Guest Mike Posted June 11, 2001 Report Share Posted June 11, 2001 I'm am banging my head up against the wall trying to decide what I should do. I've been out of school now for one year. I wrote the mcat last summer and did so-so. I don't have a very good gpa so i am limited to only a few schools in Ontario, both of which have high mcat vr and wr standards. I definitely need to improve my reading comprehension and speed, and I haven't had a whole lot of time this summer because I work. I was thinking that instead of cramming for the August exam and getting a mediocre score (I'm quite certain I have slim chances for a 10 on verbal), I would wait until next April and write it then. That way I could practice the materials throughout the course of 8 whole months and improve my verbal reasoning as well as the two science sections. I know I could stay dedicated so that's not really an issue. Now for my dilemma. I took the princeton review course last year, so I'm entitled to a refresher course this summer as well as to some new material. I would even be able to sit in on the practice exams which would be very helpful in my preparation. If I wait until April, I know I'll be more prepared, but I won't have the option of writing the proctored exams as well as having them graded and analysed by the princeton review. Should this stop me from waiting? I figured I could prepare with the hyperlearning books and the gold standard during the year and then hammer out as many practice exams as possible before next April. I'm not fully comfortable with the material yet. What do you think I should do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 Is any of that material yours to keep, or must it be used only within the Princeton testing center? If you can keep it, then obviously take it with you for April, even though it won't be graded by the Princeton folks. I think the bottom line is that there's a question that you, and only you can answer: Will I realistically be prepared to write the MCAT in August? If the answer to that question is "no", then bite the bullet and forget the MCAT material that you are otherwise entitled to. You also need to examine the rest of your curriculum vitae, to see if you could use those summer months in improving other weaker areas of your application. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YongQ Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 In my opinion, a big myth about the MCAT is that it takes many (>= 4) months of continuous studying to be ready for it. If you're willing (and able) to put in a good 4-5 hours a day at it for the 3 months preceding, really someone who's been out of the orgo/PS loop or needs VR/WS help can be ready for the test. Also, IMO review materials from professional MCAT review courses are totally unnecessary to do well - they are good to use as outlines, but the core of your studying should be around good *general* physics/biology texts and the AAMC Practice materials. The AAMC outline is VERY accurate, I remember only 1 small detail in PS that they left out but had to know to do some of the practice materials. As for VR/WS, in my POV there're 2 basic things you can do to prepare for these: [1] do practice VRs and [2] read humanties journals. Actually, for WS, it may sound corny but I prepared for it by reading through Shakespeare and C.S. Lewis - both writers never fail to inspire me when I have a mental block (in Eng, anyway). But I'm rambling so I'll stop here. Hope this helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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