I scored 8 points lower than my AAMC exams (I took 7-10 too). I got the same exact score as the first time I took it with little or no studying. How did you access what went wrong? I really have no idea what to do at this point, and am really doubting my abilities...
For those who did significantly lower on the real MCAT compared to AAMC practice
- Thread starter Sonyfan08
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Look at SN2ed's sticky on the top of the forum. He has some very good guidelines on how to review the wrong answers.
Did you take plenty of passages while studying for the 2nd exam? By the way, I think you might need more than just AAMC 3-10 for FL practice.
I thought I did, but maybe I hadn't done as much as I should. I re-read and looked over BR Chem 1 and 2 a few times, read TPRH for physics, read and worked problems in NOVA physics, did some problems in the TPRH workbook for the PS.. I didn't do so much verbal because the first time I took it.. my scores just kept going down with my practice. So I was afraid to do it this time. But I tried to attempt it differently and saw my verbal score go up by from a 3 or 4 to a 8 on 4-5 AAMC exams.. but on the real thing.. I got a 4 on the verbal, PS 7 and Bio 9.. =(
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Some general tips on retaking: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=754682
Most people don't adequately review their practice passages.
General Guidelines for Reviewing:
- Go over EVERY question. Both the ones you got right and the ones you got wrong.
- Reviewing should take 2-3 times longer than taking the timed practice problems.
- If your tests are fluctuating, it is due to the different topics on the various tests. In other words, you have some glaring weaknesses that when targeted, nail you, badly. You have to find out what those weaknesses are because they are evident by your scores. Do NOT dismiss any wrong answer as a "stupid mistake." You made that error for a reason. Go over your tests again.
- You might want to consider making a log for all of your post test results where you work through the questions below. Doing so, you'll be able to easily notice trends.
Some things to go over when reviewing:
1. Why did you get the question wrong? Why did you get the question right?
2. What question and passage types get you?
3. How is your mindset when facing a particular passage?
4. Are you stressed for time?
5. Where are your mistakes happening the most? Are they front loaded? Are they at the end? All over?
6. What was your thought process for both the questions you got right and the ones you got wrong?
7. For verbal, what was the author's mindset and main idea?
8. Did you eliminate all of the answer choices you could from first glance?
ex. You know an answer should be a positive number so you cross out all of the negative number answer choices.
9. What content areas are you weak in?
10. How can you improve so you don't make the same mistake again?
Most people don't adequately review their practice passages.
General Guidelines for Reviewing:
- Go over EVERY question. Both the ones you got right and the ones you got wrong.
- Reviewing should take 2-3 times longer than taking the timed practice problems.
- If your tests are fluctuating, it is due to the different topics on the various tests. In other words, you have some glaring weaknesses that when targeted, nail you, badly. You have to find out what those weaknesses are because they are evident by your scores. Do NOT dismiss any wrong answer as a "stupid mistake." You made that error for a reason. Go over your tests again.
- You might want to consider making a log for all of your post test results where you work through the questions below. Doing so, you'll be able to easily notice trends.
Some things to go over when reviewing:
1. Why did you get the question wrong? Why did you get the question right?
2. What question and passage types get you?
3. How is your mindset when facing a particular passage?
4. Are you stressed for time?
5. Where are your mistakes happening the most? Are they front loaded? Are they at the end? All over?
6. What was your thought process for both the questions you got right and the ones you got wrong?
7. For verbal, what was the author's mindset and main idea?
8. Did you eliminate all of the answer choices you could from first glance?
ex. You know an answer should be a positive number so you cross out all of the negative number answer choices.
9. What content areas are you weak in?
10. How can you improve so you don't make the same mistake again?
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If you realize, you kept mentioning "reading" ... 80% of your study time should be devoted to solving passages/discretes, in my opinion. But it seems like you did it the other way around. Same thing with verbal, you just gotta keep practicing.
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Was timing an issue for you?
not at all....im going to retake in 6 months or so
btw, what practice tests are closest to the real thing? i took kaplan and those were garbage...
would you recommend Princeton Review? Berkeley Review?
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I didn't take the MCAT yet but a lot of people like Kaplan 1-6 😎
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You should be taking the AAMC practice exams. Other exams will help by providing more passages and helping to work on your timing, but when it comes down to it only AAMC tests seem to be an accurate predictor of how well you'll actually do. I had around an average of 37 on my last 4 AAMC exams (7,8,9,10), and I find out my scores next week; so we'll see if that holds true for me.
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You might of had a bad day or unlucky roll of the dice or maybe it might have been that you didn't practice under strict conditions. Other than not properly reviewing like Sn2ed and others mentioned, it's usually one of the 2 reasons above. I would go with TBR tests since they're easily accessible and closer overall on the science sections that the other FLs I took.
Hope this helps,
-LIS
Hope this helps,
-LIS
LIS, i intend on buying BR review books and buying practice exams from PR and BR.
But, i want computer based practice passages like I had part of the kaplan course
the BR books wont have their practice passages on the computer obviously...
what do you recommend i do?
But, i want computer based practice passages like I had part of the kaplan course
the BR books wont have their practice passages on the computer obviously...
what do you recommend i do?
