awful MCAT score- retaking advice

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

elia22

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
39
Reaction score
1
I began studying for the exam in May, took a princeton class, but didn't start hardcore studying until ~July. This included taking practice tests, reading TPR books and making flashcards, and doing practice passages from EK1001. I wasn't religious with EK, and I did some online content that princeton provided. Mostly I just did passages and practice exams. Initially I scored a 32 on AAMC 11 and I was stoked. That was in the beginning of summer. Towards the end when it was getting closer to the exam, I started from AAMC 3 and went on to 11. My scores were literally in the range of 16 to 24. I knew that your practice test scores are always comparable to how you'll do on the real thing, so granted I just got my score back and it was within that range.

Lowest score was VR, highest was BS. I'm retaking in December. Clearly whatever I was doing was not working, which was very in depth content review and practice tests/AAMC tests everyday 2 weeks prior to exam. Before that I would just skim through EK and some of the books given by princeton.

My main concern is how on earth I can improve verbal... What are some strategies to make connections and answer these questions in a timely manner?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I began studying for the exam in May, took a princeton class, but didn't start hardcore studying until ~July. This included taking practice tests, reading TPR books and making flashcards, and doing practice passages from EK1001. I wasn't religious with EK, and I did some online content that princeton provided. Mostly I just did passages and practice exams. Initially I scored a 32 on AAMC 11 and I was stoked. That was in the beginning of summer. Towards the end when it was getting closer to the exam, I started from AAMC 3 and went on to 11. My scores were literally in the range of 16 to 24. I knew that your practice test scores are always comparable to how you'll do on the real thing, so granted I just got my score back and it was within that range.

Lowest score was VR, highest was BS. I'm retaking in December. Clearly whatever I was doing was not working, which was very in depth content review and practice tests/AAMC tests everyday 2 weeks prior to exam. Before that I would just skim through EK and some of the books given by princeton.

My main concern is how on earth I can improve verbal... What are some strategies to make connections and answer these questions in a timely manner?

You didn't write your score from your initial take, and your breakdown. As for verbal, I can say, using EK 101 and TPR Hyperlearning has yielded good results.

As for sciences, from what I gathered you only used TPR books, and 1001. I see a few issues here, you didn't use a lot of practice passages, using 1001 is only needed if you have significant weaknesses.

Suggestions: consider doing TBR, I know a lot of people don't like it for BS, but I certainly do because it has a lot of experimental passages. In fact, each chapter has about 7-15 passages. Don't do TBR for verbal, it just isn't good. I also think you focused a lot on content review, I know a lot of people who can spit out the krebs, glycolysis, electron chain transport, etc etc, but couldn't answer one simple question when it came to application...why? Because their content wasn't tested in the right way. TBR I believe is harder to some degree than the actual AAMC/exam.

Btw why did you end up taking the exam if your scores were ranging between 16-24? Im only asking because those numbers are a guide, and you usually average them and add/subtract 2 points to get a range of where you are.

Hope this helped.
 
The most important thing about verbal is to choose your answer based on evidence from the passage. When I first started practicing verbal, my scores were low because I chose the answers I personally agreed with. NEVER use your personal background knowledge for verbal passages. It will hurt you. When you choose an answer, ask yourself, "Which part of the passage supports my answer?" If you can pinpoint an exact paragraph that supports your answer, your answer is likely correct.

I took the MCAT twice, and both times my actual score perfectly matched my final AAMC practice test score. Use your latest practice score to gauge whether or not you're ready for a re-take. Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You didn't write your score from your initial take, and your breakdown. As for verbal, I can say, using EK 101 and TPR Hyperlearning has yielded good results.

As for sciences, from what I gathered you only used TPR books, and 1001. I see a few issues here, you didn't use a lot of practice passages, using 1001 is only needed if you have significant weaknesses.

Suggestions: consider doing TBR, I know a lot of people don't like it for BS, but I certainly do because it has a lot of experimental passages. In fact, each chapter has about 7-15 passages. Don't do TBR for verbal, it just isn't good. I also think you focused a lot on content review, I know a lot of people who can spit out the krebs, glycolysis, electron chain transport, etc etc, but couldn't answer one simple question when it came to application...why? Because their content wasn't tested in the right way. TBR I believe is harder to some degree than the actual AAMC/exam.

Btw why did you end up taking the exam if your scores were ranging between 16-24? Im only asking because those numbers are a guide, and you usually average them and add/subtract 2 points to get a range of where you are.

Hope this helped.

I appreciate your response. I was trying to avoid saying my score because I'm so ashamed of it but VR was my lowest. BS was my highest, 9. I admit I made a mistake by only sticking with TPR and briefly skimming EK. I will work on using EK Verbal and TBR. I personally do like it, it's more like a story whereas the other books are really straight up. I also admit I knew TOO much about the content. For example, I knew every single cell involved in every process. Maybe I went too in depth and didn't practice enough.

I took the exam with the intention of voiding it. BUT when I was taking the exam I felt really, really good. The whole time I was upset because I knew I could do it, but I just hadn't prepared the right way. For example if I had spent more time working on answering the questions in a timely manner, I wouldn't have had to skip 1+ passage in each section. I should have voided it knowing what my AAMC scores were but I felt a little glimmer of hope on actual test day. Well, now look what happened :(
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I appreciate your response. I was trying to avoid saying my score because I'm so ashamed of it but VR was my lowest. BS was my highest, 9. I admit I made a mistake by only sticking with TPR and briefly skimming EK. I will work on using EK Verbal and TBR. I personally do like it, it's more like a story whereas the other books are really straight up. I also admit I knew TOO much about the content. For example, I knew every single cell involved in every process. Maybe I went too in depth and didn't practice enough.

I took the exam with the intention of voiding it. BUT when I was taking the exam I felt really, really good. The whole time I was upset because I knew I could do it, but I just hadn't prepared the right way. For example if I had spent more time working on answering the questions in a timely manner, I wouldn't have had to skip 1+ passage in each section. I should have voided it knowing what my AAMC scores were but I felt a little glimmer of hope on actual test day. Well, now look what happened :(


Don't worry. We are all in this together. Just your next attempt, treat it as your last attempt, so you don't have to deal with this monster again, and believe me, its only a "monster". You know? It literally does test basic content, just in a different way.

I personally only like EK for the purposes of reviewing content the last 2 weeks of content review, 2 chapters a day, 28 chapters = thats 14 days. But I personally think EK BIO and Verbal is good for that reason, the rest Physics/Chem/Orgo are just ok.....nothing to write home about.

Get past the details, its great you know them, it will help on the discretes, but MCAT is really a thinking exam, focus a lot more on graph interoperation, and experimental result findings. You have the knowledge no doubt, I know if you went to repeat your pre-reqs, you'd probably pump out a 4.0. But this is why you see a lot of people with 3.5+ GPAs do so poorly on the MCAT, because they think by memorizing material they'll do ok. Its all a thinking exam, its a maze, its to see how you think when you are presented with complex material. Your job is to simplify it.

Same thing with verbal, they'll give you a lot oF BS answers that may seem write, but only one is the more correct one. Real life example? Patient comes into the ER, presents with low grade fever, headaches, lower extremity swelling (2+ pitting edema), angia pectoris, patient also says he can't sleep at night, gets night sweats, chills, vomiting, etc etc.

Your job as a physician? Prioritize the symptoms, and "ignore for now" some of the extraneous information, thats the skill they want to see and you need to develop.

So till Dec 6th. I would recommend this.

Idk how fast you read, but you def. need to do the TBR books, if anything do the passages, do them in phases, note your weaknesses, if your getting less than 60-70% you need to THEN go to EK 1001 for those chapters if you haven't. Also, flashcards are ok good, they help you keep the facts in check, but only do them once every 3-4 days. Please do go through all the TPR Hyperlearning science book problems, they're good (aim for a 70%+ on those). Only after you've done all this, then proceed to AAMC exams. If you really want to test yourself, see if you can do Kaplan 45. Its probably the hardest exam questions you'll face. Lastly, do go through AAMC Mcat question lot they sell online its 200+ questions. Its good practice.

I do not know of your intentions, but I assume you want to get into DO school given its very late for MD now, so anything above a 26+ will make you competitive, aim for 8 in verbal at least. You'll be good. Don't worry, the first step to success starts with failure.

Keep it up.
 
You made a 32 on AAMC 11 at the START of your mcat prep and then after you finished studying content you were making 16-24? Doesn't make sense....
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You made a 32 on AAMC 11 at the START of your mcat prep and then after you finished studying content you were making 16-24? Doesn't make sense....

yes, doesn't make sense to me either. but i will say towards the end of my mcat prep i was diagnosed with a medical condition and my hormones/emotions/nerves were shocked. i don't know what happened tbh
 
Don't worry. We are all in this together. Just your next attempt, treat it as your last attempt, so you don't have to deal with this monster again, and believe me, its only a "monster". You know? It literally does test basic content, just in a different way.

I personally only like EK for the purposes of reviewing content the last 2 weeks of content review, 2 chapters a day, 28 chapters = thats 14 days. But I personally think EK BIO and Verbal is good for that reason, the rest Physics/Chem/Orgo are just ok.....nothing to write home about.

Get past the details, its great you know them, it will help on the discretes, but MCAT is really a thinking exam, focus a lot more on graph interoperation, and experimental result findings. You have the knowledge no doubt, I know if you went to repeat your pre-reqs, you'd probably pump out a 4.0. But this is why you see a lot of people with 3.5+ GPAs do so poorly on the MCAT, because they think by memorizing material they'll do ok. Its all a thinking exam, its a maze, its to see how you think when you are presented with complex material. Your job is to simplify it.

Same thing with verbal, they'll give you a lot oF BS answers that may seem write, but only one is the more correct one. Real life example? Patient comes into the ER, presents with low grade fever, headaches, lower extremity swelling (2+ pitting edema), angia pectoris, patient also says he can't sleep at night, gets night sweats, chills, vomiting, etc etc.

Your job as a physician? Prioritize the symptoms, and "ignore for now" some of the extraneous information, thats the skill they want to see and you need to develop.

So till Dec 6th. I would recommend this.

Idk how fast you read, but you def. need to do the TBR books, if anything do the passages, do them in phases, note your weaknesses, if your getting less than 60-70% you need to THEN go to EK 1001 for those chapters if you haven't. Also, flashcards are ok good, they help you keep the facts in check, but only do them once every 3-4 days. Please do go through all the TPR Hyperlearning science book problems, they're good (aim for a 70%+ on those). Only after you've done all this, then proceed to AAMC exams. If you really want to test yourself, see if you can do Kaplan 45. Its probably the hardest exam questions you'll face. Lastly, do go through AAMC Mcat question lot they sell online its 200+ questions. Its good practice.

I do not know of your intentions, but I assume you want to get into DO school given its very late for MD now, so anything above a 26+ will make you competitive, aim for 8 in verbal at least. You'll be good. Don't worry, the first step to success starts with failure.

Keep it up.

You are a saint. Hope you're becoming a doctor sometime soon because you'll be a great one! Thanks for your thoughtful response and advice. I will be printing this out so I can remember to do everything! Maybe I can review for 2 weeks and then focus on practice tests and problems then AAMC exams. My intentions are to get into med school - does not matter to me if it's MD or DO. I won't be applying until next cycle, but I think my shots are higher for DO given they do grade replacement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You are a saint. Hope you're becoming a doctor sometime soon because you'll be a great one! Thanks for your thoughtful response and advice. I will be printing this out so I can remember to do everything! Maybe I can review for 2 weeks and then focus on practice tests and problems then AAMC exams. My intentions are to get into med school - does not matter to me if it's MD or DO. I won't be applying until next cycle, but I think my shots are higher for DO given they do grade replacement.

Hey Idk if Ill be a doctor anytime soon, trying just like you are, but appreciate your kind words. Just trying to pass it on.

Your talking to someone, who was in medical school, but had to withdraw due to health reasons, and then had their sister die due to medical reasons. So here I am applying to med school once again, almost 30 now, but still going at it. Perseverance will pay off, so keep your head high, just remember one thing

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,. But I have promises to keep,. And miles to go before I sleep,. And miles to go before I sleep"

And just like that I made a promise to my sister as we took her off of life support, that no matter what, I'll keep her alive by treating the many patients I will see as a physician, so what is a MCAT in front of all this? Next to nothing....find your inner motivation, and just do it. You know you can. Message me if you ever just want to chat up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top