Help on Chem/phys and Bio/Biochem

[Musiclover07]

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Hi guys,
I am having trouble with the Chem/Phys and Bio/biochem section of MCAT
My most recent Kaplan test score was a 500 and I got 123 on C/P 127 on CARS 123 on B/B and 127 on P/S.
I took one AAMC and my C/P and B/B were a little higher but still I still am struggling. Do you guys have any tips? I study with Kaplan for content- I review flashcards and read through the chapters. I initially took notes; however, I realized this was not helping me that much and I was wasting alot of time that I could have done practice. When I am reviewing tests, I write down why I missed the question and I make sure I know why the other answer choices are not right. Also if there are experimental methods I am confused on I make sure to I understand the method. I am seriously tired frustrated and at the end of my rope. I don't have much money left to buy new prep books either , so any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Do more passages! Ditch all the note taking, especially from those books. There are several posts of people in your same situation (using Kaplan books sets, reviewing content, and face planting on practice exams.) You learn from doing, not from reading.

You say you don't have much money, but with how much applying to medical school costs, it seems silly to try to save a couple hundreds bucks now and potentially waste money on apps later on. I'd strongly recommend TBR for chemistry, physics, organic, and biology. They have been a godsend for me, and when I'm done with them, I already have an offer from someone to buy them. They'll cost me less than $100 after I get money from selling them.

 

[Musiclover07]

Do more passages! Ditch all the note taking, especially from those books. There are several posts of people in your same situation (using Kaplan books sets, reviewing content, and face planting on practice exams.) You learn from doing, not from reading.

You say you don't have much money, but with how much applying to medical school costs, it seems silly to try to save a couple hundreds bucks now and potentially waste money on apps later on. I'd strongly recommend TBR for chemistry, physics, organic, and biology. They have been a godsend for me, and when I'm done with them, I already have an offer from someone to buy them. They'll cost me less than $100 after I get money from selling them.

I honestly don't spend that much time on content I just mentioned it just in case I have an error there I can fix it and I don't take notes anymore either. How many passages did you do per day in your prep? I do 6 passages a day ( and I will do 1 p/s and CARS every other day as well) Thanks for your help!

 

[northwestmedic]

i bought an old EK set very cheaply.... i have kaplan too, but it's far too detailed for biology, biochem and OC. my EK doesn't have a BC book but it seems like most of it is covered in old EK book. FYI, my EK book is 2013 and i do try to do some analysis as to how things have changed (in the grand scheme, not that much)

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I honestly don't spend that much time on content I just mentioned it just in case I have an error there I can fix it and I don't take notes anymore either. How many passages did you do per day in your prep? I do 6 passages a day ( and I will do 1 p/s and CARS every other day as well) Thanks for your help!

I have been doing at least 15 passages a day since my last final in June. Between TBR science books, EK and TPR CARS, and TPR and KA P/S it took me about six weeks to do about 900 passages and all of the individual questions in the books. I'm doing AAMC q packs and SBs now, and they seem easier than what people lead me to believe they would be. I'm sure it's because I did so many passages and questions before starting into AAMC materials.

 

[Musiclover07]

i bought an old EK set very cheaply.... i have kaplan too, but it's far too detailed for biology, biochem and OC. my EK doesn't have a BC book but it seems like most of it is covered in old EK book. FYI, my EK book is 2013 and i do try to do some analysis as to how things have changed (in the grand scheme, not that much)

Yeah I was able to get an EK book from the library. I liked the questions they had at the back of the book. Thanks for the help!

 

[Musiclover07]

I have been doing at least 15 passages a day since my last final in June. Between TBR science books, EK and TPR CARS, and TPR and KA P/S it took me about six weeks to do about 900 passages and all of the individual questions in the books. I'm doing AAMC q packs and SBs now, and they seem easier than what people lead me to believe they would be. I'm sure it's because I did so many passages and questions before starting into AAMC materials.

I did the AAMC ones first bc thats what people said was the best. So do you only review the content for the one's you missed and not review anything else otherwise? Also you mentioned TPR did you think their science passages were good?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I used TPR for CARS and P/S.

For science passages, nothing beats TBR. The explanations in TBR sciences are AMAZING and you learn so much more going over those than you do from anything else. I didn't like the explanations in EK or TPR science books.

 

[northwestmedic]

the more i think about it the old EK biology book is a godsend........ it summarizes all of biology and most of BC in a reasonable number of pages.

if you think about the 6 functional areas (bio, bc, chem, oc, physics, s/p), i would be very happy with just kaplan's for all of them except biology.

 

[laxgirl06]

I have been doing at least 15 passages a day since my last final in June. Between TBR science books, EK and TPR CARS, and TPR and KA P/S it took me about six weeks to do about 900 passages and all of the individual questions in the books. I'm doing AAMC q packs and SBs now, and they seem easier than what people lead me to believe they would be. I'm sure it's because I did so many passages and questions before starting into AAMC materials.

I have the TBR books. I'm testing 9/18, do you think doing TBR problems would be beneficial at this point? I am a retaker, I didn't have an efficient way to do them + learn from my mistakes. Because I'd know how to do that exact problem, but not how to apply the concepts, so my scores stayed the same throughout my prep. How do you go about it? I've been reading the content part of TBR, then doing the relevant aamc qpack problems, then doing practice exams.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I have the TBR books. I'm testing 9/18, do you think doing TBR problems would be beneficial at this point? I am a retaker, I didn't have an efficient way to do them + learn from my mistakes. Because I'd know how to do that exact problem, but not how to apply the concepts, so my scores stayed the same throughout my prep. How do you go about it? I've been reading the content part of TBR, then doing the relevant aamc qpack problems, then doing practice exams.

VERY beneficial. Better than anything else you can do. The June 2018 thread has another case of someone who bombed their first exam and did TBR passages their second sitting and did stellar. He did the passages and went over every question, right or wrong, and learned content through doing. I have done the same thing and feel really strong in the sciences. I am doing way better on the AAMC SB material than I dreamed I would be doing. Go over content if you get below 70% on all three phases for a chapter. If you get over 70% on their questions, I'd skip the reading altogether.

 

[laxgirl06]

VERY beneficial. Better than anything else you can do. The June 2018 thread has another case of someone who bombed their first exam and did TBR passages their second sitting and did stellar. He did the passages and went over every question, right or wrong, and learned content through doing. I have done the same thing and feel really strong in the sciences. I am doing way better on the AAMC SB material than I dreamed I would be doing. Go over content if you get below 70% on all three phases for a chapter. If you get over 70% on their questions, I'd skip the reading altogether.

Well, my situation is pretty unique. My issue was largely content + fundamental skills. Do you think going through TBR Phases or all UWorld questions (in all subjects) would be more beneficial?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I'd recommend TBR, but both are really good.