HOME STRETCH FOR MCATS!!!

[DZT]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

For all you MCAT veterans, in all honest, how does 5 weeks more of studying sound to jack up an MCAT score. I'm scoring 29's on the Kap Tests in the hope of an easier AAMC test.
Any advice on last minute studying.

"Let he without sin, be a rolling stone."-->Archie Bunker in "All in the Family"

 

[SMW]

Just keep at it. Make sure you go over every problem you miss until you really understand it. 5 weeks is a long time. Good luck! 🙂

Oh, and I almost forgot -- Welcome to SDN!!! 😀

 

[nray]

I personally, don't think studying helps much for the MCAT. If you know the basics then you should be good to go. I guess the one area it helps to practice is to get your timing down. 5 weeks is more than enough time. I recommend you just take practice exams and thoroughly reviews the exam answers.
Also, understand that the easier tht test the higher the curve is going to be. I would think that if you are scoring 29s now, you will probably score around 30 on the real thing at this point. I only studied a few weeks for the test and got a 33.

 

[Esco]

Seriously, my experience was that Kaplan practice tests didn't do anything but scare the ish' out of me...I always thought they were somewhat difficult and I was averaging around 26-28's. When the real thing came around I was like "what the #@^&! is this! It wasn't easy, but a LOT more manageable compared to what you see on the Kaplan tests, especially on the Physical Sciences section.
I actually think that is Kaplan's strategy though, make the practice tests harder than what you will probably encounter on the actual test in order to make the actual test seem more bearable...personally, after the verbal section I relaxed and rocked the rest of the test.
Good Luck to all those about to take the mother!$%@ of all tests! you'll be fine...just make sure you stop studying at least a day prior to the test, you don't want to freak yourself out

 

[DZT]

Yo kjigga, what did you get on your MCATs?

 

[DZT]

Yo kjigga, what did you get on your MCATs?

 

[Doctora Foxy]

2 weeks before the mcat I had spring break last year and studied at the kaplan center in my town like crazy (I hadn't been there before since I don't have a car at school). That week I think I raised my score by a few points, and then when I got back to school I continued to do practice tests like crazy. Just study hard until the test and you can keep going up! 😀 Learn everything you get wrong and do LOTS of passages.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

The first time I took the MCATs was in April '00. For spring break, I stayed in Baltimore while my boyfriend was in sunny Texas. I studied for the whole week and ended up doing really badly on the MCATs.

The second time I took the MCATs, I had a friend pass away at the end of July. I decided there were more important things than studying and went on a two week vacation. I ended up with a 30!

Go figure!

 

[Trek]

5 weeks is *hardly* "last minute". There's TONS of time left. Now is when you unplug the computer, let your friend borrow the TV and the cache of videos and have at it hardcore. You can easily get at least 3-4 more points from this point on. G'luck! --Trek

 

[Neuronix]

I went up 6 points from my last TPR practice exam (31) to the acutal MCAT (37). I still to this day do not know why. In any case, here's my advice for the final weeks:

With 2 - 3 weeks to go, if you are not getting up real early, start doing so. MCAT day you will need to wake up at 7AM or early most likely, and so you need to get in the habit of making your brain work at 8AM if you don't already do that. So get up at 7AM or whatever time you will need to get up on MCAT morning, get a shower, go somewhere quiet (I used to go the library) and hit 3 or 4 timed new verbal passages EVERY MORNING going into the exam at 8AM or so.

I would also work several hours every evening on whatever you're weak on. It sounds like your practice exams are good enough that you have the basics down. So I would either just start doing random timed practice passages and reviewing what you don't get right several hours a night, or go hardcore on stuff you're weak on right up till the exam.

Oh yeah, and the day before, don't study at all. That was TPR's advice, and I guess mine too. Just don't do what I did and go see American Pie 2 at the theatres the day before. I had the damn soundtrack going through my head all through the MCAT and I don't even like that music! Still though, seeing a funny movie might help to loosen up, STRESS DOUBT AND FEAR ARE YOUR ENEMIES!

Good luck on the MCAT 🙂

 

[Street Philosopher]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Trek:
•5 weeks is *hardly* "last minute". There's TONS of time left. Now is when you unplug the computer, let your friend borrow the TV and the cache of videos and have at it hardcore. You can easily get at least 3-4 more points from this point on. G'luck! --Trek•••••For a second there I thought you were telling us to get rid of the hardcore videos! Whew!

 

[Cornfed]

If you already got all those formulas memorized as well as your organic reactions and hormone sites and effects you may want to think about learning special topics that follow the chapters in your physics book like how a laser works, semiconductors and electrons, be able to sketch out an electromagnetic spectrum in freq/wavelength, brush up on being able to manipulate equations to find unknowns (always big on MCAT), make sure you know how to convert an non-whole number raised to a certain power to a good estimate (in Kaplan notes), understand how an x and y equation looks on a graph-sine curve, Practice more on actual amcas tests than Kaplan as time nears closer as some of that will be repeated on test day, Kaplan test are better for just gaining endurance, allosteric reactions have always been big, logic questions with bacterial smears and certain nutrients which are really just reformed IQ type questions which want you to be able to eliminate wrong answers from data provided in a chart, make sure you memorize all hormones where produced and releasing factors (hypothalmus to anterior pituitary to site of action) also know the hormones that come directly from posterior pituitary. Get you organic equations down cold as that is the one thing you can jack up your score with that isn't some type of reformulated IQ deal. Remember that the verbal section on Kaplan is all about speed. The questions are not hard. The idea is too finish without having to outright guess on too many. Practice getting answers not just writing out how to get the answers so you don't make too many mistakes. If your not ready take it in August.