WS?

[Angela]

Anyone try to practice write all or most of the AAMC WS prompts? And do you do a lot of them under timed conditions as your exam date approached?

[TimeOut]

Personally, I spent a lot more time going over the prompts out loud with friends (discussing current issues, getting new ideas, etc etc.), and only really wrote out 3-4 essays. But it really depends on what you feel like you need to work on - if writing comes naturally to you but you need more help with ideas/content, I'd suggest discussing with your peers (much more efficient than reading up on news by yourself or using the same example you have). But if you have trouble with the 30 minute time limit, then I'd say practice writing the prompts out more. Or do both.

[Sface]

I wrote one every night before i went to sleep for almost three months (it only takes 30 minutes, right?) and i got a T. I would say it was 100% because I did that - I'm not the most well written student. I would also say its helpful if you discuss it with friends/mcat teachers afterwards

[Sface]

oh wait i lied - i didnt do them on weekends

[RandomGuy]

I reviewed the graded sample prompts on e-mcat.com the morning of my MCAT... that was my entire studying for WS.

[The Law]

I really think that this would be a colossal waste of time. You should review how they are marked - this is one of the main ways to do well. Then you can write a few. By no means is doing all of them necessary to doing well. The first time I wrote the MCAT, I wrote about 4 or 5 essays (got an S) and second time I didn't even write one (got a T). Now I'm on to attempt 3, feeling kind of nervous, but hoping that my strategy still holds up for this try.

 

 

My advice to you:

Stop thinking of the writing sample as one of the other test sections. You cannot memorize your way out of this. It's all about learning how to think and analyze the way that they want. Review some graded prompts. Review how they mark. Practice and use their suggestions for critiquing your work.

 

Hope this helps...

[fady]

You should definitely care about the writing section, but not to the point of doing 10 WS samples before the exam. I would honestly recommend you time yourself out doing 6 essays (3 WS's). In the first WS, just see how much you're able to write in the time constraint you have. As you go along, try to stick to that same amount of writing you did, but improve the quality of the writing and let someone else check your work for spelling/gram. errors and quality of the arguments and examples.

Personally, I bough a princeton review book that gives you 2 full MCAT exams and lets one of their people mark your WS. It really pinpointed where my weaknesses were and just re-assured me of how well my writing really is.

[UTPEOPLE]

I really think that this would be a colossal waste of time. You should review how they are marked - this is one of the main ways to do well. Then you can write a few. By no means is doing all of them necessary to doing well. The first time I wrote the MCAT, I wrote about 4 or 5 essays (got an S) and second time I didn't even write one (got a T). Now I'm on to attempt 3, feeling kind of nervous, but hoping that my strategy still holds up for this try.

 

 

My advice to you:

Stop thinking of the writing sample as one of the other test sections. You cannot memorize your way out of this. It's all about learning how to think and analyze the way that they want. Review some graded prompts. Review how they mark. Practice and use their suggestions for critiquing your work.

 

Hope this helps...

 

technically, you can memorize your way out of this. Just write one 6 essay for everyone of the 300 + testable prompts. And memorize them

[The Law]

technically, you can memorize your way out of this. Just write one 6 essay for everyone of the 300 + testable prompts. And memorize them

 

Technically you could. But then again, you may just get lucky and get a variation of one of the 300 questions and be forced to use your brain instead. My point was if you're trying to do every single prompt, you're approaching the writing sample the wrong way.

[rmorelan]

I actually did way more WS than people are suggesting here - I just wrote one a day (it's 30 mins) for a while. Ended up with a S from starting out much lower.

 

Like most stuff on the MCAT it depends on where you start out, how much time you have, and what your goals are

[UTPEOPLE]

Technically you could. But then again, you may just get lucky and get a variation of one of the 300 questions and be forced to use your brain instead. My point was if you're trying to do every single prompt, you're approaching the writing sample the wrong way.

 

but one of your essays could surely be co-opted into fitting the derivative prompt... since the prompts are so similar anyway

[Angela]

I actually did way more WS than people are suggesting here - I just wrote one a day (it's 30 mins) for a while. Ended up with a S from starting out much lower.

 

Like most stuff on the MCAT it depends on where you start out, how much time you have, and what your goals are

 

How many months did you do one essay per day? For example is 3 months a reasonable number?

[lostintime]

If you just do 2 essays every time you do a practice exam full length, then you should be doing more than 10 anyway. So what do people do during their practice exams, completely skip the writing section?

 

Or you could not actually write the essay, but save time and practice doing prompts by giving yourself 5 minutes to brainstorm a general outline/skeleton of what you WILL write up, but not take the time to actually write the essay.

 

I also found it helpful esp since I'm not that great at writing, think of good linking words/phrases, and re-use them over and over. You likely won't have time to think of these things on the spot unless you're a very intuitive and eloquent writer.