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Help with MCAT studying strategy... 3 days left


bigblackmama24

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Hi guys, my MCAT is on Aug 9th, and I felt quite confident a week ago that my scores would go up after consistent practise, but since then, my scores have been fluctuating randomly, if not on a downwards trend.

 

July 25 (AAMC#3)- 35 (PS13/VR9/BS13)

July 30 (AAMC#4)- 33 (11/12/10)

Aug 2 (AAMC#5)- 38 (14/12/12)

Aug 4 (AAMC#7)- 36 (13/9/14)

Aug 6 (AAMC#11)- 33 (11/10/12)

 

My aim is 36+ on the real exam. Does that seem achievable given my practise scores and taking into account that the real test is going to be harder than AAMC?

Any advice how to prep these last few days? My verbal seems to fluctuate a lot (I've gotten 14 on AAMC#10 but also a 9 in AAMC#3 and 7). I need a VR11 to be competitive at the schools I'm looking at.

 

All help is appreciated. Thanks.

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Those are very good scores, I would relax as you clearly know your content. It's important to go in focused, and with a plan of attack on test day.

 

My test on 7/26 was easier than AAMC11. I wouldn't worry about the real thing being much more difficult than the practice tests.

 

Edit: I also scored lower on AAMC3 and AAMC11 verbal. I found the actual exam much more straightforward. Since AAMC10 had a harsh scale, I would be optimistic if I was in your position.

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Thanks. I find that I don't have time to really think through the hard questions though... and esp. on the verbal, I have to make a lot of educated 50/50 guesses.

 

If I'm lucky, I'll get a lot of guesses right (hence the higher scores). But if I'm unlucky, I'll get the guesses wrong (e.g. the 9's).

 

Do you guys have similar experiences? Or can this dependence on luck be avoided somehow...

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I've noticed the same issue. What worked for me is to push the pace on reading each passage (I'm still actively reading, not skimming), and spending more time answering each question. This helped tip the scales towards more correct guesses vs incorrect. I probably spend about 3-3.5 minutes reading the passage, and 5 minutes answering questions.

 

I'd do all the AAMC practice tests. There is also a self assessment from AAMC which contains 21 passages.

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Don't know about the OP, but todays VR sure was brutal. Had only 2 minutes for the last passage.

 

I didn't find it that bad. Had around ten minutes left at the end to review. Didn't seem any worse than any of the practice tests I did.

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You're comprehension must be good. I found BS a joke, but unlike my practice sessions where I could get it done in time and was averaging 10-11, today it just didn't work out for VR. Months of effort goes to the dumps and I just hope I dont get <7.

 

See, I got myself turned in circles with one BS passage, so I'm not as comfortable with that one. Only time will tell if our impressions reflect reality.

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See, I got myself turned in circles with one BS passage, so I'm not as comfortable with that one. Only time will tell if our impressions reflect reality.

 

Ah well, I'm just frustrated ;) . My mind got saturated half way through the VR so I could'nt understand what I was reading. Had to read every thing twice and slowly. Maybe its a downside of doing AAMC # 10 12 hours before the exam.

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  • 1 month later...
Ah well, I'm just frustrated ;) . My mind got saturated half way through the VR so I could'nt understand what I was reading. Had to read every thing twice and slowly. Maybe its a downside of doing AAMC # 10 12 hours before the exam.

 

 

The score turned out to be exactly the same as that on AAMC 11.

Ironically, on the practice test I thought I should have gotten more, on the real thing I'm gad I got more.

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