40+ MCAT with 27 days total studying.

[Refugee]

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I'm signed up for the May 22nd MCAT. Unfortunately, I haven't felt like studying for the exam since I graduated from my undergraduate school in June...

Plus, I basically finished all pre-reqs my junior year (2007-08), so the material is anything but fresh in my mind.

But guess what? I still have every intention of taking the MCAT on the 22nd and getting a 40+ on it. 😀

I need to kill the MCAT after a series of ridiculously unfortunate personal tragedies destroyed my undergraduate cumulative and especially science GPA in a total of two semesters (think 0.7 decline). I am sitting on a ~3.2 cum. and ~2.9 sci. Yay bad luck.

Anywho, I have 27 days to start and complete my MCAT preparation. This is because I will be in a remote location in the Caribbean for four days towards the beginning of May. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled way long ago and is naturally nonrefundable. Of course, the fact that I have been salivating waiting for the trip for the past couple months may also factor into my intransigence on the subject. Anyhow, it is basically understood that virtually no studying will be undertaken on those days haha.

So, I see it this way: I was a humanities major at one of the best (if not 'the best') schools in the country. I spent a few hours doing practice verbal sections (my only prep so far) and I didn't miss any questions so I am going to assume I can get a 15 on the verbal section and the highest marks on the written (what is that? a 'T'?). That leaves biological and physical sciences. I own the Kaplan 07-08 MCAT premier book, the MCAT in a box flash cards, and the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT. I also have access to three full length AAMC exams.

My long coming question is this: how should I approach preparing for those two sections in the 27 days I have? I have nothing else to do, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Honestly, I think you are being very unrealistic. Unless you are just a pure genius, ridiculously good test taker, or have a very strong content base with a lot of practice, I would say the chances of you scoring 40+ in 27 days is near impossible. You indicated you are rusty and don't have a good foundation, and with only 27 days I don't know how you could physically cover all of the content and practice necessary to get a score like that. All I can say is good luck to you but I would definitely take it another time, IMO.

 

[DrBowtie]

LOL @ counting on a 15 on verbal.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

LOL @ counting on a 15 on verbal.

Amen.

Btw, why are you rushing to take the MCAT when you have a 2.9 science GPA? There is no medical school in the U.S. that will accept you with that, regardless of your MCAT score. I would take care of that first.

 

[TFS]

why don't you take a diagnostic and see how you do? aamc 3 is free.

 

[g8orlife]

Unless you are just a pure genius, ridiculously good test taker, or have a very strong content base with a lot of practice, I would say the chances of you scoring 40+ in 27 days is near impossible.

I would've said "AND" instead of "or" .... but looking at the GPA, I'd scratch off 2 of those 3.

LOL @ counting on a 15 on verbal.

+2

 

[Refugee]

well, in my opinion, i am not a pure genius, but i am intelligent enough to know what i am asking is possible for me. ironically, i actually am a great test taker. apparently g8orlife failed to read my whole post. the reason my GPA is so low is because of a series of extraordinarily unlucky and personally monumental incidents which left me incapable of doing much of anything, much less schoolwork. before those events i had a 3.9 cum gpa and 3.6 sci gpa... which is pretty remarkable for the school i attended. that is why i am confident that i will get into a US medical school even with my low gpa. i just need to get a 30+ and i have a good chance of getting into at least one american school. of course, i would like to shoot higher. the official aamc statistics on matriculant uGPA and MCAT show, for example, that 54% of students with a 2.8-3.0 GPA and 39-45 on the MCAT are accepted.

as for counting on a 15 on verbal, i never actually said that i was counting on it. but i see no reason whatsoever why i should miss a single question on the verbal section. i read very quickly and critically and can digest the material on one run. but if some of you insist on flaming me, so be it. though, i am not sure what you are doing on this forum (i.e. dr. bowtie) if you are a medical student and solely wish to poke fun.

anyhow, thank you to those of you who actually attempted to give advice. TFS, i was thinking of taking #3 in the next couple days just to see what i should focus on. thanks for the suggestion!

 

[FollowTheMoney]

well, in my opinion, i am not a pure genius, but i am intelligent enough to know what i am asking is possible for me. ironically, i actually am a great test taker. apparently g8orlife failed to read my whole post. the reason my GPA is so low is because of a series of extraordinarily unlucky and personally monumental incidents which left me incapable of doing much of anything, much less schoolwork. before those events i had a 3.9 cum gpa and 3.6 sci gpa... which is pretty remarkable for the school i attended. that is why i am confident that i will get into a US medical school even with my low gpa. i just need to get a 30+ and i have a good chance of getting into at least one american school. of course, i would like to shoot higher. the official aamc statistics on matriculant uGPA and MCAT show, for example, that 54% of students with a 2.8-3.0 GPA and 39-45 on the MCAT are accepted.

as for counting on a 15 on verbal, i never actually said that i was counting on it. but i see no reason whatsoever why i should miss a single question on the verbal section. i read very quickly and critically and can digest the material on one run. but if some of you insist on flaming me, so be it. though, i am not sure what you are doing on this forum (i.e. dr. bowtie) if you are a medical student and solely wish to poke fun.

anyhow, thank you to those of you who actually attempted to give advice. TFS, i was thinking of taking #3 in the next couple days just to see what i should focus on. thanks for the suggestion!

My MCAT instructor scored a 33 on his diagnostic and spent a month studying and got a 39. Are you honestly telling me that with poor background knowledge and virtually no time to prepare that you can honestly score 40+? I don't think it even matters how smart you are, there are so many factors that are involved in doing well such as practice, learning the MCAT style, timing, etc., aside from just the content. I promise you than you will need at least a 39 on this test to even have a realistic shot given your GPA. However, you are making it seem like a 39 is such an easy score to get. All I can say is you are in for a rude awakening. Btw, I've never really heard of anyone getting a 15 in Verbal. Even if you don't miss a question there is still a chance of you not getting a 15 due to the curve. I think you need to re-evaluate your situation and start becoming more realistic. No one is trying to be mean or unhelpful, but what you've said thus far is beyond ridiculous. Sorry.

 

[WhiteCoatFuture]

why don't you take a diagnostic and see how you do? aamc 3 is free.

Completely agree w/ TFS. I think taking a Full length will give you an idea of exactly what you're up against. It's amazing how much you forget in a year's time. I hope for your sake it reveals that your 40+ is well within reach but I'm fearing you'll be re-evaluating your test date after that score pops up.

 

[erskine]

I'm signed up for the May 22nd MCAT. Unfortunately, I haven't felt like studying for the exam since I graduated from my undergraduate school in June...

Plus, I basically finished all pre-reqs my junior year (2007-08), so the material is anything but fresh in my mind.

But guess what? I still have every intention of taking the MCAT on the 22nd and getting a 40+ on it. 😀

I need to kill the MCAT after a series of ridiculously unfortunate personal tragedies destroyed my undergraduate cumulative and especially science GPA in a total of two semesters (think 0.7 decline). I am sitting on a ~3.2 cum. and ~2.9 sci. Yay bad luck.

Anywho, I have 27 days to start and complete my MCAT preparation. This is because I will be in a remote location in the Caribbean for four days towards the beginning of May. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled way long ago and is naturally nonrefundable. Of course, the fact that I have been salivating waiting for the trip for the past couple months may also factor into my intransigence on the subject. Anyhow, it is basically understood that virtually no studying will be undertaken on those days haha.

So, I see it this way: I was a humanities major at one of the best (if not 'the best') schools in the country. I spent a few hours doing practice verbal sections (my only prep so far) and I didn't miss any questions so I am going to assume I can get a 15 on the verbal section and the highest marks on the written (what is that? a 'T'?). That leaves biological and physical sciences. I own the Kaplan 07-08 MCAT premier book, the MCAT in a box flash cards, and the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT. I also have access to three full length AAMC exams.

My long coming question is this: how should I approach preparing for those two sections in the 27 days I have? I have nothing else to do, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

good to get this out of the way, since arrogance was definitely one of the adjectives floating around in my head when i read your post.

Maybe you should give us an idea of what your current science background is. 27 days isn't really enough time for any study regime, and if you're using EK or BR, you're going to have to do 2-3 chapters/day, and i doubt if you'll retain that much info in such a brief span of time.

all the more power to you if you can pull off a 40+ in such a short studying cycle, but know you're trying to accomplish a feat that less than a percent of test takers achieve. Personally, i'd choose a later test date since I KNOW that there's no way in hell i'd have even a decent score after only 27 days of studying.

edit: and i just read that you've been out of undergrad for a year? So doesn't that mean you're at least 2-3 years removed from intro bio and gchem? Meaning you'd probably want to cover those subjects pretty thoroughly. i still recommend postponing your test.

 

[Thanatopsis]

Good luck OP, I really hope you reach your goal.

With that in mind, here are my suggestions:

1) If it's in your budget and if they offer it, I'd buy the online access to Kaplan's practice tests. Nix the classroom portion of the package if you can; it wasn't that helpful in my opinion. If you sign up, they will hopefully send you two excellent review books covering physical sciences and bio along with that access to the practice tests. That leads me to #2.

2) Read and reread and reread those review books. They were the basis for my success in the science portion. You're going to have to be very disciplined, even monkish, during those 27 days. None of that procrastination. Don't screw yourself!

3) Do tons of practice questions/tests. This shouldn't be a problem if you can afford Kaplan or a similar deal. Make sure that if you miss something you understand why you missed it (read the explanation).

4) You're going to have to be cold/rational/unemotional going into and during the test. If that's unnatural for you, I'd practice getting into that mindset as you take on practice tests. There's no room for anxiety if you are prepared. And anxiety will eat you if you can't control it on test day.

Important: pick a comprehensive review and master it ie don't spread it out too thin. And PRACTICE Qs/TESTS.

Godspeed.

It really is as simple as that. Don't complicate it.

Another suggestion, just to keep you sane during those 27 days and on your test day: don't think about the numbers. While you're studying, focus on learning and blot out the whole 40+ idea. I really want you to immerse yourself in the material and the ritual of learning. It's much more tolerable that way.

 

[MegaSpectacular]

 

[MegaSpectacular]

2) Read and reread and reread those review books.

You're going to have to be very disciplined, even monkish, during those 27 days.

Do tons of practice questions/tests. .

Important: pick a comprehensive review and master it. And PRACTICE Qs/TESTS.

It really is as simple as that. Don't complicate it.

lol

 

[MegaSpectacular]

On a similar note:

Does anyone know how I can make 1 million dollars in the next 90 days?

 

[NYR56]

Don't mind the naysayers. If you want to do it, you sound like the kind of guy that can do it. If you're curious, I had a low gpa (although I've done post bacc and raised it, you might want to look into that) so I knew I needed a good MCAT. Before I knew anything about the test, I looked up the distribution of scores, saw that a 39 was the 99%ile mark, and decided that's what I wanted to score. Anyone I told that my goal was 39 thought I was crazy but I studied intensely for 6 weeks (with a nice trip to Vegas to break it up) and got my 39.

So anyway, you sort of remind me of myself (minus the humanities major, I am most definitely not that). My advice to you is ditch Kaplan, use EK (perfect for a tight study schedule), and stay confident. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, best of luck to you, and let me know how it turns out.

Edit: I guess I should say that the "naysayers' will probably be right for most people but you know yourself best. Obviously postponing will be a better option but if you think you can do it, go for it. As for the diag, I doubt that's too important. My diag was a 27 (I was also a few years out from some of the prereqs).

Even if you don't miss a question there is still a chance of you not getting a 15 due to the curve.

100% incorrect.

 

[mipp0]

I'm signed up for the May 22nd MCAT. Unfortunately, I haven't felt like studying for the exam since I graduated from my undergraduate school in June...

Plus, I basically finished all pre-reqs my junior year (2007-08), so the material is anything but fresh in my mind.

But guess what? I still have every intention of taking the MCAT on the 22nd and getting a 40+ on it. 😀

I need to kill the MCAT after a series of ridiculously unfortunate personal tragedies destroyed my undergraduate cumulative and especially science GPA in a total of two semesters (think 0.7 decline). I am sitting on a ~3.2 cum. and ~2.9 sci. Yay bad luck.

Anywho, I have 27 days to start and complete my MCAT preparation. This is because I will be in a remote location in the Caribbean for four days towards the beginning of May. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled way long ago and is naturally nonrefundable. Of course, the fact that I have been salivating waiting for the trip for the past couple months may also factor into my intransigence on the subject. Anyhow, it is basically understood that virtually no studying will be undertaken on those days haha.

So, I see it this way: I was a humanities major at one of the best (if not 'the best') schools in the country. I spent a few hours doing practice verbal sections (my only prep so far) and I didn't miss any questions so I am going to assume I can get a 15 on the verbal section and the highest marks on the written (what is that? a 'T'?). That leaves biological and physical sciences. I own the Kaplan 07-08 MCAT premier book, the MCAT in a box flash cards, and the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT. I also have access to three full length AAMC exams.

My long coming question is this: how should I approach preparing for those two sections in the 27 days I have? I have nothing else to do, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude, thank you for this awesome post. Troll or not, it gave me a good laugh.

Here's my advice for you. AIM HIGHER!!! I can tell you're way smarter than a 40+. You're a 45 fo sho.

If you get any less than that, please flog yourself with your arrogance.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Don't mind the naysayers. If you want to do it, you sound like the kind of guy that can do it. If you're curious, I had a low gpa (although I've done post bacc and raised it, you might want to look into that) so I knew I needed a good MCAT. Before I knew anything about the test, I looked up the distribution of scores, saw that a 39 was the 99%ile mark, and decided that's what I wanted to score. Anyone I told that my goal was 39 thought I was crazy but I studied intensely for 6 weeks (with a nice trip to Vegas to break it up) and got my 39.

So anyway, you sort of remind me of myself (minus the humanities major, I am most definitely not that). My advice to you is ditch Kaplan, use EK (perfect for a tight study schedule), and stay confident. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, best of luck to you, and let me know how it turns out.

Edit: I guess I should say that the "naysayers' will probably be right for most people but you know yourself best. Obviously postponing will be a better option but if you think you can do it, go for it. As for the diag, I doubt that's too important. My diag was a 27 (I was also a few years out from some of the prereqs).


100% incorrect.

Agreed on Kaplan. However, you had 6 weeks and a much more extensive science background than the OP, not to mention an extra 3 weeks. I think what this person is trying to accomplish is near impossible in the time given. Btw, LOL @ "Does anyone know how I can make 1 million dollars in the next 90 days?"...Kinda seems like the same odds as this person getting a 40 in 3 weeks with deficient content review and practice.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude, thank you for this awesome post. Troll or not, it gave me a good laugh.

Here's my advice for you. AIM HIGHER!!! I can tell you're way smarter than a 40+. You're a 45 fo sho.

If you get any less than that, please flog yourself with your arrogance.

LMAO and +1

 

[Thanatopsis]

use EK

I've no personal experience with EK, but I've heard good things.

 

[NYR56]

Agreed on Kaplan. However, you had 6 weeks and a much more extensive science background than the OP, not to mention an extra 3 weeks. I think what this person is trying to accomplish is near impossible in the time given. Btw, LOL @ "Does anyone know how I can make 1 million dollars in the next 90 days?"...Kinda seems like the same odds as this person getting a 40 in 3 weeks with deficient content review and practice.

True, but I got the impression that the OP is extremely intelligent so it could be possible. Although you're right about the science background, that might prove difficult. The time is obviously less but if they are really dedicated, 4 weeks can be more studying than 3 months for the average person. Not knowing the person, is he likely they will succeed? Of course not, but I'd like to think that if someone has this much confidence, it's based on something.

I have to admit I laughed at the million dollars post. 😀

 

[ertwro]

It's possible! Procrastinators are overall extremely good at cram...I'm guessing you internalized the basic principles of your science background. Problem is they are the kind of person who suck as doctors. Wish you the best luck. Do tons of practice questions, and stop fooling around here go back to study.

P. S. med-school is the best treatment for chronic procrastination.

 

[CentralPerKam]

You know what ... if everything you claim about yourself is true, then I don't doubt that you can score in the mid 30's, maybe a 40, on the MCAT. It'll take a lot of energy and effort in a very short period of time, though.

I'd start by using EK books, doing three chapters a day, and doing all the in-lecture and 30 minute exams that are included in those books. Since it sounds like you'd be able to retain most of the important information you read, I'd spend most of my time doing practice problems. After the first two weeks, take a practice exam. Every following week up until your test date take another exam. If you could score a 14 on verbal, and 12 on BS and PS, you could be very close to your goal.

Anyways, good luck on your studies. Hopefully this info will help.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

You know what ... if everything you claim about yourself is true, then I don't doubt that you can score in the mid 30's, maybe a 40, on the MCAT. It'll take a lot of energy and effort in a very short period of time, though.

I'd start by using EK books, doing three chapters a day, and doing all the in-lecture and 30 minute exams that are included in those books. Since it sounds like you'd be able to retain most of the important information you read, I'd spend most of my time doing practice problems. After the first two weeks, take a practice exam. Every following week up until your test date take another exam. If you could score a 14 on verbal, and 12 on BS and PS, you could be very close to your goal.

Anyways, good luck on your studies. Hopefully this info will help.

Dude this person has 27 DAYS, which means they have 3.5 weeks to study. According to your schedule, the person would have to time for 2 or 3 practice tests....haha...well...good luck

 

[Oncoloman]

Amen.

Btw, why are you rushing to take the MCAT when you have a 2.9 science GPA? There is no medical school in the U.S. that will accept you with that, regardless of your MCAT score. I would take care of that first.

Well, I've seen worst accepted...but the fact that it was after his first years would just make it hard to convince adcoms he's ready to study hard for med school. Still though, I wouldn't count this man out if he got a 40+. Anything is possible. One fellow in the 1/31 forum claimed 3.5 weeks of studying and got a 41 so who knows. There are 3.8 40+ students who get rejected just as fast as those who have lower stats. Remember, they do evaluate personality and character. People always seem to forget this and just get caught up in numbers.

 

[Oncoloman]

You know what ... if everything you claim about yourself is true, then I don't doubt that you can score in the mid 30's, maybe a 40, on the MCAT. It'll take a lot of energy and effort in a very short period of time, though.

I'd start by using EK books, doing three chapters a day, and doing all the in-lecture and 30 minute exams that are included in those books. Since it sounds like you'd be able to retain most of the important information you read, I'd spend most of my time doing practice problems. After the first two weeks, take a practice exam. Every following week up until your test date take another exam. If you could score a 14 on verbal, and 12 on BS and PS, you could be very close to your goal.

Anyways, good luck on your studies. Hopefully this info will help.

Nicely said.👍 Way to give POSITIVE feedback.

Legitboss, I hope you never are in a life or death situation as a doctor which calls for you to be optimistic. Seriously man, think about it. 😕

 

[mipp0]

Nicely said.👍 Way to give POSITIVE feedback.

Legitboss, I hope you never are in a life or death situation as a doctor which calls for you to be optimistic. Seriously man, think about it. 😕

You're chastising the man for being realistic!?!? LOL, oh man I'd hate to be your patient.

Oncoloman: "Mippo, you have terminal cancer with virtually no chance to live, and though all my colleagues, scientific analysis, and objective reasoning disagree with me, I know you'll be OK, because I believe in POSITIVE feedback and magic."

Mippo: "Thanks Oncoloman. You'z crazy, but I believe in your POSITIVE feedback."

(Stay tuned...)

Call a spade a spade.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

oh comma now that changes everything.

 

[vin5cent0]

Even I know that GPA is a poor indicator of intelligence, but c'mon, "ridiculously intelligent" and you can't even muster a B average in sciences? I'd say I'm mildly smart, and doing poorly in a science class is getting a B.

 

[Ahsan]

I'm signed up for the May 22nd MCAT. Unfortunately, I haven't felt like studying for the exam since I graduated from my undergraduate school in June...

Plus, I basically finished all pre-reqs my junior year (2007-08), so the material is anything but fresh in my mind.

But guess what? I still have every intention of taking the MCAT on the 22nd and getting a 40+ on it. 😀

I need to kill the MCAT after a series of ridiculously unfortunate personal tragedies destroyed my undergraduate cumulative and especially science GPA in a total of two semesters (think 0.7 decline). I am sitting on a ~3.2 cum. and ~2.9 sci. Yay bad luck.

Anywho, I have 27 days to start and complete my MCAT preparation. This is because I will be in a remote location in the Caribbean for four days towards the beginning of May. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled way long ago and is naturally nonrefundable. Of course, the fact that I have been salivating waiting for the trip for the past couple months may also factor into my intransigence on the subject. Anyhow, it is basically understood that virtually no studying will be undertaken on those days haha.

So, I see it this way: I was a humanities major at one of the best (if not 'the best') schools in the country. I spent a few hours doing practice verbal sections (my only prep so far) and I didn't miss any questions so I am going to assume I can get a 15 on the verbal section and the highest marks on the written (what is that? a 'T'?). That leaves biological and physical sciences. I own the Kaplan 07-08 MCAT premier book, the MCAT in a box flash cards, and the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT. I also have access to three full length AAMC exams.

My long coming question is this: how should I approach preparing for those two sections in the 27 days I have? I have nothing else to do, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

Umm.. ok. ok. I see.
So, instead of asking others for their , JUST DO IT! Study your ass of for 27 days and see where you're at with terms of practice scores and all. We just think its rare to study for 27 days and get a 40+. But, who knows maybe your an exception to the rule. If I were you, study study and study rather than posting on SDN and asking for our opinion. Because, you might not like what we have to say, but than again its your life. your brain. We can't say anything that you can or cant do!

 

[FuSoYa]

I'm being very serious here, please come back and let us know how you did.

 

[Lacipart]

Uh... good luck. I have a few friends like you, and from what I gather, the MCAT eats you guys for breakfast. One of my friends was always like "i have a 150 IQ, I'm really smart but just lazy so I only have a 3.1, but I'll destroy that MCAT, 38+ for sure!"

Yea... he got a 21.

Anyway, my piece of actual advice is to use the ExamKrackers series. They are the most compressed and concentrated lecture books I have ever seen. You can literally review the entire subject of Biology in about a day if you have good reading retention.
Kapplan or Berkeley Review takes about 4x as long to read as EK

I suggest reading all the EK books and taking a practice test, all within the first 7 days. Then spend the next 2 weeks doing practive problems and working on stuff you got wrong.

 

[ThePrincetonReview]

Hey Refugee,

I noticed your post and I would suggest taking a practice test ASAP. If you would like The Princeton Review offers a free MCAT practice test. We will score it and let you know what areas you need to work on. If you want to discuss your results with a test prep expert you can contact Anthony Russomanno at [email protected]. He may by able to give you some insight and studying stratgies. Hope that helps & good luck! 🙂


here is a link to the free practice test: http://www.princetonreview.com/medical/free-mcat-practice-test.aspx

 

[ThePrincetonReview]

Hey Refugee,

I noticed your post and I would suggest taking a practice test ASAP. If you would like The Princeton Review offers a free MCAT practice test. We will score it and let you know what areas you need to work on. If you want to discuss your results with a test prep expert you can contact Anthony Russomanno at [email protected]. He may by able to give you some insight and studying stratgies. Hope that helps & good luck!


here is a link to the free practice test: http://www.princetonreview.com/medical/free-mcat-practice-test.aspx

 

[StayingFocused]

I think you will be in for a terrible surprise soon.

Have you thought about Ross?

 

[Mr Karatepants]

I'm torn on how to respond to you.

On one hand, I sympathize slightly. I'm an excellent test taker - I've never scored lower than the 99%ile on a standardized test, including SAT, ACT, SATII, GRE, and you guessed it...MCAT. I scored a 34 on my first assessment before taking Orgo and when I posted elsewhere that I thought I could get above 38, I took a lot of criticism. In the end, it took me two hard months of studying and my AAMC practice tests went: (34), 37, 40, 40, 42, ...(never dropped below 40 after that).

On the other hand, your mindset is totally wrong, and some of your expectations unrealistic. I function at a graduate level in physics and bio, so I only needed to review a little chem here and there to fill in the gaps. You, on the other hand, are lacking in the sciences so your score will suffer in two sections.

Here's the thing about verbal - I read very quickly and comprehension is a snap, so you'd think verbal would be a guaranteed perfect. However, verbal basically consists of 35 no brainer questions and then 5 legitimately ambiguous questions where you see two acceptable correct answers. It's B.S., because you are stuck choosing between two semi-correct answers that made it through the AAMC vetting process. You miss one, 14. You miss two, 13. Miss four, you're a 12. You cannot count on a 15 on verbal no matter how good of a "humanities major" you are.

I don't think you should be thinking about your 40+ until you take your first AAMC assessment. If you can do a 36+ on your first shot, I'd say you could get up to a 50/50 chance at a 40 in a month. Keep in mind your MCAT score will probably be 2-3 points below your best AAMC practice. I scored 40+ and this was true for me as well.

 

[Excelsius]

OP, intelligence is definitely important, but the problem is this: once you are smart enough, the most important characteristic of success becomes not your intelligence, but your determination and hard work. I don't think it is impossible to do very well on MCAT after studying for four weeks; however, you yourself admitted that you procrastinate and here you are with 27 days left and haven't even started studying. What this means is that your intelligence is not going to matter in this case. It will be unlikely that you will do well on the MCAT unless you solve your procrastination problem in a matter of hours. If you do that and you don't have a demanding job/schoolwork, you can do it. If you don't, you should postpone your test.

Here is another problem: if you are only now trying to find out how to study, chances are that you do not have all the prep material. They alone can take an entire week or weeks to obtain. So be realistic.

 

[Refugee]

I just wanted to thank everyone who gave me sincere advice. I fully understand that what I am asking is incredibly difficult and truly a daunting challenge.

I think Excelsius really hit the nail on the head. I completely agree with him/her. But, happily, I have finally kicked Mr. Procrastination in the ass. While I am looking into postponing until the June 17th date, I have started studying and obtained a large amount of extra material including all the Examkrackers material, the Gold Standard DVDs, and the Nova MCAT Physics book. (It really helps to have friends who have already taken the MCAT! ). Tomorrow I will take AAMC#3 just to get a general feeling of the exam. I don't expect to get high marks on PS or BS, but whatever haha.

As for postponing until June 17th, that doesn't seem too likely considering that there are no open seats for that date in my entire state! I would need the 2pm time too, further reducing the probability of finding a seat (I want to be at my full potential during the exam... and that is definitely not at 8am haha).

Anywho, thanks again to everyone for their advice. I already knew a majority of you would think me insane (and rationally so). But I am going to try and do what I can. Naturally, I'll report in and let you all know whether the cynics (who fancy themselves realists) or optimists were right. 👍

 

[Maneuver]

ROCK ON BROTHER!!!

I have the same goal except I'm taking the May 27th MCAT and started with 37 days to study. I'm not as brave as you though as I don't need much content review.

OK, woke up at 330am this morning... back to studying

Keep us posted on your progress!!!

 

[khushiamar]

Thank you for your nice post. I wish you good luck for your preparation for MCAT. I hope you do very well and achieve your goal. From your post it reminds me about my own situation coz I am not having very competitive GPA. But I am confident about my hard work. I believe that I will get 39 on my MCAT. But after reading some posts on SDN my confidence level got down. But your post really helped me in motivating me for my goal.Once again wish you good luck

I'm signed up for the May 22nd MCAT. Unfortunately, I haven't felt like studying for the exam since I graduated from my undergraduate school in June...

Plus, I basically finished all pre-reqs my junior year (2007-08), so the material is anything but fresh in my mind.

But guess what? I still have every intention of taking the MCAT on the 22nd and getting a 40+ on it. 😀

I need to kill the MCAT after a series of ridiculously unfortunate personal tragedies destroyed my undergraduate cumulative and especially science GPA in a total of two semesters (think 0.7 decline). I am sitting on a ~3.2 cum. and ~2.9 sci. Yay bad luck.

Anywho, I have 27 days to start and complete my MCAT preparation. This is because I will be in a remote location in the Caribbean for four days towards the beginning of May. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled way long ago and is naturally nonrefundable. Of course, the fact that I have been salivating waiting for the trip for the past couple months may also factor into my intransigence on the subject. Anyhow, it is basically understood that virtually no studying will be undertaken on those days haha.

So, I see it this way: I was a humanities major at one of the best (if not 'the best') schools in the country. I spent a few hours doing practice verbal sections (my only prep so far) and I didn't miss any questions so I am going to assume I can get a 15 on the verbal section and the highest marks on the written (what is that? a 'T'?). That leaves biological and physical sciences. I own the Kaplan 07-08 MCAT premier book, the MCAT in a box flash cards, and the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT. I also have access to three full length AAMC exams.

My long coming question is this: how should I approach preparing for those two sections in the 27 days I have? I have nothing else to do, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent. I just have a 'slight' procrastination problem 😉.... Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem (actually, quite the opposite).

Thank you for your help.

 

[CentralPerKam]

"Tomorrow I will take AAMC#3 just to get a general feeling of the exam. I don't expect to get high marks on PS or BS, but whatever haha."



Refugee, I wouldn't take that exam. It won't give you an accurate representation of how ready you are. Take AAMC #7 or #8, and you'll have a better idea of where you're at.

 

[shishicd]

I've been lurking on this forum for a while since I took my MCAT, but I feel compelled to reply here because many of Refugee's conditions mirror my own. I, too, am a horrible procrastinator, and I started studying on May 1st for an MCAT I took on May 28th after my 3rd year of undergrad. I ended up scoring 44S. So it's possible... but it's not going to be easy.
Refugee -- the first thing you need to understand is that any arrogance over this exam will be your downfall. You need to throw procrastination out the window for a month and work harder than you ever have before.
If you're as good a student as you claim to be, then you know better than anyone how you should study. For me, I learned best by doing practice problems. You might do best by reading or writing notes -- no one can tell you how to learn in such a tight timeframe, but you have to make every day count and work as efficiently as possible.
Taking a 'diagnostic' without studying is worthless. I scored 27 on a Kaplan diagnostic before studying. Do a round of content review first, then work a practice exam into your schedule every few days after that so you can hone in on the areas that need improvement. Get your hands on as much practice material as possible and carefully monitor your progress in the different subjects so you can maximize improvement by identifying trouble areas.
I highly recommend skimming an mcat review book just to get an idea of what topics are covered, and then printing off the list of mcat topics off the aamc website and making sure you study each one thoroughly. Since the difference between 40+ and 39 is just a few questions, you need to know everything that's testable. Last of all, GET OFF SDN AND GET TO WORK!
Best of luck.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

I've been lurking on this forum for a while since I took my MCAT, but I feel compelled to reply here because many of Refugee's conditions mirror my own. I, too, am a horrible procrastinator, and I started studying on May 1st for an MCAT I took on May 28th after my 3rd year of undergrad. I ended up scoring 44S. So it's possible... but it's not going to be easy.
Refugee -- the first thing you need to understand is that any arrogance over this exam will be your downfall. You need to throw procrastination out the window for a month and work harder than you ever have before.
If you're as good a student as you claim to be, then you know better than anyone how you should study. For me, I learned best by doing practice problems. You might do best by reading or writing notes -- no one can tell you how to learn in such a tight timeframe, but you have to make every day count and work as efficiently as possible.
Taking a 'diagnostic' without studying is worthless. I scored 27 on a Kaplan diagnostic before studying. Do a round of content review first, then work a practice exam into your schedule every few days after that so you can hone in on the areas that need improvement. Get your hands on as much practice material as possible and carefully monitor your progress in the different subjects so you can maximize improvement by identifying trouble areas.
I highly recommend skimming an mcat review book just to get an idea of what topics are covered, and then printing off the list of mcat topics off the aamc website and making sure you study each one thoroughly. Since the difference between 40+ and 39 is just a few questions, you need to know everything that's testable. Last of all, GET OFF SDN AND GET TO WORK!
Best of luck.

And I scored a 45T....

 

[PhilIvey]

And I scored a 45T....

Um, she really did get that score. I know two people personally that got 43s. Bleargh said his instructor taught someone that got a 45S. So, they do exist.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Um, she really did get that score. I know two people personally that got 43s. Bleargh said his instructor taught someone that got a 45S. So, they do exist.

damn son how do you dig these things up

 

[stoptouchingme]

damn son how do you dig these things up

You guys crack me up!!!

 

[RokKidA]

I would say only consider taking this test if you work well under a lot of added pressure, have a set schedule planned out everyday with the materials set that you are going to use, and already have a good idea where your weaknesses in the content lie.

 

[avatarftw]

a

 

[BillyBlanco]

Disclaimer: I am a very fast learner and pretty ridiculously intelligent.

Also, I am nowhere as arrogant as this post will make me seem.

You forgot to mention you're a *******. But it was in the subtext, so no worries.🙂

 

[g8orlife]

You forgot to mention you're a *******. But it was in the subtext, so no worries.🙂

Boy, that was quick. Mods are on the ball when it comes to troll-banning.

😛

 

[FollowTheMoney]

You forgot to mention you're a *******. But it was in the subtext, so no worries.🙂

LOL......no comment 😀