Help , About toquit MCAT prep.

[alankar]

I am at the brink of quitting because no matter how much I study my scores are not improving at all. Actually it has gone down since first diagnostic at TPR. (in verbal) other scores are up but not very impressive.
What should I do ? It seems like I have to let go of my life long dream of becoming a physician.
Thakyou for reading this.

 

[nero]

dont' quit, just keep practicing..........i'm doing PR practice tests and the verbal is horrible.............when i take kaplan tests i get pretty decent scores, but when i take PR verbal, i get 6's as opposed to 9s.......... i think its the PR questions, they seem a bit too detailed and even if you understand the main idea, it doesn't help you out, cause the questions are specific and not main idea questions............so............try another source of questions and see what happens...............keep practicing

nero

 

[Luv Nietzsche]

Don't quit!! It's too early to quite, 20+ days is a lot of days to practice. But if you feel you're not ready by say, 14th or 15th, you might want to postpone it. I suggest not to take it if you're not ready. You'll lose $85, but I think getting low scores & going through the application process is not worth it. A year behind is not bad. Why the rush? Take a break, travel! You know you'll be a doc one day.

 

[SuzyQ]

do you mind me asking what scores you are getting on your PR diags?? because what you think is horrible may not be so bad.

 

[Dr/\/\om]

How many full-length exams have you taken?

Each test is different and you will most likely find that the scores will vary a bit from test-to-test. You really won't know how you're doing until you've taken 4-5 full lengths (minimum) IMO.

Also, are you going back over the full-lengths you have taken to see what kinds of things you are missing and why the correct answer is correct? I found this process to be helpful--don't want to keep making the same kinds of mistakes...also can help you narrow down topic areas where you are having problems so that you can study more efficiently.

 

[CoffeeCat]

Why don't you take an AAMC test to see where you're at? The Kaplan tests sound unnecessarily difficult from what people are posting.

 

[Dr/\/\om]

Originally posted by CoffeeCat
Why don't you take an AAMC test to see where you're at? The Kaplan tests sound unnecessarily difficult from what people are posting.

only full-lengths # 6-11

 

[relatively prime]

Obviously, the only real way to determine where you stand is to take a AAMC practice test. Take #6, it's the most true-to-life test out there. Take it under exacted-timed conditions. If you can, take it at or near your future test center. If you score <27, then I'd start to worry a little bit... but don't call it all in, just study really hard for the next few weeks and take another AAMC test about 1 week before test day. If you score a 27-30, then you're all set... just keep doing what you're doing. If you score a 30+ then DON'T STOP studying... just keep on studying.

Good luck

 

[Mudd]

You need to use the exams as a learning tool more so than a diagnostic tool. I have an issue with PR for calling their exams diagnostic exams. While it sounds great in a salespitch, there is nothing diagnostic about any exam that provides an unrealistic score.

Only AAMC exams should be called diagnostic, so don't take the scores seriously.

Also, as Mom points out, going over the exam after you take it is as important as taking the exam. Learn what you did incorrectly, where you went too slow, where you were careless, and ultimately, what you could do differently on each passage to increase your number of correct answers by one or two. If you can honestly say that if you saw that exam again (not verbatim), you'd get fifteen more questions right per section, you're in great shape. Unless of course you got 51 or more in verbal or 63 or more in the sceinces, than saying you'd get fifteen more tight would make you a liar.

 

[alankar]

Thankyou everyone for taking time and responding. It is giving me some hope and I am going to try my best.Here are my scores.
1st diag. 5 BS, 3 PS, 4 verbal
2nd diag. 6BS, 6PS, 2 verbal
I have only taken 2 TPR tests.
I took columbia review test (prep. book) and I scored 11Verbal,9PS and 10 BS. But I am not sure how accurate those prep. book tests are.
Looking at TPR scores it looks miserable and I absolutely do not like it. The thing is I am doing every homework and practice passages but there is little to no improvement.
Thankyou again for suggestion. This web site and all the participants are like lifeline.
Thanks sincerely.

 

[SuzyQ]

dont give up hope.....I am taking TPR review and my last diag was 6 VB 5PS 5PS....and I am certainly not giving up. When I go over the questions that I got wrong I just want to scream at myself cause I know the information but I just rushed through the passages. I am making incredibly stupid mistakes on the diags and Im trying to correct them. Just hang in there....we can do it together

 

[Tweetie_bird]

Hi alankar,
do you feel like you're getting burnt out? This happened to me when I was getting burnt out. A day or two of lazing in your PJs and doing nothing but watch TV really helped me. I went back into full gear after that, and you have no idea how refreshed I felt.

On another note--I am more worried about your determination for medical school. Your dream and determination should be such that even if they cut off your hands and legs, you would dream about practising medicine. There are going to be worse trials you will face, this is just like an INFO 101 course But I know how you feel, because I have been there myself. I suggest that when you're down, do something inspirational.....for me, watching ER, reading a book about medicine, or anything like that helped me. I imagined myself being a doctor, and realized how much it means to me. Perhaps it may help you.

"Bring the fruits of the future into the present, and let that drive you to attain what you want."
PM me if you need some help.
Tweetie