Thoughts on MCAT

[MD2019_A]

I wrote it today. I wanted to share my experience with next year writers or writers writing later this year.

 

Getting to the test center was nerve racking for me. Once I got registered and everything though it felt just like a regular practice test. I first started with discrete questions they're always a confidence booster. Their content was super easy I cannot emphasize that enough. The content for the MCAT is easy. It was the other things that bothered me. The monitor was way too small for me. I had been using a 20+ inch monitor to do the practice tests, the monitor for the actual test was like 15. I had to scroll a lot and it took me a while to get used to visuals; that threw me off for sure. Anyway, once I finished all the questions I went back to review the ones I had marked because I had 10 minutes to spare. One thing I'll say again in this post is that if you don't know the answer to a question on the first try, take an educated guess, and mark it. If you have time, go back to it to think it through. If not then you'll still have something to send and not get a 0 for that question.

 

After PS I needed that 10 min break my eyes were too strained and my ears too warm from the noise cancelling headphones they gave me (they're like the ones airport people have on the runaway they're friggin huge and painful). The verbal section went surprisingly smoother than I thought. The passage's were simple enough, I was focused and by then I was really calm. That helped a lot I think; you have to reman calm for verbal. You have enough time to read each passage completely and slowly and answer every question. For me, I read slowly because I didn't want to go back and forth between the passage and the question because it takes me more time. Anyway, VR went smoothly and then WS came along.

 

For WS, make sure you have an example database for various types of issues from political to health to educational. You might get a question to which you don't have an example for, but you can make up an example as you go. It's really not that bad of a section.

 

BS was by far the easiest for me. I was in a good zone and I went through the section with ease.

 

In the end, it came down to me being accustomed to the environment. PS suffered because my test center was crap and it was a huge change from my practice tests environment.

 

If you have questions, do PM me. Good luck to all

[in_hindsight]

Would you say that the difficulty was similar to that of the later practice tests (i.e. 8-11)? Also, are the verbal passages longer than usual?

[MD2019_A]

Difficulty was on par I'd say. If you go in the test being confident, and be honest to yourself about it, the content is very doable. It's the time management and critical thinking skills under pressure that matter.

 

I don't know the exact length difference because the screen was shorter and I had scroll a lot more, but it is very doable also. I read each passage carefully and slowly and still had 2 mins to spare in the end.

[TheGoodLife]

After PS I needed that 10 min break my eyes were too strained and my ears too warm from the noise cancelling headphones they gave me (they're like the ones airport people have on the runaway they're friggin huge and painful).

 

Oh gosh yah those headphones were painful! Did they pinch your head as well? Really uncomfortable headphones. I suggest bringing in your own.