Anybody in the same boat?

[ancientmd]

I've been using EK materials and love them, until I take those horrific lecture exams.... golly, I feel like I know the material and then get slammed with a 6 or 8... I've seen other posts where people say not to get disappointed by these, but how can u not?? These things kick my butt. Anybody else in the same boat? Or am I just as dumb as I thought I was!

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[phatty925]

hey,
i took EK for the april mcat, but decided to delay the test until august. don't worry about those tests in the back of the book...our instructor told us they are definitely harder than aamc tests and they were made to be a little more difficult. i would say take a full length aamc to really gauge where you stand. don't worry, i didn't do too well on those either...so for the august mcat, i haven't been practicing with them and it actually helps b/c it doesn't bring my confidence down. the last thing you need with two weeks left until the test is something to destroy your confidence. good luck!

 

[Mudd]

Why is it that with all of these supposed expert comapnies out there, spending millions of dollars on research, all of their practice passages are over-kill and beyond the scope of the MCAT?

This is not a slam on any one particular company, but the whole dang lot of them. Other than AAMC, it seems like there is only one exam designed to be on par with the MCAT. And ironically, that's from the one company only a handful of people here use.

I wouldn't worry too much about the overkill passages, but if it makes you say things like "am I stupid?", then perhaps you might want to try something else.

 

[Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]]

I thought that EK's some VR questions were stupid and explanations were horrible. There is always one question with explanationas that do not make sense in each passage.

 

[CoffeeCat]

Originally posted by Mudd

This is not a slam on any one particular company, but the whole dang lot of them. Other than AAMC, it seems like there is only one exam designed to be on par with the MCAT. And ironically, that's from the one company only a handful of people here use.

Which exam is that?

 

[CoffeeCat]

Originally posted by ancientmd
I've been using EK materials and love them, until I take those horrific lecture exams.... golly, I feel like I know the material and then get slammed with a 6 or 8... I've seen other posts where people say not to get disappointed by these, but how can u not?? These things kick my butt. Anybody else in the same boat? Or am I just as dumb as I thought I was!

I haven't heard of anyone who has done well on them...I've been getting 6-8 also. I think the idea is that if you can think your way through these than you can slam the MCAT. I would use them as a study guide, don't take them seriously or timed. Also try the AAMC practice items or a test, It'll make you feel a LOT better.

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by CoffeeCat
Which exam is that?

BR exam #4. All of the Kaplan exams, PR exams, CR exams and other BR exams I have seen overshoot the target, some by a few miles. And the comments here support that EK is also overshooting.

For $1200-$1500 for a review course, shouldn't they make at least some of their exams MCAT realistic? Even if it's only two or three of them, it would make life a whole bunch easier.

If it means anything to anyone, I always tell my tutees to not do anything but AAMC materials during the last two weeks.

 

[Focus]

If your track coach made you run a 7 minute mile every day, you can easily qualify high for the race if the miniumum requirements are to run it under 10 mins

 

[limit]

Originally posted by Focus
If your track coach made you run a 7 minute mile every day, you can easily qualify high for the race if the miniumum requirements are to run it under 10 mins

Why is this analogy so popular? When applied so far out of context, its just a vague notion used to hide logical flaws. While we're on the topic, I ran a mile in 4:50, 3 months after my first step on a track. I didn't do it by practicing with 3-minute miles. There's something called a principle of specificity.

 

[Focus]

This analogy is popular? I just made that one up off hand

Anyways, everyone learns differently. Maybe you learn better if you attack what you are going to be tested on, on the same level.

But others benefit more if they overshoot, learn more than they need to so what they're going to be tested on is a joke.

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Focus
If your track coach made you run a 7 minute mile every day, you can easily qualify high for the race if the miniumum requirements are to run it under 10 mins

If my track coach made me run 7-minute miles, we'd both be out of a job. A 7-minute mile is something most people can do, while nailing the MCAt is not. It is far easier to run a 7-minute mile than to break 30 on the MCAT.

So perhaps we could adapt the analogy to something on par with acing the MCAT. If I was asked to run a mile uphill under six minutes, then sure, I'd be set for running a flat 6-minute mile. Training uphill is a good idea, but not all of the time. Then there's that physical reality too. I don't think I could run a six-minute uphill mile and all it would do is make me feel discouraged and unfamiliar with the real task. To be prepared to run a six-minute mile on a track, I should run one a few times, no matter what else my training entails.

You'll note that I said about two or three exams should be realistic (out of ten or so, that would be nice). Having a few tests (over half even) that are overkill is fine. But it seems like every company puts put exams tht are too much. They should water a few down to MCAT-level.

 

[missbonnie]

those 30 min exams aren't meant to be like the mcat. The EK course itself uses aamc tests for full lengths. if you use the scale in the back it will be depressing but if u think of them as making you think a little harder, and seeing the material a little differently, I think it has value -- and if you do well, then you probably really know your stuff. I probably woudl not use these this close to the exam tho. I spent the last 2 weeks just going over aamc material for the april mcat.,, going over questions I got wrong and making sure I knew how to solve it.

-b