I am beyond devastated with my MCAT score

[rian.linda]

Hello everyone. Thank you for whoever took the time to read this. I am devastated, dumbfounded, so much more. I took the MCAT last year in April and I scored a 15. 2V, 6P, 7B. Last year I will admit I did not review any books. All I did was a few practice questions with each topic. I thought I knew the material well enough. This year I over-studied. I took the MCAT last month in April and I got a 17. 4V, 6P, 7B. I am speechless. Here is what I did for 4 straight months. I studied each day for 6-10 hours. I read all the Berkeley Review books TWICE (with notes) for Chemistry, Orgo, and Physics. I read ExamKrackers Biology TWICE (with notes). I watched the Golden Standard videos for each topic twice- a total of 32 hours (with notes). I did some of the Kaplan premier practice questions and exams. I took 6 out of the 9 AAMC exams and I scored 17, 19, 21, 22, 22, 23. I did not know what I was doing wrong. I went ahead and took the exam because it was too late for me to reschedule. I was hoping to get a 24 and apply to the early decision program. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND FOR THE LIFE OF ME how I got a 17. SOMEBODY please tell me what to do. I have to apply this year. Please. I will do anything. I cannot afford to take a class. I cannot study anymore. I have read the best rated books and even understood what I was reading. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOWWWW. Should I just do the ExamKrackers 1001 questions for each topic along with the Kaplan Qbank???? Basically I have no other choice. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments. I am literally about to have a panic attack. I can't think of what this will look like on my application. Will Med School even accept me if I pass the 3rd time with previous scores of 15 and 17? HOW????? HOW did I get that???

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[stitchattack]

Im so glad I saw this! When I took the practice MCAT my first score was a 17. Then I got a 19, and a 23. I just took another practice exam 3 days ago and for a 35.

My advice. DO NOT CONTINUE READING FOR CONTENT. it is not necessary. Honestly, with a little background knowledge, you can reason your way through most mcat problems. Do exam kracker questions over and over and over again until you can almost recite them in your head. Thats what I did, and I jumped by 18 points on my mcat... I didn't even know that was possible. When I stared off, I was doing mostly content. I reread 5 books twice, with highlighting and side notes (highly unnessary). 70% of the content I studied ended up being useless for the exams. The most important thing, is to get a very basic and general understanding of physics and bio. As you do more practice problems, your reasoning and way of approaching questions will change.

I was sooo like you omg! I thought something was seriously wrong with me because I spent countless hours studying content, only to get a 17-25. Do NOTHING BUT PRACTICE PROBLEMS. especially from exam krackers. also watch animated youtube videos for biology. they really helped me!

I think I fall into that category. I used the EK books for content review and I probably only have 60% of the content down so I'm going through it again while I practice. I'm using TPR science workbook at the moment and maybe the EK 1001 for my weaker topics after I'm done with the TPR. Would you recommend any other practice books? Oh and I took the AAMC 3 and scored only 7's on my sciences..such a bummer!

 

[swolebrah]

If you have not exhausted self assessment package, take that and do post test analysis and go from there. Don't give up.

 

[rian.linda]

Im so glad I saw this! When I took the practice MCAT my first score was a 17. Then I got a 19, and a 23. I just took another practice exam 3 days ago and for a 35.

My advice. DO NOT CONTINUE READING FOR CONTENT. it is not necessary. Honestly, with a little background knowledge, you can reason your way through most mcat problems. Do exam kracker questions over and over and over again until you can almost recite them in your head. Thats what I did, and I jumped by 18 points on my mcat... I didn't even know that was possible. When I stared off, I was doing mostly content. I reread 5 books twice, with highlighting and side notes (highly unnessary). 70% of the content I studied ended up being useless for the exams. The most important thing, is to get a very basic and general understanding of physics and bio. As you do more practice problems, your reasoning and way of approaching questions will change.

I was sooo like you omg! I thought something was seriously wrong with me because I spent countless hours studying content, only to get a 17-25. Do NOTHING BUT PRACTICE PROBLEMS. especially from exam krackers. also watch animated youtube videos for biology. they really helped me!

I agree with you....can you tell me who you improved in verbal??

 

[alfredo24pr]

I agree with you....can you tell me who you improved in verbal??

Most probably practicing with full lengths, and learning what questions could be asked so you can be more aware when reading. At least, that is what I did and how I seemed to improve a bit.

That way you won't get fatigued with so many passages and will not be surprised by what questions you are being asked.

I also started practicing 2-3 passages a day timed for 8 minutes each.

 

[Dreamstoo]

Hey OP. Definitely try to slow down, I have a personal friend who scored in the high teens on their first MCAT attempt even though they did really prepare as well as they are now. This individual set aside about 4 months of prep (modified SN2 plan). Maybe that will work for you?

Also some of the comments that I read were quite rude. I hope that future posters understand that the OP came here for help and discouraging comments aren't the best way to get your opinion across.

 

[hubriz]

I seriously recommend you not tell me to find other career options....I know a DOCTOR'S SON who failed 3 times and ended up get a 23 the 4th and still made it in!!!!!!!!! I wish YOU the best. Good luck with your life!

There are, of course, always exceptions to the rules, but it would be unwise for anyone to not recommend that you consider other career options. OP faces an uphill battle that may very well be, and probably should be, insurmountable. One's life is more important than one's career. I truly wish OP the best of luck in finding something within his/her particular skill-set that brings enjoyment.

BTW - failed what 3 times? The MCAT is not scored on a pass or fail basis. What the hell are you talking about?

 

[Jason12]

There are, of course, always exceptions to the rules, but it would be unwise for anyone to not recommend that you consider other career options. OP faces an uphill battle that may very well be, and probably should be, insurmountable. One's life is more important than one's career. I truly wish OP the best of luck in finding something within his/her particular skill-set that brings enjoyment.

BTW - failed what 3 times? The MCAT is not scored on a pass or fail basis. What the hell are you talking about?

OP asked for some advice on how to improve her score... there is no need for your advise on what career she needs to go after.

 

[hubriz]

Well, at least one of our recommendations makes sense.

STFU if you aint got nothing inspiring to say. People like you make me sick!

I don't know what language you are speaking, but it doesn't sound particularly inspiring. I think you are on the wrong forum; the one for generously offering ignorant commentary based on irrational generalizations is in the other direction.

 

[hubriz]

OP asked for some advice on how to improve her score... there is no need for your advise on what career she needs to go after.

I don't think you are seeing the forest through the trees, but I appreciate your empathy for OP. I cannot recommend that OP devote more time and money to a goal that seems impossible to reach. More importantly, the general public (including myself) deserves a certain level of competency from our physicians. I just don't see that here...

Lastly, consideration of my opinion in no way adversely affects anyone. The fact that you or anyone else may not find it agreeable speaks to a different matter altogether. If you polled most medical students, admissions committee members, or general members of the public, you would likely find that they too have expectations for future physicians that far exceed what has been demonstrated in this thread.

 

[feeling-dizzy]

I would like to remind you all that the MCAT score is not how many correct answers you got (raw score, which how you get letter-grade in college), but rather how well you did compare to others. Hypothetically, you can get 75% correct answers (very respectable), but if all other test-takers score more than 75% correct; then your MCAT score is still very low. That is what scale score means. So since no one knows exactly how many correct questions one get (that's why you might have soft vs. hard curve if all the questions are very hard); we might jump to conclusion too soon just based on MCAT score. Plus people go to Caribbean med schools (with low MCAT more often than not), and most still turns out to be good doctors. So bottom line, MCAT score is not everything to define a pre-med student.

 

[Jason12]

I don't think you are seeing the forest through the trees, but I appreciate your empathy for OP. I cannot recommend that OP devote more time and money to a goal that seems impossible to reach. More importantly, the general public (including myself) deserves a certain level of competency from our physicians. I just don't see that here...

Lastly, consideration of my opinion in no way adversely affects anyone. The fact that you or anyone else may not find it agreeable speaks to a different matter altogether. If you polled most medical students, admissions committee members, or general members of the public, you would likely find that they too have expectations for future physicians that far exceed what has been demonstrated in this thread.

if OP is persistent and is willing to go through the hard work to achieve what she truly want, then she will be competitive.... knowing that most students wouldnt even go through the hard work and just take the easy path. but I agree that OP needs to be realistic about her next moves

 

[kalat]

Why are people consistently dancing around his poor verbal scores? The entire test is based primarily around reading comprehension and application of basic science concepts. If he is scoring under a 6 consistently in verbal his understanding of the passages on ANY section is no better than someone who is guessing (worse, probably because of overthinking and frustration). That means he is only able to effectively answer discrete questions. Comprehension of a passage is something fundamental that the MCAT requires and it is more or less impossible to "teach" over a period of time less than a few months, and MCAT books do not cover it. A lot of people have issues developmentally with this in the US regarding standardized tests and "word problems" in math and the like. It is hard to overcome these issues alone because the individual usually does not realize what it is they are doing wrong (i.e. think about dyslexia).

An average MCAT score (25-27) has very little to do with extensive content review. Even so, if the OP is not lying, he has studied more than most people on this forum and is not able to meet minimum scores that many can reach before studying at all. There is obviously a fundamental issue beyond "content review" and "more practice problems." Many people here clearly are not going to be very good at investigating potential diagnoses and would rather spend their time dismissing the OP rather than offering real support (how many times did I have to read "you need to review content"?). Great potential physicians indeed... the MCAT certainly does not teach everything.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I would like to remind you all that the MCAT score is not how many correct answers you got (raw score, which how you get letter-grade in college), but rather how well you did compare to others. Hypothetically, you can get 75% correct answers (very respectable), but if all other test-takers score more than 75% correct; then your MCAT score is still very low. That is what scale score means. So since no one knows exactly how many correct questions one get (that's why you might have soft vs. hard curve if all the questions are very hard); we might jump to conclusion too soon just based on MCAT score. Plus people go to Caribbean med schools (with low MCAT more often than not), and most still turns out to be good doctors. So bottom line, MCAT score is not everything to define a pre-med student.

Don't listen to this advice, people. The MCAT has already been scaled before anyone even sits to take it. You just talked about a curve. That's not a scale score per AAMC standards.

But listen to the last part of the advice: MCAT is not everything to define a pre-med student

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, but getting a crappy score certainly doesn't help in the application cycle.

 

[rian.linda]

I don't think you are seeing the forest through the trees, but I appreciate your empathy for OP. I cannot recommend that OP devote more time and money to a goal that seems impossible to reach. More importantly, the general public (including myself) deserves a certain level of competency from our physicians. I just don't see that here...

Lastly, consideration of my opinion in no way adversely affects anyone. The fact that you or anyone else may not find it agreeable speaks to a different matter altogether. If you polled most medical students, admissions committee members, or general members of the public, you would likely find that they too have expectations for future physicians that far exceed what has been demonstrated in this thread.

So Thank you all for your great advice...even you Hurbiz......but I want to all remind you of my uncle's friend a 25 year old man whose father is a doctor. The 25 year old man failed the mcat 4 times with a final score of 23. He got into med school and has been ranked in the top 3. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MCAT. YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW PHYSICS TO DIAGNOSE A PATIENT. But at the end of the day you all took time out of your lives to advice me and I greatly appreciate that.

 

[rian.linda]

OP asked for some advice on how to improve her score... there is no need for your advise on what career she needs to go after.

So Thank you all for your great advice...even you Hurbiz......but I want to all remind you of my uncle's friend a 25 year old man whose father is a doctor. The 25 year old man failed the mcat 4 times with a final score of 23. He got into med school and has been ranked in the top 3. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MCAT. YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW PHYSICS TO DIAGNOSE A PATIENT. But at the end of the day you all took time out of your lives to advice me and I greatly appreciate that.

 

[BeachBlondie]

So Thank you all for your great advice...even you Hurbiz......but I want to all remind you of my uncle's friend a 25 year old man whose father is a doctor. The 25 year old man failed the mcat 4 times with a final score of 23. He got into med school and has been ranked in the top 3. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MCAT. YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW PHYSICS TO DIAGNOSE A PATIENT. But at the end of the day you all took time out of your lives to advice me and I greatly appreciate that.

Good luck!

...But don't forget, physics can be a pretty important aspect of medicine. In fact, count on seeing fluid dynamics A LOT during cardio and pulmonary blocks in medical school

Source: husband is an MS-3

 

[terdferterson]

I only studied two days before the exam (seriously) and got a 26 (PS 7/ V 9/BS 10) on my mcat. I would have done better but I did not answer two whole passages in the physical sciences section because I did not pace myself well enough. I should have just guessed at the last second and probably (not really) could have pulled off an 8 or 9, haha!

If I can get an okay score with minimal studying then the OP should be able to get around that, too... It's definitely possible.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I only studied two days before the exam (seriously) and got a 26 (PS 7/ V 9/BS 10) on my mcat. I would have done better but I did not answer two whole passages in the physical sciences section because I did not pace myself well enough. I should have just guessed at the last second and probably (not really) could have pulled off an 8 or 9, haha!

If I can get an okay score with minimal studying then the OP should be able to get around that, too... It's definitely possible.

Not everyone is like you..

 

[cdistel]

Rain.Linda- how was the mcat? Did you take it in September? When will your scores be released?