How I scored a 522

[samosamosa]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA. I thought I'd give back to SDN by making a post detailing how I studied. If this post helps even one person study better or feel more confident about this exam, I'll be happy

First important thing I did that contributed to my success was giving myself PLENTY of time to study. For the January test, I started studying the previous June by taking a summer prep course from TPR. I chose to take a prep course because I am bad at self-studying and I need the rigid structure of a class to keep me on track, but I don't feel the class helped that much in terms of actually teaching me things I couldn't just get from reading the books themselves, so it's up to your personal study preferences. I kept doing content review through the fall semester while taking a fulltime course load, which I managed by cutting back on some ECs. MAKE TIME to study effectively, rushing your MCAT prep will not help you score high. It takes time to learn MCAT style questions and how they want you to think. Also, giving yourself lots of time will give you a buffer zone in case life gets in the way or you get burnt out and need to take a break.

Secondly, USE AAMC RESOURCES. I used TPR for my content review and found it to be close to MCAT level of difficulty, but the books went into far more detail than was necessary. The best preparation I did was with AAMC section banks, q packs, and full length exams. It's worth the purchase!

Thirdly, believe in the power of practice. I was so scared for physics and ochem, having nearly failed those in undergrad, so I put off studying those sections for the longest time because I felt like I didn't know anything and how could I answer all these complicated questions right under time pressure?! However, the MCAT isn't designed to test minuscule details of physics concepts the way undergrad was. It's testing HOW you think. I got through those sections by doing literally hundreds of practice questions. I got so many wrong, but I went over each wrong answer and figured out where in my line of thinking I'd gone wrong, without beating myself up over getting it wrong. As premeds we're used to expecting perfection from ourselves at all times, but with MCAT prep it's okay to take your time to improve and go slowly (refer to point 1 about giving yourself plenty of time to study). Doing practice questions will be your most powerful tool in getting through difficult sections.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment or PM me and I'll try to answer questions in a timely fashion! Good luck friends!

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[Genesisoliver87]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA. I thought I'd give back to SDN by making a post detailing how I studied. If this post helps even one person study better or feel more confident about this exam, I'll be happy

First important thing I did that contributed to my success was giving myself PLENTY of time to study. For the January test, I started studying the previous June by taking a summer prep course from TPR. I chose to take a prep course because I am bad at self-studying and I need the rigid structure of a class to keep me on track, but I don't feel the class helped that much in terms of actually teaching me things I couldn't just get from reading the books themselves, so it's up to your personal study preferences. I kept doing content review through the fall semester while taking a fulltime course load, which I managed by cutting back on some ECs. MAKE TIME to study effectively, rushing your MCAT prep will not help you score high. It takes time to learn MCAT style questions and how they want you to think. Also, giving yourself lots of time will give you a buffer zone in case life gets in the way or you get burnt out and need to take a break.

Secondly, USE AAMC RESOURCES. I used TPR for my content review and found it to be close to MCAT level of difficulty, but the books went into far more detail than was necessary. The best preparation I did was with AAMC section banks, q packs, and full length exams. It's worth the purchase!

Thirdly, believe in the power of practice. I was so scared for physics and ochem, having nearly failed those in undergrad, so I put off studying those sections for the longest time because I felt like I didn't know anything and how could I answer all these complicated questions right under time pressure?! However, the MCAT isn't designed to test minuscule details of physics concepts the way undergrad was. It's testing HOW you think. I got through those sections by doing literally hundreds of practice questions. I got so many wrong, but I went over each wrong answer and figured out where in my line of thinking I'd gone wrong, without beating myself up over getting it wrong. As premeds we're used to expecting perfection from ourselves at all times, but with MCAT prep it's okay to take your time to improve and go slowly (refer to point 1 about giving yourself plenty of time to study). Doing practice questions will be your most powerful tool in getting through difficult sections.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment or PM me and I'll try to answer questions in a timely fashion! Good luck friends!

Thank you for this! Very inspiring!!

 

[Ms Procrastinator]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA.

How low was your gpa? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[samosamosa]

How low was your gpa? If you don't mind me asking.

<3.4. I had a bad start in college but I finally pulled it together and got a 3.7+ senior year and 4.0 in a DIY postbacc year.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA. I thought I'd give back to SDN by making a post detailing how I studied. If this post helps even one person study better or feel more confident about this exam, I'll be happy

First important thing I did that contributed to my success was giving myself PLENTY of time to study. For the January test, I started studying the previous June by taking a summer prep course from TPR. I chose to take a prep course because I am bad at self-studying and I need the rigid structure of a class to keep me on track, but I don't feel the class helped that much in terms of actually teaching me things I couldn't just get from reading the books themselves, so it's up to your personal study preferences. I kept doing content review through the fall semester while taking a fulltime course load, which I managed by cutting back on some ECs. MAKE TIME to study effectively, rushing your MCAT prep will not help you score high. It takes time to learn MCAT style questions and how they want you to think. Also, giving yourself lots of time will give you a buffer zone in case life gets in the way or you get burnt out and need to take a break.

Secondly, USE AAMC RESOURCES. I used TPR for my content review and found it to be close to MCAT level of difficulty, but the books went into far more detail than was necessary. The best preparation I did was with AAMC section banks, q packs, and full length exams. It's worth the purchase!

Thirdly, believe in the power of practice. I was so scared for physics and ochem, having nearly failed those in undergrad, so I put off studying those sections for the longest time because I felt like I didn't know anything and how could I answer all these complicated questions right under time pressure?! However, the MCAT isn't designed to test minuscule details of physics concepts the way undergrad was. It's testing HOW you think. I got through those sections by doing literally hundreds of practice questions. I got so many wrong, but I went over each wrong answer and figured out where in my line of thinking I'd gone wrong, without beating myself up over getting it wrong. As premeds we're used to expecting perfection from ourselves at all times, but with MCAT prep it's okay to take your time to improve and go slowly (refer to point 1 about giving yourself plenty of time to study). Doing practice questions will be your most powerful tool in getting through difficult sections.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment or PM me and I'll try to answer questions in a timely fashion! Good luck friends!

How did you do over time on the full length AMCAS exams and third party full lengths? I'm curious to see whether your improvement took place gradually and whether your real MCAT score reflected your practice scores.

 

[samosamosa]

How did you do over time on the full length AMCAS exams and third party full lengths? I'm curious to see whether your improvement took place gradually and whether your real MCAT score reflected your practice scores.

My first diagnostic score before I started studying was sub 500. In the middle of my summer prep course I was around 503, and around the end of the course I was still at 506, but when I studied content throughout the fall I saw the big jump in my scores. I think the hundreds of practice questions I did really helped! I took the three AAMC FL’s in the final few weeks before the exam, and I was between 517-525 on all of them, which is about where I was on the real thing.


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[NY_Med]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA. I thought I'd give back to SDN by making a post detailing how I studied. If this post helps even one person study better or feel more confident about this exam, I'll be happy

First important thing I did that contributed to my success was giving myself PLENTY of time to study. For the January test, I started studying the previous June by taking a summer prep course from TPR. I chose to take a prep course because I am bad at self-studying and I need the rigid structure of a class to keep me on track, but I don't feel the class helped that much in terms of actually teaching me things I couldn't just get from reading the books themselves, so it's up to your personal study preferences. I kept doing content review through the fall semester while taking a fulltime course load, which I managed by cutting back on some ECs. MAKE TIME to study effectively, rushing your MCAT prep will not help you score high. It takes time to learn MCAT style questions and how they want you to think. Also, giving yourself lots of time will give you a buffer zone in case life gets in the way or you get burnt out and need to take a break.

Secondly, USE AAMC RESOURCES. I used TPR for my content review and found it to be close to MCAT level of difficulty, but the books went into far more detail than was necessary. The best preparation I did was with AAMC section banks, q packs, and full length exams. It's worth the purchase!

Thirdly, believe in the power of practice. I was so scared for physics and ochem, having nearly failed those in undergrad, so I put off studying those sections for the longest time because I felt like I didn't know anything and how could I answer all these complicated questions right under time pressure?! However, the MCAT isn't designed to test minuscule details of physics concepts the way undergrad was. It's testing HOW you think. I got through those sections by doing literally hundreds of practice questions. I got so many wrong, but I went over each wrong answer and figured out where in my line of thinking I'd gone wrong, without beating myself up over getting it wrong. As premeds we're used to expecting perfection from ourselves at all times, but with MCAT prep it's okay to take your time to improve and go slowly (refer to point 1 about giving yourself plenty of time to study). Doing practice questions will be your most powerful tool in getting through difficult sections.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment or PM me and I'll try to answer questions in a timely fashion! Good luck friends!

When you went through your qbanks/section banks/ study guide questions results what is your approach to going over the questions? When I was going through on my first MCAT attempt I often times got caught up just going over the right answer, and not so much analyzing the process and question types.

 

[MyOdyssey]

My first diagnostic score before I started studying was sub 500. In the middle of my summer prep course I was around 503, and around the end of the course I was still at 506, but when I studied content throughout the fall I saw the big jump in my scores. I think the hundreds of practice questions I did really helped! I took the three AAMC FL’s in the final few weeks before the exam, and I was between 517-525 on all of them, which is about where I was on the real thing.


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Thanks for answering my question. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

A couple of follow up questions if you don't mind.

What did you use to study content?

How long did you study from beginning to end?

Which third party exams did you find most useful?

 

[samosamosa]

When you went through your qbanks/section banks/ study guide questions results what is your approach to going over the questions? When I was going through on my first MCAT attempt I often times got caught up just going over the right answer, and not so much analyzing the process and question types.

I made sure to completely understand WHY the wrong answers were wrong. For AAMC materials, when you go back to a question the wrong answers are marked with explanations about why they're wrong. I read those very carefully and often would redo the problem the 'wrong' way on scratch paper and then do it the 'right' way so that the difference in thinking stuck out better to me. If that explanation wasn't enough I went back to the corresponding content chapter in my books and re-reviewed the concepts, or I watched youtube videos explaining it in different ways. This helped me not have to make the same mistakes on multiple passages to finally unlearn it.

I also found that the questions tend to fall into certain categories, like defining a random concept mentioned in the passage, reading graphs and charts correctly, predicting what 'statement' the author would most agree or disagree with, etc. I made strategies for each question type that seemed to work. The concept definitions of course rely on just content knowledge, but for graph questions I practiced by reading scientific articles and trying to decipher the figures. For agree/disagree questions I highlighted what I thought was the main argument in the passage and compared it to each answer choice one by one. For different question types there's different strategies, you can find what works for you! I honestly don't remember all the specific strategies I used lol but I'm sure there's lots of ideas online and in prep books.

 

[samosamosa]

Thanks for answering my question. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

A couple of follow up questions if you don't mind.

What did you use to study content?

How long did you study from beginning to end?

Which third party exams did you find most useful?

I used The Princeton Review books and workbooks set. I studied for eight months, from June 2017 to Jan 2018, for the end of Jan 2018 exam. I thought TPR exams were ok, but they were much harder than the real thing, so I only did them for content practice early on in my studying and didn't do them later, closer to the exam. I actually liked AAMC's own FLs the best in terms of similarity to the real thing.

 

[Ms.CatATCtoMD]

Hey peeps! I took the MCAT in January of last year and scored a 522, which netted me multiple acceptances this cycle despite a low GPA. I thought I'd give back to SDN by making a post detailing how I studied. If this post helps even one person study better or feel more confident about this exam, I'll be happy

First important thing I did that contributed to my success was giving myself PLENTY of time to study. For the January test, I started studying the previous June by taking a summer prep course from TPR. I chose to take a prep course because I am bad at self-studying and I need the rigid structure of a class to keep me on track, but I don't feel the class helped that much in terms of actually teaching me things I couldn't just get from reading the books themselves, so it's up to your personal study preferences. I kept doing content review through the fall semester while taking a fulltime course load, which I managed by cutting back on some ECs. MAKE TIME to study effectively, rushing your MCAT prep will not help you score high. It takes time to learn MCAT style questions and how they want you to think. Also, giving yourself lots of time will give you a buffer zone in case life gets in the way or you get burnt out and need to take a break.

Secondly, USE AAMC RESOURCES. I used TPR for my content review and found it to be close to MCAT level of difficulty, but the books went into far more detail than was necessary. The best preparation I did was with AAMC section banks, q packs, and full length exams. It's worth the purchase!

Thirdly, believe in the power of practice. I was so scared for physics and ochem, having nearly failed those in undergrad, so I put off studying those sections for the longest time because I felt like I didn't know anything and how could I answer all these complicated questions right under time pressure?! However, the MCAT isn't designed to test minuscule details of physics concepts the way undergrad was. It's testing HOW you think. I got through those sections by doing literally hundreds of practice questions. I got so many wrong, but I went over each wrong answer and figured out where in my line of thinking I'd gone wrong, without beating myself up over getting it wrong. As premeds we're used to expecting perfection from ourselves at all times, but with MCAT prep it's okay to take your time to improve and go slowly (refer to point 1 about giving yourself plenty of time to study). Doing practice questions will be your most powerful tool in getting through difficult sections.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment or PM me and I'll try to answer questions in a timely fashion! Good luck friends!

Hello,

First off thank you for posting this. I plan on taking the MCAT in January and currently working on a tentative study schedule. A couple questions, did you have all of your prereqs done before you took the TPR prep course and started content review? I am a non-science major and will be finishing all my prereqs this summer and fall semester. Kind of worried to take a diagnostic test since I haven’t finished my prereqs. Also, how many hours did you spend doing content review during the fall semester? My current plan is 15-20 hours a week during the semester. Then during winter break 40 hours a week doing strictly AAMC full length test and practice questions. 520+ is my goal, therefore any advice is appreciated! Thank you for your time

 

[samosamosa]

Hello,

First off thank you for posting this. I plan on taking the MCAT in January and currently working on a tentative study schedule. A couple questions, did you have all of your prereqs done before you took the TPR prep course and started content review? I am a non-science major and will be finishing all my prereqs this summer and fall semester. Kind of worried to take a diagnostic test since I haven’t finished my prereqs. Also, how many hours did you spend doing content review during the fall semester? My current plan is 15-20 hours a week during the semester. Then during winter break 40 hours a week doing strictly AAMC full length test and practice questions. 520+ is my goal, therefore any advice is appreciated! Thank you for your time

I hadn’t taken psych/soc before the TPR course, but I’d finished all my other prereqs. During the fall I aimed for one hour per day, with maybe a little extra on weekends. I didn’t start doing full time study until winter break.


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