Help! Need some advice

[obgyny]

Okay, so I've already postponed my MCAT from March 27 to April 10. I've been solidly studying for the MCAT since Jan 1. I've had to relearn most of the subjects because I haven't had classes like Physics and Gchem in like 5 years. I really, really need to get the MCAT done and out of the way. I'm already asking for time off work (I work full-time) and I feel like I can't ask for any more time off. I also need plenty of time to work on my applications to turn in early June, so the more I postpone it, the less time I have to work on my application/PS/LORs. But my last 3 AAMC scores are not looking so good:

AAMC 10: BS 10, PS 8, VS 10 (total 28)
AAMC 4: BS 9, PS 9, VS 8 (total 26)
AAMC 3: BS 10, PS 8, VS 9 (total 27) = most recent, and I've heard this one was the easiest FL test!!!

So I have 5 AAMC FLs and 5 Princeton Review FLs left. I was trying to save my AAMCs for closer to my test date, but it seems the AAMCs have more accurate scoring according to most people.

I only have 3 more weeks until my test date. What can I do? Am I being completely unrealistic trying to take it April 10? Anyone in the same boat as me, where it's really important to get the MCAT out of the way? I can't keep taking time off work for this.

I greatly appreciate any advice!

My brief stats FYI:
sGPA 3.996/ cGPA 3.992 at a UC
CA resident (obviously)
Graduated 2009 with BS in Neuro, currently work full-time at research lab
2.5 years research exp; 1.5 years clinical/volunteering; held many leadership positions in clubs/research

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Okay, so I've already postponed my MCAT from March 27 to April 10. I've been solidly studying for the MCAT since Jan 1. I've had to relearn most of the subjects because I haven't had classes like Physics and Gchem in like 5 years. I really, really need to get the MCAT done and out of the way. I'm already asking for time off work (I work full-time) and I feel like I can't ask for any more time off. I also need plenty of time to work on my applications to turn in early June, so the more I postpone it, the less time I have to work on my application/PS/LORs. But my last 3 AAMC scores are not looking so good:

AAMC 10: BS 10, PS 8, VS 10 (total 28)
AAMC 4: BS 9, PS 9, VS 8 (total 26)
AAMC 3: BS 10, PS 8, VS 9 (total 27) = most recent, and I've heard this one was the easiest FL test!!!

So I have 5 AAMC FLs and 5 Princeton Review FLs left. I was trying to save my AAMCs for closer to my test date, but it seems the AAMCs have more accurate scoring according to most people.

I only have 3 more weeks until my test date. What can I do? Am I being completely unrealistic trying to take it April 10? Anyone in the same boat as me, where it's really important to get the MCAT out of the way? I can't keep taking time off work for this.

I greatly appreciate any advice!

My brief stats FYI:
sGPA 3.996/ cGPA 3.992 at a UC
CA resident (obviously)
Graduated 2009 with BS in Neuro, currently work full-time at research lab
2.5 years research exp; 1.5 years clinical/volunteering; held many leadership positions in clubs/research

You have such a solid profile that if you can just get that PS score to a 10 and overall score to a 31, you'll be a strong candidate.

First and foremost, I think you need to disregard what people say is the easiest AAMC exam versus the hardest, because (1) it doesn't matter given the highly valid curve and (2) the difficulty of the real MCAT varies from test to test, so you need to prepare for a range of difficulties.

So far you have an AAMC avg of: BS 9.67, PS 8.33, VS 9.00, Total 27.00

With three weeks to go, BS can best be improved by working on your areas of weakest knowledge. Much of BS comes down to knowing the material and how to apply it. Do passages in the areas you most dislike. Hedge your bets a little and put more time into areas where they tend to ask questions. VR can be improved by recognizing what in the passage is filler and what is essential. Get better at extracting the main idea and author's bias, and that will help improve your scores by perhaps a point. PS looks to be your biggest problem (and therefore your chance for biggest improvement). With your GPA, you obviously got good grades in physics and general chemistry, so you know how to field the questions. Based on your good GPA and low PS scores, I think you have been doing the wrong type of problems in your preparation. You need to focus on applications of concepts. If you can borrow BR general chemistry and physics materials from a friend (because you don't have time to buy them and have them delivered), that will give you a good perspective on how to attack conceptual general chemistry and physics questions. In two weeks, if you were to THOROUGHLY do six to eight passages a day, you could finish about five passages from each of the chapters (100 passages total). I'd recommend phase 3 passages The tricks and techniques you'd learn might not all stick, but even if it was only half of them, you'd see a jump of probably two points.

You have three weeks, which given that you've reviewed the material already, is enough time to improve your test taking abilities.

 

[erskine]

i second berkreview's suggestions. Obtain BR as soon as possible- they are superb at the sciences, but especially in the PS- they have no peer. Their practice passages are extremely useful in cultivating your test taking skills- the ability to synthesize newly introduced passage info with background knowledge, ability to think under stress, wise guessing, time management etc.... I'm assuming that with your gpa you already are a good test-taker; you just have to get used to the mcat style.

where exactly do you think you're having trouble? Are you getting questions wrong because you're not sure of the content, or are they just random errors brought about by not understanding how to use the passage info?