Kaplan MCAT 2009-2010 Premier Program (Kaplan Mcat Premier Program)

Comment: Dont buy used, I recommend new because the writing done by the previous owner of the book could be distracting

Comment: I thought this book did a fantastic job with the majority of subjects. I haven't looked at any of this material since college, but reviewing just this book, I was able to get in the top 2%.

The one area where I felt it was probably weakest was in organic chemistry and some of the bonding orbital terminology, and they rocked me on the test. I think if you need details, some of the other guides would be good, but this is a great comprehensive overview that covers about 98% of what will be on the test.

Comment: For disclaimer, I've yet to take the MCAT proper, but have bought several practice MCAT exams from the AAMC website and score in the 12-13 range for Physical Sciences and consistently 13 on the Biological Sciences part, as well as 11-13 on Verbal(depending upon if there is an Art/Painting question to lower my score). I am also a 4.0 Student in Neurobiology, and have taken the Examkrackers and have found it to reinforce weaknesses and give sufficient negative feedback on difficult questions I had gotten wrong.

As it pertains to Kaplan, I'm not a big fan at all of their practice exams as they suffer from three features that are not reflective of actual MCAT exams made available by the AAMC:

1) Passage Pedantry: MCAT exams consistently (seem to) feature articles from Journals that have a breadth of information in them; with that said, what they won't ever do is focus on minute details of the articles like Kaplan's passages often do. While there are obviously questions that require the passages on the MCAT, there aren't passages that focus on say, a recreation of an ink jet printer's image, as this would not be testing specific physical sciences concepts. An actual MCAT would use an article about a 1987 Earthquake, and extrapolate and assess your knowledge of longitudinal waves, or transfer of energy in resonance, or Work.

2) Ambiguity in the questions or answer choices: oftentimes, Kaplan will be confusing in that it won't be made clear what it is assessing, or rather, will not give sufficient details to answer questions. For example, I had one question that was asking whether a biker who is going down a hill without pedaling had a kinetic energy that was greater than/less than/equal to their lost potential energy (due to resistance), without clearly stating where on the hill the rider was positioned when the -PE vs. KE was being assessed. Obviously, without friction and external forces, KE=PE.

MCAT would have asked the question in this way: Question X: A rider at the bottom of the hill would have _______ momentum and _________ energy. This would be sufficiently complex for most of the MCAT questions, as it would be assessing one's knowledge of conservation of energy and energy transfer from potential to kinetic, as well as conservation of momentum; I got the Kaplan question wrong not because I didn't understand the concepts, but because of ambiguity. I've taken 468 Physical Sciences questions on the MCAT and have gotten confused on what was being asked approximately 5 times, or 1% of the time. This was the first question on an online practice test for Kaplan.

3) I've yet to find an MCAT question that will be standalone and ask you to solve Cardiac Output or Total Lung Volume questions. I've found a couple on Kaplan pre-tests and find it frustrating. You should have a sufficient understanding of Lung Volume and changes due to inspiration, expiration, etc., but MCAT usually couples this with a passage.

4)I bought a 2004 Kaplan MCAT and it has the same typos and same practice questions as the 2009. I'm fairly certain the MCAT has changed and even progressed in its focus on concepts and problem-solving assessment, but this has not been reflected so much in the book itself. Moreover, the book had clear cut inaccuracies such as chief cells being the primary producing cells of intrinsic factor (FALSE: parietal cells)

I would say that it's strengths include many Clinical Correlates, helpful tips, biological detail that even Examkrackers is missing, as well as helpful tools for verbal reasoning and writing sample, so it excels in supplying study materials. With that said, Kaplan is not in my opinion accurate as an assessment tool as to where you stand relative to the actual MCAT exams released by the AAMC, as its focus does not parallel the MCAT's focus per se. Would give it a 3.5 if possible.

Comment: Overall, great quality (for the price, as ould be expected from a Kaplan program). The detail on all the body systems and organic chem topics is great for me, as a non-science major taking the MCAT. It's an easy, anytime read, although some of their mnemonics are s little silly and childish. If it helps, I'm not going to knock it!

Comment: Shipped on time and the book was in great shape.

Thanks
Tim