Gonna try and save money and not take an MCAT review course

[HOLDEN]

Do I have to memorize all the Physics formulas they present in the book (I bought a fat Kaplan). Seems like a lot. I know I can do it, I just want to know if I have to. Do they provide you with the formulas you need to know in the questions or are you supposed to memorize them? Anything else I should know if I'm not taking the review course? Anything little, like "make sure you know about Archimede's principle" or anything that I wouldn't find out by not taking a review course. I just don't have the money. Thankyou all.

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[Dr JPH]

Holden-

Go to http://www.review.com and take an online practice MCAT. See how you do.



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Josh Hazelton
[email protected]
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
"D.O. Wannabe"

 

[Mango]

I took the Kaplan MCAT course last year and found it very helpfull. Yes, it was expensive too. However I can tell you that memorizing all those physics and chem equations is absolutely necessary. I know it's a huge pain in the you-know-what, but they do not give them to you on the actual MCAT. I made flashcards to help myself learn the equations. Maybe that will help you too. Good luck!

 

[rangers1]

I fell any student who does not take a course is at a distinct dissadvantage. The course itself, be it Kaplan or Princeton or any other is far from the meat of the course. The resources, i.e.endless practice tests, topical tests and graded exams, are priceless. I fell the key to success on the MCAT is taking as manypractice tests as possible. you should have taken at least 6 to 10 full length practice test by the time test day arrives. The prep courses supply the resources and the structure.

 

[rufus]

FWIW, I took the MCAT in April 99 after studying on my own with a review book and old textbooks. I scored a 32 N (12,10,10). It's not the highest score out there, but it did get me into school

. If you have the self-discipline to study, it's entirely feasible to do well without a professional prep course. I work days, so I studied 3-4 hours/night, 4-5 nights/week beginning in January. I did study some on weekends, but not more than 4 hours per day. Like rangers1 said, take as many practice tests as you can. I purchased all of the exams from AAMC & started taking them in March to get a feel for my weaker spots and then focused on those for the last four weeks. Unfortuantely, I didn't practice much for the writing section and it showed! BTW, though some information will be given to you in the passages, you are going to need to know most of the physics formulas. All I can say is do LOTS of practice problems; for me, the easiest way to integrate equations into my memory was to use them ad nauseum

. Anyway, hope this helps a little. Best of luck to you!

 

[HOLDEN]

cool, so I need to know them. No prob. So the courses just help with practice exams? Anthing else I need to know? Thanx to everyone who responed.

 

[unsure]

If you know anyone (same sex) that took the Kaplan review course within the past year, they can sign up again and renew just for the cost of books (~$150). All you do when you go into Kaplan to use any of their facilities is hand them the Kaplan card. You could go to classes, watch classes on video, take tests. This works even better if you know someone who used another Kaplan test center. Kaplan is national and will let you use another test center for the $150. But this isn't really necessary, its justa bunch of college kids working there. Of course this a purely hypothetical suggestion. I have no first-hand knowledge of any such shinanigans.