How did you feel?

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DJack

DJack

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Hey everyone-

I am getting ready to start a study routine for the MCAT and I will be taking a Kaplan class starting in November.

For those of you that have already taken the MCAT, how did you feel before you first started studying? Right now, I feel like I will not remember a whole lot from the past two years, especially Gen Chem from my freshman year. As a whole, I feel totally unprepared for everything and it makes me really, really nervous. Granted, this is what studying is for- to relearn these things.

Just wanted to know what your experiences were like.
Thanks!
 
I felt terrible after my first practice test, but okay at the same time. I managed to pull a 5 on the physical science section for my first two, but I'd also not had second semester physics (still hadn't before the MCAT). My bio wasn't much better (6), but verbal was a 10, so I felt I had potential if I could learn the material.

I wouldn't put much weight on early scores if you are taking a class. The classes serve as GREAT review and can even teach you high yield answers for things you never learned.

edit: I should also add, don't necessarily feel bad if your score isn't drastically improving at first. I took TPR but they teach it in modules, so it takes time for everything to click together and to get the big picture. It's a lot more important to spend time reading and learning the concepts, and little to no time testing yourself in the beginning.
 
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i felt worried as well before i started studying. i also took a kaplan course and they basically teach you the material that you ought to know so youll be fine. in fact, i think i learned more physics from the kaplan course than i did at my undergrad, lol. if you study for the right amount of time (i would say 2-3 months minimum) you should have no problem knowing the material. i also used youtube to review some physics and chem, some channel named khan academy or something like that.
 
Kevin Baker said:
I felt terrible after my first practice test, but okay at the same time. I managed to pull a 5 on the physical science section for my first two, but I'd also not had second semester physics (still hadn't before the MCAT). My bio wasn't much better (6), but verbal was a 10, so I felt I had potential if I could learn the material.

I wouldn't put much weight on early scores if you are taking a class. The classes serve as GREAT review and can even teach you high yield answers for things you never learned.

edit: I should also add, don't necessarily feel bad if your score isn't drastically improving at first. I took TPR but they teach it in modules, so it takes time for everything to click together and to get the big picture. It's a lot more important to spend time reading and learning the concepts, and little to no time testing yourself in the beginning.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tips! I also was planning to wait quite a while before testing myself... I don't want to get discouraged early on in the process. How long did you study before getting into the practice tests more?

wudabum said:
i felt worried as well before i started studying. i also took a kaplan course and they basically teach you the material that you ought to know so youll be fine. in fact, i think i learned more physics from the kaplan course than i did at my undergrad, lol. if you study for the right amount of time (i would say 2-3 months minimum) you should have no problem knowing the material. i also used youtube to review some physics and chem, some channel named khan academy or something like that.
Click to expand...

That sounds kind of like me haha. I am taking physics currently and I will have just finished it up prior to taking the MCAT. Thanks for the tips!
 
I took the kaplan class because I was two years out from any of the material covered on the MCAT. I was nervous but I did 3 hours a day, five days a week of studying and did fine. It will be frustating in the beginning becuase you will just be teaching yourself the material over again and not attacking MCAT style questions. You will be suprised how quickly you will pick it up though with consistent studying. Half way through the course you start taking practice exams and with solid, consistant studying you should see slow but steady score improvments. My MCAT score really helped my otherwise average med school app. Just stay focused for the duration of the class.

On a side note I would really try to prepare for test day anxiety as much as possible. I scored 4 points below my AAMC average, and 8 points below my last AAMC exam do to nerves on test day. It was a hard, worthwhile journey. Best of luck.
 
DJack said:
Thank you for the tips! I also was planning to wait quite a while before testing myself... I don't want to get discouraged early on in the process. How long did you study before getting into the practice tests more?
Click to expand...

TPR has you do one test every other week. I think test 1 is important, as you can gauge what you need to focus on,but after that, it's better to spend the five hours studying than testing. I took all of the tests and felt the middle ones were a waste. The simulation is great though and gets you familiar with the format. I had the same problem highlighting on the MCAT as I had on their sim 🙂

Of course, this is all imo and may not work for everyone.
 
My advice is simple: put in the time, and the grades will come.

It's not going to be easy, you'll need to dedicate months of studying and a lot of hard, painful work. If you study for a short while and take a practice and find you didn't do well, you should expect that. Just be prepared to be let down and to continue studying.

Also, take PLENTY of practice tests. If you can afford all of the AAMC's I'd suggest you do it. A month of only taking the AAMC's raised my score 4 points.

Good luck, and thanks for the 'grats in the other thread 👍
 
i was 9 months out of school and about a year since my last chem class, 2.5 years since physics when i took the mcats...i work a fulltime with lots of overtime so i usually studied a few hours every night, but i agree that the official practice tests are probably the best way to prepare since testing on a computer is an entirely different beast from the good old scantron and no.2 pencils
 
Thanks for the great advice so far!
 
Something I recommend when taking the tests, is to have a way that you can relax and clear your mind in-between sections. During my breaks when I took the test I was doing Tai Chi in the hallway of the testing center. Doing what I could to refocus and rechannel my energy toward the next section.
 
I was pretty excited when I first started, however, as time went on I found myself getting quite anxious/nervous about knowing if I was ready or not.

Nice avatar btw 😉
 
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avion321 said:
Something I recommend when taking the tests, is to have a way that you can relax and clear your mind in-between sections. During my breaks when I took the test I was doing Tai Chi in the hallway of the testing center. Doing what I could to refocus and rechannel my energy toward the next section.
Click to expand...

Interesting! Finding a way to relax is a good idea.

trauma12 said:
I was pretty excited when I first started, however, as time went on I found myself getting quite anxious/nervous about knowing if I was ready or not.

Nice avatar btw 😉
Click to expand...

Haha I never knew someone else had the same one on here! Its awesome!
 
Since I took it twice I had two completely different feelings when starting to tackle the beast. It's hard going into mcat study mode the first time around cause you really don't know the test even if you think you know the material. So the best suggestion I can give you is to study study study the material so that you know it like the back of your hand, then when you start testing yourself you'll see that the mistakes you make are either because you didn't know something or you knew it and got tricked up by the test itself. Like others have said, don't let your early scores discourage you - let them be a base for improvement. Most people find it easy to bring up their science scores early because it's mostly about whether you know it and can apply it to some random experiment they give you. Verbal on the other hand is the hardest to improve IMO. Some people just have the skills, and others don't (I'm one who doesn't). So if you notice that's a weak spot, jump on it early, cause it will take the longest to increase your score.
 
Yeah, I have heard quite a few people indicate that the Verbal is the hardest to improve. I'm probably most worried about PS since I had Gen Chem my Freshman year and am just now taking Physics (which will be almost completed at time of MCAT). We'll see!
 
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