MCAT Psychology and Sociology 2015: Strategy and Practice

This book is exactly what I needed to help prepare myself for the MCAT2015's Psychology and Sociology sections. There is such a dearth of materials out there for the new test, and one of the best things about this book is the sheer volume of practice questions and passages it offers -- very few books out there offer that because test prep companies are still trying to figure out what the new MCAT will be like. NextStep has taken the initiative to do the research and work to stand out as one of the first companies to begin offering actual questions that can help the MCAT2015 student get in the mentality necessary to excel in the social science section of the new test. As someone who previously took the old test, where there was a psychology trial section at the end, I can attest that these questions read quite similarly to the ones that the AAMC was testing out during my trial section. It shows that NextStep has really done their research to make sure that their questions simulate the test as closely as they can.

Another really great study resource that provides several different ways to approach a passage which is great because it means I can be confident that the strategy I'm using really is the best strategy out there for me. I bought the other Nextstep book too, and that's still my favorite thing about their approach. Similar reasons for liking this resource:- Huge amounts of practice. A wealth of passages, strategy coaching, and quality explanations for why answer choices are correct or not correct.- Simple and direct language. I feel like this text goes directly at the strategy for a passage and shines a laser beam on what's important and ultimately, what can be learned from a single passage that will be useful on every passage I encounter in the future. That's really really excellent.However, I wish this text covered more of the content. Psychology and Sociology is a totally new section on the MCAT, and while it's cool that there's a blank glossary in the back for us to fill in, I'm not sure how in-depth I should go on those topics or what I should really focus on. As a bio major who took essentially one psych course in college, I personally would need more instructive material in this book for it to be my only Psych&Soc prep book on the MCAT, but I'm definitely going to keep it around as a strategy and practice bank. And seeing as that's right in the title, it was probably their intent for it to be a really effective and intelligent drill machine in the first place.

This is a wonderful resource for the new psychology and sociology section. I was really looking for a book with more practice questions and passages since there currently are not that many resources released for the new exam. What I find most helpful is the fact that the explanations also underline and highlight key concepts that I should pay attention to when I am going through the passage myself and to practice identifying what words/phrases I should use the highlighting tool for. Additionally, there is a section in the back of the book for me to fill in the self-study outline. I think this is a great way for me to consolidate all my notes in one easily structured manner so that when I review the content in the future, all of the definitions and examples of the main concepts are in one centralized area. One of the hardest parts of this new section is understanding what points I should know, and this outline highlights those main theories for me to focus my studying.

First, it is not the same as the real MCAT. You can use it as extra practice but the answers are poorly explained, some are even not very reasonable.

This book provides an excellent tool for students to self-assess their understanding of the content on this new section of the MCAT, and it details a comprehensive strategy to tackling the stand-alone and passage based questions.However, the book's detailed practice passages are what earned this 5-star review. Content (especially practice passages) for the new Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT are difficult to find, and this prep book comes with four full practice sections. The answer explanations provided are the most thorough I have ever seen. They not only review the content necessary to answer each question, but they explicitly demonstrate how to use their strategy to read through each passage and answer each question. The answer explanations seek to make sure you learn from your mistakes and allow you to avoid them in the future.Students who put in the time to complete all the exercises this book offers could not be better prepared for the MCAT.

This book is a great guide for what should be a pretty tricky section on an already tricky test. And of course, the test is about more than just rote memorization; it's about critical thinking and applying concepts. This book does a great job of presenting realistic practice passages and then giving concise explanations to the answers. They don't waste your time with a bunch of fluff. If you're like me and don't have an extensive background in psych and sociology, you don't need the explanations to go beyond what's needed for the test. They also provided me with useful strategies that I can realistically apply on test day. The book also has a ton of practice passages so you get to see your progress build up over time.

Good for extra practice but different from the real stuff.

The amount of practice passages the book contains is really the greatest part. Not only that, but the detail going into the explanation of each passage is impressive. I think that the practice passages alone make the book worth it.In addition, the highlighting strategy that the book describes is a huge help. Overall I think Next Step's books are simply the most comprehensive and useful for student's who want a solid strategy on test day. Also, I'm not sure if I'll use it but there's a built in system for the reader to evaluate their level of knowledge and confidence with every subject on the psych and soc. section of the new MCAT.Highly recommended, very comprehensive with respect to content and strategy.

Great practice book.I highly RECOMMEND for the MCAT!!!

Good practice for the MCAT