Guest JAMIRA Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 Hi I have been slowly preparing to write the MCAT in either the Spring or Summer (depending on how things go). I've heard from many people that taking a prep course really isn't necessary, so I've been studying on my own. The only major problem I am having is with the writing sample. I have been looking over some of the prompts and I wouldn't have the first clue where to begin! I am familiar with The Princeton Review's approach to the format of the WS, but I'm still pretty lost. Does anyone have any tips on how to best prepare for the WS? Thanks ~Jamira Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blinknoodle Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 I was pretty stuck for WS examples when I studied for the MCAT.. I was pretty out of the loop for current events. I found it useful to read through current news and magazines (cbc.ca, globeandmail.com, economist.com) especially in areas that I knew little about (ie, business). I would practice both by sitting and writing full WS and also by flipping through the 300 prompts and seeing if I could think of good examples. That worked well for me, but I don't think WS examples are that important -- I know many people who had hypothetical examples and did fine; I think the synthesis is what is important. -blinknoodle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bev4 Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 THere ar some good sample essays on the web at www.mcatwritingsamples.com Good luck. Bev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coolguy3650 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 If you're going to study on your own, there is one thing I can't stress enough. DO LOTS OF PRACTICE Qs--doing that is way more important than memorizing a bunch of stuff. I know that wasn't what you were asking, but I think it's a great piece of advice. As for the question you asked, don't worry, I felt the same way also. Remember one thing, there is nothing wrong with hypothetical examples. In fact, they are probably the best because they are tailor made to the specific topic. For this section as well, practice alot--once you get in a certain mode of thinking, things become easier. Also, there are alot of themes that keep popping up, such as leadership, creativity and a few others. Once you got a handle on those themes, you should be fine. Here's a simplified version of the strategy I used for the writing sample: For part one, just come up with some reasons why the statement is true (also explain what it means in your words, and especially explain ambiguous terms in the statement). Use simple A=B, B=C, so A must equal C logic. That type of logic is very effective, quick to come up with, and all you really need for a short essay. When writing part one, you'll make some assumptions in your logic. For example, you might have this simplified scenario: Statement: Oranges taste bad Conclusion: Oranges are bad for you Your assuption is that things that taste bad are unhealthy. Always try to strengthen your assumptions. They are your weak links (in this example, bring up evolution or something). For part two, describe situations in which your assumptions do not hold. In this example, you might say that broccoli tastes bad, but is healthy. For part three, explain why in some circumstances your assumptions hold, and in others they do not. DO NOT TAKE A STAND EITHER WAY. When you approach they essay methodically like this, it becomes pretty easy to come up with stuff. Sorry I wrote so much, damn post kept getting bigger and bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LIPOSUCTIONATOR Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 The 3rd time I wrote the MCAT I never practised at all for the writing sample and went up 2 points!! My prompts were 1) businesses take advantages of consumers weaknesses 2) education is the great equalizer My knowledge of current events is very minimal. For the first essay I made references to Nintendo, Playstation, and the NFL. Apparently the markers didn't penalize me for my somewhat "immature" examples. I think I even made an incorrect statement when I mentioned why the NFL schedules games on Saturdays at the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LaGriega Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 tips: 1. be sure to complete each of the 3 tasks as given to you 2. be sure to include at least one example for each 3. practice writing neatly in longhand and not being able to cut and paste (this is why you must practice) 4. sketch out and then write a decent first sentence 5. sketch out the whole essay before you start writing; 30 minutes is not long if you end up going off on a tangent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 I found this part of the MCAT sooooo formulaic. You have to follow the same steps on every one, regardless of the prompts received. As LG says above, make sure you answer everything they're asking. And don't get carried away. You can only write so much in 30 minutes; it isn't about length, either. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dopetown Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Hi. Do you people think they put a heavy emphasis on grammar, or content and style? For my english class, if we are not perfect in the mechanics of our essays, we do not get over 80% in our mark. Does anyone know if this is the case when they mark our WS? dope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Hi there, I don't think your grammar has to be 100% perfect to score well on an MCAT essay; after all, and unlike your English essays, you have only 30 minutes to complete MCAT essays and the markers know this, so supposedly, leeway is given. As long as you have all of the other MCAT WS bases covered, i.e., you've addressed the topic and the required tasks, your writing is legible and the grammar is decent, then I think style can go a long way in winning you extra points. These markers assess tens of hundreds of essays and after a bit, this must become a little monotonous. Therefore, an essay may have a better chance of shining when it has a style (i.e., vocabulary and sentence structure) that is a little different from those which you'd find of many writers who may be nervous, pressed for time, and thus, writing to survive by just completing the basic tasks. For my own approach (which seemed to fare decently during marked practice essays and the real thing), I really concentrated on making my essay introductions stand out. I built them up and spent a wee bit of time on each essay, adding in some of my list of key words that I'd amassed over the months of practice and varying my sentence structures. The remainder of the essay tended to be fairly simple in comparison, falling neatly into place, following the MCAT convention. My front end approach addressed a first impressions idea: I figured that it would be the first few sentences, or first paragraph, perhaps, that would set the tone of the assessor's perception of my writing abilities. Cheers and good luck, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dopetown Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Thanks again, Kirsteen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.