Cracking the MCAT, 2013-2014 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation)

I liked this book way better than the Kaplan books. It sometimes doesn't go into quite as much detail as Kaplan, but it almost always made things easier to understand. There are less typos (although still a few) and better analogies. If you're looking for a self-help MCAT book to study on your own rather than a course, I think this is the best bet for your money that I have found.

The Princeton Review Cracking the MCAT was an absolutely essential part of my study schedule for the MCAT. It was very thorough and a great help, especially the portions covering general chemistry from my freshman and sophomore years of college. The only negative aspect of this book was the practice tests that came with it. The passages were confusing and not like the MCAT passages at all. I received my lowest scores on these practice tests, while I received my highest on the official MCAT practice tests. I would highly recommend this book, but I would definitely spend the money on official MCAT practice tests.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the science needed for the MCAT. It won't substitute for taking good classes to get this knowledge, but it is a great way to review and brush up on some of the things you may forget.

I have learned to enjoy physics with this book. It would've been helpful to have it when I was taking the classes. The exercises are helpful and the short passages at the end are helpful. It arrived extremely fast

Reviews most of the topics in a very general manner. It is not highly specific but, it is good practice to relearn topics quickly. I only recommend using this if you have a fairly solid science knowledge and you want to quickly remember.

The book is perfect for reviewing the MCAT content. It was worth every penny spent and I would highly recommend it for any student ready to take the big test.

Simply put, this book tries to be an all-in-one MCAT prep book, but it fails in this capacity. It is just not comprehensive enough to be useful (it literally skips over topics that are listed on the MCAT's Content Outline) and it doesn't provide enough passages to prepare you for the MCAT, either (one passage/~6 questions per topic). The material that it does cover is, for the most part, explained well, but it makes more sense to get the individual review guides from Princeton Review instead of this book. MCAT preparation is expensive - don't waste your time or money on this.

MCAT books can get so expensive but this one was actually priced well. Hubby is starting to study for his MCAT again and a Dr. in Biology actually recommended this one after reviewing hundreds for her students. He has only just jumped in but the condition is great.

Allows the reader to understand the MCAT as well as prepares the user for the test exceptionally well. Great, great choice!

The Princeton Review's prep book has the convenience of all the material being in just one book, however, this also has it's drawbacks. The one thing that they lack, that other companies provide, is an appealing layout of the material. It is not very enjoyable to go through an entire book in black and white, and with minimal effort to make it 'fun'. The thing that separates TPR's prep book is the final chapter. The final chapter is my favorite because it informs you about everything that a premed should know: study tips, life of a physician, qualities of a good physician, how to get into med school, med school entry stats, med school interview tips, recommendation letter tips, and more.

Useful.

I would not recommend this book to anyone - I purchased this book with the intention of learning different strategies (compared to Kaplan) and for the practice exams/ questions. In terms of different strategies - PR provided some strategies that were different compared to Kaplan (ie. identifying 'killer passages', reading questions before tackling the passage) but overall, I did not find them to be particularly useful. It depends on the test-taker. What warranted the low score were the online practice exams. The technology they utilized for the online material is anachronistic. It uses java to administer the online program which (aside from vulnerability issues) doesn't work properly half the time. The practice exams are clunky - the mark feature doesn't appear to work all the time, you can't cross out answer choices that aren't text and navigating back and forth in the test is very inefficient since the 'back' and 'next' feature only goes to the previous/ next question and not between passages.

Arrived quickly. Mostly exams, for in depth review the subject books are a better choice. If doing the in-class course all necessary books are included.