Advice on retaking the mcat!!

[nne97080]

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I need to retake the mcat and I want to go from a 23 to 33 w/o taking a prep course. Any suggestions. I want to study on my own for the next 4 months or so without doing anything else. I am considering Exam Krackers review books cause I am thinking they are more up to date than Berkeley review. Please keep in mind that I have not taken mcat for like 3 years so I am not used to the new exam style. Please suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Medic_2_MD]

I need to retake the mcat and I want to go from a 23 to 33 w/o taking a prep course. Any suggestions. I want to study on my own for the next 4 months or so without doing anything else. I am considering Exam Krackers review books cause I am thinking they are more up to date than Berkeley review. Please keep in mind that I have not taken mcat for like 3 years so I am not used to the new exam style. Please suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

If you want to go the free route, break out your old chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, and organic chem books and start from chapter one and review each chapter. Organize your schedule so that your covering the chapters at an appropriate pace before exam time. You have around 19 weeks before the August exam, so know how many chapters you need to cover each week to complete them all. Do any practice questions that your book offers. Review the chapters over and over until you understand it well enough to move forward. Since you have covered the material once, picking it up again should be much quicker.

As you read along, make flash cards of important points and especially equations involved in chemistry and physics. Review these flashcards everyday.

During the summer, sit in on classes. Summer school classes are usually done at a quicker pace and you can cover ground fairly rapidly.

If you are willing to spend some money, buy some MCAT books that have practice tests in them. They will also offer advice on topics to focus your study efforts on. Kaplan offers review materials that are pretty good.

See about getting some AAMC tests off ebay or from someone willing to give them to you. These will offer good practice.

Also in the MCAT discussion forum, look at the things people did in the 30+ MCAT score section...

Good luck...

 

[djquick83]

I need to retake the mcat and I want to go from a 23 to 33 w/o taking a prep course. Any suggestions. I want to study on my own for the next 4 months or so without doing anything else. I am considering Exam Krackers review books cause I am thinking they are more up to date than Berkeley review. Please keep in mind that I have not taken mcat for like 3 years so I am not used to the new exam style. Please suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Pray to God. 🙄 Not to say that u cant, but 23 to 33 is like a four foot person dunking in the NBA. Layup maybe, but dunking be a little more realistic.

 

[tmarsh]

Last summer I was in your position and took the Princeton Review. I went from a 25 to a 33 by studying from June to Aug. Just do all the assignments(Homework and Practice Exams) and go to class unless you have the topic down cold. It is a lot of work and I studied about six hours a day five days a week but it can be done. Treat it like a job and you can score above 30. Good luck. 👍

 

[nne97080]

Pray to God. 🙄 Not to say that u cant, but 23 to 33 is like a four foot person dunking in the NBA. Layup maybe, but dunking be a little more realistic.

Ok as... you can figure the rest out. Your advice or your discouragement is really not welcomed find another forum where other as....... are ok. thanks 👎

 

[nne97080]

Last summer I was in your position and took the Princeton Review. I went from a 25 to a 33 by studying from June to Aug. Just do all the assignments(Homework and Practice Exams) and go to class unless you have the topic down cold. It is a lot of work and I studied about six hours a day five days a week but it can be done. Treat it like a job and you can score above 30. Good luck. 👍

Thanks for the advice I think I will do that

 

[pyra]

I improved my score from a 20 (4, 8,8) to a 30 (8, 11, 11) using Examkrackers. I started studying in Jan for the April exam. These were my real mcat scores. I got asked in every interview how I improved. The first time I took Princeton Review - this did not help me. The second time I studied on my own using only Examkrackers and AAMC exams. I got 7 interviews and am now accepted to med school)

It is different for every person. Some may find Princeton Review helpful, but I liked the Examkrackers because they only covered what you needed to know.

So a 10 pt improvement is definitely possible - It all depends on how committed you are to studying. Don't watch any TV and be a hermit for a few months and really dedicate yourself to studying.

 

[2bkiddoc]

OP: My best friend went from a 23 in April to 32 in August. She got into medical school (two!!) and is finishing up her second year as we speak.

Whatever you do, dont psyche yourself out. Thats just one person that did it, and if one can, two can as well...

Best of luck...

Pray to God. 🙄 Not to say that u cant, but 23 to 33 is like a four foot person dunking in the NBA. Layup maybe, but dunking be a little more realistic.

 

[nne97080]

I improved my score from a 20 (4, 8,8) to a 30 (8, 11, 11) using Examkrackers. I started studying in Jan for the April exam. These were my real mcat scores. I got asked in every interview how I improved. The first time I took Princeton Review - this did not help me. The second time I studied on my own using only Examkrackers and AAMC exams. I got 7 interviews and am now accepted to med school)

It is different for every person. Some may find Princeton Review helpful, but I liked the Examkrackers because they only covered what you needed to know.

So a 10 pt improvement is definitely possible - It all depends on how committed you are to studying. Don't watch any TV and be a hermit for a few months and really dedicate yourself to studying.

Thank you. I think I will definitely use ExamKrackers and AAMC exams this time. I have heard so many great things about it. Thanks again.

 

[ya herd]

Examkrackers and AAMC exams helped me go from 27 (10, 10, 7) to 34 (12, 12, 10)...Especially the 101 Verbal book. I studied a whole lot more, and took a bunch more practice tests the second time. Study hard and be confident.

YA herd

 

[Kazema]

I think if you're not gonna do a course, the best way to raise your score is either Examkrackers or buying Princeton Review or Kaplan books from ebay or something. A 10 point increase is tough to do but far from impossible if you put in the hours.

I did around 20 hours a week for 4 months and ended up with a 12 point increase, though I did take a course.

 

[sweettelle]

You've really inspired me here Pyra. I hope to following in your foot steps. I have most of the EK material, and AAMC exams, and will be detaching myself from the world for the next 3 months...hoping for the Aug exam

I improved my score from a 20 (4, 8,8) to a 30 (8, 11, 11) using Examkrackers. I started studying in Jan for the April exam. These were my real mcat scores. I got asked in every interview how I improved. The first time I took Princeton Review - this did not help me. The second time I studied on my own using only Examkrackers and AAMC exams. I got 7 interviews and am now accepted to med school)

It is different for every person. Some may find Princeton Review helpful, but I liked the Examkrackers because they only covered what you needed to know.

So a 10 pt improvement is definitely possible - It all depends on how committed you are to studying. Don't watch any TV and be a hermit for a few months and really dedicate yourself to studying.

 

[doctorjoy]

I personally think examkrackers and AAMC aree the best way to go. I just started using examkrackers and it is straight to the point of what you need to know 😀

 

[lotanna]

EK is the way to go!!!! That and the AAMC exams. Take it from someone who took princeton(for free thru summer prog) like 2x, EK only tells u what u need to know!!!! and no they arent paying me 😀 but that got me over the hump, improved MCAT 5 points, and I'm a 1st yr now!!!

 

[bioteacher]

Do not try to study out of college textbooks. Go on Ebay and buy a set of books. Start studying now and put in some serious time. Focus on your weakest area (mine was PS). Take as many mini tests and full length MCATs as possible, though I would wait until you have put in some serious studying so that you can better gauge your weaknesses and then rehit these areas.

I took TBR, and would suggest skipping the classes unless you are not a good self book learner.

Take every single copy of a practice MCAT you can find.

 

[Braveheart]

Anecdoctol- Friend of mine that just got admitted into medical school took the MCAT 3 times. The first time he used only his class notes, hence he made a 24. The second time he used Kaplan Review materials plus the course for several months, however he improved to 25. The third time was a charm he studied for several months Examkrackers but didn't finish all the books, hence a 30. Now he is on his way to MUSC. I will be taking the MCAT in August so I think that I am stinking with EK, AAMC series. Good luck with everyone that is going through AMCAS and studying for the MCAT. 😀

 

[BaLeavaMD]

I improved my score from a 20 (4, 8,8) to a 30 (8, 11, 11) using Examkrackers. I started studying in Jan for the April exam. These were my real mcat scores. I got asked in every interview how I improved. The first time I took Princeton Review - this did not help me. The second time I studied on my own using only Examkrackers and AAMC exams. I got 7 interviews and am now accepted to med school)

It is different for every person. Some may find Princeton Review helpful, but I liked the Examkrackers because they only covered what you needed to know.

So a 10 pt improvement is definitely possible - It all depends on how committed you are to studying. Don't watch any TV and be a hermit for a few months and really dedicate yourself to studying.

AWWW thanks for the inspiration. I am trying to improve my score from a 20. I will be studying EK and using AAMC! I pray that my situation turns out like yours!!

 

[deuist]

OP: My best friend went from a 23 in April to 32 in August. She got into medical school (two!!) and is finishing up her second year as we speak.

Whatever you do, dont psyche yourself out. Thats just one person that did it, and if one can, two can as well...

Best of luck...

I, too, have a friend that improved dramatically (27 to 35). He took Kaplan and studied religiously for three months straight. Seriously, I think that he must have worked 4-6 hours a day to prepare.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Don't let anyone discourage you and keep working on it! One of my Kaplan instructors went from a 19 to a 34.

I agree with what other people here said about getting your hands on some recent practice tests... AAMC 6 through 8 will be best. There's a few Kaplan books you might like as well (the practice test one will be nice.) From what I saw, I like the ExamKracker's as well... the books look really readable and very nice! The Kaplan books stink (I never liked reading them) but they have some nice features like "MCAT favorite", "Mnemonic", "Clinical correlate", and others, which they show in the margins.

Anyway, good luck and you will do fine! 🙂

 

[Sarikate]

I'm trying to improve from a 24 (11V, 8BS, 5PS) to a 30. I took an online Kaplan course last year and it was absolutely the worst waste of money and time EVER. I got the EK books and I am planning to start next weekend. Can't wait (ugh)!

We can DO IT!