What Journals (And Other Readings) Might've Helped You For The Mcat?

[canucks_14]

First don't worry if it's too close to the summer MCAT dates to start reading supplemental things. I'm going to write when I'm ready.

 

So, does it matter which journals? Maybe a diverse set? Or which journals did you guys find helped you to be ready on test day? I haven't done a FL yet so I'm not sure what would be optimal? But even so, if there's no cut and dry answer to this question, I'd rather go down a path that others have had success with.

 

I'm applying to the US so the higher the MCAT the better. In fact because of my past record a high MCAT may yield my only acceptance maybe from a Canadian friendly school.

 

Also what non journal reading did you do? The more specific you respond the better for me. I'll read anything haha

[gangliocytoma]

Being a pro at interpreting scientific figures in articles will be helpful for B/B and to an extend C/P. Journal doesn't matter, just find one that has Western Blotting and PCR in the article methods.

[011235813]

Being a pro at interpreting scientific figures in articles will be helpful for B/B and to an extend C/P. Journal doesn't matter, just find one that has Western Blotting and PCR in the article methods.

Agreed. Do you have any prior research experience? Having spent a significant amount of time interpreting research articles in scientific journals would definitely boost all three science sections, and even CARS to some degree. I would advise finding a topic you are interested in that's biologically relevant, searching a keyword on pubmed, and downloading one of the free articles. Try and see if you can determine the purpose of the study, which techniques were used, and the essential results. I think this is a good strategy to start off. Do this a few times a week, and try to see if you are getting the gist of what each paper is saying. (To check to see if you are right, this is where having a PI or a grad student would help! I actually used to do this when I did research a few years ago and found that it was a really good exercise in improving my efficacy at understanding science)  Also, I'd advise doing a FL now, even if you feel you aren't ready. It will help you get better with the format, and allow you to target specific weaknesses. (Just an anecdote, but I did my first FL prior to any content review and felt it was definitely a good move. Don't waste an AAMC FL on it, take one from Princeton, Kaplan, or Next Step. They're not perfectly representative, but they will serve the intended purpose here.)

[End Poverty]

Hi canucks_14,

 

Although reading scientific papers can be interesting, I think the best way to get a high score on the science sections is to memorize the material and the content really well, as well as do as many practice questions. I scored really high on my science sections, without having to read scientific papers because I knew how to dissect the articles. For each paragraph I read, I would write a one sentence summary.

 

If you would like to know how I studied, PM me.

 

Best of Luck  

[gangliocytoma]

Hi OP,

 

Although reading scientific papers can be interesting, I think the best way to get a high score on the science sections is to memorize the material and the content really well, as well as do as many practice questions. I scored really high on my science sections, without having to read scientific papers because I knew how to dissect the articles. For each paragraph I read, I would write a one sentence summary of the entire paragraph.

 

If you would like to know how I studied, PM me.

 

Best of Luck  

 

I never found dissecting articles particularly helpful for the science sections, especially the experiment based ones. Nor do I see how writing one sentence summary of a passage would help, since questions mostly pertain to interpretations of figures, or why they used specific methods (based on general science knowledge). Being comfortable with standard biochemical lab methods is much more handy imo.

[End Poverty]

I never found dissecting articles particularly helpful for the science sections, especially the experiment based ones. Nor do I see how writing one sentence summary of a passage would help, since questions mostly pertain to interpretations of figures, or why they used specific methods (based on general science knowledge). Being comfortable with standard biochemical lab methods is much more handy imo.

 

 

I found that writing one sentence summaries of each paragraph very helpful because often times I get lost when I read articles that are too long. I also wrote one sentence summary of figures I encountered in the exam. Some people may find my method time consuming, but, I found it to be very helpful because it allowed me to follow the complex experiments presented to me. 

 

I also made sure that I understood all the biochemical lab methods listed in the Kaplan book ( this is a great advice, gangliocytma).