Biological and Physical Sciences

[Gametime24]

So I'm using the EK study books for these sections and have a decent background in the subjects to begin with:

 

Both semesters intro bio, cell bio, micro, and both semesters anat and phys for the biology stuff, just one semester of intro physics for the physics.. and for chem, well I'm a chem major and done second year, so both gen chems first year followed by two semesters organic, inorganic, analytical, and physical chemistry

 

I wrote all of the "inclass exams" from the EK bio book last night and finished them in 22ish mins on average with average scaled score of an 11. As for the physical sciences topics, the physics past what ive learned in class before has given me issues so those scores are closer to the 10 range (avg was like 10.2 or something)

 

I'm writing my mcat june 16 and wanted to spend the 11-14 doing practice aamc tests, so I've got about 4 days to boost these scores up a little bit.. just wondering if im going about it in a decent way or if someone can offer any tips.

 

Plan is to go through the bio study book and write out notes on each of the concepts that i got questions wrong on, for example write out the viral life cycles and commit them to memory. As well, I just got a hold of the EK 1001 questions in physics and plan on doing about 300 questions from it (200 ish from the stuff that I havent taken any courses on). I'm going to leave the chem alone I think, it's my strongest area and I don't really have a lot of time.

 

Just wondering if anyone has found that EK 1001 questions was useful for physics and if they found the EK bio study book to adequately prepare them for the biology passages on the actual mcat?

 

Thanks a lot guys! This forum's been so much help with VR and WS already! As always, any advice is more than welcome

[Gametime24]

Any help?? Just wondering how useful the EK 1001 questions is for physics and how well the EK bio topics covered the actual topics on the mcat (too much detail, too little detail, missing topics, etc?)

[Wanabedoc12]

To be honest, the Physical science and the Biological section are just sections you must commit to memory. The more practice you do, the more familiar the topics would be, and the higher youll score. It sounds like your doing a bit of cramming and expecting massive results, you may or may not improve 1 maybe 2? But barley, just attempt to UNDERSTAND the concept, if you understand how everything works, in the long run, youll be able to LOGICALLY tackle any questions

[Gametime24]

Nah, I'm not expecting huge results, I realize that I have a very crammed time period, there were some unfortunate events that led to this (mainly my older brother was jumped on vacation in the dominican and we spent time in the hospital, helping him recover, etc, dealing with issues afterwards) So that was a huge drain mentally to go through and set my studying way back.

 

I'd be satisfied with a 1 MAYBE two point improvement in each given the situation, a 12-11-12 mcat would be awesome for me and how things have turned out. If I get much less than that I'm prepared to write it again! Thanks for the advice and I'll see what I can do! Almost done reading through the EK Bio and then it'll be loads of questions from the 1001 questions books with a few more practice verbal tests by Sat.

 

5ish aamc practice tests by Wed and then off to write n see how it goes

[Wanabedoc12]

Ah, shucks Sorry to hear it bud, I know where you are comming from! The EK 1001 books are absolutely phenomenal, I had a friend who had gone through more then half of each book and ended up getting a 14 on both sections, said it was the best way to FULLY grasp onto the topics.

[Gametime24]

Thanks! I'll def keep that in mind if I write again, going to try and get half to the physics book done this weekend and all of the inclass exams for the biology as well. Seeing as those are my two areas im less comfortable with.

 

Have you written yet? If so, when and how did you do? If not, when do you get to go face it?..

[Wanabedoc12]

I face the beast Sept 16th! I'm currently done with the PS and BS section, the verbal right now is just murdering me but then again, I just started so well see what happens!

[Gametime24]

I face the beast Sept 16th! I'm currently done with the PS and BS section, the verbal right now is just murdering me but then again, I just started so well see what happens!

 

Keep practicing, I started off justttt getting above a 9 and today I was a solid 11 (one question off of getting a 12!) done in the right time with 9 mins to spare

[Wanabedoc12]

When did you start?

[Gametime24]

When did you start?

 

About two and a half weeks ago, mid-late May, keep in mind I've been working full time as well! So you have plenty of time

[Gametime24]

Done practice test 6R and 7R now, ranging 35-37, still haven't seen very much physics, one passage on waves and one passage on E and M. The VR has been going pretty well, seems to be easier than the EK 101 passages overall. The section giving more trouble than I thought, however, is the BS, keep getting 11's, occasional 12 ..

 

Anyone have thoughts on going over the solutions to incorrect answers from the practice tests vs going over the material a second time?

 

Thanks!

[numero0121407]

Done practice test 6R and 7R now, ranging 35-37, still haven't seen very much physics, one passage on waves and one passage on E and M. The VR has been going pretty well, seems to be easier than the EK 101 passages overall. The section giving more trouble than I thought, however, is the BS, keep getting 11's, occasional 12 ..

 

Anyone have thoughts on going over the solutions to incorrect answers from the practice tests vs going over the material a second time?

 

Thanks!

 

Your progress is so inspiring

 

Are you doing FL in timed conditions or workind and correcting as you go? I did most of the tests last year (rewriting this time), so I did not do them again now, I have AMCC 11 which I will do tomorrow still...and yes, I have the same question, 4 more days, what is the best way to use them? practice or review...

[Wanabedoc12]

Gametime, how in the name god are you scoring well in the verbal, it'd be cool if you could go onto the flashChat on your break so we could discuss some tips, Im scoring 14's usually on the BS and PS but im near flunking the V (after 1 and a half week of practice im improving) exchanging tips would be nice

[numero0121407]

Gametime, how in the name god are you scoring well in the verbal, it'd be cool if you could go onto the flashChat on your break so we could discuss some tips, Im scoring 14's usually on the BS and PS but im near flunking the V (after 1 and a half week of practice im improving) exchanging tips would be nice

 

I second that too

 

Also, Wanabedoc12, you can also share tips of the 14s of BS and PS

[amalwa12]

Yeahh Gametime, I've been stuck on 10s with EK verbal for weeks now... I can't seem to improve... and Wannabe, your 14s make me green! Tips from both of you??

[Gametime24]

Gametime, how in the name god are you scoring well in the verbal, it'd be cool if you could go onto the flashChat on your break so we could discuss some tips, Im scoring 14's usually on the BS and PS but im near flunking the V (after 1 and a half week of practice im improving) exchanging tips would be nice

 

I'd definitely be up for exchanging info! Had a lil downer with the VR tonight (10..) but this was on my second timed full length of the day with only a 1 hr break between them! So my mind was pretty fuzzy at that point haha, scored a 12/13 on the VR section of the first practice test today.

 

Overall tips:

MAIN IDEA, if you can't at least come up with a general recap of the passage, look at the opening and closing paragraphs again quickly, try to get something. Then head to the questions.

 

Generally avoid the answers that deal in absolutes, the one that can be right in more cases is usually the best MCAT answer.

 

Pay attention to examples given in the passage, they usually have a question about the meaning behind the author putting them in.

 

I'll be up on the FlashChat tomorrow until around 4 pm my time (I live in NS btw)

 

Hope to get some tips from you about the PS/BS, mainly BS! Been scoring 13s on the PS generally, got a 12 on one today that had a little more physics in it, but I'm still okay with that, I'd like 12's across the board on test day and anything above that is just gravy

[Gametime24]

Yeahh Gametime, I've been stuck on 10s with EK verbal for weeks now... I can't seem to improve... and Wannabe, your 14s make me green! Tips from both of you??

 

10's on EK verbals aren't that far from getting high scores I sat in the 10s for about 3 or 4 of the EK tests before moving up to getting a couple of 11s together, then went on to the aamc practice tests (test date getting closer and closer) and have managed all 11-13 except the one 10 this evening I already posted about..

 

Check out the tips I posted above, the ones on the first page of this thread are pretty good too! Also, I'll be on FlashChat tomorrow to hopefully get some of the BS 14's tips from wannabedoc so maybe we'll chat then!

[amalwa12]

Thanks! I'll try to be there tmrw to get your tips:)

 

So, you were getting 10s and a couple of 11s on EK verbal? Are you saying the aamc practice tests are somewhat easier and you've been doing better on them? I know ppl have varied opinions and most say their EK scores mirror their real scores, but according to what you'er saying your EK scores were lower than aamc verbals. I hope that's the case with mine too, and I can score higher on the practice tests.

 

10's on EK verbals aren't that far from getting high scores I sat in the 10s for about 3 or 4 of the EK tests before moving up to getting a couple of 11s together, then went on to the aamc practice tests (test date getting closer and closer) and have managed all 11-13 except the one 10 this evening I already posted about..

 

Check out the tips I posted above, the ones on the first page of this thread are pretty good too! Also, I'll be on FlashChat tomorrow to hopefully get some of the BS 14's tips from wannabedoc so maybe we'll chat then!

[medhopeful64]

I face the beast Sept 16th! I'm currently done with the PS and BS section, the verbal right now is just murdering me but then again, I just started so well see what happens!

 

wait...isn't the last date to write on the 8th of Sept this year??? at least that's what I saw on the AAMC website regarding testing dates

 

and those EK exams murder me...I write them and end up getting half the entire exam wrong...then i flip to the back and check and its seems so obvious! I don't know why I just can't do this

[Gametime24]

Thanks! I'll try to be there tmrw to get your tips:)

 

So, you were getting 10s and a couple of 11s on EK verbal? Are you saying the aamc practice tests are somewhat easier and you've been doing better on them? I know ppl have varied opinions and most say their EK scores mirror their real scores, but according to what you'er saying your EK scores were lower than aamc verbals. I hope that's the case with mine too, and I can score higher on the practice tests.

 

Started off with 10's yeah, moved up to consistent 11's before trying the aamc tests, and have been 11-13 on those! Again, with the one exception! So yeah, overall I have found the aamc tests went better for me, the "difficult" passages on the aamc ones have been a little harder than the difficult ones on the EK, but overall the questions have been a little bit more straight forward and made it easier to pick the right answer out from all of the distractors