30+ MCAT study habits???

[confewshz]

Hello everyone,

I know this question has been asked a zillion times, but I like to get fresh perspectives. For those who got 30+ MCAT scores(SouthernGirl, beanbean, JScrusader, Samoa, nero, and anyone else who has a 30+ MCAT score), can you post the following information please? It would be greatly appreciated.

1) Your individual scores and composite score

2) The study method used for each section

3) What materials you used for each section(Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)

4) Which practice tests did you use?

5) What was your undergraduate major?

6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?

Thanks guys and congrats to everyone who recently took the MCAT ,

confewshz

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[QofQuimica]

Please ask me to clarify if you still don't get what i'm saying, and don't try to write me off as some idiot so quickly.

You responded to guju's post, so I don't know if this was directed to her specifically or to all of us. But I would like to clarify that while I disagree with your statement that people do not get trained to think a certain way by their major, I do not think that you are an idiot. I am just trying to explain why I think you are mistaken about that one point.

I do understand what you are saying about biology majors. Our discussion is confounded a bit because at my university, there is actually a major called "pre-med." So here, most of the students who fall into the category that you're describing are pre-med majors, not biology majors. Many of the smaller number who are biology majors are "real" biology majors, not pre-meds for the most part. That being said, some of them do decide to become pre-meds. And they still as a group do not do as well on the MCAT as the physical science and humanities majors do.

 

[gujuDoc]

first of all, you are pathetic. even if i was completely wrong, the tone of your response to my post was completely unneccessary. if you guys would have any lives outside of the world of SDN, my post would have made sense. Not logical at all? There are so many things i want to reply to but I seriously don't want to bother wasting my time. But i'll try to explain myself again, and you can ask me to clarify later on...

To know that you can major in a non-science and apply to med school puts you at a higher level of "med-school admission" knowledge than the below average pre-med. Pretty much all below avg premeds major in biology because thats what they think you need in order to apply to medical school. There exist people who are in their 2nd year of college, and are pre-med, and don't even know what the mcat is. You may not believe me, but those type of people are around my hometown community college. So if these people don't even know what the mcat is and they are pre-med, which is appaling, do you think that they would know you could apply to med school as an anthropology major? These kids would laugh in your face. These are the types of people that bring the avg score for bio majors down. The other types are just people who thought the idea of med school was intriguing, but also found other healthcare professions interesting as well, and decided to major in biology because thats what everyone else does, and took the mcat to see if they could cut it. I know tons of kids like this, and they also bring the avg score for bio majors down.

Now if you took the mcat scores of SDNers and divided them up by their majors, you would see an entirely different disparity between majors. I'm sure you could then argue that one major prepares you better than another, because you would know that the amt. of people on this site who took the mcat halfheartedly are far fewer than the amt. total.

I never said that humanities majors are innately more intelligent or more focused. i'm not saying that one becomes more intelligent and better at taking the mcat by virtue of becoming a such and such major. its just that the majority of unremarkable med school applicants usually pick the bio major by defualt, because they don't know any better, and thus bring the avg. down.

Please ask me to clarify if you still don't get what i'm saying, and don't try to write me off as some idiot so quickly.

Gotta love the irony of this person. He calls me pathetic but yet in his last statements of his other post, HE MENTIONS THAT:

BIO MAJORS ARE NOT AS MOTIVATED OR ARE DUMB

And that makes you the pathetic one. If I came off as arrogant, I apologize, but you don't know 2 cents about my life so don't assume SDN is my life. I do happen to do other things like go to class, study, go to volunteer twice a week and research. I do have friends I hang out and I do have a life. I come on SDN in the night time or sometimes when checking my email only because I also happen to have made many acquaintances on this site as well, who I enjoy reading posts by, like in the Florida thread where many students such as Mr.Burns10 and Unfrozencaveman tend to make me laugh alot with their crazy sense of humor, or to try and help people here on SDN if I can be of help to any of the premeds or to ask for advice on occassion.

If that bothers you then I'm sorry, but don't go assuming stuff about my life that you don't know 2 freaking cents about!!!!!

If anything, I'd be concerned about your own tone before you turn around and attack me because you had a very very harsh tone about something that was wayyyyyyyy false.

 

[Anastasis]

Gotta love the irony of this person. He calls me pathetic but yet in his last statements of his other post, HE MENTIONS THAT:

BIO MAJORS ARE NOT AS MOTIVATED OR ARE DUMB

I'm prob. putting my head into the lion's mouth here but that's not actually what he said. He said that he believes that some bio majors pick that by default. He's saying those specific bio majors are maybe not as motivated or informed.

I'm not saying I agree with him - honestly I don't know that many pre-med majors or bio majors so I can't generalize. I'm just saying that you might want to take a deep breath. I know it's annoying with some anon. person calls you pathetic but realize that it's just that, some anon. person. Think about it: Do you honestly care what this person thinks? I'm thinking not. Try not to get so worked up about it. It's not worth the stress.

There are much more important things to be getting stressed about, like the MCAT.

to all my SDN peeps out there.

 

[gujuDoc]

humanities majors probaby do better b/c they already on avg. more motivated, more knowledgable about the application process and are more focused than the avg. bio major, since the avg. bio major picks that concentration by default since they think thats what they need in order to go to med school (this avg. includes a lot of misinformed and dumb people)

This is what you said. From my understanding of this statement, and I've quoted you directly here. You've indicated that many bio majors are DUMB to use your own words. Well not necessarily the case. Generally if they are dumb, they tend to fail out and change their major and get weeded out. The misinformed thing I'll agree with, because too many stupid advisors try to tell people to do the premed major and tell students they are stupid for choosing another major. Case in point, a good friend of mine went to see her advisor and was doing Microbiology as a major. She wasn't doing it because everyone has to be a bio major sort of mentality but because she was interested in microbiology as a subject, but her advisor kept telling her to do the premed major that they call biomedical sciences. She stuck with her own gut feeling and stayed with microbiology. Many students at my school do the premed major but they also do a double major with it or they do mutliple minors so they still end up having a well rounded education. Some people do it just because if they've done another major like psychology by the time they've taken all the science classes for med school requirements and some other electives they've almost met the requirements for the second major.

Also rereading the bolded, you've clearly indicated that you think a person is more motivated if they are not a bio major, which assumes that you know anything about the motivation of all bio major. And let me tell you, most people who chose majors such as bio or microbio that were serious about medicine eventually made it. They may or may not have struggled on the MCAT due to poor verbal scores in some cases, but they were focused, motivated, and made it in either MD or DO.

Overall, no matter what major you are, if you get the scores and are motivated you'll make it. But sometimes being in a tougher more rigorous major with more abstract learning skills and more conceptual skills does help hone your skills for things like standardized testing.

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm prob. putting my head into the lion's mouth here but that's not actually what he said. He said that he believes that some bio majors pick that by default. He's saying those specific bio majors are maybe not as motivated or informed.

I'm not saying I agree with him - honestly I don't know that many pre-med majors or bio majors so I can't generalize. I'm just saying that you might want to take a deep breath. I know it's annoying with some anon. person calls you pathetic but realize that it's just that, some anon. person. Think about it: Do you honestly care what this person thinks? I'm thinking not. Try not to get so worked up about it. It's not worth the stress.

There are much more important things to be getting stressed about, like the MCAT.

to all my SDN peeps out there.

Anastasis, see my post below yours. I requoted what he said and bolded the part that clearly implies that he was calling many bio majors dumb and implicating that being a particular major makes a person more motivated then someone who picks the more common major. That is not true by any means or virtue.

 

[gujuDoc]

On a side note, let's get back to topic and all stop posting in here and cluttering up space.

This thread is meant for people who've taken the MCAT and gotten above 30 to post because their scores and the answers to how they prepared etc. in the form that the OP provided.

 

[abcxyz0123]

Gotta love the irony of this person. He calls me pathetic but yet in his last statements of his other post, HE MENTIONS THAT:

BIO MAJORS ARE NOT AS MOTIVATED OR ARE DUMB

And that makes you the pathetic one. If I came off as arrogant, I apologize, but you don't know 2 cents about my life so don't assume SDN is my life. I do happen to do other things like go to class, study, go to volunteer twice a week and research. I do have friends I hang out and I do have a life. I come on SDN in the night time or sometimes when checking my email only because I also happen to have made many acquaintances on this site as well, who I enjoy reading posts by, like in the Florida thread where many students such as Mr.Burns10 and Unfrozencaveman tend to make me laugh alot with their crazy sense of humor, or to try and help people here on SDN if I can be of help to any of the premeds or to ask for advice on occassion.

If that bothers you then I'm sorry, but don't go assuming stuff about my life that you don't know 2 freaking cents about!!!!!

If anything, I'd be concerned about your own tone before you turn around and attack me because you had a very very harsh tone about something that was wayyyyyyyy false.

i'm sorry, i dont really want to reply to this, but i cant help myself. she claims that i said "bio majors are not as motivated or as dumb". yet, i clearly did not say that at all, as other posters have noted, and she uses that statement as a reason for why i am pathetic? I said that the majority of unsuccessful med school applicants happen to be bio majors, not that the majority of bio majors are unsuccessful med school applicants. i can't believe people like you exist. you wrote a huge post claiming that you had a life...don't you have enough common sense to know that if you really did have a life, you wouldn't have to defend yourself in such a tremendous manner? especially late on a friday night?!?! and now you tell us to get on topic? look at the history of posts on this thread...can you guess who keeps throwing us off topic?

someone please delete all of this, including this post, and just leave the 30+ mcat study habits as it is.

 

[abcxyz0123]

You responded to guju's post, so I don't know if this was directed to her specifically or to all of us. But I would like to clarify that while I disagree with your statement that people do not get trained to think a certain way by their major, I do not think that you are an idiot. I am just trying to explain why I think you are mistaken about that one point.

I do understand what you are saying about biology majors. Our discussion is confounded a bit because at my university, there is actually a major called "pre-med." So here, most of the students who fall into the category that you're describing are pre-med majors, not biology majors. Many of the smaller number who are biology majors are "real" biology majors, not pre-meds for the most part. That being said, some of them do decide to become pre-meds. And they still as a group do not do as well on the MCAT as the physical science and humanities majors do.

Oh, no, i absolutely believe that people do get trained to think in a
certain way by their major. I admit my original post was unclear.
What I meant when i said "i highly doubt that certain majors get higher
mcat scores than others b/c of the way their major taught them how to
think" was that I doubted that the statistics could accurately reflect
that certain majors get higher mcat scores than others b/c of the way
their major taught them how to think. I just think using public mcat
statistics in order to see which major would train you best for the
mcat is hugely inaccurate. On the other hand, if there was some way to
compare people who studied equally as hard for the mcat, and did
equally as well in undergrad, then I think you would be able to
accurately say that people who major in x should on average do better
on the mcat than people who major in y.

you can delete this post too, i just had to reply.

 

[gujuDoc]

Seth03,

Listen, I apologize if I misinterpreted your original post, but please read the part that I bolded above!!!!!!! That part of your post clearly seemed to imply things that came off in a way other then what you are saying you meant them to be. If you reread it maybe you'll see why I overreacted and found your words to be quite offensive. If you didn't mean it that way, then perhaps you should learn to write what you mean more clearly rather then making it seem like you mean to imply something else.

 

[Anastasis]

Geez, I told myself last night I wasn't going to reply to this nonsense anymore. Seriously, A, you need to delete this stuff when we're done, okay?

Guju - read the post. The stuff you bolded. He said it included alot of misinformed and dumb people. Not that they were all misinformed and dumb. Is he implying biology majors are dumb? Well yes, that subset he mentioned earlier. Not the group as a whole. I doubt ANYONE believes that. He's arguing statistics here. I know what he said probably hurt and offended you but don't let your emotions read something into the post that he didn't intend.

Anyway - I think we've hijacked this thread enough. If we really want to keep debating maybe someone should start another thread.

 

[PBandJ]

well, unfortunately, i am an engineer who got less than 30 on the first try.

but the engineering way of learning certainly helps on breaking down the problems in the exam. it's not so much about memorization, but rather learning how to apply concepts to almost any situation. i think my issues had to do with freaking out on the exam (b/c i was doing much better on practice exams). i am taking it again knowing full well that i can score at least that high. just trying to keep my chin up! hopefully advice from those with scores >30 will also help!

My own experience has been seeing that not one single engineer I've talked to has gotten less then a 30. I think about every engineering student at my Uni and on SDN that I've talked to have been shown to do proportionately well on the MCAT with 30 or above easily by virtue of the way they are thought to think and conceptualize and apply knowledge.

 

[QuikClot]

To some extent I've heard philosophy majors do really well because they are taught logic in a way others aren't. However, I doubt that all Humanities majors as a group do statistically better then most science majors. Maybe in the verbal section but not as a whole. Of course if any one has data to prove me wrong, then I'll freely admit that I'm wrong.

Here is the data:

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/char99.pdf

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/char98.pdf

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/char97.pdf

All three years show humanities majors with the best scores overall. With the single exception of Physical Sciences majors taking the Physics section, humanities majors do as well or better than any other major as measured by the graphs (which show a range) every year, on every section.

Poetry readings for all!

 

[Dov]

Study like it your full time job... literally

 

[Dr Jboo]

1) 9 Bio 10 Phys 13 Verbal and I don't even remember writing (thats how little it matters)

2), 3) and 4)Study Method - The big kaplan book and the AMCAS old tests were the only thing I used. Basically from Jan to April I took that book with me wherever I went and any free moment I had I read it. That and plenty of practice tests worked for me. Its really important to take an entire practice test in one sitting, simulating the real thing. Otherwise you'll mentally die of exhaustion in the middle of the bio section

5) Biology/Wildlife Sciences

6) Hints: Its very easy to get so worn out during the exam that you have a hard time focusing on the questions. I literally read a bio question over 5 times before I could figure out what it was asking I was so done with the stupid test. You really have to give yourself a little pep talk in the middle and remind yourself why you want this so bad. Also, I was fortunate enough to be able to shadow an awesome surgeon 3 weeks before the MCATs and that REALLY gave me that little push to study my hardest even when I was getting sick of it. If any of you can shadow another MD over spring break or before the MCAT I think it really helps keep the motivation there.
Good luck!

 

[trustwomen]

OK, seeing as there seems to still be some interest in this thread:

1) Your individual scores and composite score

Took it once, in August 2004. 13V, 12P, 10B, S = 35S

2) The study method used for each section

Reading the materials and doing the practice exams.

3) What materials you used for each section(Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)

The materials given by a weekend Oxford seminar, which are actuallythe MCAT practice exams and guidelines sold by AAMC itself. (Seminar itself not all that helpful.) Then used an old physics textbook my mom had, to teach myself optics and magnetism (had only taken mechanics). Also had my orgo, basic chem and bio textbooks with me and reviewed some stuff (not enough bio though, hadn't taken the courses and didn't know a whole lot).

4) Which practice tests did you use?

See above.

5) What was your undergraduate major?

Ages ago I got a BA in sociology and a second in political science. I'm now finishing a BSc. in Biology. (Nobody, but nobody, needs three degrees - sigh)

6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?

Eat a tuna sandwich and drink a latte at lunchtime (but don't eat a big meal); sharpens the mind - worked for me, anyway. Breathe deeply, from your belly (yoga-style). And now for some some speculation re. V and WS: assuming you don't have a lot of non-science studies in your past, I would recommend writing opinion papers for fun and have teachers evaluate them for writing content and style. Find a complex social article and a smart classmate and sit down and dissect the article and its subtexts. Above all, don't stress too much, or THAT might hurt your score. You can write it again if you need to. And here in Canada, at least, many schools don't even require it.

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?

Three days, right before the test, about 6-8 hours/day. No, I'm not joking.

Best of luck!

Cat

 

[Nodelphi]

1) Your individual scores and composite score
I took the MCAT twice: April 2000 - 9V 8P 9B, Q = 26Q
April 2005 - 11V 11P 11B, R = 33R

2) The study method used for each section
I devoted two days a week to each section for two months, reserving my sundays for taking a practice exam. For the next month and a half I devoted two days each to the Physical sciences and the Biological sciences and the two days I had been devoting to verbal I devoted to summarizing and reviewing what I was studying in the P and B sections. I would still take a practice exam on sundays without exception. (This was the hardest part but I feel it helped more than anything else.)


3) What materials you used for each section(Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)
I used some old Kaplan books and flashcards a coworker gave me. I bought most of the practice exams the AAMC offered.


4) Which practice tests did you use?
See Above


5) What was your undergraduate major?
Microbiology


6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?
I suggested this elsewhere but use a large children's pencil ("My First Pencil" sold at any office supply or children's school supply store), it really cut down on my bubbling time and gave me a little bit of extra time to go over my work at the end/go back to questions I guessed on. My highest practice test score was a 31 so I'm convinced it was the pencil that edged me into the 33. Maybe I'm just a freaky perfectionist and the time I thought I was saving with the big pencil was only psychological.

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?
I studied for about 3 and 1/2 months pretty religeously (about 3 hours of study a day). I've been out of school for 5 years now and I work full time so it was rough spending so much time studying. It really does pay off though.

 

[captainbsm]

HMMMM

OK, seeing as there seems to still be some interest in this thread:

1) Your individual scores and composite score

Took it once, in August 2004. 13V, 12P, 10B, S = 35S

2) The study method used for each section

Reading the materials and doing the practice exams.

3) What materials you used for each section(Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)

The materials given by a weekend Oxford seminar, which are actuallythe MCAT practice exams and guidelines sold by AAMC itself. (Seminar itself not all that helpful.) Then used an old physics textbook my mom had, to teach myself optics and magnetism (had only taken mechanics). Also had my orgo, basic chem and bio textbooks with me and reviewed some stuff (not enough bio though, hadn't taken the courses and didn't know a whole lot).

4) Which practice tests did you use?

See above.

5) What was your undergraduate major?

Ages ago I got a BA in sociology and a second in political science. I'm now finishing a BSc. in Biology. (Nobody, but nobody, needs three degrees - sigh)

6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?

Eat a tuna sandwich and drink a latte at lunchtime (but don't eat a big meal); sharpens the mind - worked for me, anyway. Breathe deeply, from your belly (yoga-style). And now for some some speculation re. V and WS: assuming you don't have a lot of non-science studies in your past, I would recommend writing opinion papers for fun and have teachers evaluate them for writing content and style. Find a complex social article and a smart classmate and sit down and dissect the article and its subtexts. Above all, don't stress too much, or THAT might hurt your score. You can write it again if you need to. And here in Canada, at least, many schools don't even require it.

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?

Three days, right before the test, about 6-8 hours/day. No, I'm not joking.

Best of luck!

Cat

 

[trustwomen]

HMMMM

?

 

[abadri421]

?

How did u manage to study all that material in 3 days?

 

[trustwomen]

How did u manage to study all that material in 3 days?

I skimmed a lot of it, used the AAMC materials as a guide on what to focus on, and did the practice exams "timed", like the real test. I seem to recall my practice exams were a few points lower than my real test turned out to be. I did, as mentioned in my post, attend a 2-day Oxford seminar a few months before but didn't learn a whole lot; mainly it taught me what I should study. I kept meaning to hit the books earlier but I'm a terrible procrastinator. I had just finished Orgo 2 that May and the teacher was a killer so I wound up remembering a lot of it. Though there was SO much more bio than orgo in BS, I should have focused more on the bio (which I was missing).

Full disclosure: I skipped two grades in school and have always tested well. I also have been reading since age 2, I burn through a whole lot of fiction and nonfiction, and I completed two bachelor's degrees in social sciences years before I started studying science. So Verbal was no problem (at the actual test I finished it quickly and wound up with an extra half-hour to review my answers) and a significant part of the P and B sections is reading the *&%* question and understanding it - a lot of the science info you need is in the problem itself, or follows the basic underlying principles of what you learn (which means that memorizing doesn't help too much, try to understand why things do what they do). At the Oxford seminar I found myself coaching the teacher on Verbal.

I do wish I had studied more, or taken more of the recommended undergrad classes beforehand, I might have been a superstar like some of the posters here. But I never learned study habits (my first two degrees had a GPA of like 2.5) and it's still a huge struggle for me. In my first degrees I put in an D-F effort and got a wide variety of grades, from very few As to lots of Cs and Ds and a few Fs. In the biology degree I'm in now, I put in a B-C effort (there are B students who study harder than me, but to be fair I also work 30+ hours/week) and I get As and the occasional B+. So I don't recommend that people study only three days, obviously; I am kind of a freak. But I stand by my advice about relaxing, breathing, eating that tuna sandwich and latte, and using the AAMC materials, which were great.

BTW I did pay for my slacker past; I applied to 10 schools this year and was refused interviews at 7 so far because they included my old degrees in my GPA, despite my old ones being 1993-98 and my new one being 2003-present (and in science besides). I did interview today at a school which only used my recent degree to calculate GPA (3.74). Am still waiting for two refusals which I know will come because they are from schools which refused me before (3 of 3 refused me interviews last year). I am also a trilingual social worker (I currently work at a homeless shelter) with tons of volunteer experience over the past 10 years. But if you don't make those cutoffs, boy... they don't care. Humans don't even look at your file.

Hope this clears things up.

-Cat

p.s. more advice, though it doesn't fit the thread: NEVER take fewer than 5 classes per semester. Most schools don't care what else you were doing (working full-time, in my case). They will simply refuse you at the first chop.

 

[PBandJ]

that's a great improvement!
i hope i can do the same!

1) Your individual scores and composite score
I took the MCAT twice: April 2000 - 9V 8P 9B, Q = 26Q
April 2005 - 11V 11P 11B, R = 33R

2) The study method used for each section
I devoted two days a week to each section for two months, reserving my sundays for taking a practice exam. For the next month and a half I devoted two days each to the Physical sciences and the Biological sciences and the two days I had been devoting to verbal I devoted to summarizing and reviewing what I was studying in the P and B sections. I would still take a practice exam on sundays without exception. (This was the hardest part but I feel it helped more than anything else.)


3) What materials you used for each section(Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)
I used some old Kaplan books and flashcards a coworker gave me. I bought most of the practice exams the AAMC offered.


4) Which practice tests did you use?
See Above


5) What was your undergraduate major?
Microbiology


6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?
I suggested this elsewhere but use a large children's pencil ("My First Pencil" sold at any office supply or children's school supply store), it really cut down on my bubbling time and gave me a little bit of extra time to go over my work at the end/go back to questions I guessed on. My highest practice test score was a 31 so I'm convinced it was the pencil that edged me into the 33. Maybe I'm just a freaky perfectionist and the time I thought I was saving with the big pencil was only psychological.

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?
I studied for about 3 and 1/2 months pretty religeously (about 3 hours of study a day). I've been out of school for 5 years now and I work full time so it was rough spending so much time studying. It really does pay off though.

 

[CTtarheel]

I got a 11P 12V 11B O. I studied the most for verbal (and it paid off), I used the kaplan complete MCAT book for all sections, and took all of the verbal tests in the kaplan book. I also took four AAMC tests (3R, 5R, 6R, 7R), which predicted my score pretty well (+/- 1 point on each test). For the science sections I just used the book to figure out what kind of stuff was important and used class notes and my AP books for more studying.

Best of Luck

 

[Nodelphi]

that's a great improvement!
i hope i can do the same!

You can, just keep up the studying, if I can do it anyone can. Best of luck to you!

 

[Hercules022]

I got a 35, and used Kaplan books / tests, AAMC practice tests 3-7, and a lot of the EK books. That's pretty standard stuff, but I wanted to post to give my two cents on the one thing that I think made a big difference in my score: seriously devoting the final month of my time before the test to nothing but MCAT prep. Anything in my life that wasn't absolutely pressing I put on hold from March until I took the test in April. Anything like activities, going out, drinking.... that stuff will all be there when the test is over, and spending one night a week volunteering at a hospital or going to a bar is wasting time that could be spent studying. Part-time job? Cut down the hours, find subs and pick up shifts later.

So anything besides classes, exams, etc. I'd freeze if possible. You'd be surprised how effective the excuse "I'm way behind on my MCAT studying" is for getting you out of obligations.

In summary, now is certainly NOT the time to worry about balancing work and play. Now is the time to work, work some more, and then get back to work.

 

[OctoDoc]

My two cents:

1) Your individual scores and composite score

11 PS 9 VR 14 BS composite: 34O

2) The study method used for each section

Kaplan MCAT test prep course, doing ALL of the required and ALL of the optional material. Yes, all of it. I'm sure that if I had done less, then my scores would have been lower.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, TPR, Examkrackers, AAMC, etc)

Kaplan test prep course + Princeton Review Book + Biology For Dummies + Genetics course + Molecular Biology course + Physiology course + Cell Biology course + physics textbook + AAMC verbal reasoning book + Time Magazine + Discovery Health Channel

4) Which practice tests did you use?

Those supplied by Kaplan, and from the Princeton Review Book and AAMC verbal reasoning book

5) What was your undergraduate major?

Chemistry (way back in 1992)

6) Any other tips you may have for those of us who still have this test lurking over us?

Study, just like you know you should. No telephone, no radio, no TV, no company.

7) How long did you study for the MCAT?

I had been out of school for a long time (undergraduate degree in 1992). I stayed away from biology - couldn't stand it at the time. Hence, when I decided to become a doctor...uh oh. I took an MCAT biological sciences practice test, and only scored a 9, and that was with not timing myself. I'm sure that it was the organic chemistry that gave me that score (Ph.D. in organic chemistry, postdoc in organic chemistry, organic chemistry professor at two research universities). Most of the biology I had never even seen. I guessed on most of those questions. So I took a physiology course in the fall of 2004. In the spring of 2005, I signed up for Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics at the local university (not the one I taught at) as a walk-in student. Those were prereqs and also would help me with the MCAT. And I signed up for the Kaplan MCAT prep course. And I taught a graduate course at my university and ran a research program (complete with graduate research students). Busiest time of my life.

It all paid off. I studied like crazy. Fortunately, my love of learning never went away, and I was pleased to find that I soaked up the material like a sponge. The chemistry and biology were not difficult for me, but the physics and verbal reasoning were killers. I hate blocks sliding on inclined planes. And balls on tracks. And springs. And pendulums. The electromagnetism I liked. Verbal reasoning? I am a slow, deliberate thinker (which I think is why I only got an O on the essay component). I like to take my time and absorb what I am reading. So only having three minutes to "map a passage" (you'll know what this means if you take any MCAT prep course or study from a prep course book) just didn't work well for me. Kaplan said to just stick it out, that their method was a tried and true method for obtaining high verbal reasoning scores. I knew that their method just wasn't for me, but I believed them and kept at it, but to my detriment.

Here is some advice: if you study using someone's "method," and you just know that it isn't working for you, try the methods of other guys (exam krackers, princeton review, barrons, etc.) until you find one that works for you. Or, if you have enough time, figure out a system on your own after seeing all of the approaches. That goes not only for the VR section, but for all of them. The MCAT is too important to blow because you stuck with a program that didn't work for you. I wish I had figured that out before it was too late.

If you aren't extremely self disciplined and resourceful, I suggest you take a prep course. They give you all of the material, structured lessons, practice exams (tons of them), and several full-length simulated exams that are structured like the actual MCAT. At the very least, the simulated exams are worth the money. By the time you take the actual MCAT, you are so used to the format and the pace, and you have the stamina to last through the entire day without going brain dead. The downside is that a prep course is expensive, on the order of $1500. But considering your future, it is a small price to pay.

To give you an idea as to how all of my studying paid off, I took a diagnostic test at the beginning of the prep course (when I only had the physiology course completed). The diagnostic was a half-length simulated MCAT test. Same format, but each section had only one-half the number of questions. I received a dismal composite score of 19. But after all of that studying and prep work, I scored a 34 on the actual MCAT. And in my opinion, the prep course simulated exams were tougher than the actual MCAT!

Okay, more than my two cents.

Best of luck to those of you studying now! Just know that it can be done! I feel for you!

 

[premedbruin]

4) Which practice tests did you use?

Those supplied by Kaplan, and from the Princeton Review Book and AAMC verbal reasoning book

What is this "AAMC verbal reasoning book" you are referring to?

 

[OctoDoc]

What is this "AAMC verbal reasoning book" you are referring to?

Ooops, sorry, I just checked my 2+ foot stack of med school prep books, and it was a Princeton Review book of practice MCATs. I just did the VR sections of those tests in it, and I guess I just remembered the book for that only.

 

[cloosh]

just a quick question to you guys who have taken it...

my plan is to take the mcat next april for the first time, because i havent taken some of the pre-med classes (like biochem, micro, cell bio, mam phys etc). is it a good idea to start studying this summer for it, maybe for a couple hours a day? or even like 45 minutes a day? i ask this because i am not good at taking these kinds of tests and i f*cked up my SATs in high school and i dont want to make the same mistake with the mcat. thanks a bunch.

 

[FenderHM]

12P 11V 10B Q first and only time taken

Studied about 20 hrs/week two weeks before, 10/week a month before, 5/week 4 months out

Start early, do lots of practice problems, the videos on mcat-prep.com or whatever are kinda helpful but won't help you beat a 10 in the section...
Used Kaplan's books (high-yield p.s. guide the week before the test, by that point studying theory is a waste of time)

Took test at same time I was taking Physics, I think that showed on my score, I took bio and orgo over summers and I think that hurt my bio sc. score.

Also, I grabbed a quick nap between essays to recharge for bio

 

[yanky5]

VERBAL section TIP

OK. I took the MCAT 2 years ago and was scoring 7's on my verbal practice MCATS until someone told me this strategy and I scored a 9 on verbal to bring my total MCAT score to 31. Here it is. The problem with verbal is that you don't have enough time to finish the essays most of the time. Firstly, you should have already practiced enough to time your sections to an exact science. Then use this strategy to get you ahead of everyone else: Read the first paragraph of the essay only and scan the questions for questions on that paragraph (on the real MCAT they are out of order). Answer those questions first. Then read the second paragraph and scan the questions for questions on that pragraph. Repeat this procedure until you finish the essay. Note: combine really short pragraphs so you don't do more that 4 steps of reading. You will be left with either no questions or one or two evaluative questions on the whole essay. Answer these last. This tecnique saves you the time of looking back trying to find the location of the material in the essays and the material is fresh in your head so you don't have to reread a lot. I'm telling you, forget what Kaplan tells you and try this strategy. It got me 2 extra points.

 

[OctoDoc]

VERBAL section TIP

OK. I took the MCAT 2 years ago and was scoring 7's on my verbal practice MCATS until someone told me this strategy and I scored a 9 on verbal to bring my total MCAT score to 31. Here it is. The problem with verbal is that you don't have enough time to finish the essays most of the time. Firstly, you should have already practiced enough to time your sections to an exact science. Then use this strategy to get you ahead of everyone else: Read the first paragraph of the essay only and scan the questions for questions on that paragraph (on the real MCAT they are out of order). Answer those questions first. Then read the second paragraph and scan the questions for questions on that pragraph. Repeat this procedure until you finish the essay. Note: combine really short pragraphs so you don't do more that 4 steps of reading. You will be left with either no questions or one or two evaluative questions on the whole essay. Answer these last. This tecnique saves you the time of looking back trying to find the location of the material in the essays and the material is fresh in your head so you don't have to reread a lot. I'm telling you, forget what Kaplan tells you and try this strategy. It got me 2 extra points.

DVMN! I wish I knew about your technique when I took my exam! I pictured in my mind using it, and I scored a 13 on VR!

 

[Jennay41]

I took the MCAT April 2004 34O 11P 13V 10B

I got the big fat Kaplan review book and just read that and did the practice questions and exam that came with that. I started in January since my lame parents who made me take this stupid test and be pre-med and all that bull**** and WASTE 4 years of my life gave me the book as a Christmas present that year. It sure was funny when I told my dad I had no intention of going to med school. I graduated in May 2005 with a B.S. in Biochemistry, took a year off, and will be attending pharmacy school this fall, which is really what I wanted to do with my life all along and my family is finally supportive of it.

 

[gujuDoc]

I took the MCAT April 2004 34O 11P 13V 10B

I got the big fat Kaplan review book and just read that and did the practice questions and exam that came with that. I started in January since my lame parents who made me take this stupid test and be pre-med and all that bull**** and WASTE 4 years of my life gave me the book as a Christmas present that year. It sure was funny when I told my dad I had no intention of going to med school. I graduated in May 2005 with a B.S. in Biochemistry, took a year off, and will be attending pharmacy school this fall, which is really what I wanted to do with my life all along and my family is finally supportive of it.

Tooooooo funny. I have a friend who's in grad school for a PhD in Microbiology. Her parents made her take the MCAT and she had to go behind their back and apply to grad school. They finally got over it.

 

[manfood.com]

DVMN! I wish I knew about your technique when I took my exam! I pictured in my mind using it, and I scored a 13 on VR!

Are you serious about that technique or are yuo just kidding?

 

[OctoDoc]

Are you serious about that technique or are yuo just kidding?

I said, "I wish I knew about your technique when I took my exam!"

Thus, I'd already taken the exam before I knew of the technique. The rest of the post, then....

 

[manfood.com]

I said, "I wish I knew about your technique when I took my exam!"

Thus, I'd already taken the exam before I knew of the technique. The rest of the post, then....

I'm asking, is the technique serious or not? Not if you used it or not, lol. or if your dream was actually reality, lol. Sorry, I think I quoted the wrong thing. Is the strat for reals?

 

[Ugly Boy]

hell0

 

[OctoDoc]

I'm asking, is the technique serious or not? Not if you used it or not, lol. or if your dream was actually reality, lol. Sorry, I think I quoted the wrong thing. Is the strat for reals?

Seems legit. That's a question for yanky5. In my case, considering that Kaplan's VR strategy didn't work for me, I really do wish I'd come across yanky5's strategy when it would have mattered.

Give it a try on your practice exams and report back to us and let us know what you think!

 

[manfood.com]

Seems legit. That's a question for yanky5. In my case, considering that Kaplan's VR strategy didn't work for me, I really do wish I'd come across yanky5's strategy when it would have mattered.

Give it a try on your practice exams and report back to us and let us know what you think!

Tried it and got a 9, missed a 10 by 2, but had a lot of distractions. I like it. And plus, I ain't the greatest reader, so this helps me out alot.

 

[zimmie256]

p.s. more advice, though it doesn't fit the thread: NEVER take fewer than 5 classes per semester. Most schools don't care what else you were doing (working full-time, in my case). They will simply refuse you at the first chop.

Well I guess I'm boned then... 4 classes was considered a full load at my school, but there were a few semesters when I only took 3, so I could spend more time on research, plus another job on top of that... But I've already graduated, so not much I can do now... Will most adcoms just disqualify you off the bat for something like that???

 

[sweetstuff25]

Tried it and got a 9, missed a 10 by 2, but had a lot of distractions. I like it. And plus, I ain't the greatest reader, so this helps me out alot.

you got a 9 with that technique? doesn't it slow you down because you have to keep coming back to the passage and lose your train of thought?

 

[manfood.com]

you got a 9 with that technique? doesn't it slow you down because you have to keep coming back to the passage and lose your train of thought?

Craziness just scored a 10, missed an 11 by 1. hahahaha, my biggest problem is that I suck at reading comprehension, and am not an endurance verbal comprehension athlete. If it's over 75 lines I bascially forget everything I read in the first two paragraphs. Anyways, it's working, lol. I'll try it on an AAMC test later on tonight.

 

[Mr. Tee]

What verbal tests are you using that strategy on? The newer AAMC passages have questions that seem more "holistic" in the sense that you can't answer the question without reading the entire passage.

 

[sweetstuff25]

Craziness just scored a 10, missed an 11 by 1. hahahaha, my biggest problem is that I suck at reading comprehension, and am not an endurance verbal comprehension athlete. If it's over 75 lines I bascially forget everything I read in the first two paragraphs. Anyways, it's working, lol. I'll try it on an AAMC test later on tonight.

nice! let us know how that goes. teerawit is right about the aamc passages, most questions require overall feel of passage rather than details (which is reading comprehension).

 

[OctoDoc]

nice! let us know how that goes. teerawit is right about the aamc passages, most questions require overall feel of passage rather than details (which is reading comprehension).

Only for a few questions on each passage. The strategy dictates that these questions are saved for last.

 

[nir1009]

I used this strategy on Examkrackers 101 passages Test 7. Got a 10 (but just barely -- 45 Raw Score). I was getting a 44-45 raw score before also, so I don't know how much it helps. But I felt MUCH better about all of my answers and less pressed for time. Its worth a try. Thanks for the strategy!

 

[mj1878]

Well I guess I'm boned then... 4 classes was considered a full load at my school, but there were a few semesters when I only took 3, so I could spend more time on research, plus another job on top of that... But I've already graduated, so not much I can do now... Will most adcoms just disqualify you off the bat for something like that???

Whoever gave you this advice is full of $^*%. I had to go to part-time school, full-time(and more) at work, and it never even came up in the interview. Don't worry about it. Where oh where do premeds get their information?!

 

[shantster]

Whoever gave you this advice is full of $^*%. I had to go to part-time school, full-time(and more) at work, and it never even came up in the interview. Don't worry about it. Where oh where do premeds get their information?!

I agree with that. I think that the only time course loads would come up is if you are taking 12 credits (the min. per semester for full-time) and have no ecs or work or anything else that you are doing with your time.

 

[zimmie256]

I agree with that. I think that the only time course loads would come up is if you are taking 12 credits (the min. per semester for full-time) and have no ecs or work or anything else that you are doing with your time.

Well that is great to hear... Do you guys think that's something to address in my personal statement (obviously with a positive spin about what I got out of the research/work) or best left to interview time if they ask about it? Since the consensus seems to be that it's not a big issue, I'd be inclined to leave it for the interview...

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[sunny79]

Hi,
I am originally from Russia. i came here five years ago. I want to go to a medical school here. I was told that it's not good to take prereqs at a community college. But it's cheaper than at a University. I read that you took your classes at a comunity college. Do you think I will be at a disadvantage if I take my classes at the Community college? I graduated from my University in Russia with a degree in the English language. So, my background is also not Biology. I will appreciate any advice from you.
thanks a lot.
sunny79