The Official August 22, 2013 MCAT Thread

[Person0715]

Hey everyone! With just a little less than 2 months to go, I am wondering why this thread hasn't been made yet.

Is anyone else here signed up for the 8/22 MCAT?

I'm following the SN2ed schedule and I can't wait to be done with content review. I'm excited to finally take an AAMC to see if I've been studying correctly these last 2 months.

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[SB14]

AAMC 3 : 10 8 12 - 30
Kaplan 4 : 13 11 12 - 36
AAMC 4 :13 8 12 - 33
Kaplan 2 :12 11 11 - 34
AAMC 5 :13 11 12 - 36
AAMC 6: 13 11 13 - 37

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

how do you take the AAMC 6?

 

[testt]

August 22nd Test taker here also! I think I only have time to take 4 more practice tests, out of 7,8,9,10, and 11 which four should I take?

3: 11/11/11 33
4: 12/10/11 33
5: 13/11/12 36

 

[shrey93]

how do you take the AAMC 6?

good question

 

[Austorior]

Just started doing EK 1001 bio today, but I felt like a lot of the questions are extremely off from the MCAT style. Going to focus on Kaplan science tests I guess...

Hopefully I can break my constant 35s on tomorrow's FL!

 

[sunflower18]

I just did a TBR test. TBR 2. It was fairly brutal, but more importantly, the questions were NOTHING like AAMC style questions. I was hoping to do several TBR tests but I find them useless because they are so incredibly different.

 

[MCATMountain]

Hey guys, had a question about the MCAT you wrote. Would you consider the Orgo easy/difficult? Did it require prior knowledge mostly or was it based on the passage/reasoning through the questions? Thanks in advance!

 

[chocolateislife]

Just took AAMC 8 and got a PS 13 VR 12 BS 13. Verbal is so unpredictable. I really think it will come down to the luck of the draw on the real deal for verbal

How have everyone else' practice tests been going recently?

any tips on improving PS? thats an awesome PS score

 

[sunflower18]

any tips on improving ps? Thats an awesome ps score

+1

 

[sunflower18]

Hey guys, had a question about the MCAT you wrote. Would you consider the Orgo easy/difficult? Did it require prior knowledge mostly or was it based on the passage/reasoning through the questions? Thanks in advance!

We're August 22nd -- ask us again in two weeks

 

[MCATMountain]

We're August 22nd -- ask us again in two weeks

Whoops.

 

[Zod]

OMG imgur killed my studying today... had to just block it on my internet so I can't waste any time.

 

[amad01]

how do you take the AAMC 6?

It is the AAMC 6R exam.... 77/60/77 questions... 100/85/100 minutes...

 

[SB14]

It is the AAMC 6R exam.... 77/60/77 questions... 100/85/100 minutes...

sounds brutal...

 

[hawkeye3211]

I got 31's on aamcs 3-8. Today I took aamc 11 and got a 32 (12/9/11). Hope I will be consistent on test day.

 

[tuhtles]

AAMC 5:

34
PS: 13
VR: 9
BS: 12

BS dropped a bit.. anyone felt that AAMC 5 had a weird sorta bio? Granted I missed a couple due to stupid errors.. but it was just weird. VR sucked as well..everything was all right except for 2 passages meh. PS has been at 13 consistently.. still got to cut down errors.

Trying for at least 37 (i can hope, right?) but VR brings me down every time... annoyingjsdg8&#Y*Nghsjfhd

 

[yoonst]

AAMC 5:

34
PS: 13
VR: 9
BS: 12

BS dropped a bit.. anyone felt that AAMC 5 had a weird sorta bio? Granted I missed a couple due to stupid errors.. but it was just weird. VR sucked as well..everything was all right except for 2 passages meh. PS has been at 13 consistently.. still got to cut down errors.

Trying for at least 37 (i can hope, right?) but VR brings me down every time... annoyingjsdg8&#Y*Nghsjfhd

LOLLL, your emoticons killed me. Too funny.

I'm so glad we have this thread! It gives me more motivation and it helps because everyone is going through the same thing as you are!

But to those who can't sleep at night very well -- I finally found a trick! After a long week of sleepless nights which killed my ability to study well the next day, I found a solution!!! I have Audio Osmosis and for those who haven't listened to them... it is ridiculously boring. It helps, but it's SO boring. In fact, I tried to listen to all of these during my 4 hour car ride home and had to switch CD's otherwise I would have fallen asleep on the road... But I put them all on my iPod and when I couldn't sleep at night, I would put my headphones on, and literally after 10 minutes later, I fell asleep! And, it's a bonus because you can listen to some of the topics as a refresher before sleeping. Just a tip for those who have osmosis and can't sleep at night!

 

[sunflower18]

^ good sleeping tip!!! Anyone have any nausea remedies? I get really nauseous when I get nervous, and I've started being nauseous all day every day this week. No fun.

 

[sunflower18]

AAMC 5:

34
PS: 13
VR: 9
BS: 12

BS dropped a bit.. anyone felt that AAMC 5 had a weird sorta bio? Granted I missed a couple due to stupid errors.. but it was just weird. VR sucked as well..everything was all right except for 2 passages meh. PS has been at 13 consistently.. still got to cut down errors.

Trying for at least 37 (i can hope, right?) but VR brings me down every time... annoyingjsdg8&#Y*Nghsjfhd

Man, your science scores are drool-worthy. I'm so envious.

 

[Austorior]

LOLLL, your emoticons killed me. Too funny.

I'm so glad we have this thread! It gives me more motivation and it helps because everyone is going through the same thing as you are!

But to those who can't sleep at night very well -- I finally found a trick! After a long week of sleepless nights which killed my ability to study well the next day, I found a solution!!! I have Audio Osmosis and for those who haven't listened to them... it is ridiculously boring. It helps, but it's SO boring. In fact, I tried to listen to all of these during my 4 hour car ride home and had to switch CD's otherwise I would have fallen asleep on the road... But I put them all on my iPod and when I couldn't sleep at night, I would put my headphones on, and literally after 10 minutes later, I fell asleep! And, it's a bonus because you can listen to some of the topics as a refresher before sleeping. Just a tip for those who have osmosis and can't sleep at night!

I am going to try that tonight... I don't even think stress affects me that much but haven't been able to sleep until 3ish each day :/ Today was the worst studying day because of that...

I thought audio osmosis would just make my brain run even faster.

Also, anyone have any advices on music to listen to before the MCAT? I thought some calming but also relatively fast paced music would work best, some kind of classical piano.

 

[tuhtles]

lol audio osmosis! i have that too and got it on my iphone to listen to sometimes It's good for a mental review of stuff and they have very interesting noise effects hahaaha

Man, your science scores are drool-worthy. I'm so envious.

Your VR scores are drool worthy!!! Got any VR tips?? Are you naturally a good reader? I never read a lot as a child so mehh must be why I'm sucking so much

I'm still trying to break double digits haha! It's funny because before I took the TPR course, I took AAMC 10 w/o prep (followed TPR schedule at first) and got 9 on VR. Ever since, I dropped to 6-8 and now I'm back to a 9... exactly where I began with. I think I wasted a lot of time trying TPR's method lol..

 

[sunflower18]

lol audio osmosis! i have that too and got it on my iphone to listen to sometimes It's good for a mental review of stuff and they have very interesting noise effects hahaaha




Your VR scores are drool worthy!!! Got any VR tips?? Are you naturally a good reader? I never read a lot as a child so mehh must be why I'm sucking so much

I'm still trying to break double digits haha! It's funny because before I took the TPR course, I took AAMC 10 w/o prep (followed TPR schedule at first) and got 9 on VR. Ever since, I dropped to 6-8 and now I'm back to a 9... exactly where I began with. I think I wasted a lot of time trying TPR's method lol..

Trade VR for PS/BS tips!

Yeah, I read a lot as a kid. And all my life, really. I went to an arts school for 7 years when I was younger, and "majored" in writing there. English and literature and writing have always been my strong suits. I'm also really familiar with art history, literature analysis, psychology, and such, which a lot of MCAT passages focus on. I think that helps not on the questions themselves, but it allows me to contextualize the passage and understand what on earth the author is talking about, haha.

I took a TPR course too! My baseline VR score was 11. I started getting 12s last week and got a 13 on my last test. Hopefully I can maintain that! I don't really follow the TPR VR strategy either. Are you having issues with time or accuracy? Like are you able to get to all 7 passages with ample time, or do you have to guess on some questions.

What I do is, while I'm reading the passages, I think about it like.. "How would I explain this essay to my family/friends? What would I say is the main idea, what examples from the text would I use, what analogies to the material could I come up with?" That gives me an interest in understanding the passage, because I want to be able to explain it as well as I can. It also forces me to rephrase the main ideas and figure out what is really crucial to understanding the essay -- and what is just extraneous without adding much to the main concepts.

Hopefully that helps!

 

[shrey93]

Took AAMC 8 today, and i was really satisfied with how I did on it. I got a 15/11/12 on it, undoubtedly had a little bit of luck go my way on the PS section along with this being one of the easier PS sections imo, but all in all I felt good during the test and was feeling like I did an overall solid job except for in VR, for some reason i always feel like i bombed VR and pleasantly i got one of my highest VR scores.

any tips on improving PS? thats an awesome PS score

As far as my strategy for PS, i think the key to a great PS score especially to break into the 13-15 range is to cut down on careless errors. Depending on your physical sciences background, I'd say for most the PS section is definitely fair except for a few questions that seemingly come from left-wing, you definitely want to pace yourself, go slow, read the passage for any details that are important. I find that a lot of times even in the PS section you'd be surprised how much information you can gain from reading the passage with maximum focus. In my experience, I think timing is the most important thing for the PS section, make sure you take your time and think about each question more often than not I've found that my mistakes in the section have been from rushing through and am actually much more efficient when I pace myself and go slowly.

Also, I'm not sure what sources you guys have been using for PS I did 2/3 of the passages from TBR chem/physics and found them to be EXTREMELY helpful for the PS section, if you feel like you have any weak areas over the last two weeks and have the time, I'd definitely suggest trying out a few problems from those two books, because they are quality. Good luck!

 

[sunflower18]

Took AAMC 8 today, and i was really satisfied with how I did on it. I got a 15/11/12 on it, undoubtedly had a little bit of luck go my way on the PS section along with this being one of the easier PS sections imo, but all in all I felt good during the test and was feeling like I did an overall solid job except for in VR, for some reason i always feel like i bombed VR and pleasantly i got one of my highest VR scores.



As far as my strategy for PS, i think the key to a great PS score especially to break into the 13-15 range is to cut down on careless errors. Depending on your physical sciences background, I'd say for most the PS section is definitely fair except for a few questions that seemingly come from left-wing, you definitely want to pace yourself, go slow, read the passage for any details that are important. I find that a lot of times even in the PS section you'd be surprised how much information you can gain from reading the passage with maximum focus. In my experience, I think timing is the most important thing for the PS section, make sure you take your time and think about each question more often than not I've found that my mistakes in the section have been from rushing through and am actually much more efficient when I pace myself and go slowly.

Also, I'm not sure what sources you guys have been using for PS I did 2/3 of the passages from TBR chem/physics and found them to be EXTREMELY helpful for the PS section, if you feel like you have any weak areas over the last two weeks and have the time, I'd definitely suggest trying out a few problems from those two books, because they are quality. Good luck!

Great score!!!!

Thanks for the super detailed advice!! I have been using TPR SWB mostly, and have read TBR for content. If you think that doing problems from TBR is really beneficial, I will start working on those passages.

My issue is that I'm terrible at math, and my physics background is awful. Physics 1 was waaaaay too easy at my school, and I haven't taken physics 2. It's been a major struggle. If I can get an 11 in PS (or even a 12 ) on the real deal, I will be ecstatic.

 

[shrey93]

Great score!!!!

Thanks for the super detailed advice!! I have been using TPR SWB mostly, and have read TBR for content. If you think that doing problems from TBR is really beneficial, I will start working on those passages.

My issue is that I'm terrible at math, and my physics background is awful. Physics 1 was waaaaay too easy at my school, and I haven't taken physics 2. It's been a major struggle. If I can get an 11 in PS (or even a 12 ) on the real deal, I will be ecstatic.

TPR SWB is actually a great source too, one of my friends did his passages from there, I use it mainly for their awesome bio passages. Math is definitely NOT my strong suit either which is one place that TBR actually has helped me a lot, there calculation problems are tiresome but I think doing them has made me feel relatively more comfortable with numbers.

If you have read the TBR chapters, try making notes of all the math tricks that they teach you for different parts of the chem/physics chapters, I found these super helpful and extremely high-yield/time-saving. They are actually super easy to pick up as well, just a few practice problems and they click.

I'd say at this stage with two weeks left, just focus on doing a few TBR passages from chapters that you are weak in, or those that are particularly high-yield topics, i.e. Equilibrium, Acids/Bases/Buffers, Thermodynamics, Stoich.

PS is definitely one of the easiest sections to improve upon, even with two weeks left I'm sure you can get the score you want! Let's kill it.

 

[sunflower18]

TPR SWB is actually a great source too, one of my friends did his passages from there, I use it mainly for their awesome bio passages. Math is definitely NOT my strong suit either which is one place that TBR actually has helped me a lot, there calculation problems are tiresome but I think doing them has made me feel relatively more comfortable with numbers.

If you have read the TBR chapters, try making notes of all the math tricks that they teach you for different parts of the chem/physics chapters, I found these super helpful and extremely high-yield/time-saving. They are actually super easy to pick up as well, just a few practice problems and they click.

I'd say at this stage with two weeks left, just focus on doing a few TBR passages from chapters that you are weak in, or those that are particularly high-yield topics, i.e. Equilibrium, Acids/Bases/Buffers, Thermodynamics, Stoich.

PS is definitely one of the easiest sections to improve upon, even with two weeks left I'm sure you can get the score you want! Let's kill it.

For sure, TBR is super good at helping with math. My math skills have improved SOOOOO much using TBR. I am so much better and faster with numbers than I used to be before studying. Their stochiometry practice problems really helped me with that.

That's a good idea! My main weaknesses are thermodynamics, electrochem, optics, electricity, and magnetism. I will start working through the problems for those chapters!

And yes, TPR is a really good resource for bio! I've done all of the bio and ochem discretes and passages as of today.. Phew! I have ~30 more passages in each genchem and physics that I need to hammer down. They are mostly in my strong suits, as I have done the passages that I am weak on, but I don't want to leave any stone unturned!

Yes yes! Let's rock it Thanks so much for your advice and encouragement! I posted a quick summary of how I tackle verbal if you're at all looking for advice (not that you need it -- an 11 is a great score). I just want to help you out since you've taken the time to help me

 

[deleted393595]

Hey guys, had a question about the MCAT you wrote. Would you consider the Orgo easy/difficult? Did it require prior knowledge mostly or was it based on the passage/reasoning through the questions? Thanks in advance!

Orgo on AAMC 8 was tricky, especially with regards to the kinetics vs thermodynamic control passage. Took me 10 minutes to finally realize what was going on in it.

AAMC 8 - 43

PS: 15
VR: 13
BS: 15

Pretty much missed 3 in Verbal, and 1 in Bio that I think AAMC is wrong about.

 

[Person0715]

Orgo on AAMC 8 was tricky, especially with regards to the kinetics vs thermodynamic control passage. Took me 10 minutes to finally realize what was going on in it.

AAMC 8 - 43

PS: 15
VR: 13
BS: 15

Pretty much missed 3 in Verbal, and 1 in Bio that I think AAMC is wrong about.

Awesome score! So jelly

 

[SB14]

Orgo on AAMC 8 was tricky, especially with regards to the kinetics vs thermodynamic control passage. Took me 10 minutes to finally realize what was going on in it.

AAMC 8 - 43

PS: 15
VR: 13
BS: 15

Pretty much missed 3 in Verbal, and 1 in Bio that I think AAMC is wrong about.

wow...what materials do you use to study and how do you study?

but really that's an awesome score

 

[deleted393595]

wow...what materials do you use to study and how do you study?

but really that's an awesome score

TBR only. Seriously, TBR is amazing.

I've also SI'ed Organic Chem and Physics last year, and I was a Semifinalist for the Bio Olympiad in High School, which was really good prep for PS and BS.

Other than that, I just read a lot so that probably came in handy for VR.

 

[shrey93]

Just had question for those of you who have already taken the self-assessment for biology, would you guys say that it's indicative of the more experimental style of the later AAMCs or is it more testing recall of content so that it is easy for us to highlight weak content areas?

I ask because I am curious as to whether I should bother doing them or not, just for relevant information's sake I have gotten a 12 on bio in all but one of the AAMCs that i've taken up to 8, the outlier being a 13. I would say I have a decent grasp of the content, my mistakes seem to be centered around orgo mistakes, or a discrete which asks for a specific detail that i forgot.

I would be more interested in spending the time/money if they are experimental type passages rather than for straight recall passages.

 

[Person0715]

Just had question for those of you who have already taken the self-assessment for biology, would you guys say that it's indicative of the more experimental style of the later AAMCs or is it more testing recall of content so that it is easy for us to highlight weak content areas?

I ask because I am curious as to whether I should bother doing them or not, just for relevant information's sake I have gotten a 12 on bio in all but one of the AAMCs that i've taken up to 8, the outlier being a 13. I would say I have a decent grasp of the content, my mistakes seem to be centered around orgo mistakes, or a discrete which asks for a specific detail that i forgot.

I would be more interested in spending the time/money if they are experimental type passages rather than for straight recall passages.

The bio SAP is definitely very content based. IIRC, there were few, if any, experiment-based passages.

 

[gettheleadout]

The bio SAP is definitely very content based. IIRC, there were few, if any, experiment-based passages.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this were intentional as well, it's designed to function as a content-mastery gauge. It'd be nice if they had a separate one for practicing experimental analysis skills.

 

[Zod]

Took the Physics SAP, 79% correct vs. the avg 54%... Still seems like I have a few weak areas to fix!

 

[sunflower18]

Took the Physics SAP, 79% correct vs. the avg 54%... Still seems like I have a few weak areas to fix!

I did worse than that!

also, what is a bio olympiad? haha that sounds so intense. i had basically zero science exposure pre-college so it's always interesting to me to hear what science opportunities i missed out on hahaha

 

[Austorior]

Took Kaplan FL 9, literally couldn't finish either of the science sections... The passages were incredible...

Dropped to 31 from my averages of 35s.

PS - 11
VR - 9
BS - 11

Brain's dead

 

[sunflower18]

Took Kaplan FL 9, literally couldn't finish either of the science sections... The passages were incredible...

Dropped to 31 from my averages of 35s.

PS - 11
VR - 9
BS - 11

Brain's dead

It's probably just a fluke! No worries!

Ugh, I'm feeling really burnt out and discouraged today. Not sure if I should do another FL, do passages, or just kind of relax and get going full force again tomorrow.

 

[Person0715]

Took Kaplan FL 9, literally couldn't finish either of the science sections... The passages were incredible...

Dropped to 31 from my averages of 35s.

PS - 11
VR - 9
BS - 11

Brain's dead

I took Kaplan FL 10 and I got 10 and 9 on PS and BS respectively. I've averaged 12-13 on PS and BS on the AAMCs. Some passages were stupidly detailed convoluted. I was like lolwut throughout most of the test.

 

[Zod]

Yeah I got discouraged when I was doing Kaplan FLs as they didn't stress the AAMC way of doing things. So decided to drop doing those FLs and focus on timed practice passages etc and only depending on AAMC exams for exam practice... Although I was still scoring 30+ on them...

 

[Austorior]

I took Kaplan FL 10 and I got 10 and 9 on PS and BS respectively. I've averaged 12-13 on PS and BS on the AAMCs. Some passages were stupidly detailed convoluted. I was like lolwut throughout most of the test.

Yeah I got discouraged when I was doing Kaplan FLs as they didn't stress the AAMC way of doing things. So decided to drop doing those FLs and focus on timed practice passages etc and only depending on AAMC exams for exam practice... Although I was still scoring 30+ on them...

Yep... The passages were just like wtf, most of the questions were critical reading, minute details from the passages. And they just got longer and longer...


Would you guys recommend AAMC old tests (3/4/5) or Kaplan section tests for my final few full lengths? I'm planning on doing AAMC 3 and 11 next week, and just take it easy and do a few section tests from Kaplan monday/tuesday of MCAT week.

Planning on finishing the science SAPs along with verbal passages each day in the next week.

 

[Person0715]

Yep... The passages were just like wtf, most of the questions were critical reading, minute details from the passages. And they just got longer and longer...


Would you guys recommend AAMC old tests (3/4/5) or Kaplan section tests for my final few full lengths? I'm planning on doing AAMC 3 and 11 next week, and just take it easy and do a few section tests from Kaplan monday/tuesday of MCAT week.

Planning on finishing the science SAPs along with verbal passages each day in the next week.

Would it be feasible to do AAMCs 3-5 and a few Kaplan section tests? It's always a good idea to do AAMCs since, theoretically, they are the most representative of the real exam since they were written by the test makers. However, Kaplan's section tests are also good practice, especially the Bio ones (or so I've heard). Maybe you could do a couple of section tests in lieu of AAMC 3 since that one is the most outdated.

 

[Austorior]

Would it be feasible to do AAMCs 3-5 and a few Kaplan section tests? It's always a good idea to do AAMCs since, theoretically, they are the most representative of the real exam since they were written by the test makers. However, Kaplan's section tests are also good practice, especially the Bio ones (or so I've heard). Maybe you could do a couple of section tests in lieu of AAMC 3 since that one is the most outdated.

How are the SAPs? Is it a good idea to do all four science SAPs along with a couple passages per day of verbal SAP, then AAMC FL 4 and 11 before the MCAT?

Basically, SAPs vs section tests+1 more FL

 

[qszwdxefc]

Checking into this thread, third time taker here.

Aug 23 2012: 11/9/12
June 20 2013: 12/9/11

Just trying to get my verbal up. I've been improving over last year in practice but I got a 9 again which is why I'm rewriting in such short time as I feel the testing kind of got to me that day.

Only thing I'm worried about is there's less than 2 weeks left and I just started reviewing science (gen chem chapter #2 on SN2ed schedule)... 6 chapters a day leggoo

I'm also in Canada so I don't care that much about total score, I'll be more than happy with 11/11/11

 

[Person0715]

How are the SAPs? Is it a good idea to do all four science SAPs along with a couple passages per day of verbal SAP, then AAMC FL 4 and 11 before the MCAT?

Basically, SAPs vs section tests+1 more FL

How are you feeling with content? If you want to brush up on content, I think SAPs are the way to go. plus, SAPs are good because it lets you practice on passages written by AAMC, but they're also on the easy side. If you want more practice with challenging passages, I would do section tests. OTOH, you can forgo the SAPs and just do more FLs. It depends on what you want to get out of the review.

 

[SB14]

took the Kaplan FL#4 yesterday and got a 38(14,9,15). The scale is very off though because I got 13 wrong in PS and 7 wrong in BS. 15 with 7 wrong is...BS haha. So how should I take this? Should I ignore verbal and go over the science passages or just forget about it and move on to AAMC #9?

 

[9087]

Got a 9 9 10 PS, V, BS respectively on TPR 1. I don't know how accurate the TPR exams are though. What do other people think about the TPR exams?

 

[Austorior]

How are you feeling with content? If you want to brush up on content, I think SAPs are the way to go. plus, SAPs are good because it lets you practice on passages written by AAMC, but they're also on the easy side. If you want more practice with challenging passages, I would do section tests. OTOH, you can forgo the SAPs and just do more FLs. It depends on what you want to get out of the review.

I feel like I am constantly forgetting simple but high yield formulas here and there. I think I'll do the SAPs to just do a thorough review of the content. Plus two more full lengths before test date, should be good!

D-10 days guys, let's get this over with!

 

[shrey93]

Hm that is disappointing that the BIO SA is mostly just content recall, I was just finishing up the TPRH SW bio passages this weekend and was hoping that the BIO SA would hold me over till test date.

Now that I feel like those won't be that helpful at this stage in the game, any suggestions on where I should go for indicative bio practice? Not particularly looking for help in any one area, but something that has challenging questions in bio that are more experimental in nature?

I was thinking of going back and doing the final 1/3 of the TBR bio passages or perhaps doing the kaplan topicals for it? Just looking for an opinion on what you guys feel is the best source after TPRH SW passages.

 

[Person0715]

Hm that is disappointing that the BIO SA is mostly just content recall, I was just finishing up the TPRH SW bio passages this weekend and was hoping that the BIO SA would hold me over till test date.

Now that I feel like those won't be that helpful at this stage in the game, any suggestions on where I should go for indicative bio practice? Not particularly looking for help in any one area, but something that has challenging questions in bio that are more experimental in nature?

I was thinking of going back and doing the final 1/3 of the TBR bio passages or perhaps doing the kaplan topicals for it? Just looking for an opinion on what you guys feel is the best source after TPRH SW passages.

If you have access to Kaplan, you should definitely do the Bio section tests if you haven't already. I just took AAMC 9 and the BS on that felt similar to some of the Bio section tests (ie I was as confused as ever )

 

[Zod]

Just took AAMC 7. Disappointed in my score... 30 with 10/8/12.
Very weak in the humanities and Social Science VR passages...
PS I thought I owned it until I saw my score >_> BS was surprising though because I thought I bombed it haha.

 

[tuhtles]

Trade VR for PS/BS tips!

Yeah, I read a lot as a kid. And all my life, really. I went to an arts school for 7 years when I was younger, and "majored" in writing there. English and literature and writing have always been my strong suits. I'm also really familiar with art history, literature analysis, psychology, and such, which a lot of MCAT passages focus on. I think that helps not on the questions themselves, but it allows me to contextualize the passage and understand what on earth the author is talking about, haha.

I took a TPR course too! My baseline VR score was 11. I started getting 12s last week and got a 13 on my last test. Hopefully I can maintain that! I don't really follow the TPR VR strategy either. Are you having issues with time or accuracy? Like are you able to get to all 7 passages with ample time, or do you have to guess on some questions.

What I do is, while I'm reading the passages, I think about it like.. "How would I explain this essay to my family/friends? What would I say is the main idea, what examples from the text would I use, what analogies to the material could I come up with?" That gives me an interest in understanding the passage, because I want to be able to explain it as well as I can. It also forces me to rephrase the main ideas and figure out what is really crucial to understanding the essay -- and what is just extraneous without adding much to the main concepts.

Hopefully that helps!

Wow, that sounds great! I wish I had some more exposure to arts/literature/history kinda stuff. I think it really gives you a nice set of background knowledge and overall perspective on things. Thank you for the tips! I will definitely keep that in mind and always try my best. I think time might be an issue for me? I can finish on time but just barely and I really have to push myself to finish and that unfortunately compromises accuracy and comprehension. If I had unlimited time, no doubt I can do must better but time is all part of VR haha
EDIT: also, do you have any opinions on reading the question stems before starting the passage? ive found that im better able to concentrate when i just dive into the passage and ive realized that all this time reading the question stem beforehand rarely benefited me and im sure i could have saved myself a great time of time, which is something i desperately need


As for PS/BS tips, well I guess I was always a "science-y" type of person lol. It was always my favorite subject and also because last school yr I took microbio, anatomy and physio with lab, physics, orgo, and orgo lab so all of this stuff is already really freshon my mind. I think in PS it's all about reading carefully and making sure you know what the question is asking for. I think interpreting and rewording what the question is asking is really important to being fast at coming to an answer. For example, if a question asks "which one of these compounds has the highest boiling point"? then immediately think "okay, so which one of these can hydrogen bond? if none of them can, then you'd probably ask yourself "now which one of these has a dipole moment". I think a lot of the PS question stems have fancy wording and you just gotta "decode" them and come down to what the test takers are asking.

I noticed for both PS and BS when the passage is about something that you aren't really familiar with, it's important to read the passage thoroughly and have a clear understanding of what's going on and it's kinda like VR where you have to use evidence from the passage to make educated conclusions. so when in doubt, refer to the passage. it will most likely help you assuming that the question isn't purely a background knowledge type of question