The Course Program
Instructors
Most of our
instructors have either a Ph.D. or M.S., or are candidates for the M.D., Ph.D.,
or M.S. Most of our instructors have been teaching for at least two years at the
university level and at least five years total. The majority of our teachers are
full-time instructors with our company.
Lectures
At many of our review
centers we try to provide a minimum of 50 two-hour lectures. There are
generally ten lectures in biology, ten in general chemistry, ten in physics,
seven in organic chemistry, seven in verbal reasoning and essay composition, and
six additional supplementary lectures, for a total of 100 in-class lecture
hours.
Materials
Class Texts:
There are ten class books: two for biology, two for general chemistry, two for
organic chemistry, two for physics, one for verbal reasoning, and one for the
writing sample. Each of the science books is divided into sectional lecture
topics. Each section begins with information important to the MCAT and ends with
MCAT-style passages and questions and detailed solutions. The verbal reasoning
book contains ten practice sets of ten passages each, and the writing sample book
has twenty essay topic statements, suggestions for good essay composition, and
numerous samples of good writing. Taken together, these books contain about
2,600 pages of material, including more than 550 MCAT-style
passages.
In-Class Passages: At the instructor's discretion, individual
MCAT-style passages are presented in class and answered under timed conditions. A
brief discussion of particular themes underlying the questions follows, and
detailed solutions are provided.
Sectional Exams: We offer a minimum of 3 sectional
exams, each broken down into a Verbal Reasoning component (60 minutes), Physical
Sciences component (70 minutes), Writing Sample component (60 minutes), and
Biological Sciences component (70 minutes). On average, each sectional exam
contains 21 passages.
Full-Length Exams: We offer a total of 10 full-length,
computer-based tests (CBTs). They are available starting about 5-6 weeks before
the date of the first MCAT that is scheduled in the administration for which your
are enrolled. In order to ensure that the student is exposed to a number of
MCAT-style passages as close as possible to those on past MCATs, we recommend
that you take an exam(s) published by the AAMC. On average, each full-length exam
contains 21 passages. Detailed answer explanations to the questions are provided
by The Berkeley Review.
Classes
Classes are generally two
hours in length, and a week of instruction consists of four or five classes
(depending on whether you take the course in the spring or summer). We administer
the program in four or five two-hour classes per week, because we find that
retention of subject matter drops off sharply after two hours. For particularly
difficult concepts, we offer supplemental lectures that present the material and
ideas from an even more fundamental perspective.
Class Size
We usually admit 25 students into a particular session.
Over the past few years, however, we have averaged about 20 students per
session. We believe that classes should mimic discussion sections, not lecture
halls.
Office Hours
Office hours are posted during the first two weeks of class and
updated on a regular basis. Over the course of the program, we offer
approximately 300-500 office hours (depending on course location), and
they are held in either small group settings or in a one-on-one setting.
Results
The average MCAT scores of
students in the last eight administrations of The Berkeley Review stand well
above the national average. After the scores for each MCAT administration are
released, we email all those students who took The Berkeley Review for that
particular test. We attempt to get at least a 20% response rate before we publish
our results.
Class Schedules
At the present time we offer our MCAT review program in the
locations shown below. To see a class schedule for a particular location,
click on the city where you would like to attend the review program.
California: Davis | Berkeley | Stanford | Westwood | Irvine | San Diego.
Registration
Once you
have consulted the schedule and know which class session you would like to
attend, print out the Registration
Instructions and Application Form for the city where you plan to take
the review program.
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