Essay Anxiety

[Guest skiboot]

Hi,

 

I haven't spent nearly enough time preparing for the essays compared to the other sections. I wrote last august, so I know the format, but if someone could help refresh my memory:

 

First, american vs canadian examples: do you think I'd lose points for using more "obscure" canadian examples, since the markers are most likely American and may have no idea what I'm talking about if I include an example referencing Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau, Stephen Harper, etc?

 

Second, What about using more local issues as opposed to national / international issues. Would these have less impact, therefore be less convincing as far as fulfilling the 3 tasks are concerned?

 

Third, given that this is the week before the exam, what would be the best set of light reading to help improve on examples for the general topic areas. I've been reading the paper, internet, but obviously haven't had a chance to read the whole set of encylopedia Britannica :>

 

Thanks

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

No, you should not be disadvantaged if you use Canadian examples within your essays. I did for one of the two essays in two MCAT iterations and ended up with an S WS score for those two sittings.

 

As for what you could do to help your WS writing abilities with one week to go: if you have time, check out a web-based biography site and gather easily-recallable information on one or two key figures of your choice who you feel would make good centerpieces for essays. Examples might be Mandela or Ghandi.

 

Cheers and good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest skiboot]

Thanks Kirsteen,

 

You have always been a great help on this forum. Hopefully, this will be the last MCAT I ever sit. :>

 

Cheers

[Guest Madz25]

I think using Canadian examples will work in your favour. Since most MCAT test-takers are American, you can imagine how many writing samples that the markers will read that use the SAME arguments for the prompt. If you use a different example, your response will not only stand out, but I'm sure the markers will favour a different response.

 

For prep, I didn't do too much for WS. I just followed PR's formula and ended up with an R.

 

Madz