How to improve Physical sciences score

[lado1234]

Hi,

 

I took the MCAT last year and tell you the truth I didnt study my best at all and this is what I got:

 

VR 10/PS7/BS10/writing: S

 

Now, I want to give myself 2 chances to write the MCAT before the med applications deadline this year so im writing my MCAT on June 17th and despite how my June 17th one goes I will right away register for one in late august and still keep studying incase my june mcat comes out to be bad.

 

Problem: I have only about 7 weeks to study. I have never taken Physics since after grade 11, its definitely my weakest spot and the one I need most improvement on. Inorganic chem: Im better at it than in physics but have to work on it too.

 

VR & BS - im not too worried about them but I still want to give them time ofcourse!

 

Past tests: I need time to do these too! I will probably want to complete 8 practice tests during this time period.

 

CAN I DO IT?! I am taking time off from work and volunteering, sit and study about 8-10hours per day.

 

How else can i improve on PS! PLEASE advise me, im willing to do the work but I need strategies big time.

 

PS passages scare me because they come out of nowhere! I have such a hard time understanding things when they give us so much complicated info!!

[UTPEOPLE]

Hi,

 

I took the MCAT last year and tell you the truth I didnt study my best at all and this is what I got:

 

VR 10/PS7/BS10/writing: S

 

Now, I want to give myself 2 chances to write the MCAT before the med applications deadline this year so im writing my MCAT on June 17th and despite how my June 17th one goes I will right away register for one in late august and still keep studying incase my june mcat comes out to be bad.

 

Problem: I have only about 7 weeks to study. I have never taken Physics since after grade 11, its definitely my weakest spot and the one I need most improvement on. Inorganic chem: Im better at it than in physics but have to work on it too.

 

VR & BS - im not too worried about them but I still want to give them time ofcourse!

 

Past tests: I need time to do these too! I will probably want to complete 8 practice tests during this time period.

 

CAN I DO IT?! I am taking time off from work and volunteering, sit and study about 8-10hours per day.

 

How else can i improve on PS! PLEASE advise me, im willing to do the work but I need strategies big time.

 

PS passages scare me because they come out of nowhere! I have such a hard time understanding things when they give us so much complicated info!!

 

First off, its not your PS that will keep you out of med, its your VR. That VR is terrible (like 40-50 percentile?) and I would suggest doing lots of practice problems. If you are finding it hard to study by yourself, you might benefit from going to a MCAT prep course. It would appear from what you stated that your problem with PS is dealing with unknown material, therefore you have a slight problem with reading comprehension (thus explain VR at the same time). This might seem odd, but working on reading comp through verbal might actually help your PS at the same time

[lado1234]

First off, its not your PS that will keep you out of med, its your VR. That VR is terrible (like 40-50 percentile?) and I would suggest doing lots of practice problems. If you are finding it hard to study by yourself, you might benefit from going to a MCAT prep course. It would appear from what you stated that your problem with PS is dealing with unknown material, therefore you have a slight problem with reading comprehension (thus explain VR at the same time). This might seem odd, but working on reading comp through verbal might actually help your PS at the same time

 

Hey,

 

I think the way I wrote my MCAT score may have confused you.

 

My VR was 10 (not 40-50 percentile)

PS was 7

BS was 10

Writing sample: S

 

However, when those physics passages show up, I do have a hard time applying the concepts that I have learned from the princeton review texts on to the new material that the passage is discussing. Basically, I can do the homework problems but have a hard time applying the same concepts that I practiced on to new situations, like the physics passages.

 

What should be my strategy? some people tell me that i shouldnt read the passage and first attack the passage questions, but i dont like the idea since the passage has so much info that i will likely need for answering the questions, no?

[UTPEOPLE]

Hey,

 

I think the way I wrote my MCAT score may have confused you.

 

My VR was 10 (not 40-50 percentile)

PS was 7

BS was 10

Writing sample: S

 

However, when those physics passages show up, I do have a hard time applying the concepts that I have learned from the princeton review texts on to the new material that the passage is discussing. Basically, I can do the homework problems but have a hard time applying the same concepts that I practiced on to new situations, like the physics passages.

 

What should be my strategy? some people tell me that i shouldnt read the passage and first attack the passage questions, but i dont like the idea since the passage has so much info that i will likely need for answering the questions, no?

 

 

oops, sorry for the mistake. I would go for the simple, easy to answer questions first, since questions are all worth the same, the sane thing to do is to MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET ALL THE EASY QUESTIONS RIGHT. What I might suggest is that the MCAT will get you to tie in unseen physics concept with previous ones, so do word association. When the passage even mentions circular motion (like with mass spectrometer), instantly think Vsquared/R, and that there is centripetal acceleration (and no work being done). Complete understanding is often not required/unattainable. A private MCAT tutor might also help, if you find that the prep course is not working. Good luck! also, for PS, the inorganic section might also help. Inorganic chem is not hard, but people tend to underestimate it, so there is a lot of room for beating your peers there if you work hard.

[lado1234]

oops, sorry for the mistake. I would go for the simple, easy to answer questions first, since questions are all worth the same, the sane thing to do is to MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET ALL THE EASY QUESTIONS RIGHT. What I might suggest is that the MCAT will get you to tie in unseen physics concept with previous ones, so do word association. When the passage even mentions circular motion (like with mass spectrometer), instantly think Vsquared/R, and that there is centripetal acceleration (and no work being done). Complete understanding is often not required/unattainable. A private MCAT tutor might also help, if you find that the prep course is not working. Good luck! also, for PS, the inorganic section might also help. Inorganic chem is not hard, but people tend to underestimate it, so there is a lot of room for beating your peers there if you work hard.

 

Thanks UTPEOPLE! I definitely underestimated the inorganic chem last time, and for sure will try my best on it this time around.

"word association" - sounds like a great point and I will keep it in mind

 

Thanks a lot!

[UTPEOPLE]

Thanks UTPEOPLE! I definitely underestimated the inorganic chem last time, and for sure will try my best on it this time around.

"word association" - sounds like a great point and I will keep it in mind

 

Thanks a lot!

 

No problem, things like electrochemistry (signs plus the absence of need to balance E) and acid/bases (slight changes in graph), are often trickier than most give credit for (since most people have taken acid/bases chem FOREVER). Aside from word association, one thing that I always do in physics is check units. MCAT ALWAYS GIVES units, for EVERYTHING. So if they are asking you about a formula to calculate the amount of time it takes for a proton to make a revolution or whatever, first ELIMINATE any choices whose equations reduce to an answer that have units that are not equal to seconds (also works for chemistry when trying to determine the units of a rate constant (r=k[M]). That usually eliminates at least two out of four answer choices.