HELP! 3 weeks left

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larrywalkerdds

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I have been so caught up with work and school that I admittedly haven't spent enough times spending. Unlike most of you, I'm only aiming for a 23-24. But I don't remember a single thing about Physics and O-chem.

Knowing my situation and unlofty goal of trying to get a 23, what is the most efficient way to study from this point forward. Most of you can get a 23 cold but unlike you, I have no funadmental basis for o-chem and physics. I took it so long ago and I just barely got by with C's.

I don't want to waste time reading the entire Kaplan book on Physics per say. Is there a cheap and dirty way to study in the last 3 weeks that will enable me to get a 23?

I'm not too worried about bio and verbal but I absolutely suck at physical sciences. I really need a plan that is efficient and doesn't involve steps that will waste too much time? Any suggestions? I'm willing to put in the time in the next 3 weeks, what do you think is the best strategy at this point?

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I don't know if you're serious or not... but if you are, take all the practice tests and see where your real weakness is in those subjects. Go back to your textbook and learn them correctly. If you want to spend more, buy used copies of some examkracker / tpr / whoevers ( but I am not sure if you have enough time w/ shipping and all that). Now is not the time to think about saving money though. Spend all you got, bring out the credit cards, sell your shorts if you have to. You can work after the mcat and pay it all back. Best of luck to you.

P.s. where do you want to go with a 23-24 as far as medical schools?
 
Don't take the MCAT. If you are worried about getting a 23, you obviously don't know enough to get a decent score. You will probably end up with a score below 20.

The best advice is this: Don't listen to the other students on SDN. They don't what they are talking about. Some guy will tell you that all he did was cram some material for 2 weeks and he got a 29.

You are essentially in bad shape. Nothing can help you. I don't depress you but you need a reality check.

Nothing will help you at this point
 
OP, like the last post says, don't listen to people on SDN. Only you know where you stand and a good measure is to take some practice tests and see where your weaknesses are and how much weakness you have. I can assure you this though, the "nothing will help you" remark from azcomdiddy is false. Give it a shot, it cannot hurt you.

*nothing against you azcomdiddy.
 
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I'm serious. I'm trying to get into a foreign school and that is their minimum. Can someone tell me the most efficient way to study? Please!
 
Originally posted by larrywalkerdds
I'm serious. I'm trying to get into a foreign school and that is their minimum. Can someone tell me the most efficient way to study? Please!

Did you do what I said? Probably not...:thumbup:
 
I don't need to take a practice test to figure out what I'm weak in. I'm weak in everything. Can anyone else provide some advice.

Thanks
 
your weak in everything...hmmm

Well, you have about 2.5 weeks left. You could divide it up...1 week BS review...and 1 week PS review...or you could do alternate days.

Try to put in like a 100 hours over the next 2 weeks...practice/review. I think that would be enough to get you a 23.

And give the big kapaln book a chance. There isn't really a "down and dirty" way for the mcat.

Good luck!
 
If I were you this is what I would do.

You should beable to get a 23 if you have a general idea of the science concepts. Spend your time on learning science material, go over the general stuff.

I would take two practice exams to get use to the test. You need to memorize as many formulas for physics as possible.

Good luck
 
stop helping this dude if he isn't willing to help himself.

"I don't need to take a practice test - I'm weak in everything."

Cool, hopefully you're my kid's doctor. :thumbup:
 
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Originally posted by Cerberus
here is my honest dingus opinion. If you arent willing to work hard enough/arent smart enough to get a 24, then you shouldnt be a doctor.
Cerb, that's a real hard-ass thing to say . . . and I second it.
 
Originally posted by Cerberus
here is my honest dingus opinion. If you arent willing to work hard enough/arent smart enough to get a 24, then you shouldnt be a doctor.

I have been desisting from posting on this thread, but the claim that not have having a 24 means you shouldn't be a doctor is flawed. Actually having a 40 on the MCAT does not mean you should be a doctor. I can unsupportedly say that there are people in allopathic medical schools with less than a 24 on the MCAT, let alone osteopathic.

My overall point is that scores mean little in the larger scheme of things, but if you know where you want to go, and know what score is required, you better get that score or higher.

Clearly the OP knows what score will help him/her, but I sense a little bit of reluctance on his/her part to put some effort into study.
 
It's not that I'm unwilling to put in effort. My situation is a little different. And the standard generic advice isn't going to cut it. I didn't need to post this thread to get the "Take a practice test. Figure out what you are weak in and then study that." Gee, thanks. Like I couldn't figure that out on my own.

Also, my situation is a little different than yours. I'm not a junior in college that finished taking o-chem and physics last year. This material is not fresh in mind. I'm not at the point like 90% of you that can take a practice test and just brush up in the areas I was a little weak in.

When it comes to physical sciences, I know nothing. I'm in a bind and I'm realistically shooting for a 23. I'm not taking one of your U.S. all spots so could you spare me the attitude and just help a guy out. I've got 3 weeks left and I'm asking some of you geniuses out there with the 30's that if you had to provide a 3 week crash course for a guy to enable him to get a 23, what would you advise? If I had 6 months, I would score a lot higher, but I have don't have 6 months, I have 3 weeks. Sorry, I supposed I should have lied and said I was trying to get a 30. That might have induced a better response.

To all those who sincerely answered, thank you for the advice and I have been implementing it with great succes. I like the idea of trying to accomplish a 100 hours of study prior to the exam.
 
Originally posted by larrywalkerdds
It's not that I'm unwilling to put in effort. My situation is a little different. And the standard generic advice isn't going to cut it. I didn't need to post this thread to get the "Take a practice test. Figure out what you are weak in and then study that." Gee, thanks. Like I couldn't figure that out on my own.

Also, my situation is a little different than yours. I'm not a junior in college that finished taking o-chem and physics last year. This material is not fresh in mind. I'm not at the point like 90% of you that can take a practice test and just brush up in the areas I was a little weak in.

When it comes to physical sciences, I know nothing. I'm in a bind and I'm realistically shooting for a 23. I'm not taking one of your U.S. all spots so could you spare me the attitude and just help a guy out. I've got 3 weeks left and I'm asking some of you geniuses out there with the 30's that if you had to provide a 3 week crash course for a guy to enable him to get a 23, what would you advise? If I had 6 months, I would score a lot higher, but I have don't have 6 months, I have 3 weeks. Sorry, I supposed I should have lied and said I was trying to get a 30. That might have induced a better response.

To all those who sincerely answered, thank you for the advice and I have been implementing it with great succes. I like the idea of trying to accomplish a 100 hours of study prior to the exam.

if time is really an issue why dont you wait till August and just learn the material? Material then you'd have a shot at an Allo or DO school.

If i was going to reccomend a "crash course" I would reccomend you grab the EK review books. Spend 1 day on each subject then start taking practice tests in every free minute you have.
 
Originally posted by larrywalkerdds
I didn't need to post this thread to get the "Take a practice test. Figure out what you are weak in and then study that." Gee, thanks. Like I couldn't figure that out on my own.


Gee you're welcome... I'll make sure to stay away from posting any advice that may help you out.

With posts like this , I can't help to give you one more very valuable piece of advice...




I mean, it seems like every other post is on Dental, and your name does end with DDS soooooo, take this advice seriously:

Do something you like! This is why you are scoring low and have no hope. You have all of these multiple goals. I am not putting you down, I just think you need to have a meeting with yourself and think what it is that you really want to do. Upon finding that dream, you will figure out what you need to do to get there and will have all the motivation to do it.

Peace.
 
I agree with Cerberus. Why not spend the entire summer studying and then take the August MCAT? 3 weeks (or almost 2.5 now...getting close!!!) isn't very much time to study for a test as massive as the MCAT.

If you're dead set on April you really should take a practice exam. If nothing else it will identify what you should concentrate on. I would say, memorize as many Physics formulas as you can from a MCAT review book like the Kaplan one, but without understanding what the formulas are for it won't help you all that much; maybe you'll steal a point here and there on questions that directly test your knowledge of formulas. But hey, I guess every point helps right?

Other than that I don't know. Practice is really the best way to learn stuff, and if you've got a full class load and are working at the same time I don't know how much practice you can fit in during the next 2.5 weeks.
 
Originally posted by OnMyWayThere
Gee you're welcome... I'll make sure to stay away from posting any advice that may help you out.

With posts like this , I can't help to give you one more very valuable piece of advice...




I mean, it seems like every other post is on Dental, and your name does end with DDS soooooo, take this advice seriously:

Do something you like! This is why you are scoring low and have no hope. You have all of these multiple goals. I am not putting you down, I just think you need to have a meeting with yourself and think what it is that you really want to do. Upon finding that dream, you will figure out what you need to do to get there and will have all the motivation to do it.

Peace.

Listen friend, if you expect accolades every time you give advice, that is your problem not mine. At the very least, you shouldn?t belittle another poster when they don?t openly acknowledge your advice particularly lousy advice. How did you think anyone in my situation was going to respond? If you aren't prepared to be told how lousy your advice was, then I suggest not putting down someone when they choose not to adhere to it.

In regards to you advice, give me a break. How old are you? Why does it make me a bad person for considering medicine and dentistry? Here is some advice for you. Grow up kid. You don?t need to do background searches and dig up dirt on members that hurt your feelings. Don't you have anything better to do? Probably not which is why you are still posting in the MCAT forum a year later. Get a girlfriend, go to a party, read Dungeons and Dragons whatever floats your boat. But whatever you do, stop psychoanalyzing people. I would have simply preferred a :"Dude, you are toast," as opposed to your Dr. Phil lecture.
 
Originally posted by larrywalkerdds
Listen friend, if you expect accolades every time you give advice, that is your problem not mine. At the very least, you shouldn?t belittle another poster when they don?t openly acknowledge your advice particularly lousy advice. How did you think anyone in my situation was going to respond? If you aren't prepared to be told how lousy your advice was, then I suggest not putting down someone when they choose not to adhere to it.

In regards to you advice, give me a break. How old are you? Why does it make me a bad person for considering medicine and dentistry? Here is some advice for you. Grow up kid. You don?t need to do background searches and dig up dirt on members that hurt your feelings. Don't you have anything better to do? Probably not which is why you are still posting in the MCAT forum a year later. Get a girlfriend, go to a party, read Dungeons and Dragons whatever floats your boat. But whatever you do, stop psychoanalyzing people. I would have simply preferred a :"Dude, you are toast," as opposed to your Dr. Phil lecture.

First off, we're not friends... You asked for advice, you got some. I'm sorry you can't take it in. I did a search to see what you're up to, because a generic advice can't apply to everyone. It's too bad you don't take the advice seriously - it would really help in my opinion. If you prefer a response like "dude, you are toast", I just can't say that because it's simply not true.

As for a life, don't worry about me. I've got one that you would only dream of and will never come close to. Never.

Good luck with whatever route you end up taking. I only wish the best for everybody, even yourself. Peace.
 
Since no one else was able to provide you with any decent advice, I'll take pity on you and tell you what you should do. DON'T TAKE THE TEST.

The average MCAT score on SDN is ridiculously high. The people in here are either liars or extremely bright. I'm siding with the latter. These people study all the time whether they admit it or not. That's what you need to do. You need to go to a cubicle and study for a good 3 months. So while nearly everyone in here can get a 26 in their sleep, that doesn't apply to you. Be realistic. Know your abilities. A 23 is a difficult challenge for someone who professes to know nothing about the PS section. If you merely guess on the PS section, you will probably get a 3 or a 4. That means you will have to get 10's on the other sections. That's not happening.

Forget the foreign medical school . Take the summer off. Get a tutor. And learn the basic sciences. You will need 2 months just to really learn that. Then take another month and devote that to practice tests. You will do well. Getting an 18 on the MCAT looks BAD....real BAD. Even if you get a 35 on your second attempt, they aren't going to completely ignore your 18. They are going to wonder what the hell happened. And chances are they aren't stupid. They aren't going to believe you suddenly came down with a bad case of the bird flu during your exam. Going from an 18 to a respectable score tells an adcoms that you are a slacker

Quit getting into pissing matches with people on here and study.
 
Originally posted by OnMyWayThere
First off, we're not friends... You asked for advice, you got some. I'm sorry you can't take it in. I did a search to see what you're up to, because a generic advice can't apply to everyone. It's too bad you don't take the advice seriously - it would really help in my opinion. If you prefer a response like "dude, you are toast", I just can't say that because it's simply not true.

As for a life, don't worry about me. I've got one that you would only dream of and will never come close to. Never.

Good luck with whatever route you end up taking. I only wish the best for everybody, even yourself. Peace.

I asked for advice. What I didn't ask was to hear you whine when I asked for others' opinions as well. And you stated your advice prior to you "seeing what I was up to" so that's a rather weak excuse for merely trying to dig up dirt by examining someone's past posts. Yes, I envy the life of someone who feels the need to "research" other members of the forum. Your life is certainly eventfull.
 
Originally posted by azcomdiddy
Since no one else was able to provide you with any decent advice, I'll take pity on you and tell you what you should do. DON'T TAKE THE TEST.

The average MCAT score on SDN is ridiculously high. The people in here are either liars or extremely bright. I'm siding with the latter. These people study all the time whether they admit it or not. That's what you need to do. You need to go to a cubicle and study for a good 3 months. So while nearly everyone in here can get a 26 in their sleep, that doesn't apply to you. Be realistic. Know your abilities. A 23 is a difficult challenge for someone who professes to know nothing about the PS section. If you merely guess on the PS section, you will probably get a 3 or a 4. That means you will have to get 10's on the other sections. That's not happening.

Forget the foreign medical school . Take the summer off. Get a tutor. And learn the basic sciences. You will need 2 months just to really learn that. Then take another month and devote that to practice tests. You will do well. Getting an 18 on the MCAT looks BAD....real BAD. Even if you get a 35 on your second attempt, they aren't going to completely ignore your 18. They are going to wonder what the hell happened. And chances are they aren't stupid. They aren't going to believe you suddenly came down with a bad case of the bird flu during your exam. Going from an 18 to a respectable score tells an adcoms that you are a slacker

Quit getting into pissing matches with people on here and study.

Thank you but I'm still taking the exam.
 
L-
I say take the exam. If you're serious, that's fine. If not, that's fine too.
I'm only getting 23s on the practice exams, and I'm aiming for a US med school, and I'm gonna take it....
I've seen people take it on a dare, take it and not plan on med school, etc.
Do you.

dc
 
Looks like your dead set on the april exam, which I agree with others would probably be a mistake =P But, if your going to take it, here's what I would do:

Get a set of books called Examkrackers, these books are pretty much barebones and give you the absolute minimum you need for the mcat. You can probably get through them in 2.5 weeks with a very intensive schedule.

-Good luck!
 
-wow-,

im kinda scared to post...

anyway, EK is the way to go. I had a friend who was one hell of a slacker (not saying you are at all) and not the sharpest tool (aghain, not you). he was incredibly unprepared for the MCAT but had lucked out an done relatively well at "****** state" (his adoring title) so his stats were OK... he used the EK series and got a 29, which was his target. he left himself exactly three and a half weeks... hes almost a doctor... (God help us)
 
Are all of you referring to the 1001 question series or their study guidesl?

Thanks again for everyone's advice.
 
Originally posted by larrywalkerdds
Are all of you referring to the 1001 question series or their study guidesl?

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

Study Guides
 
Originally posted by azcomdiddy

. . . The people in here are either liars or extremely bright. I'm siding with the latter. These people study all the time whether they admit it or not. That's what you need to do



:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Study all the time? I wish I did.

Incredibly bright? I wish I am, aye, I hope I am :D

As to the guessing thing, I randomly did a guess test on 3R. 31, 28, and 31 percent were correct in PS, VR, and BS respectively. That is about 30% per section.
 
Also remember there is more to the MCAT than subject matter. I would take at least one practice test to be familiar with the format and time constraints. Also be sure to answer every question even if it is a complete guess. You are not penalized for wrong answers.
 
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