Got my arse kicked by Section Bank - A few questions

[DocSherman]

Hello.

I'm taking my MCAT in April and I have a bit of concern about the Section Bank. I went through the questions and got quite a few of them wrong. I find that they're very hard and complicated, mostly because they require extra levels of thinking - a standard of the new MCAT.

I have a few questions:

-Is the Section Bank the new normal for the exams or is it still the "hard" passages that are dispensed for each exam? I was wondering if people could tell me from the 2019 exams.

-Should I postpone my test if I'm getting my arse kicked by these Section Banks?

-If the Section Banks are the rank-and-file among the MCAT questions, is the QPack worthless in regards to learning how the test works?

Thanks.

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[Dochopeful13]

Hello.

I'm taking my MCAT in April and I have a bit of concern about the Section Bank. I went through the questions and got quite a few of them wrong. I find that they're very hard and complicated, mostly because they require extra levels of thinking - a standard of the new MCAT.

I have a few questions:

-Is the Section Bank the new normal for the exams or is it still the "hard" passages that are dispensed for each exam? I was wondering if people could tell me from the 2019 exams.

-Should I postpone my test if I'm getting my arse kicked by these Section Banks?

-If the Section Banks are the rank-and-file among the MCAT questions, is the QPack worthless in regards to learning how the test works?

Thanks.

I’ve been told to do Uworld before section banks. Supposedly it will greatly help. Have you gone through Uworld?

 

[deleted958249]

Hello.

I'm taking my MCAT in April and I have a bit of concern about the Section Bank. I went through the questions and got quite a few of them wrong. I find that they're very hard and complicated, mostly because they require extra levels of thinking - a standard of the new MCAT.

I have a few questions:

-Is the Section Bank the new normal for the exams or is it still the "hard" passages that are dispensed for each exam? I was wondering if people could tell me from the 2019 exams.

-Should I postpone my test if I'm getting my arse kicked by these Section Banks?

-If the Section Banks are the rank-and-file among the MCAT questions, is the QPack worthless in regards to learning how the test works?

Thanks.

From my experience (2018), the Section Banks were great preparation for some of the trickier content on the MCAT. They represent some of the more difficult questions you'll see on the test - not necessarily the normal. From reading post-exam threads, however, each test date does seem to be pretty varied in terms of difficulty of section and overall exam; but I've always thought the curve kind of helps even things out in the end. Q-Packs were great for basic content review; I'd do those first to help find out some remaining weaknesses before moving on to the section banks. When I was studying, I thought the section banks were very tough when I started (about two weeks out from my MCAT), but studying them more along with doing AAMC practice MCATs helped get me into the right mindset for the test; and it all ended up okay in the end. Don't be too discouraged by them, just keep trucking along

 

[DocSherman]

I’ve been told to do Uworld before section banks. Supposedly it will greatly help. Have you gone through Uworld?

I have gone through parts of UWorld. It is definitely very helpful, but I kind of wish they could combine all the materials together in a combination.

I also recall that they're mainly focused on content. Would UWorld be good for "easy" questions, though some of the things they go over go over my head, or should the focus for the actual MCAT be on the QPacks / Section Banks?

 

[DocSherman]

From my experience (2018), the Section Banks were great preparation for some of the trickier content on the MCAT. They represent some of the more difficult questions you'll see on the test - not necessarily the normal. From reading post-exam threads, however, each test date does seem to be pretty varied in terms of difficulty of section and overall exam; but I've always thought the curve kind of helps even things out in the end. Q-Packs were great for basic content review; I'd do those first to help find out some remaining weaknesses before moving on to the section banks. When I was studying, I thought the section banks were very tough when I started (about two weeks out from my MCAT), but studying them more along with doing AAMC practice MCATs helped get me into the right mindset for the test; and it all ended up okay in the end. Don't be too discouraged by them, just keep trucking along

Thank you.

So QPacks is good for ironing out the simple stuff? Is that possibly representative of the test anymore or is that old news?

I'm also doing UWorld as well. They seem to have difficult wording, but its combined with very helpful explanations - way better than the AAMC's stuff. It just seems that they go over some really obscure stuff and I kind of wish UWorld combined sections together into combinations instead of testing things separately.

I'm just a bit squeamish since my test is on April 13. I did massive content review and I'm still finding holes here and there with these tests. My science scores are at least going up with my FLs, though I kind of dropped the bomb with my CARS on FL2. I went back to change some answers...and I got every single changed answer question wrong -_-.

 

[deleted958249]

Thank you.

So QPacks is good for ironing out the simple stuff? Is that possibly representative of the test anymore or is that old news?

I'm also doing UWorld as well. They seem to have difficult wording, but its combined with very helpful explanations - way better than the AAMC's stuff. It just seems that they go over some really obscure stuff and I kind of wish UWorld combined sections together into combinations instead of testing things separately.

I'm just a bit squeamish since my test is on April 13. I did massive content review and I'm still finding holes here and there with these tests. My science scores are at least going up with my FLs, though I kind of dropped the bomb with my CARS on FL2. I went back to change some answers...and I got every single changed answer question wrong -_-.

Like any test, there are always going to be a few “give-me’s”, and I think the Q-Banks are a good representation of what those are like. Kind of like the section bank though, not all questions (in fact, fewer) will be of that difficulty. Definitely use with the focus of ironing out old stuff. Honestly I thought the AAMC practice exams were the best representation of the actual test - and the scores I got on those were pretty much spot on to my actual MCAT. Can’t speak about U-World as I never did that.

Definitely understand your nerves. I was also scared I didn’t give myself enough time to study for my test, so I understand where you’re coming from (did about ~14 hours a day for 5 straight weeks over winter break). I specially remember the FL2 CARS section being particularly rough. For CARS, I pretty much did two hours of timed passages a day (about 12) from every source I could find. That was really the only way to drill it in. Practice Exams, Khan Academy (especially for P/S), and TPR science workbooks were great for content review.

I can’t speak to your schedule and your abilities, but you know yourself - and if you have a good feeling you won’t be comfortable with your place come April, then I’d postpone it and give myself more time to prepare. The MCAT is one in which ideally, you’d like to take it once and knock it out of the park. And personally I think applying ~slightly~ later in the cycle (like June) with a high score is better than applying early with a score that could raise flags. I’d continue practicing and taking mock exams over the next couple weeks, and if you’re not seeing solid progress, that’s when I’d alter my plans

 

[oncotraum]

I think you should definitely complete the entire section bank even though it can be painful at times! I took the MCAT at the end of January and like others have said, is seems like the AAMC makes at least one section as difficult as the section banks. There were plenty of questions on my exam that were the level of difficulty of the question packs. Most importantly, though, use the sections banks to learn how the test makers think about the material, rather than assessing your potential score with them. I got absolutely murdered by the psych section bank, but used that as a sign that I really need to think about P/S through the lens of the test makers. I reviewed every question, answer and term that appeared in those 100 questions several times, and I ended up getting a 131 on the real exam. The only "score" that matters is your real one, so use their material to really iron out all of the details you might have overlooked during content review!

 

[DocSherman]

I think you should definitely complete the entire section bank even though it can be painful at times! I took the MCAT at the end of January and like others have said, is seems like the AAMC makes at least one section as difficult as the section banks. There were plenty of questions on my exam that were the level of difficulty of the question packs. Most importantly, though, use the sections banks to learn how the test makers think about the material, rather than assessing your potential score with them. I got absolutely murdered by the psych section bank, but used that as a sign that I really need to think about P/S through the lens of the test makers. I reviewed every question, answer and term that appeared in those 100 questions several times, and I ended up getting a 131 on the real exam. The only "score" that matters is your real one, so use their material to really iron out all of the details you might have overlooked during content review!

Alright.

I'm actually a retaker, but I really bombed my initial runs at the MCAT. It went up, but the science scores are the ones that show more promise for improvement.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

The SBs were the closest thing to my actual MCAT in terms of overall feel and difficulty. I did the SBs about seven weeks before my actual exam so I had time to learn from them. Make sure you go over each and every question, answer choice by answer choice. Know why the right answer is correct and why the wrong answers are incorrect.

The closest thing I found to the SBs were TBR science passages. The thinking that is required on TBR and the tricks they teach you apply perfectly on the SBs. I basically used TBR to learn how to think quickly and zero in on the right answer. SBs gave me more practice doing that in the format of the exam. All of that helped me get ready for the AAMC FLs which ultimately got me ready for my MCAT. Think of it as stepping stones.

 

[DocSherman]

The SBs were the closest thing to my actual MCAT in terms of overall feel and difficulty. I did the SBs about seven weeks before my actual exam so I had time to learn from them. Make sure you go over each and every question, answer choice by answer choice. Know why the right answer is correct and why the wrong answers are incorrect.

The closest thing I found to the SBs were TBR science passages. The thinking that is required on TBR and the tricks they teach you apply perfectly on the SBs. I basically used TBR to learn how to think quickly and zero in on the right answer. SBs gave me more practice doing that in the format of the exam. All of that helped me get ready for the AAMC FLs which ultimately got me ready for my MCAT. Think of it as stepping stones.

Okay. I do have some Berkeley Reviews, but I might focus on SBs just to prepare for the worst.

Did you find that SB-level questions were the dominant ones on the exam? The QPacks were definitely a lot more straightfoward in terms of what they were asking.

Should I just focus on SBs or delve into another system like Next Step?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I definitely felt like SBs were more indicative of my exam than Q packs. Q packs are great for testing little facts, but they don't feel quite the same as SBs. You definitely should focus on SBs over Q packs. As for other resources, I looked at plenty of materials, and tried several of them for short spans of time, long enough to get a feel for what I needed and which helped me most. For the sciences, TBR passages are the best you will find at preparing you for how you need to think. UWorld was okay, and definitely the best platform in terms of aesthetics, but I personally didn't feel they helped me get better at AAMC style questions. I was not a fan of Next Step and I'm not sure many people are, except for their FLs. Some of their FLs are supposed to be very good. I liked EK in terms of their questions, but people complain that their explanations are weak.

 

[oncotraum]

Okay. I do have some Berkeley Reviews, but I might focus on SBs just to prepare for the worst.

Did you find that SB-level questions were the dominant ones on the exam? The QPacks were definitely a lot more straightfoward in terms of what they were asking.

Should I just focus on SBs or delve into another system like Next Step?

I think if you have the means to get all AAMC material this should be prioritized over other testing companies. Even though QP were not as challenging as some of my real MCAT questions, there were a handful that felt very much like the QP. It's just my two cents but I would trust all material from the actual test makers for what the real MCAT will be like since they write the test!

 

[DocSherman]

I think if you have the means to get all AAMC material this should be prioritized over other testing companies. Even though QP were not as challenging as some of my real MCAT questions, there were a handful that felt very much like the QP. It's just my two cents but I would trust all material from the actual test makers for what the real MCAT will be like since they write the test!

Okay then. That's pretty fair.

Also, the test can't be all SB quality lest everybody just outright fails it. I frankly like the QP questions since you can pick out the answers faster ;n;.