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Dr. Death

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Question 1. Which Practice tests do you feel like gave you an accurate gauge of the feel?

Question 2. What do you wish you had studied more?

Question 3. If you have done Khan videos/passages do you think they were helpful or representative of the test?

As well as any other advice for us taking the test in the near future. Thank you pioneers for going ahead and blazing the trail.
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I searched for ALS. Got some awesome passages, graphs, variables, equation (lol @ that equation), summary findings... awesome for prep reading.
 
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nolookpass said:
What do you search up? There's so any options I'm confused as to how to start.
Click to expand...

Another great option is PLOS ONE biology. Pubmed's kind of hard because the topics are all over the place, but PLOS ONE is more biochem focused. Also, some of the articles on Pubmed are not available, but all the ones on PLOS ONE are free!
 
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So, to help a little bit:

When you go to PubMed, use the search... type a disease state that interests you (mine is ALS or leukemia or stem cell). If you find something that interests you, scan the article and see if there are graphs in the attachments, and especially an equation.

When looking at the equation, much it should be familiar... but there might be some variables are new. Ask yourself, do you care what the new variables are? or just understand what the impact of the new variables is.

Ask yourself the same types of questions with the graphs - what is going on, what are you looking at, why is it important. If you can answer those questions on the PubMed and other sites' articles, you will be well on your way to slaying the MCAT beast.
 
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I took the test on the April test dates. When preparing to do battle with the beast I used the "What's on the MCAT2015 Exam" subject outline and the Kaplan books. I have to say that the these books do a very good job of sticking to the subjects on the outline. You'll know what subjects in each chapter (no matter what books you get) to focus in on and which ones to skip. I would HIGHLY suggest sticking to this outline in your studies. By doing so, you'll have a deep well of relevant information to draw from when the test asks you a question either based directly on the passage or background information you should already know when reading a article of this level. For example if you're reading an article on oh say, EGFR gene exon mutations that causes resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors you'd had better know your cell/molecular biology backwards and forwards or else the point of the article will go straight over your head. I'll admit I did not do not ONE practice test that was attempting to simulate the passage based test questions (except CARS because AAMC explicitly says what kind of questions they will ask about the passage) and I'm glad I didn't waste my time doing that and spent my time reviewing and UNDERSTANDING the information that I will be tested on and expected to know. I know now how to study moving forward if I must take this test again. Hopefully not though.
 
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Akewataru said:
I took the test on the April test dates. When preparing to do battle with the beast I used the "What's on the MCAT2015 Exam" subject outline and the Kaplan books. I have to say that the these books do a very good job of sticking to the subjects on the outline. You'll know what subjects in each chapter (no matter what books you get) to focus in on and which ones to skip. I would HIGHLY suggest sticking to this outline in your studies. By doing so, you'll have a deep well of relevant information to draw from when the test asks you a question either based directly on the passage or background information you should already know when reading a article of this level. For example if you're reading an article on oh say, EGFR gene exon mutations that causes resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors you'd had better know your cell/molecular biology backwards and forwards or else the point of the article will go straight over your head. I'll admit I did not do not ONE practice test that was attempting to simulate the passage based test questions (except CARS because AAMC explicitly says what kind of questions they will ask about the passage) and I'm glad I didn't waste my time doing that and spent my time reviewing and UNDERSTANDING the information that I will be tested on and expected to know. I know now how to study moving forward if I must take this test again. Hopefully not though.
Click to expand...

How exactly do you recommend studying? You felt doing questions was a waste of time?
 
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nolookpass said:
How exactly do you recommend studying? You felt doing questions was a waste of time?
Click to expand...
He basically told you dude. Use the AAMC outline as reference.
You should still do the verbal from old FLs as practice. For the other three sections, just follow his recommendation on studying, then try out the AAMC official practice test.

Don't expect to be able to excel at this new MCAT by doing many FLs, because non of the FLs available at the moment are remotely close (well that's the general consensus). Check out this compiled commentary on all the testing material: http://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/wiki/mcat2015exam .

FutureDoc3094 said:
What prep books/ practice do you guys think will be the most resourceful for the chem and phys section?
Click to expand...
TBR = if you're totally green or totally failed chem/phys; very comprehensive Edit: I guess if you're neurotic, but I don't think it's for most people.
EK = if you just need a quick review

If you're doing practice tests/old AAMC FLs for the phys/chem, don't pay too much attention to the projected scores (they're not very predictive of what you'll get on the new mcat). Just focus on plugging holes.
 
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Holmwood said:
He basically told you dude. Use the AAMC outline as reference.
You should still do the verbal from old FLs as practice. For the other three sections, just follow his recommendation on studying, then try out the AAMC official practice test.

Don't expect to be able to excel at this new MCAT by doing many FLs, because non of the FLs available at the moment are remotely close (well that's the general consensus). Check out this compiled commentary on all the testing material: http://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/wiki/mcat2015exam .


TBR = if you're totally green or totally failed chem/phys; very comprehensive
EK = if you just need a quick review

If you're doing practice tests/old AAMC FLs for the phys/chem, don't pay too much attention to the projected scores (they're not very predictive of what you'll get on the new mcat). Just focus on plugging holes.
Click to expand...

I thought the consensus for TBR was that you should use it if you are already apt at that subject and you want to get an even deeper/more comprehensive understanding of the material?

Also, I understand that on the April test there wasn't a lot of physics/orgo/chem, but the overall breadth of content that could be tested from physics/chem/orgo hasn't changed too much from the old MCAT... So, I'm wondering why people are recommending that they don't spend as much time on it - couldn't it make a significant diff in your scores if you were to miss a lot of the physics/orgo/chem questions because you didn't study enough of it? lol
 
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daftypatty said:
I thought the consensus for TBR was that you should use it if you are already apt at that subject and you want to get an even deeper/more comprehensive understanding of the material?

Also, I understand that on the April test there wasn't a lot of physics/orgo/chem, but the overall breadth of content that could be tested from physics/chem/orgo hasn't changed too much from the old MCAT... So, I'm wondering why people are recommending that they don't spend as much time on it - couldn't it make a significant diff in your scores if you were to miss a lot of the physics/orgo/chem questions because you didn't study enough of it? lol
Click to expand...
You're probably right for phys/chem/org, but I don't know about the bio/biochem.

AAMC states that the new mcat was designed to test your ability to utilize very basic scientific concepts to solve problems. I personally never reviewed the ochem/chem portions and relied mainly on the knowledge I've accumulated from lectures and didn't encounter any problems. However, you may have heard from the April commentary that some of the passages seemed very convoluted. This may be due to an insufficient depth in understanding which would otherwise not be the case had people chosen a more in-depth prep material.

You would be safe to use EK for phys/chem/org, for sure. But I would be more wary about the bio/biochem.
 
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Has anyone who has taken the exam yet used the EK books for their test prep? If so, how helpful were they?
 
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So for those of you who have already taken the test. Can you help me with this decision?

Should I take Biochem Lab? How helpful was the lab fortion of your biochem lecture in the exam? If there was some material covered from lab, is it not that much that I can study on my own?

I just really don't want to take another useless 4 hour lab...
 
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neppywise said:
So for those of you who have already taken the test. Can you help me with this decision?

Should I take Biochem Lab? How helpful was the lab fortion of your biochem lecture in the exam? If there was some material covered from lab, is it not that much that I can study on my own?

I just really don't want to take another useless 4 hour lab...
Click to expand...

I didn't take lab with my biochem class. Couldn't tell whether or not that was a bad thing.
 
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mcatjelly said:
I didn't take lab with my biochem class. Couldn't tell whether or not that was a bad thing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply? Were you able to recognize most of the material covered as per the lecture course? Or were there some stuff that you just didn't know?
 
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neppywise said:
Thanks for the reply? Were you able to recognize most of the material covered as per the lecture course? Or were there some stuff that you just didn't know?
Click to expand...

I took biochem over a year ago but I think my course covered just about everything.
 
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-Next Step
-Just practice passages.
-Khan academy videos I found to be a little bit too slow paced. In the 10 minutes you're passively watching one you could be reading, taking notes, making a flashcard. On the other hand, the partnership of Khan with AAMC cannot be dismissed.
 
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ggarbiso said:
Stop freaking out. I used TPR and I felt just fine. Just remember that biochemistry inherently has organic chem, and the "chemistry" in Biochem is much more compact and predictable. This is a general comment about Biochem and organic Chem, but it should be noted with the explanations of the new MCAT 2015 subject coverage.

Also, I'm very open to talking to anyone who wants to via email, but I will not be violating any terms regarding details that were agreed upon when I took the exam.
Click to expand...
ggarbiso said:
I'm checking out for the night and it's likely that I'm not going to reliably be back.

I encourage anyone who wants to chat more about the generals of preparing to PM me (I know I haven't been especially specific here) and I'll give you my contact info. I'm always eager to help and we can be as specific as desired (although not about the actual "contents," I won't be violating my MCAT agreement), so don't hesitate.

Good luck to all!
Click to expand...
I am taking the MCAT in July, and I am using TPR and EK to prepare for it. Did you feel TPR was an adequate way to study for it? Would you read all of the TPR books or only some? Also do you feel it is helpful to take old AAMC practice tests?
 
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XxThaDoggxX said:
Kaplan was solid IMO...but none of the prep companies give an adequate way to learn how to interpret data and apply clinical data to answering questions...which was a LARGE part of how the test was (again just my opinion)...I would highly suggest taking time each day to read at least 1 scientific journal article, especially relating to Biochem. Knowing how to quickly interpret data and use it is worth its wait in gold on this new test
Click to expand...

I would argue that this is not possible to learn from a book, and that the test is like this now on purpose. You can only learn that kind of thing from experience in research and medical settings, which hey want you to have before applying anyway.

I do think your suggestion to read from scientific journals is a good one. I would also try to read some high level social science/humanities articles (though I have yet to find a good source for humanities).
 
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