Advice on increasing MCAT ( have a 500)

[SFW786]

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Hi everyone,

I took the MCAT in September and scored a 500. I am not proud of it, but I feel that with more hard work, I can improve it by atleasta couple of points. I scored a really low 123 on the verbal section, 127 on Psych and 125 on both the BS and PS sections. I am a Texas resident, and I will be applying in May. On my first MCAT, I scored a 16 ( terrible, I know), but I was depressed due to family situations, and did not study enough. I should have cancelled the test, but I was not considering the possibility of voiding or taking a gap year at that point. That was one of the last dates before the new MCAT, and I did not want to take the new one. SO, I consoled myself by saying "this will be a "practice" one, and then I can always retake if I do bad. So, I got a 16, and then retook and got a 500 ( 51 percentile) . Now, I know that even that is not competitive. I need to improve drastically, and Iw as hoping someone could recommend ways to raise that to atleast a 506. Thank you!

 

[mathnerd88]

Keep taking practice exams. That's the only thing that can help people improve. Keep taking them, and really try to understand where you went wrong in those questions that you answered wrong.

 

[deleted407021]

Keep taking practice exams. That's the only thing that can help people improve. Keep taking them, and really try to understand where you went wrong in those questions that you answered wrong.

Also, try to understand why you got the other answers right.

Understand both the right and wrong.

 

[sizillyd]

Do as many problems as you can. On each question UNDERSTAND why the correct answer is correct. Also, what could you change in the question stem that would make the incorrect answers correct? This is a really good exercise to expose any weak areas. Get the AAMC official guide, do the problems on Khan Academy, and read in your spare time. Also go to youtube and watch some videos on the psychology of learning. Use the Pomodoro Study Technique. Good luck. The MCAT used to be a problem for me. I defeated it and have been accepted. You will too.

 

[jtm0021]

Is a 500 really that terrible? I made a 502 with an average DO applicant GPA and I got in.

 

[123456123456]

Well it is still a definite improvement from a 16 so keep that in mind and I feel like you would have a shot with that MCAT score for sure depending on your GPA and ECs but I also understand wanting to shoot higher( especially if you have specific schools in mind). If I was you, I would concentrate on verbal since it was your weak point and do practice tests and get the MCAT 2015 study books. The verbal ones have good tips

 

[OrdinaryDO]

Like mentioned above, do as many problems as you can, go through ALL of the Khan Academy videos and do practice tests. The key to practice tests is not to see your raw score improvement, it is to see where you are needing to improve. You go through and look at EVERY answer, right or wrong, and analyze it, (Did I really know this answer? Am I conformatble with this topic? Why did I get this one wrong? Was I anywhere close to the right answer?) and try to find mnemonics for helping to memorize hard material.

 

[Klvolley]

Here's my story.
I took the mcat three times. The first time I scored a 21 and then the second I scored a 24. I was so depressed because I thought I had studied well. For the third test I completed changed my study habits. What I did was take notes of each Kaplan book and reviewed them constantly. I had more than over 100 pages of written notes and took practice tests. I also listened to the ExamKrackers audio books any time I had to walk around campus. So I took the new MCAT and ended up getting a 511. So don't give up, there is always hope!

 

[Klvolley]

Here's my story.
I took the mcat three times. The first time I scored a 21 and then the second I scored a 24. I was so depressed because I thought I had studied well. For the third test I completed changed my study habits. What I did was take notes of each Kaplan book and reviewed them constantly. I had more than over 100 pages of written notes and took practice tests. I also listened to the ExamKrackers audio books any time I had to walk around campus. So I took the new MCAT and ended up getting a 511.