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Member 429203 · 05-01-2012, 07:20 PM

What's your background OP? Do you have a solid baseline in anything? ie. a biology major with a strong understanding of cell biology and genetics? I'd drop the texts and just start doing the tests. Work all the problems back through using the explanations even if you get them right.

My take - practice some verbal everyday ie. do at least 3-4 "paragraphs"/ ~20 questions everyday. Verbal is a big adjustment and is humbling. I had days where I dedicated my entire study period to it, but mostly I just tried to keep it sharp and focused. It really is possible to train yourself to understand how to think these through. Get the understanding first - then recognize the importance of time cause come test day you frankly you won't have any. These are free points - you don't have to memorize any equations and you don't have to fret about biology classes you didn't take yet. You just have to train yourself to attack them and think them through.

My lame tip on verbal - the answer has to be completely right. I can't tell you how many times I selected the wrong answer because I said "I like this answer so much, but there's this one little thing about it that I sort of disagree with". Good enough. That's the wrong answer.

Biology - other than organic I hate to say I didn't really study this section - I have a biology background. I would definitely have my cell structures, DNA/RNA/protein coding down tight. There always seems to be a section on cholesterol synthesis and inhibition, but I think the above are good sections for picking up meat. Otherwise - and feel free to disagree - I feel like there's a lot of biology to learn to pick up one or two more points. My last MCAT had one very specific question on calcium and muscle contractions. Relearning muscles entirely for 1 question isn't great time management if you ask me.

Chem and physics. I think learning to associate parameters with their units helped me a lot. You are going to be tested a little on everything. I guess the tricky thing is spending enough time on things to learn them while still having time for more material. All your hours on friction and pulleys and there will probably be at most 2 sliding block problems. Practice the timing. Accept that there probably isn't time to do problems requiring calculations unless you have a solid understanding. Hope and pray the topics you don't know are in short supply. I never really understood batteries and somehow I was fortunate enough for there to be no battery paragraphs on either MCAT I took.

05-01-2012, 07:20 PM	#9
Member 429203 hermano Status: Podiatry Student Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 256	What's your background OP? Do you have a solid baseline in anything? ie. a biology major with a strong understanding of cell biology and genetics? I'd drop the texts and just start doing the tests. Work all the problems back through using the explanations even if you get them right. My take - practice some verbal everyday ie. do at least 3-4 "paragraphs"/ ~20 questions everyday. Verbal is a big adjustment and is humbling. I had days where I dedicated my entire study period to it, but mostly I just tried to keep it sharp and focused. It really is possible to train yourself to understand how to think these through. Get the understanding first - then recognize the importance of time cause come test day you frankly you won't have any. These are free points - you don't have to memorize any equations and you don't have to fret about biology classes you didn't take yet. You just have to train yourself to attack them and think them through. My lame tip on verbal - the answer has to be completely right. I can't tell you how many times I selected the wrong answer because I said "I like this answer so much, but there's this one little thing about it that I sort of disagree with". Good enough. That's the wrong answer. Biology - other than organic I hate to say I didn't really study this section - I have a biology background. I would definitely have my cell structures, DNA/RNA/protein coding down tight. There always seems to be a section on cholesterol synthesis and inhibition, but I think the above are good sections for picking up meat. Otherwise - and feel free to disagree - I feel like there's a lot of biology to learn to pick up one or two more points. My last MCAT had one very specific question on calcium and muscle contractions. Relearning muscles entirely for 1 question isn't great time management if you ask me. Chem and physics. I think learning to associate parameters with their units helped me a lot. You are going to be tested a little on everything. I guess the tricky thing is spending enough time on things to learn them while still having time for more material. All your hours on friction and pulleys and there will probably be at most 2 sliding block problems. Practice the timing. Accept that there probably isn't time to do problems requiring calculations unless you have a solid understanding. Hope and pray the topics you don't know are in short supply. I never really understood batteries and somehow I was fortunate enough for there to be no battery paragraphs on either MCAT I took. __________________ DMU Podiatry, 2016. Thanks mon frere - that means brother in french. I don't know how I know that, I took 3 years of spanish.