2 Weeks to MCAT.. is it possible to raise PS?

[vitaebellaa]

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Hey everyone, I am signed up for the 7/6 MCAT but am debating pushing back until the 7/14 (I know, tomorrow is the last day..). I have taken only AAMC 3-7 so far and here have been my scores after about a month of content review:

AAMC 3: PS 9 V 10 BS 13 32
AAMC 4: PS 9 V 11 BS 11 31
AAMC 5: PS 9 V 11 BS 11 31
AAMC 7: PS 9 V 11 BS 10 30 🙁

Here's the deal: I am aiming for a 30. I know people sometimes score above their average, but, people also score below so I really was hoping to go into the test with a little more buffer room. On both BS and VS I have been 1 correct question away from a 12 (and a 11 in the case of my las 7) but PS does not look like it will nudge.

I did okay in my both Physics and Gen. Chem classes but it definitely did not come as easily for me as my other subjects. I used TBR physics and gen chem which helped me raise my PS from a 4 on my first kaplan FL to a 9. From post-phrasing (which I am evidently not doing right if my scores aren't increasing...) on my AAMC 3 I had some gaps in my content review but most of my mistakes in 4-7 have been random/all over the place which is not as easy of a quick fix as just going over concepts.

Right now what I am doing after post phrasing is doing back to TBR and skimming a few chapters and doing practice passages. Since insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting the same results.. I was wondering if anyone else has any advice? I have all of the Kaplan materials at my disposal and have been using their full lengths (a 9 there too!) and sectionals. Could doing all of the Q bank problems help nudge me out of this rut? I have the EK 1001 question series which I have also been doing in my problem areas but their explanations aren't always extremely helpful. Thanks for any help (or motivation!) in advance.

 

[shaboobly]

i found going over content, consistently and repeatedly, helps tremendously with ps

 

[jerg]

Probably more worth it to read the phys / chem textbook content than to do practice passages at this stage - the latter is too specific in terms of content coverage especially if you only got 2 weeks, there's a good chance you won't even get any phys / chem stuff that you've done through passages at the actual MCAT.

Strengthening your general knowledge of these subjects, however, will ALWAYS help.

 

[ridethecliche]

i found going over content, consistently and repeatedly, helps tremendously with ps

And practice, surprisingly, helps even more.

 

[vitaebellaa]

So rereading my TBR notes until I am blue in the face would be a better game plan than doing all the discretes I can? Thanks again for the responses.

 

[ridethecliche]

So rereading my TBR notes until I am blue in the face would be a better game plan than doing all the discretes I can? Thanks again for the responses.

No.

I would do passages.

Read your notes for a section, then do passages. Rinse and repeat.

If you need more passages, pick up the TPR science workbook. Though TBR has plenty. I dont' think you said you were finished with them. If you are, then TPR TPR TPR.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Ya you can improve your PS.

Where are you struggling the most? Is it on the physics side or the chemistry side?

Keep in mind you should take AAMC 11 as it stresses calculation a little bit more and I thought it was a little bit more calculation heavy than my MCAT, but my MCAT was definitely more calculation heavy than the earlier AAMCs.

Anyways, what you should do is read the corresponding TBR sections that are your weakest areas and do EK 1001 sections on them/TBR passages. If you do about 6 or so hours a day for a week on your weakest subjects you should improve to a 10.

 

[vitaebellaa]

I think mostly on the chemistry side. (I found the Physics passages in TBR to be much more difficult so I am guessing that has prepared me well because I really struggled with Physics in UG). On AAMC 7 it says I scored mostly 100% on the Physics topics (except a 33% from that friggen earthquake passage) and in chemistry a few 100% but MOSTLY 67%-75% on everything. I would actually feel more comfortable if I had a few 0% so I had a few gaping holes in my knowledge but it looks to be all over the place.

Thanks for the suggestion on concentrating on doing more calculation heavy passages. On one hand, math is not my strong suit AT ALL but on the other hand most of my errors from these earlier AAMC have been conceptual/not reading the passage correctly so I'm on the fence on how I feel about that. But I definitely think I will reread TBR and do the remaining passages (and maybe some Kaplan sectionals/topicals as they are calculation heavy IMO). I am still considering postponing, but, I have off the next two weeks and want to spend as much time (6-9 hours) as I can without burning out.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

I think mostly on the chemistry side. (I found the Physics passages in TBR to be much more difficult so I am guessing that has prepared me well because I really struggled with Physics in UG). On AAMC 7 it says I scored mostly 100% on the Physics topics (except a 33% from that friggen earthquake passage) and in chemistry a few 100% but MOSTLY 67%-75% on everything. I would actually feel more comfortable if I had a few 0% so I had a few gaping holes in my knowledge but it looks to be all over the place.

Thanks for the suggestion on concentrating on doing more calculation heavy passages. On one hand, math is not my strong suit AT ALL but on the other hand most of my errors from these earlier AAMC have been conceptual/not reading the passage correctly so I'm on the fence on how I feel about that. But I definitely think I will reread TBR and do the remaining passages (and maybe some Kaplan sectionals/topicals as they are calculation heavy IMO). I am still considering postponing, but, I have off the next two weeks and want to spend as much time (6-9 hours) as I can without burning out.

Ya I would definitely make sure you go over multiplying/dividing powers of 10, scientific conversions, working with decimals and things like that.

 

[polymathg]

I increased my PS by two points the last two weeks before the MCAT from a 10 to a 12. I would study for about 4 hours each day a weak subject in PS such as buffers, equations, etc. I would make sure that by the end of the day, I knew that subject well. You want to turn your weaknesses into your strengths. Pay attention to the concepts you are struggling with, and make sure you are able to explain them to someone else. When you are able to teach that subject to another person, then you know the general concepts. Last few days before MCAT, I made sure I knew every equation, and I would write them out a few times to make sure I knew them. But also it's very important to know the concept behind the equation and different relationships.