Struggling on the MCAT

[awad2893]

Hey guys!!!

Well the truth is out.. This exam is going to be the death of me!!! My exam is scheduled for July 9th. I started studying lightly around December through January. The end of January I got a job as an ER scribe which took me about a few weeks to get adjusted to so long story short, I didn't officially stay studying heavily until March. I used the exam krakers books and the Kaplan books for content, and I was also a biology major (like a lot of us I'm guessing) so I have a fairly good foundation in the sciences.
I started taking practice tests (TPR and next step) since April. And I cannot for the lie for me seem to do well!! :'( I don't know what's wrong. I could really really use some advise or at least some words of encouragement to boost my already rock bottom confidence.

My scores thus far.
TPR demo test. PS: 123 CARS: 122 BS:123 PSYCH: 125 total 493
TPR test 1 PS: 125: CARS: 120 BS: 122 PSYCH 125 total 120
Next step diagnostic: 125, 123, 124, 128(luck) total 500
Next step test 1: 127 125 126 126
Total 503( seem to be going up)
Next step 2: 125 122 123 126
For a grand total of 496!!! :'(

My scores are really low and I can't seem to break past 500 (except for next step test 2 but that was just luck). I don't know what one doing wrong. I try to get pumped up by listening to music and load up on coffee before the exam and I feel confident, but as soon as I see that timer clicking down, I just want to crawl in fetal position and cry.

Any word of advise on how I can improve in the next 6 weeks?? Should I postpone?? Any help is Greatly appreciated!!!!

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[sunshinefl]

I'm no expert and this advice comes during a 40 hour insomnia run since I got out of my MCAT....

Don't take it yet if you're scoring sub-500 on your practice exams, AND not feeling atleast somewhat good.

As far as how to improve? I don't know what you're deficits are right now....is it strategy? Knowledge? Only you can answer this. And even if I knew what was holding you back, everyone learns differently.

Personally, every time I drove or rode the bus for the last 7 months I listened to an MCAT audio review. I actually felt like that helped a lot, but I do really well with passive learning like that. That wasn't my only preparation but it supplemented my self studying and my prep course.

But what do I know? I won't even have my scores until 6/21. I postponed my exam like 2 weeks ahead from 5/6 to 5/20 to give me that extra 2 weeks. You still have a good 6 weeks till yours, and probably 4 until the last deadline to back out/change (check the official dates).

 

[awad2893]

Thanks for the response! How did you feel about your exam?

I Took a practice test without time and I did well although it was over the course of 2 day so I really took my time on it. Maybe my deficit is timing or text anxiety. Could you maybe share some test taking strategies to beat the anxiety

 

[sunshinefl]

Well, I felt okay enough to score it. But honestly I would believe any result between 30-90th percentile. That's how unsure I am. Bio/Biochem was a monster on my version!!!!!

Are you anxious the whole time? Or just in the beginning?

 

[awad2893]

Well, I felt okay enough to score it. But honestly I would believe any result between 30-90th percentile. That's how unsure I am. Bio/Biochem was a monster on my version!!!!!

Are you anxious the whole time? Or just in the beginning?

Oh man that's rough. What was difficult about it? We're the passages mostly experimental?

And I mostly feel anxious at the beginning. Like as soon as I start the physical science section I would begin to read the passage and then get caught up on a detail I think is important and end up re reading it until it makes sense. And while that's happening I start looking at the time and it gets me even more nervous!! I think I might be a nervous wreck.

 

[sunshinefl]

I don't want to overstep what I can reveal....bio/biochem was just a lot harder than I was expecting. Hardest section on my exam.

Taking everything I say with a grain of salt because I don't even have my scores yet, for all I know I got a 472 and my strategies are terrible. However, I have 3 pieces of advice for you:

1-for phys/chem and bio/biochem I went straight to the questions. I only read what I had to of the passage to answer individual questions. Otherwise you can get bogged down, overwhelmed, and confused by things that aren't even relevant.

2-If a particular passage (or two) is especially hard/repulsive to you, Mark them and come back to them. Every question is weighted the same. You get the same credit for an "easy" answer as a "hard" answer, and if it's truly hard you have less chance of getting that credit. Move on and come back if you have time. I marked 2 passages in each section I think (yup, all 4) and had enough time to come back to them and give them full attention.

3-In regard to the anxiety, first off keep in mind that mild anxiety is actually known to enhance performance. So try to channel it into focus, determination, etc. Of course anything beyond mild starts to hurt performance. Which brings me to my next advice, if you truly have it right at the start...instead of trying to fight with it for 20 minutes and performing poorly during that time, just embrace it for a couple minutes. Carve out 2 minutes when the anxiety first kicks in to stop, focus on your breathing, close your eyes, and let your body calm down. You could also be doing this from the time you sit down and have the examinee agreement/tutorial screens. Honestly instead of skipping through the tutorial, I calmly and deliberately followed all the directions. "Right click to eliminate the answer. Right click again to un-cross it out." I literally did all those things. It really seemed to help me both chill out and made me more familiar with the functions. I went into that room feeling some anxiety, but by the time I was done with the tutorial it was maybe 20% of where I started.

Hopefully any of this helps, again I'm just a lowly premed without a score yet.

 

[awad2893]

I don't want to overstep what I can reveal....bio/biochem was just a lot harder than I was expecting. Hardest section on my exam.

Taking everything I say with a grain of salt because I don't even have my scores yet, for all I know I got a 472 and my strategies are terrible. However, I have 3 pieces of advice for you:

1-for phys/chem and bio/biochem I went straight to the questions. I only read what I had to of the passage to answer individual questions. Otherwise you can get bogged down, overwhelmed, and confused by things that aren't even relevant.

2-If a particular passage (or two) is especially hard/repulsive to you, Mark them and come back to them. Every question is weighted the same. You get the same credit for an "easy" answer as a "hard" answer, and if it's truly hard you have less chance of getting that credit. Move on and come back if you have time. I marked 2 passages in each section I think (yup, all 4) and had enough time to come back to them and give them full attention.

3-In regard to the anxiety, first off keep in mind that mild anxiety is actually known to enhance performance. So try to channel it into focus, determination, etc. Of course anything beyond mild starts to hurt performance. Which brings me to my next advice, if you truly have it right at the start...instead of trying to fight with it for 20 minutes and performing poorly during that time, just embrace it for a couple minutes. Carve out 2 minutes when the anxiety first kicks in to stop, focus on your breathing, close your eyes, and let your body calm down. You could also be doing this from the time you sit down and have the examinee agreement/tutorial screens. Honestly instead of skipping through the tutorial, I calmly and deliberately followed all the directions. "Right click to eliminate the answer. Right click again to un-cross it out." I literally did all those things. It really seemed to help me both chill out and made me more familiar with the functions. I went into that room feeling some anxiety, but by the time I was done with the tutorial it was maybe 20% of where I started.

Hopefully any of this helps, again I'm just a lowly premed without a score yet.

Yes this does help a lot!! Thank you

If I may ask, what was difficult about the biological section on your exam? Were the passages all experimental? Or were the questions just difficult.. Or a little bit of both?

 

[GypsyHummus]

There is always podiatry school

 

[χmaverickχ]

Might want to do something about that total TPR score of 120

Sacrifice a small midget if that's what it takes to get that number up

 

[jl lin]

Well, I felt okay enough to score it. But honestly I would believe any result between 30-90th percentile. That's how unsure I am. Bio/Biochem was a monster on my version!!!!!

Are you anxious the whole time? Or just in the beginning?

I keep reading this over and over. Taking it to heart.

 

[awad2893]

Might want to do something about that total TPR score of 120

Sacrifice a small midget if that's what it takes to get that number up

LOL yes that is rather low