you adequate depth so that you can understand the basic, underlying concept but not go into the low-yielding stuff. The low-yielding stuff is the highly specific details that really flesh out the basic concepts but are really unnecessary for the MCAT, as most MCAT questions will have you begin reasoning from fairly simple concepts. The new MCAT is all about applying basic concepts to complex situations and not how many esoteric facts you can remember from your biology textbook.

Finish content review as soon as you can and get started on practice passages and FLs. These are the true determinants of your score and after you take one, you can identify your areas of weakness and go back to review. If you need more depth in an area, you can always use Khan Academy videos - they are quite good (not to mention free!).
 
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The best book, in my opinion, will give you adequate depth so that you can understand the basic, underlying concept but not go into the low-yielding stuff. The low-yielding stuff is the highly specific details that really flesh out the basic concepts but are really unnecessary for the MCAT, as most MCAT questions will have you begin reasoning from fairly simple concepts. The new MCAT is all about applying basic concepts to complex situations and not how many esoteric facts you can remember from your biology textbook.

Finish content review as soon as you can and get started on practice passages and FLs. These are the true determinants of your score and after you take one, you can identify your areas of weakness and go back to review. If you need more depth in an area, you can always use Khan Academy videos - they are quite good (not to mention free!).
Thanks for your advice. @Dr. Stalker just pointed me in the direction of a 300 page Khan academy note set. I'm going to try it out and take a practice test. I want to take the August 11th test, but I actually have a year, so I'm willing to take all the time I need.
 
Thanks for your advice. @Dr. Stalker just pointed me in the direction of a 300 page Khan academy note set. I'm going to try it out and take a practice test. I want to take the August 11th test, but I actually have a year, so I'm willing to take all the time I need.

Take the MCAT when you're best prepared to do well on it. Don't rush it. Better take it once and have it be done than to have to re-study and re-take.
 
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I thought the Kaplan books were excellent resources! I would not say the books are watered down as they are "review" books, not text books. I read them all, taking notes as I went and supplemented with khan academy videos (especially for bio/psych and soc). As you go through the practice q's and exams released by aamc you'll see high yield topics and what to focus on!

Definitely recommend Kaplan!
 
The best book, in my opinion, will give you adequate depth so that you can understand the basic, underlying concept but not go into the low-yielding stuff. The low-yielding stuff is the highly specific details that really flesh out the basic concepts but are really unnecessary for the MCAT, as most MCAT questions will have you begin reasoning from fairly simple concepts. The new MCAT is all about applying basic concepts to complex situations and not how many esoteric facts you can remember from your biology textbook.

Finish content review as soon as you can and get started on practice passages and FLs. These are the true determinants of your score and after you take one, you can identify your areas of weakness and go back to review. If you need more depth in an area, you can always use Khan Academy videos - they are quite good (not to mention free!).

So would you say the TBR bookset isn't the best option since it does go into depth into some of the low-yield topics? I thought it would be the best option because of how in-depth it is + the practice passages.

Would you say it depends on how much time I have to study? I'm pretty nervous about using just the tpr or Kaplan books because of how simplified they are even though they do cover most of the high yield topics.
 
So would you say the TBR bookset isn't the best option since it does go into depth into some of the low-yield topics? I thought it would be the best option because of how in-depth it is + the practice passages.

Would you say it depends on how much time I have to study? I'm pretty nervous about using just the tpr or Kaplan books because of how simplified they are even though they do cover most of the high yield topics.

Chiming in, I personally do not think you need any review more in depth than Kaplan and TPR can offer. However, if you find you are struggling to understand a certain topic or come across a topic you do not remember specifically from your review books, there is so much supplemental review on the internet between khan academy, YouTube and a simple google search.

Cannot stress enough for the MCAT how important practice is!! It's not the depth of knowledge you have for the exam IMO, it's how good you are at taking the test (AKA practice practice practice)! I think I wasted too much time worrying about knowing the review books cover to cover when I should have been cranking out practice tests.
 
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So would you say the TBR bookset isn't the best option since it does go into depth into some of the low-yield topics? I thought it would be the best option because of how in-depth it is + the practice passages.

Would you say it depends on how much time I have to study? I'm pretty nervous about using just the tpr or Kaplan books because of how simplified they are even though they do cover most of the high yield topics.

TBR is a great resource not only because they seem to know what will be on the exam (concepts other students kept saying were low yield, yet tested often, were covered by TBR), but their passage problems are gold. Since the most important part of prep is practice, doing focused, realistic passage problems every day (along with thorough content review) is a great way to increase your score. The practice problems also help you retain information and start understanding how to apply it to MCAT style questions. Kaplan's practice problems were completely pointless and unhelpful for me. (I got over 520, for reference).


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Enjoy your MCAT prep! I would much rather be studying for MCAT than submitting AMCAS and waiting and submitting secondaries. I know you have to just keep moving forward in the process, but I dislike this part. :-(
I also thought the Kaplan books were too simple, and didn't have high quality images. I wouldn't recommend them or use them again. Good luck to you!
 
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So would you say the TBR bookset isn't the best option since it does go into depth into some of the low-yield topics? I thought it would be the best option because of how in-depth it is + the practice passages.

Would you say it depends on how much time I have to study? I'm pretty nervous about using just the tpr or Kaplan books because of how simplified they are even though they do cover most of the high yield topics.

I would go to a brick-and-mortar store somewhere to check out these books before buying. You're making a significant investment not only in the study resource but also in your MCAT score - you owe it to yourself to make sure the book is written in a style that is conducive to your learning. Whether you want something in-depth or not depends on how comfortable you are with the content. If your content is rusty and you need every letter spelled out for you, then maybe an in-depth book is the way to go. But if you're just refreshing your memory on the topic since you remember the basic ideas, then you don't need something that starts from de novo principles.
 
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There's 2 versions: 300 page and 100 page. I prefer the 100 page. They're highly reliable. Certain topics you can gloss over, for example, when they discuss sound conduction and all the different receptors and the chemical pathway to hearing. That the MCAT will not test. However, knowing the different anatomical parts of the hearing system and basic theories about it will be on the mcat and is well represented on practice exams.

any chance you'd be able to guide me towards these? Tried googling for them and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.
 
any chance you'd be able to guide me towards these? Tried googling for them and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.
Look up Khan acedemy summary MCAT. It'll be a reddit post or on the website "premedit"
 
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any chance you'd be able to guide me towards these? Tried googling for them and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.
I can't break ToS. Google is your friend. Khan+academy+MCAT+Psychology+notes is a fancy formula I just thought of off the top of my head though ;)
 
I can't break ToS. Google is your friend. Khan+academy+MCAT+Psychology+notes is a fancy formula I just thought of off the top of my head though ;)

Hahaha thank you so much! I found it after this :)
 
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Should I be concerned about how simple all of Kaplan books are? They skim over an incredible amount of important details. I'm concerned that their simplification will give an incorrect understanding of the material that will cause issues on the actual test. Is this a valid concern?
I only studied off of Kaplan review books and was happy with my content knowledge going into the test. Really, practice tests were a bigger factor for my score. I've heard others echo this as well.
 
I only studied off of Kaplan review books and was happy with my content knowledge going into the test. Really, practice tests were a bigger factor for my score. I've heard others echo this as well.
Yeah, ultimately, I think I agree. I've decided to use a hybrid of Khan notes and heavily annotated Kaplan. At the rate that I study, I should be totally done with everything in 3 weeks. That should give me 4 weeks to take 9 practice tests. I don't think that's an unreasonable amount of time.

Edit: Does that sound unreasonable? My goal is 520+ and I'm willing to pushback my date if need be.
 
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Yeah, ultimately, I think I agree. I've decided to use a hybrid of Khan notes and heavily annotated Kaplan. At the rate that I study, I should be totally done with everything in 3 weeks. That should give me 4 weeks to take 9 practice tests. I don't think that's an unreasonable amount of time.

Edit: Does that sound unreasonable? My goal is 520+ and I'm willing to pushback my date if need be.

Whether or not it is reasonable depends on you. For someone very disciplined, two months is fine. Others need more spread. I would recommend not rushing into it.
 
Whether or not it is reasonable depends on you. For someone very disciplined, two months is fine. Others need more spread. I would recommend not rushing into it.
I'm just going to work hard and if I start consistently scoring 520 or above on practice tests, I'll know I'm ready. Thank you for your help.
 
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Outline Lehinger's biochemistry if you have time to do so. It reads the way the MCAT wants you to think and helps loads for both P/C and B/B. I think this advice is especially prudent for someone that slams through the cliff notes as quickly as the OP did.

EDIT: I should say with several years since I took the prerequisites, this along with psych/Soc cliff notes and practice exams was my chief prep for the exam.

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I'm just going to work hard and if I start consistently scoring 520 or above on practice tests, I'll know I'm ready. Thank you for your help.
Keep in mind that the scores on the practice tests are pretty deflated. If you are getting above 520 on the practice tests you have nothing to worry about.
 
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Thanks, that's the hope! Even if it's unlikely, the dream is 100%ile and I'm willing to work till I can get there.
 
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