Guest dopetown Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 Hi, I've been an avid reader of this forum for a couple of months now. Reading everyone's posts has put a lot of my admission concerns to rest. I plan to take my MCAT next August. I plan to take the time until then to review my material and, in some cases, learn for the first time. Also, as suggested by many, I'm going to spend a great deal of time practicing MCAT-type questions. I have read from several people that the MCAT is a test of aptitude and that some people do not improve in marks after writing it a second or third time. How many people found this to be the case? Will practicing MCAT questions only help to a certain degree? For those of you who have taken the MCAT more than once, have you improved? I'm a believer of "practice makes perfect." Although I probably won't get perfect, I certainly hope that practicing will get me at least 9's or 10's, and an N or M on the board. Exactly how sharp are you if you have, for example, 9 9 9 N? I consider myself an average student with a 75% from 1st year, which I think is due to bad study habits. Does an average student have the potential to have solid scores on the MCAT? I thought this was so, but now i'm not so sure. some opinions please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 Hi there dopetown, It is possible for a second-time writer of the MCAT to improve scores on a subsequent writing, most probably if a radical change in study approach is made. To wit, on my first writing of the MCAT, I scored a Q in the Writing Sample and 10 in Biological Sciences. On a subsequent test I revamped my study strategies for both sections and managed to pull both section scores up by two points each. In short, try not to be psyched out by heresay regarding the exam. Instead, try to honestly evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses and efficiently find ways to respectively optimize the former and bolster the latter. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest justanotherpremed Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 dopetown, here are my insights about the MCAT: First of all, it seems that everyone who writes the MCAT has strong opinions of what it is all about and want to tell you how to study and how it really works.. so take them all with a grain of salt, especially mine: I wrote the MCAT last August and I read several sources that said " you should write the MCAT only once".... so I only worked about one shift at work on the weekends.... and I spent basically nine to five monday to friday studying for the august mcat, and I scored high enough to not consider writing it again. Can you raise your score on the MCAT? Yes, you can raise it to a certain extent. In my experience, all of the sections can be improved upon. BY section: Physical sciences and biological sciences.... I wouldn't spend as much time on studying the actual content as I did when I studied..... the big thing will be writing good practice materials... the kaplan workbook is ok... you will get very few correct... but the scaled scores take that into account.... the practice materials from the aamc are excellent... personally, I would get the online eighty dollar subscription, then print them off and write them.... verbal... I started out getting sixes or something in verbal and I got a 10 on the real MCat in august, which was a little lower than I had been scoring in my most recent practice exams... i think that you should get the verbal strategies from the examkrackers thin verbal book... the best practice will be the 101 verbal exercises from examkrackers... they are truly excellent and are the reason for my improvement........ writing sample... i didn't practice much, and got an N, which may screw me over at least at western... but whatever.... i will definitely not write again.. in short, i gave up my summer and got acceptable mcat scores... but you'll have to see waht works for you.... hope taht helps..:smokin :hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dopetown Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 Thanks you two. I do plan to give it my absolute best shot, but I just don't know what I'd do if I get unacceptable scores. I have never seen actual MCAT questions, so I may have taken people's opinions too seriously. I doubt you have to be a genius to get 10's, anyway. thanks, dopetown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lactic Folly Posted December 22, 2003 Report Share Posted December 22, 2003 http://www.aamc.org/mcat for more information on the MCAT and sample questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 If you realize that practicing alot is more important than studying facts, then you're way ahead of the curve. Most MCAT horror stories come from people who've read a textbook a thousand times and disregarded practice. Practice 10-20 full tests worth of questions (atleast some with time constraints), and you'll be fine (more practice wouldn't hurt). Kaplan has a QBANK with 1000 questions for 100 dollars I think. Never tried it, but it seems like good value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LIPOSUCTIONATOR Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 Dopetown, do give it your best shot, but if you get unacceptable scores rewrite. The first time I wrote it I gave it my best shot, but I got an unacceptable VR score. The second time I wrote, I barely studied for it but my BS and WS scores were the same, VR went up (but not enough), and PS went down. Although I was dismayed upon realizing I had to write for a 3rd time, the 2nd time proved to me that I didn't need to spend hours on end preparing for the WS, BS, and PS. The third time I wrote, I focused on the VR and got the score I wanted. It is definitely a test of aptitude to some degree. Your mental attitude is also a big factor. The first time I wrote, I was afraid (probably cuz I studied way too much and thought all that effort would go to waste, which it did). The second time I wrote, I just didn't care. But my scores were almost the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 The practice does make perfect, dopetown. Very few people outside the context of a standardized professional or graduate exam (LSAT, GMAT, GRE, etc) have written something that is this long and this broad. It's not only having the practice in answering the various question styles, it's about stamina. If you've taken an entire Saturday to practice writing a complete MCAT, including timing yourself, you realize that's an entire day GONE. You're wasted by the end of it, and you've been working on it for almost 8 hours (with breaks included). Doing the practice questions means you're not going to add the anxiety of an unfamiliar type of question to the written component at 1:30 in the afternoon, when your brain is already half-fried, and you still have a 100-minute section to go afterwards. So the MCAT is a test of aptitude, but also can you do it in time-limited, pressure-cooker, extended-hours situations like you're going to face in clerkship, residency and clinical practice. So stick with the practice! And you will be better for it when the time comes. Good luck this spring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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