Some Important Questions Regarding My MCAT Prep Currently

[Gandyy]

So I completed reading all of the Kaplan Books last week, and My test is on November 7th. I took my first practice test yesterday and made a 27 . Note I bombed the PS and BS section, but made a 12 on VR. My real concern is that I usually only make 9-10's on EK101 (Dont know if it was a fluke 12 or my practice is paying off) and Princeton Hyperlearning verbal, and I missed a TON of questions on PS and a little less on the BS section. I got a 7 on PS and 8 on BS.

What should I do? I have EK 1001's. Should I keep taking practice tests or go back over content/do passages?

Another huge question of mine. I just got in my TBR books today. I have started doing those. I looked at SN2ed 3 month plan, but it doenst look like I have the full 90 days to do them since November 7th is in about 74 days or so. Do you guys think I can complete that plan in the ~ 2.5 months I have?

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[Gandyy]

b

 

[Gandyy]

b

 

[Gandyy]

b

 

[Gandyy]

b

 

[JMMTB]

First off great job on your verbal score and first test. It sounds like your content review has some holes still. TBR will definitely fill in the gaps where it might be missing. Since you have already done a first run of content review you could easily do a modified SN2 where you cover multiple TBR chapters in a day. Most of the time comes from reading the chapters and if you are already familiar with the topic, the reading goes a lot faster. I personally think TBR passages would be more helpful than EK 1001 because they are harder. TBR really helps to fine tune your content and critical thinking. EK 1001 is more for repetition improving recall speed for the actual exam.

Good luck.

 

[Gandyy]

First off great job on your verbal score and first test. It sounds like your content review has some holes still. TBR will definitely fill in the gaps where it might be missing. Since you have already done a first run of content review you could easily do a modified SN2 where you cover multiple TBR chapters in a day. Most of the time comes from reading the chapters and if you are already familiar with the topic, the reading goes a lot faster. I personally think TBR passages would be more helpful than EK 1001 because they are harder. TBR really helps to fine tune your content and critical thinking. EK 1001 is more for repetition improving recall speed for the actual exam.

Good luck.

Ok thanks, thats what I was thinking. Since I've already gone through it, I'll just do 2-3 chapters along with their passages per day. That should help me get it done in a good time right?

 

[JMMTB]

Ya, most importantly you want to really dedicate your last month before the test to the AAMC practice tests. Before then it should be gaining and refining your knowledge. I'd still save maybe the last third of the passages for when you start the AAMC tests because if you find areas that are weak you can fortify them with more and more passages.

 

[Swagster]

I concur with the suggestion above. Make sure you do TBR passages and read the answers in detail. There are several useful tricks in the solutions. On your MCAT, it's going to be about working questions fast and accurately, which is what you need to practice doing more than anything else.

 

[Gandyy]

Ya, most importantly you want to really dedicate your last month before the test to the AAMC practice tests. Before then it should be gaining and refining your knowledge. I'd still save maybe the last third of the passages for when you start the AAMC tests because if you find areas that are weak you can fortify them with more and more passages.

Alright, Also I heard that the TBR books take a while to go through. A few people have told me that finishing the chapters takes them about 4 hours including doing the 1/3rd as well. I've already completed all the kaplan books however, and am hoping
that allows me to get the 2-3 chapters done in the day.

What is your experience with the TBR books?

 

[deleted439911]

You definitely have time. You will have to cut down the reading times. I'm assuming you read the EK books? In that case, just read parts of TBR that talks about strategy and stuff missed out by EK, but do note that some stuff mentioned in TBR lectures are for trivia or practice for reading actual passages.

There's like 38 chapters total. With about 2 months left. You can slowly tick away TBR overall w/ doing 1/3 everyday. How you do the 1/3 is up to you. I typically do the 25Qs for Ochem and Physics for the 1st/3. And I, IV, VII, XI, XIV for Chem and Bio. You will be done w/ 1/3 in one month. Post review of 1/3. Mark down weaknesses for each section. Weak sections I see as <75%, but I also mark down the passages I missed (<50% correct on passages), or just weak content (lack of knowledge in indicators). (The 75% cutoff is b/c 75% ~ 10 for MCAT).

Then, you do 2/3rd. For the 2/3rd you can do it out of order. Chem 4 then Chem 9, then Chem 3 etc. The main thing is how you approach 2/3 prior to doing the passage. If you have >85% correct, and no lack in content, I would do very quick review of stuff you missed last time. Then do the 2/3 of that chapter. For weaker content that means you have to spend more time reviewing. I like watching youtube vids, and just searching up individual topics instead of going over and reading the book again. Like my Phys Prof says "If you were confused by the book, don't get confused again, learn it another way."

Then you do the MCAT self assessments. I recommend this prior to 3/3rd b/c you want to save some for add'l review.

After the 2/3rd and MCAT SAs you should have 1 month remaining. (more if you can squeeze in more).

Last month Start doing AAMC test. The 3/3rd pretty much the same thing. Heavier review on core weaknesses, lighter review on strong material. But try to do 3/3rd as prep prior to each AAMC test.

Btw I got this idea from jepstein30 so it's not original in any case.
In summary:
TL;DR
-don't spend too much time rereading
-really work the passages like ravage them
-identify and review weaknesses (do EK 1001, do more TBR, watch vids)
-kill more passages
-Don't neglect AAMC material until the final week!!! You should spread it out for at least 1.5 months.

 

[Gandyy]

You definitely have time. You will have to cut down the reading times. I'm assuming you read the EK books? In that case, just read parts of TBR that talks about strategy and stuff missed out by EK, but do note that some stuff mentioned in TBR lectures are for trivia or practice for reading actual passages.

There's like 38 chapters total. With about 2 months left. You can slowly tick away TBR overall w/ doing 1/3 everyday. How you do the 1/3 is up to you. I typically do the 25Qs for Ochem and Physics for the 1st/3. And I, IV, VII, XI, XIV for Chem and Bio. You will be done w/ 1/3 in one month. Post review of 1/3. Mark down weaknesses for each section. Weak sections I see as <75%, but I also mark down the passages I missed (<50% correct on passages), or just weak content (lack of knowledge in indicators). (The 75% cutoff is b/c 75% ~ 10 for MCAT).

Then, you do 2/3rd. For the 2/3rd you can do it out of order. Chem 4 then Chem 9, then Chem 3 etc. The main thing is how you approach 2/3 prior to doing the passage. If you have >85% correct, and no lack in content, I would do very quick review of stuff you missed last time. Then do the 2/3 of that chapter. For weaker content that means you have to spend more time reviewing. I like watching youtube vids, and just searching up individual topics instead of going over and reading the book again. Like my Phys Prof says "If you were confused by the book, don't get confused again, learn it another way."

Then you do the MCAT self assessments. I recommend this prior to 3/3rd b/c you want to save some for add'l review.

After the 2/3rd and MCAT SAs you should have 1 month remaining. (more if you can squeeze in more).

Last month Start doing AAMC test. The 3/3rd pretty much the same thing. Heavier review on core weaknesses, lighter review on strong material. But try to do 3/3rd as prep prior to each AAMC test.

Btw I got this idea from jepstein30 so it's not original in any case.
In summary:
TL;DR
-don't spend too much time rereading
-really work the passages like ravage them
-identify and review weaknesses (do EK 1001, do more TBR, watch vids)
-kill more passages
-Don't neglect AAMC material until the final week!!! You should spread it out for at least 1.5 months.

Ok, Sn2's guide says to give myself 6-7 mins per passage. Should I do this for every passage I do in TBR?

 

[JMMTB]

@billy2908 is spot on with their advice to really work through the reading quickly and focus on the passages.

Yes 6-7 minutes per passage and 1 min per discrete will help you have a faster pace through the actual MCAT thus you can go back and double, even triple, check your work.

 

[Gandyy]

You definitely have time. You will have to cut down the reading times. I'm assuming you read the EK books? In that case, just read parts of TBR that talks about strategy and stuff missed out by EK, but do note that some stuff mentioned in TBR lectures are for trivia or practice for reading actual passages.

There's like 38 chapters total. With about 2 months left. You can slowly tick away TBR overall w/ doing 1/3 everyday. How you do the 1/3 is up to you. I typically do the 25Qs for Ochem and Physics for the 1st/3. And I, IV, VII, XI, XIV for Chem and Bio. You will be done w/ 1/3 in one month. Post review of 1/3. Mark down weaknesses for each section. Weak sections I see as <75%, but I also mark down the passages I missed (<50% correct on passages), or just weak content (lack of knowledge in indicators). (The 75% cutoff is b/c 75% ~ 10 for MCAT).

Then, you do 2/3rd. For the 2/3rd you can do it out of order. Chem 4 then Chem 9, then Chem 3 etc. The main thing is how you approach 2/3 prior to doing the passage. If you have >85% correct, and no lack in content, I would do very quick review of stuff you missed last time. Then do the 2/3 of that chapter. For weaker content that means you have to spend more time reviewing. I like watching youtube vids, and just searching up individual topics instead of going over and reading the book again. Like my Phys Prof says "If you were confused by the book, don't get confused again, learn it another way."

Then you do the MCAT self assessments. I recommend this prior to 3/3rd b/c you want to save some for add'l review.

After the 2/3rd and MCAT SAs you should have 1 month remaining. (more if you can squeeze in more).

Last month Start doing AAMC test. The 3/3rd pretty much the same thing. Heavier review on core weaknesses, lighter review on strong material. But try to do 3/3rd as prep prior to each AAMC test.

Btw I got this idea from jepstein30 so it's not original in any case.
In summary:
TL;DR
-don't spend too much time rereading
-really work the passages like ravage them
-identify and review weaknesses (do EK 1001, do more TBR, watch vids)
-kill more passages
-Don't neglect AAMC material until the final week!!! You should spread it out for at least 1.5 months.

Thanks for the help. One more thing, I noticed reading the chapter as a whole does take a long time. Just to clarify you are saying that I should just look over the strategy parts of TBR etc, and do the 1/3rd passages every day? Should I do
2 days worth of passages in that 1 day then if I'm not reading the TBR chapters fully? By the way I read the whole Kaplan Books, not the EK ones. Of course I would do the 3 verbal passages every day as well.

 

[Gandyy]

Ok, I just did the gen chem first 1/3rd and I got totally destroyed. Like, I have no idea what it is. I run out of time, (set myself at 28 minutes for 4 passages) , and start freaking out. What in the world do I do about this?

 

[JMMTB]

TBR will slowly help you work faster through the problems. It is also super important that the best indicators for MCAT final score are the AAMC FLs. The more mistakes you make early along, the less you will make on the real test, if you learn from your mistakes.

 

[Gandyy]

Any help? I"m feeling completely demoralized

 

[Gandyy]

TBR will slowly help you work faster through the problems. It is also super important that the best indicators for MCAT final score are the AAMC FLs. The more mistakes you make early along, the less you will make on the real test, if you learn from your mistakes.

But what do I do? There are so many questions that i couldnt even get to at all because some of those passages had 8-9 questions with 7 mins per passage.

 

[JMMTB]

You still need to do those problems to get the practice. If you are having difficultly getting to a whole passage at the end I would start with 8 minutes/passage then 1 week from now 7.5/passage then 7/passage. I found that the physics and ochem were easier to do with 7 min/passage, Gen. chem always had me on the edge of my seat to finish though. You still have 2 months until your test, so you will get faster. The nice thing about doing TBR with 7min/passage is that you are going way faster than is necessary for the actual test. This then lets you move at a near casual pace on the actual test that way you feel less stressed and make less mistakes.

 

[Gandyy]

You still need to do those problems to get the practice. If you are having difficultly getting to a whole passage at the end I would start with 8 minutes/passage then 1 week from now 7.5/passage then 7/passage. I found that the physics and ochem were easier to do with 7 min/passage, Gen. chem always had me on the edge of my seat to finish though. You still have 2 months until your test, so you will get faster. The nice thing about doing TBR with 7min/passage is that you are going way faster than is necessary for the actual test. This then lets you move at a near casual pace on the actual test that way you feel less stressed and make less mistakes.

alright i'll try that.

 

[deleted439911]

@Gandy741 For the reading parts this is what you must not skip
1. Problem examples, do all of them before working on a brand new section
2. Sol'n tips. These are typically found in practice problem examples.
3. "New" material. Meaning stuff not found in EK. For Biology almost everything you need to know is in EK. TBR Bio adds a lot of supplementary stuff which you should read through for general understanding. But TBR phys and chem may have a bit more solution tips.

As for demoralizing...I was an A+ Chem to Ochem student and got destroyed by TBR Chem passages as well. TBR passages takes time to get used to. My 2/3 tries typically improved or maintained as I realized what content weakness to follow up on.

So here's my tip:
1. If you are struggling in the passage making loads of mistake, find out what you're doing wrong.
2a Getting a 90%+ doesn't tell you anything about how bad you are in a section. It tells you that you're probably good enough.
2b Getting a 75%+ in TBR passage practice is pretty good already. For the remaining 25% see why you are getting it wrong
3. TBR passages mentions a lot of experiments you may have never done in a physics or chem lab. It's ok if you are doing poorly on those. When you review that passage again try to understand it more, watch a basic youtube vid on those types of experiments.

You can do more sections if time permits. I would typically do like 2+ chapters on things I'm really comfortable with. But, if you are feeling really really bummed out after a long day, doing more sections without prep won't help you.

 

[Gandyy]

@Gandy741 For the reading parts this is what you must not skip
1. Problem examples, do all of them before working on a brand new section
2. Sol'n tips. These are typically found in practice problem examples.
3. "New" material. Meaning stuff not found in EK. For Biology almost everything you need to know is in EK. TBR Bio adds a lot of supplementary stuff which you should read through for general understanding. But TBR phys and chem may have a bit more solution tips.

As for demoralizing...I was an A+ Chem to Ochem student and got destroyed by TBR Chem passages as well. TBR passages takes time to get used to. My 2/3 tries typically improved or maintained as I realized what content weakness to follow up on.

So here's my tip:
1. If you are struggling in the passage making loads of mistake, find out what you're doing wrong.
2a Getting a 90%+ doesn't tell you anything about how bad you are in a section. It tells you that you're probably good enough.
2b Getting a 75%+ in TBR passage practice is pretty good already. For the remaining 25% see why you are getting it wrong
3. TBR passages mentions a lot of experiments you may have never done in a physics or chem lab. It's ok if you are doing poorly on those. When you review that passage again try to understand it more, watch a basic youtube vid on those types of experiments.

You can do more sections if time permits. I would typically do like 2+ chapters on things I'm really comfortable with. But, if you are feeling really really bummed out after a long day, doing more sections without prep won't help you.

Well I got a lot more wrong on the first section than 75 percent worth. It was the stoichiometric one and I did every 3rd passage for the 1st 3/rd. I tried doing all 4 passages in 28 mins, but it was just so bad. Should I just do them without time after
the time limit if I run out of time?

 

[MelloTangelo]

Well I got a lot more wrong on the first section than 75 percent worth. It was the stoichiometric one and I did every 3rd passage for the 1st 3/rd. I tried doing all 4 passages in 28 mins, but it was just so bad. Should I just do them without time after
the time limit if I run out of time?

I don't set strict time limits for myself because I find that to be counter-productive to how well I do, but I do set a stopwatch running so I can see how long I take per passage, and then accommodate as needed. I can get most passages done by the seven minute mark, but there are also some that can take me ten-twelve minutes. They're the minority, and if I try to time myself for a stringent 6-7 minutes, I'll stress myself out -and- do badly on the passage. It's counter productive!

I say for the beginning, you can take it easy on the time. The more passages you do, the more your time should naturally approve, I think. The strict timing can come after you're done with content.

 

[Gandyy]

I don't set strict time limits for myself because I find that to be counter-productive to how well I do, but I do set a stopwatch running so I can see how long I take per passage, and then accommodate as needed. I can get most passages done by the seven minute mark, but there are also some that can take me ten-twelve minutes. They're the minority, and if I try to time myself for a stringent 6-7 minutes, I'll stress myself out -and- do badly on the passage. It's counter productive!

I say for the beginning, you can take it easy on the time. The more passages you do, the more your time should naturally approve, I think. The strict timing can come after you're done with content.

Yea this might be what I have to do.

 

[deleted439911]

The above poster is right, timing isn't as big of a deal. But just in case you want to keep track:

Set the timer on to 1.25 min/Q Then if the timer ends, I just turn on the stop watch. The stop watch will start counting this gives me what time I am "over" by. The test is 70 min per 52 Q so this give ~1.34 min/Q. If you are doing it under 1.30 average you're still good. Towards studying my 2/3 I haven't timed myself completely b/c I figured out that timing wasn't an issue at all. I still timed VR.

Timing is more important as you get to the AAMC stuff. For now try to get it 1.25 min. As you review, TBR is gonna give you a load of information of why certain answers are wrong. What you should do is try to see if there's a faster way to get the correct answer; this will help with any timing issue.

TBH, I thought the TBR Chem Ch 1 stoichiometry was very hard I got 73% the 1/3 and 65% 2/3. This is because their stoichiometry portion has some experiments you might not have done or read before, they also use materials from other chapters. As you go ahead in TBR go back to review some mistakes in the weaker sections and it may seem more clearer to you. In general, TBR passages are good specifically because they synthesize material from different Ch which is a huge diff from EK 1001; for 1001 you pretty much know what to expect.

 

[Gandyy]

You definitely have time. You will have to cut down the reading times. I'm assuming you read the EK books? In that case, just read parts of TBR that talks about strategy and stuff missed out by EK, but do note that some stuff mentioned in TBR lectures are for trivia or practice for reading actual passages.

There's like 38 chapters total. With about 2 months left. You can slowly tick away TBR overall w/ doing 1/3 everyday. How you do the 1/3 is up to you. I typically do the 25Qs for Ochem and Physics for the 1st/3. And I, IV, VII, XI, XIV for Chem and Bio. You will be done w/ 1/3 in one month. Post review of 1/3. Mark down weaknesses for each section. Weak sections I see as <75%, but I also mark down the passages I missed (<50% correct on passages), or just weak content (lack of knowledge in indicators). (The 75% cutoff is b/c 75% ~ 10 for MCAT).

Then, you do 2/3rd. For the 2/3rd you can do it out of order. Chem 4 then Chem 9, then Chem 3 etc. The main thing is how you approach 2/3 prior to doing the passage. If you have >85% correct, and no lack in content, I would do very quick review of stuff you missed last time. Then do the 2/3 of that chapter. For weaker content that means you have to spend more time reviewing. I like watching youtube vids, and just searching up individual topics instead of going over and reading the book again. Like my Phys Prof says "If you were confused by the book, don't get confused again, learn it another way."

Then you do the MCAT self assessments. I recommend this prior to 3/3rd b/c you want to save some for add'l review.

After the 2/3rd and MCAT SAs you should have 1 month remaining. (more if you can squeeze in more).

Last month Start doing AAMC test. The 3/3rd pretty much the same thing. Heavier review on core weaknesses, lighter review on strong material. But try to do 3/3rd as prep prior to each AAMC test.

Btw I got this idea from jepstein30 so it's not original in any case.
In summary:
TL;DR
-don't spend too much time rereading
-really work the passages like ravage them
-identify and review weaknesses (do EK 1001, do more TBR, watch vids)
-kill more passages
-Don't neglect AAMC material until the final week!!! You should spread it out for at least 1.5 months.

Well I've been doing some days by reading 2 chaps a day and doing their 1/3rds. But i'm only on day 10 or so since I started this last week. Test is in 64 days as well. I was hoping that I could read 2 chapters a day and do the 1/3rd.

Should I just totally drop reading the chapters, and just stick with those tips like you said and the extra stuff? if thats the case, then how many 1/3rds should I be finishing in a day?