My Situation.. MCAT in Two days

[bioislife]

Hi all,

I've browsed this forum for a while and am stuck in a tough situation so just made an account.

My MCAT is in two days and the highest I've scored on the Kaplan full length tests was a 499. I took the AAMC scored full length yesterday and scored a 498, which I was shocked about. After reviewing I made many careless mistakes throughout the exam. On the unscaled exam, the percentage of questions correct was higher for CARS and the behavioral section, and this was four days ago although I don't know what the scaled score would have been.

Basically, I'm at the point where I am considering to void my exam on Thursday. I've been studying since February now (was a full time student, have been studying non-stop for the past two weeks) and I really thought I'd be scoring well above a 505 right now.

I'm just really discouraged at this point. What do you guys think? Any success stories? Or should I void and retake in August - which would cause me to take a gap year because in this case I wouldn't be applying this cycle.

Thanks for reading this and I really look forward to your thoughts!

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[sleepyhead22]

What was your percent correct on the unscored? What was your score distribution from the scored?

 

[bioislife]

What was your percent correct on the unscored? What was your score distribution from the scored?

Unscored:
C/P: 66%
CARS: 79%
B/B: 64%
Beh: 68%

Scored:
C/P: 126
CARS: 123
B/B: 126
Beh: 123

 

[sleepyhead22]

Have you been doing well on CARS on your other exams so this one could have been a fluke? The unscored is generally accepted to be easy is CARS but pretty fair otherwise. Have you done the section banks yet? If you did well on those then I'd say your scored was a fluke. If not then you may consider voiding, altho if you aren't applying this year anyways in that instance then it may be worth getting your score in case you do well. The Kaplan tests are notoriously difficult so I wouldn't worry about those scores too much. Idk I'm not an an expert but wanted to give you some input!

 

[bioislife]

No I haven't done the section banks, only a portion of the C/P part. The highest I scored on the Kaplan CARS was a 125 :/

As I type I realize that I think it's clear that I should void.... It just sucks cause I've spent so many hours studying and time away from work to take it on this date.

Eh anyways thank you for your response I really appreciate it

 

[exacto]

Take the real test with the mindset that the scored was just a fluke and you know your ****. After the test, play it by ear; If you feel like you did alright then score it....

 

[sleepyhead22]

No I haven't done the section banks, only a portion of the C/P part. The highest I scored on the Kaplan CARS was a 125 :/

As I type I realize that I think it's clear that I should void.... It just sucks cause I've spent so many hours studying and time away from work to take it on this date.

Eh anyways thank you for your response I really appreciate it

You'd probably be ready by July 8th and that's in time to apply this cycle... Just food for thought. I do think you'd be fine to take it scored tho!

 

[bioislife]

Thanks for the feedback. Does anyone else want to share their opinion?

 

[SailorHg]

I can offer a personal anecdote... My Kaplan FL's hovered around 498-499 for awhile until I got to 6 and 7, where I scored 500 and 505. My last FL was a week or so before the real exam and I ended up with a 513 on the real thing. Kaplan's scores are definitely deflated. As long as you are consistently around 499 on Kaplan FL's, I don't think it's ridiculous to think that you could get a 505 on the real thing.

 

[bioislife]

I can offer a personal anecdote... My Kaplan FL's hovered around 498-499 for awhile until I got to 6 and 7, where I scored 500 and 505. My last FL was a week or so before the real exam and I ended up with a 513 on the real thing. Kaplan's scores are definitely deflated. As long as you are consistently around 499 on Kaplan FL's, I don't think it's ridiculous to think that you could get a 505 on the real thing.

Hmm okay. What did you score on the practice AAMC scored exam?

 

[SailorHg]

Hmm okay. What did you score on the practice AAMC scored exam?

AAMC FL: 76% CP, 81% CARS, 73% BB, 75% PS

This was a few months ago and all we got was % correct.

 

[binko]

When I took the MCAT last fall, I was scoring slightly higher than you on practice tests but I was also not even done studying the physics book for the prep course I took. I also had a disastrous MCAT morning - I stayed in a hotel near the test center and when I woke up in the morning, ants had infested ALL of the food I brought with me and I have dietary restricitions that made getting other food impossible. Then I managed to arrive late to the test center despite it being on the same block (it was a very confusing building). I was hungry, rushed, stressed, miserable, and when I sat down to take the test, the questions all seemed to be about topics I had never heard of. I was thisclose to voiding my score, or even just walking out and not finishing the test. I stuck with it though and it turned out I scored in the 98th %ile overall. I just about fell off my chair when I got my score.

Moral of the story: Don't give up hope. The scoring of the new MCAT is unpredictable and weird. If you have to, you can always retake if your score is not what you want.

 

[bioislife]

So I didn't void my exam. Will I regret this in a month? Probably. But for now I'm just gonna hope for the best and party

Thanks for the comments everyone!

 

[SailorHg]

So I didn't void my exam. Will I regret this in a month? Probably. But for now I'm just gonna hope for the best and party

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Congratulations! Try to relax and not worry about it (easier said than done haha)

 

[bioislife]

Quick update. I did horrible. Looks like my Kaplan and AAMC scores were super reflective after all.

I scored a 499, CP 126, CARS 122, BB 124, Psych/Soc 127....

I don't think that I'm applying to med school this cycle and will retake the exam hopefully this summer. Anyone willing to help me create a study schedule/give tips on what resources to use for studying certain topics? Or anything you could refer me to? I would be eternally grateful.....

 

[FMDoge2020]

Advice:
-Dont rush through the content review. It seems like that is what you did last time.

-take notes and make sure you learn each topic well enough that you can apply them to things you encounter in real life (scientific paper, human behavior, or even a person throwing a football)

-read more MCAT related articles, SdN has some good ones. Analyze each of them in terms of voice, questions adressed, and counter examples. Also read more paper with a lot of graphs and try to understand them.

-understand the exam well. It has a certain way of phrasing questions. The correct answer follows certain logic.

Materials:
Khan Academy is free and gives great lectures and practice for all sections.

I find NOVA physics to be a useful resource for solidifying physics concepts(if you are not solid on it) the author is not very fun though. Use it as a supplement.

Any other whole content prep book would be okay. I used Princeton Review and it was thought to be the less good ones. However I ended up scoring well on the MCAT.

Schedule:
Up to you. In general, keep it consistent. It took me two months,4~6 hours/day to review(i retook the exam) the content. I started taking practice around the end of second month. The last three weeks is all about strengthening weaknesses and understading the passage and test format.
Total time:2.75months

Sent from my SM-N920P using SDN mobile

 

[DolphinLover]

Quick update. I did horrible. Looks like my Kaplan and AAMC scores were super reflective after all.

I scored a 499, CP 126, CARS 122, BB 124, Psych/Soc 127....

I don't think that I'm applying to med school this cycle and will retake the exam hopefully this summer. Anyone willing to help me create a study schedule/give tips on what resources to use for studying certain topics? Or anything you could refer me to? I would be eternally grateful.....

How many practice tests did you take?

 

[bioislife]

How many practice tests did you take?

Around 5 Kaplan and the 2 AAMC

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Quick update. I did horrible. Looks like my Kaplan and AAMC scores were super reflective after all.

I scored a 499, CP 126, CARS 122, BB 124, Psych/Soc 127....

I don't think that I'm applying to med school this cycle and will retake the exam hopefully this summer. Anyone willing to help me create a study schedule/give tips on what resources to use for studying certain topics? Or anything you could refer me to? I would be eternally grateful.....

At this juncture you need to look at that exam as simply a very expensive practice MCAT that tells you where you need to focus for your next round of studying. In my signature is a long essay on how to attack the MCAT a second time. It's worth the read.

The biggest thing is that you need to learn to think more efficiently on questions. Way too many people make the mistake of (1) assuming a low score means they don't know the material well enough and (2) that repetition leads to success. Many times when you read an answer explanation for a question you missed it's easy to say "I know that material" and assume all is well. But the reality is that you missed the question for some reason, and it's often more due to faulty multiple-choice PoE reasoning than it is about knowing the concept and facts. You have to learn the art of taking the exam. It is not easy, but you need to actively and aggressively attack questions. You have to think like the test writer and learn to build from the most basic ideas upward when solving questions.

Perhaps the most important thing this second round is to learn from the answer explanations more than anywhere else. Every time you miss a question, try it again keeping track of your reasoning. Then read through the answer explanation (assuming the materials you use have good ones) and see where you could have done better. As long as you know how to answer that question in the future, you are doing fine.

Good luck. It may seem disheartening to get back up on the horse, but this time you'll know how to do thing more efficiently.

 

[bioislife]

@BerkReviewTeach Thank you. I really appreciate your reply

 

[bioislife]

Hi everyone! I posted a little over a year ago and scored a 499 the first time I took the test. Just wanted to update anyone that was interested; got my scores back today and I scored a 509. Will be applying next summer!

 

[bioislife]

Update:

Hi guys!! Finally applied this cycle and I received my first MD acceptance today!

It’s a long, tiring process but never give up!!! You can do it!!

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

This is such an inspiring tale. Good for you!!!! Thanks for taking time to share.

 

[KiddCo]

That's great news! Congratulations on your acceptance!

 

[AlphaStudent]

Hi everyone! I posted a little over a year ago and scored a 499 the first time I took the test. Just wanted to update anyone that was interested; got my scores back today and I scored a 509. Will be applying next summer!

Congratz on the score! If you dont mind sharing, what did you do differently for the second time you took the mcat? how long did you study, what did you use, etc etc.?

 

[bioislife]

Congratz on the score! If you dont mind sharing, what did you do differently for the second time you took the mcat? how long did you study, what did you use, etc etc.?

I changed up my entire technique and study materials (ex. I used Kaplan the first time, and used examkrackers the second time) Happy to discuss this. Send me a PM!