For all of you geting above a 30 MCAT...HOW?

[beanbeans]

For all you getting above a 30 MCAT... did you start out with these high scores? I am hitting mid20's and don't know what else to do to improve (yes I've been doing practice problems and the AAMCS).....

This test is so discouraging and intimidating. I need some motivation here, so what worked for all of you?

[wishmd11]

I know how you feel when I started preparing this summer for my first MCAT ( I write on the 2nd) I certainly didn't see scores I was expecting. A big part of raising my scores has been doing as many problems as I can get my hands on. It's really the only way you can start to see how they trick you and the kinds of relationships you should be paying attention to while studying. Also I find that if theres something I really don't understand after studying it from different sources, I'll try and find something on the internet like a video from a university site that explains it better. I'm a visual learner so that works for me. If you have the gold standard book register on mcat-prep.com, it gives you 10 hours of video if you have the book I've found them a good review in the last few days before my test. The EK 1001 question books are also good although they don't have passage based questions. Make sure you read over your practice exams to see where you're making your mistakes, I find for me a lot of the time I just misinterpret the question.

[takashi]

You need to identify why you got the question wrong. First, it could be lack of knowledge. Do you understand all the concepts required by the mcat? Perhaps if you are lacking in one particular area, it would be good idea to review the concepts that you dont quite understand. Second, it could be inability to understand the passage (especially for verbal). Are you unable to extract the key information needed in passage in order to answer the information? Third, it could be time management. Are you rushing towards the end because you don't have enough time?

 

It is very important to find out why you are struggling and then try to rectify your problems with what remaining time you have left.

 

What has worked for me is spending time on areas I am weak in and only briefly review areas that I know I am confident in. Doing a lot of practice problems is a good way to judge how well you have studied. Try to take lots of study breaks because you can't effectively study if you are drained. Good luck!

[gb35]

You need to identify why you got the question wrong. First, it could be lack of knowledge. Do you understand all the concepts required by the mcat? Perhaps if you are lacking in one particular area, it would be good idea to review the concepts that you dont quite understand. Second, it could be inability to understand the passage (especially for verbal). Are you unable to extract the key information needed in passage in order to answer the information? Third, it could be time management. Are you rushing towards the end because you don't have enough time?

 

It is very important to find out why you are struggling and then try to rectify your problems with what remaining time you have left.

 

What has worked for me is spending time on areas I am weak in and only briefly review areas that I know I am confident in. Doing a lot of practice problems is a good way to judge how well you have studied. Try to take lots of study breaks because you can't effectively study if you are drained. Good luck!

 

Could not agree more. Content review is big, but understanding the way the test works is bigger. If you're missing things that are explicitly stated in the passage, then develop a passage reading/mapping strategy that works for you. I thought Kaplan was great for this.

 

If you're missing straight memorization questions, then you need more content review. I coudl go on and on, but the point is their tends to be patterns in the mistakes you make, and you need to identify them. A good first step though is to make sure you are quickly getting a grasp on the passages, and know where to go back and look for different things if need be.

[mavrik13]

Are you looking back on your tests (both practice MCAT and chapter tests) to see what you are getting wrong? That should give you a good idea of where to start.

 

If you are finding certain content areas tough, then focus on reviewing those areas.

 

To me, the MCAT is about 20% memorization, 60% applying what you have memorized to new situations, and 20% confidence. If you don't have the basic memorization down, then you are shooting yourself in the foot when trying to apply what you know to new situations.

 

There will always be straight up memorization questions that you will get wrong unless you get lucky. However, the key to a 30+ score is not to memorize every little detail to get nitpicky questions correct (I was asked some question about ochem nomenclature that was not only not covered by EK, but took 15 minutes of google searching to find the answer), but to get every question that you CAN answer correct, and make an educated guess on the rest.

 

Best of luck!

[jordan19]

For all you getting above a 30 MCAT... did you start out with these high scores? I am hitting mid20's and don't know what else to do to improve (yes I've been doing practice problems and the AAMCS).....

This test is so discouraging and intimidating. I need some motivation here, so what worked for all of you?

 

Perhaps you are focusing too much on the detail? I know when I was studying at first, there was so much for biology to cover to really know in detail and do well. But you really only need to grasp the basic concepts, and like what most people say, it's about application. The passages, most of the time will give you most of the information you need. But you need not focus on reading the whole thing. Skim the details and look at the questions, then go back if you need to retrieve any details or equations.

 

Also, alot of the questions can be solved using one or more ways. This involves intuition, and logic. Sometimes you can just visualize what happens but can't explain it but you can still use that knowledge. Also, a lot of the answers tend to be real values that people use in real life. They aren't obscure numbers that the test maker uses to trip you up.

 

Don't be discouraged. I wrote my first full length and did horrible ~ 14 or something. But if you keep practicin' you'll get the hang of things. Just keep perservering.

[beanbeans]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback and encouragment. I am definately taking advice from all of you. I'll let keep you updated.

 

If anyone else has any feedback, please join in the thread. Especially if anyone only scored a 25 on their first few AAMCs and then was able to work their way up into the 30's, I'd love to hear how you did it!