MCAT Biology And Biochemistry: Content Review For The Revised MCAT Download Free (EPUB, PDF)

                
              
MCAT Biology And Biochemistry: Content Review For The Revised MCAT Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Revised for 2016! All of Next Step's books have gotten a full review and update. We have expanded the explanations for our content review books, meaning each volume now has over 1,000 review questions will full explanations of the underlying science.   More Free Stuff!: We are now offering a free full-length exam in addition to the free diagnostic test described below. See the book insert for instructions on how to register for this free additional full length exam.   Free Stuff!: After getting feedback from our tutors and students, we've decided to provide free supplements of 100+ pages (and several additional free practice passages) specifically for those students looking to dive in-depth on molecular genetics and gene expression. You can find a link to the PDF of these free supplements (as well as more information about free updates and upgrades to your books) at the following link:   http://nextsteptestprep.com/mcat-materials-change-log/   Get the most thorough content review available for the revised MCAT. Next Step's Content Review books give you a focused review of the major science topics that will be on the exam, and then offer the most important resource you need when memorizing MCAT content: hundreds of practice questions to help you drill the content until you have it completely mastered.   Understanding the huge volume of content on the MCAT is only the first step, however. For complete MCAT prep, the Next Step Content Review books are only the beginning. To bring your MCAT performance to the next level, you must build upon your content foundation with practice, practice, practice! Check out Next Step’s Strategy and Practice books for the full, timed section practice that you’ll need. Those who purchase a Next Step book also get free access to our online MCAT diagnostic test. See the URL at the front of the book for instructions on how to register. Finally, you can always check for free updates and free upgrades to our books here: http://nextsteptestprep.com/mcat-materials-change-log/
Paperback: 558 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 22, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1505680611
ISBN-13: 978-1505680614
Product Dimensions:  8.5 x 1.3 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:  3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #610,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)   #110 in Books > Education & Teaching > Higher & Continuing Education > Test Preparation > Graduate School > MCAT   #1178 in Books > Education & Teaching > Schools & Teaching > Education Theory > Assessment   #1276 in Books > Education & Teaching > Higher & Continuing Education > Test Preparation > Professional > Medical
I'm using this book for the biochem content review and what bugs me about this prep book is the answer key, which need MAJOR revision. A lot of the questions and answers don't match up. Come on guys, step it up!
They do keep it limited to the surprising number of MCAT relevant subjects in this book, and its still so big. This new biochem section scares me so I had to get a book just for the MCAT. It is a plain book but they do have some good illustrations to crystallize the more concepts like cellular respiration. Like other MCAT prep books, the reader must have some basic chemical knowledge to understand the text, and in some places the authors refer back to subjects that are only discussed in detail later on. In any case, the work overall is readily understandable, and is sufficiently detailed for use both for MCAT reference and MCAT practice. Over 30 passages and 400+ questions!!Thus, with illustrations that are of good quality and content that is kept simple and readable, these two work very well together. This is definitely not a case of pretty pictures being used to obscure weaknesses in the wording! I would recommend it as a cheaper alternative to Kaplan or TPR, especially if you are a bit weaker on biochem.
I have always been weak in biology so was especially worried about the new MCAT given the increased emphasis on bio/bio-chem. This book, so far, has been very useful in prepping for the new exam. The content review is clearly written and the explanations break down the topics in a very easy to understand way. Me and my friends have used this book extensively so far and and are feeling confident leading up to our April test dates.
Errors throughout.
I purchased the full set of Content Review books from the NextStep website in January, and at the time, they were having delays in processing because of typographical errors located in their (then) current books. When I received the new books, I still found spelling errors in many locations, and to give you an example of a glaring error, the structure of ATP on page 339 is incorrect. There should be 3 phosphate groups showing in the picture, not 2. But enough on the typos that are still there....The authors did a good job laying out the AAMC topic outlines for biology and biochemistry in the beginning of the book; however, they failed to follow it completely. Let's start with the Biology half of the book. First of all, nothing is mentioned about "Biotechnology/DNA Technology" and "Genetic Expression in Prokaryotes" (lac operon, repressors, etc.). These topics are explicitly mentioned in the AAMC topic outline! Why have the authors neglected to include it?? This really is an inexcusable act of gross negligence on behalf of NextStep.In addition, I have issues with some of the questions in the book, particularly the "content review problems" at the end of each Section. To give you an example, some of the questions about carbohydrates in "Section 1 Content Review Problems" involve knowledge of organic chemistry. Now I understand how you need to have knowledge of organic chemistry for the MCAT, and those questions I'm speaking about are, indeed, relevant.....however, they don't belong in a section exclusively devoted to biology, especially when you haven't studied organic chemistry yet. In fact, organic chemistry is usually taken after biology I. Those questions I speak of belong in the organic chemistry section of another content review book, not biology. These types of anachronistic questions are scattered throughout the textbook, and it would help if the authors would be a little more consistent with the science subject under study.Speaking of the overall questions in the book, each chapter has "end of chapter problems," which contain an MCAT-style passage or two, plus discrete questions. Then, the authors have "Section Content Review Problems" consisting of multiple choice questions. Finally, there is a comprehensive final exam at the end of each book featuring only multiple choice questions. I really wish that instead of multiple choice questions, the authors should have mixed in some MCAT-style passages with discrete questions as the comprehensive final exam (with complete solutions provided in the back of the book). As far as solutions are concerned, only the "end of chapter problems" are given detailed solutions. The "section problems" and final exam problems are only given letter answers. That's worthy of a full, one-point deduction right there from any review of this book.As far as the Biochemistry half of the book is concerned, it's overkill....really. The explanations are way too thorough and overly detailed, beyond the scope of the MCAT. All you see are a few pictures/diagrams interspersed among vast paragraphs of dense text. It's clear that the authors have absolutely no clue how the MCAT will test biochemistry (and frankly, no one has a clue since nobody has taken the first real test yet!), so they thought that they should just throw everything but the kitchen sink in there. Wrong!! My advice is to go with Kaplan's biochem review, not NextStep.Finally, I must make a few comments regarding this new MCAT coming out: I'm not a fan of it....at all. The overall test time has been doubled to 7 hours, and it incorporates 3 more subjects. With the impending shortage of over 150,000 physicians by 2025 (as predicted by the AAMC itself), why would you want to overburden med school applicants? Is the AAMC actually exacerbating the problem by trying to keep people AWAY from medical school? I really don't get it. However, the upside to all this is that the time to take the MCAT is NOW. Why? Because not much appreciable, statistical information and research will be available to really know how effective the new format is....at least not for another 3 to 5 years or so. Therefore, the best time to take it is this year until about 2017. The MCAT has now been relegated to a very incipient stage, so take advantage of it! Hopefully, medical schools will realize this and forgive a "lower than your personal best" score. If not, and you're rejected from medical school due to a low 2015MCAT score while your other credentials are top-notch, appeal the decision and put up a huge fight. In fact, I would even mention this whole paragraph in your personal statement if you get a low MCAT score! That's what I'm going to do if I don't score well.To sum up, this content review book gets 3 stars from me. It clearly needs another revision and update. How the other 2 reviewers gave this 5 stars is beyond me. It clearly is not worthy of that rating.UPDATE AS OF AUGUST 2015:I downgraded my review from 2 stars to 1 star. The book is absolutely awful. There are quite a few practice passages in here that are just not written well at all. Then, when you go to the explanations in the back of the book, they do a s*** job of explaining the correct answer at the exclusion of the other incorrect answers. You would think that they would explain WHY the incorrect answers are incorrect, which would be VERY helpful and the logical thing to do, but the authors don't do this.Speaking of the authors, Bryan Schnedeker and Jonathan Edwards wrote this book. They both allegedly scored over 40 on the old MCAT, which doesn't really say much. The only extrapolation we can make about that is that they're just good standardized test takers. In this book, we can clearly see that they're both lacking in content knowledge, based on the number of errors I'm seeing.Here is some additional background information on the authors: Schnedeker attended the first 2 years of medical school at UMDNJ, but did not complete the program. He then went onto law school (Rutgers), which he did complete. This speaks volumes. I think he's better off writing about the LSAT than the MCAT, since his medical experience is lacking. I also frown upon people who drop out of medical school because they disrupt the class enrollment, and his/her seat could have been given to a (perhaps more qualified) individual. As for Mr. Edwards, he's a medical school graduate, currently in residency. He did research in biochemistry, which is clearly reflected in the biochem material in this book. It's way too overwhelming and technical...completely overdone. I, and other pre-med students, would appreciate it if he would keep all that detail out of the biochem section. We don't need to know all of those specific reactions and technical details for the MCAT.If I could put these guys out of business, I definitely would. I really regret having purchased their set of content review books, and to put it point blank, I should get a full refund.
Anyone who is going to study for the new MCAT is going to want/need to buy this book. It really makes difficult concepts clear and easy to understand. Just as important, it limits the information you need to know to the information you have to know. Do not waste your time with other MCAT books for Biology prep. Rather, invest in the book and in doing so get access to some amazing prep material.
Not helpful for the new MCAT
Clear explanations. Makes initially complicated topics seem easy. Much better than other prep books I have used.
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