Content review tips for MCAT-still scoring low?

[MudpuppyLake]

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I am having difficulty focusing my content review. I end up trying to mass memorize equations that I don't understand at all. And then I forget them by the time next practice test time rolls around. How do I make the most out of my content review sessions by staying motivated, retaining the topics, and being able to make use of them on the test?

Also, I am scoring well below 10 on all sections. Does this mean I am still in the content review stage? When do I know I should just stop doing content review and focus more on enhancing test taking skills?

 

[HinduHammer]

I am having difficulty focusing my content review. I end up trying to mass memorize equations that I don't understand at all. And then I forget them by the time next practice test time rolls around. How do I make the most out of my content review sessions by staying motivated, retaining the topics, and being able to make use of them on the test?

Also, I am scoring well below 10 on all sections. Does this mean I am still in the content review stage? When do I know I should just stop doing content review and focus more on enhancing test taking skills?

What worked for me is making flashcards and then reviewing them. Buy a pack or two of 100 4X6 or 3X5 flash cards and for each card, make one concept, like electric potential energy or DNA transcription, then write down all the important points and information. Review your flash cards daily. Once you start getting to like 40+ it will be harder to do all your flash cards daily, but do like 25-40 daily and always review. Soon enough you will begin to recall the information and even where the location is located on the flash card. I used different color pens and everything and made drawings for the bio stuff. It REALLY helped me solidify the content knowledge.

 

[MudpuppyLake]

What worked for me is making flashcards and then reviewing them. Buy a pack or two of 100 4X6 or 3X5 flash cards and for each card, make one concept, like electric potential energy or DNA transcription, then write down all the important points and information. Review your flash cards daily. Once you start getting to like 40+ it will be harder to do all your flash cards daily, but do like 25-40 daily and always review. Soon enough you will begin to recall the information and even where the location is located on the flash card. I used different color pens and everything and made drawings for the bio stuff. It REALLY helped me solidify the content knowledge.

How do you know when to stop doing content review? And how often should you take exams if it's very clear that you still have a lot of content review to do? Should I just not take any exams until I comfortable with the content? It seems like a waste of exams to take them when I'm not ready...THANKS!

 

[torontopharm]

How do you know when to stop doing content review? And how often should you take exams if it's very clear that you still have a lot of content review to do? Should I just not take any exams until I comfortable with the content? It seems like a waste of exams to take them when I'm not ready...THANKS!

I used to feel the exact same way while i was doing TBR passages after reading the chapters. Then i read the chapters 2-3 times to a point where i literally have the 1st set of TBR books memorized now. I also made a few flash cards per chapter with whatever info i found to be useful. As a result, i'm doing much better in the passages now. It's hard work and takes time, but you should force yourself to understand those equations and do practice passages to really install them in your head before you actually do the practice "tests".

 

[C5b6789]

I have been in a similar predicament for a while now in terms of content review. I took 3 FL's and scored poorly on all of them (low 20's), so I stopped taking FL's, and have gone back to content review for now.

My opinion shouldn't hold much weight, but here is what I've done in terms of figuring out the content. Keep in mind I'm quite a few years removed from the pre-req's. I also took a TPR course last fall.

1. I started going through the Wikipremed physics flashcards based on a review from the SDN 30+ thread. They're created as a "spiraling curriculum", where you preview certain topics in the context of another topic. It's really helping me connect concepts in physics that I never really understood, even after going through the TPR review book and the first third of the TPRH SW and TPR online content. They're organized by one summary card per topic, and then questions related to that topic, and other shorter equation cards in between. So they're not really "flashcards" in the sense that you would think, more like small notecards. It's making me feel more confident with physics, which is my worst subject.

2. If you aren't able to teach something out loud, you should really think about whether you understand the concept or not. I have been using my whiteboard to help with this.

3. I have been using mcatreview.org's outline and constantly checking the AAMC outlines as I work my way through the material. I realized late in the game that the TPR review books were missing some things in terms of content (which I think might be the case for other test prep companies too?). Maybe this has been more helpful mentally than anything.

4. I made paper flashcards for things like OChem reactions (based on my TPR review book and mcatreview.org), GChem, and some bio concepts. I've also been creating more flashcards on Quizlet, mostly for bio but for general concepts/TRENDS/mnemonics in Physics, GChem, and OChem too. I know that flashcards are looked "down" upon by people for the MCAT, since it's not a memorization test...but failing passage after passage (TPR) and doing poorly on the FL's has pushed me to really nail down the basics first. I also think flashcards help me actively study so that I am forced to recall information, rather than just passively reading.

5. I highly recommend Chad's videos. I took detailed notes on his Physics, GChem, and OChem videos back when I first began studying. I still refer back to them quite often when I'm stuck.

 

[HinduHammer]

How do you know when to stop doing content review? And how often should you take exams if it's very clear that you still have a lot of content review to do? Should I just not take any exams until I comfortable with the content? It seems like a waste of exams to take them when I'm not ready...THANKS!

What I did was take one exam every Thursday, no matter what. I started about 8-10 weeks before my exam test date. The reason is to establish baselines and patterns. However, I started with Kaplan exams and used my first AAMC exam about a month or so in. I ended up taking 13 exams total, the last 5 exams in the last 3 weeks of prep.

I finished my content review literally....8 days before the exam? Lol, I would not recommend that. However, the content I reviewed, I knew very well due to the flashcard method. Keep in mind I also had to teach myself all of biology, and only needed to refresh on orgo. I was mostly done with content review about 2-3 weeks before. If possible, try and be done with content a month before. But I agree with you that it is somewhat pointless to waste valuable AAMC exams until your done with content review

But I stand by my original suggestion to take one test per week no matter what. This is about taking a test at the end of it all..

 

[valkener]

You need to analyze your own weaknesses! Nobody can tell you what specific areas you are weak on. When you get a question wrong, don't simply read over the 'correct' answer. Some people think your brain will automagically remember the correct answer if you read it. You need to understand the concepts behind that question because the next question will be slightly or very different from that one, but asking you about the same concepts.

 

[minion1992]

You need to analyze your own weaknesses! Nobody can tell you what specific areas you are weak on. When you get a question wrong, don't simply read over the 'correct' answer. Some people think your brain will automagically remember the correct answer if you read it. You need to understand the concepts behind that question because the next question will be slightly or very different from that one, but asking you about the same concepts.

Agreed. Here is the problem, you should know where you need to improve. After taking your first practice exam, you need to analyze what sections of material you need to review or why you got each question wrong. If you are at the beginning of studying for the MCAT, it is totally normal to start with low scores and feel overwhelmed with the amount of material you need to know.

If you are at the beginning, your timing is messed up because you just dont know the material. Towards the end I would focus on timing. I didnt even time myself on most of my practice tests until the 2-3 weeks before the exam. I didnt take time off to study for the exam, so I set aside time everyday to go over material.

Here is what worked for me:

1) took a very old real AAMCAS MCAT exam. Realized that material was an issue (timing as well for verbal, but I felt overwhelmed by the material that it slowed down my time)...i believe my practice scores were like 8/8/8 - PS/V/BS.

2) Bought the books(used examcrakers and kaplan...prefered examcrakers). What really worked for me was taking it slow. Doing a chapter a day and making sure I knew the material by doing the follow up questions. This process can taking 2-3 weeks up to 1 to 1 1/2 months.

3) Took exams...looked at results and saw that their were clear areas that I needed to relearn.

4) Reopened my books and redid questions. Found I had misunderstood some material and needed more practice. For me I wasn't where I wanted to be in chemistry so I actually bought a separate chemistry book and did those questions. Both examcrakers and the other companies make these books.

5) Did the newer exams twice and reviewed all the questions and tests. Memorized the little details that I had missed like IR charts.

6) Took my exam and got a 14/10/14.

Things I learned is that verbal is by far the hardest to improve for me because it was always a timing issue for me, but to get to a 10-11 is pretty easy with some practice. I believe on my actual exam I didnt even get to the last passage so I just guessed (hence the 10). Getting to a 10-11 in the other sections can be achieved by basically reviewing all the material and knowing the concepts...but getting 13-15 range means making sure you have mastered the material, that means memorizing IR charts in orgo to knowing all the equations. This take a while. MCAT is what you put into it. I hope my process of studying can help you!

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

Everyone here has already given great advice, but since you mentioned trying to memorize equations that you didn't understand, I can't emphasize enough the importance of paying attention to units. Whenever you try to master an equation, don't just memorize the variables - rewrite the equation in terms of its units (m/s, kg, etc.). This is so incredibly helpful because:

1) If you forget the equation, you'll at least remember what quantities it deals with, and that'll also make it much easier to decide which equations to use and when.

2) (even more useful at times) If you forget what an SI unit denotes, you can easily work it out. For example, say you're answering a physics question, and two of the choices are written in joules and the remaining two are written in newtons. Let's also say that you've forgotten what a newton derives from. Just take any force equation (for example, F = ma) and plug in the units that you already know: N = (kg)(m/s^2).

3) Finally, plenty of MCAT physics questions will throw completely unfamiliar equations at you. Often, it's easy to panic and respond with "I should've studied this" or something similar. The nice thing about the test is that often, you can work out exactly what they want without knowing any background about the equation itself, just using units and reworking the algebra.

Good luck 🙂