Got my scores

[Mage]

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11 V 😀 , 10 P 🙂 , 9 B 🙁 ... ... ... M Writing. 😱 😕

Reasonably proud of my verbal, pleasantly surprised about my physical (I thought i would be lucky to get a 9, I had to guess on 10-15 problems), and disappointed with my biological. Dumbfounded by my writing score, I have no clue what they were thinking. Given the stupid essay topics, I'm not too insulted, though.

I had taken 5 practice tests the 5 days before the test (1 a day) and was scoring around 32-35 each time...I mostly skipped the writing section, though. I was always getting around 11 and once a 13 on my biological on those "MCAT Practice Tests, I through V" (I bought 4 of those, and also used that 60 dollar kaplan book's test). I thought it would simply condition me, but instead I think it made me all the more exhausted when I took the real test...that, and the night before I could only get 5-6 hours of sleep..my heart was beating so loudly it was as though I had some bass drums pounding in my head.

Ah well, I was delirious by the time I started the biology section, hopefully my reasonably strong verbal score will compensate. Definitely not what I was hoping for, though :/ . On the bright side, I guess it's not bad for a 19 yr old.

 

[csgirl]

I had a similar case. I didn't even get to the last passage of verbal and I had to half-guess the questions of the second to last passage. I was praying for a 9. I got a 10. I was shocked by my 12 in phys. But I was really bummed out by my 9 in biology! I was geting 11's and 12's on the practice tests! What happened?
(I just turned 20 😎 )

 

[dtreese]

Mage,

Congrats on the good scores. I'm not so much posting this for you as for other people who might be taking the MCAT in the future. I'm not surprised you got burnt out taking 6 MCAT's in a week. The best thing to do is start a few months ahead of time and build up your stamina. Take a full-length test every Saturday and one or two sections every other day. Pick one day a week to just have fun and use the other non-testing days to go over the problems you missed and do a directed review. That way you don't waste time studying your strengths.
I am a Kaplan advocate, not because of their classes (although those can be valuable) but because of their vast collection of practice material. I tried to go it on my own the first time (used a bunch of commercially available test prep books) and I got a 28. After Kaplan, my score went up 7 points. When it came to test day, the MCAT was no sweat. It was just another Saturday, same as the previous 2-1/2 months. Also, when you take their practice tests, they can give you scores and analysis on the spot--that means you immediately know your strengths and weaknesses. (By the way, I don't work for them)

 

[Coalboy]

I'd have to agree with what you said about Kaplan. It's pretty much what you make of it. If you just go to class and do nothing else, you're wasting your money. You need to do the practice material and tests; the whole kit n' kaboodle. My score went up 13 points from the initial half-length diagnostic they give you at the beginning of the course. I spent practically my whole summer at Kaplan, and I took 6 full-length practice tests. My whole summer was devoted to the MCAT (I was working full time too), but the upside is that I never have to take it again.