Kaplan MCAT Complete 5 Book Subject Review 2009-2010 (Kaplan MCAT Complete Subject Review (5v))

Comment: Typos run rampant in these books. To help illustrate the frustration, on several occasions I consulted the answer key for an (A),(B),(C), & (D) type multiple choice only to find the answer listed as (E)! More bothersome are the authors' attempts to accentuatue the importance of notation only to make the exact same notation mistakes that they so adamantly warn against (i.e. the importance of notating Gibbs free energy versus notating Gibbs free energy at standard conditions). Proofreading & editing were obviously not included in the budget for these books, and I'm sure Kaplan is reaping the rewards.

Comment: I am glad to see I am not the only person noticing errors in the books. I have made it through only the first chapter of Physics and I cannot believe how many errors I have found on practice problems. I usually have the wrong answer, or solve it and can't find the correct answer in the multiple choice. When I go to the back of the book, I am frustrated to see that the way the authors solved it involved incorrectly doing math, or pulling numbers out of nowhere. Thankfully I am ok at physics, enough to figure out their mistakes. However, for the parts that I struggle with, I am nervous to use this book.
It seems like this book wasn't proofread. Sometimes I even find charts that belong on one page showing up randomly a page later. My advice to others- buy another textbook. Who cares about the Kaplan name or guarantee. I wrote to them complaining about the errors and got no assistance from them.

Comment: There are a couple errors in the material of the books, but it is not in every chapter. Kaplan has come a long way from the beginning. These books are not only easy to study from and cover all topics on the MCAT, they are easy on the eyes and allow for optimal reading. Color diagrams and pictures only add to the +. A lot of questions they have in the books, they use in their $1,500 prep course. I highly recommend these books and a complement to other forms of MCAT study.

Comment: These books provide a solid background for the MCAT. The descriptions are clear and diagrams make it easy to understand. My main problem with these books is that they are filled with errors and typos. Different passages in the text contradict each other, there are answers to problems with incorrect math, and sometimes the answers they give are just wrong. If your looking for a book to help review and get some useful tips then this might work. If however, you don't have a strong background in science/math I would not suggest these books. It is both frustrating yet fun to see how many errors you can find. There is at least one error/chapter that I have found so far.