for peope who scored 12-13 on physical sciences

[hkny79]

Hi, I wanted to know from those people that scored about a 12-13 on the physical sciences how they did it. I have taken a few aamc exams and have repeatedy scored about 7's. If those of you who know how to get 13's can help me, I can at least get a 10 on the real thing. Thanks a lot. By the way, I know my chem and physics in and out, and I am finishing on time, its just that I don't have a good understanding of chem/physics laboratory techniques and have problems with understanding the detailed experiments found in many of the PS passages. I have tried not to be intimidated and just reason the passage out, but it has not worked as well as I hoped and I am still clueless about how to tackle these passages. Thanks again, for those who care to help, I appreciate this a lot.

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[jot]

eliminating stupid mistakes helped me out a lot - i thought i knew that material, but kept on making errors due to carelessness in simple math. going back and doing some chemistry and physics problems from old textbooks using mental math really did it. i also found that physical sciences was a lot more straightforward in terms of reasoning - memorizing equations, but more improtantly, understanding them proved to be supremely useful for speed. if you have a time problem - just skim the passages and find what you need later (others may disagree). knowing concepts cold is key.

 

[Papa Smurf]

Originally posted by hkny79
I have taken a few aamc exams and have repeatedy scored about 7's. If those of you who know how to get 13's can help me, I can at least get a 10 on the real thing.

I too have taken a few aamc exams and have repeatedly scored 6's on the PS section. If all of you out there who have gotten at least a 14 on the PS could help me out, I can get at least a 10 on the real thing. Thanks, I appreciate it!

PS bro: Perhaps those reasoning skills are keeping that PS score kinda low.

 

[dr kevin40]

i got 14. i knew my formulas inside out and never got bothered by passages that "looked difficult"

 

[pAkhtmAn]

What helped me was actually understanding what the equations were expressing in addition to memorizing them. Its also important to actually read the passages. I knew a couple of friends who always jumped to the questions before the passage; big mistake. More than half the info you need to answer those questions are in the passages themselves. Jot's advice is really good on this subject, because its always the small stupid stuff that may get you, like miscalculating by an order of magnitude or something like that.

 

[Med4ever]

Sorry its innate, us genius have it good. Seriously though try studying from textbooks. Really understand the stuff, try explaining it to other people. Honestly though, to get that high a score you have to be naturaly good at those subjects. I finished the phys with 30 minutes to spare and a 13.

 

[chak_de_phatee]

Hi,
If you are taking a prep course memorize all the formulas in the books they give your. After you can recite them in your sleep know what each variable does to the overall equation. For example F=ma(simple example but what would happen to F if a was increased). Do this for the complex ones also. This is what i did and it seemed to help me. Good luck.

 

[kutastha]

Know your formulas. Sometimes these can be daunting, but if you understand what the formula says, then it can be pretty easy.

Understand the concepts they're asking for.

Don't go on to the questions if you have no idea what the passage is about.

Read for clarity, not like in Verbal - can be tough since it comes right after Verbal.

It's a global understanding you're looking for - you know they're going to ask questions on the experiment the passage gives you, so you need to have full understanding of the passage.

Be careful and conscientous when reading.

Skip ones you don't know and come back.

Study study study and know your material.

Did I mention you should know the concepts?

Cross out answers that are not relevant nor make sense.

First do the passages you know like the back of your hand.

And of course, understand the concepts.

 

[missMD]

I TA'd my schools Gen Chem course for three summers before I took the exam. I got A's in physics but I wouldn't say I was a natural at it. What got me my 12 was teaching other people. I learned more about chemistry when I taught it than when I took the class. So sign up as a chem tutor at your college. And ofcourse know your formula's and you don't always have to pay too much attention to the passages just like everyone else said.

 

[Chronotropic]

Originally posted by Papa Smurf
I too have taken a few aamc exams and have repeatedly scored 6's on the PS section. If all of you out there who have gotten at least a 14 on the PS could help me out, I can get at least a 10 on the real thing. Thanks, I appreciate it!

PS bro: Perhaps those reasoning skills are keeping that PS score kinda low.

Well I haven't scored a 14 but I did manage to go from an 8 (last april) to a 10 (practice tests now). What really helped me raise my score was that before attempting any problem i would step back and ask myself "OK whats the simple concept being addressed here and what do I know about it"

 

[CoffeeCat]

I'm studying for the MCAT now and started off with can at best be called a rough start. The past few days I have started improving in the sciences only because before I would get very intimidated by scary looking passages and would skim over them quickly to be done with them (bad idea, I know) and now I'm taking a little more time and focusing on the science that the passage is asking instead of automatically assuming that it's too hard for me or something that I hadn't yet studied. This sounds very common sense and yet it can be hard to remember when that scary passage comes along. I can't tell you if it'll work for the big day or not, but here's hoping!! Good luck

 

[Papa Smurf]

Originally posted by danwsu


Well I haven't scored a 14 but I did manage to go from an 8 (last april) to a 10 (practice tests now). What really helped me raise my score was that before attempting any problem i would step back and ask myself "OK whats the simple concept being addressed here and what do I know about it"

Can no one on this forum interpret sarcasm????????????????

 

[jot]

its tough when you have a pickle for an arm ... gimme some candy!

 

[ewells]

Use the study guides or classes to make sure there are no gaps in your knowledge. If you know physics cold, except for circuits, for example (resistors, capacitors, etc), one passage could cost you five or six questions. Make sure you do not leave any topics out of your studies.

 

[nuclearrabbit77]

you will need to eliminate any simple calculation mistake if you want high double digits. in addition, work on your speed- try to read passages and extract what is essential, rather than reading the whole thing. of course if you don't read it at all, you may bite yourself on the rear.
also another key study tip (which may apply to all of the sections), is to review the problems you get wrong. you may see a trend in what you get wrong. attack the material that you suck at, not the material that you are doing well on.

keep doing problems!

 

[Mike59]

The AAMC exams are really helpful if you use the scoring breakdown at the back of the test. It's a good way to see if you are missing easy or hard questions, or whether you are bettter at passage-based vs. standalone questions etc.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Are you taking a prep course? I took Kaplan and wasn't doing very well on the PS section throughout most of the course. With 3 weeks left to the big day I was still getting 8s on the PS. Then I focused on doing as many of the practice tests as possible. It really helped me get the hang of sifting through the unnecessary info they put in each passage to get to the important points in the questions. If you have access, do a lot of practice questions.

Also, while doing these questions, I found that certain topics and concepts were giving me the most problems. I would identifiy these topics while grading my tests and read up on them. You can try this with your AAMC tests even if you don't have Kaplan.

I ended up with a 13 on the PS section (my best score) so it definitely worked. Good luck.

 

[Diogenes]

I managed to score a 14 on the PS. I don't know "how" I did it exactly, or if I could explain a method to do that well. It's like asking da Vinci how he painted the Mona Lisa -- he could talk to you about brush strokes and perspective, but ultimately he's just got this "thing" that some people have and some people don't. If there was a way to get a 14 that was easy to explain and convey, everyone would be getting the same score because they'd all be doing the same thing.

I didn't take a prep course -- I registered as late as humanly possible, and was busy working all summer (I took it in August). I agree that one should not, in general, have gaps in their knowledge. When I took the MCAT though, I had not yet taken the 3rd quarter of physics (at my school they were Winter, Spring, Fall). There was a whole passage on circuits and resistors -- I had never seen them before so I had to guess. And yet I walked away with a 14. How?

For starters, most people answer a ton of questions wrong on the PS section -- so don't sweat it when you don't know an answer -- just make an intelligent guess. Also one must remain relaxed and loose -- stress will kill you on this test.

If you have taken gen chem and physics AND DONE WELL, then you will probably do well on the PS section. I found that I did not really need to remember every last equation. The basic equations and concepts will carry you through this test. Also, don't make the questions more complicated in your mind than they are on paper. When you read a question, don't just read the question, attempt to work out the answer, and then look at the choices to see if your answer matches an available choice. Read the question AND the choices, and then work out the answer. This may save you valuable time, since there are a bunch of questions with very obvious answers. I finished the PS section 20 minutes early, but many, many people don't finish. Thus, I must admonish you all to not waste time -- the key to MCAT test taking is to quickly get to the essence of each question -- don't waste time thinking about stuff that does not DIRECTLY relate to the answering of the question.

 

[jot]

It's like asking da Vinci how he painted the Mona Lisa

taht is the most grandiose metaphor of anything mcat related i have ever heard, i'm sure da vinci would stab himself in the eye if he heard that


-jot

 

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by jot




taht is the most grandiose metaphor of anything mcat related i have ever heard, i'm sure da vinci would stab himself in the eye if he heard that


-jot

What I meant was not that my taking the MCAT was so fabulous, just that it would be difficult for me to explain to someone else how to do it like I did -- because I don't really know how I did it, I just went and did it.

 

[Jalby]

Study harder. Do better.

 

[bruin2002]

Hi,
Get the MCAT Physics Book. My score shot up many points when I studied from this book. If you go to www.amazon.com, there are reviews on this book. For me, it was an excellent source of gathering knowledge especially since I did not do well in my physics classes. GOOD LUCK in AUGUST!!!!!

 

[ewells]

Wow, I forgot the MCAT is coming up. Good Luck everybody.

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by Papa Smurf
Can no one on this forum interpret sarcasm????????????????

I think it is getting rarer nowadays.