Advice Needed

[BCqueen]

Hello All,

I am taking Kaplan in preperation for the April MCAT and I am getting very frustrated with myself. I find that everytime I go to the Kaplan center to do a physical science topical exam, I get very discouraged by the number that I get wrong that I don't even want to do them anymore. I also find myself glazing over the explanations without really trying to understand them. I find myself feeling the same way when I do AAMC practice passages in physical sciences too (Mainly Physics). What do you guys suggest I do? How many should I should I be getting right on the Topical tests and the AAMC practice tests at this point? What advice do you have to keep me in The Center and keep Trying even when I get them wrong? I guess what I'm asking for is some motivational advice . . . Thanks in advance.

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[LoneCoyote]

Originally posted by BCqueen
Hello All,

I am taking Kaplan in preperation for the April MCAT and I am getting very frustrated with myself. I find that everytime I go to the Kaplan center to do a physical science topical exam, I get very discouraged by the number that I get wrong that I don't even want to do them anymore. I also find myself glazing over the explanations without really trying to understand them. I find myself feeling the same way when I do AAMC practice passages in physical sciences too (Mainly Physics). What do you guys suggest I do? How many should I should I be getting right on the Topical tests and the AAMC practice tests at this point? What advice do you have to keep me in The Center and keep Trying even when I get them wrong? I guess what I'm asking for is some motivational advice . . . Thanks in advance.

Well, I was a crew coxswain in college and think I got pretty good at motivating people so I'll give it a try First of all, I am studying to take the April MCAT myself so I can't tell you how many you should be getting right. I know that when I work on the Physics part of my PR homework I usually struggle questions myself. One thing that helped me was to do only a few problems at a time, then look back and check the answers, and try to understand what I did wrong. When I do the whole section and then look back I am often too tired to deal with going back over everything. Also, how long are you studying for? I find my max is about 4 hours with a couple of breaks and after that I cannot take anymore. I've also found it helpful to review the book and even take some notes before I go to do the practice problems. If I go with what I learned in class I tend to get a lot wrong.

But just keep at it. I seriously think that by doing all of these problems it will help improve your scores even if you get a lot wrong now. I've heard from several people that Physical Sciences are the easiest to improve by doing lots of problems so I think you are on the right track with what you're doing. There is still lots of time to go and just by familiarizing yourself with the format of the test you will get better. In a way I think it's like learning O-Chem. Friends who have taken it tell me it will all come together more in a month or two after we've been practicing and studyinf for awhile. So don't get down about it. Just keep going to the center and doing the problems and try to get as much out of it as you can. If that means doing fewer problems and really understanding what you did wrong then go with that. If it means doing more problems and checking the answers another day, try that. Good luck!

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by BCqueen
Hello All,

I am taking Kaplan in preperation for the April MCAT and I am getting very frustrated with myself. I find that everytime I go to the Kaplan center to do a physical science topical exam, I get very discouraged by the number that I get wrong that I don't even want to do them anymore. I also find myself glazing over the explanations without really trying to understand them. I find myself feeling the same way when I do AAMC practice passages in physical sciences too (Mainly Physics). What do you guys suggest I do? How many should I should I be getting right on the Topical tests and the AAMC practice tests at this point? What advice do you have to keep me in The Center and keep Trying even when I get them wrong? I guess what I'm asking for is some motivational advice . . . Thanks in advance.

BCqueen-

I can definitely relate to your post. I have been getting the exact same discouraging feeling while doing my Physics Topical Tests from Kaplan. The few that I've done have been extremely hard for me and I often only get a few questions right out of the 17-20 on the test. It's very frustrating and I often want to quit myself. Also I find that much of the new stuff I learn gets so jumbled around in my head that I fear I'll mix up some simple concept and screw up the question.

The only thing we can do is keep plugging away and hope that it pays off in the end. If you just keep working at it and practicing I have a feeling it will fall into place for you. Best of luck!!!

 

[bottomfeeder]

in addition to what everyone else recommend (which i completely agree on) try seeing if there is someone in your kap class or at the center whom you can do physic with. For me sharing the burden of a difficult subject matter helps to jump start me to spend more meaningful time with the material

i am also doing kap, and i do acknowledge, that physic is very difficult for me. all i can handle is one topical test passage at a time, untimed. I would then take a long break studying another subject and then go back and do another passage. when i get the concept i make sure that i practice it and constantly reveiw it.

forget about your score for now and simply focus on learning the material. you'll feel better when u can understand it, subsequently score better as a result.

bf