hi! help needed..no seriously!

[medscholhopeful]

okay so i am taking the test in august but may push down to sept if i see no improvement. I have been doing content review physics, chemistry, o-chem and i feel like i have the concepts down ,at least 90% of phys and gen chem is done. The problem is that i do so poorly on the physical science passages.. it is scary!! i think a lot of it has to do with my test taking skills(not that great but got me through college)..i don't know how to approach the passage...do i map it? or just read and ans the questions or what..when i do them, i get this feeling like omg! omg! looking at the timer, saying to myself what is going on? trying to read the passage..looking at the timer..now what do i write down or what the hell is the meaning of that equation...look at the timer some more.. and then proceed to the questions ..which i do mostly by process of elimination cos my feaking frazzled mind could not comprehend the passage fully!! and then i seem to go back to the passage for a lot of questions except for the one or two that are not passage related...
*sigh* as you can see i have some obstacles in my way.. i just don't know what to do, i can handle discretes easy and when i go through my practice tests i actually understand the solutions and think to my self u big dummy u know that!!!!..... i don't know what to do... i have come too far and certainly feel fairly confident about my content review but this right here is gonna be the death of me!
Does anyone have any tips that could help me..maybe u went thru the same thing or maybe u r just a genius who pulled a 45 on the test or something..whoever u are n e helpful tips will be greatly appreciated....

sorry for the long post! hmm gonna hit the books some more

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OPPforlife]

One thing that you can try is not be SO under pressure. All good test takers do this, they just never tell us about this. Do you know what good test takers do? they look at the exam, take a big breath, and start thinking. If you are going to look at the clock the whole time and start freaking out...your never going to be able to think. Honestly thinking is very easy, its reading the question with a lot of attention the first time, identifying the key words and asking your self what they mean. It really is that simple, once you read a question, ask your self, "what did this question just ask me?" don't worry about the answer just yet, it will come to you. Once you have identified what the question has asked you...then you can go ahead and start searching for the answer, first (this should take about 5-10 seconds) through your memory, then at the answer choices and then through the passage. If the answer is still not there, go with your gut feeling. What have you just done now, is given your gut feeling the best chance at being correct. By carefully thinking, and exposing your mind to all the possibilities, you have subconsciously found the right answer hopefully that you will eventually choose.


Bottom line...dont freak out, that stops you from thinking.

 

[Forthegood]

okay so i am taking the test in august but may push down to sept if i see no improvement. I have been doing content review physics, chemistry, o-chem and i feel like i have the concepts down ,at least 90% of phys and gen chem is done. The problem is that i do so poorly on the physical science passages.. it is scary!! i think a lot of it has to do with my test taking skills(not that great but got me through college)..i don't know how to approach the passage...do i map it? or just read and ans the questions or what..when i do them, i get this feeling like omg! omg! looking at the timer, saying to myself what is going on? trying to read the passage..looking at the timer..now what do i write down or what the hell is the meaning of that equation...look at the timer some more.. and then proceed to the questions ..which i do mostly by process of elimination cos my feaking frazzled mind could not comprehend the passage fully!! and then i seem to go back to the passage for a lot of questions except for the one or two that are not passage related...
*sigh* as you can see i have some obstacles in my way.. i just don't know what to do, i can handle discretes easy and when i go through my practice tests i actually understand the solutions and think to my self u big dummy u know that!!!!..... i don't know what to do... i have come too far and certainly feel fairly confident about my content review but this right here is gonna be the death of me!
Does anyone have any tips that could help me..maybe u went thru the same thing or maybe u r just a genius who pulled a 45 on the test or something..whoever u are n e helpful tips will be greatly appreciated....

sorry for the long post! hmm gonna hit the books some more

Chill out. Every little thing will be alright. You seriously need to calm down. You said it yourself, you know the factual material well. So, your problem is a mental roadblock that gets you so "frazzled" you are missing the link from the passage to the basic concepts.

Every passage you read from now on, try to think about what simple concepts are they talking about. You are going to have to train yourself to freak out less, it will not serve you well in the future.

You know this stuff. Try to slow down and think, and don't worry if there are a few things in the passage or questions you aren't sure about. Of course there are! You are not supposed to know every little thing! You are supposed to apply what little you know to a passage you have never seen. It is like reading an article from Nature or JAMA. Just because you don't have an MD or PhD does not mean you can't find the basic concepts and understand a little bit. That is all the MCAT requires. So find the little nugget you know and then go from there.

On a separate note, add spaces to break up your writing and use better punctuation.

 

[Omni]

Well, since you have the content review down, keep going back to it every now and then so that you don't forget it until your test date.
But as of now, the only thing you can do is practice practice practice, and oh yeah, did I mention practice? Go through the practice exams and look at what you were doing wrong? At this point, this is mainly independent work, no one can help you here. You need to look at your work and ask yourself what you're doing wrong. Its not that hard to diagnose yourself. Just do practice exams and zero in on your weaknesses. Is it reading comprehension, is it content, etc. etc.

Also: Don't let the MCAT get the best of you. You are better than it. It's merely a hill, but people make it look like a mountain.
This is what the MCAT looks like in person:

Grab the MCAT by the horns when it is least suspecting, and just beat the living crap out of it.

 

[quynhhuong]

Well, since you have the content review down, keep going back to it every now and then so that you don't forget it until your test date.
But as of now, the only thing you can do is practice practice practice, and oh yeah, did I mention practice? Go through the practice exams and look at what you were doing wrong? At this point, this is mainly independent work, no one can help you here. You need to look at your work and ask yourself what you're doing wrong. Its not that hard to diagnose yourself. Just do practice exams and zero in on your weaknesses. Is it reading comprehension, is it content, etc. etc.

Also: Don't let the MCAT get the best of you. You are better than it. It's merely a hill, but people make it look like a mountain.
This is what the MCAT looks like in person:

Grab the MCAT by the horns when it is least suspecting, and just beat the living crap out of it.

HAhahahaha that's cute. I'd rate it a 45T on the cute-ometer!

 

[medscholhopeful]

Well, since you have the content review down, keep going back to it every now and then so that you don't forget it until your test date.
But as of now, the only thing you can do is practice practice practice, and oh yeah, did I mention practice? Go through the practice exams and look at what you were doing wrong? At this point, this is mainly independent work, no one can help you here. You need to look at your work and ask yourself what you're doing wrong. Its not that hard to diagnose yourself. Just do practice exams and zero in on your weaknesses. Is it reading comprehension, is it content, etc. etc.

Also: Don't let the MCAT get the best of you. You are better than it. It's merely a hill, but people make it look like a mountain.
This is what the MCAT looks like in person:

Grab the MCAT by the horns when it is least suspecting, and just beat the living crap out of it.

laughin my butt off!!!! that made my day.. thanks i'll keep practicing hopefully things work out..

 

[medscholhopeful]

Chill out. Every little thing will be alright. You seriously need to calm down. You said it yourself, you know the factual material well. So, your problem is a mental roadblock that gets you so "frazzled" you are missing the link from the passage to the basic concepts.

Every passage you read from now on, try to think about what simple concepts are they talking about. You are going to have to train yourself to freak out less, it will not serve you well in the future.

You know this stuff. Try to slow down and think, and don't worry if there are a few things in the passage or questions you aren't sure about. Of course there are! You are not supposed to know every little thing! You are supposed to apply what little you know to a passage you have never seen. It is like reading an article from Nature or JAMA. Just because you don't have an MD or PhD does not mean you can't find the basic concepts and understand a little bit. That is all the MCAT requires. So find the little nugget you know and then go from there.

On a separate note, add spaces to break up your writing and use better punctuation.

Thanks..yeah.. was kinda dense but be rest assured i don't write like that normally..