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I'm sure there have been threads about this... but I just wanted to pose the question to you fellas here, especially the ones who are now doing well, but may have found it tough to get to where you are now...
I'm a retaker (I took Aug 2005, 10P, 11V, 10B, SW) and I've been studying for the MCAT the past week, and for the rest of this month, to decide whether I should retake it in September (meaning I need to feel confident about getting 12's and 13's to make myself more competitive for a reapplication, otherwise its not worth the retake).
To make a long story short, I've been taking some individual test sections for both PS and V (portions of Kaplan FL's) and have been getting consistent 11's, with the occasional 10 or 12. So, very consistent and low deviations. I remember having this kind of thing going on when I was doing FL tests in preparation for the August 2005 administration. So, I tend to think it is more of a strategy/thinking/comprehension issue rather than subject knowledge, which is of course the point of the MCAT. I think I need to alter my fundamental strategy, which hasn't really conformed to any of the established prep strategies, as far as I can tell. I just skim the passages, get the general idea of the whole thing and identify individual portions, and then attack the questions, referring back to the passage when specific info is necessary. It seems to work well for verbal, because I never do poorly on these sections, but I always miss some questions. The same thing happens for the PS sections I've been doing so far. I think it's just the general test taking approach, and my approach to thinking about the problems and solving them.
Has anyone had this issue? It's not a bad problem to have, I think, given that people would like more consistency with their scores. But I need to improve significantly in order for it to make sense for me to retake this test. Is this going to be something that improves with time, as long as I continue practicing and reviewing each test section in its entirety? Or do I need to make a more tangible change to my approach and try to analyze the passage and subject matter differently?
I just don't know how to go about making any necessary changes.. I'm sure it would take time to realize the gains from any change, and I don't really have a significant amount of time to spend doing this. Suggestions are very welcome. 🙂
I'm a retaker (I took Aug 2005, 10P, 11V, 10B, SW) and I've been studying for the MCAT the past week, and for the rest of this month, to decide whether I should retake it in September (meaning I need to feel confident about getting 12's and 13's to make myself more competitive for a reapplication, otherwise its not worth the retake).
To make a long story short, I've been taking some individual test sections for both PS and V (portions of Kaplan FL's) and have been getting consistent 11's, with the occasional 10 or 12. So, very consistent and low deviations. I remember having this kind of thing going on when I was doing FL tests in preparation for the August 2005 administration. So, I tend to think it is more of a strategy/thinking/comprehension issue rather than subject knowledge, which is of course the point of the MCAT. I think I need to alter my fundamental strategy, which hasn't really conformed to any of the established prep strategies, as far as I can tell. I just skim the passages, get the general idea of the whole thing and identify individual portions, and then attack the questions, referring back to the passage when specific info is necessary. It seems to work well for verbal, because I never do poorly on these sections, but I always miss some questions. The same thing happens for the PS sections I've been doing so far. I think it's just the general test taking approach, and my approach to thinking about the problems and solving them.
Has anyone had this issue? It's not a bad problem to have, I think, given that people would like more consistency with their scores. But I need to improve significantly in order for it to make sense for me to retake this test. Is this going to be something that improves with time, as long as I continue practicing and reviewing each test section in its entirety? Or do I need to make a more tangible change to my approach and try to analyze the passage and subject matter differently?
I just don't know how to go about making any necessary changes.. I'm sure it would take time to realize the gains from any change, and I don't really have a significant amount of time to spend doing this. Suggestions are very welcome. 🙂
