Best way to prepare for MCAT

[Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]]

I was preparing for MCAT for about three months. I did almost all the VR, PS and VS test that I had and in Kaplan library. however, I when I got my Paril results, I got 6,8,8, P. I was also wondering what else I could do. I am thinking about reading Kaplan books again and making some notecards from the things that I do not remeber.

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[RT]

Prepare for a longer time. Use other prep study materials: Kap, PR, Examcrackers. Take all practice exams from those above and others you could get your hands on. I dislike Arco, Barron, REA stuffs. Don't use stuff from those you never heard about.

I find making note cards takes too much time. I would just writing down all the thing I don't know on a sheet of paper for each exam and go over that frequently.

And study as much as possible. It's possible to get 10-11 based on just studying concepts alone. Make sure you know all areas. If there's something you got wrong from a certain part, then that's not enough, study more until you don't get those wrong anymore. It's easy to say yet very difficult to do. Good luck. Studying reflects your scores.

RT

 

[Mr. Z]

Spider

Use examkrackers, in my opinion they have the best material out there. I've studied from kaplan's comprehensive book and also Flowers, and I can honestly say that for the bio, phys and the verbal sections EK is much better than the other two. EK's chemistry section leaves a little to be desired, though its still pretty good. The thing i really like about EK is that they teach not only the concepts but also how to "work" the exam.

Plus, Ek has the 1001 question series for the physics and chem, which I have found very helpful for identifying weak areas in my knowledge base. I find that sometimes I think I have a firm grasp on a concept, then when i go and start answering questions from the 1001 book, I find that my grasp was not as good as i had thought. Usually after answering many questions from the book I have a very strong understanding of the concepts.

How were your nerves during the exam? Excessive nervousness can destroy anyone's chance of doing well. If you were too nervous, then you need to gain control over your emotional state. There are numerous ways to do this, hypnosis, relaxation techniques, herbals (kava kava), beta-blockers etc... I'm not recommending that you use drugs or herbals (the reasons for which are many and better left to another discussion thread), but some people do resort to them. Regardless, you do need to get control over your state, as nerves can make even the most prepared individual fall apart come test time. You would be wise to figure out how to get control over the situation if that was the problem.

Whatever you do decide on, just make sure you do not prepare the same way you did last time! If you are not studying properly, then simply putting in more time is not going to help you. So change your materials, change your technique, whatever, just change something.

Anyway, sorry to hear about your bad test experience, I feel your pain. Now you have to look at this as an opportunity, its a chance for you to show the adcoms how much you can increase you mcat score by. Going from a 20 to a 30 would be pretty damn impressive, so go do it!

 

[relatively prime]

I like Kaplan... or PR. If you take Kaplan, you get to use all the AAMC materials too... I'm nto sure if PR does the same thing.

Whatever you do, my advice is to study for 200hrs spread over 3 months.

Good luck

 

[Jumpu]

On this past april test I got 33. I took Kaplan and in retrospect, I'm generally happy with my choice. However, I found with Kaplan that although their verbal material seemed consistent, their physical sciences and biological sciences material seemed a little off. Kaplan stresses formula too much and not on the underlying concepts as much, as was the case with the latest MCAT. The Kaplan biology on the other hand seemed to stress regurgitation of facts, while the actual MCAT seemed to involve more experimental analysis. I guess in general Kaplan is more about memorization, while the MCAT is testing your reasoning skills. In short, Kaplan did help me stay on task with their timetable of topics and tests to complete, which I followed religiously, on a day to day basis. The major key is for us mere mortals, is just to plug away at it, for several hours a day, for at least 3 months.

 

[LLCoolJ94]

On this past april test I got 33. I took Kaplan and in retrospect, I'm generally happy with my choice. However, I found with Kaplan that although their verbal material seemed consistent, their physical sciences and biological sciences material seemed a little off. Kaplan stresses formula too much and not on the underlying concepts as much, as was the case with the latest MCAT. The Kaplan biology on the other hand seemed to stress regurgitation of facts, while the actual MCAT seemed to involve more experimental analysis. I guess in general Kaplan is more about memorization, while the MCAT is testing your reasoning skills. In short, Kaplan did help me stay on task with their timetable of topics and tests to complete, which I followed religiously, on a day to day basis. The major key is for us mere mortals, is just to plug away at it, for several hours a day, for at least 3 months.

I'm currently enrolled in a Kaplan course, and I also have all of the EK materials. Is there another source that you recommend? PR?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I'm currently enrolled in a Kaplan course, and I also have all of the EK materials. Is there another source that you recommend? PR?

The odds that someone from nearly nine years ago will reply is not too high. You might want to consult some more recent threads. The search function at SDN will allow you to put a time range on the replies you get. Good luck!

 

[SN2ed]

Thread closed. Please do not bump threads that are almost a decade old.