Kaplan MCAT General Chemistry Review

This book covers all of the areas in general chemistry with very clear explanations. The book also includes the rating system which tells you what topics are popular in the MCAT. The analogies used to explain the concepts are also very accessible. For example, to explain the Collision Theory of Chemical Kinetics, it makes use of the analogy of boxing. Not all blows and punches result in a knock-out; only those of the right angle and power. This is analogous to not all collisions of reactant molecules result in the formation of a product;only those of the right orientation and sufficient energy. The book also draws your attention to easy traps on the MCAT such as the half-full electronic configuration of Cr. A minor setback is that it doesn't have a lot of practice questions. Though 350 seems to be fairly good, given the notorious time constraint of the MCAT, more practice questions will give the book a big plus. However, since the book is aimed at revision (not teaching) and its...Read more

This book is tiny compared to an actual chemistry text book, yet provides a vast amount of information. It is good as a refresher. However, as someone else mentioned, there are a few typos in the book (Chp. 5, rate of reactions is a good example). The text explains a concept well, then the graphic below the text does not match the information given. Slightly irritating, but not something that will hurt your understanding of the material. I have to admit I take joy in discovering these errors (because it means I remember the material).

As for the questions at the end of each chapter, I'm torn. They are sufficiently tricky, which helps with minor points that you should know for a better understanding of the material. But, the questions also include topics not yet covered, as another reviewer mentioned. Then, in the explanations of the chapter review questions, it will say something silly like, "As you will remember, . . ." -- no, I don't remember because the chapter (and...Read more

I'm currently reviewing for the MCAT with this and the rest of the Kaplan books. As a Chemistry major and tutor, I find this book to explain chemistry very poorly (with unhelpful and ludicrous metaphors), and to prepare for the MCAT even less well. The sample problems emphasize calculator use (forbidden on the MCAT), and the chapter reviews frequently ask questions about the wrong chapters (for example, thermochemistry questions were asked in the kinetics chapter).

Possibly even more frustrating, the sample problems consistently throw in Organic Chem concepts which complicate the matters even further; so, in a nutshell, when trying to review kinetics, you'll find yourself more frustrated attempting to recall thermochemistry and organic concepts which were obviously not covered in the chapter. This book seems like it would be a good prep for the AP test, except for its blatant overuse of OChem. The result is a mess of a book which seems to have been thrown together from...Read more