Woah...is this normal? Kaplan passage based questions.

[HopefulUnderdog]

Hey guys, so I just started my prep for MCAT and going slowly with it, since I have some time till my exam. I just read chapter 1 of general chemistry review from the Kaplan MCAT 7 Book series and used their online access (came with the book) to do one of their passage based tests based on the chapter I just read. This was the first time seeing and taking a passage based MCAT test. I ended up scoring a 55%. The chapter was so hard to understand for some reason. I took Gen chem 1/2 back in 2013. Did anyone else expeeircne this as well? Also the kaplan explanations are terrible (am I the only one who thinks so?) I did one for Bio chapter 5 which was on the endocrine system and I scored a 75%(which was definitely better I suppose).

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[nvrsittingstill]

I think we lead slightly parallel lives. I had only done 2 practice passages from Kaplan so far (the rest has been CARS EK) and those were the ones I did and in that order.

I didn't do the greatest on the 1GC Kaplan passage either (that also was the first one I took) I got a 60%. I flipped out and did Bio 5 and got a 79% (and likewise felt exponentially better). I take my first full length tomorrow so I can't really say much about how my scores compare in the big scheme of things, but yea, 1GC sucks....

 

[HopefulUnderdog]

Hm, I just took the kaplan biochem chapter 1 passage based one and it was really difficult... whats going on..? =\

 

[BeMD13]

I consistently get around a 60% on those! My test isn't until spring but it still has me freaking out!

 

[Doctor Dream]

Very first taste of MCAT I had was the NS diagnostic, and on the first section (C/P) I scored 121, but ended up with a 129 in that section on the real thing after prepping. Point being, what you're experiencing is totally normal, and you're still on track to do fine.

A big thing that really helped me was realizing that you're not going to know everything in the passage, and that's okay. You might not fully understand why the experiment in the passage works, what the eff that crazy protein is, or what that instrument they're using is. That's okay. A lot of people who destroy the MCAT probably don't know either. The key though is to relax, pick apart and analyze the passage for information you can connect to what you do know, and answer the questions.

 

[Sarahka74]

Would love other opinions on this

 

[kwu]

It totally normal. When I read my first MCAT passage I didn't understand anything. I felt like it was nothing related to what I studied. but the thing is that MCAT questions are very different that what we are used to in typical college exams.
The more passages you do the better you will get. You start to read faster, focus on what's important, and even predict some of the questions!

 

[Sarahka74]

It totally normal. When I read my first MCAT passage I didn't understand anything. I felt like it was nothing related to what I studied. but the thing is that MCAT questions are very different that what we are used to in typical college exams.
The more passages you do the better you will get. You start to read faster, focus on what's important, and even predict some of the questions!

Normally when does this happen - getting better? And do you review your passages?

 

[kwu]

Normally when does this happen - getting better? And do you review your passages?

It depends on each person. Some people have good reasoning skills. Some people find it a little harder. But the rule of thumb is practice practice practice.
Although, you shouldn't just start doing passages before you understand the material (Except for CARS section). After you finish solving the questions, look back and see the explanation for all the questions.

 

[riushisu]

Some people have good reasoning skills. Some people find it a little harder. But the rule of thumb is practice practice practice.