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
We try to provide a
minimum of 50 two-hour lectures: ten lectures in biology, ten in general
chemistry, ten in physics, seven in organic chemistry, six in verbal reasoning,
and seven additional supplementary lectures, for a total of 100 in-class
lecture hours.
Materials
Class Texts:
There are nine class books: two for biology, two for general chemistry, two for
organic chemistry, two for physics, and one for verbal reasoning. Each of the
science books is divided into sectional lecture topics. Each section begins with
information important for the MCAT and ends with MCAT-style passages and
questions, with detailed solutions. The verbal reasoning book contains four
nondiagnostic practice sets of seven passages each, followed by ten diagnostic
practice sets of seven passages each. 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 may be 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 Physical Sciences component (70 minutes), Verbal
Reasoning 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 9 full-length,
computer-based tests (CBTs). They are available online starting about 5-6 weeks
before the date of the first MCAT that is scheduled in the administration for
which your are enrolled. Exams are active for the administration in which you are
enrolled only. In order to ensure that you are exposed to a number of MCAT-style
passages that are as similar as possible to those on past MCATs, we recommend
that you take an exam or two published by the AAMC. On average, each full-length
exam that we offer 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 25-30 students into a particular session.
Over the past few years, however, we have averaged about 25 students per
session. We believe that classes should be modeled on 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 with the
instructor.
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 send an email to all students who took The Berkeley Review to
prepare for that particular test. We attempt to get at least a 20% response
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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