For those who have taken the MCAT...

[dartmed]

Ok, I have been reading about people's reaction when about the test yesterday, and it's just making me even more paranoid.

For those of you who have taken the test and received your scores, what was it that was so different that TBR/TPR/AAMCs did not teach you? It's just freaking me out a lot of them keep saying that they spent numerous hours studying, and the real deal was not even close to the AAMCs. Slightly concerned...

I am taking mine in 7 weeks, and I am thinking about staying away from the forums so I don't freak out.

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[fbradley99]

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[stolen_biscuit]

I am taking mine in 7 weeks, and I am thinking about staying away from the forums so I don't freak out.

I would recommend this! Same thing after scores come out...reading too much on here can make a decent score seem like crap. Stay away.

It's easy to be thrown because different topics are covered (and lumped together) than you may have seen on the practice. Depending on your area of expertise, that might end up in your favor (or not). All the practices were different, imo, so you should expect the test to also be something you haven't seen exactly before.

If you have done all that prep and can manage to keep your cool, you will be fine. Do as much studying as your life will allow, and you will at least come out knowing you've done your best. Then you can try to relax for the next month. As you have probably seen in practice, it is often impossible to gauge your score based on how you feel when finished.

Good luck!

 

[SLC]

ill just say this... really its not a regular test like you take in school thats a simple answer if you have stuff memorized. its a critical thinking test. the problem is though im a slow test taker and i dont understand that if they want you to critically think why not give you more time. its like after you read the passahe and get a grasp on it youve taken 5-6 minutes reading it. not much time for the questions if you have to think and do some reasoning. i dont know maybe its just me and i havent picked up on the pattern of the test. im sure theres some people who are just good at picking up the pattern for this kind of test

This is pretty much the gist. And the reason I think I did well. More critical thinking than pure memorization and application.

They'll tell you everything you need to know to successfully answer the questions in the body of the passage. But you've got to sift through it and have a nose for knowing what's important and what's not.

At least that was my impression.

It's a lot like the AAMC's, but the difference is that this one's the real thing, not some practice exam you take in your basement. The added pressure can kill you if you're not ready for it.

My advice: Relax, don't freak out, and trust yourself. You know this stuff, you've just got to keep your wits about you long enough to reason your way through it.

Good luck!

SLC

 

[mcloaf]

When people have trouble with the MCAT, assuming they've done enough studying then the issue is not that their study materials totally missed a topic. If a prep program totally missed subjects that the MCAT tests, they wouldn't be in business very long. The difficult part is not only covering and retaining all of the material, but being able to recognize when and how to apply that material--and that's a skill that comes with practice, regardless of what prep program you choose to do. I took the test yesterday and I thought it was fair. It wasn't easy, but the MCAT isn't supposed to be, and I didn't find that there were any topics out of left field that you wouldn't know were coming if you'd been studying with any of the major players (TPR, TBR, Kaplan, EK).

 

[IrishCogs]

I think a common problem is focusing too much on memorization of topics, when you should really try to deeply understand them. Be able to explain a concept out loud. Everyone learns differently but for me verbalization of concepts made a huge difference.

 

[JohnSnow]

The thing about MCAT is that you can't take it like you would a normal test because it's not a normal test. So you essentially have to learn a new method of taking a test which is a big part of the challenge.

Speed is king on the MCAT, I think a lot of us as science majors like the challenge of a difficult problem and don't mind putting the time if it means solving it correctly. Doing that will kill you on the MCAT. My personal rule is if I don't have a direction on how to solve the question within 15 seconds of staring at it I skip it because I'm not going to mortgage the rest of my test to get 1 question right.

You're also expected to have a thorough knowledge of all the material on the exam. For example, if you come across a passage on circuits, you're meant to know that Resistance = Resistivity (Length of Conductor/ Area) and that Resistivity = Electric Field Magnitude/Current Density and they won't give you those formulas in the passage, you're meant to have them at the front of your brain and ready for use, because you've only got about a minute and ten seconds to solve that problem. I think that's why most people recommend at least 3 months of 8+ hour days of studying.

The one things I've learned is that there are no shortcuts to MCAT success. If you want to do well you need to put in the time.