3rd time taking MCAT. Study tips needed!

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confusedstudent213

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I took the MCAT for the first time in January and then again April. Both times I got a 496 even though I was scoring in the 507-509 range before the second attempt. Since I already took the AAMC exams, I was thinking of buying the Next Step full length exams for more practice. Any thoughts on Next Step or ExamKrackers? I dont understand why my score was so low on the actual exam so any study tips for improvement would be really helpful!!!
 
  1. Get an understanding of WHY you scored so poorly. Go beyond "well Q45 could have been D instead of B, so I guess I should've marked that instead." Did you run out of time? Did you rush through because you thought you didn't have enough time? Which question types did you struggle on? For example, did "Reasoning Beyond the Text" questions bring down your score on CARS? Maybe you spent way too much time on one question like that when you could have marked it, skipped, and come back later. Same goes for all sections. "Why did I score a 123 on P/S but score a 127 on B/B? Was I just tired? Did I shrug off P/S because I underestimated how hard it'd be? Anxious to leave the testing center?" Typically, the MCAT has one very hard section that questions your intelligence and patience. Then it'll have two sections on-par with standard MCAT difficulty. The other section usually is easier for people and they finish with a good amount of time.
  2. Take a bunch of practice passages along with content review. AAMC is a great resource when you get through a bulk of the content; they show solutions, how they drew the conclusion, and will analyze what foundation skills you need to work on, what question types you're good/bad at, etc. Invaluable IMHO. The best, in terms of thinking CRITICALLY, is TBR (2011 or 2015 versions.) The old books present the passages very similarly to the real test. You can probably find them cheap somewhere online. TBR > Kaplan > EK for content (never used TPR outside of CARS, nor have I used NS.)
  3. When you think you're good for the test, keep practicing even more. Utilize everything you can.
 
I purchased the 6 exams pack from NextStep after doing the free diagnostic and full-length exams. I finished 4 full-length exams so far and I found them really helpful. I think the passages are relatively representative to the actual MCAT. Unlike Kaplan, they are not highly focused on content. In my opinion, they were well worth the investment. Also, I read a couple of comments about NS here and people seem to like them.

Good luck on your exam.
 
First, don't be discouraged. I've personally helped many students go from sub-500 to well into the mid 500s. There's a post on MCAT Reddit right now from a guy who went 488 to 520?...or something close to that. You might ask him what he found most helpful. Personally, I believe the MCAT is more simple than people make it out to be.

1) It requires that you understand all of those basic sciences CONCEPTUALLY
2) It requires that you become proficient at reading challenging experimental passages and boiling them down to their basic components.


Ask yourself honestly, how good at those two items were you when you took the exam before? I'll bet that if I asked you right now to teach me the underlying CONCEPTS, the how and why, behind major topics like equilibrium, catalysis, central dogma, etc., you'd struggle to confidently do so. I'm being a bit presumptuous there, but I always start with my retake students by asking them a few basic questions about acid/base or equilibrium, something like "Tell me, what is Keq?" or "Describe and draw out for me what is going on with all of the molecules in the solution during every step of a titration." I usually get blank stares or pretty messy attempts. It is surprising how often we've only memorized some random stuff and when someone asks us to teach it back to someone else, or explain how it works at its most basic level, we can't. So, that's actually good news. Once you can confidently conceptualize and reteach all of the major topics on the AAMC list, and once you no longer feel intimidated by hairy experimental passages, then you can absolutely sit for the exam again and expect NOT to earn a score anywhere near your previous one.

I sensed in your original post a sense of helplessness, almost "What can I do now?" My two points above are an effort to show you that there is a lot you can still do. Once you've changed your behavior and conceptual understanding significantly, I promise you the score will follow.
 
study.com has videos that are so easy to understand for the mcat. I'm also taking the test for the third time. and yes you're right, i feel like i understand it but maybe i don't. i think ill pretend to explain concepts to my imaginary friend every day.
 
First, don't be discouraged. I've personally helped many students go from sub-500 to well into the mid 500s. There's a post on MCAT Reddit right now from a guy who went 488 to 520?...or something close to that. You might ask him what he found most helpful. Personally, I believe the MCAT is more simple than people make it out to be.

1) It requires that you understand all of those basic sciences CONCEPTUALLY
2) It requires that you become proficient at reading challenging experimental passages and boiling them down to their basic components.


Ask yourself honestly, how good at those two items were you when you took the exam before? I'll bet that if I asked you right now to teach me the underlying CONCEPTS, the how and why, behind major topics like equilibrium, catalysis, central dogma, etc., you'd struggle to confidently do so. I'm being a bit presumptuous there, but I always start with my retake students by asking them a few basic questions about acid/base or equilibrium, something like "Tell me, what is Keq?" or "Describe and draw out for me what is going on with all of the molecules in the solution during every step of a titration." I usually get blank stares or pretty messy attempts. It is surprising how often we've only memorized some random stuff and when someone asks us to teach it back to someone else, or explain how it works at its most basic level, we can't. So, that's actually good news. Once you can confidently conceptualize and reteach all of the major topics on the AAMC list, and once you no longer feel intimidated by hairy experimental passages, then you can absolutely sit for the exam again and expect NOT to earn a score anywhere near your previous one.

I sensed in your original post a sense of helplessness, almost "What can I do now?" My two points above are an effort to show you that there is a lot you can still do. Once you've changed your behavior and conceptual understanding significantly, I promise you the score will follow.

EXCELLENT POST!
 
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