35+ With No Review Course

[Democritus]

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I'm unfortunately not going to be able to go through a review course. So far my verbal is at 14-15 range and I'm working on the sciences.

Anyone here get 35+ without Kaplan or Princeton review?

Thanks

 

[pky463]

If you're at 14-15 in Verbal right now..I don't think you need to worry about being 35+ unless you haven't taken the pre-reqs or something.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I'm unfortunately not going to be able to go through a review course. So far my verbal is at 14-15 range and I'm working on the sciences.

Anyone here get 35+ without Kaplan or Princeton review?

Thanks

dude with a 14-15 in verbal, you have a shot for a 40. Just get some science review books and learn the science cold.

 

[Tired]

Anyone here get 35+ without Kaplan or Princeton review?

Yes.

 

[spazzz]

wait to see this op post again when they get their MCAT back and their verbal is like a 7....14-15 on the real deal is phenomenal, just because you're scoring that range now, don't expect it on game day.

 

[FutureMD345]

I got over a 35 without taking a course. Some people honestly have too many study materials. I bought the comprehensive princeton review book and did most of the chapters. Then as far as practice tests i used a kaplan book with two practice tests and did about 6 of the AAMC online ones (so expensive!!), which were the best indicators of overall score. My verbal came in much lower than it had been on on practice tests, but oh well....

 

[Democritus]

I'm just wondering what percentage of people with 33, 34 or 35+ did it without a review course.

spazz, it is possible that I'll score lower on game day. However, from my first verbal practice section, I haven't had a score under 13. I've taken seven so far--three perfect and three 14s (and the one 13).

FutureMD, that's awesome. That's pretty encouraging. I'm using Kaplan 2007 right now for my sciences--is Princeton better?

Also, is verbal usually a good way to determine your overall potential (assuming you have the science down)?

Thanks.

 

[bozz]

It also depends what materials you're using for Verbal

If you're doing EK 1001 or AAMC tests, 14-15 is great
If you're doing Kaplan, 14-15 Verbal doesn't mean much (IMO).. your score could easily be an 8 on test day

 

[Democritus]

Duly noted.

 

[bozz]

What materials are you using btw? nonetheless, getting 1 or 0 wrong is a pretty good start. If you could keep it up, you'd pretty much be guaranteed a 12 or so on Verbal.

 

[spazzz]

It also depends what materials you're using for Verbal

If you're doing EK 1001 or AAMC tests, 14-15 is great
If you're doing Kaplan, 14-15 Verbal doesn't mean much (IMO).. your score could easily be an 8 on test day

exactly my point.

good luck either way, don't take kaplan verbal as the gospel, it's far from it.

 

[Democritus]

I've been using Kaplan mostly. I'll look into EK.

 

[spazzz]

I've been using Kaplan mostly. I'll look into EK.

get away from Kaplan verbal ASAP, it's nothing like real AAMC/MCAT verbal questions/passages. EK stuff is most similar, but still a bit different, best indicator are the AAMC tests

 

[Nevadanteater]

i did it. you can too. two suggestions:

1. know yourself.
aamc publishes a list of all the topics that could be covered on the MCAT.
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/start.htm
go through the list and figure out what you know, what you don't know and what you need to work on. this will allow you to create a study plan. you're far enough in your academic career to know how long it will take you to prepare. i know several students that expect to spend "x months" studying for the mcat not knowing exactly what they'll be studying. by knowing your strengths and weaknesses you can prepare more appropriately. this also allows you to organize the massive amount of information that could be on the test.

2. study.

a lot.

 

[bodonid]

I did it!!

The best way to study is to cover your ***. Identify weaknesses, then correct them. Soon your weaknesses will not be subjects, but individual concepts. I think this way works best because the MCATs do not reward knowing one area really really well. You have to know everything at a basic level.

That said, don;t take the course to save $$$. I didn't take it because I am a science tutor and I knew I would study.

 

[brianmartin]

I did it. I just knew the material fairly well and have good reading comprehension.

I think one should trust their own intuition in deciding whether to do a class. If you feel you know the material well, and are confident with your verbal skills...just skip the class. I got all freaked out when I was deciding whether to take the review course, and eventually decided against it because there was no real reason to.

To be honest the MCAT is far more about good verbal skill than it is about knowing facts/equations, even with the science sections.

 

[mterp45]

get away from Kaplan verbal ASAP, it's nothing like real AAMC/MCAT verbal questions/passages. EK stuff is most similar, but still a bit different, best indicator are the AAMC tests

common guys a 14-15 in verbal with any prep company's test is amazing, and to say that Kaplan verbal is nothing like the real test is simply not true. I also believe they differ, but not by much. I think the OP's scores are nothing less than great ,and that with a 14 to 15 average on Kaplan, I don't think he'll be getting anything less than a 12 on the real one. If I was averaging 14-15s on my verbals, I would have stopped studying for this test a long time ago.

 

[AspiringOne]

exactly my point.

good luck either way, don't take kaplan verbal as the gospel, it's far from it.

I don't know about this. Maybe I'm an exception, but I found the kaplan verbal harder and did better on the AAMC. I'd say at the very least, they are close to equal.

 

[RandomBlackManX]

35+ with no review course here.

 

[aaj117]

I had a 35 with no review course as well. I was also scoring 14s on most of my practice verbals, and ended up with a 12 on the real deal. I used exam krackers review books and the audio osmosis cds, and i studied 2-3 weeks really seriously.