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Hi All,
This post is very long (and targeted directly at those struggling with the MCAT). It has been a little while since I posted. Unfortunately, my struggles with the MCAT (and circumstances outside of my control such as my mom being very sick) are on-going, but I've started to slowly improve my score.
I've gotten several PMs from people struggling with the MCAT and I want to share some reviews of methods I've tried, which will hopefully help others. This is a long post and indirectly reviews Kaplan and NextStep (note, I think both companies can be a great resource, but you need to have an understanding of where you stand. Kaplan teaches content and NextStep is more strategy focused based on my experience).
This is my story thus far (and it is still being written). I'll be applying primarily to my state schools and osteopathic schools this cycle and am now optimistic I'll score 9s or 10s on each section (I've applied to a post-bac program at an osteopathic school as a back-up plan... a score in the low 20s should secure that). I know 9s and 10s are not high (especially by SDN standards), but as someone that is struggling with the test, I know the longing for seeing a double digit in a section (any section).
I took and re-took Kaplan. In hindsight, Kaplan was great (in-class NOT the virtual sessions), but I wasn't prepared for it. I had forgotten (or never properly learned) how to learn. I spent too much time on preview reading and not enough time going over my lesson book again and again to nail down key content and doing questions. The volume of information presented is overwhelming; however, the volume of key concepts you absolutely must know is not (I failed to differentiate one from the other). I scored relatively well on the diagnostic (9/10/4) and felt that was an indication I really should focus mostly on the bio section. If I could have done it all over, I would recommend taking AAMC 3 early on. My Kaplan scores were all over the place (low of 20 to a high of 29); however, my AAMCs were not (they were around a 20ish with every section hovering around 6 or 7 [verbal being the most unpredictable]).
Having read about many posters on here that devalued content, I focused on test taking skills. I became good at solving even hard MCAT problems when I had a strong content background. But, alas, I didn't have my content nailed down. I did well on topics I knew well, no matter how hard AAMC considered the question and poorly on questions where I didn't have content down even when the question was categorized as easy.
After failing twice to get a score increase with Kaplan, I opted to try NextStep. I felt a good tutor could help me along on my way. We could go over content one-on-one and he or she would quiz me to check on my progress (I was looking for hand holding and guidance, sort of like in elementary school). My hopes for such a tutor were quickly dashed. My tutor essentially told me to take an AAMC test every week (which, unsurprisingly showed roughly the same score every week), assigned EK chapters to read and asked me to bring questions to sessions. He never seemed prepped for our sessions (even though I'd email him in detail things I'd like to go over at least 24 hours in advance), seemed to belittle me for not knowing certain facts (rather than emphasizing I absolutely must know) and was clearly tutoring for the money. To make matters worse, he had no concept of what being a working professional meant (he seemed in a hurry to get his tutoring hours done rather than help me along with the test. He wanted to do back to back sessions a few days apart even when I tried to explain with my work schedule that meant I'd get limited time to do work in between making the pricey sessions pointless). Please note, NextStep is a great company overall in my experience dealing with them; however, I just had a negative experience with my tutor and given how much the sessions cost, really didn't want to try another one. Not all was negative, however, since it was from this experience a light bulb went off. I understood what I had done wrong all along. I realized I had forgotten how to learn.
And thus I found a way to finally increase my score: it turns out it is not magic. It is not fast. It doesn't involve studying 6 hours, 7 hours or 8 hours a day (counting the hours you study is pointless... focus on goals instead... for example, today I'll learn cellular respiration or today I'll learn about the kidney, or today I'll master acids/bases). There is no one that can really help you learn. There is no "good" advise (take all mine with a grain of salt). Only you know yourself and your limits. No one was able to tell me what I was doing wrong. I had to figure it out on my own. I finally did what I should have done all along. I downloaded the AAMC outlines, made sure I was familiar with all the content. I learned that I learn best by watching videos (youtube, Khan, Freelanceteacher were why I did so much better when I returned to the classroom in post-bac than I had as an undergrad... back when internet videos didn't exist [yes, there was that time]). I invested in Chad's videos (who basically walks you through the AAMC outlines at a very basic level), a 5-subject notebook (1 section for each subject and 1 for the AAMC exams), notecards and the PR Science Workbook and studied content. I stopped timing myself to make sure I first knew how to get questions right. If you can't do a passage right in 20 minutes, you certainly cannot do it better in 8. I worked to sharpen my content. And then I saw something that I hadn't seen since I started MCAT prep a year ago (my score, and confidence along with it, starting to slowly rise).
I'm still in the score rising phase (it has been nice to see 8s and 9s as opposed to 6s and 7s and I know I'm en route to 10s, which has make me more excited to study rather than the frustration that plagued my studying thus far). I'm still working on the AAMC outlines and getting practice in to sharpen content. Soon, I'll switch to speed to ensure both content and speed. It took me a lot of time and money to figure out what I did wrong. If I were to do it all again, I'd just invest in a set of MCAT books (any set you find easy to read... no set is better than the other... I read Kaplan / PR / EK and BR... they all teach the same content and be sure to avoid suffering from the disease of switching books because one may be better than another (I know the feeling all too well)). What is more important than what set of book is how well you retain it. I read BR bio and it went into so much depth I didn't retain anything after reading a chapter... EK supplemented with youtube worked better for me. Once you identify a book you like, stick with it. No good comes of changing books repeatedly). And most importantly DOWNLOAD THE CONTENT OUTLINE. If there are shaky areas, youtube is your friend. Until you are scoring a 10, you don't know content as well as you think you do. Go back and review (the only exception to this might be on the PS where basic math skills or working fast might be to blame. You'll know if this is the case pretty quickly when you post-phrase an exam).
Hopefully most of the SDN community never needs this post. And, all of you ace the MCAT. But, if you do, I hope this detailed review helps you know that not all of us were born geniuses scoring a 30 on our diagnostic (or with ease after a few weeks of studying). Some of us are struggling to get there. Good luck to you all (especially, you non-trads in your 30s, 40s and beyond who have come back to fulfill a calling you had written off years earlier). God Bless!
This post is very long (and targeted directly at those struggling with the MCAT). It has been a little while since I posted. Unfortunately, my struggles with the MCAT (and circumstances outside of my control such as my mom being very sick) are on-going, but I've started to slowly improve my score.
I've gotten several PMs from people struggling with the MCAT and I want to share some reviews of methods I've tried, which will hopefully help others. This is a long post and indirectly reviews Kaplan and NextStep (note, I think both companies can be a great resource, but you need to have an understanding of where you stand. Kaplan teaches content and NextStep is more strategy focused based on my experience).
This is my story thus far (and it is still being written). I'll be applying primarily to my state schools and osteopathic schools this cycle and am now optimistic I'll score 9s or 10s on each section (I've applied to a post-bac program at an osteopathic school as a back-up plan... a score in the low 20s should secure that). I know 9s and 10s are not high (especially by SDN standards), but as someone that is struggling with the test, I know the longing for seeing a double digit in a section (any section).
I took and re-took Kaplan. In hindsight, Kaplan was great (in-class NOT the virtual sessions), but I wasn't prepared for it. I had forgotten (or never properly learned) how to learn. I spent too much time on preview reading and not enough time going over my lesson book again and again to nail down key content and doing questions. The volume of information presented is overwhelming; however, the volume of key concepts you absolutely must know is not (I failed to differentiate one from the other). I scored relatively well on the diagnostic (9/10/4) and felt that was an indication I really should focus mostly on the bio section. If I could have done it all over, I would recommend taking AAMC 3 early on. My Kaplan scores were all over the place (low of 20 to a high of 29); however, my AAMCs were not (they were around a 20ish with every section hovering around 6 or 7 [verbal being the most unpredictable]).
Having read about many posters on here that devalued content, I focused on test taking skills. I became good at solving even hard MCAT problems when I had a strong content background. But, alas, I didn't have my content nailed down. I did well on topics I knew well, no matter how hard AAMC considered the question and poorly on questions where I didn't have content down even when the question was categorized as easy.
After failing twice to get a score increase with Kaplan, I opted to try NextStep. I felt a good tutor could help me along on my way. We could go over content one-on-one and he or she would quiz me to check on my progress (I was looking for hand holding and guidance, sort of like in elementary school). My hopes for such a tutor were quickly dashed. My tutor essentially told me to take an AAMC test every week (which, unsurprisingly showed roughly the same score every week), assigned EK chapters to read and asked me to bring questions to sessions. He never seemed prepped for our sessions (even though I'd email him in detail things I'd like to go over at least 24 hours in advance), seemed to belittle me for not knowing certain facts (rather than emphasizing I absolutely must know) and was clearly tutoring for the money. To make matters worse, he had no concept of what being a working professional meant (he seemed in a hurry to get his tutoring hours done rather than help me along with the test. He wanted to do back to back sessions a few days apart even when I tried to explain with my work schedule that meant I'd get limited time to do work in between making the pricey sessions pointless). Please note, NextStep is a great company overall in my experience dealing with them; however, I just had a negative experience with my tutor and given how much the sessions cost, really didn't want to try another one. Not all was negative, however, since it was from this experience a light bulb went off. I understood what I had done wrong all along. I realized I had forgotten how to learn.
And thus I found a way to finally increase my score: it turns out it is not magic. It is not fast. It doesn't involve studying 6 hours, 7 hours or 8 hours a day (counting the hours you study is pointless... focus on goals instead... for example, today I'll learn cellular respiration or today I'll learn about the kidney, or today I'll master acids/bases). There is no one that can really help you learn. There is no "good" advise (take all mine with a grain of salt). Only you know yourself and your limits. No one was able to tell me what I was doing wrong. I had to figure it out on my own. I finally did what I should have done all along. I downloaded the AAMC outlines, made sure I was familiar with all the content. I learned that I learn best by watching videos (youtube, Khan, Freelanceteacher were why I did so much better when I returned to the classroom in post-bac than I had as an undergrad... back when internet videos didn't exist [yes, there was that time]). I invested in Chad's videos (who basically walks you through the AAMC outlines at a very basic level), a 5-subject notebook (1 section for each subject and 1 for the AAMC exams), notecards and the PR Science Workbook and studied content. I stopped timing myself to make sure I first knew how to get questions right. If you can't do a passage right in 20 minutes, you certainly cannot do it better in 8. I worked to sharpen my content. And then I saw something that I hadn't seen since I started MCAT prep a year ago (my score, and confidence along with it, starting to slowly rise).
I'm still in the score rising phase (it has been nice to see 8s and 9s as opposed to 6s and 7s and I know I'm en route to 10s, which has make me more excited to study rather than the frustration that plagued my studying thus far). I'm still working on the AAMC outlines and getting practice in to sharpen content. Soon, I'll switch to speed to ensure both content and speed. It took me a lot of time and money to figure out what I did wrong. If I were to do it all again, I'd just invest in a set of MCAT books (any set you find easy to read... no set is better than the other... I read Kaplan / PR / EK and BR... they all teach the same content and be sure to avoid suffering from the disease of switching books because one may be better than another (I know the feeling all too well)). What is more important than what set of book is how well you retain it. I read BR bio and it went into so much depth I didn't retain anything after reading a chapter... EK supplemented with youtube worked better for me. Once you identify a book you like, stick with it. No good comes of changing books repeatedly). And most importantly DOWNLOAD THE CONTENT OUTLINE. If there are shaky areas, youtube is your friend. Until you are scoring a 10, you don't know content as well as you think you do. Go back and review (the only exception to this might be on the PS where basic math skills or working fast might be to blame. You'll know if this is the case pretty quickly when you post-phrase an exam).
Hopefully most of the SDN community never needs this post. And, all of you ace the MCAT. But, if you do, I hope this detailed review helps you know that not all of us were born geniuses scoring a 30 on our diagnostic (or with ease after a few weeks of studying). Some of us are struggling to get there. Good luck to you all (especially, you non-trads in your 30s, 40s and beyond who have come back to fulfill a calling you had written off years earlier). God Bless!
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No rush! I mean I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer right? Hehe ^^v Good luck all!
