Is it Possible to Score a 500 with a month of study?

[GypsyHummus]

Hey everyone,

So I have been lightly studying for my MCAT for about a month now while working, but I am not getting as much done as I thought I would, so I am planning on quitting my job and studying full time starting August 1st for a September 10th test date. Ive taken the MCAT before but have only scored a 491, which was due to poor time management, poor preparation (I only used notecards and did not do as many questions as I should have) and worked as well. I was also in bad physical health.

I plan on dedicating 8 hours/day this next month to studying for this beast, is it possible in a month and a half to score a 500? Otherwise, Id have to wait till January for the next test date. Luckily, there is only one way to go, and that is up. I would treat studying like a 9-5 job for a month.

I have a strong Organic Background, decent bio, and weak everything else. Ive heard people who have only studied for 2 weeks and managed to get a 31 before, but those people had strong science backgrounds. Then again, Im not looking for a 520, all I need is to break above the 500 mark.

Thanks for all the feedback and advice!

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[premedkid1994]

For the exam Kracker:
FL 1
23/59
20/53
24/59
25/59
Total of 51%

After doing some digging around on the internet trying to find a conversion chart, it seems like 50% is around the 498 area. This doesn't seem right, I would think 50% would be much lower, like 490

I don't think your math is right.

 

[GypsyHummus]

I don't think your math is right.

That's what EK says. They might be curving it

Edit, Nevermind, I was misreading (Uh oh, Verbal). here it is:


23/59
27/53
31/59
36/59

 

[GypsyHummus]

Does anyone have any tips for keeping focused throughout the whole test? I felt myself slipping away many times during my practice, but after each passage (especially Verbal) I would take a deep breath, tell myself to center and refocus, and then kept telling myself to "Be here, now".

Anyone else have tips?

 

[deleted407021]

Does anyone have any tips for keeping focused throughout the whole test? I felt myself slipping away many times during my practice, but after each passage (especially Verbal) I would take a deep breath, tell myself to center and refocus, and then kept telling myself to "Be here, now".

Anyone else have tips?

Do more practice passages! Get used to reading the format and keep doing your focus techniques. But practice is paramount.

 

[Nucleophile1]

Does anyone have any tips for keeping focused throughout the whole test? I felt myself slipping away many times during my practice, but after each passage (especially Verbal) I would take a deep breath, tell myself to center and refocus, and then kept telling myself to "Be here, now".

Anyone else have tips?

Practice practice practice. Also, have good posture when you take your tests. Sit like you would when you take the real thing. I found that helped me stay focused.

Thats what Im doing. Looks like Waves of sounds and light, as well as Gen chem was a rough point

On Verbal, how can we improve on that section?

While I'm sure you had trouble with waves of sound and light as well as Gen Chem, I'm sure there were some small things that you missed as well. For example, did you miss any amino acid questions? Learn the properties of amino acids and how to identify each one. There are Iphone/Android apps that can help you with that. The test is biochem heavy so make sure you know your amino acids. Just an example.

The best way to improve is practice. Personally, I didn't use any special method on the verbal section. I read each passage thoroughly before answering questions and then referred back to the passage as needed.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Just wanted to give you all an update.

Im about a little less than 2 weeks from my Sept 10th test date. Ive taken all 4 Exam krackers full lengths (EK FL) and I can give you the progression, if that would help people in my similar situation.

FL 1- 50%
FL 2- 51%
FL- 53%
FL- 55%

As you can see, I have been making progress slowly in the two weeks time. Looking around the internet (it is hard to find a conversion score for EK FLs), the first test put me at around a 496, the last at around a 500. My goal is 510, I think I can make it if I continue on this trajectory. Im planning for at least 4 more practice tests.

The EK FL are really great, a wonderful representation on how to expect the real MCAT to test graphs. The CARS can be gruesome however.

One downside of the EK FLs is the lack of emphasis on Amino Acids. On my last MCAT, Amino Acids were everywhere, on every section (save CARS).

I will be purchasing the Next step Full lengths, as I heard they give you a score report at the end. Anyone else have any other advice/tips? What about Recommendations for FLs?

 

[Nucleophile1]

Just wanted to give you all an update.

Im about a little less than 2 weeks from my Sept 10th test date. Ive taken all 4 Exam krackers full lengths (EK FL) and I can give you the progression, if that would help people in my similar situation.

FL 1- 50%
FL 2- 51%
FL- 53%
FL- 55%

As you can see, I have been making progress slowly in the two weeks time. Looking around the internet (it is hard to find a conversion score for EK FLs), the first test put me at around a 496, the last at around a 500. My goal is 510, I think I can make it if I continue on this trajectory. Im planning for at least 4 more practice tests.

The EK FL are really great, a wonderful representation on how to expect the real MCAT to test graphs. The CARS can be gruesome however.

One downside of the EK FLs is the lack of emphasis on Amino Acids. On my last MCAT, Amino Acids were everywhere, on every section (save CARS).

I will be purchasing the Next step Full lengths, as I heard they give you a score report at the end. Anyone else have any other advice/tips? What about Recommendations for FLs?

Take the Altius 1/2 Length, NS 1/2 Length, Q-Packs, Section Banks, etc.

Take the Unscored FL and Scored FL. These will be the BEST indicator of your score on the real exam. If you want a 510, DO NOT take the MCAT until you are scoring in the range of 508-512 on MULTIPLE practice exams.

Since you have less than two weeks, I recommend taking the Unscored FL and see how you do.

Keep in mind that since you did poorly on the first one, you NEED to do well on your re-take in order to get accepted into medical school.

 

[premedkid1994]

Just wanted to give you all an update.

Im about a little less than 2 weeks from my Sept 10th test date. Ive taken all 4 Exam krackers full lengths (EK FL) and I can give you the progression, if that would help people in my similar situation.

FL 1- 50%
FL 2- 51%
FL- 53%
FL- 55%

As you can see, I have been making progress slowly in the two weeks time. Looking around the internet (it is hard to find a conversion score for EK FLs), the first test put me at around a 496, the last at around a 500. My goal is 510, I think I can make it if I continue on this trajectory. Im planning for at least 4 more practice tests.

The EK FL are really great, a wonderful representation on how to expect the real MCAT to test graphs. The CARS can be gruesome however.

One downside of the EK FLs is the lack of emphasis on Amino Acids. On my last MCAT, Amino Acids were everywhere, on every section (save CARS).

I will be purchasing the Next step Full lengths, as I heard they give you a score report at the end. Anyone else have any other advice/tips? What about Recommendations for FLs?

Im just curious how you're going to do 4 fls and review them all before sep 10.
Be cautious of burning out. I would only focus on AAMC material from here on out

 

[GypsyHummus]

Im just curious how you're going to do 4 fls and review them all before sep 10.
Be cautious of burning out. I would only focus on AAMC material from here on out

FL 1 day, then a full day of review. Thats 8 days total.

Thanks for the advice though, maybe I shouldn't push too hard these last couple of weeks.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Take the Altius 1/2 Length, NS 1/2 Length, Q-Packs, Section Banks, etc.

Take the Unscored FL and Scored FL. These will be the BEST indicator of your score on the real exam. If you want a 510, DO NOT take the MCAT until you are scoring in the range of 508-512 on MULTIPLE practice exams.

Since you have less than two weeks, I recommend taking the Unscored FL and see how you do.

Keep in mind that since you did poorly on the first one, you NEED to do well on your re-take in order to get accepted into medical school.

So I took the 1/2 length Next step and did MUCH worse on it than the exam Krackers FL. Scored a 494, where on the EK, I was scoring 500ish (55% was my highest). My low score was the Chem Physics section as well as CARS and I have to say, they were brutal. 121 in Chem.

Im not sure if this is because it is a diagnostic, so there is an incentive for the test to be extremely hard or not, but that test was much harder than the actual MCAT. I find the Exam krackers to be much more representative. Has anyone else had any experience with Next Step?

Ill take the AAMC one Tuesday to get a better representation.

 

[Nucleophile1]

So I took the 1/2 length Next step and did MUCH worse on it than the exam Krackers FL. Scored a 494, where on the EK, I was scoring 500ish (55% was my highest). My low score was the Chem Physics section as well as CARS and I have to say, they were brutal. 121 in Chem.

Im not sure if this is because it is a diagnostic, so there is an incentive for the test to be extremely hard or not, but that test was much harder than the actual MCAT. I find the Exam krackers to be much more representative. Has anyone else had any experience with Next Step?

Ill take the AAMC one Tuesday to get a better representation.

I took the Next Step 1/2 Length and got a 503. It is definitely more difficult than the actual MCAT. Most MCAT Prep companies are more difficult than the real thing. However, make sure you review what you got wrong. If there are content questions, you got wrong, learn that content so that you don't get it wrong on subsequent tests.