Please help (Physics passages!)

[Medgirl07]

I have been studying for a while now for the April mcats and I just SUCK at physics, i cant seem to get these questions right, and I spend a ridiculous amount of time reading and trying to understand the concepts from my Princeton Review book and then trying the passages and I still suck at it. What do you guy recommend I do to start seeing some improvement? Is there anything out there that might help me a lil more? Any suggestions would be helpful

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[Hausdaddy24]

This probably isn't what you want to hear but... practice, practice, practice. Do all of the problems in your MCAT prep book then get out your physics textbook and do all of those problems too, do physics problems until you will literally be sick if you do one more, then do about a hundred more. This is actually what I'm in the process of doing right now. I'm basically relearning physics, it's the only subject on the mcat that I'm actually reviwing my textbook for because I know without a doubt that is my weakest subject right now.

 

[alkapalka]

I had the same exact problem when I took Princeton over the summer. The instructor was good but for some reason I just could not get the questions.
That's when I got a tutor and his job was strictly to go over my practice tests in FULL detail. Doing the questions is one thing but, you really need to go over those problems inside and out to make sure you know your stuff.

Hope that helps

 

[Mr. Tee]

Think like the test writer.

It's good to know how to manipulate all those equations. Knowing the equations themselves won't help; rather you have to know how to apply them. That means knowing the concepts like the back of your hand.

Finally, if a passage/question involves your having to jump from point A --> D , learn how to dissect that into A --> B --> C --> D. This involves the critical thinking that comprises the bulk of the MCAT.

 

[DrChandy]

I have been studying for a while now for the April mcats and I just SUCK at physics, i cant seem to get these questions right, and I spend a ridiculous amount of time reading and trying to understand the concepts from my Princeton Review book and then trying the passages and I still suck at it. What do you guy recommend I do to start seeing some improvement? Is there anything out there that might help me a lil more? Any suggestions would be helpful

There are two questions you will need to ask yourself in such a situation:

1) Do you get the questions wrong because you do not fully understand the concepts being tested?
If so, it is important to know the basic concepts very well. The MCAT is really testing basic concepts in more complicated situations.


2)Are you getting questions wrong despite knowing very well the concepts being tested?
If so, practicing problems will help expose you to new situations which test the same concepts differently. Make sure you make notes on why you get your problems wrong (and also go over problems you get right, to make sure that you are getting them right for the right reasons). In time, in making a conscious effort to avoid making the same mistakes, you may start to see improvements.