Am I screwed??

[Sartre79]

Hello all,
I wanted some opinions, hopefully from experience of my current situation. I work full time, am taking Princeton Review. My first diag was a 17, second was an 18. I DO NOT have a science background...just the pre reqs. Is there enough time to pull this up. I can only study 4 to 5 hours M, W , F and all day on Sat and Sun. T and R are shot due to TPR class. Any perspectives? Thanks

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[Taty]

Hello all,
I wanted some opinions, hopefully from experience of my current situation. I work full time, am taking Princeton Review. My first diag was a 17, second was an 18. I DO NOT have a science background...just the pre reqs. Is there enough time to pull this up. I can only study 4 to 5 hours M, W , F and all day on Sat and Sun. T and R are shot due to TPR class. Any perspectives? Thanks

take it next April...

 

[RAD11]

Did you register for the August MCAT yet? You still have 4 more full-lengths left with TPR, right? I would see how you do on them and if you're getting your goal score then I would take it this August. But if you're still at around 18-low 20's I would wait until next April.

 

[RayhanS1282]

Hello all,
I wanted some opinions, hopefully from experience of my current situation. I work full time, am taking Princeton Review. My first diag was a 17, second was an 18. I DO NOT have a science background...just the pre reqs. Is there enough time to pull this up. I can only study 4 to 5 hours M, W , F and all day on Sat and Sun. T and R are shot due to TPR class. Any perspectives? Thanks

Did you assess why you are getting the questions wrong? Is it a lack of knowledge of the fact or is it application of the facts? If the problem is the former then brush up on the review books, the TPR books are pretty good but get EK for Bio. And if the problem is the latter then devote your time to doing passages. The more passages you do the more you familiarize yourself to MCAT style questions and will become more comfortable in applying your science knowledge in sometimes ridiculous MCAT questions scenerios. I think you still have about 3 diags left, think of it as 3 more chances to monitor your progress. And just because TPR finishes with the diags doesn't necessarily mean you should stop as well. Try doing diags on your own...not a lot, just the new AAMC ones like 7 or 8...that TPR might not have coverved. Hope this helps and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[N1DERL&]

I'm taking TPR now too and they are always reminding us that you don't see a significant jump in scores until about diag 4 and 5. So keep with the reading, especially the homework (time yourself on this also), attend lectures already having previewed the chapters, ask questions in class, and be proactive! Review your lecture notes, make summaries, draw diagrams, and so forth.

Regarding time, looking for lost minutes helps a lot. I was surprised how much time I found. I'm listening to EK's AO when I exercise, walk the dog, drive, waiting for people, etc. We still have a huge chunk of time, so keep at it!!

G'luck!!!

 

[chokobo]

hrmm hello
i'm new here... kinda sucks that i found this site so late, but... better late than never, i guess?

does anyone have the conversion charts for AAMC tests?

thank youuu.

 

[chokobo]

oops. ignore last comment...

 

[trp2006]

Hi,
I am new here....Well I have same problem. My bio section and verbal section is not strong enough for now....I am trying to read the TPR books and make most out of them...I got 15 on first diag and 17 on the next...is it still possible to crash a 30 on the AUGUST? Thx....

 

[NontradICUdoc]

DO NOT

I REPEAT

DO NOT

ONE MORE TIME

DO NOT

Take the MCAT unless YOU feel that YOU are ready.

That should answer your question. Better to postpone and do well than to take it in a rush and do crappy just to do it again.


nuff sed

 

[71263]

As a former Princeton review teacher, I cannot ignore this comment. Here is the REAL DEAL with princeton review:

First of all, DO NOT listen to any teacher who says anything along the lines of 'these diags are an accurate representation of your score'. That is a load of BS, WE ARE PAID TO SAY THAT!!!!!

Then, as the class goes along, the tests get easier, to lull students into a false sense of security so that they actually believe that theyre doing better just because their scores are higher. WELL NO **** YOUR SCORES ARE HIGHER!!! YOURE TAKING EASIER TESTS!!!

Ill break it down for you right here: The first 3 tests are WAYYY harder than any actual MCAT you will ever take. The last 2 diags, AAMC diags, are supposed to be closer to the actual thing, when in fact, they are wayyyyy EASIER. My highest diag was my last one, and on the real thing, i ended up doing 5 points worse. Dont worry now, but dont believe anything those guys tell you, its all one huuuuuge conspiracy, believe me!!!

DONT MAKE MY MISTAKE!! SAVE YOURSELF!!!!

 

[critters]

DO NOT

I REPEAT

DO NOT

ONE MORE TIME

DO NOT

Take the MCAT unless YOU feel that YOU are ready.

That should answer your question. Better to postpone and do well than to take it in a rush and do crappy just to do it again.


nuff sed

I second this advice! Especially since some med schools average your scores, and any score increases would be diluted....

 

[Psycho Doctor]

As a former Princeton review teacher, I cannot ignore this comment. Here is the REAL DEAL with princeton review:

First of all, DO NOT listen to any teacher who says anything along the lines of 'these diags are an accurate representation of your score'. That is a load of BS, WE ARE PAID TO SAY THAT!!!!!

Then, as the class goes along, the tests get easier, to lull students into a false sense of security so that they actually believe that theyre doing better just because their scores are higher. WELL NO **** YOUR SCORES ARE HIGHER!!! YOURE TAKING EASIER TESTS!!!

Ill break it down for you right here: The first 3 tests are WAYYY harder than any actual MCAT you will ever take. The last 2 diags, AAMC diags, are supposed to be closer to the actual thing, when in fact, they are wayyyyy EASIER. My highest diag was my last one, and on the real thing, i ended up doing 5 points worse. Dont worry now, but dont believe anything those guys tell you, its all one huuuuuge conspiracy, believe me!!!

DONT MAKE MY MISTAKE!! SAVE YOURSELF!!!!

i'm almost glad i never took a course and did all the studying on my own

 

[MoosePilot]

As a former Princeton review teacher, I cannot ignore this comment. Here is the REAL DEAL with princeton review:

First of all, DO NOT listen to any teacher who says anything along the lines of 'these diags are an accurate representation of your score'. That is a load of BS, WE ARE PAID TO SAY THAT!!!!!

Then, as the class goes along, the tests get easier, to lull students into a false sense of security so that they actually believe that theyre doing better just because their scores are higher. WELL NO **** YOUR SCORES ARE HIGHER!!! YOURE TAKING EASIER TESTS!!!

Ill break it down for you right here: The first 3 tests are WAYYY harder than any actual MCAT you will ever take. The last 2 diags, AAMC diags, are supposed to be closer to the actual thing, when in fact, they are wayyyyy EASIER. My highest diag was my last one, and on the real thing, i ended up doing 5 points worse. Dont worry now, but dont believe anything those guys tell you, its all one huuuuuge conspiracy, believe me!!!

DONT MAKE MY MISTAKE!! SAVE YOURSELF!!!!

I just took TPR in 2004. I agree that the first 3 diags are tougher, but the last two felt pretty close to the real thing. I dropped only 1 point from the last diag to the actual thing. If it was so much harder, why wouldn't I have dropped numerous points? The last two are actual AAMC tests. Trust them.

 

[frany584]

on my first diagnostic on aamc 3r i got a 17, then i got an 18 on 5r and then i jumped to a 25 on 4r within the span of a couple of weeks. i think it shows when u REALLY start studying and going through the material, doing practice questions and UNDERSTANDING the material. dont get discouraged and if u don't feel you are improving then do not take the august exam and wait til april. as a previous poster said DO NOT TAKE THE TEST UNLESS U R READY! hope that helps good luck!

 

[hnbui]

Hello all,
I wanted some opinions, hopefully from experience of my current situation. I work full time, am taking Princeton Review. My first diag was a 17, second was an 18. I DO NOT have a science background...just the pre reqs. Is there enough time to pull this up. I can only study 4 to 5 hours M, W , F and all day on Sat and Sun. T and R are shot due to TPR class. Any perspectives? Thanks

ummm newsflash, you do have a science background. The prereq classes consist your college background. Com'on dude.

Just study harder or pospone the mcats until next year.

 

[71263]

I just took TPR in 2004. I agree that the first 3 diags are tougher, but the last two felt pretty close to the real thing. I dropped only 1 point from the last diag to the actual thing. If it was so much harder, why wouldn't I have dropped numerous points? The last two are actual AAMC tests. Trust them.

While it is true that these are AAMC tests, they are still not a completely accurate representation. Those were the easier tests that have been around, where the mean score those years were higher than the mean scores for the MCAT in other years. Furthermore, these tests were before the recent trend in biological sciences, where biology, specifically genetics, started to dominate over organic chemistry.

Well, props to you for doing well on the MCAT, you could just be an exception. My anecdote was not from my experience alone. Most people i knew who took the class with/after me reportedly did at least 3-5 points worse on the real thing than they did on their best diag. Even if you are doing well, dont get fooled or relaxed, keep going.

 

[EndSong]

I have no idea what's going on with the Princeton tests. I took the 4911 and 4921 and got 25 and 24 respectively. I took the 6R and got a 35. I think the lower scores on the TPR are probably due to Princeton's stupid verbal strategy. After I stopped using their stragegy my verbal went up 5 points.

 

[errozion]

i've taken 1 diag (TPR 4921) and got a 15! I already registered for the August exam and paid the fee.

If i feel i'm not ready, do I get reimbursed or should I just take it and void it?

Do you think its better to just go all out with 6 weeks left and raise as much as possible and just take the exam?

I feel that once i finish covering the material I can hopefully learn how the test is and pull it up.

 

[MediMama23]

i've taken 1 diag (TPR 4921) and got a 15! I already registered for the August exam and paid the fee.

If i feel i'm not ready, do I get reimbursed or should I just take it and void it?

Do you think its better to just go all out with 6 weeks left and raise as much as possible and just take the exam?

I feel that once i finish covering the material I can hopefully learn how the test is and pull it up.

If you don't feel you're ready, there is no point in walking into that test room just to void, even if you didn't get money back! That's a waste of time, gas money, etc. If you know by August 19th that you're not ready, then don't take it. You can receive half of the money back (you have 60 days after the date of the exam to let the AAMC know that you want a refund).

I've seen it stated in many places, and I 've been told the same...the MCAT is not all about knowing the material. Sure, knowing it might help you on the discretes and those passage questions that are loosely related to the passage, but you have to learn how to take this test and understand what you are being asked and apply what they give you. I went and reviewed all of these worthless chapters, wasting time, when I could've just been PRACTICING by DOING PROBLEMS. At this point, we should all be lightly reviewing cranking out problems, and building endurance, but some of us aren't so lucky. In between the review should be lots of problems. Crank those suckers out. Take at least one full length a week. Then on August 19th you'll be better able to know what you should do regarding the test.

 

[jintonic5]

wait until you are absolutely ready!!

i was one of htose dumb@sses that took it before they were ready and ended up with a not so hot score. (april 03-- 25R) now i'm retaking, and i've been consistently scoring in the 30's. it's worth it to wait.

also, if you don't feel confident going into the test, that may cause you to get a score even lower than what you were getting in practice. the real thing sucks balls-- the tension in those testing rooms is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

 

[errozion]

ok, thats great advice fellas, thanks. I'll go all out and hopefully by 2nd week of AUgust i'll know where i stand.

 

[EndSong]

I think reviewing your weak points definitely helps. And you should know all the sciences very, very well before going in. Although you don't need to be very thorough in sciences for the test, knowing what the AV node is or what systolic BP means will readily increase your speed in answering questions and it helps out a lot.