I have just started my MCAT studying and took my first practice exam today and scored a 494, Psych: 122, CARS: 126, BS: 123, PS: 123. I bought the examkrackers set and have been following their schedule, and I have not done any review except read over the CARS first two lectures. I think I can improve on my psych cause it seems pretty easy I just need to review psych, but while taking the BS and PS, especially BS, I felt very unsure about so many questions, should I just review with Examkrackers or use other books. Also, is it possible to get up to a 510 score by January with about 20 hours studying a week? I have taken every class that is reviewed on the MCAT except I am in Biochem 1 right now taking Biochem 2 next semester, and i still need to take Physics 2, but I have taken it already during senior year high school.
494 AAMC first test, is that decent?
- Thread starter YoungD
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A 494 puts you at less than 50th percentile (around 26th percentile). While not terrible since you haven't begun studying, there will still be an upward battle to get to a 510 (around 80th percentile). 3 months should be plenty of time to study--it just depends on how well you can internalize and apply the info you study. Getting yourself to a 510 in these months is solely on you
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You have plenty of time to work on reviewing for the material so that's great! The initial exam just helps you gauge certain things you may be more comfortable with moving forward. Your Psych score will definitely increase as you review because the material is just memorization for the most part in my opinion. Try to setup a schedule and stick to it as much as possible when preparing for the MCAT because if you start to deviate a lot from the schedule you will get behind at times. You'll do great I'm sure!
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While you're taking the courses you still need to, try to follow along what you're learning in class with the EK materials so that you make sure you're really mastering the concepts that'll end up on the MCAT. Look at the way that the MCAT frames these topics, since it may be a bit different than how your professor frames them/asks questions!
That should be sufficient time to prepare, given that you are allowing for appropriate time to apply the material and practice with questions. Students often want to delay starting practice until they feel "ready" content-wise, but this often results in students delaying too long. Toward this end, I recommend you start practicing with questions before you feel "100%" on content, because odds are you'll never quite feel that way (since there's a lot of content on the MCAT, you could study these concepts forever!). This also means that you can learn what content areas are giving you trouble sooner rather than later. I hope this helps!
That should be sufficient time to prepare, given that you are allowing for appropriate time to apply the material and practice with questions. Students often want to delay starting practice until they feel "ready" content-wise, but this often results in students delaying too long. Toward this end, I recommend you start practicing with questions before you feel "100%" on content, because odds are you'll never quite feel that way (since there's a lot of content on the MCAT, you could study these concepts forever!). This also means that you can learn what content areas are giving you trouble sooner rather than later. I hope this helps!
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My first practice exam was 496. I studied inconsistently for 6 months and was up to ~500-503 range. Then I studied hard (6-8 hrs a day) for 2-3 months and got a 512 on the real thing and multiple 515+ practice tests.
