MCAT in T minus 6 days tips

[mikenod454]

Hey everyone,
first post on this forum.

My MCAT is fast approaching i'm scoring well on physical science and verbal however my bs score fluctuates quite a bit.
Would you guys recommend a crash review of biology or orgo? what is more important, I don't have time to fully cover both, so I have to pick.


thanks

one of my friends only had 5 discrete questions on his mcat, its a risk, but i'm leaning towards focusing on bio

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[techfan]

When I took it I only had one passage on orgo. I think AAMC is demphasizing organic chemistry due to what other threads have said about organic chemistry.

 

[AmishExpressWay]

my mcat is a week away as well, and the best advice I've gotten thus far was "bite your lip, the MCAT is going in dry".

Good luck!

 

[mikenod454]

When I took it I only had one passage on orgo. I think AAMC is demphasizing organic chemistry due to what other threads have said about organic chemistry.

I don't have much time to review all the orgo I studied , do you remember from what section your questions came from?

Although highly unlikely I will get the same topics, still better than randomly trying to review all the orgo I studied when I could be focusing on other topics.





cheers!

Sam

 

[techfan]

No sorry, I don't. I took it in 2011.

 

[Oh_Gee]

my mcat is a week away as well, and the best advice I've gotten thus far was "bite your lip, the MCAT is going in dry".

Good luck!

ew

 

[dxcrunner]

Very little organic chemistry on my MCAT in July. Focus on Biology review. If you choose to look at organic chem, ONLY FOCUS ON OXYGEN AND NITROGEN CHEMISTRY. There really wasn't an organic chem question on the exam no relating to oxygen and nitrogen. Should be a quick review.

Biggest tip: Relax and go into test day with nothing but confidence even if your scores are not where you want them to be. You will surprise yourself.

 

[justadream]

@dxcrunner

Did you feel like you missed about the same # of questions on the real thing as on the AAMC FLs?

When I do the AAMC FLs, I always feel pressure because I know 1 wrong (in any section) leads to 14 already and it all goes downhill from there.

 

[Czarcasm]

@dxcrunner

Did you feel like you missed about the same # of questions on the real thing as on the AAMC FLs?

When I do the AAMC FLs, I always feel pressure because I know 1 wrong (in any section) leads to 14 already and it all goes downhill from there.

When is your test date so I can send good vibes your way!

 

[justadream]

When is your test date so I can send good vibes your way!

September 18th.

Btw: As you may have noticed, I've joined the cult. May it bring me MCAT prosperity.

 

[Czarcasm]

September 18th.

Btw: As you may have noticed, I've joined the cult. May it bring me MCAT prosperity.

Haha, awesome. I didn't catch that until now. Welcome my friend May it bring you great wisdom and good luck.

 

[dxcrunner]

@dxcrunner

Did you feel like you missed about the same # of questions on the real thing as on the AAMC FLs?

When I do the AAMC FLs, I always feel pressure because I know 1 wrong (in any section) leads to 14 already and it all goes downhill from there.

Honestly, I burned out so bad mentally the week before taking the MCAT. I put so much pressure on myself to perform well on the exam, I just couldn't focus except I was 110% focused on test day. I didn't take any AAMC FLs until the week I was burned out, so I actually did much better on the real exam than I scored on the practice exams. Practice exams were low 30's, even some high 20's. Real exam was 34.

In general, the AAMC FLs are only an "ok" predictor of how you will actually do on exam day. I know friends that scored exactly the same, others much higher, and others lower. Those who scored lower on the real exam didn't have confidence in themselves test day. This was the only difference I saw from those who did better on exam day and those who didn't.

On a side note, you don't need 14's in every section to be competitive for med school. Don't set the bar too high for yourself, a score of 11 in each section (33 overall) is a solid MCAT score.

 

[mikenod454]

The Mcat wasn't even that bad!
I think people make it out to be some evil demon of a test when it really is not, other than some really strict security checks, such as being checked with a metal detector whenever you reenter the room, it was pretty much the same as writing a normal exam! which we have all written plenty of.
My advice is don't psyche yourself out, go in with confidence.
Also I only had one orgo passage, so glad I did not waste time on studying orgo and focused on things that actually appeared on my exam.