Advice on how to score a 30+ on MCAT

[alli-f]

Hi there,



I'm feeling very discouraged. Spent the majority of the summer studying for the MCAT, and just got my score back and got a low mark nowhere near what I wanted. I plan on retaking in January, and am going to start studying again alongside my regular classes next week. I feel as if I need to start fresh studying this time around, as my previous method is obviously not working. Right now I'm scoring around 8's in all 3 sections. Verbal is incredibly hard and I have no idea how to bring my marks up. PS and BS are manageable, but my scores really fluctuate and I don't know how to get these sections down pat as I feel these are the ones I have more control over and should be scoring high.



I know there are a lot of posts like this on here, but it's really overwhelming and exhausting to read through all of them for advice, so I'd like to start fresh with this post. For any of you who had success in the MCAT, I would love to hear absolutely ANY advice on how I should be studying, what strategies worked best for you, what books or websites to use, etc. I just really need some new motivation to start the school year off right. Any small tip helps and thank you to everyone in advance!!

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[Dreamstoo]

Hi there,



I'm feeling very discouraged. Spent the majority of the summer studying for the MCAT, and just got my score back and got a low mark nowhere near what I wanted. I plan on retaking in January, and am going to start studying again alongside my regular classes next week. I feel as if I need to start fresh studying this time around, as my previous method is obviously not working. Right now I'm scoring around 8's in all 3 sections. Verbal is incredibly hard and I have no idea how to bring my marks up. PS and BS are manageable, but my scores really fluctuate and I don't know how to get these sections down pat as I feel these are the ones I have more control over and should be scoring high.



I know there are a lot of posts like this on here, but it's really overwhelming and exhausting to read through all of them for advice, so I'd like to start fresh with this post. For any of you who had success in the MCAT, I would love to hear absolutely ANY advice on how I should be studying, what strategies worked best for you, what books or websites to use, etc. I just really need some new motivation to start the school year off right. Any small tip helps and thank you to everyone in advance!!

Hey, I'm in a very similar situation. Somehow, I took a test recently that shook my confidence that I scored very low in (mid 20s). I'm not sure if I will be taking the MCAT anytime soon, only maybe to void. I'm thinking of taking one in January and see if I'm ready but I am personally fine taking the MCAT 2015 if I'm honestly not ready which it seems so.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not completely sure what I want to do at the moment.

If you want 30+ success stories, I believe there are a ton of posts in the forum on top of the MCAT discussions page.

 

[RC4L]

Hi there,



I'm feeling very discouraged. Spent the majority of the summer studying for the MCAT, and just got my score back and got a low mark nowhere near what I wanted. I plan on retaking in January, and am going to start studying again alongside my regular classes next week. I feel as if I need to start fresh studying this time around, as my previous method is obviously not working. Right now I'm scoring around 8's in all 3 sections. Verbal is incredibly hard and I have no idea how to bring my marks up. PS and BS are manageable, but my scores really fluctuate and I don't know how to get these sections down pat as I feel these are the ones I have more control over and should be scoring high.



I know there are a lot of posts like this on here, but it's really overwhelming and exhausting to read through all of them for advice, so I'd like to start fresh with this post. For any of you who had success in the MCAT, I would love to hear absolutely ANY advice on how I should be studying, what strategies worked best for you, what books or websites to use, etc. I just really need some new motivation to start the school year off right. Any small tip helps and thank you to everyone in advance!!

I've been there before and I know how discouraging it can be. Do your best to turn the experience into motivation and never allow yourself to think that your score was any indication of your potential. The first thing you need to do is diagnose your errors from the first attempt - What tripped you up on the real exam? How did you study and what did you fail to do? Where you doing something right but not enough? How can you change it and improve? It is absolutely crucial that you make(and continue to make) a thorough analysis of why you fell short because there is only one roadblock between you and a good score. You.
The key is to simply to know all of the information and know how to apply it. Obvious, but most of us who take the test have never had to know and apply in a manner as intense as required by the MCAT. You sound a lot like me of me after taking my first MCAT! I learned the information enough to understand it momentarily while studying but not enough to apply it effectively on the exam. Fluctuating scores are usually pretty indicative of that. You have to know everything well enough for your understanding to be a reflex if that makes sense. My philosophy with MCAT content is that 85 percent of your brain power is needed to navigate through the passage and questions while the other 15 % to recall information. If you have to spend a lot of time and energy remembering/pondering rules and equations you are going to apply incorrectly, be unable to distinguish critical passage info, over-complicate passages, and lose a ton of time. When you don't really have to think to be able to apply the content, you are in a good place. That concept made all the difference in the world for me in BS and especially PS. The only way to get there is to practice excessively. When you read and feel you have grasped a subject, put the book down and practice it until you can do problems effortlessly. EK 1001, TPR Hyperlearning, and Berkeley review have tons of great practice material. It safe to say you should never spend more time reading in a textbook than you practicing and the books I mentioned should provide as much as you need. Don't forget the math either! Being efficient with MCAT math is a new concept considering most of us never had to do that kind of work without a calculator. There is way to much potential math on the MCAT to walk in there without being prepared for it. TPR physics has a great math section in the back. Give yourself a chance to learn the content well enough and I promise you will see those scores shoot up.
Verbal can be tricky but I found it easier to increase my score there than in PS and BS simply because there was nothing to learn. Just analysis and practice. Reading the passage *correctly* without looking back is the ticket. The passages are not written by the people who create the test so they have to put a great deal of effort into making questions that avoid any personal interpretation. They cannot ask you to understand anything that contradicts a clear statement made by the author so you have to approach the questions in a manner that is equally unbiased. Moving the information from the passage over to the questions without distorting them was really difficult for me. I didn't really know how to understand the author in the first place and even when I did, I always ended up using my logic instead when I got to the answers. Shift your attention completely to the author and if he/she adds any sort of personal remark or statement that is distinguishable from the supporting details, hold on to those words and do no allow yourself to contradict them in any manner. Each paragraph of a passage usually contains some sort of personal interpretation that gives significance to the story. Use those references to build a frame of the passage and as you read, connect those relevant pieces so that when you finish you have a unit of logical ideas. You need a mental structure of the passage to remember the details because otherwise those details pile on top of each other and they lack relevance. When you finish the passage read each question intently and repeat what it is asking to yourself before browsing the answer choices. Never look for the correct answer! Look for answers that can be eliminated because they will always contradict the author in some way. The correct answers may not always make sense but they will never contradict the other. Your job is not to make sense of everything but rather to apply the information you're given effectively. Verbal takes a lot of practice and a lot of analysis. Always time yourself and never move forward from an error without knowing why you did not answer correctly. Keep track of your errors and if there are things you need to change it is going to be a matter of breaking habit rather than learning something new. That is where verbal is so elusive.

 

[bellab17]

Thanks RC4L,

That was all very helpful. People always say they were able to make at least 8's on the PS and BS scores with having just content info down, but once they practiced their scores went up. For me, I feel confident on content for BS and (somewhat PS) but barely make 7 0r 8? (well, on the earlier tests like aamc 3 and 4 I made BS 9 but when I took aamc 1o, to just see how I would do, I scored BS 7??) I felt comfortable with the concepts for bio and org, so idk what happened? What may be my issue?Do I need to go back and start from scratch re-reading the tpr science chapters and maybe this time make notecards of each concept, keep reviewing the concepts, and then do some passages in berkeley instead of TPRH? To be honest, I do at times feel as though my content review on some areas may not be as strong, b/c I am not reviewing daily...idk??

please help, Thanks so much!

 

[tshank]

@RC4L , that is some of the best advice I have heard regarding the MCAT. Thanks a bunch. I wish I would have really known that 1 month ago. My test date is on September 10 and my scores range from 24 - 29 on Kaplan and AAMC. Think its possible to pull out a 35 on September 10th by now? I'm not doing anything except studying until then.

 

[valkener]

The advice I have to offer is that you should utilize the existing study plans around. A 30 is a competitive score and depending on your knowledge not easy to pull off. However, it's completely doable if you take the time and are disciplined. The very best advice is that you shouldn't take the MCAT unless you are ready. There's no shame in applying late, many schools have students starting in their 30's as long as your application is competitive. When you think you are ready, take 3 full-length AAMC's and then on average you will see if you are ready. Don't take the MCAT before you hit the scores you need. Good luck!

 

[tshank]

Question for you @valkener , and anyone else.
Other than financially, why not take the MCAT twice? Not that one wants to study for it twice. But, if you take one of the MCAT's knowing that you are going to keep studying and take another one, why not do one and see how it goes?

What did you mean by starting in their 30's - do you mean age or score?

Thanks!

 

[valkener]

Age -- I was talking about the real MCAT, ideally you will only take it once. When you apply for medical school you have to submit all of your MCAT scores, so each time you take it again you have to improve otherwise it will look bad.

Let's say you get a medium score, which could get you into DO schools or a low-tier MD school. Then you retake the MCAT and get the same score again. This score shows two things: it confirms your level of knowledge from the first test, and also that you didn't improve on the second test.

There's no shame in taking the MCAT again but each time you should improve. That's also true for applying to medical school for the second time. You won't magically get in, you'll have to prove and explain what you did different this time and how you improved.

 

[tshank]

Gotchya, yes that makes sense. I really don't think its work taking the MCAT a second time if you can't show proof of improvement prior to taking it.

 

[RC4L]

Thanks RC4L,

That was all very helpful. People always say they were able to make at least 8's on the PS and BS scores with having just content info down, but once they practiced their scores went up. For me, I feel confident on content for BS and (somewhat PS) but barely make 7 0r 8? (well, on the earlier tests like aamc 3 and 4 I made BS 9 but when I took aamc 1o, to just see how I would do, I scored BS 7??) I felt comfortable with the concepts for bio and org, so idk what happened? What may be my issue?Do I need to go back and start from scratch re-reading the tpr science chapters and maybe this time make notecards of each concept, keep reviewing the concepts, and then do some passages in berkeley instead of TPRH? To be honest, I do at times feel as though my content review on some areas may not be as strong, b/c I am not reviewing daily...idk??

please help, Thanks so much!

Honestly, I think you explained it yourself - you feel comfortable and you are strong on some but not as much in others. Feeling comfortable with the concepts won't ensure effective application of them and a 7/8 is most likely indicative of incomplete content knowledge and application issues. If you really want insurance you can't walk into the MCAT hoping some subjects won't show up. Dedicate yourself to learning everything in a manner that allows you to feel completely confident about anything showing up on your MCAT. The confidence alone will help you score better. How much have you practiced the material vs reading it? Btw don't take any of that as a criticism! I struggled with those feelings wayyy too much
Start with the subjects that give you the most trouble and work on them until they become strengths. Perfect them. and work your way towards what is easier. I made concept sheets for each subject that generalized the info. They were short enough to glance over and refresh my mind without spending much time on them. The majority of time spent was in application. Notecards take soooo much valuable time to make!

 

[RC4L]

@RC4L , that is some of the best advice I have heard regarding the MCAT. Thanks a bunch. I wish I would have really known that 1 month ago. My test date is on September 10 and my scores range from 24 - 29 on Kaplan and AAMC. Think its possible to pull out a 35 on September 10th by now? I'm not doing anything except studying until then.

I would be lying to you if I didn't say no and I don't mean to be pessimistic at all. If your scores are fluctuating as much as 5 points under a 29 you probably have some serious content gaps and haven't mastered application yet. A 35 will require to have a thorough mastery of subject matter and a well-practiced delivery. That score takes a lot of work and the odds of you getting lucky are not remotely good enough to gamble on. It really is not worth taking the MCAT unless your practice sores are *consistently* above your goal. I know that doesn't sound appealing right now but the regret you will experience afterwards is far less appealing! I hate to sound so critical but I have made that mistake and know others who have done so as well. It is just not worth it at all. On the positive side, you have better options! Give yourself more credit than the MCAT because you have every opportunity to make what you want of it. There is a set amount of information to learn and you know how it will need to be applied. Prepare yourself enough to eliminate the need for luck and I promise you will get whatever you want on that test. If you want a 35, set your goal to 40 and don't stop working until you get there. It will be good practice for what is to come anyway because everyday in medical school is more grueling than your worst MCAT day.

 

[bellab17]

Honestly, I think you explained it yourself - you feel comfortable and you are strong on some but not as much in others. Feeling comfortable with the concepts won't ensure effective application of them and a 7/8 is most likely indicative of incomplete content knowledge and application issues. If you really want insurance you can't walk into the MCAT hoping some subjects won't show up. Dedicate yourself to learning everything in a manner that allows you to feel completely confident about anything showing up on your MCAT. The confidence alone will help you score better. How much have you practiced the material vs reading it? Btw don't take any of that as a criticism! I struggled with those feelings wayyy too much
Start with the subjects that give you the most trouble and work on them until they become strengths. Perfect them. and work your way towards what is easier. I made concept sheets for each subject that generalized the info. They were short enough to glance over and refresh my mind without spending much time on them. The majority of time spent was in application. Notecards take soooo much valuable time to make!

Thanks so much! Yes, i need to become more comfortable with the topics, so thats why i am going to postpone my mcat to a later date. I really cant say i feel 100% on everything yet.

Also, did you use tpr or tbr for content and practice? I used tpr but i am wondering if i should try tbr this time?? In terms of the notecards they do take time, but when i try to make a review sheet it ends up being three pgs long instead of one!

Thx

 

[RC4L]

Thanks so much! Yes, i need to become more comfortable with the topics, so thats why i am going to postpone my mcat to a later date. I really cant say i feel 100% on everything yet.

Also, did you use tpr or tbr for content and practice? I used tpr but i am wondering if i should try tbr this time?? In terms of the notecards they do take time, but when i try to make a review sheet it ends up being three pgs long instead of one!

Thx

Postponing is so much better than having to take it again! Smart move. My main source of PS material was definitely TPR. I think they are the best because the keep a good balance between being too detailed and too brief. I used TBR additionally if something particular was giving me trouble because they are closer to classroom textbooks. EK was more of a brush up source as they keep it too general to really learn but their 1001 books are golden! Haha I know what you mean about the review pages but it will still be more convenient than notecards. If you practice enough you probably wont need them anyway.