I bought these MCAT review books off of Amazon at the beginning of the summer and have been using them as my main means of studying so far.
Price: You can buy them new for $240 or used for $183.
Content:
- 1 book for Behavioral Sciences
- 1 book for Biochemistry
- 1 book for Biology
- 1 book for General Chemistry
- 1 book for Organic Chemistry
- 1 book for Physics and Math
- 1 book for Critical analysis and reasoning skills
General Layout: Each book is broken into individual chapters of differing topics. For instance, the biology book has a chapter for the cell, a chapter for reproduction, a chapter for the nervous system, etc... Within each chapter, there are different sections. At the end of each section, there is a concept check consisting of 3-5 questions to assess your understanding of the material. (The answers to the concept checks are at the end of the chapter.) In addition, there are 15 practice questions (with answers) at the end of each chapter pertaining to that chapter's subject. (The answers to these practice questions come with explanations, which are very helpful.)
My opinion: So far, I've only gotten through the biology book and part of the Gen Chem book. However, I've been able to develop a pretty good idea of the quality of the books. The books are great for reviewing the material. They give a pretty basic outline of the topics, and the concept checks and practice questions are helpful. Consequently, they are very good if you have already learned the material. For instance, it was very helpful to touch up on cell structure which I learned in Gen Bio. However, when reading the embryogenesis/development chapter, which I've never learned, I had no idea what was going on. The diagrams aren't very helpful and it doesn't go into a lot of detail. Essentially, you are not going to learn a completely new concept from these books. Unless you already know the material, these books will be a waste of time and money.
Moreover, it requires a lot of self-motivation to get through these books, which is especially hard during the summer. There is nothing stopping you from putting the book down and watching Netflix. If you know that you are not the most motivated person, these books probably won't help you.
Ultimately, these review books are just that—a review. They are very good for reviewing material you've already learned and doing some practice questions.
Here is the link to the books on Amazon if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Complete-7-Book-Subject-Review/dp/1618656449
