Admissions Books

A friend of mine had a copy of this book, which I recently looked through. I can assure you that nothing you glean from this book is going to make it easier for you to get into law school. Admissions at Harvard are pretty straightforward - they look at your LSAT score, GPA, and then any extracurricular and work experience you have.
You want to get into HLS? Work hard in undergrad, get top-notch grades, look into some interesting internships, and consider enrolling in an LSAT preparatory course. Other than that, the only advice I can give you is to get your applications in as early as possible in the admissions cycle.

The author, Willie J. Epps Jr., is of no relation to the previous Dean, as stated in Kevin Meyer's review. The author was a student at Harvard Law who wanted to help college students achieve their goals of getting into law school by uncovering the mystery of how others did just that. The author's insight into the types of candidates and applications accepted into Harvard Law is invaluable for college students considering law school and the essays provided by accepted students give those applying a view of what types of essays made the cut. The book is helpful for students trying to develop a strong candidacy to any law school -- not just Harvard. While some reviewers find the student comments 'egotistical' , one should be reminded that it is the nature of 'personal' essays. (Yes, one's own pride needs to be in check when reading the applications and essays of these exemplary individuals.)
This book can prove to be very helpful when the application process seems nothing but daunting! Thanks Willie.

I picked this book up in a "bricks and mortar" bookstore, and it only took me about two seconds to realize it was totally worthless. Epps's father was a Dean at Harvard College, which, I assume, is how he got the authority to pass such a book off as an expert "How To" guide. As other reviewers have noted, it's little more than a compilation of survey responses from people who have gotten in.

If you really want to get into Harvard Law, focus hard on rocking the LSAT and then buy Montauk's book instead.

i will tell you precisely how to get into harvard law school:

a) buy your admission or

b) be related to a dean of admissions or

c) earn excellent grades and a high lsat score from a reputable college, and don't come off as a jerk in your essay.

beyond that there is no other tactic at your disposal. no book will ever get you into an ivy league law school, and if you are looking for essay advice then you can find it online for free. there is a copy of this book in the career services office of my college. there is basically a copy of this book available on harvard's website (all the info is there).

you can only exemplify your worth to harvard through the choices that you have made in your academic career. that means if the extent of your extracurricular involvement was setting up the keg for that frat party frosh year, or you find yourself as a senior with a 3.2 GPA, your salvation will not be contained in this book. allay the desperation, and get some work experience.

good luck with your search, and discriminate against anyone who is trying to sell you something.

I just wanted to point out to the review who claimed "This book is filled with people who got 4.5 and above GPAs and LSAT scores of 170 and better." It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a GPA of 4.5 in college. The highest GPA one can achieve in college is 4.33 and thats *if* the school awards an A+ for a grade of 100%. Most schools just award ordinary A's which caps the maximum GPA at 4.0.

I have also bought other books and I think this is the best one out of the various brands. But, nothing is better then having a coach that has taken or taking a class where you can gain inisight into other people's strenghts and weaknesses. This is a good book-but it should not be the only means of study.

While I used the Official GMAT as the core of my study efforts, this book is a great supplement, it helps you understand how to think about the questions. I highly recommend using this, I think it helped me with my prep for the GMAT

I took the GMAT today and my GMAT score was 90 points lower than my lowest Princeton Review CAT score from the 04 edition of cracking the GMAT.

I made a 770 on both Powerprep tests (however my scores were highly inflated since I answer all of the questions in the ETS Guide before taking the Powerprep tests) and a 720 and 740 on the Princeton Review CATS.

I made a 610 (on diagnostic), 540, 570, 550 on the Kaplan CATs from the 05 edition.

I scored a 640 (46 math 31 verbal) and a 610 (41 math and 32 verbal) respectively on the Peterson CATs. I did not read the Peterson book.

Most importantly, my Peterson CAT scores were almost idential to my real GMAT score.

According to my unofficial GMAT score, I scored a 630: 46 on Math at 79% and 31 on verbal at 62% with an overall 79% ranking (or I scored higher than 79% of all the test takers).

Now if you want to know where you are at presently, take a couple of the Peterson's CATs.

However, I have more work to do if I want to get accepted into a top 10 MBA program for the Fall 2006 semester.

All that you need to be a success on the GMAT is the Princeton Review's book, and the disk that comes with it. However, you must also study the 10th Edition ETS book before utilizing the Princeton Review. This will allow you to get "warmed up" and get the cob webs out of you quantitative ability, and it will also allow you to start getting down a system for attacking GMAT problems. I did every problem in the book at least once. The thing I like about the Princeton Review is that it teaches you how to guess wisely. My score improved by 100 points using the Princeton Review's materials and concepts. This has allowed me to focus on the top ten schools. I will put it to you this way..my neighbor studied using only the Princeton Review, and he attends NYU's Stern School of Business, my good friend used only the Princeton Review and he is starting Stanford this fall! I received the exact same score from the Princeton Review's practice GMATs that I recieved on the actual test. Infact, some of the problems were exactly like the ones I reviewed minutes before I took the actual GMAT! I believe the Princeton Review is a must have if you are serious about doing well on the GMAT!!!!

Contrary to Peterson's "GMAT CAT Success" (which I also reviewed), the strength of this bargain lies in its book and NOT in the tests provided on the CD-ROM and in the Internet site (read on to find out why). There's a solution for this problem ? Princeton offers the same book without the CD. That way you'll be able to avoid the extra money that they charge for the lousy CD.

The Book :
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The math sections -

First and foremost, the book will try helping you to create the state of mind needed to succeed in the GMAT. It goes down hard on ETS - your opponents - whenever it can. It makes you realize and accept the fact that their main goal is to make you fail in the test. It's a war of minds - your mind against the test makers' minds.

Second, it introduces a few powerful techniques such as process of elimination, plugging numbers to the cosmic problems and working backwards, that serve as invaluable source for cracking the hard questions and saving precious time. The examples that follow are very good and help to master these techniques.
Third, the theoretical math material given is extensive but not sufficient. You'll still need to check out other sources such as the free software of ETS to get a complete picture.

The verbal section -

The writers have done a good job in categorizing not only the kinds of questions you're going to meet, but also the kinds of mistakes that are common in this section. Nevertheless, the key for cracking this part is to do as many examples as one can - and that's why other sources are required.

The writing assessment section -

There are 26 pages of a comprehensive guide for this section in the test. It seems that the authors have invested a considerable amount of energy in this section that is overlooked in some books, probably because it doesn't't contribute to the general score in the test.

If you want to focus on this area I recommend buying a book that concentrate on the verbal section to get even more material.

The Internet Extra Help :
------------------------------
This option gives you access to 4 online tests and a GMAT discussion board. The tests are relatively easy; they will not represent your performance on test day, nor will they let you access explanations of mistakes you might have. On the other hand, the discussion board might be of genuine help, as people that have taken the test come over there and share their experience and interest free advices.

The CD-ROM :
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The CD is the weakest link; Once installed, you'll find warm up questions and 4 tests that don't begin to compare to the level of the actual GMAT. Pay attention that in order to find the answers to the (rather easy) questions you will have to click on the anwer themselves.

To improve their merchandise I would urge Princeton's staff to start thinking of thought-provoking questions. Unless the CD substance changes drastically - this deal is not recommended.

The book I purchased arrived on time and was useful for a test I was scheduled to take.

No problems or worries with this order.

I passed the test.

I found the example games in this book to be exceedingly difficult and very unlike the games on the real test. I went through a couple of chapters and then put the book aside. For Logic Games practice, the best thing to do is just practice as many real test games as possible. It really works. One hint that really helped me was to use the highlighter that is allowed to construct your sketches for the games, it cuts down on a lot of erasing and re-writing. I found the Kaplan Test-Prep book to be really helpful. I should also add that the hints in this book are helpful, so if you have the money, buy it just for that, but skip the practice games. I started out getting in the mid 150's on practice tests, but by being consistent and practicing day after day I ended up with a 167 on test day. Good luck!

I agree with reviewer B. Peet that the problems in the Arco workbook are unlike the LSAT problems and that the best LSAT prep is to simply take as many of the old tests as possible. However, I think that for $9 it is really worth the cash simply for the mental habits it inculcates - habits that are quite useful on many of the logic games. While the Kaplan book provided tests that were more like the LSAT I found that Arco gave me more of the sort of challenge I was looking for in a supplement to taking actual old LSATs. Also, 75% of Kaplan's advice was fluff and commonsense and could have been said in half the words, whereas Arco's advice was succinct and genuinely helpful.

If you are struggling with the Logic Games section of the LSAT, as I am, you might want to stay away from this book. Perhaps it was designed for someone already scoring fairly well and was looking to add a few more points to their score, because it certainly does not cater to the individual trying to learn the basic techniques in solving logic games. I cannot imagine anyone diagramming in a timely manner using the methodology contained within. The structure of warm up exercises followed by mini-games eventually leading up to practice games should work but doesn't. I never grasped how the warm-ups tied into the overall scheme of the game. The explanations following each section were short, at times awkward, and narrow in scope. The sections and explanations just did not seem to build off of each other. Not a friendly environment for someone trying to learn. However, if you are looking for a source for all of the different types of logic games, this might be for you. It contains an incredible variety of game types. You just need to be fairly efficient with them before you get started on this book.

Are the logic puzzles your Achille's heel on the LSAT? Then this is the book for you.

Work through the problems in this book, and the actual questions on the test will seem much easier. The examples in this book are much more difficult than the actual test. I do not think you will ever learn all the catagories of questions and identify each one definitively, but that is not the point of your studies. This book will challenge you and make the process of thinking through the logic puzzles much easier.

The book only gets 4 stars because it surprisingly contains several typos and one wrong answer. I would expect a study guide to have no mistakes.

This book had a definite impact on my score. If you take the free LSAT practice exam and score less than 150, then this book is probably not for you; purchase a more generalized study guide. This book is for the people that want to get the highest scores and accepted at the best rated law schools.

I must admit, I never read this book, as the book was published after my sons had already finished high school. Although I can't comment on the book, I take exception with those reviewers on this blog that belittled the authors in a personal way. The authors were incredible S.A.T. tutors. They lived (may still do) in the next town and had the best and well-deserved reputations in the business. Their expertise in "test taking" was remarkable. And they were nice people too! Kids liked them and parents liked them. I recommended them to all of my friends and those that used them were very very happy. My sons used them for the verbal section and the writing sample. One got 800 on the writing sample and 720 on the verbal. The other got a 750 on the writing and a 720 on the verbal. Thank you Andrea and Jay Blumenthal.
By the way, it's been 10 years since we used them and I want to recommend them to a younger friend. I just googled their names to see if they were still in business and came across their book on Amazon.

like most married couples this book is a trifling idiots' paradise: peruse this tiny nugget of rotten wisdom and come back duller and dumber than before. Theu should pay you to take it off their hands; the unsold copies must be filling up the garage.

A bunch of nonsense from "experts" who claim to be in the "business" for years, which probably means they went to ETS.ORG and read about SAT's and SAT II's and then went to a few colleges' websites to learn about admission dates and guidelines. The book is a real snoozer, empty of vividness, insight, or help. If my parent read this and then tried to relay this drivel to me I would sue for Child Abuse. Pay attention in class, go to a few websites, consult the trained help who have expertise at your school, study vocab, and leave this where it belongs: in the No Sale area in your Shopping Cart.

Too general to instruct, too bland to entertain, this soporific release from a husband and wife--or corpse and corpse--induces ennui, not edificxation. All books on the subject are more helpful: those books will have more sample test-taking strategies, will illustate more re colleges' relationship to score, and will break down exactly what a 1200 on a SAT means: the number wrong, the weaknesses inherent in such a score, the levels of Un iversities that will either laugh or accept. There should be something on the new SAT's (in 18 months) and the supposed racism that is built inside these questions. A history of ETSA, an overview of ACT's, and any reference to the MANY contreoversies that thse tests evoke would also flesh this slim and stupid volume out. This book would fit comfortably at the bottom of a parrot's cage, but be warned: animal may lkaern to speak like a smug lawyer who never had one original thought.

I bought this book as a jumior in High School and now that I am a college freshman I think that I can honestly say that the book did not help at all. Much better info was to be had at College Board's website and in the Barron's series. The book is boring and unhelpful concerning types of tests, dates of tests, and strategies taking the tests. It seems like a rush job, and a waste of money. Better you save 20 bucks and buy 10 real SAT's and simply take the practice exams. In this book the advice is so general and so banal that you will sleep your way--something thre authors seemed to do--after the first five pages. Go somewhere else and and pwork your way through the problems. The self help section at stores is so filled with this type of garbage that I expoect to see a book soon called Self Help Writers in Need of Self Help.

The authors of this book once again raise the question of whether those who work in the social "sciences" will ever allow their work to be subjected to the same academic rigor as the physical sciences. To wit, William G. Bowen is the head of the Mellon Foundation, which is in possession of the research used to justify the claims made in this book. In real science the data would be made available to anyone. In the case of this book, however, the Mellon Fundation will only make the data available under "special" circumstances:

"Requests for access ... must go beyond a general desire to recheck results; they should instead offer sound reasons for believing that there is a likelihood of error or misinterpretation in the work of others..."

That's a quote from the Mellon Foundation's guidleines to obtain the data. In other words, in order to get a chance to prove that it's wrong you already have to be able to prove it's wrong. Hmmmm....Not very scientific for these two "social scientists."

National Review's Melissa Seckora recently gained fame for disproving much of the data used to justify Michael Bellesiles' book "Arming America." Mr. Bellesiles reputation has come under furious assault for the falsification he used to support his book's thesis. Perhaps a similar fate awaits these 2 men, if their data ever actually becomes available. Perhaps if Mr. Bellesiles had been the head of "his own" foundation? (It is, of course, Mr. Mellon's money - I'm sure he's spinning in his grave.)

The debate over Affirmative Action is nearly always ill-informed, polemical, and fraught with racial symbolism. While many reject The Shape of the River because they are unable to look past their personal prejudices, those that consider it with an intelligent and open mind find a great deal of strong statistical evidence to support the well-reasoned conclusions of the book's authors. Those that call the book "arrogant" without addressing any of the specific points of the authors look suspiciously like people with no grasp of statistics.

I have read the book twice. Truth often is stranger than fiction. The book is complicated but the central theses is that blacks "need" lower standards to succeed in school, jobs and life. Basically, it says they cannot succeed in life without me the arrogant, academic white liberal providing lower standards for admissions to college for you, the blacks.

The whole subject of differences in test scores, academic achievement is a touchy subject. White IQ averages 100 and Blacks IQ averages 85, a gap of 15 points. Many believe, that the difference will be less once equal opportunity is provided. These people believe in equal opportunity and believe "all races" have the ability to succeed.

Bok and Bowen basically comes and says they CANNOT succeed without lower hurdles, lower admissions criteria, the aid of white paternalism. Bok and Bowen have basically accepted the very notion that blacks are inferior to whites and they will never succeed without the white man support. Itýs again the ideas of the "white man burden" to civilized the Africans in our midst. If this is not white racism at its worst. I have no idea what it is. Paternalism of liberal whites toward blacks is the worst form of racism possible. It is the "plantation mentality" at work again. If you behave toward the plantation master, I will invite you inside the masterýs house and let you have the goodies.

There no way to get around it: Bok and Bowen are academic racists.... academic racists of the worst type because they believe intrinsically that blacks are inferior to whites and only through their "benevolence" will blacks succeed. I find this ugly, distasteful and objectionable.

For public universities like the Universities of California, Texas, Michigan, etc. It is well known for decades now that there is two-admissions process. One process is for Whites-Asians and another process is for Blacks-Hispanics. At the University of Michigan, Whites-Asians will be auto-reject at the 6% percentile of applicants. Blacks-Hispanics at 6% will be auto-accept. Berkeley has had a gap year after year of 250-350 SAT points between the two groups. The NYT published the SAT scores of white-Asians, in the 1200-1300 range, whereas blacks-hispanics were in the range of 900, under a thousand. It is no secret-open seceret now that public universities have two-admissions process based on your race. It's like there is two-universities, one for you and one for me.

The only reason I write this is that public universities are under public control and public scrutiny. Much of the data came out of Freedom of Information Act request.

Private universities meanwhile are not publicly obligated to release their admissions data. But here in this book, by the former Presidents of Harvard and Princeton, they are publicly admitting they have two-admissions process. If you are white, your application will be placed with other white applicants and if you are blacks, you will be competing against other blacks.

It's an open admission of a two-system admissions process with the blacks system of admissions with much, much lower standards. I would think this is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but Bok and Bowen insists "the only way they can make it"

This white academic racism of Bok and Bowen reminds me of the separate drinking fountains of the old US South. One fountain for whites and a shabbier one for the colored. Bok and Bowen is here endorsing the white racism of the US South. White and Blacks cannot drink from the same fountain, Bok and Bowen is saying they cannot "compete" because they are just too dumb.
Instead of the KKK of the south promoting the inferiority of blacks, we have the President of Harvard and Princeton, respected academics, promoting the inferiority of blacks. I consider this academic racism the worst form of "hate" imagination because it is an intellectual, accepted belief that blacks are inherently inferior.

Needless to say, I find the white racism of Bok and Bowen shocking and objectionable. Moreover, they openly admit that Ivy schools have a two-tier system of admissions, one for me and one for you people will be shocking to many readers. Bok and Bowen even defends the two-system admissions process.. lower standards for blacksý.Shocking.

Please buy the book, read it, and judge it for yourself. Your opinion might be different than mine, but the white racism of Bok and Bowen is the racism of the worst imaginable type.... they have concluded and accepted blacks are inferior and they need a lower set of standards to go anywhere in life or college, with the white man help of course. If this is not racism, I have no idea what is.

I've read the foreward and introduction to "The Shape of the River", and I've scanned the body of the text. This seems more like an advertisement for an ivy-league education than any great revelation. Of course a Harvard education, and all of the connections that it brings, would result in great income prospects; it seems to go without saying.

Since the administration of Harvard is not a racist body, affirmative action at Harvard can't be considered as a remedy to a limited case of racism or racial inequality. In other words, Harvard is attempting to correct for general social injustice. Unless they are attempting to integrate the campus for the benefit of the majority. In fact, this seems to be a recurring theme in both the foreward and the introduction: how can we prove that blacks are just like us if there aren't any blacks around to show?

I can tell you from my own first-hand experience (i.e. conversations with minority students at my alma mater), that they often feel on the spot whenever issues of race arise in the classroom, and that they resent it. The professors and students seems to always want to turn to them for their "expert opinion" without prior consultation, and conversations too often gravitate to issues of racism and race relations. This is stressful to anyone.

Neither Princeton nor Harvard nor Williams nor Dartmouth, nor all of the select colleges and universities in this great nation combined, have enough slots in their programs to begin to remedy the impact of racism in our society. I find the idea that our select universities are going to independently remedy the wrongs of 400 years to be quaint indeed. Even the book argues that admission to the rest of the institutions doesn't require special consideration (i.e. the test scores are high enough). I guess I find the idea a bit presumptuous, and I guess that I believe that integration of the campus is more for the benefit of the school and its administrators than for the students themselves, even if it is beneficial to those students, as the book so clearly demonstrates.

I want to read more of the book, and I want to research additional material. Thomas Sowell, in his essay in Forbes magazine, "Lies, damned lies and blurs", calls "The River" a blur because, according to him, "focused studies have found devastating differences in drop-out rates between those admitted under lower standards and those who got in like everyone else." He also repeatedly refers to "racially-sensitive admissions" as "racial quotas", which I found to be a blur all its own.

I still think that, ultimately, we are going to have to abandon a priori consideration of race, as the courts and the public are gradually rejecting preferences, thereby increasing the importance of finding alternative formulations to create diversity. If firmly believe that application of these formulations would result in a diverse and, more importantly, happy population.

The Shape of The River continues the same liberal deception and dogma we have come to expect in the debate over affirmative action, and this helps racists of all stripes- liberal and conservative ones. See Sowell on the data.

1) The authors skew their results towards elite private colleges, that most black students don't attend. Their sample has 24 private institutions and only 4 state institutions. But in fact only 9% of blacks attend private institutions. In addition they are selective in their sample of actual black students. Two thirds of those sampled have one or more parents with college degrees- something not typical of the black college going population as a whole. With such a selective sampling it is no wonder the authors got the "results" they wanted.

2) The authors lump together blacks admitted with no special preferences with those admitted under lower standards, rather than separating them out so as to disguise the impact of AA. But in fact, as numerous other studies show, where black students are similar to their white counterparts, their graduation
rates have been similar. In other words they are cutting the mustard, just like everybody else. But where there are those admitted under lower standards, then there is a wide gap in graduation rates.

3) Several other studies contradict the author's conclusions and for some strange reason they will not make their base data public so that others can analyze it. As shown above, they lump together blacks enjoying no special preferences with those admitted under such- disguising the impact of preferences. Their refusal to release base data (like any normal academic study would), suggests something fishy at work.

Some have used various items in the book to argue for the declining intelligence of the black population, based on the fact of high IQ black women having fewer children. But this is bogus. In fact the intelligence scores of blacks (along with other initially low IQ whites) have been rising for decades. As Thomas Sowell points out, it is the "norming" of IQ tests from their earlier baselines so that increases are reshuffled to yield a "normal average" of 100, that has concealed black
progress. When progress is measured from the original baselines, in fact, whole nations have experienced rising IQs, undermining the racist assumptions of so called "decline".

Some whites would like to assume that black folks can't learn anything unless they get some sort of "special help" or conversely, that black progress is due to "preferences." Either way, the presumption is something doled out by white people.
But back in the Jim Crow era, when blacks were blatantly and systematically denied opportunities open to whites, blacks were making progress without any "special" help or "preferences". All black PUBLIC schools like Dunbar High in Washington DC consistently produced test scores for decades above the white average. As far back as the First World War, black soldiers from northern states, places like New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio scored higher on mental tests than white soldiers from southern regions like Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi.

By the way, the academic performance gap between Asians and whites is even bigger than the gap between blacks and whites according to Thernstroms' new book "No excuses". So white performance ain't anything to write home about either. People should remember this the next time they so easily point fingers at black people-- whether to condemn them, or "help" them with yet more deceptive and dubious "preferences."

Our family purchased this book after admission to West Point and before the school year started. It includes an array of very practical information I haven't seen in any WP publication or anywhere else. I find the format of the book makes it a very easy read and am grateful it exists. I don't understand criticizing the author for saying there is an updated version - perhaps the reader should have considered it had been updated since he/she was 12. Whether you're thinking about applying or already admitted, read this book.

I got this book several years ago and it has been my guiding light through the entire admissions process. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone applying or considering applying to West Point. Smallwood lets the candidate know, in no uncertain terms, what they are getting themselves into and how to prepare for it. The section on "How To Get In" is particularly helpful during the complex admissions process.

I would recomend this book for any potential applicant for one simple reason: It worked for me. I received an appointment to West Point this year--largely because of the information in this book.

I bought this book at USMA after finishing an overnight there, and read about a third of it on the way home. The book (written only in 2000) completely contradicts what other publications and cadets themselves (particularly Plebes) told me regarding Beast, academics, military training, etc., and some of the admission data was inaccurate. Aside from this, the writing is horrible and the author often drones on at times. You get the feeling that you are reading the script from a 1950s newsreel at times. On a positive note, when interviewing members of the math and chemistry department, one can see what they should brush up on before the go to the Academy. Do not buy this book if you are seeking admission, and even if you have your appointment, in my opinion it was still a waste of money.

Mr. Smallwood means well in writing this book, and I must say it DID help me...when I bought the book back when I was 12!!!

Now that I have already gone through the Admissions process, and am now going to West Point, I must admit that the information in the book is horribly outdated, especially about the Nomination process!

I feel that by reading, "Absolutely American," and gobbling up the wonderful catalogs and brochures that the Admissions Office provides for...free, you'll be good to go!

A very good book for those interested in attending the United States Military Academy. Provides very straight forward information about what is required, what it is like being a cadet both good and bad. A perfect book to give to either the parent of or the interested student.

THe book was in great condition, like new and it arrived in a timely fashion. I had no problems what so ever.
Great price!

There is very little difference between this edition and the previous one which is normally the case with college textbooks today. It's a mystery to me why colleges use any material by this author. Brooks and Cole should stop publishing him. The Zumdahl methods for teaching chemistry are truly awful. You can find various mistakes in this and previous editions of this text. His derivation regarding the ideal gas law is one example. Why even include it in the text if you can't do it correctly? He obviously does not understand basic Newtonian Physics.

Chemical Principles
Chemical Principles is a fantastic book! I use it as a reference text with anything i dont understand being looked up straight away in this book. I am a high school student who has found this book to be very useful in my studies of chemistry!
I recommend that you buy this book as i found it easy to understand and has many examples questions and activities for you to do.

Not only did my chemistry class not use this book, but I cannot imagine how ANY class could use this. This book is so badly written, that it isn't even worth opening. It doesn't follow any particular order, and it frequently jumps back and forth between highly advanced topics and surprisingly dumb examples. Reading through even a single chapter of this book will lower the intelligence quotient of any sane individual. I suppose this book could serve a useful purpose, but only if that purpose was to teach the students to forget what they already knew about chemistry. I think I've made my point: do not buy this book under any circumstances.

Why does my university use this book? The University of Washington uses this book to weed out the pre med students. Why do they choose this book? Zumdahl purposely wrote this book to be confusing. Try reading pp. 668 through 670 in the fifth edition. He wrote this to be especially confusing by not being consistent with phase signs nor giving clear statements, such as "When the phase of the right orbital is reversed and combined with the left orbital." What orbitals is he talking about? The ones on a figure, that happen to be on a different page, which is not in view when reading this page? This book is horrible and is designed for the student to fail. Thank you Zumdahl and UW for trying to ruin chemistry for your students.

I took the MCAT about 10 years ago, did very well on it and am now a doctor. I was picking up this book for a friend who is preparing for medical school. I thought this book was great. To prepare, I read this and then I got some old MCAT tests. I took a review course but that felt like a waste of time. I was busy while taking the review course and it felt kind of basic and I didn't have time to study outside the course. The best thing I did was take the summer before the August MCAT and I just spent the whole summer, day after day doing old tests. That, I think, is what did the trick. I would say steer clear of Kaplan and Barrons tests because they tend to be too hard, focusing on minutia that will never be tested and diverting your energy away from material that you actually need. I seem to recall Princeton Review tests were pretty good. But if you can get your hands on old tests, that is the way to go.

Gives easy to understand reviews of the MCAT subject matter. Some errors in the book. would not recommend using it if you haven't taken the class first. Lack of practice problems is my main objection.

PLease, do not make the same mistake I did, that is, buying this book 3 weeks before the MCAT to study. This book is inaccurate in many areas at best and insulting to one's intellegence at worst. It only covers about 75-80% of the material you need to know! Unacceptable if you are relying on this for a comprehensive study. Stay away from this one!

I can no longer trust this book. At first I thought it was just accidental deletions and sloppy editing, but the outright conceptual mistakes in the subject matter make me wonder about who was writing some of it. It's truly hard to believe that Princeton Review would put out something of this quality but it looks like I'll have to shell out another 60 bucks on a different book. I want my money back!

This book explains materials very well and the multiple choice questions are good.However, there are many mistakes especially in orgo. I also found that some topics were completely omitted(like blood groups in Biology)and many other things. The verbal questions were too easy and insufficient

This book doesn't discuss any strategies for passing the series 7, it basically consists of various investment tips from financial planners seems to be marketed more towards a person who is looking to invest.

This is a great addition to your Series 7 test prep materials. It is unlike any other book available. I highly recommend reading this book!

This book is absolutely useless. The information provided is not connected in any relevant way to the Series 7 test and does not give any more insight into 'thinking like a stockbroker' than would a copy of Barron's or the Economist. In fact, go buy the latest issue of Barron's, save $15, and get a lot more articles. You can feel almost immediately that this book was made simply to cash in on anxious Series 7 test takers. You do not need this book; it is an expensive and unnecessary way to acquaint yourself with information otherwise available.

This book is completely useless. This book could be useful for someone with no prior knowledge on investing BUT it's very unlikely as the person who wrote this book had typos throughout the book. I have a problem with buying a book that says "Series 7 exam prep" and discusses nothing about the exam. Not worth the money spent , i wouldn't even buy it used. PAGE 66 ...the word on the first paragraph should be "manage" not "mange" although at some points of this book i really thought it was in french. So useless.

save your money and buy a book that really intent to help you on your Series 7 test.

This book is good for people who are legitimately worried about not getting into med school. However, if you've done the basic stuff and you're probably a pretty good applicant, the book won't really teach you anything that you don't already know. If you want it, buy it early in the process. As of your junior year of college, you should know most of this stuff already.

This is NOT a book for those who've known they were going to be a doc from the beginning. This is for those who may have just decided to become a doc after getting done with a non-science major or anybody else who hasn't followed the high school -> college -> med school path. I really appreciated the honesty and reality of this book. It definitely cut short any idealism I have about becoming a doctor (well, not all of them, I'm a sucker for idealism), and emphasizes the need to have a backup plan! A must for those non-trads like me taking a crack at it late in life. Good luck to all!

This book contains a reasonably large amount of useful information. Finding one book or even one source of all your med school information should not be anyone's goal. It is an easy read with a vast range of topics which are all applicable. One of the most important parts of the book includes a listing and run down of almost every med school in the country, including gpa and mcat statistics, and tuition.

I wouldn't say that this text is geared to 'just non-trads', but to everyone.

Pros: This author encourages you to contact him... impressive for any author, let alone an M.D. He gives a 'real-world' view of medicine, and this being his 9th edition, has a fair amount of experience in the 'pre-med' arena.

One thing I really like about this book is the reality check it gives. Facts like M.D.s have about 10 years of post-graduate education, yet are told what to do by people who went to school for only 2 years post graduate to get their M.B.A.'s (Since medicine is becoming coorperatized by HMO's, and new physicians are finding themselves joining managed groups or hospital positions, ran by 'management' MBAs). The fact that HMO's are taking over and autonomy is no longer available for the physician. The fact that it is no longer a 'stable' career as U.S. and foreign medical schools are cranking out more physicians than the demand, and that salaries fell for the first time ever recently... and that it will ultimately be the willingness to be of service and to help that will continue to spur students into medicine, as salaries continue to fall and current M.D. positions are replaced by PAs FNPs and other specialists. He, and many physicians I've talked to, have supported his idea that M.D.'s are losing their security by the excess supply, and replacement by PAs, FNPs etc.

These are the things that few 'Get In' texts fail to mention, yet many physicians attest to.

Cons: You only get 'half' a book. The first half is the book, the second half is a dummed down version of the Medical School Admission Requirements (which you should get if you are seriously considering medical school). The first half has valuable information, the second could either be scrapped or include more inforamtion... it doesn't include nearly the information it tries to reflect from the MSAR.

Summary: A worth buying text... more realistic than most out there. Like most others, its a bit short. Its a good reality check to think about the current state of medicine, where its headed, what you expect from becoming a physician, and what likely will be. Great for any student who is new to the idea of becoming a doctor.

This is the only book I could find that dealt directly with issues that the nontraditional applicant would face in applying to medical school. I highly recommend it for applicants who are older, have a non-science degree or have other obstacles to overcome in applying to medical school. One chapter is devoted to success stories of applicants who had huge obstacles to overcome and still were able to do the impossible - getting accepted into medical school despite these barriers. Very inspiring!