All,

I have noticed the link to the MCAT Secrets Study Guide on this site. Has anyone purchased this guide and was it helpful?


Alana

I have it - It was not helpful for me.

Thanks for your opinion. I am in the process of deciding what is going to be the best approach for the MCAT.

I am working full time (like most of us) and need a system which will work from home. My schedule for the summer does not permit me to be in an actual classroom.

I noticed that Kaplan has an online course. I am going to check into that.

I bought it. Its a bunch of crap. I'll send it to you for free if you want it.

I took Kaplan two years ago. I ended up with a 28 and I was scoring in the 24ish range on their practice tests. If I had buckeled down more I think it could have been higher. (I hate physics.)Kaplan is worth your time if you get distracted easily. Having a schedule really helps. Taking the test multiple times under real conditions is the most beneficial aspect. They also have lots of helpful practice material. But my prof. was just another college kid. He scored in the 90th percentile - didn't mean he could teach. So if you are very self-motivated and able to replicate test-like conditions then you don't need the class.

Thanks for the confirmation. I am going to purchase the ExamKrackers and practice tests from AAMC. I think that will be my best bet.

I am not hearing too many positive things about Kaplan and it's really expensive. I need to save money for the applications.

Hi, this message it for Setzer with a posting dated May 23, 2005. You mentioned that you had purchased a study guide from mcat-secrets.com and did not find it helpful. I was originally looked into buying it, but now have reservation given the negative feedback from others. At the same time I am curious about the contents presented in the study guide, would it be possible for you to send me a copy (as you had stated that you wouldn't mind send it out for free if anyone interested)? Thank you in advance for your time.

I have checked several forums about the Kaplan vs. the Examkrackers review course, as they are both about 1500. I have heard nothing good about Kaplan as of yet, and have yet to hear anything about the Examkrackers review.

However, I did purchase the Examkrackers Audio Osmosis CD, and their 5 book set... the CD is super good for studying and review, and the books follow along well. The CD's have some dry humor, but it makes subjects like physics and organic chemistry much more fun than they ever were in class.

Both the instructors for the Audio CD scored in the high 90th percentile on the MCAT... one of them used to help write and structure the MCATs... they show how the MCAT often uses simple science, but asks questions in a way that makes it seem very complex, and the CD breaks it down and makes it simple and shows how to acheive this quantitative and qualitative thinking.

~BB

I agree. The MCAT-secrets study guide was a bunch of crap. Don't waste your money.

Hi, I am new and I had some questions I registered for my MCAT for the first time and how do I choose where to send my scores to the schools of my choice and does anyone know about MCAT secrets is it pretty good.

Hi, I am new and I had some questions I registered for my MCAT for the first time and how do I choose where to send my scores to the schools of my choice and does anyone know about MCAT secrets is it pretty good.

www.amcas.org - you register for the MCAT here. If you're taking the August MCAT then the deadline is pretty soon. You select the schools that you want scores to go to when you register.

MCAT secrets is a waste of $40.00

I am suprrised that you said that you have heard nothing good about kaplan. I dont' know about now but when i took it, it was the gold standard especially for retakes. people would try to take it on their own, do poorly and then take kaplan and pull theirs scores up tremendously. i didnt' do great on the mcat but my score was pulled up 10 points from the diagnostic that i took on the first day. also, i had college professors teaching most of the courses. even back then they had a lot of options. I had some review online and the otion to watch their video tapes. we took full length test every weekend.
now they have even more options with a variety of prices including a qbank.
i retook the mcat and used the berkley review books and only pulled my score up by a point. it wans't BR's fault though- i had a baby right before the exam.
I think these review courses were great. yeah yeah i ddidn't do spectactularly. however i hadn't taken the prereqs in 10 years and that should have been my first stop. so i blame it on that.
princeton review has a decent couse too, i hear. If i had it to do all over again and was revewing not relearning, I would do tons of questions.

Hi guys - I wrote a FREE study guide that covers 99% of the AAMC recommended MCAT topics.

Check it out at mcatpearls.com - it's an altruistic open-source grassroots initiative. GOOD LUCK!!! Alfa Diallo MD MPH

Thank you so much for the reviews of MCAT Secrets. You just saved me $45 bucks! And thank you Alfa for taking the time and effort to create mcatpearls.com. What a wonderful FREE study resource. I really appreciate it.