Don't want to get discouraged but should I be worried? First day or MCAT prep

[Chrisebril1]

I took the MCAT back in May 2009. Bombed it. Got a 21. 8's on the PS and BS, and a 5 on the VS.

I took the Princeton review prep course. Didn't do any full length practice tests, skipped a lot of classes (almost 100% of the verbal classes). Straight up didn't really prepare. Didn't practice at all, just tried to learn the science material.

I felt unprepared but took it anyway.



Enrolled in graduate school, and now preparing to apply for 2011-2012 cycle.

Been reviewing pre-req science material over the last month, but yesterday I started the breaking down the mcat 3 month study schedule.
Did Physics one and BR 1,4,7,10 passages and did three VR passages.

I did terribly. I was heavily pressed for time (tried to force them all in 6-7 minutes).

Out of the 4 BR Physics passages I got 14 correct and 12 incorrect.
In the 3 VR passages I got a depressing 7 correct and 13 incorrect.

I wasn't on my Adderall when I took it, but I feel that is unacceptable for anybody who even wants to try to get into medical school.

Can I expect with more and more practice to get better, or is, even for the first day of practice passages, that unacceptable and a warning?

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[SteveJMarist]

I took the MCAT back in May 2009. Bombed it. Got a 21. 8's on the PS and BS, and a 5 on the VS.

I took the Princeton review prep course. Didn't do any full length practice tests, skipped a lot of classes (almost 100% of the verbal classes). Straight up didn't really prepare. Didn't practice at all, just tried to learn the science material.

I felt unprepared but took it anyway.



Enrolled in graduate school, and now preparing to apply for 2011-2012 cycle.

Been reviewing pre-req science material over the last month, but yesterday I started the breaking down the mcat 3 month study schedule.
Did Physics one and BR 1,4,7,10 passages and did three VR passages.

I did terribly. I was heavily pressed for time (tried to force them all in 6-7 minutes).

Out of the 4 BR Physics passages I got 14 correct and 12 incorrect.
In the 3 VR passages I got a depressing 7 correct and 13 incorrect.

I wasn't on my Adderall when I took it, but I feel that is unacceptable for anybody who even wants to try to get into medical school.

Can I expect with more and more practice to get better, or is, even for the first day of practice passages, that unacceptable and a warning?

When do you take the test? I wouldn't start panicking just yet. The answer is yes: you will get better with practice. I've been studying for just over a month, and I'm already seeing improvement. It sounds like you may have some anxiety when it comes to this test. It's easier said than done, but getting a grasp on your mindset when taking these things is HUGE. I do much, much better when I'm of the calm and collected mindset compared to the anxious, frantic one. Just take it one step at a time and be methodical about improving your scores.

 

[Chrisebril1]

When do you take the test? I wouldn't start panicking just yet. The answer is yes: you will get better with practice. I've been studying for just over a month, and I'm already seeing improvement. It sounds like you may have some anxiety when it comes to this test. It's easier said than done, but getting a grasp on your mindset when taking these things is HUGE. I do much, much better when I'm of the calm and collected mindset compared to the anxious, frantic one. Just take it one step at a time and be methodical about improving your scores.

I am taking it in April (but only if I feel prepared). I will cancel in a heart beat if I am not scoring where I need to when they time rolls around.

I did have a little anxiety while doing these practice problems because I was rushing through them. A lot of math that I could do easily, but I tried to do them all conceptually to save time (which was hard). I noticed while reviewing just now, that I made a few mistakes in reading and a couple of selected the wrong answer but knew the right answer =(.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Did Physics one and BR 1,4,7,10 passages and did three VR passages.

I did terribly. I was heavily pressed for time (tried to force them all in 6-7 minutes).

Out of the 4 BR Physics passages I got 14 correct and 12 incorrect.
In the 3 VR passages I got a depressing 7 correct and 13 incorrect.

First and foremost, you are giving yourself too little time. On the real test you get about two minutes per passages plus one minute per question, which still leaves you a four minute cushion.

You did those passages and questions in about 26 minutes (4 x 6.5) as opposed to 34 minutes (2 min/pass x 4 pass + 1 min/que x 26 que). I would have to think that having 8 more minutes would have helped get maybe 4 more questions correct, which would be 18/26 (about 70%) which corresponds to roughly a 10 to 11. The passages and questions are generally a little tougher than the actual MCAT, so if you can learn from your mistakes so that next you do questions like that you get 3 to 4 more correct, then you're doing quite well.

It's easy to get depressed as you go through the studying process, but you're doing well to start. Hang in there; things will get better after you get your routine down.

 

[mzblue]

BR physics passages are hard. Lord knows they sent me to the gym a couple of times this past summer since i got soo stressed out after taking them. I say, review their explanations and learn from them. I found that very helpful when i sat for the MCAT because i got a very twisted physics passage and i remembered encountering something similar in TBR.

 

[jowen88]

speaking as someone who literally would have scored a 4 on the PS section had i taken a diagnostic mcat, i can tell you that the only thing getting depressed will do is interfere with your process. I started 4 months ago clueless and now find myself explaining things that i NEVER understood in physics. most of these concepts i honestly never even knew the equations for since my physics class allowed a cheat sheet for formulas. biggest thing i can emphasize is learn enough background information to MAKE concepts intuitive. i see all these posts about being intuitive but they make it seem like some jedi mind trick you either have or don't. the only difference in bnetween me being able to intuitively do physics passages almost 90% w/o any math is because i really have begun to understand formulas and not memorize them.

so focus on things like inverse squared relationships, directly proportionalities, and FOCUS ON WHAT YOU SUCK AT. don't do 1000x hess's laws balancing eqns cus its cathartic

 

[Chrisebril1]

speaking as someone who literally would have scored a 4 on the PS section had i taken a diagnostic mcat, i can tell you that the only thing getting depressed will do is interfere with your process. I started 4 months ago clueless and now find myself explaining things that i NEVER understood in physics. most of these concepts i honestly never even knew the equations for since my physics class allowed a cheat sheet for formulas. biggest thing i can emphasize is learn enough background information to MAKE concepts intuitive. i see all these posts about being intuitive but they make it seem like some jedi mind trick you either have or don't. the only difference in bnetween me being able to intuitively do physics passages almost 90% w/o any math is because i really have begun to understand formulas and not memorize them.

so focus on things like inverse squared relationships, directly proportionalities, and FOCUS ON WHAT YOU SUCK AT. don't do 1000x hess's laws balancing eqns cus its cathartic

Yep definitely realized I need to practice some hard core short cut techniques for solving some of these early chapter problems. It's like I am being pushed between "yeah you need to know the material" and "solve it in a way that doesn't really use the standard equations quickly".

In otherwords, can easily solve most of those problems with ample time but when pressed I was struggling.

I went ahead and added to time like you said BerkReviewTeach and it helped significantly.

Really need to find some time to practice the MCAT test taking and problem solving techniques more than just getting the concepts done. BR books are helping quite a bit with tips and tricks.

 

[jowen88]

Yep definitely realized I need to practice some hard core short cut techniques for solving some of these early chapter problems. It's like I am being pushed between "yeah you need to know the material" and "solve it in a way that doesn't really use the standard equations quickly".

In otherwords, can easily solve most of those problems with ample time but when pressed I was struggling.

I went ahead and added to time like you said BerkReviewTeach and it helped significantly.

Really need to find some time to practice the MCAT test taking and problem solving techniques more than just getting the concepts done. BR books are helping quite a bit with tips and tricks.

Also, BR often won't teach a trick or a concept until a passage (ie its not in the chapter reviewing material) so don't feel bad if you think you've not seen a concept yet; you probably haven't.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Also, BR often won't teach a trick or a concept until a passage (ie its not in the chapter reviewing material) so don't feel bad if you think you've not seen a concept yet; you probably haven't.

Really good point. A few tricks are found in the sample question explanations, but the majority are found in the passages and explanations. The idea I assume being that you absorb them better after you've done a question your regular way.

The new physics books have most of the tricks in the text section, which could be a good idea. The jury's still out.