Common MCAT Traps Tip Sheet

[Jon Davis]

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Hello Everyone. I figured between the members here we have 100s of hours worth of MCAT experience. Are there any common traps that people see on the MCAT that everyone should watch out for? Put up a tip of ANY section!

Example: VR Section
When deciding the main thesis of the passage, usually the 3 dummy answers given are only blown up portions of details. The correct answer is usually the most general statement that holds the general feeling of the article.

 

[JDAD]

How about these, all questions i missed on 4R yesterday. (Actually, these are the only questions I missed.

1.) melting point, solid to liquid and boiling point liquid to gas
2.) 1million has six zeros, not five
3.) If the source puts out a wavelength that is longer than the received wavelength, it is approaching
4.) Solid + Liquid --> Aqueous, this is increasing entropy
5.) P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2 Find V2 = P1V1T2/T1P2
6.)Charging a capacitor is not a constant relationship, as more charge gets added, the rate of the charging decreases
7.)Frequency of each photon does not mean the photons will be released more frequently


Every single one of these mistakes are mistakes that were due to a lack of reading comprehension. If I would have gotten these, I would have had 77/77. Looking back, I don't know how i missed them. Moral of the story: READ CAREFULLY It is the difference between a 12 and a 15.

 

[willthatsall]

I missed the capacitor one. I didn't know what a square-wave voltage generator was.

 

[Jon Davis]

bump

 

[Doctor Bagel]

hmm, here are the stupid mistakes i've made thus far on practice tests.

1. confusing codon and anticodon in a question
2. not realizing that a compound had no protons before answering a question about what its nmr spectrum would look like
3. confusing electrons and protons when doing the right hand rule
4. not being as careful about exception questions as I should be

 

[Jon Davis]

Great responses, but I'm not sure if my idea came across correctly.

What I mean is this:
Lets say theres a question with the normal 4 options, A-D. What are some traps that you've come across in the choices that have TRICKED you into circling the wrong answer.

For all the EK guys and gals out there, you know what I'm talking about if you've gone through the EK Verbal 101 book answer explanations.

 

[Monkey12]

Great responses, but I'm not sure if my idea came across correctly.

What I mean is this:
Lets say theres a question with the normal 4 options, A-D. What are some traps that you've come across in the choices that have TRICKED you into circling the wrong answer.

For all the EK guys and gals out there, you know what I'm talking about if you've gone through the EK Verbal 101 book answer explanations.

Just wondering if you would suggest some of the better verbal passages to go through since time is limited and I just got the book...
Thanks!

 

[bonez318ti]

hmm, here are the stupid mistakes i've made thus far on practice tests.


2. not realizing that a compound had no protons before answering a question about what it's nmr spectrum would look like

Haha.. was this for the Kaplan FL4 question with the buckyball?? I fell for that one too! What a stupid mistake.. I hope i wont make any on the real one..

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

How about these, all questions i missed on 4R yesterday. (Actually, these are the only questions I missed.

1.) melting point, solid to liquid and boiling point liquid to gas
2.) 1million has six zeros, not five
3.) If the source puts out a wavelength that is longer than the received wavelength, it is approaching
4.) Solid + Liquid --> Aqueous, this is increasing entropy
5.) P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2 Find V2 = P1V1T2/T1P2
6.)Charging a capacitor is not a constant relationship, as more charge gets added, the rate of the charging decreases
7.)Frequency of each photon does not mean the photons will be released more frequently


Every single one of these mistakes are mistakes that were due to a lack of reading comprehension. If I would have gotten these, I would have had 77/77. Looking back, I don't know how i missed them. Moral of the story: READ CAREFULLY It is the difference between a 12 and a 15.

i love #7

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

Haha.. was this for the Kaplan FL4 question with the buckyball?? I fell for that one too! What a stupid mistake.. I hope i wont make any on the real one..

ditto ..it got me good that Q was also the 1st Q what a drained way to start that section!