Feeling discouraged by Diagnostic Score

[erica007]

Hello everyone,

I just finished taking MCAT 2015 Diagnostic exam by NextStep. My score was 482. I feel very very discouraged right now. I was planing to start studying in May and taking TPR class. After 482 ( similar to 11 in old MCAT i think), I'm not sure even if I should take MCAT or even go for med school. I'm worried what if I just raise by a few point on the real test. I finished my undergrad 3 years ago but forgot almost everything about bio, phys and biochem. (((( Can anyone share their experience with diagnostic score and improving practice FL scores?

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[mikil100]

You can do it.

Treat it like a job, study effectively, and don't lose hope. You are far removed from undergrad. You need to relearn a lot, but it can and WILL come back. You will need to do heavy content review (heavier than the norm) and even more practice, but if you give yourself time it can be done.

 

[mikil100]

PS: What were your lowest scoring areas? This makes a big difference.

 

[erica007]

You can do it.

Treat it like a job, study effectively, and don't lose hope. You are far removed from undergrad. You need to relearn a lot, but it can and WILL come back. You will need to do heavy content review (heavier than the norm) and even more practice, but if you give yourself time it can be done.

Thanks for your encourage

 

[erica007]

PS: What were your lowest scoring areas? This makes a big difference.

121 chem/phys
121 CARS
119 bio/biochem
121 psych/soc
Apparently my lowest score is from biochem section. I didn't recall anything and pretty much blind guessed on most questions

 

[StarFall]

1. Don't let negative thinking bring you down. Fight those negative thoughts and stay on the positive side as much as you can!
2. Your high GPAs mean you know the material, you just have to tap back into it while you study. Studying the same material the 2nd or 3rd time around will go faster, stick better, and you'll pick up more material on the way.
3. Stay away from Carribean schools.
4. SMP won't help you; postbacc won't help you as those are for people trying to redeem their GPA.
5. Becoming a doctor means saving/helping people, which means understanding the basic sciences in order to apply it in a clinical setting. With that in mind, you have to know the material in order to save lives and help treat people. Nurses, PAs, Doctors, etcs all study the same material with different emphasis on depth and area specialty. Don't think that being a PA is 'easier' than being a doctor. Use this as motivation to learn the material better.
6. This is a long journey you're embarking on. You will face failure and troubling times. Don't let it bring you down. This is just the start of a miraculous process of helping people!

As for the diagnostic, it's a diagnostic which means it's supposed to show you where you stand in the material. That's all there is too it so don't think much into it. Buckle down and start studying, making a plan, and implementing that plan. This will help you give you a sense of control, thus decreasing your stress!

I advise to not take any more diagnostic tests. Just start studying the material however long it takes, do practice problems, and when you're 80-90% through studying the material, take a diag/FL.

(Cross-referenced with your other thread.)

 

[electrophile1984]

I think a lot of the diagnostics are harder than the rest so you can see how much you 'improved'. That said...

I took the diagnostic in January and then but I did each module in TPR along with the class (I would do the physio sections during my physiology class, the orgo sections with orgo, etc). My knowledge base didn't improve THAT much, but the score from my diagnostic jumped 8 points just from understanding what kinds of questions the MCAT asked/how to eliminate answers.

Good luck!

 

[spcwounder]

Remember that you have time to review and study up on these topics. I felt the same way that you do. I have started reviewing topics and tackling things I am unsure of. It's not going to be easy, but it's comes back!

 

[dboyhaaan]

I know what you mean... 479 on my diagnostic. It's very disheartening, especially when you see people bummed out that they're scoring in the high 490's to even low 500's on their first try.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

Don't worry about that score one iota. It hasn't been standardized or equated and no AAMC score scales are out yet, so its kind of an educated guestimate that could be several points off anyway. More importantly, you haven't even started yet. MCAT performance is about 80% conceptual/strategy and 20% content knowledge. Your content knowledge is the only part this result may be showing to be weak because you cannot be good at the game of "taking the test" before you've even played the game once, know the rules, or had your first practice. It's kind of like an avid runner taking up rock-climbing and being bummed he can't scale El Capitan the first day. You may be in shape as a runner, but whole new ballgame. Study, work hard, you can go anywhere as long as you refuse to accept defeat.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I know what you mean... 479 on my diagnostic. It's very disheartening, especially when you see people bummed out that they're scoring in the high 490's to even low 500's on their first try.

You have to take it with a grain of salt. To be honest, the average I have seen tends to be higher on SDN network even for the old test.

 

[sara7221997]

Hello everyone,

I just finished taking MCAT 2015 Diagnostic exam by NextStep. My score was 482. I feel very very discouraged right now. I was planing to start studying in May and taking TPR class. After 482 ( similar to 11 in old MCAT i think), I'm not sure even if I should take MCAT or even go for med school. I'm worried what if I just raise by a few point on the real test. I finished my undergrad 3 years ago but forgot almost everything about bio, phys and biochem. (((( Can anyone share their experience with diagnostic score and improving practice FL scores?

Hi erica007,
I'm scored around this range when I was taking my Kaplan FL,
Do you mind if I know what you made on the real MCAT, because I wanna get am idea if I need to push my test date?