mtb2011 Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 hi. i have a week before my mcat and wanted to know what the best way to prepare for the WS given my time constraints. pls help. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNKT Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 hi. i have a week before my mcat and wanted to know what the best way to prepare for the WS given my time constraints. pls help. thanks If that means you have not prepared at all yet for WS, then I would take some time to familiarize yourself with the proper format. The writing section on the MCAT is almost like following a recipe in terms of its structure. Pick up a Kaplan or Princeton review book and they break it down for you pretty nicely. Get comfortable with writing a complete essay (including exposing yourself to the prompt, formulating your ideas, etc.) in 30 minutes. This can be done by writing just a few practice ones (like 3-5?), no need to go overboard because again it is just following a recipe as long as you can formulate a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis quickly. At the same time, try to find a couple of key examples (historical or current on an international or national level) that fit into the broad categories of business, politics, etc. that can be spun in multiple ways depending on the prompt. Finally, go through as many prompts as you can, time-permitting, practicing coming up with a quick thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in your head with the examples you have researched, not wasting time to write complete essays. Ultimately, people are successful by using different methods but that is what worked for me. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panda__eyes Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 As the previous poster mentioned, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the format of the writing sample. You can NOT steer away from this format or else marks will/can be severely deducted. I say "can" because I personally did not have time to write a proper synthesis for both my responses yet still managed to get a relatively decent score on the writing sample. Once you know the format of the writing sample, spend the rest of your time looking over prompts - e.g. look at the prompts and think of an idea for thesis/antithesis and synthesis, and go through as many as you can before your MCAT exam. Then, try writing a couple ones. I believe that the evaluation of the writing sample is based largely on the ideas you put forth. As long as your English is semi-decent (but good ideas), you should be able to do well. I remember mine having tons of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, but the ideas were solid so all went well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 The advice you have already gotten is good, and I don't have anything new to add. But I just wanted to say good luck! I'm also writing the MCAT this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb2011 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 thanks guys. i had the best luck in the world. i had access to the countless aamc prompts. i looked through the first 15, and my two prompts were word for word from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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