General MCAT FAQs: THREAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION

[Shrike]

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Really, we can't tell you. Not because we're being difficult, but because we don't know.

Kaplan and TPR (which stands for The Princeton Review) cover pretty much the same material, in pretty much the same way. Each provides lectures and practice passages in each of five subject areas; each provides loads of materials from which to study; each has you take several practice tests under proctored conditions. And, provides some form of guarantee. And, oh yes, each costs more than $1000. And don't forget, these things are true of the other prep courses out there, too.

 

[Shrike]

Yes.

 

[Shrike]

[I'll let someone else take this one]

 

[DrBowtie]

Im not sure how to submit a question an answer on this forum, and my question relates to general strategy. I figure you guys can edit or delete it after.
Thanks

 

[blankguy]

Which section did you people find the most time consuming to get through? Organic? General chemistry? Biology? Verbal? Physics?

 

[jmugele]

Which section did you people find the most time consuming to get through? Organic? General chemistry? Biology? Verbal? Physics?

Do you mean the most time consuming to study or the most time consuming on the day of the test? I assume you mean what is the most time consuming test to take.

I think this really depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are. I think some people think that VR takes the most time because there's so much reading and reasoning to do. But some people are able to read quickly with a lot of retention and comprehension. I think the quickest is probably biology, because there's not as much reasoning on that section as on others. You either know the answer to a question or you don't (of course organic is a bit different).

For me, the most time consuming section was physics, because even if I didn't know the answer or formula relevant to a certain question right off the bat, I still wanted to try to figure a problem out with the information I did know. In physics, it definitely pays to know the formulas very quickly and to skip ahead if you don't know an answer immediately.

 

[Nutmeg]

Which section did you people find the most time consuming to get through? Organic? General chemistry? Biology? Verbal? Physics?

I had one minute to spare for VR, 5 minutes to spare for PS, and about 15 minutes to spare for BS. I had no time to spare on WS, it seems--that is the hardest timewise because you have to set a mental schedule for how much time to give to each part of each sample.

 

[Shrike]

I had ...

It does vary a lot, though Nutmeg's answer is typical. But if your strengths are different, your timing will be, too. I had no time on WS (but I wrote about twice as much as a typical student -- competely filled the book, writing very small), fifteen minutes on VR, maybe thirty-five minutes on PS, and zero extra on BS. Whatever you're weakest at, you expect to have the most trouble finishing; I'm a bit unusual in my distribution of skills, obviously.

 

[Nutmeg]

Q's right, but there's even more reason to do what we at TPR call Free-Standing Questions first: even if they aren't quicker to do (and sometimes they're not), they tend to take a fixed amount of time -- there's really only one approach to these. On the other hand, there are a variety of ways to approach a passage, some more time-consuming than others. As you approach the time limit, you want all of the inflexible FSQs done, so you can adapt your methodology on the remining, passage-based questions to the time remaining.

On the other hand, if you're really fast, it doesn't matter what order you do the questions in.

I'm actually a pretty slow reader, but I went in with the idea that not finishing wasn't an option. I failed to complete the GRE Biochem test two weeks prior, and it screwed me. As such, I did everything in order and I read the passages thoroughly on the first pass so I could minimize my back-checking. I felt that spending time to devise a strategy would possibly cost too much time, so i just went "eye on the prize" in a dead run for the finish.

 

[QofQuimica]

Which section did you people find the most time consuming to get through? Organic? General chemistry? Biology? Verbal? Physics?

studying: physics b/c I took that class over a decade before I took the MCAT.

on the test: I agree that the WS is the one where I was finishing with only a minute or two to spare. I finished the three multiple choice sections in a little over an hour each, with BS being the fastest for me, then PS, and VR last.

 

[N1DERL&]

After taking a diag, what would be some good ways to go through it?

If the topic was something we haven't covered in class, should I wait for that lecture, or go ahead read up on it and try to figure out the anwer?

Also is it worth taking the same diag again?

Thanks!!

 

[hippocampus]

when studying for the mcat, i keep falling asleep, even though i got 10 hours of sleep. how do you manage to stay awake? i got myself a caramel frap so that it might help keep me awake, but i still fell asleep. when i am focused, i read for a little while, and then have to get up and walk around. this will be my 2nd time taking the mcat

how do u stay focused/awake?

 

[Shrike]

Let me clarify something that I thought was implied at the top of the thread:

Anyone may ask questions in this forum. Before posting answers, you must have a moderator's permission. Moderators of other MCAT Study threads do not need need permission.

 

[dave613]

I took the Kaplan MCAT #6 and did terrible. I got BS 7, VR 7, and PS 9. That being only a 3 point increase from my terrible 20 diag score and its been a month of studying since then. My goal is a 10 on each section (for verbal I would be happy with a 9 but at least a 2-3 pt increase on each section from what I have would be ideal for me). I am planning on taking the August MCAT but am also considering taking the April one instead. I only have 2 weeks till registration is due and I was wondering what some of you experienced ones would suggest. What do you think I should do, how should I put time into studying. I do plan to start studying a little more intensely as I have been taking it a little easy for the past month. I am taking the Kaplan class and mainly just do the readings they assign, not much more aside from some of the examkrackers material and audio osmosis. There are 5/6 weeks left to the big day, and do you think I can pull off a 2-3 point increase from what I have for each section? Thanks in advance for your responses.

(I did post this as a new thread in the MCAT forum but was not sure it was the right place to post so i'm posting the same message here. I'm brand new to the forum and find it an excellent place of valuable information)

I am taking the august mcat, like yourself. Although my story is slightly different, since i started with a 25 diag, and I have been studying hard for the past month, including now, so my suggestion is as follows: I actually am taking soem of this from gujudoc, since he gave me good advice: if I were you, I would take the exam, but you should study as follows. Firstly, study intensely, take notes on what you don't understand or remember, and when you read, study very thoroughly, and take all the subject exams available in your books. Additionally, take a practice verbal exam every other day>>this is very important! You will lose some of the test taking skill, if you don't practice enough. You must do at least 3 passages every other day, and go over the answers carefully. If you keep that up, you'll hopefully be in the 30 range by the real thing.

Good luc, we're in the same boat here.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

For the TPR Science Workbook and EK's 1001 bio quetions I am reading the relevant chapters in EK and then doing the passages. I go back and read up on areas that I had problems and try to annotate when possible. Is this approach ok or should I not be constantly reviewing material at this point.

I read all of EK cover to cover at least 2 times in all books and probably will go through it all about 4 times total before the month is over. I could easily spend 2 hours reading a chapter to learn the concepts but now the chapters are a very fast read expecpt for a couple lengthy bio chapters.

I should start full lengths on the 16th. I only have 4 AAMC exams I have not completed. I used 2 AAMC exams when I was preparing in April but decided not to tak the exam.

I have a few weak areas in the sciences and I keep working on those.

Thanks.

 

[faluri]

I really need some advice. I am registered to take the August MCAT and am really feeling discouraged by my progress [or lack thereof]. I am taking the Kaplan course and my first diagnostic was a 9 PS/12V/8BS= 29, which I was told is a pretty decent score for the diag. I have since then read all the EK books and completed the questions and topicals and I have also started the Kaplan course [completing all the scheduled homeworks, assignments, suggested materials, etc as they are assigned]. I have also probably completed about 8 verbal FL from EK/Kaplan and scores range from 8-10.

I took AAMC 5R recently and scored a 29 - 10 PS/9 V/10 BS, I also took 10 R which was a rude awakening. I know there isn't any score conversion but I basically scored inthe very low 20s with a 5-6ish in the PS. Today, I took the Kaplan FL1 and I scored a 9 across all sections. Basically, if you get my drift, I am starting to get worried that I am not at ALL improving and in fact getting worse! 🙁 I can't seem to figure out what it is I am doing incorrectly - after all practice materials I go over the explanations and understand why I am doing things wrong, etc and I also make notes on important points that I tend to mess up and all of that. I am getting really worried as to whether I should even take the test this August or not - my background is a bit complicated so I don't want to bore you with that but I basically need to get ca. 35 on the actual test. I feel as though it is fairly common that if one works at it [esp for the science sections] a score increase is usually observed -- so my situation seems like an anomaly.

What seems the most confusing to me is that oftentimes I think I am doing well on a particular section or test and am pretty confident in my answers [also, when I need to make an educated guess, I do so and am fairly convinced by the choice I made]- in some ways this is good because then my confidence isn't destroyed after PS-- but then at the end - I end up with the same old scores when I felt as though I did 'better.'

Anyhow, I know this post is long - but to sum up - I am in what seems to be a rut and any advice/words of wisdom would be reallllllly appreciated. Thanks for reading the post if you got this far 😉

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

Did you keep track of problems/passages you got wrong so that you could go over them in the last 2 weeks leading into the MCAT?

 

[faluri]

hey jmugele and Q - thanks for your comments. I suppose I will just keep going as I am and hopefully I will see some improvement - otherwise I will probably test in April. Thanks again!

Also - jmugele - if you don't mind me asking, I was just wondering what you actually ended up getting on test day - just because our situations are somewhat similar I am wondering how it worked out for you. Its all good if you don't want to say your score also - I am guessing it was pretty up there anyhow.

 

[jmugele]

Sent you a PM.

-J

 

[freesolo]

im confused as what to do when reviewing a full length, or any topical for that case, i usually go over them after im done even the ones i got right. Should i be writing a detailed reason for each question i got wrong in a notebook, and go over it maybe?

 

[scooter31]

I would not revisit the ones I got right. Instead, as I'm taking a test, I'll mark the ones I'm guessing on or unsure of (I wouldn't worry about keeping track of time on a test until late in the studying process). That way, even if I get them right, I can still go study them.

What I liked to do after a test was immediately study each wrong answer or marked answer to better understand it. Then, I would also keep a log of the topics that I was having trouble with and make a point to go study the topic more. It's much more useful to know which subjects you need to study more, than to be able to nail a particular question.

Good luck.

FWIW, this is my method of studying/going over the practice exams and cementing weaknesses in my study plan/knowledge base...

 

[Reno]

Just wondering how long you've been using DMAE and if you knew anywhere reliable to attain it?

Thanks a bunch

A good stay-awake method my sister taught me was strong gum (like Dentyne Ice or such--strong mint or cinnamon gum). Also works well for long drives. 👍 👍 👍

Also, there's a dietary supplement called DMAE (dimethyl amino ethanol) which I heard Dr Perricone talk about in his lecture dealie that he gives during PBS fund raisers. He said that it was used to help ADHD kids once upon a time, and suggested that it helped attention. I used it, and while I didn't perform any manner of controlled study, I'm pleased with the results, so why the hell not give it a try?

 

[hippocampus]

1)what is equivalent? how does that relate to titration? For example, if they said "add one quivalent of NaOH," what does that mean?

2)Also, what is the significance of NV = NV?

3) Why do they like to say for mol/L that something is kept constant? Like if you were comparing 0.01 M of A with 0.01 M of B, you would keep something the same because it doesn't really change?

 

[rachmoninov3]

I'm finding it hard to increase my speed in the physical sciences section, and have not been able to score above a 10. Any suggestions?