Score back today and it was dreadful... HELP

[mnhockey7]

I am over it now, and realize I have much work to do, specifically in the Verbal area...! I did not utilize Kaplan much this past go around and with all the research I have done this may have been a mistake. I did recently by the Examkracker Verbal book and am looking to pick up TPR verbal book and want to supplement these materials for the most efficient practice.

I also used up all the AAMC's except #8 and will take this last in prep for my next test in January. I did not utilize the Kaplan tests and I think this may have been a downfall of mine as well, because I was not used to the very complex passages on the MCAT in September, and I panicked. Can I retake any of these or is this a waste of time?

***MY MAIN QUESTION IS... DO I GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE KAPLAN FL AND STILL IMPLEMENT THE VERBAL REASONING SECTION? *** Or, more focus on the PS and BS section and use my other resources for verbal. On the contrary, is it good to take them all for the real experience/simulation, get the timing down (which was an issue for me), and not focus much on the score with Kaplans verbal?

Also, all you other Kaplan users out there, was any of the other material: Section, Subject, Topical, very crucial to use to help scores??


Someone please let me know! It will be much appreciated...

Thanks,

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[Sammy1024]

I'm not sure what your breakdown was but let's say it's 9 - 7 - 9 I would say to work on Verbal, and also work on the sciences but not as much. Verbal is usually pretty important for schools.

I honestly believe that Kaplan tests are stupid. I took their course and their tests aren't helpful. I had to supplement with TPR and TBR. My friend liked Kaplan verbal and I don't really think they're representative. I think if anything TPR or EK are better verbal options and then the TBR CBT verbal seems pretty okay (to me).

I would suggest doing TBR for sciences because they're pretty solid and difficult which makes AAMC stuff easier. It also gets your mind geared towards spotting tricks.

 

[mnhockey7]

Sammy1024,

Do you mean that the Kaplan full length tests are "stupid" verbal wise or in general? I have heard and have seen by SN2ed that the Kaplan full lengths, at least the earlier ones, are very good practice in general? Harder the better. But I do agree with you that Kaplan verbal is somewhat poor, but do you think so PS and BS wise also?

 

[Sammy1024]

I feel that ps and bs are good practice, but only if you're very poor in the subjects. They don't help you in regards to how the real test is composed. If you're bad at circuits, it'll show you you're bad at circuits, but it wont help you deduce a proper answer for circuits since it's so math heavy. BS I feel is much better and used it for some difficult bs practice, but the passages aren't long enough. I took the mcat this morning and I would say the bs passages were 2x longer than what kaplan has to offer.

 

[mnhockey7]

Is there other tests you can buy Sammy?

 

[Sammy1024]

I would do all AAMC test, then recommend buying TBR tests because they're ridiculously hard, but as I found out today, so was my mcat (but they only let you use them 45 days before your test).

I did a retake and I found that if I took an AAMC test 3 - 4 months ago, I was unlikely to remember it, except maybe the verbal because I heavily reviewed it.

I think that if you had a weak science score, use TBR to read up on it and then do their practice passages. They're pretty good. If you have a verbal weakness, then start by doing TPR verbal and EK verbal.

There's no point in wasting tests if you're not ready. If you haven't done anything since you got your score, there's no point in taking a test. Also, ask around for the R versions of the AAMC 3 - 6, which have extra practice questions. And if you get the 6R, that's an extra AAMC test you probably haven't taken. gl! :]

 

[mnhockey7]

Okay, thank you very much! Ill start a post to see if people have them! Also, which of the 7 tests do you recommend buying from the BR? And is it true they are only available 45 days prior to your test date?

 

[Sammy1024]

They only let you buy them in groups like 1- 3, 1 - 5 or 1 - 7 (I believe). TBR has their own way of asking questions but they put in the tricks that really make you think. Then when you go back to an AAMC test (for me at least) I felt that the AAMC was much easier.

Back in May, when I took AAMC 10, I barely scraped by with a 10 in PS, and then when I retook it just a week ago I got an 11 easily, after having just woken up from a nap. People say that your answers are skewed because you've already taken it but I really didn't remember anything from it, not even the passages. If enough time has passed, I feel that it's okay to retake them.

And yes, they send you an email 45 days before with your login info.

Everything i've said is my 2 cents, but first time around, I only used AAMC and Kaplan, with some TBR passages, and didn't do . I did well in the sciences, but because of TBR, and my verbal was so bad, which is why I had to retake it.

No matter what you use, I really don't believe in using Kaplan for verbal.

As for the R versions, you can google and find a torrent. (Not sure if i'm allowed to say that here).