10's Across the MCAT, HOW CAN I IMPROVE?

[Yogurt the Kid]

I am taking the MCAT in April and I have consistently been getting 10's across the verbal, physical sciences, and bio. Can anyone suggest any specific methods as to how I can improve these scores--MOST IMPORTANTLY ON THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. I think it would be helpful to step back and sharpen the saw, fine tune my approach, and then attack this test with new perspective. Peace.

Yogurt

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[Jalby]

Study more

 

[Assassin]

Sleep less

 

[A. Caveman]

should we call you Yogurt Kid? or just plain yogurt? <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

jalbrekt has been very generous with his advice. mind you he's done this free of charge, out of the goodness of his heart. but his advice is not complete. i would extend it to:

Study more HARDER

 

[THE instiGATOR]

I only scored a 10 on the Princeton Review practice exams a couple times. Looks like you'll do fine if you're using those.

Just do tons of practice probs and learn the general format of test questions.

and...Study mo Betta and mo Harder

 

[Yogurt the Kid]

Hey What's Up

Call me what you like ; I like the ring of Yogurt . I want to thank Jalbrekt and Player for their insightful responses, hopefully other members can contribute to the already profound substance they've provided <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> .

 

[praying4MD]

I personally don't think you need to improve, but if you want to improve on your verbal, check out this thread for a very desciptive, in-depth and helpful explanation of how to improve verbal:

<a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000681&p=" target="_blank">Deconstructing MCAT Verbal</a>

And also <a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=008840&p=" target="_blank">Improving on Verbal</a>

Do a search in both pre-allo and allo forums for more info. Good luck.

 

[SMW]

Yogurt, welcome to SDN!! I personally would have liked to improve my PS section to a 10!! :wink: <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

That said, I don't know if you want my advice or not, but here it is. You know what they say, practice makes perfect!! So keep practicing. The most important thing is to go over every single question you miss on a practice test or a study session, and make sure you know exactly why you misssed it and understand how to get the correct answer. You haven't given us much of a time frame for how long you've been getting those 10's (which btw, as I'm sure you know, are good enough to get you in somewhere, so take comfort in that and don't stress). You will improve the longer you keep working at it. Also, why the push on PS? From what I know, most schools weight the verbal score the highest (lucky for me!). Good luck with your applications to the top 10!!! :wink:

 

[VC15]

You should be going over the questions you got wrong. Did you get it wrong because you were unfamiliar with a certain concept, tricked by the question, or what? Maybe lots of the questions you got wrong were all based on a similar topic or concept. If that's the case, then just study that again. Don't waste time memorizing too many physics formulas, BTW.

If they're silly mistakes, then just keep practicing.

 

[Papa Smurf]

10's across the board? That's pretty good at this stage. You'll be alright as long as you keep focusing on your weaknesses. Don't make the mistake of focusing on your strengths because a lot of people have a tendency to do that when they're studying. What constitutes a good score is all relative in the end. I was content with a 32, but I studied a lot. My friend took it cold, got a 34! (bastard! ) Didn't study cause he's not even applying, nor does he have any plans to apply. Peeps like him kill the curve for the rest of us mere mortals.

 

[A. Caveman]

Plain Yogurt. jes remember not to CHOKE on test day. tee hee. that's good advice in-en-o-vitself

 

[Yogurt the Kid]

Thanks for you replies, hopefully more folks have some input.

Yogurt

 

[brandonite]

I dunno. Study. Do the AAMC tests. Do a lot of practice tests so you can get down your timing for the real thing. Find out what kind of question you're getting wrong - if it's a stand alone question, then you need to spend more time studying basic sciences. If it's a passage interpretation question, then you just need to do piles of more practices, and maybe dedicate more time to reading the passages.

It's kinda hard to say, without being more specific...

 

[pre-hawkdoc]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by A. Caveman:
•Study more HARDER•••••As my physicsI prof once said: "if you're not getting the scores you'd like, don't study harder--study smarter." so, if you're studying stupidly, stop it.

 

[A. Caveman]

should we call you Yogurt Kid? or just plain yogurt? <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

pre-hawkdoc has been very generous with his advice. mind you he's done this free of charge, out of the goodness of his heart. but his advice is not complete. i would extend it to:

study LESS stupidlier

PS. i don't have a physics professor anymore (shh, i kilt him), but my magic 8 ball seys "don't make light of your weaknesses, or your weaknesses will make light of you." wise words...heed them, live them, weed them (smoke...).

 

[Gainer]

Take TONS of practice tests, and not just princeton review. (they are DEFFINATLY scewed towards their little tricks)

Just keep taking them until your score is high.

I started them with an average of a 28 and pushed to a 40 on practice tests, and got a 37 on teh real deal, so I know this method works (at least for me).

 

[Mystique]

practice, practice, practice...

Do you carefully analyze the problems you miss?? Make sure you KNOW why you missed them. There's not much more that can be said that hasn't already been mentioned in the above posts.

Best of luck to you.

 

[rajneel1]

the kaplan physics exams are harder than the real thing so you should get a few points higher. the verbal at kaplan is easier and the bio is right on. take practice tests. time yourself well. don't let idiots sitting around you bother you like i did. don't freak out 8:00 in the morning while taking verbal like i did. take it at a test center that has only a few people (so things move quickly and easily and so you are not there trying to take bio at 4:00 PM when you are soooooo tired).
ALSO: i think 10s is a good score. that is what i got and i did decent with the med schoool admissions thing. i was surprised at getting 22 interview offers....therefore my 30 on the MCAT did not hurt.....it just eliminated me from schools that are numbers oriented which i probably wouldn't want to go to anyways!!!!!

 

[EMDrMoe]

I've seen people mention Princeton Review and Kaplan, but I couldn't find where Yogurt said s/he was taking either class. Anyway, 10s on practice tests are good. I don't know about TPR tests, but if you're taking Princeton review, get a hold of the Kaplan practice tests and answers, and then AAMC practice tests (later are better). The Kaplan students are allowed to keep their test booklets as of this testing cycle, so you should be able to get a hold of one and take a look at it. The advice to look over EVERY question AND every answer is great. Make sure you know exactly why you picked the answer you did AND why you didn't pick the ones you didn't. Then, lastly, get rid of those "stupid" mistakes like missing the EXCEPT. Good luck, with practice scores like those your potential is awesome!

PS- the guy who took it cold and got a 34? ugh - what's up with THAT!?!

 

[joehuf]

I typically scored "10's" on the Princeton Review exams and did much better on the actual exam, so if you're in that boat, don't worry too much. I think the most important thing to learn on the MCAT is logic. Don't focus on learning the nitty-gritty details of the subjects but practice looking for clues to the answers in the question, and start each question by first ruling out the obviously wrong answers before selecting the right one. My MCAT instructor explained it this way:
For each of the 4-5 answers to each question there are the following:
1-2 answers that are obviously wrong (cross them out)
1 Answer that looks right a first glance but on further examination turns out to be wrong (this evil guy can often be ruled out by refering back to the given passage as opposed to using general knowledge)
1 Answer that is right (which should have significant support in the passage)
Also, sometimes there are filler answers that don't relate to the passage at all

It's been over a year since I took the MCAT, but using this method I got a much higher than expected score without having to actually memorize massive amounts of information. Hope this helps.

 

[Papa Smurf]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by ATC2MD:
•PS- the guy who took it cold and got a 34? ugh - what's up with THAT!?!•••••Well, it's a long story. Apparently, he'd been admitted into a 7 year program outta high school (HMPE at Northwestern, I believe) Anyway, he turned it down cause he wasn't sure at that age if medicine was for him. He took a lot of abuse from his family for turning it down as well. So he gets to college, figures out that he wants to do something in the sciences, just not medicine. Well, this doesn't sit well with the folks, (he's Asian, and being a physician in Asian culture is a BIG deal). So, essentially he just took the test to get his parents off his a$$. I guess they're hoping to convince him to apply, but he doesn't wanna waste his time. Not that he couldn't get in, but what's the point if you're not interested in it, right? My only regret is that I didn't have him actually study and take the damn test for me! :wink: