breaking 11 in sciences

[bananaboat]

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[shraf]

y are u retaking with a 12 in bio? what was your overall?

 

[bananaboat]

 

[amoheban]

i've been consistently getting 11's in the sciences....

i'm wondering how i can break this and get a 12 on the real deal. do you think at this point, its review or strategy that's going to make the difference?

i'm really wondering how to make that transition. last august i got a 12 in bio, but now i'm thinking i was prob just lucky, since i haven't broke 11 this year.

any tips?

I think that the difference between a 12 and an 11 is not really how much information you know, but rather whether or not you made stupid mistakes and missed easy questions. I find that i get 11's when I miss a lot of easy questions, but end up breaking 12 when I focus and dont miss questions I should be getting right.

If anyone could tell me how to break a 13 though, I would appreciate it because I have yet to do so.

 

[akinf]

Actually, I find between 12 to 13 is the stupid mistakes barrier. I think if you know your stuff, getting a 12 isn't so bad; however, if you know your stuff and avoid making stupid mistakes, that should get you in the 13 range.

 

[estairella]

Actually, I find between 12 to 13 is the stupid mistakes barrier. I think if you know your stuff, getting a 12 isn't so bad; however, if you know your stuff and avoid making stupid mistakes, that should get you in the 13 range.

I'm consistently in the 13+ for the sciences and I STILL make unit mistakes in PS (like forgetting to convert km to m before plug-n-chug).

I think what helped me get to 13 though is just doing lots and lots of full lengths, eventually, you start to see the same questions over and over again (even across companies; I remember reading two Rh+ passages that were almost identical between Kaplan and EK, as well as like five hemoglobin shift passages... I've even seen a Kaplan verbal passage that refers to the same historical book as an AAMC verbal passage, only they were written by different authors and had different points).

But not making mistakes is also very important. So make sure you check your answers (if you have time - just check it intuitively to see if it makes sense), and check your bubbling.

 

[jpostbac]

I'm consistently in the 13+ for the sciences and I STILL make unit mistakes in PS (like forgetting to convert km to m before plug-n-chug).

I think what helped me get to 13 though is just doing lots and lots of full lengths, eventually, you start to see the same questions over and over again (even across companies; I remember reading two Rh+ passages that were almost identical between Kaplan and EK, as well as like five hemoglobin shift passages... I've even seen a Kaplan verbal passage that refers to the same historical book as an AAMC verbal passage, only they were written by different authors and had different points).

this is really interesting advice - and it makes sense (i've noticed some overlap too with the 4 AAMC tests i've taken so far). even in high school, though, the folks who got 1600s on their SATs (the old system) credited TONS of practice tests for their success.

just wondering - when you first started practicing, were you scoring 13+ or did you gradually make your way up there?

i know, with one week left, it's probably too late in the game for us to try to boost our scores those extra 1 or 2 points to get to 13+, but if you saw improvement simply out of doing lots of practice tests (rather than memorizing random physiology stuff from books), then that brings a little bit of hope to those of us who still have a few more AAMC tests to do this week.

any advice on other tests to do? i have copies of the Kaplan tests, but have been focusing on AAMC. which of Kaplans did you find to be most helpful?

 

[bananaboat]

I'm consistently in the 13+ for the sciences and I STILL make unit mistakes in PS (like forgetting to convert km to m before plug-n-chug).

I think what helped me get to 13 though is just doing lots and lots of full lengths, eventually, you start to see the same questions over and over again (even across companies; I remember reading two Rh+ passages that were almost identical between Kaplan and EK, as well as like five hemoglobin shift passages... I've even seen a Kaplan verbal passage that refers to the same historical book as an AAMC verbal passage, only they were written by different authors and had different points).

But not making mistakes is also very important. So make sure you check your answers (if you have time - just check it intuitively to see if it makes sense), and check your bubbling.

i've done 10 full lenghts..plus a bunch of verbal section tests (maybe 12)? and 6 physical section tests.

so i would consider this a lot...would u? i think at this point i'm not going to do any more full lenghts...since i think its more about getting rest and taking it easy from here on in. i think its great to push this week if you've been working all summer, or had other commitments. but i've been working on the MCAT all summer...and i think the biggest thing for me is a good attitude right now. and getting in the mental frame of mind to do well. i'm starting to feel a little bit tired, so i think its best for me to just work on my weaknesses, reread my mistakes from past tests, and call it a day.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Don't waste your time with Kaplan. Of all of the review books I've used, the Kaplan was the least in-depth and didn't really help you to understand the material. Their practice tests were not that helpful either.

The Princeton Review books are great and same with Examkrackers.

The only practice tests you should bother with are the AAMC tests...

 

[estairella]

just wondering - when you first started practicing, were you scoring 13+ or did you gradually make your way up there?

any advice on other tests to do? i have copies of the Kaplan tests, but have been focusing on AAMC. which of Kaplans did you find to be most helpful?

On my diagnostic (Kaplan 1), I got 9/10/11, so I gradually worked my way up; for PS, a large part was knowing the formulas, but the rest was just getting to know the question types and common themes.

I did all of the Kaplans except 9; I was gonna do 9 this week, but I got sick of correcting their typos/graphs/wrong answers, etc. At this point, I don't think Kaplan will be very helpful as they tend to be much more tricky than AAMC (maybe if you take one today, you will get over the shock of how difficult Kaplan is compared to AAMC before Saturday comes). If you have 3 AAMC left, I think you'll be fine... After I finished review, I spaced out my full lengths for 1 every 3 days, just to give some breathing room.

i've done 10 full lenghts..plus a bunch of verbal section tests (maybe 12)? and 6 physical section tests.

I've done 19 full lengths (6 AAMC, 3 EK, 10 Kaplan), 5 EK 101 verbal tests, 7 section VRs, 3 section PSs, 3 section BSs and 284 questions in EK1001 biology. (What a lame thing to brag about, eh? )

I only have 1 more full length to do (AAMC9), other than that, I'm pretty much going to do what you're doing.. chilling and getting mentally prepared (maybe think about the Writing Sample). I also have been focusing on MCAT almost full-time (quit my job beginning of July), so it will be joyous when Saturday finally comes.