Am I the only one who feels this way?

[brood910]

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I feel like AAMC FLs do not even require that much recalling specific details compared to other FLs.
While I was doing TBR passages, I felt like I couldnt solve some problems because I couldnt remember some specific stuff, but when I was doing AAMC FLs, I felt like I could find all the information needed in the passages and had to apply only a bit of my own knowledge.. All the questions seemed to be testing my test-taking + critical thinking skills..

Overall, I think AAMC FLs are wayyyyyy easier..

 

[Jepstein30]

I feel like AAMC FLs do not even require that much recalling specific details compared to other FLs.
While I was doing TBR passages, I felt like I couldnt solve some problems because I couldnt remember some specific stuff, but when I was doing AAMC FLs, I felt like I could find all the information needed in the passages and had to apply only a bit of my own knowledge.. All the questions seemed to be testing my test-taking + critical thinking skills..

Overall, I think AAMC FLs are wayyyyyy easier..

Hence the MCAT being a critical thinking test and not a content-driven test.

You don't need to know a lot to be successful on the MCAT, I say it all the time. You really don't. Makes content review by itself utterly useless and practice passages to develop those skills the best way to study.

There are very, very few direct content recall questions on the MCAT. Some people find that harder. Some people find that easier. Overall, it's just different. If you're expecting something similar to one of your class finals, you're going to be disappointed. It's just not.

 

[txlonghorn2314]

Hence the MCAT being a critical thinking test and not a content-driven test.

You don't need to know a lot to be successful on the MCAT, I say it all the time. You really don't. Makes content review by itself utterly useless and practice passages to develop those skills the best way to study.

There are very, very few direct content recall questions on the MCAT. Some people find that harder. Some people find that easier. Overall, it's just different. If you're expecting something similar to one of your class finals, you're going to be disappointed. It's just not.

But how do practice passages develop the needed skills when, on the majority of the prep books, I can answer 5 out of 7 questions without ever looking at the passage once? I've noticed this even with BR. Although some passages require critical thinking, SEVERAL of the questions on the passages feel more like discreets.


So what's the best way to train your critical thinking?

 

[brood910]

Hence the MCAT being a critical thinking test and not a content-driven test.

You don't need to know a lot to be successful on the MCAT, I say it all the time. You really don't. Makes content review by itself utterly useless and practice passages to develop those skills the best way to study.

There are very, very few direct content recall questions on the MCAT. Some people find that harder. Some people find that easier. Overall, it's just different. If you're expecting something similar to one of your class finals, you're going to be disappointed. It's just not.

That means some of the passages made by companies other than AAMC are literally useless, as they require you to recall a ton of information.
I am pretty happy that I used TBR instead of other books. AAMC FLs look like a joke to me now.

 

[TheAnonymous]

That means some of the passages made by companies other than AAMC are literally useless, as they require you to recall a ton of information.
I am pretty happy that I used TBR instead of other books. AAMC FLs look like a joke to me now.

they look like a joke, joke as if you are scoring 40+ ?

 

[brood910]

they look like a joke, joke as if you are scoring 40+ ?

I took TBR FL yesterday, and I scored 33. I took AAMC #4 today. I scored 38.
I only said it looks like a joke COMPARED to other FLs as AAMC FLs dont even require you to recall any small details unlike others.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I took TBR FL yesterday, and I scored 33. I took AAMC #4 today. I scored 38.
I only said it looks like a joke COMPARED to other FLs as AAMC FLs dont even require you to recall any small details unlike others.

do you find TBR FLs good practice? I was thinking about buying them. I only have Kaplan's

 

[Jepstein30]

But how do practice passages develop the needed skills when, on the majority of the prep books, I can answer 5 out of 7 questions without ever looking at the passage once? I've noticed this even with BR. Although some passages require critical thinking, SEVERAL of the questions on the passages feel more like discreets.


So what's the best way to train your critical thinking?

Other resources aren't perfect?

You can still train your critical thinking. It won't be as effective as it would be if you had a book full of AAMC problems, but TPRH and TBR do a decent job overall. If anything, force yourself to use the passage. Working with concepts at an advanced level and being asked questions (even if they are detail-orientated) will help.

The whole study process needs to be about one thing (and this holds across ALL standardized tests). You need to learn to think like the test-maker wants you to. That's the test-taking skills/critical thinking skills you need to focus on. Who cares what you scored on a certain section.. it's all about the thought process. Other resources don't mimic that thought process exactly but they are close enough. There's not enough AAMC materials to suffice.

That means some of the passages made by companies other than AAMC are literally useless, as they require you to recall a ton of information.
I am pretty happy that I used TBR instead of other books. AAMC FLs look like a joke to me now.

Well, it's still important to know that information. It's just not going to get you points by itself on test day.

 

[brood910]

do you find TBR FLs good practice? I was thinking about buying them. I only have Kaplan's

Absolutely.
I think TBR forces you to think HARDER than you have in your entire life.
Even though some of their questions require you to recall some stupid stuff (especially bio), they still help you develop your critical thinking skills.

If you see my previous post, you can see that I scored only 19 on AAMC #3 before using TBR effectively (using all of their passages). So yes. TBR is the way to go if you want to get a high score. It over-prepares you, but so what? It is never bad to get yourself overprepared.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Absolutely.
I think TBR forces you to think HARDER than you have in your entire life.
Even though some of their questions require you to recall some stupid stuff (especially bio), they still help you develop your critical thinking skills.

If you see my previous post, you can see that I scored only 19 on AAMC #3 before using TBR effectively (using all of their passages). So yes. TBR is the way to go if you want to get a high score. It over-prepares you, but so what? It is never bad to get yourself overprepared.

Wow, going from a 19 to a 38? that's excellent man.

So you did all of TBR passages in all 3 subjects? (Ochem, Gchem, Physics) For the ones you missed, did you like keep a log?

 

[deleted92121]

I am thinking of switching from TPRH to TBR for PS. I am just not getting that much from TPRH especially when I miss questions because the explanations suck.

 

[brood910]

Wow, going from a 19 to a 38? that's excellent man.

So you did all of TBR passages in all 3 subjects? (Ochem, Gchem, Physics) For the ones you missed, did you like keep a log?

I used EK for orgo + bio. BS is all about using the given information from the passages, rather than recalling stupid stuff.
I was originally planning to use EK for PS as well because I am pretty strong in chem/physics, but I decided to get TBR to get a VERY HIGH score to compensate for my low VR score.

I mean, I took AAMC #3 before I studied. So, I barely knew any equations for PS, so yeah lol.

 

[Jepstein30]

I am thinking of switching from TPRH to TBR for PS. I am just not getting that much from TPRH especially when I miss questions because the explanations suck.

You shouldn't be using the explanations anyways.

 

[deleted92121]

You shouldn't be using the explanations anyways.

Am I missing something? I thought if I missed a question I should read the explanation why and learn from it?

 

[CW 2010]

Hence the MCAT being a critical thinking test and not a content-driven test.

You don't need to know a lot to be successful on the MCAT, I say it all the time. You really don't. Makes content review by itself utterly useless and practice passages to develop those skills the best way to study.

There are very, very few direct content recall questions on the MCAT. Some people find that harder. Some people find that easier. Overall, it's just different. If you're expecting something similar to one of your class finals, you're going to be disappointed. It's just not.

I really hope you are right! Because I feel kinda lost in the content review and amount of information/formulas (I think) I need to remember.

 

[Jepstein30]

Am I missing something? I thought if I missed a question I should read the explanation why and learn from it?

Only my opinion, but answer explanations are the devil. They don't help you. They let you off the hook by telling you what you should have known.. you don't really learn from it.. you just realize your mistake.

Reading the answer doesn't help you develop the thought process. You need to learn how to get from A to B.. not get given B and then figure out why it explains A.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...plan-picking-resources.1045943/#post-14786553

 

[brood910]

I really hope you are right! Because I feel kinda lost in the content review and amount of information/formulas (I think) I need to remember.

You still need to memorize equations + general concepts.
I am talking about tiny little details that dont even need to be memorized even though TBR/TPRH still sometimes ask abt them.

 

[Lamel]

I sure hope so for Bio. BR bio is rough, but it definitely makes you think that's for sure.

 

[brood910]

I sure hope so for Bio. BR bio is rough, but it definitely makes you think that's for sure.

Use EK if you are strong in bio.
I feel like EK is not even necessary for BS. You just have to know the BIG PICTURE, not any specific details.

 

[deleted92121]

Only my opinion, but answer explanations are the devil. They don't help you. They let you off the hook by telling you what you should have known.. you don't really learn from it.. you just realize your mistake.

Reading the answer doesn't help you develop the thought process. You need to learn how to get from A to B.. not get given B and then figure out why it explains A.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...plan-picking-resources.1045943/#post-14786553

I suppose that is one way to approach problems. I find myself needing it for physics more than BS or G.Chem. But then again, man is my basic math weak. Still it is getting better.

 

[Lamel]

Use EK if you are strong in bio.
I feel like EK is not even necessary for BS. You just have to know the BIG PICTURE, not any specific details.

I'm using EK for content review and BR for passages.

EK prepares you like 90% for BR passages because BR emphasizes some extra stuff and other details etc. I think I've hit a good balance but score around ~70% for BR passages on average, and don't really know how well that actually is.

 

[brood910]

I'm using EK for content review and BR for passages.

EK prepares you like 90% for BR passages because BR emphasizes some extra stuff and other details etc. I think I've hit a good balance but score around ~70% for BR passages on average, and don't really know how well that actually is.

Well, I was scoring 75~80% on TBR PS passages, and I got 14 on PS for AAMC #4.
So, yeah, TBR passages are brutal. But it's a good thing as I heard the real thing is much much harder than AAMC FLs.

 

[Lamel]

Well, I was scoring 75~80% on TBR PS passages, and I got 14 on PS for AAMC #4.
So, yeah, TBR passages are brutal. But it's a good thing as I heard the real thing is much much harder than AAMC FLs.

That's good to hear.

My Chem/Orgo/Physics averages are fairly high (12+) for BR passages, but the Bio is the only thing I have trouble with. I am assuming that the BR passages for bio do have too many details etc, but I mean over-preparing can't hurt.

 

[madmuttal]

Well, I was scoring 75~80% on TBR PS passages, and I got 14 on PS for AAMC #4.
So, yeah, TBR passages are brutal. But it's a good thing as I heard the real thing is much much harder than AAMC FLs.

Which TBR FL did you take? I'm planing on taking TBR 5 tomorrow...heard it's the hardest TBR exam.....also I feel like TBR FL bio isn't representative at all cuz they emphasize too much on biochemistry stuff and not any experimental passages...I find Kaplan FL BS very representative.....

Also, you had a lot of improvement in verbal from AAMC 3 to 4? What did you change?

 

[brood910]

Which TBR FL did you take? I'm planing on taking TBR 5 tomorrow...heard it's the hardest TBR exam.....also I feel like TBR FL bio isn't representative at all cuz they emphasize too much on biochemistry stuff and not any experimental passages...I find Kaplan FL BS very representative.....

Also, you had a lot of improvement in verbal from AAMC 3 to 4? What did you change?

I got only 9 on verbal lol.
Got 38 only because I got 14 and 15 on PS and BS respectively.
I just read a lot + memorized lots of vocab (had to do it as English is my second language).

I took TBR #1.
Yeah, I find TBR bio passages really different from AAMC ones.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I got only 9 on verbal lol.
Got 38 only because I got 14 and 15 on PS and BS respectively.
I just read a lot + memorize lots of vocab (had to do it as English is my second language).

I took TBR #1.
Yeah, I find TBR bio passages really different from AAMC ones.

wooooooow that's a great score man... holyyy

dat 15 in BS. how did you prep?? EK and passages from TPR? :O

 

[brood910]

wooooooow that's a great score man... holyyy

dat 15 in BS. how did you prep?? EK and passages from TPR? :O

I think I was kinda lucky for some hard questions. I could eliminate 2 choices and had to make some education guesses between the remaining two.

I used EK for content review + TPRH workbook for passages.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I think I was kinda lucky for some hard questions. I could eliminate 2 choices and had to make some education guesses between the remaining two.

I used EK for content review + TPRH workbook for passages.

Nice job man, keep it up! that's really good.....

 

[TheAnonymous]

BTW, as an ESL student myself, a 9 in VR is amazing !! I would be so happy if I can get a 9 in the AAMCs....

Besides vocab, is there anything else you did to practice? EK101/TPHWorkbook?

Great great great job

 

[madmuttal]

I got only 9 on verbal lol.
Got 38 only because I got 14 and 15 on PS and BS respectively.
I just read a lot + memorized lots of vocab (had to do it as English is my second language).

I took TBR #1.
Yeah, I find TBR bio passages really different from AAMC ones.

I don't even do the TBR and Kaplan full length verbal cuz i feel they are worthless....I've replaced that with TPR FL verbals and the scores have plateaued a bit lately.....finding hard time going above 29-31/40 questions with TPR FL verbal....

man, i find a lot of TBR Bio passages amazing especially experimental ones....even though I'm only getting 75% correct

 

[brood910]

BTW, as an ESL student myself, a 9 in VR is amazing !! I would be so happy if I can get a 9 in the AAMCs....

Besides vocab, is there anything else you did to practice? EK101/TPHWorkbook?

Great great great job

Thanks man. But my VR score fluctuates A LOT. I still sometimes get 6-7 when I get lots of passages about stupid ARTS. Those pictures, statues, pageants, etc.. WTF I dont even understand about them at all.

 

[madmuttal]

Thanks man. But my VR score fluctuates A LOT. I still sometimes get 6-7 when I get lots of passages about stupid ARTS. Those pictures, statues, pageants, etc.. WTF I dont even understand about them at all.

You know starting FL with verbal score of 9 is good.....Do you have like a method that you follow? are you trying out new methods? i tried kaplan, didn't work....EK verbal method looks like it might work for me....

 

[brood910]

You know starting FL with verbal score of 9 is good.....Do you have like a method that you follow? are you trying out new methods? i tried kaplan, didn't work....EK verbal method looks like it might work for me....

I use Princeton review method even though many people dislike it.
But it works best for people like me as we cant really get the main idea while reading fast. Maybe we can if we read in our first language..

I dont search for easy passages first though as it is a waste of time, but I spend 9-10 mins on each passage and make education guesses for the last one..

 

[Jepstein30]

Well, I was scoring 75~80% on TBR PS passages, and I got 14 on PS for AAMC #4.
So, yeah, TBR passages are brutal. But it's a good thing as I heard the real thing is much much harder than AAMC FLs.

75-80% for TBR is very, very good. You should be able to consistently score 13+ based on that.

 

[Odi]

@brood910 I started TBR Bio yesterday and out of the 10 passages I've done so far half of them required using the passage (experimental) which I scored very well in but the other half required very specific bio knowledge outside of the context of the passage.

How do the TPRH workbook bio passages compare to TBR passages?

 

[Futbol99]

Hey @brood910
May I ask what has your studying schedule been like? When did you start, and planning to write? Are you done content review now, then you did TBR FL's now getting on AAMC FL's? How did you spend day-to-day with content review and doing practice passages and even having time to review the stuff you already did?
It seems like it is really working for you, and I would just like to see how you're going about it to see if its my problem in the preparation method, or my intelligence, as things are really frustrating me here!

Thanks.

 

[brood910]

@brood910 I started TBR Bio yesterday and out of the 10 passages I've done so far half of them required using the passage (experimental) which I scored very well in but the other half required very specific bio knowledge outside of the context of the passage.

How do the TPRH workbook bio passages compare to TBR passages?

TPRH bio passages are the closest.

Hey @brood910
May I ask what has your studying schedule been like? When did you start, and planning to write? Are you done content review now, then you did TBR FL's now getting on AAMC FL's? How did you spend day-to-day with content review and doing practice passages and even having time to review the stuff you already did?
It seems like it is really working for you, and I would just like to see how you're going about it to see if its my problem in the preparation method, or my intelligence, as things are really frustrating me here!

Thanks.

I originally followed S2d's schedule but I didnt like it. It tells you to focus only on one chapter per day, but this is not effective as you will forget the first chapters when you are doing the 9th~10th chapters.

I spent about 1 month to just read + take concise notes, without doing any passages.
This is the key, imo. CONCISE NOTES. So you dont have to re-read the whole thing as s2d's schedule suggests.
After that, I spent 2-3 months mostly on doing passages + reviewing some concepts time to time.
When doing passages, I took 1~2 passages from each chapter and made my own test composed of 10 passages.
This way, you can review ALL chapters everyday.

So, you need about 4 months to do what I did.

Also, use MCAT study question Q&A board.
I use it everyday to help ppl out and it helps me review some concepts at the same time.

 

[stuw]

Is there anything special about TBR's approach to the PS material? I've gone through the PS concepts using TPR, soo I'm debating whether to just plummet straight into the TBR passages

 

[CW 2010]

When doing passages, I took 1~2 passages from each chapter and made my own test composed of 10 passages. This way, you can review ALL chapters everyday.

This is a good idea! I am going to do that when I go through TPRH SW.
Btw, awesome scores on TBR and AAMC 🙂

 

[yjj8817]

TPRH bio passages are the closest.



I originally followed S2d's schedule but I didnt like it. It tells you to focus only on one chapter per day, but this is not effective as you will forget the first chapters when you are doing the 9th~10th chapters.

I spent about 1 month to just read + take concise notes, without doing any passages.
This is the key, imo. CONCISE NOTES. So you dont have to re-read the whole thing as s2d's schedule suggests.
After that, I spent 2-3 months mostly on doing passages + reviewing some concepts time to time.
When doing passages, I took 1~2 passages from each chapter and made my own test composed of 10 passages.
This way, you can review ALL chapters everyday.

So, you need about 4 months to do what I did.

Also, use MCAT study question Q&A board.
I use it everyday to help ppl out and it helps me review some concepts at the same time.

What about full length practice exams? How much time have you spent on these? 1 month or so?

 

[brood910]

What about full length practice exams? How much time have you spent on these? 1 month or so?

I took only 3.
AAMC#3 4 months bf I started studying seriously.
TBR #1 and AAMC #4 this week.

 

[3655]

@brood910 how many hours a day do you spend studying?

 

[DrMula]

Absolutely.
I think TBR forces you to think HARDER than you have in your entire life.
Even though some of their questions require you to recall some stupid stuff (especially bio), they still help you develop your critical thinking skills.

If you see my previous post, you can see that I scored only 19 on AAMC #3 before using TBR effectively (using all of their passages). So yes. TBR is the way to go if you want to get a high score. It over-prepares you, but so what? It is never bad to get yourself overprepared.

Dude that is AMAZING. I also took AAMC #3 several months before I began to study seriously, and scored a 19 5/7/7. I got serious this past January and have been using:

GChem: TBR (content review), EK (content review), TPRH (content review) & TBR (passages)
Physics: Chad's videos (content review), TBR (some content review), TBR (passages)
OChem: Chad's videos (content review), TBR (passages)
BIO: EK (content review), TBR (passages)
Verbal: TPRH (passages)

---the only concern I have is that I haven't been using the "phases" in TBR--I just sit down and do the 1st 7-10 passages and move to the next section. Most sections I skip the last 3/4 passages for the sole reason that I want to move on--do you think this will hurt me?

--in terms of averages I'm scoring 60-75% (usually 2 or 3 wrong out of 7)

I still haven't taken another AAMC FL yet--I still have some topics in Physics/OChem that need to get ironed out, but I'm registered for the March exam--and praying to GOD for 32+. But since I took AAMC #3 so long ago (last summer), out of curiosity I re-took the physical science section in January and scored a 9--so I think I'm on the right track--but I have a ways to go.

Your story is so motivating--thanks for sharing it, and good luck on the exam (if you haven't taken it yet)!

 

[Redpancreas]

I feel like AAMC FLs do not even require that much recalling specific details compared to other FLs.
While I was doing TBR passages, I felt like I couldnt solve some problems because I couldnt remember some specific stuff, but when I was doing AAMC FLs, I felt like I could find all the information needed in the passages and had to apply only a bit of my own knowledge.. All the questions seemed to be testing my test-taking + critical thinking skills..

Overall, I think AAMC FLs are wayyyyyy easier..

I felt the same way and doesn't it make sense? With Berkeley, they're trying to get you acquainted with the MCAT and get you to remember some things. Therefore, some Berkeley questions will be specific detail questions about stuff in the reading. In my personal opinion, Berkeley should just drop these questions out and make AAMC-like questions only. Keep in mind the AAMC questions are specific detail oriented too sometimes but they're generally about knowing some factoid which is either hit or miss.

As easy example of this is:

An IR peak at 1700 cm^-1 indicates the presence of which functional group:

a.) carboxylic acid
b.) alcohol
c.) aldehyde
d.) amide
e.) none of the above

A more difficult example of a specific detail question might test the products of an organic reaction, for example, or it might ask you to give to describe the functional group of an amino acid (which is difficult if you didn't have to memorize them in bio/biochem).

***Note: Orgo specific detail q's were easier to think of, it's not like only orgo specific detail questions appear on the MCAT. There are often bio, chem, and sometimes physics ones too.





IMO, They should then take all the content/specific detail questions that deal with the chapter and make them into a 20 question quiz at the end of the chapter that doesn't resemble MCAT passages. The problem with this is that students will be tempted to feel good after completing these questions while in reality, they've done very little prep for the MCAT.

 

[Czarcasm]

I felt the same way and doesn't it make sense? With Berkeley, they're trying to get you acquainted with the MCAT and get you to remember some things. Therefore, some Berkeley questions will be specific detail questions about stuff in the reading. In my personal opinion, Berkeley should just drop these questions out and make AAMC-like questions only. Keep in mind the AAMC questions are specific detail oriented too sometimes but they're generally about knowing some factoid which is either hit or miss.

As easy example of this is:

An IR peak at 1700 cm^-1 indicates the presence of which functional group:

a.) carboxylic acid
b.) alcohol
c.) aldehyde
d.) amide
e.) none of the above

A more difficult example of a specific detail question might test the products of an organic reaction, for example, or it might ask you to give to describe the functional group of an amino acid (which is difficult if you didn't have to memorize them in bio/biochem).

***Note: Orgo specific detail q's were easier to think of, it's not like only orgo specific detail questions appear on the MCAT. There are often bio, chem, and sometimes physics ones too.

IMO, They should then take all the content/specific detail questions that deal with the chapter and make them into a 20 question quiz at the end of the chapter that doesn't resemble MCAT passages. The problem with this is that students will be tempted to feel good after completing these questions while in reality, they've done very little prep for the MCAT.

Is A,C, and D an option lol? 1700cm-1 range represents the carbonyl of those functional groups. This would be a suitable verbal reasoning example 😀

 

[Redpancreas]

Is A,C, and D an option lol? 1700cm-1 range represents the carbonyl of those functional groups. This would be a suitable verbal reasoning example 😀

You got me...
Should have said distinct or something...

 

[Odi]

Okay... finding TPRH science book is ridiculous. The few copies that are available after shipping and all cost almost as much as the full set of AAMC's lol.

I'll just grind it out with TBR and Kaplan FL's for bio.

 

[brood910]

TBR #2: 12/10/14
AAMC #5: 13/8/13

After you hit 12+, I think luck is really important as well to score higher..

 

[madmuttal]

TBR #2: 12/10/14
AAMC #5: 13/8/13

After you hit 12+, I think luck is really important as well to score higher..

nice scores!
u taking march 22 exam?

planing on starting aamc tomorrow

 

[nonamechemist]

I got only 9 on verbal lol.
Got 38 only because I got 14 and 15 on PS and BS respectively.
I just read a lot + memorized lots of vocab (had to do it as English is my second language).

I took TBR #1.
Yeah, I find TBR bio passages really different from AAMC ones.

You said that you read a lot and memorized vocabs but was it before you started preparing for the mcat or during? Seeking advice. Thanks!