13 on mcat

[tycotyco]

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I got a 13 (4,4,5) on my first practice test I plan on taking the mcat in August. Also I completed all the pre-req except for one (orgo 2) I even took a upper level bio class. How concern should I be??? help please!!!

 

[Lya]

You have nearly 8 months to prepare yourself. I wouldn't worry about it at this moment.

Work on getting a solid foundation on contents, and then start doing practice questions and full lengths starting in mid June or early July.

 

[tycotyco]

You have nearly 8 months to prepare yourself. I wouldn't worry about it at this moment.

Work on getting a solid foundation on contents, and then start doing practice questions and full lengths starting in mid June or early July.

so I shouldn't be studying now?

 

[miss chievous]

I made a similar score (something in the 12-14 range) when I took AAMC 3 before I had started any studying. Ended up scoring a 32 on the real thing. Not the greatest score by SDN standards, but starting from where I did, I didn't really expect much better. A score as low as ours indicates that we've had a weak science background (for me, I was always focused on memorizing in my undergrad pre req courses rather than understanding). Or it could simply indicate that you haven't finished your pre reqs. Regardless, your initial score doesn't mean anything.

Edit: Just checked e-mcat. It was actually a 9 LOL

 

[tycotyco]

I made a similar score (something in the 12-14 range) when I took AAMC 3 before I had started any studying. Ended up scoring a 32 on the real thing. Not the greatest score by SDN standards, but starting from where I did, I didn't really expect much better. A score as low as ours indicates that we've had a weak science background (for me, I was always focused on memorizing in my undergrad pre req courses rather than understanding). Or it could simply indicate that you haven't finished your pre reqs. Regardless, your initial score doesn't mean anything.

how long did you study and did you the SN2 Method?

 

[Ismet]

so I shouldn't be studying now?

I think you should start studying and working on your science foundation. A score that low means that you do not yet have the science knowledge required. Fortunately, you have plenty of time. Don't waste another practice test until you've done considerable content review, maybe around May or so to see where you stand.

 

[jetsfan1234]

Did you take it untimed? If you got a 4,4,5 untimed, I'd be very worried, sorry. What kind of grades did you get in your pre-reqs?

 

[Lya]

so I shouldn't be studying now?

You can start your content review now.

At this early stage, I would try to focus on understanding, rather than memorization. Go to MCAT forum for more details. They tell you what materials you need to get. You can memorize things in this coming summer. If you memorize things now, you will probably forget the most of them 6 months later, so this is why I would suggest going for understanding (many concepts in gen chem, organic chem and bio would fall under this category).

 

[miss chievous]

how long did you study and did you the SN2 Method?

I used a variation of the SN2 method. With a score as low as mine (cum: 9), I gave myself plenty of time to study. Approximately 5-6 months

 

[tycotyco]

Did you take it untimed? If you got a 4,4,5 untimed, I'd be very worried, sorry. What kind of grades did you get in your pre-reqs?

gen chem 1 - A
Gen chem 2 - B

Orgo 1 - B+

Gen bio 1 - b
Gen Bio 2 -B

Phys 1 - A
Phys 2 - B

and yes it was untimed

 

[jetsfan1234]

I used a variation of the SN2 method. With a score as low as mine (cum: 9), I gave myself plenty of time to study. Approximately 5-6 months

That is extremely impressive that you were able to go from a 9 to a 32 in 6 months. But, what was your initial breakdown? 3/3/3? How did you score so low on verbal? Is English your second language?

 

[tycotyco]

I used a variation of the SN2 method. With a score as low as mine (cum: 9), I gave myself plenty of time to study. Approximately 5-6 months

Your an inspiration, where you enrolled in undergrad during your study time?

 

[jetsfan1234]

gen chem 1 - A
Gen chem 2 - B

Orgo 1 - B+

Gen bio 1 - b
Gen Bio 2 -B

Phys 1 - A
Phys 2 - B

and yes it was untimed

Is English your second language? If so, you might consider getting a private tutor. I have friends who were able to bring their scores up drastically that way.

 

[CyberMaxx]

OP, I had a pretty similar score on my first MCAT practice test and ended up scoring in the mid 30's. I had three major issues: unfamiliarity with passage based questions, poor time management during testing, and a weak science background. I used the Berkeley Review study books and found them tremendously useful because of how detailed they are and also because they have a huge number of passage based questions. You have eight months which is plenty of time. Get to work, you'll be fine! 🙂

 

[tycotyco]

Is English your second language? If so, you might consider getting a private tutor. I have friends who were able to bring their scores up drastically that way.

NO english is not my second language!!! I am a hard working AA male and the test is culturally bias.

 

[tycotyco]

OP, I had a pretty similar score on my first MCAT practice test and ended up scoring in the mid 30's. I had three major issues: unfamiliarity with passage based questions, poor time management during testing, and a weak science background. I used the Berkeley Review study books and found them tremendously useful because of how detailed they are and also because they have a huge number of passage based questions. You have eight months which is plenty of time. Get to work, you'll be fine! 🙂

but I have class for 5 out of the next 8 months?

 

[KnuxNole]

The diagnostic is meant to see your weaknesses. I scored a 13 or 14 without ANY studying, but managed to bring it up with 3-4 months of prep. Remember, don't let the diagnostic scare you, but fuel you to hit the MCAT prep hard!

 

[Cheetah13]

I wouldn't freak out over a diagnostic. I concur with cybermaxx12 on the reasons many people initially score poorly. I also have friends that do not speak a language other than english score 3's.
My advice is review content. Take a couple isolated subject tests in order to improve your timing and accuracy. Then take another practice test. Also, I think you should be careful not to use up your aamc pactice tests way before your actual test.

 

[Ismet]

NO english is not my second language!!! I am a hard working AA male and the test is culturally bias.

Uhhh...how so? You've taken all the required science classes and done well in them. You just need to better understand the material and learn how to apply it to the style of testing.

but I have class for 5 out of the next 8 months?

It's not unheard of to study for the MCAT while taking classes. I took my MCAT in May of my application year and I had classes January-April. Time management is key.

 

[CyberMaxx]

but I have class for 5 out of the next 8 months?

That still should be ok, I think studying for the MCAT for longer than 3-4 months is inefficient anyway. I studied for the test for three months over the summer while I worked a full-time job. The one thing that could be easy to do during the meantime is to practice verbal. Since verbal doesn't require any studying it would be easy to work through a few timed passages every few days to really hone your skills.

 

[SN12357]

While I agree with some other posters that more full-length tests should wait until you are closer to the actual test, you need to make sure that you do lots of passage-based practice. My guess is that your pre-reqs were poorly taught and/or leaned heavily on memorization, and that you do not have the problem-solving background that MCAT requires to deduce answers from the passage. Your study needs to be effective and targeted at problem-solving, not a matter of passively rereading content.

That's for science. For verbal you need to do even more work as a score that low for a native english speaker indicates you fundamentally don't understand something about the test structure and the passages. A tutor would probably be a good idea as well.

 

[swolebrah]

Dig deep into what your lacking, and use this diagnose to figure out how to create your study plan.

 

[listener23]

.

 

[Cheetah13]

@listener23 Yes, standardized testing is culturally bias. We can't say that is why he is scoring so low though.

 

[gobigorgohome22]

NO english is not my second language!!! I am a hard working AA male and the test is culturally bias.

LOL WHAT??? How can the test be culturally bias? If you say that studying for it is socioeconomically bias, that may be correct. However, you have done well enough in your prereq classes and cant really say that the test culturally discriminates. You should not be making excuses about your low score at this point. I think I got an 18 on kaplan diagnostic and ended up with 31 overall.

 

[jetsfan1234]

Its common knowledge that the MCAT is culturally bias. OP shows with his grades that he is as capable as any other applicant but due to the lack of cultural diversity of test writers his score is well below average.

How are the science sections culturally biased? Can you give some specific examples? I don't recall any questions about tennis courts, polo matches, etc...

 

[listener23]

.

 

[SN12357]

Its common knowledge that the MCAT is culturally bias. OP shows with his grades that he is as capable as any other applicant but due to the lack of cultural diversity of test writers his score is well below average.

Standardized testing is culturally biased but the OPs grades alone don't show he's capable. We all know grades vary in meaning greatly from place to place. I stand by my earlier statement that the disconnect between the grades and the MCAT probably means the OP got a sub-par education in those classes. He'll need to make up for that on his own, unfortunately. That's why schools use the MCAT. To have a common measure on everyone.

 

[jetsfan1234]

True, but i cant imagine another reason because his grades are so good.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I'm starting to think this is a troll post...

 

[CarlosDanger]

haha, culturally biased* not culturally bias...I definitely think the MCAT is biased against ESL kids, but culturally? I guess I could see that for the verbal section.

Grades in pre-reqs mean very little. My physics grades were A/B+ but I understood nothing and relearned EVERYTHING on MCAT physics. I think the OP just needs to review for understanding, a ton of practice, and he'll be ok.

 

[Elevencents]

How can hard sciences be culturally biased? No offense, but that just sounds like an excuse.

 

[tycotyco]

thanks every please stay topic. I just wanted to know that there was still hope in coming back from such a low diagostic

 

[username456789]

NO english is not my second language!!! I am a hard working AA male and the test is culturally bias.

*"biased"

I'm consistently amazed at how almost everyone who tries to use this word fails to use the correct form. It's a mistake repeated over and over again by multiple posters on this very thread.

Also, what language did you learn primarily growing up as an African American?

 

[Ismet]

Its common knowledge that the MCAT is culturally bias. OP shows with his grades that he is as capable as any other applicant but due to the lack of cultural diversity of test writers his score is well below average.

In general, standardized testing is culturally biased, especially tests like the SAT/ACT. But the MCAT has little, if any, cultural bias. There are other factors that may contribute to overall lower average scores for minority applicants, but it's no fault of the test writers.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23478636

 

[listener23]

In general, standardized testing is culturally biased, especially tests like the SAT/ACT. But the MCAT has little, if any, cultural bias. There are other factors that may contribute to overall lower average scores for minority applicants, but it's no fault of the test writers.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23478636

I stand corrected.

 

[Cinclus]

I never took a "diagnostic" MCAT because I didn't like the very real possibility of unnecessarily terrifying myself with a low score that I would undoubtedly bring up with some review.

 

[masaraksh]

I think given the amount of time you have you will be fine with the sciences.

What I'm really concerned about is verbal. That doesn't require any specific prior knowledge.

 

[ct303]

"Thanks every please stay topic"....? Uhhhh... There are just so many things I could say. But I'm 99% this is a troll post.

Secondly, if this is real, then I suggest OP, and everyone for that matter, get over the conception that the test is biased- it is what it is and there's no way around it so it's just an obstacle you have to hurdle. I'm a non-science major so I would naturally think the MCAT is biased towards science students but I still had to take it.

 

[chillaxbro]

I had a low score like you pre-practice and gained 20 points on the real thing after a month of studying

tl;dr dun worry

 

[jetsfan1234]

I had a low score like you pre-practice and gained 20 points on the real thing after a month of studying

tl;dr dun worry

If this is true, that's very impressive. But I honestly don't see how that's possible. I also studied for a month, and went from around a 33 diagnostic to a 38 on the real deal. Someone who gets a 14 clearly does not understand the vast majority of the scientific principles required for the mcat. It's almost like he needs to re-take those classes over again, honestly. I can't see how a month of studying would be enough.

 

[alpinism]

How are the science sections culturally biased? Can you give some specific examples? I don't recall any questions about tennis courts, polo matches, etc...

 

[Kaputt]

NO english is not my second language!!! I am a hard working AA male and the test is culturally bias.

Troll alert. Poor grammar, claims to be black/URM, has really low practice MCAT...come on, people.

 

[Reckoner]

Troll alert. Poor grammar, claims to be black/URM, has really low practice MCAT...come on, people.

My thoughts exactly.

2/10 would not read again

 

[tycotyco]

My thoughts exactly.

2/10 would not read again

Troll alert. Poor grammar, claims to be black/URM, has really low practice MCAT...come on, people.

I'm no troll, I have been following this form for a while and just decided to make an account. I know its hard for you to wrap your over privileged brains around this but society is simply un-fair. There not many blacks in medical school not because there lazy but because society does a horrible job at making things fair.

 

[Rhino1000]

There are also plenty of blacks in medical school not because they are lazy, but because they worked hard to get there (just like most everyone else). It almost sounds like you are saying blacks have some sort of inherent disability in doing well on science tests and reading tests... which sounds culturally biased in itself. Whether your black, Japanese, Indian, or white, the rate of velocity change is still acceleration and urine formation is still a tough concept to understand.

If you want to go to med school, you're going to have to start studying.

http://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-x-on-education/

 

[acceptmeplease]

I'm no troll, I have been following this form for a while and just decided to make an account. I know its hard for you to wrap your over privileged brains around this but society is simply un-fair. There not many blacks in medical school not because there lazy but because society does a horrible job at making things fair.

Exactly how does your thought process go from an mcat bias to a society bias?

How does "society" influence your mcat score?

 

[tycotyco]

Exactly how does your thought process go from an mcat bias to a society bias?

How does "society" influence your mcat score?

heres is a arrow diagram for you:

Young male born in to a house hold with little or no money ---> grows up in neighborhood infested with gangs and drugs ---> forced to attend an extemely underfunded public high school (literally barely had working computer)---> barely makes it to college( alive) ---> Gets to college and have to deal with being the only black kid in a classroom filled with 400 other people ---> due to weak academic foundation he is forced to study 10 times harder than white peers ---> He has to study alone because no one wants to to study with the "dumb" black kid ----> After 3 long years finally pulls his GPA to a 3.39 ---> takes a practice MCAT and scores a 13 (like WTF!!!) ----> goes to SDN for help and is called a "troll."

 

[deleted577188]

heres is a arrow diagram for you:

Young male born in to a house hold with little or no money ---> grows up in neighborhood infested with gangs and drugs ---> forced to attend an extemely underfunded public high school (literally barely had working computer)---> barely makes it to college( alive) ---> Gets to college and have to deal with being the only black kid in a classroom filled with 400 other people ---> due to weak academic foundation he is forced to study 10 times harder than white peers ---> He has to study alone because no one wants to to study with the "dumb" black kid ----> After 3 long years finally pulls his GPA to a 3.39 ---> takes a practice MCAT and scores a 13 (like WTF!!!) ----> goes to SDN for help and is called a "troll."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You know this is very true being an AA male myself, and growing up underserved I can relate to this sequence. However, don't white about it brother. Just study your ass off.

 

[EvenStevens]

I'm no troll, I have been following this form for a while and just decided to make an account. I know its hard for you to wrap your over privileged brains around this but society is simply un-fair. There not many blacks in medical school not because there lazy but because society does a horrible job at making things fair.

100% trollerino
pls dont feed

 

[gettheleadout]

I'm no troll, I have been following this form for a while and just decided to make an account. I know its hard for you to wrap your over privileged brains around this but society is simply un-fair. There not many blacks in medical school not because there lazy but because society does a horrible job at making things fair.

heres is a arrow diagram for you:

Young male born in to a house hold with little or no money ---> grows up in neighborhood infested with gangs and drugs ---> forced to attend an extemely underfunded public high school (literally barely had working computer)---> barely makes it to college( alive) ---> Gets to college and have to deal with being the only black kid in a classroom filled with 400 other people ---> due to weak academic foundation he is forced to study 10 times harder than white peers ---> He has to study alone because no one wants to to study with the "dumb" black kid ----> After 3 long years finally pulls his GPA to a 3.39 ---> takes a practice MCAT and scores a 13 (like WTF!!!) ----> goes to SDN for help and is called a "troll."

You have a bad attitude. You had to study alone because no one wanted to study with you? So what? Did your school have tutoring available? Take some responsibility for your performance.

In any case, we're not all Ivy-prep school yuppies here. My high school was in a bad part of town in a city with a pretty high crime rate; once during school my girlfriend got maced when she was close by when a fight broke out and the security guards starting subduing students.