Overcoming "Breakdowns" During the MCAT

[Sartorius111]

I just had an interesting experience and I'd like to run it by all those experienced test takers out there.

I'm currently taking an MCAT prep course and we have weekly group sessions to take short practice tests and discuss the answers together. We have specific questions that we work on each session that are given out at the beginning of the class by the instructor. We set the timer and started on today's problem set (6 passages on various topics). About half way through the second passage, however, I realized that I was doing the wrong packet of questions! (I'm not sure how they got passed out to me...) I went up and grabbed the correct hand out from the instructor but I was 15 minutes behind. Needless to say, I completely fell apart. I tried to skip ahead to the passage that I SHOULD have been on at that point but I could not make sense of anything I was reading, let alone try to answer any questions. I skipped the verbal passages and moved to biology but it was the same problem. It was as if I had completely broken down and my mind wasn't functioning at all. I tried to take deep breaths, meditate for a few minutes, etc. but I felt like I was in a spiral of "oh no, I'm doing horribly" to "now I'm way behind" that I couldn't pull myself out of.

I ended up leaving because I realized I wasn't going to be able to do anything effectively and I needed to clear my head. Thinking back to it now, I'm actually VERY grateful that it happened today and not on the actual MCAT. Now I can address it so that if it DOES come up later, I can deal with it properly. Also, I hadn't had this experience before so I'm truly happy that I've identified a weakness I can overcome.

TLDR:
If you fall apart on one part of the MCAT, how do you keep the whole thing from going downhill?

Any thoughts about this? What strategies are effective?

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[efle]

To prevent it happening, get your practice exam scores to where you are comfortable. The vast majority of people score within a couple points of their averages on AAMC 9-11. If you are feeling good about those, the real deal should be no reason to get worried.

If this still happens to you on test day...void.

 

[justadream]

Selective amnesia.

I felt horrible after VR (ran out of time and guessed randomly) but I just forgot it even happened when I started BS.

 

[dkr34]

Just be very careful on test day. Luckily this happened during a practice test so don't be too down on yourself. Before you even start anything, make sure you know that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. Be extremely meticulous.

An important thing to keep in mind which justadream mentioned is to completely forget about the previous section you just finished when you start another one. So if you're just done with Physical Sciences and you feel you didn't do too well, spend the 10 minute break taking deep breaths, refreshing your mind, and getting into the mindset that you have to forget about your performance on the previous section. The next 60 minutes will be dedicated to Verbal, and that's where your mind should be. The same goes for Bio when you finish VR.

Practice doing this during your practice exams

 

[Karasu]

I felt like I was being suffocated on passage two of my VR on my most recent administration. I contemplated voiding my exam for a split second-- but then I remembered that I spend 3 freaking months prepping for this exam!

I think that should be enough to regain composure during a breakdown, remember the goal is completion and that you worked hard to get to test day. I ended up scoring well on VR that day, oddly.

 

[couragemyfriend]

The day my dad arrived at his testing facility to take the Bar exam... he locked his keys in his car. (And this was before cell phones or AAA). He had to make a strong mental decision to deal with that AFTER his exam... And he ended up doing just fine.
Every time I find myself tripping up with practice tests, I try to think of that story. It reminds me just to stay focused & tunnel-visioned, and to keep my emotions (namely, my fears) out of it.
Good luck!!!