Freaking out about not doing well on practice problems

[CloverBale]

So I'm freaking the **** out. I have all 3 sets of books: TBR/Kaplan/EK (and a bunch of random princeton). I did all of the TBR content review and didn't do their practice passages at the end of the chapters just so I would have something to go back to when I'm done content reviewing. Now that Im done reviewing, I'm going through Kaplan's and EK's back of the chapter's quizzes and doing them---and I'm doing horribly on them. My MCAT is in 35 days, and I don't know what is going on and if I should be freaking out or not. Shouldn't I have those questions down by now? Or are they just really specific?

I didn't memorize terms and things like that, everyone keeps telling me you just need to know the basics and fundamentals, and you don't need to know the details...but I feel like people are wrong on that? Like I haven't done any real passages yet, but it seems that way? What is considered basic ? What's fundamental vs not? Do I need to memorize what each enzyme does? I don't understand lol.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[exacto]

35 days is a looooooong time to study, relax. i dont know about kaplan, but EK was harder and more specific than the actual MCAT. Focus more on the passages and understanding the big picture. Also know biochem!

 

[premedkid1994]

So I'm freaking the **** out. I have all 3 sets of books: TBR/Kaplan/EK (and a bunch of random princeton). I did all of the TBR content review and didn't do their practice passages at the end of the chapters just so I would have something to go back to when I'm done content reviewing. Now that Im done reviewing, I'm going through Kaplan's and EK's back of the chapter's quizzes and doing them---and I'm doing horribly on them. My MCAT is in 35 days, and I don't know what is going on and if I should be freaking out or not. Shouldn't I have those questions down by now? Or are they just really specific?

I didn't memorize terms and things like that, everyone keeps telling me you just need to know the basics and fundamentals, and you don't need to know the details...but I feel like people are wrong on that? Like I haven't done any real passages yet, but it seems that way? What is considered basic ? What's fundamental vs not? Do I need to memorize what each enzyme does? I don't understand lol.

people are wrong on that. Yeah you don't need to know every single complex detail but you DO need to know what every simple term means.
For example (example for biochemistry)
you should know what centrifugation is?
What are integrins?
What are the three most common types of molecules found in the extracellular matrix?
What is mixed inhibition?
What is isoelectric focusing and how does it use the electrochemical cell for protein separation?
What is Bradford Protein Assay used for?
What are the irreversible steps of every pathway and how are they regulated?
What are the specific DNA libraries?
What is the lac operon and how does it work?
What is southern blotting used for?
What is hybridization?
What is elongation?
How is the nernst equation used for cell electric potential?

Don't believe everything you hear on here. Some people have everything down from their prerequisite classes and they don't need to know the details. Others do.
Now can you answer each of these questions right away without looking at your notes? If not, you don't have the basics and fundamentals down and you need more work and practice passages. I'm taking the exam on Aug 25th as well and am focused on getting so confident with every single word in the biochemistry/biology/physiology/psychology books that I can teach someone if I had to. I will be taking a practice fl every 4/5 days.

If you have a hectic schedule and don't have time to study, I would move the test to a different date in september. Good luck. We got this! Just try to work hard and really being confident with everything the test covers! some people like myself, need more work than others.