August MCAT

[AndyDude]

Hey folks,

 

I am just wondering who's writing the MCAT in August (22nd) and how's the prep going and where are you writing?

[MedBC]

I will be, probably in Van. or Calgary.

[Futuremedstudent?]

I"m thinking I'll probably write that date in Van too. Though I"m still trying to figure out which date will work best with getting work off (I'll have to make an overnight trip as Van is 4 hours away from me). My prep is going very very slowly. I bought some princeton review books off of someone and am slowly reviewing the biological sciences section right now. I'm currently working 2 jobs and the weather is just so darn nice in Kelowna so finding time to study is pretty tricky.

 

Any advice on study strategies?

[cling]

I found that studying the sciences is a waste of time, as as long as you know the very basic concepts, you will be fine as most info is right in front of you. I would get good at reading and understanding material. It is not only emphasized on the verbal part, but it is present in sciences as well. There would be questions where you essentially deduce an answer based on premises presented in the article. For the loner questions, it is just random concepts where you can usually pick the answer via process of elimination. I know it is hard coming into a major life changing test without excessively preparing, but you really need not cram for 4 months top crack 12s on the sciences, which is more than enough for all canadian medschools. It is verbal that distinguishes the majority of applicants, as the majority have a background in sciences and are frightened of texts that have adjectives in them. In my opinion verbal is sort of like a repayment for life long desire to read stuff. You can't study reading, you just read. It might be possible to boost your ability in a couple months, meaning that you start reading at excessive levels to make up any shortage you might have. Even then, the reasoning part is mostly practice.

[AndyDude]

Regardless of your background education, there is no possible way you know each and every single topic that MCAT can potentially cover. It's quite important to study for the sciences. Even if you know all your concepts, without practice it's hard to score high. But that's just me.

 

Have you written any mock MCAT tests or an actual one in the past? If yes, how'd you do in the sciences?

[Wolvenstar]

I am writing it in Calgary. Honestly I am just purchasing the old MCATs off the MCAT website and writing them for practice. That way it will point out any patterns in the mistakes I make. I am not very concerned about the VR or the written section. My assumption is that my weak point will be the old physics that I do remember so well.

 

Having done about half of the old MCATs that you can buy I am feeling rather confident though.

[Futuremedstudent?]

I already wrote the MCAT back in 2004. At that point I had a 9 for BS 12 for PS and 9 for VR. I think reviewing the biological science is definitely a good step for me as I have been out of university for over a year now and I'm a little rusty. I'll also have to actually study O chem this time as last time I pretty much just winged the O chem (hoping they wouldn't ask many questions because I detest the subject with a passion) which islikely why my BS score wasn't the highest. I did a practice VR test the other night and got an 11 but I"m thinking I shouldn't trust that score as when I was practicing before my last MCAT my scores ranged from 6-13 so I think it all depends on what passages you get thrown at you.

 

Right now I"m halfway through the biological science review book and then after that I think I'm just going to do practice questions for the rest of the time. Maybe make some key notes.