Help Please!!!

Either move your test date or study like crazy. Drop everything and just do MCAT all day and night. It seems like you need to get down some concepts in physical and biosci. Also just keep practicing verbal.

 

What are you currently using/doing to study?

 

I would try and get ahold of the EK bio 1001 (as well as the other subject tests if you can). The Bio one is the best and it helped to bring up my score. You should thoroughly review the material and practice like crazy. Or else, second best option is to move your test date. Good luck with everything!

 

Just going over review notes will not cut it. If you are getting some foundation review in for weak areas, then thats fine, but with the clock ticking I would hit the practice questions hard. You can know all the review notes in the world but without practicing loads of MCAT style questions, ideally under test like conditions, you won't see the progress you are looking for. Check out different question strategies and approaches and see what one works for you. Although kaplan gives you a wealth of study materials assuming your taking the course, look beyond kaplan to other sources like EK to get different approaches to studying and practice. This may not be an option since time is not a luxury to you so I would focus strictly on practicing MCAT style questions day in and day out.

Also consider rescheduling if you don't feel that you prepared to the best of your abilities, an are confident in your ability to meet your expectations for the MCAT. There is no rush, although it may not be what you want to hear, if moving your date up a bit would help you get a higher score then it would be well worth the time and effort vs. taking and then having to retake due to a bad score. One good score looks much better than a bad score and a retake.

 

is this necessarly true??

 

of course it's true... many people get in with retakes, but from what I hear, MCAT evaluation is not the same as SAT evaluation--you're not forgiven for multiple attempts. You only get to take the Step 1 once, so med schools want to see that you can nail a test down your first time. But again, this does not mean that taking the test more than once destroys your chances, it just weakens them.

 

i see, thank you.

 

hey,
i just replied to one of your other posts. here's a suggestion for mcat studying:

- don't rush it (ie, don't take it may 16th if you do not feel good with the score you're getting. if you're not confident, you will not perform to your potential)
- don't rely on kaplan notes. they give you WAY too much info IMO. get your hands on examkrackers subject books. i have no comercial ties to them, but i think they are totally awesome. do all the practice questions, then do them again.
- do lots and lots of practice passages (kaplan are great here). then go back and grade them. for wrong questions, go back and figure out why you got it wrong. study that concept that you didn't understand until you have it down cold. this will be tiring after spending 5 hours doing a practice test, but studying your weaknesses is the most efficient way to learn
- flashcards. kaplan flashcards are good, but you'll have to suppliment these with some you make yourself, particularly for bio. whenever you go anywhere, bring some flashcards with you and study.

i think flashcards are so high yield, because it is fairly easy to just study the words/concepts that you don't know. i used to go through all my flashcards for a given subject (several hundred per subject), and every question or word i got wrong, i marked with a pencil. this might take an hour or two. then, go through them again, and just ask yourself the marked questions. anyone you get right, erase the mark. get it wrong again, leave it. then do this again and again until you get every one right and all the marks are erased. this is a VERY high yield way to spend 3 or 4 hours. if you are going over a practice test and don't understand a concept, make a flashcard and add it to the pile.

oh, and i'm not very bright but I scored in the 40s.

 

With these practice scores at this point in time I would strongly consider taking the test at a later date.