To all the MCAT acers

[Prion]

I don't recommend the Kaplan tests. Their VR is too easy, and their science sections are too hard.

So what's my best option? I got 11/11 in the science section last time with a lot of cramming.I think as long as the test simulated the real MCAT environment, it would help me to up my scores. I'm mainly concerned with improving my VR scores. If like you said the Kaplan VR is too easy, maybe I should look for another source of practice material.

 

Actually I took Kaplan and thought it helped a lot. In the last couple weeks I just did practice tests (both theirs and AAMC) every few days and then reviewed why I got answers wrong. Especially with VR' date=' I found that practicing VR the day before the test significantly improved my score. Not a conscious thing, it just seemed to help. I ended up scoring 34S with a 12 in verbal, despite the 9 or 10's I was getting on practice tests.[/quote']

 

That sounds awesome! How do you think the Kaplan VR helped to prep you for the MCAT? Does it make you read the passages more confidently(I heard its passages are more complex than the EK VR101 book)? Or are the questions it asks more similar to the actual MCAT verbals?

[pavp]

What would you suggest for someone who is going to take MCAT for the second time, content review wise? Read the same book over one more time or get a new one for a fresh perspective?

 

 

 

Also I would really like some opinion on this question:I have pretty much exhausted most of the AAMC practice tests + VR101 material(did most of them last time I took the MCAT, one year ago). What would be the next choice of practices for me? Kaplan full length? TPR?

 

 

First off, great username! I suppose you are as fascinated with malicious proteins as I am. That was my little digression.

 

I think the most critical part of the answer to your question is: do something different. Do not study the same way you did before - there will be no need to re-take the test, since you already have your score. It is crucial to change the way you prepared for it. Several suggestion and comments:

 

• Determine which type of learner you are. Kinesthetics are veeeery different from visuals. Make sure you study appropriately.
  
• You say you've exhausted the AAMC provided test. I say - you haven't. Make use of their amazing diagnostics. Address your own weaknesses. I know it takes a lot of time to do the full lengths and then to sit down and analyze everything. Hey, nobody forces you to do the darn thing anyways, right?
  
• I will admit that the verbal is the hardest to prepare for. However, I would suggest reading the Economist. Its dense, articulate and extremly eloquant language is similar to the MCAT, plus you'll learn something useful. ALso, read an ethics publication. These are often medically oriented applied philosophy. As an example, take a look at the Virtual Mentor to get you started.
  
• Although I would hate to give the impression of endorsing some prep material over another, I think at this point you just need practice. Take it just as that - practice. Don't listen to people's remarks "this is too hard", "this is too easy" - just practice. It is not for nothing that most docs say they learned more on the first day of their residency than they have in the first 2 years of medical school. Practice makes perfect. So practice.

[Prion]

First off, great username! I suppose you are as fascinated with malicious proteins as I am. That was my little digression.

 

I think the most critical part of the answer to your question is: do something different. Do not study the same way you did before - there will be no need to re-take the test, since you already have your score. It is crucial to change the way you prepared for it. Several suggestion and comments:

 

• Determine which type of learner you are. Kinesthetics are veeeery different from visuals. Make sure you study appropriately.
  
• You say you've exhausted the AAMC provided test. I say - you haven't. Make use of their amazing diagnostics. Address your own weaknesses. I know it takes a lot of time to do the full lengths and then to sit down and analyze everything. Hey, nobody forces you to do the darn thing anyways, right?
  
• I will admit that the verbal is the hardest to prepare for. However, I would suggest reading the Economist. Its dense, articulate and extremly eloquant language is similar to the MCAT, plus you'll learn something useful. ALso, read an ethics publication. These are often medically oriented applied philosophy. As an example, take a look at the Virtual Mentor to get you started.
  
• Although I would hate to give the impression of endorsing some prep material over another, I think at this point you just need practice. Take it just as that - practice. Don't listen to people's remarks "this is too hard", "this is too easy" - just practice. It is not for nothing that most docs say they learned more on the first day of their residency than they have in the first 2 years of medical school. Practice makes perfect. So practice.

First off, thanks for the informative response! Great blog you have btw. I like your point of doing something differently and addressing my weakness. I agree it is better that way instead of study the whole thing again and pretending as if I never did the exam in the first place. I'll take those into consideration.

 

As for my VR, I think one of my weakness was the science passages. This actually confuses the heck out of me since I come from a stringent science background myself. I guess I probably have read too much journal articles and am not accustomed to the way science is presented in the MCAT format, I probably digest those information differently. I'll give the Economist a try, read their science topics and see if that helps.

 

Btw, in your blog you mentioned that you concentrated on the Kaplan book. Would you suggest the book for someone like me who have learned most of the stuff extensively already in school and is just looking for a quick comprehensive review? And how did you find their full length practice tests?

[cateyes0223]

I would have to reiterate that the most important things in my opinion are taking the AAMC practice tests, and also having the right mindset during the actual test (ie. not letting yourself get caught up in a question you can't get, and being able to move on from a bad section, pacing yourself, etc.)

[pavp]

Btw, in your blog you mentioned that you concentrated on the Kaplan book. Would you suggest the book for someone like me who have learned most of the stuff extensively already in school and is just looking for a quick comprehensive review? And how did you find their full length practice tests?

 

Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate it. As for advice about Kaplan's book - I would say buying it is probably not worth it. I would go to your school's library, and if they are big enough, they should have at least some general review book you could skim over for stuff that will catch your attention. Stuff you might have forgotten. Since you had a pretty good science score, I really don't think you have a content/thinking problem as you are well above the mean 7. So for verbal, if you are confused, I can offer 2 tips:

 

• If you are a slow reader and forcing yourself to go full speed to finish the verbal in time, you will skim over important things. The text is made in such a way that a normal person will not be able to return to the text and re-read only a sentence or a paragraph and place in context without sacrificing precious time. Thus you will need to practice with any verbals available to you for reading it only once and understanding the main idea of each paragraph. Lookup stuff on efficient reading, tips like placing emphasis on first-last sentences of paragraphs, etc...
  
• If you do read fast, then you have an interpretation problem, which is much harder to deal with. I am assuming English is your first language here, if it isn't you'd probably need to apply extra effort. But if this interpretation block applies to you, then you'd most likely benefit from doing mental exercises with articles like the Economist one's or any other publication for that matter. Time yourself, so you have to read the same amount of words as in a verbal passage. Read it only once. Then, try to extract several key issues : author's main point (does he have one to make at all?), is the article taking sides (if so, which one?), what are the key examples the author uses? Come up with a hypothetical situation that the author would support/reject.
  Now, most important part: write down your answers, then go back to the article and just below your first attempt annotate what you think it should have been (unless you got it right). Do this exercise often.

Good luck with your test!

[1234]

People have this misconception that verbal is a game of speed. Let me start off by saying that it isn't. Don't get me wrong, you don't have all the time in the world. But for the average reader, the speed at which you are currently reading is sufficient for you to hit 11+ provided you understand the concept of Verbal and apply it to your practice sessions.

 

Verbal is largely a game of understanding and interpretation. People think that they need to rush through passages in order to finish the test. Thats why many people read through passages, then look at the question and are like WTF?! Your job is to read as fast as you can, while completely understanding each SENTENCE of the passage. If you read it and don't understand, read the sentence again. Not only do you have to understand each sentence, you need to understand the sentence within the context of the paragraph. Do not jump around looking for answers in the passage. Thus, read the passage once, stopping and going back to the a sentence and reading it again if you don't understand, and never looking back once you finish the passage. Once you learn how to UNDERSTAND, then you can work on SPEED. This is the best approach to increasing your score. You might get a point or two gain in verbal by simply working on speed. Working on your approach to understanding will put you into the upper tiers of MCAT writers.

 

Then there are other strategies like working through questions having never read the passage - its an Examcrackers strategy that helps make more salient some of the eliminating factors for particular choices. Its in EK's verbal book, pretty solid strategy and assists with reducing time spent on questions.

Both this EK question strategy and working on understanding will both assist you in finding the write answer; thus speeding up your question analysis (which is at least 65% time allocation in the verbal section).

 

39Q (paper version)

 

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UT Med 1T2