Any advice is appreciated :(

[deleted632431]

I am having trouble timing myself for the Physical Sciences section. How do you guys time yourself for this section? Do you try to have 3 passages done by the 40 minute-mark or whatever or something else?

Also, how do you guys stay focused during the test? I feel like I get tired, and I misread questions or just don't read what I need to.

Just frustrated and any help would be great!

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[nolookpass]

It's all about practice. By the 35 minute mark you should have 26 questions done. You should try to do more than 26 questions in that time frame though. Each passage should take you 8-9 minutes.

 

[The Brown Knight]

I strive towards the following (but don't always actually execute it successfully):
In the first 10 mins, I try to finish all the discretes
Then do all passages I find interesting or I am strong in first; aim for ~7 mins per passage
This allows me more time on my less liked passages; I try to have 20-25 mins for the last two

 

[luzbrillante]

My most helpful strategy was to go in order and to try to finish each passage in 7-8 minutes. If you go in order, you can save the time you might otherwise use flipping through passages. Around 8 minutes, if I was still on the same passage, for the questions I couldn't/didn't have time to answer I would select an answer anyway (just so I didn't forget or run out of time at the end) and mark it for later. This way you finish all passages with at least 14 minutes left for discretes and review. Discretes were a lot faster for me, so about one minute each was okay.

Different strategies may work best for you, but in general, if you find and set some sort of pacing goal it will probably also help ease nervousness about timing. Good luck

 

[stitchattack]

I think it's hard to set a specific time limit since everyone has different weaknesses. For some passages, I finish really fast while others, it takes me longer to complete. It's not like VR where if you can do each passage in 8 mins, it's good because the passages are new topics that we haven't seen before. Could it be that your content isn't that strong is why you cannot finish PS on time? I notice for the topics I'm not very good in, I take longer to get through. Maybe work on your weaknesses and see if that helps you get through the passages faster.

 

[santeprof]

My adrenalin pumps when I take a PS section from a practice test. I'm in flow when I take them. I have no problem maintaining focus. I'm driven to see how well I can do. I have this attitude that I am showing off how well I can do. I'm motivated. It's a cerebral competition, like a 440 m dash for the mind.
I am slow. I get 100% correct but it takes me over the 70 min and I only do the physics questions.

An initial goal might be 70/52 or about 1 m 24 sec per problem. With an ultimate goal approaching one min a problem. At one minute a problem you would have 18 m for review. This goal may be unattainable but its what you have to push towards.

Certain problems are time-wasters. I recall an index of refraction problem that the explanation said was not derivable. I wasted so much time on this problem. I have run into a few of these problems on the PS section practice tests. The approach for these problems is to quickly recognize them as time wasters and shift your approach from derivation to evaluating which is the best answer. There are a few strategies that give clues to which is the best answer. One is look at the units. Choices that are in the wrong units for the required answer are wrong. Another is the numerical range over which the answer is defined. For example index of refraction has values of one or greater. Answers less than one are wrong. A third is dependency. If the dependent variable increases with the independent variable then answers that decrease with the independent variable are wrong. Index of refraction varies inversely with speed of light in a medium, answers that vary directly with the speed are wrong.

The time wasters are time sinks. I can easily spend minutes on them and still get them wrong. They can dramatically drop your score on a section. For the practice test with the index of refraction time waster, the PS section took me 77 min to complete and I got the problem wrong. I've only ran into three time wasters on the AAMC practice tests PS sections. I'd be interested in if they exist in other sections or if the chemstry questions in the PS section include time wasters.

 

[tdod]

haha the last part sounds like me. ideally, you should have the timing down b/c you did TBR passages and practiced completing them in 6-7 minutes per. you really need to have the pace down without having to actively monitor during the test. the questions and passages on the mcat are such that you should be able to finish with a few minutes extra, if you aren't doing unnecessary work.

Here's my advice:

• practice the timing with TBR.
• Be confident; do no more work than necessary
• Be efficient; don't do math unless necessary
• use process of elimination; if three answers are eliminated, then pick the fourth.

during my practice i would space out quite a bit, but only when i was ahead of the timing. So, I think feeling pressure is very important. Think about how bad you want to get into medical school... whatever motivates you, think about that and exaggerate it ten times listen to this..
"in the tradition of these legendary sports pro's..." **** yes.

However, remember to be motivated and not nervous; think about how much you want it, not how much you are afraid of not getting it.

also, rest your brain. are you exhausted now? I took 1.8 days off before the real thing, and in general took it easier during the final phase of my SN2ED plan (while I was taking practice tests and working on completing TBR passages).

why are you spacing out? are you anxious or obsessive? if so you should see a psychologist. if you can't see a psychologist in time then feel free to pm me, i struggled with obsessions (which are usu. a manifestation of anxiety) and i developed good techniques that helped me to eliminate them come test time.

some spacing out is ok. take a deep after every passage. i spaced out a lot on the bio and verbal sections, and on the real thing i spaced out a bit on the bio once i realized that i would finish on time. despite this, i averaged a 38 on my practice AAMCs (still waiting for my official). point is, you can space out a little and still own the MCAT.

finally, you will feel more pressure on test day, and the adrenaline will help boost your focus.