Examkrackers Complete MCAT Study Pkg: 5 Book Package

 (103 customer reviews)

EDIT: I want to preface this review saying that Examkrackers is a good resource and may be great for some and not for others. I don't want to give the idea that it is a bad resource.
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Advantages:
- the materials look great (color)
- it seems to cover all the material necessary
- great marketing

Disadvantages:
- The concepts are very weak, especially in biology. You need to understand WHAT is going on conceptually. You can't just be thrown facts and material without knowing WHAT is going on. I quote another reviewer, "I have to say, the science is very conceptually weak... they teach you shortcuts, but if you don't grasp the concepts, the mcats is about tricking you on the weaknesses and you'll go for all the tricks."
- Not all of the books are excellent, the physics book is particularly weak.
- SIDE NOTE: Exam Krackers 101 Verbal passages is actually very...Read more

I bought this set of books this year to study for the mcats and I have to say that I'm deeply disappointed. Given the hype about everything that's been said online, I figured, so what if the writers aren't PhD, MD, or science majors, test-taking is different. So I studied with their 10 wk schedule, did most of their practice problems with the 100 problem/passage series, and what I noticed are the following weaknesses:
1.) General concepts are not covered to great enough depth for true conceptual understanding = very important to ace the mcat.
2.) some practice questions are irrelevant.
3.) Biology section--> nervous system, so badly written it is a bit funny, never seen it so badly written, so bad :)Don't get me started on thermo in the chemistry review.
4.) physics --> concepts do not follow with actual examples. Physics is really about applications. Can't apply the concepts, you'll be sad on the mcat.
5.) verbal - the only awesome thing about EK!
6.)...Read more

The Examkrackers series is great to improve your MCAT score for home study. Just make sure to follow the home study guide on their website. The books are colorful, easy to read and...yeah almost fun to study from. The only major downfall is that the typos and errors can be frusturating. I got the 7th edition and it was still littered with typos! The typos and errors are so obvious that they could have been fixed if someone just proofread the final draft ONCE!! Seriously! For example: The front cover says "Includes exercises with OFFCIAL AAAMC material", you might see 4 answers and they forgot to ask a question. There are parts where they say remember these FOUR things and go on to number THREE things. It's still the best study guide for the MCAT. All the little typos and messups just get really anoying considering that anyone could have fixed them after one proof read. And after the SEVENTH EDITION?!?! Come on guys. Don't just pump out a new edition every year to make a...Read more