Hope?

[bluesTank]

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Hey guys,

Well, just finished AAMC CBT 10, and scored a 7 VR. So far I have gotten 5, 5, 8 and 7 on my past 4 practice exams. With a 7 after about 2+ months of studying, is there any hope in improving to 10+ by may 16th? I have heard some people say to just start focusing on improving my bio and phys sections (which i'm doing 12-13 on) since verbal wont improve much by test time. There any truth to this? or should I zero in on verbal for the next few weeks or so.

Thanks

 

[tartrate]

I'm not sure about a 10+, which is asking for a lot especially considering people who get consistant 10-11 scores have a hard time breaking that range.

However, because your last three scores are similar and higher than your first scores, I would say this is significant improvement (versus a statistical anomaly). So I would suggest thinking carefully about your weaknesses such as timing, reading comprehension, question format, etc and focus on improving that.

12-13 range for the other sections would be hard to improve upon, unless you have particularly weak sections. What I mean is, improving on a 13 means getting consistantly either a 14 or 15, which usually comes for most people with some luck.

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

I'm not sure about a 10+, which is asking for a lot especially considering people who get consistant 10-11 scores have a hard time breaking that range.

However, because your last three scores are similar and higher than your first scores, I would say this is significant improvement (versus a statistical anomaly). So I would suggest thinking carefully about your weaknesses such as timing, reading comprehension, question format, etc and focus on improving that.

12-13 range for the other sections would be hard to improve upon, unless you have particularly weak sections. What I mean is, improving on a 13 means getting consistantly either a 14 or 15, which usually comes for most people with some luck.

I agree with all of this. I don't think you should focus on bio and phys because you're already doing so well in those sections. However, I don't know how realistic it is to improve you verbal by 3 or 4 points in a short amount of time because that really depends on why you're scoring low. If you're doing well in the other sections, you are obviously intelligent and a decent reader. Maybe it's the style of the verbal questions that throwing you off. Sometimes the subtleties and shades of grey of verbal are difficult for people who are better with cut and dry, precise science. I would really try to find out what's holding you back then focus on improving it. Good luck.

EDIT: just to clarify, I don't think you should focus on bio and physics because that would not be very high yield. You can't really prepare for a 15, because that would require knowing all of physics/bio, being a good test taker, and getting an MCAT form that happens to emphasize your strengths. I would focus on verbal so that you can do your best, even if that's only a 9 (much better than 7)

 

[quiksilver87]

first of all, if you haven't done so, chill out because you are in great shape.
A 12-13 in physics is very good, but I think you stilll have a better chance in improving verbal. You have made improvement from a 5, so I would suggest you to keep doing practice tests in verbal.

 

[bluesTank]

The main problem I have had on my last two verbal sections, is timing really. I have (on both) had to completely guess on one whole section because I only had like 1 minute left. On both, i missed just about every question I guessed on (not really that lucky I assume). The funny thing is, that TPR (which I am taking) actually encourages doing this with some passages. Granted, they recommend doing it on a extremely hard passage, however I am guessing on just the last one.