Disclaimer: This worked for me and is not guaranteed to work for you. Nonetheless, as I chill at home before med school in 2 weeks I'm writing you guys this to hopefully help someone out.
My story: I got a 22 on my Kaplan Diagnostic on June 4th 2009.* I scored a 40 on the actual test on August 21st 2009. **Disclaimer: this "22" is so low because I went into that diagnostic leaving questions blank that I did not know (which was a lot) for the purpose of assessing what I needed to study.
UNDERSTAND THIS: Getting a 40 is going to take some luck. Even the smartest guy in the world isn't going to be a lock for a 40+. But no matter how good at tests/smart you are, following these steps is going to increases your chances to score high.
#1. Give yourself time to study I took 2.5 months. This was key. I actually pushed back my test day 2 weeks and those additional 2 weeks I used for review/practice tests. You want to learn the material for a month and a half to 2 months, and then you want to MEMORIZE key concepts and take practice tests the month before the test.
#2. Take a prep course if possible. Why? Structures the learning, forces you to keep on task, and offers tons of practice tests/questions. I took a Kaplan Course.
#3. SYNTHESIZE/SIMPLIFY THE MATERIAL. This is key. This is absolutely key. There is so much material on the MCAT, but you DONT HAVE TO KNOW THE DETAILS - you do have to, however, understand the big picture and be able to quickly realize what passages are talking about and apply what you know about those topics to the questions being asked.What I did, I believe, was the most important thing I did to study for the MCAT: I memorized study sheets of key concepts. I went to the beach with the elaminated Kaplan review sheets (1 for Bio, 1 for GenChem, and 1 for Physics - I didn't memorize organic chemistry because I was able to figure those questions out via reasoning). I committed these sheets to memory like it was my job. I could close my eyes and just regurgitate everything (little photographic memorizing here). I did the same thing for the index cards provided by Kaplan. HOWEVER, I DID NOT DO THIS UNTIL MY CLASS WAS COMPLETE BECAUSE I NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS MEMORIZING BEFORE MEMORIZING IT.
#4. Practice, Practice, Practice.
I took about 10-12 Kaplan tests and 7-8 AAMC Tests. The Kaplan tests were good because they were challenging, and, despite their unrealistic curves, they introduced me to material that I had to better review. If I missed discretes, I made an index card with the fact on it and added it to my memorization package. I took these Kaplan tets throughout the course and then after my course, BEFORE TAKING ANY AAMC TESTS. The AAMC tests ARE A MUST and SHOULD BE TAKEN LAST. They are the best simulation of an exam you will find. The length is right on, as is the curves. You need to know what is a good pace for you, ESPECIALLY FOR VERBAL, which I found very time consuming (I always finished with 30 seconds or less left). Always take these tests straight through as if it is test day.
#5. RELAX RELAX RELAX.
Don't freak out the day before the exam. You need to relax your mind. I played golf the night before and blasted my pecs the morning of (I had a 2 pm exam). You're the man. You got this. You studied hard. Today is your big day. After my physics section I actually went into the bathroom, looked myself in the mirrorr and told myself that I was going to score the first 45 in x amount of years (then verbal happened, ha).
Just remember: choking is being afraid of failure. If you're not afraid to fail, you wont.
Hope this helps.
My story: I got a 22 on my Kaplan Diagnostic on June 4th 2009.* I scored a 40 on the actual test on August 21st 2009. **Disclaimer: this "22" is so low because I went into that diagnostic leaving questions blank that I did not know (which was a lot) for the purpose of assessing what I needed to study.
UNDERSTAND THIS: Getting a 40 is going to take some luck. Even the smartest guy in the world isn't going to be a lock for a 40+. But no matter how good at tests/smart you are, following these steps is going to increases your chances to score high.
#1. Give yourself time to study I took 2.5 months. This was key. I actually pushed back my test day 2 weeks and those additional 2 weeks I used for review/practice tests. You want to learn the material for a month and a half to 2 months, and then you want to MEMORIZE key concepts and take practice tests the month before the test.
#2. Take a prep course if possible. Why? Structures the learning, forces you to keep on task, and offers tons of practice tests/questions. I took a Kaplan Course.
#3. SYNTHESIZE/SIMPLIFY THE MATERIAL. This is key. This is absolutely key. There is so much material on the MCAT, but you DONT HAVE TO KNOW THE DETAILS - you do have to, however, understand the big picture and be able to quickly realize what passages are talking about and apply what you know about those topics to the questions being asked.What I did, I believe, was the most important thing I did to study for the MCAT: I memorized study sheets of key concepts. I went to the beach with the elaminated Kaplan review sheets (1 for Bio, 1 for GenChem, and 1 for Physics - I didn't memorize organic chemistry because I was able to figure those questions out via reasoning). I committed these sheets to memory like it was my job. I could close my eyes and just regurgitate everything (little photographic memorizing here). I did the same thing for the index cards provided by Kaplan. HOWEVER, I DID NOT DO THIS UNTIL MY CLASS WAS COMPLETE BECAUSE I NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS MEMORIZING BEFORE MEMORIZING IT.
#4. Practice, Practice, Practice.
I took about 10-12 Kaplan tests and 7-8 AAMC Tests. The Kaplan tests were good because they were challenging, and, despite their unrealistic curves, they introduced me to material that I had to better review. If I missed discretes, I made an index card with the fact on it and added it to my memorization package. I took these Kaplan tets throughout the course and then after my course, BEFORE TAKING ANY AAMC TESTS. The AAMC tests ARE A MUST and SHOULD BE TAKEN LAST. They are the best simulation of an exam you will find. The length is right on, as is the curves. You need to know what is a good pace for you, ESPECIALLY FOR VERBAL, which I found very time consuming (I always finished with 30 seconds or less left). Always take these tests straight through as if it is test day.
#5. RELAX RELAX RELAX.
Don't freak out the day before the exam. You need to relax your mind. I played golf the night before and blasted my pecs the morning of (I had a 2 pm exam). You're the man. You got this. You studied hard. Today is your big day. After my physics section I actually went into the bathroom, looked myself in the mirrorr and told myself that I was going to score the first 45 in x amount of years (then verbal happened, ha).
Just remember: choking is being afraid of failure. If you're not afraid to fail, you wont.
Hope this helps.
