Any expereinced guidance on my upcoming MCAT?

[Futbol99]

Hey! Thank you for taking the time to help me out! Hear me out...

 

I'm writing my MCAT in January for my first time (Jan 25) and Im starting to feel nervous! I started studying Mid October for it full time (along with a small part-time job), and I used the Princeton material but on my own schedule. I searched a lot of threads before studying the mcat and it seemed like many people can do well by studying in a short amount of time, and so I thought that will happen with me. However, being weak/rusty in Gen. chem, physics, and physiology, I took much longer than expected going through content along with trying to practice a decent amount of sample passages/questions done for each chapter to check my understanding which seems to be fine from chapter to chapter for the most part (using the princeton books and the science workbook they give you, which is great practice from what I heard and feel.) But I am no natural at Verbal, so its been frustrating. I felt that I wasnt absorbing/forgetting easily some earlier concepts in physics/chem so I took a week break in between to review the 3/4 of the material Ive gone through and catch up on more passages. So finally, I will be done my content material in a few days...but starting to forget some earlier details so I feel like Im gonna need to refresh my memory again by reviewing, but I'll have 6 weeks to review and practice AAMC's, passages, TPR tests, etc. so Im feeling pressured for time...

 

Have I put myself in a mess or is that normal? Any advice on how to use my final 6 weeks wisely to ensure it goes as planned in terms of proper ''review'' and where I should spend large portions of my time? Studying the content deeply made me comfortable for awhile but now I feel Im lacking the depth of answering mcat passages with timing, which is decreasing my confidence! Any tips? Also, In your final few weeks, how did u go about VR studying? How many passages did you try to do in the allotted time/passage? Or did you just iron out full length style? I still have a lot of resources between TPR and EK 101.

 

Just simple guidance from experience would really help me Please. Thank you so much

[qszwdxefc]

Hey! Thank you for taking the time to help me out! Hear me out...

 

I'm writing my MCAT in January for my first time (Jan 25) and Im starting to feel nervous! I started studying Mid October for it full time (along with a small part-time job), and I used the Princeton material but on my own schedule. I searched a lot of threads before studying the mcat and it seemed like many people can do well by studying in a short amount of time, and so I thought that will happen with me. However, being weak/rusty in Gen. chem, physics, and physiology, I took much longer than expected going through content along with trying to practice a decent amount of sample passages/questions done for each chapter to check my understanding which seems to be fine from chapter to chapter for the most part (using the princeton books and the science workbook they give you, which is great practice from what I heard and feel.) But I am no natural at Verbal, so its been frustrating. I felt that I wasnt absorbing/forgetting easily some earlier concepts in physics/chem so I took a week break in between to review the 3/4 of the material Ive gone through and catch up on more passages. So finally, I will be done my content material in a few days...but starting to forget some earlier details so I feel like Im gonna need to refresh my memory again by reviewing, but I'll have 6 weeks to review and practice AAMC's, passages, TPR tests, etc. so Im feeling pressured for time...

 

Have I put myself in a mess or is that normal? Any advice on how to use my final 6 weeks wisely to ensure it goes as planned in terms of proper ''review'' and where I should spend large portions of my time? Studying the content deeply made me comfortable for awhile but now I feel Im lacking the depth of answering mcat passages with timing, which is decreasing my confidence! Any tips? Also, In your final few weeks, how did u go about VR studying? How many passages did you try to do in the allotted time/passage? Or did you just iron out full length style? I still have a lot of resources between TPR and EK 101.

 

Just simple guidance from experience would really help me Please. Thank you so much

 

My advice: when you fall behind don't forget to do your verbal passages.

[Futbol99]

My advice: when you fall behind don't forget to do your verbal passages.

 

At this point, how many passages do you recommend to do in one sitting? at least till I start FL's later in December.

thanks!

[FutureGP789]

My advice to you is to focus almost exclusively on Verbal Reasoning - complete and carefully analyze all 101 passages in EK. Then complete all 8 AAMC practice exams under timed, test-like conditions and spend an entire day reviewing the passages/questions for each one. It sounds like you are currently approaching the MCAT like an undergrad exam which is not smart.

 

Also, if you goal is get into medical school, PS is pretty much useless - VR is where the money is at. Essentially for admissions purposes: VR >>>>>>>> BS >> PS. Therefore, focus on VR, get your score range between 11-12 and then hit up the AAMC exams. Forget about starting on page 1 of physics reviewing vectors or whatever. The MCAT is 15% content, 35% critical thinking, and 50% how good you are at writing and knowing the intricacies of the MCAT (e.g., practice practice practice). This is where a prep-course can sometimes be helpful, especially if the instructors are any good.

 

Get out of your comfort zone in regards to sitting down and passively reading about magnetism or acid/base chemistry. Instead write and analyze as many MCAT passages as possible (particularly VR).

 

Just my two cents, good luck!

[Futbol99]

My advice to you is to focus almost exclusively on Verbal Reasoning - complete and carefully analyze all 101 passages in EK. Then complete all 8 AAMC practice exams under timed, test-like conditions and spend an entire day reviewing the passages/questions for each one. It sounds like you are currently approaching the MCAT like an undergrad exam which is not smart.

 

Also, if you goal is get into medical school, PS is pretty much useless - VR is where the money is at. Essentially for admissions purposes: VR >>>>>>>> BS >> PS. Therefore, focus on VR, get your score range between 11-12 and then hit up the AAMC exams. Forget about starting on page 1 of physics reviewing vectors or whatever. The MCAT is 15% content, 35% critical thinking, and 50% how good you are at writing and knowing the intricacies of the MCAT (e.g., practice practice practice). This is where a prep-course can sometimes be helpful, especially if the instructors are any good.

 

Get out of your comfort zone in regards to sitting down and passively reading about magnetism or acid/base chemistry. Instead write and analyze as many MCAT passages as possible (particularly VR).

 

Just my two cents, good luck!

 

Thank you! Yeah I think I have been focusing too much on understanding material, but not enough of practicing it, just out of fear I get topics that never appeared on any of AAMC's lol. Btw, when do you recommend to start my AAMC's? A few friends recommended to take it in the last 3-4 weeks before my Mcat, just to be in the mind zone and be at my peak going in, and not be cold and rusty going in. If I left them to last month, I can take up to 2-3/week which leaves plenty of review for each exam in detail. Is that reasonable or is there a more effective method I should do?

 

Thanks!

[FutureGP789]

My advice is to start the AAMC exams yesterday. 3-4 weeks before test day is way too short notice. These exams should form the basis/corner stone of your studying.

 

1. Complete a full length exam under time conditions. 2 Painstakingly analyze it and 'learn' the exam by developing an approach to both passages and questions 3. Study content based on the passages and discrete questions...e.g., when reviewing a passage on electrochemistry, that would then be an ideal time to review some content from redox chemistry and write a few notes. My advice: don't focus on content and then write the AAMC's when you are 'done' (which you will never truly be), but instead, write the AAMC's and let them guide you on areas of content you need to improve on.

 

Remember for the MCAT, they only require basic level science background. That being said, the passages you are going to get will be on very difficult and convoluted topics which you will never have seen before (and thus require critical thinking/knowing how to get to the correct answer from previous MCAT practice).

 

Good luck!

[Futbol99]

My advice is to start the AAMC exams yesterday. 3-4 weeks before test day is way too short notice. These exams should form the basis/corner stone of your studying.

 

1. Complete a full length exam under time conditions. 2 Painstakingly analyze it and 'learn' the exam by developing an approach to both passages and questions 3. Study content based on the passages and discrete questions...e.g., when reviewing a passage on electrochemistry, that would then be an ideal time to review some content from redox chemistry and write a few notes. My advice: don't focus on content and then write the AAMC's when you are 'done' (which you will never truly be), but instead, write the AAMC's and let them guide you on areas of content you need to improve on.

 

Remember for the MCAT, they only require basic level science background. That being said, the passages you are going to get will be on very difficult and convoluted topics which you will never have seen before (and thus require critical thinking/knowing how to get to the correct answer from previous MCAT practice).

 

Good luck!

 

Wow ahah, I'm very very thankful to have posted this here and getting a great advice. Thank you very much, I did not plan it this way initially and it didnt feel right, but I think with the 6 weeks left, its what makes sense to to go all out practicing. Hope thats all the time I need. Much appreciated

[CheerDoc]

Number one piece of advise I got when studying VR was "pretend you are reading something you're actually interested in". I spent months trying to apply the PR methods of VR: perfecting my highlighting skills, categorizing each question and answer, and attempting to do it all in the 60 minute time limit (I'd end up only finishing 5 or 6 passages). This proved a huge waste of time as all my practice test scores ranged from 6-9. When I stopped doing all of the extra stuff and just read the passages (the same way I would read an interesting novel) my VR scores shot up to 11-12 (and I would consistently finish the section with a few minutes to check over questions at the end). My best advice would be reading more to work on your concentration (passages, novels, the newspaper, whatever), learn what each type of question is actually asking for (the PR tips were good for this), and practice a couple of timed passages. As far as writing the full section, this was my strategy:

 

Skim questions for simple retrieval answers (e.g. ones where you find a specific phrase or word) - this should only take a few seconds

Read the passage like its an important letter from a friend

Answer the questions, keeping in mind what its actually asking for (scope, structure, etc.)

Always use POE --> It ensures you read all possible answers

If you don't know an answer: guess, mark it, come back to it if you have time at the end EVEN IF you think you could go back to the passage to try and find it (you can waste a lot of time doing this, better to save it for last and get through the rest of the questions first).

If you have extra time, go through your marked questions

 

Worst case, the MCAT doesn't go well. Book another one ASAP, use the few weeks you have in between to work on weak areas and re-write it. That's what I did, I had 3 weeks in between my two tests and I improved my score by 4 points.

[Futbol99]

Number one piece of advise I got when studying VR was "pretend you are reading something you're actually interested in". I spent months trying to apply the PR methods of VR: perfecting my highlighting skills, categorizing each question and answer, and attempting to do it all in the 60 minute time limit (I'd end up only finishing 5 or 6 passages). This proved a huge waste of time as all my practice test scores ranged from 6-9. When I stopped doing all of the extra stuff and just read the passages (the same way I would read an interesting novel) my VR scores shot up to 11-12 (and I would consistently finish the section with a few minutes to check over questions at the end). My best advice would be reading more to work on your concentration (passages, novels, the newspaper, whatever), learn what each type of question is actually asking for (the PR tips were good for this), and practice a couple of timed passages. As far as writing the full section, this was my strategy:

 

Skim questions for simple retrieval answers (e.g. ones where you find a specific phrase or word) - this should only take a few seconds

Read the passage like its an important letter from a friend

Answer the questions, keeping in mind what its actually asking for (scope, structure, etc.)

Always use POE --> It ensures you read all possible answers

If you don't know an answer: guess, mark it, come back to it if you have time at the end EVEN IF you think you could go back to the passage to try and find it (you can waste a lot of time doing this, better to save it for last and get through the rest of the questions first).

If you have extra time, go through your marked questions

 

Worst case, the MCAT doesn't go well. Book another one ASAP, use the few weeks you have in between to work on weak areas and re-write it. That's what I did, I had 3 weeks in between my two tests and I improved my score by 4 points.

 

That is very true, thank you for answering. Although my scores havent been improving much, I started coming to that conclusion about skipping all the useless techniques...It usually helps, I definitely do however need to work more on my concentration. Thank you!

[Tonto]

This is the best advice there is: Practice exams don't lie.

 

DO NOT write the exam unless you are in range (and better yet doing better) then your stated goal on the exam. While it is possible to miraculously do significantly better on the exam then on practices, it rarely if ever happens. Those practices are a very good indication of what you will get.

 

I can never understand people who write the exam and get a 27 and are all disappointed, yet were getting 27s on their practice exams. If you are not getting your target score don't write the exam until you are. Simple as that. There is no excuse for getting a low mark if you wrote it after consistently getting poor scores on the practice. none. that is all. good luck.

[Futbol99]

This is the best advice there is: Practice exams don't lie.

 

DO NOT write the exam unless you are in range (and better yet doing better) then your stated goal on the exam. While it is possible to miraculously do significantly better on the exam then on practices, it rarely if ever happens. Those practices are a very good indication of what you will get.

 

I can never understand people who write the exam and get a 27 and are all disappointed, yet were getting 27s on their practice exams. If you are not getting your target score don't write the exam until you are. Simple as that. There is no excuse for getting a low mark if you wrote it after consistently getting poor scores on the practice. none. that is all. good luck.

 

Thank you, very reasonable advice

Are there certain AAMCs harder than others / better indicators? A friend of mine was saying AAMC 3 is pretty much like a diagnostic exam and will have a high mark so dont let that be a false source of confidence. True or are all AAMCS very representative of ur marks?

[viseguy]

Thank you, very reasonable advice

Are there certain AAMCs harder than others / better indicators? A friend of mine was saying AAMC 3 is pretty much like a diagnostic exam and will have a high mark so dont let that be a false source of confidence. True or are all AAMCS very representative of ur marks?

 

Wrote twice, both times were very different than the practice exams. However the scores were in line with my practice exams - even AAMC3. The practice exams vary in difficulty but my scores are all roughly the same (+/- 2).