#it's all just very biology heavy and i have no background in visual science or life sciences in general...

[froggydafroggy]

Artistic Movements in Arcane: Art Nouveau

This is part two of a series of analysis’s of the influence of real life art movements in arcane (part one). The last analysis focused on Art Deco, which is pretty much Piltover™ (but don’t worry, there’s more). Now, let’s take a dip down to Zaun, with:

ART NOUVEAU A misconception to clear up: this is not Art Deco. Yes, it is also called Art (insert French), but it is something completely different. Capishe? Art Nouveau came about in the 1890s/1900s era. The movement is about flowy lines, intricate detail, the female form, heavy inspiration from nature and biology, and odd curves. It was popular among the growing middle class and a fascination with the beautiful bits of sciences. There are a few similarities between the two, but a lot of differences. The fluid, asymmetrical curves of Art Nouveau, and Zaun, contrast the sharp decadence of Piltover’s Art Deco. Though it is not quite as visually obvious as the grunge/punk aspect of Zaun, once you see it, it will be everywhere. And while we see some of the core themes of Art Deco ingrained into the character of Piltover, the presence of Art Nouveau is just inside of Zaun in so much of its spirit.

Arcane Art Nouveau

versus IRL Art Nouveau.

Firstly, let’s address Zaun’s use of Art Nouveau throughout its environment. You’ll see lots of curves and twists going on, intricate ironwork, and glasswork. And of course, the big mural of the lady that Vi jumps by. Zaun is partially underground and its main industry is mining. They are literally called “fissure folk”. Obviously, they would have plenty of the raw materials lying and metalworking skill around for Art Nouveau. The background artists knew what they were doing. Not only were they thinking about what would be available in Zaun, but also about the skill and artistic appreciation the Zaunites have. It is so easy to think of Piltover as refined and cultured, while dismissing Zaun as a dump, which is something do in real life with rich people culture versus poor people culture, but by using a style that is very detail oriented, it gives more attention to Zaun’s age and culture.

But why Art Nouveau specifically? Why not some other detailed art movement? Simple: the core values of the movement. Art Nouveau is all about nature. Those hallmark curves are inspired by the way vines and insect wings grow. It may be puzzling, as Zaun doesn’t seem to have a lot of greenery, but that’s what makes it even more valuable.

In this shot of the fancy chembaron boardroom, you’ll see a lot of plants. Aside from being pretty, plants are kind of a status symbol. They take resources like good soil, air, sunlight, and water, which Zaun doesn’t have much of. Plants are life, and life is something Zaun craves.

This is Ekko’s Firelight tree. When he found it, he knew there was hope for Zaun to become a better place, to be revitalised. Trees clean the air and give life. Again, we see how Zaun craves life.

Jinx’s bug bombs feel especially more ironic considering how Art Nouveau is all about life, and these bombs are all about death.

Even without constant access to nature, people are imitating life through the inanimate materials they have. Zaun is crafty, innovative, and hungry for just a chance to breathe easy and drink clean water.

Speaking of Jinx, another focus of Art Nouveau is the feminine figure.

And wouldn’t you know it, the main characters are two sisters from Zaun?

In fact, I would argue that Jinx is the most Art Nouveau character. Though she dresses in a grunge/punk style, it’s really more about the aura she exudes. She is someone who has had all the people she loves die around her or leave her. Her machines bring death, sometimes good, sometimes bad. She, more than anything, desparately needs life and nature. Her movements have a certain lithe flow to them, and her hair... well, the animators sure had fun with that. Jinx is the face of Zaun, wild, unpredictable, tragic, and craving for life.

While there is so much more I could say about Art Nouveau in Arcane, this is about all I’ve got right now. More art analyses are on their way.

[kd-seikatsu]

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-career-degree-choices-for-an-INFP-It%E2%80%99s-tough-finding-a-career-that-is-relatively-lucrative-and-satisfying-What-are-some-careers-that-INFPs-have-found-suitable-for-themselves-and-the-skillsets-education-required-to-enter-those-fields

---

Probably it’s best to write an entire book in this topic.

NOTE: Interestingly a psychologist may be great at personality research and counseling, but may be suboptimal in suggesting ideal career for any personality types especially for rarer types such as INFPs. It’s upto you to discover your own unique career pathway and learn from other INFPs. As they say - there are lots of differences between “knowing the path” and “walking the path”.

Given the current design of corporations (we are making great progress on building better governance models using decentralised tech such as Aragon and Liquid Democracy) and extrovert-obsessed (read ENTJ/Dale Carnegie types) business culture, cubicle jobs are ill-suited for INFPs. Buddha doesn’t belong to the Boardroom (Buddha was an INFP and HSP based on various cues given throughout his life and teachings; generalisation that all INFPs are destined to be an enlightened soul - Buddha - is also incorrect). In general growing automation and commoditisation will destroy many jobs in future (check at Will Robots Take My job?) . So pick jobs or careers that are somewhat immune to technical disruptions.

Even across INFP spectrum everyone is different and have different priorities for their values. Figure out top 6 values of yours and curve a career around that. May be it’s “Healing”, “Freedom” or “Sustainability” or “Philanthropy / Charity” or “Betterment of Mankind” or “Spirituality” or “Creative Expression” or a combinations of them.

“Freedom”, “Healing” and “Betterment of Mankind” are three dominant ones, for myself. Unfortunately our current socioeconomic setup is ill-designed to not to incentivise these values. That’s right ! If that would be the scenario, you would expect an economic policy like this -

15% reduction in long-term capital gain tax for shareholders investing in ventures with ESG (Environment / Social / Governance) rating > 7

Additionally, INFPs like other introverts generally prefer minimal ‘shallow’ social interactions but prefer deeper connections.

We may now start looking for areas with above criterion satisfied. However before embarking on that, I would suggest the “lifestyle template” (there are many “Keeping up with the joneses” / “Minimalism” etc.) of “FIRE” (Financially Independent Retired Early) to all INFPs. Psychologists may not be experts at finance, but leveraging capitalism to attain financial independence is a priceless advice given to those who value true “Freedom” above all. Learn about investment for passive income and frugality in order to ensure your monthly expenses are less than your passive income. There are some fantastic books and blogs (ex. Mr. Money Mustache) on that. So get into that track sooner than later. Once you are FIREed, several diverse and exotic interests (ex. Environmental Activism) usually nurtured within INFPs are now allowed to their fruition.

Now till you achieve FIRE, you may explore some of these jobs -

Psychologists (Private Practice) and Career Counsellors (Private Practice)

General Physician (GP) / Holistic GP (Private Practice / Shared Clinics; stay away from hospital politics. If you are looking at “purpose” or “meaning” and earnings, healthcare related professions are unmatched. PayScale Survey)

Librarian

Equity Research / Algorithmic Trading (Algo Trading is highly quant. As an INFP you may enjoy qualitative things or qualitative investment better. So don’t do it for long)

Risk Management / Analysis

Writing on Kindle platform (for self or for someone else)

Quantum Mechanics / Modern Physics

Professional Blogging

Small-scale entrepreneurship (cash-flow positive ones Venture Capitalists wouldn’t touch. With Silicon Valley/VC involvement privileged-background/extroversion starts playing important roles)

Radio Telescope Astronomy

Spiritual Healing / Meditation & Yoga teaching / Stress Management / Shamanism (It’s unfortunate that our modern scientific world-view has designated Shamanism as equivalent to “black magic” etc. A shaman is a spiritual healer. Across eastern and indigenous traditions, it has been believed that health is not just based on biochemistry. It has strong psycho-spiritual foundation. Ayurveda has similarly concept of ‘Chakras’. Life has bio-energetic and photonic basis as well. As an INFP if you would have born in an african tribe, you might end up being a Shaman - a spiritual healer - Healing the Luminous Body )

Nutrition and Naturopathy / Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) & Ayurveda / Massage Therapy / Cold Therapy ( Welcome to the Official Wim Hof Method Website ) / NIR Sauna Therapy / Supervised Prolonged Fasting Therapy (NOTE: pharmaceutical-funded research may try to convince you that these are unscientific methods, but do your own research. Science nowadays is under tight grip of profit-only capitalism)

Music

Anime Design / SciFi Illustration / 3D design for games and simulations

Hydroponic / Urban (Organic) Farming / Microgreens / Permaculture

Documentary (Nature / In-depth Journalism) Film-making

Economic (and/or Evolutionary) Anthropology (Not math-heavy at all, unlike it’s math-obsessed mainstream counterpart)

Artisan / Craftsmanship

NOTE: I’ve skipped the wonderful profession of Teaching on purpose. Contrarian it may sound, teaching requires a considerable degree of extroversion in the usual classroom setting. Moreover it also depends on the country’s/location’s dominant MBTI characteristics. For example, teaching in Australia (ESTP dominant) is very different from India (INFP-T dominant).

You can (and should) combine these templates. For example, you can be an awesome Naturopath and Professional Blogger blogging about Nutrition and Naturopathy. Or You can be a spiritual healer and spiritually inclined musician (I love the rare sub-genre of rural folk music with a spiritual connection. ex. - Mirror of the Sky: Songs of the Bauls of Bengal (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: European) - Kindle edition by Deban Bhattacharya, Deben Bhattacharya. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.) healing souls with music.

Though can be quantitative, INFPs usually excel as qualitative analysts or semi-quantitative analysts in areas aligned to their value systems. Keen observers amongst you may have noticed that I have skipped more popular STEM areas like Computer Science. To be brutally honest, after years of unhappiness in long pursuit of science and engineering I have realised that the deconstructive objectivism (or reductionism) and implicit “unconscious” capitalism preached by western science is too ‘soul-less’ or empathy-less or ‘non-holistic’ (Please refer to this amazing book - Ascent of Humanity: Introduction | Charles Eisenstein for details) to the F of INFP (lately, few exceptions surfaced - Systems Biology / Complex Systems / Quantum Consciousnesses etc). To quote from the aforementioned book -

We seem to have forgotten that mathematics, and therefore the science and technology built on its scaffold, by its nature as abstraction leaves something out. So far our response has been that of the technical fix: to extend measurement still further to encompass those things left out—to remedy its failures with more of the same. On a conceptual level, this program hit a brick wall in the twentieth century with the development of quantum mechanics and chaos theory. On a practical level, we have so far failed to appreciate the lesson in the repeated failure of the program to better manage reality by reducing it to numbers. Instead we call for more numbers, more data.

…

Mathematics and measure are objective, in the sense that they vitiate objects of the particularity which resides in the interaction of observer and observed. They are consistent with separately existing objects that are "out there", external to our subjectivity, denying a principle common to ancient mysticism and modern physics that "existence" is a two-place predicate, an interaction. Today the concept of objectivity is central to our world view that includes ourselves as separate, discrete individuals. It also underlies classical physics and the Scientific Method, and it informs what we mean by the very adjective "scientific". To see how deeply it has influenced our perceptions, visualize something just "existing". Is your picture that of something floating by itself, alone? No wonder we feel so alone ourselves. To be is to be separate.

(Chapter 2: Mathematics & Measure)

So even though INFPs can be good at deep mathematics or statistics or other hardcore areas such as these, satisfaction can be elusive unless there is a higher ‘purpose’ (values alignment) thrown to it. To exemplify -

As an INFP you are more likely to appreciate Quantum Mechanics with an associated philosophical concept of Quantum Consciousness & Spiritual Discovery as opposed to generic challenges to scale a distributed network (Computer Science). Value alignment: “Spirituality”

As an INFP, you are more likely to appreciate data & engineering efforts (GraphDB / Data Forensics etc.) to support investigative journalism (such as Panama Papers) as opposed to an identical engineering challenge taken by an Ad Optimisation company. Value alignment: “Betterment of Mankind”

As an INFP, you are more likely to enjoy being an economist researching “socioeconomic inequality” as opposed to employed by a Bank devising “greedy & toxic” products such as Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) or Asset Backed Securities (ABS). Value alignment: “Betterment of Society”

As an INFP, you are more likely to enjoy being a Yoga/Meditation teacher and Naturopath practising ancient healing techniques of Therapeutic Fasting, Vipassana Meditation, TCM & Ayurveda as opposed to a GP recklessly prescribing Blood Pressure and Cholesterol medications (It is now known that a good percentage of patients having high total cholesterol in blood has other underlying conditions such as secondary inflammation or hormone-imbalance or leaky-gut-induced low-grade endotoxemia) without discovering root cause first and then allowing body to heal naturally (in some cases medications may be necessity but to majority of us alternate healing techniques are not offered by default). Value alignment: “Healing”

Most of above-mentioned jobs are niche and it helps to start with a privileged background (it fails to generate enough monthly cash-flow at the beginning ). For unprivileged INFPs, attaining FIRE (alternatively, Tim Ferris-style mini-retirements) thus becomes important. Even if you end up picking another profession, at the very least, work on alignment of your primary values. For an INFP, this is crucial.

Re:

Don’t fall for the meme that - “Myers Briggs is useless”. For any classification framework, a set of people will say - ‘it is totally useless’, other set of people will vouch for it being perfect. Reality often floats somewhere in the middle. MBTI is an effort around “Top down classification / modelling” of personality research data. This is not an “Agent-centric Model (bottom up)”. Thus, often, it presents an over-simplistic view of things as complex as human personalities. Those who completely dismisses it may also dismiss - “modern top-down economics and GDP modelling is useless”. It’s true up to a point. Yet governments and traditional economists use its macro-levers to tune a country-wide economy. Same applies for psychology.

Don’t fall for the meme “Follow your passion”. For God’s sake, be passionate about topics you find interesting. However, please remember that miss-guided and ill-mentored passion should always remain slave to reason. Preaching “follow your passion” usually evokes a strong Confirmation Bias within all of us. However, to be happy and successful (sticking to it’s traditional definition), you need lots of ‘other stuff’ beyond passion. When we are young, we usually tend to disregard these ‘other stuffs’ (privilege / extroversion / probabilities etc; for example, barring few exceptions, its very hard to pursue a PhD/research-career in Quantum Gravity unless you get a solid support from your family both economically & emotionally and are able to navigate university politics). But as we age, we come to terms with things at ground especially when our miss-guided passion burns us out. Yes, “Passion Burnout” is a real thing. That’s why even you are passionate about a topic, maintain a degree of ‘detachment’ from it. As a bonus, it may even allow you to see things from a totally different perspective. Follow your passion with a degree of detachment after prioritising values-alignment over your passion.

Don’t fall for the meme “Anyone can make anything work”. Even though I hate rigid theories, have to mention the “Rubber Band” theory of personality - you have a base personality you are born with and you can flexibly stretch it to a maximum amplitude without causing considerable dissatisfaction. Don’t learn to fake extroversion and stretch beyond your amplitude for longer term. Instead always learn from anecdotal experiences of your own and other INFPs and research and introspect and experiment.

Read more works of Taleb especially Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile (It’s amazing that a quantitative trader can write such volumes imbued with deep “qualitative” observations revolving around socio-economical and psycho-social issues). This will help you to systematically “un-condition” lots of existing socioeconomic conditioning that usually prefers (or artificially “selects”) a handful of MBTI types excluding INFPs . Lots of intuitions I had as an INFP got anecdotally (sometime statistically) validated by Taleb’s writings. He sometimes may sound arrogant and elitist, but that’s exactly what is needed to “see through” the orthodoxy and dogma prevailing over current socioeconomic systems and popular theories often contrarian to value systems cherished by INFPs. Those insights will definitely help you in selecting better careers or be better at your current career by constructively absorbing those “harsh” criticisms. Ascent of Humanity and Taleb’s Collections are some of the most impactful and “un-conditioning” (“Redpilled”) books I have ever read.

Thanks everyone for upvotes and comments

[thegirlwiththenerdglasses20-blog]

Best MCAT Study guide 2018

Educating students to score high on over 90 standardized exams in the class of their 76-year history, Kaplan is one of the most well-established and omnipresent company leaders in schooling. Unsurprisingly, this test prep giant has a powerful hold in the MCAT market.

Historically, Kaplan has been famous to get an encyclopedic coverage of MCAT subjects, and with a new examination comes new teaching opportunities. Let's see how Kaplan addresses what is new in the MCAT2015 using their Total 7-Book Subject Review. Proceed ahead to our MST score report.)

What are the unique strengths of Kaplan's MCAT Practice and Review materials?

Jeffrey Abrams: the largest strength of Kaplan is that they go into good detail on difficult conceptual topics, which helps drive home the material for pupils. They also have end-of-chapter outlines, which further outline the chapter material and is of particular use for fast assessing old material--particularly in the last 1-2 weeks of studying.

Parth Kothari: Kaplan's detailed pragmatic approach to MCAT practice worked particularly well in the natural chemistry, research and CARS books. The organic chemistry book was quite readable, which is tough for such an abstract subject. The comprehensive CARS approach was a great way to break down a section that gives so many students anxiety, and also the research section wasn't a disappointment either.

Masis Isikbay: Contrary to the EK books, Kaplan also has quite excellent glossaries and indicators in each publication. This can make a massive difference for the student working through the AAMC manual and having difficulty finding a particular term or concept quickly. Although these chapter questions aren't in the MCAT-style multiple choice format, they highlight recall of information within simple recognition of theories. This recall will be a crucial skill to hone if students really need to score in the top percentile on the new MCAT.

What are Kaplan's weaknesses for MCAT Review?

While our first opinions may change after we've completed reviewing other companies' prep resources, below are our preliminary thoughts about the weaker areas within Kaplan's MCAT2015 bundle:

KS: My biggest issue is with Kaplan's test clinic issues--or lack thereof. The CARS publication literally has no training passages, just sample ones inserted in the chapters, and also the other novels have precisely 15 freestanding multiple-choice inquiries per chapter--none of them passage-based and several research-based. The books have neither partial nor full-length practice examinations.

PK: The material inspection and practice is basically separated: Most of the clinic is online, although the online material has some passages which are clinically applicable (unlike the end-of-chapter queries), many appear to only be recycled out of the past. Also, the online part of the 7-book collection is incomplete: The full group of videos, passage-based questions and practice tests are only included in purchasing a Kaplan class, so that they are most likely using these online materials to advertise their courses.

JA: Kaplan also includes extraneous information in its books that is not needed to succeed on the MCAT. As an example, there is reading in Kaplan about the Aristotelian strategy--this is something students studying for the MCAT simply shouldn't squander time on. The Kaplan chapters can be quite text- and - number-heavy, with few demonstrative figures, and sometimes the figures contained aren't participating, and overly complicated or hard to comprehend intuitively.

What is the philosophy behind Kaplan's MCAT Review stuff?

JA: Kaplan's general philosophy is to make sure all material is coated. So, unlike many other resources, they provide lots of detail for your AAMC-specified MCAT content.

PK: the business intends to provide students with something like a condensed set of textbooks that adequately covers the material.

KS: It is philosophically on the other end of the spectrum from Examkrackers: Kaplan instructs to the comprehension of the material instead of teaching to the test (though they've mnemonics and "MCAT Expertise" sidebars that attempt to reconcile the material with the exam).

Within their MCAT research procedures, when should students utilize these online materials?

MI: I would encourage these texts earlier on in the analysis process since they provide a comprehensive profile on most every topic, and there's utility in having all the info in a particular setting (particularly if a student is struggling with theory principles). Nevertheless, these resources aren't great for "getting to the meat" of the subjects, especially with respect to what will most likely be examined on the MCAT, so they can also be utilized as reference material but not to prioritize the information.

PK: Although these novels should not be utilized for 6-8 weeks of study, I think Kaplan would function nicely for a student who's planning on working for 12+ weeks. They will form a comprehensive bundle that students can utilize while supplementing official AAMC materials/questions.

KS: I'd normally use Kaplan as a reference only since its content goes beyond the range of the MCAT, doesn't prioritize high-yield subjects and is ill-suited to visual learners.

For whom do this complete review source be most ideal?

MI: I think students who like a consistent, conventionally organized textbook should use these Kaplan books. The format of chapters or figures does not change as much as in the EK novels, so some students might be distracted by the formatting.

KS: I'd be conservative in my use of Kaplan, largely using it as a reference guide except perhaps for more concrete students who welcome plenty of detail, have a fantastic awareness of what is high-priority MCAT advice, and learn best from straightforward, no-nonsense text.

JA: These books are perfect for students who have some deficiencies in their own content background and that need to perform a fantastic bit of learning. They'll be poor for students who only have 6-8 months to review material, but a solid possible source for students whose foundations are weaker.

PK: Overall I think these substances are excellent for many students as long as particular attention is paid to choosing the best supplemental materials. Kaplan Prep for CARS

Kaplan provides a very comprehensive method of CARS reviewing, going over everything from main notions to key words and how to build that into comprehension passages and assaulting different question types. Kaplan has a lot of good summary sheets of the strategy in the rear of the book to help pupils recall their CARS tools. There are no practice issues in this publication. Some pupils will find this strategy overly complicated and hard to remember on exam day. Bottom Line: Kaplan has an impressively comprehensive CARS reviewing strategy that more detail-oriented students will find comfortingly systematic, while some might find too complex to recall. However, the consensus is that at least some element of Kaplan CARS is going to be helpful to a majority of pupils studying for the MCAT, and the publication will definitely need to be supplemented with training passages.

Inside the Physics/Math publication, there is a statistics chapter that's a good "crash course" on the subject; it covers what will be analyzed on the new MCAT. Kaplan provides a clear explanation for each one of these data theories. Since data does not absolutely demand as many explanatory pictures, aside from a graphs/charts, Kaplan's mathematics- and text-dominated strategy is better suited to explain statistics over various other subjects.

-- Kaplan's data review overall is lacking in practice questions. You will find 15 sectioned-off statistics questions at the end of the chapter, and data programs from the other Kaplan MCAT queries are rarer than favored. -- On p.410-417, Kaplan includes another section discussing charts, tables and graphs. Although this is not a bad idea for a refresher segment, Kaplan must have more of these visual aids prevalent throughout their MCAT books and incorporated into more chapter practice questions. However, the quantity of practice questions is mostly insufficient to truly feel comfortable with the content, and statistics isn't well integrated into Kaplan's other MCAT practice questions in their social and hard sciences books. Kaplan dedicates a full 22 pages to discussing research on the MCAT as a chapter at the Physics/Math book, covering the majority of the MCAT topics demanded from the AAMC. Kaplan's text-dominant presentation of substance works nicely with this particular topic.

-- Kaplan did not completely cover research from the psychosocial field, either in the research section of the Physics book or in the Behavioral Sciences book. However, the online Kaplan materials do provide practice passages related to this particular topic. -- More practice issues, ideally integrated into the other MCAT hard and social sciences novels, is required to supplement Kaplan's topical policy of research. However, their literature will have to be supplemented with more training issues, ideally passage-based and integrated with other MCAT subjects (biology, physics, etc).

This segment is where the Kaplan strategy excels, providing students a middle-range quantity of information about a broad array of topics. In comparison to Examkrackers, Kaplan's flow of this content appears to be organized and intuitive, which is important for articles understanding. The corresponding practice passages online are extremely MCAT-applicable and research-based. Kaplan has some great summary tables which condense and organize notable amounts of data, including in the Child Development Milestones table on p. 35 or the Impression Management Strategy dining table on p. 327. -- Unlike Examkrackers, Kaplan lacks a strong introductory explanation on the best way best to approach this new MCAT section and the way the student can avoid using personal biases while selecting test answers. -- The images and at times even the info can be irrelevant to a student's MCAT studies. For example, on p.230, students will probably not have to know that Jung saw himself as a Tibetan Mandela, and on p. 127 they most likely don't have to observe a baby playing peek-a-boo.

Bottom Line: Kaplan provides a solid overview and organization of MCAT-based sociological and psychological theories. But, Kaplan does not provide a strong general approach for this new segment. This publication also comes with a notable amount of extraneous data and graphics and its own practice passage-based problems are separately featured online rather than integrated into the publication.

The organization of this book is intuitive and mirrors the flow of medical college biochemistry courses. The AAMC substances are covered pretty widely, which makes this part among the strongest things in the Kaplan series. -- In spite of having a separate biochemistry novel, some segments are not covered adequately. For instance, there aren't any visual aids illustrating the often perplexing combined inhibition or competitive inhibition of enzyme kinetics (p. 53), and there are too few examples of this frequently-tested titration curves. -- Kaplan also tends to over-complicate some topics. As an example, the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz voltage equation on p. 279 is likely not needed for the MCAT as well as the antibody structure provided on p. 76 is quite a bit more complicated than required for the examination.

Bottom Line: For students who struggle with biochem, Kaplan has a comprehensive biochemistry book that may offer a solid comprehension of MCAT-tested material. Students who have taken biochemistry and done well, though, will probably find they don't need the depth of the Kaplan book to do well on the examination. Either way, in case a student does decide to use this book, (s)he will need to supplement with additional MCAT-style passage-based questions.

Kaplan Test Prep for General Chemistry

Kaplan succeeds at giving a comprehensive overview of this AAMC chemistry content and there are only a few openings in the content. This chemistry book is particularly great for students who need a refresher on overall chemistry, because the Kaplan text does not assume any prior knowledge. -- there's additional miscellaneous information which will not be analyzed directly on the MCAT (e.g. that the electrodeposition equation on p.423) or need to be memorized (Van der Waals equation on p. 278). -- Some select subjects require more examples to show how to problem-solve, e.g. with titrations on p. 352. -- As with the other books in the Kaplan series, pupils will need to find extra practice problems, especially passage-based ones, to be ready for the MCAT.

Bottom Line: Kaplan has compiled a very good foundational publication in general chemistry that will be excellent for pupils who need an extensive topical overview. As consistent with other Kaplan texts, there is a de-emphasis on test-taking shortcuts along with the publication will need to be supplemented with additional MCAT-style problems. Kaplan Prep for Organic Chemistry

Pupils utilizing this Kaplan book will probably be well-prepared, and even perhaps over-prepared, for the MCAT organic chemistry content. The practice and review material is obviously organized, very practical and quite readable for this abstract topic, along with the end-of-chapter outlines provide a wonderful summary of the material. Kaplan does a particularly good job describing fundamental organic chemistry concepts that are commonly tested and/or potentially confusing to students, like distinguishing enantiomers out of diastereomers utilizing R/S configurations (p. 41), correctly rotating a Fischer projection to acquire the identical chemical (p. 47), distinguishing protic out of aprotic solvents (p. 86) and providing some of the funniest pictures we have discovered of molecular orbital combinations and hybridizations (p. 63-68). This specific text appears to possess more exam applications than Kaplan's other MCAT books. For instance, they've got an example on p. 98 of figuring out the intermediates and final products of a reaction, in a setup which just mirrors actual MCAT questions we have seen. The examples in the book only show the simplified molecules. To Kaplan's charge, the online materials do supply some passages with more complex molecules. -- Some motives may be clearer, such as the ones for specific lab techniques (e.g. separations and spectroscopy) and also for carboxylic acid derivatives.

Bottom Line: Kaplan's straightforward approach really works to explain some complicated organic chemistry theories, so keep this book in mind if a particular topic is tricky to understand. As before, supplement with practice issues from elsewhere.

Kaplan Exam Prep for Biology

The pictures and examples in the biology book are the very best in comparison to other Kaplan novels in the MCAT series, e.g. in the section on the nervous system and action abilities. Kaplan does a particularly good job inside this book covering complex subjects in-depth, e.g. the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system on p. 175, the negative feedback mechanism, mentioned multiple times, along with the forces affecting the Bowman's capsule. Kaplan did include information that is often analyzed but not commonly highlighted in different texts, e.g. that the trajectory of the semen throughout the entire body. -- Students may find this book a bit less engaging than they'd prefer to your subject matter. -- there's still a maldistribution of external emphasis with too much given to some subjects (e.g. cardiovascular and digestive processes, the prokaryotic flagellum arrangement) and not enough attention given to additional topics (e.g. oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in red blood cells, no chromosomal number monitoring in meiosis pictures on p. 61).

Bottom Line: This Kaplan book seems to have the most visual assistance of this MCAT set and uses them comparatively well to the topic matter. Its very best attribute is its capacity to break down complex content into straightforward, readable explanations. This book also needs practice difficulty nutritional supplements.

Kaplan Practice for Profession

This publication has quite a logical demonstration, starting with the most basic classes and working up to increasingly difficult subjects. The mathematics, research and data figures will also be put in this publication - a extremely organized approach. Kaplan provides example problems with detailed answers - but these are more textbook-style than MCAT-style issues. The MCAT Experience segments features throughout the physics book are useful, e.g. the projectile movement shortcut taught on p. 23. Their thermodynamics segment is notably clear and well-taught. -- The MCAT irrelevancy of some lesson details really stands out (e.g. on p. 5 where they teach that the British machine unit of mass is a slug and on p. 66 in which they reveal a six-pulley system that is clearly too complex for an MCAT problem). -- There is a marked lack of supporting images and test-taking strategies for these physics topics. For instance, among the numerous gaps in the torque segment, there is never a vector diagram of forces drawn for the problem on p. 33. Projectile motion can be only given one little picture, and the fluids chapter didn't incorporate some quite classical MCAT presentations of the subject, like those using Torricelli's law. -- The Kaplan physics lessons and questions tend to get disconnected from the MCAT format and emphasis on chemical applications. For instance, on p. 133-134, there is a separate talk of fluids in physiology but no accompanying MCAT-type queries to examine students' understanding.

Bottom Line: While this Kaplan book does technically cover a broad range of official MCAT content, the vast majority of our Special Ops Team would not pick Kaplan because their principal physics resource. Just like other test prep companies' materials, pupils using Kaplan physics will need to find supplementary MCAT-style practice problems.

As of mid-April, when you haven't seen them, we've also assessed Examkrackers and The Princeton Review's stuff.

*Med School Tutors is not affiliated, connected, licensed, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with any of the companies whose resources we're reviewing.