- Joined
- Jul 18, 2016
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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1) Composite score: 509 (82nd percentile) PS: 127 CARS: 127 BS: 128 Psych: 127
2) Practice Test: I took Kaplan FL exams and the official AAMC scored. I took the exam twice, once in January and once in May. I was hoping to hit it on the first shot but I fell into pitfalls the 1st time around that I will explicate upon below.
Kaplan FL Scores (Not in order)
Diagnostic: 488 *Not a typo * (Last August)
[Last October - January] 495, 496, 497, 499, 500
[Week before January exam] Official AAMC FL Practice: 508
[January Test] - Composite: 502 (60th percentile) PS: 125 CARS: 123 BS: 128 Psych: 126
[March-May] not in order 504, 498, 502, 506, 504
[May Test] - 509
3) Undergrad major: Biochemistry
4) Study Method/Schedule: THIS IS HOW I WENT FROM A 488 TO A 509; Before I explain, I just want to make it known that God was at the forefront of my preparation. To whomever is reading this, if I can ascend 21 points through Him, there’s no telling what you can do with Him and through Him. I would pray before every practice exam, I would pray everyday for God’s guidance in study, and I would put Him first and felt His supernatural guidance as a result. Try Him; He cannot fail you.
I began studying last September with the goal of reaching my target score in January. I enrolled in a Kaplan class that fall which was the fall of my junior year. I enrolled in the “in person” classroom plan which came with online classes through which numerous teachers would video chat with students everyday to go over every single concept on the test and all the concept videos were archived incase you would miss one [THE ONLINE VIDEOS WERE ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY STUDYING EXPERIENCE!! EVERY SINGLE PROFESSOR WAS LIKE THE COOLEST PERSON AND THEY IMPARTED CONFIDENCE AND BROKE DOWN EVERY SINGLE CONCEPT TO THE BASIC LEVEL THAT THE MCAT WILL BE TESTING MAKING IT MEMORABLE, EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND EFFECTIVE. THEY HELP ME REALIZED THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY THE AAMC IS TESTING FRESHMEN LEVEL SCIENCE WITH A LITTLE O.CHEM AND BIOCHEM. GO IN WITH THAT IN YOUR MIND KNOWING THAT WHAT REALLY GETS PEOPLE IS THE TRICKY MCAT LANGUAGE WHICH JUST TAKES PRACTICE TO GROW ADEPT AT DECIPHERING].
The classroom was more for strategy. In hindsight, I didn’t use any of their strategies because they simply did not work for me so I could have done without the in-class. However, the Professor I met through the class was golden and would just impart confidence which is a big part of success on this exam. If you are in a class, you have to take advantage of the Professor with questions because realize a prerequisite for getting an MCAT teaching job is a high mcat score. He actually scored in the 99th percentile and I asked him “how did you do that, and don’t bias your answer [haha]” and he told me he simply took many practice test and corrected them assiduously. So that’s what I began to do [Of course you should try and get all of the concepts under your belt before you start taking practice test left and right].
It came test time and I was feeling pumped! My official FL practice a week before was a 508 and I was feeling good. So it was test day, I got to the facility and began the Chem/Phys section. PITFALL NUMBER ONE: I let time escape me; I was dwelling on a lot of questions as opposed to strategically marking the unsure ones and moving on. At 1/3 of the exam, I had half of the exam remaining. PITFALL NUMBER TWO: The exam suddenly froze on me. I won’t lie, I was a little delighted because I thought I would get to restart the section. It took the 1.5 hours to resolve it, and it came back on right where I left off >__< this gave me an adrenaline rush though and I was able to finish the section. A month later, the score came in and I was not pleased. The biggest thing I learned was to not get sucked in by any question. Each question is worth the same so don’t waste minutes on a difficult question that you have a higher chance of getting wrong when there are questions following it that you could probably resolve in seconds. That "mark" button is your friend, just mark and come back. I learned to establish markers i.e. “I should have at least this many questions done before this time point.”
After I got my score back, I simply reviewed all the notes I compiled up till that point and took more practice test and graded them [my test grading resulted in me adding to the compiled notes]. I would thoroughly, thoroughly grade them all, looking for mental blunders, content confusion, all of that. I would make sure that every single question that I got wrong I would not miss again. I took one every Sunday closer to the 2nd exam and would grade them during the week. The last practice test I took was a week before my actual test.
How I boosted CARS score by 4 points: I found a strategy that worked for me and practiced it over and over again with at least one passage a day [except Saturdays with that being Sabbath] (mostly from the official aamc packet, some khan academy). The first time I took the exam, I didn’t have a single honed strategy, rather, I had a gross conglomeration of a bunch of different methods (Kaplan's, EK's, the guy up the block's) which did not serve me well. Find what works for you and hone it. This is what worked for me:
For Psych/Soc, I took a Psych class and reviewed my notes and my Kaplan MCAT book and also Khan academy! The videos were sooo helpful, there is even a khan academy app and I would listen to while I was doing whatever. [I use the Khan academy app prep for all sections] Studied the Kaplan book for Soc and googled whatever I was unfamiliar with that wasn't covered in the book that was listed under sociology in the outline that aamc provides for what is going to be on the test.
For Bio/Biochem, I was in a Biochem course and reviewed my notes but really relied heavily on the my online Kaplan class. Learned all the major pathways and what not, all amino acids, etc. Kaplan books were amazing for bio; the acronyms were soo amazing and quite comical.
For Chem/Phys relied heavily on flashcards for all of the equations. Helped soooo much! Use flashcards!!! Integrate not only the equations but an explanation of some sort. I used something called the leitner system (google it) but instead of three boxes I had one box with dividers in them for the different days.
6) Other tips: Be confident, be sure to get plenty of exercise while studying (improves mental function), eat a lot of berries and almonds (brain food), pack lots of food come test day, sleep well, and pray and have faith!!
7) How long did you study for the MCAT?
Intermittent:
September-early December (part time because classes)
Mid December to Late January (Full time)
March – May (part time - review of previously jotted notes, and practice test with extensive review weekly towards the tail end)
God Bless and pm with any questions. You got this, conquer it. Work harder today for a more relaxing and fulfilling tomorrow.
[2017 UPDATE: Accepted to UCSF :'D God is good!!!!!!!]
2) Practice Test: I took Kaplan FL exams and the official AAMC scored. I took the exam twice, once in January and once in May. I was hoping to hit it on the first shot but I fell into pitfalls the 1st time around that I will explicate upon below.
Kaplan FL Scores (Not in order)
Diagnostic: 488 *Not a typo * (Last August)
[Last October - January] 495, 496, 497, 499, 500
[Week before January exam] Official AAMC FL Practice: 508
[January Test] - Composite: 502 (60th percentile) PS: 125 CARS: 123 BS: 128 Psych: 126
[March-May] not in order 504, 498, 502, 506, 504
[May Test] - 509
3) Undergrad major: Biochemistry
4) Study Method/Schedule: THIS IS HOW I WENT FROM A 488 TO A 509; Before I explain, I just want to make it known that God was at the forefront of my preparation. To whomever is reading this, if I can ascend 21 points through Him, there’s no telling what you can do with Him and through Him. I would pray before every practice exam, I would pray everyday for God’s guidance in study, and I would put Him first and felt His supernatural guidance as a result. Try Him; He cannot fail you.
I began studying last September with the goal of reaching my target score in January. I enrolled in a Kaplan class that fall which was the fall of my junior year. I enrolled in the “in person” classroom plan which came with online classes through which numerous teachers would video chat with students everyday to go over every single concept on the test and all the concept videos were archived incase you would miss one [THE ONLINE VIDEOS WERE ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY STUDYING EXPERIENCE!! EVERY SINGLE PROFESSOR WAS LIKE THE COOLEST PERSON AND THEY IMPARTED CONFIDENCE AND BROKE DOWN EVERY SINGLE CONCEPT TO THE BASIC LEVEL THAT THE MCAT WILL BE TESTING MAKING IT MEMORABLE, EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND EFFECTIVE. THEY HELP ME REALIZED THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY THE AAMC IS TESTING FRESHMEN LEVEL SCIENCE WITH A LITTLE O.CHEM AND BIOCHEM. GO IN WITH THAT IN YOUR MIND KNOWING THAT WHAT REALLY GETS PEOPLE IS THE TRICKY MCAT LANGUAGE WHICH JUST TAKES PRACTICE TO GROW ADEPT AT DECIPHERING].
The classroom was more for strategy. In hindsight, I didn’t use any of their strategies because they simply did not work for me so I could have done without the in-class. However, the Professor I met through the class was golden and would just impart confidence which is a big part of success on this exam. If you are in a class, you have to take advantage of the Professor with questions because realize a prerequisite for getting an MCAT teaching job is a high mcat score. He actually scored in the 99th percentile and I asked him “how did you do that, and don’t bias your answer [haha]” and he told me he simply took many practice test and corrected them assiduously. So that’s what I began to do [Of course you should try and get all of the concepts under your belt before you start taking practice test left and right].
It came test time and I was feeling pumped! My official FL practice a week before was a 508 and I was feeling good. So it was test day, I got to the facility and began the Chem/Phys section. PITFALL NUMBER ONE: I let time escape me; I was dwelling on a lot of questions as opposed to strategically marking the unsure ones and moving on. At 1/3 of the exam, I had half of the exam remaining. PITFALL NUMBER TWO: The exam suddenly froze on me. I won’t lie, I was a little delighted because I thought I would get to restart the section. It took the 1.5 hours to resolve it, and it came back on right where I left off >__< this gave me an adrenaline rush though and I was able to finish the section. A month later, the score came in and I was not pleased. The biggest thing I learned was to not get sucked in by any question. Each question is worth the same so don’t waste minutes on a difficult question that you have a higher chance of getting wrong when there are questions following it that you could probably resolve in seconds. That "mark" button is your friend, just mark and come back. I learned to establish markers i.e. “I should have at least this many questions done before this time point.”
After I got my score back, I simply reviewed all the notes I compiled up till that point and took more practice test and graded them [my test grading resulted in me adding to the compiled notes]. I would thoroughly, thoroughly grade them all, looking for mental blunders, content confusion, all of that. I would make sure that every single question that I got wrong I would not miss again. I took one every Sunday closer to the 2nd exam and would grade them during the week. The last practice test I took was a week before my actual test.
How I boosted CARS score by 4 points: I found a strategy that worked for me and practiced it over and over again with at least one passage a day [except Saturdays with that being Sabbath] (mostly from the official aamc packet, some khan academy). The first time I took the exam, I didn’t have a single honed strategy, rather, I had a gross conglomeration of a bunch of different methods (Kaplan's, EK's, the guy up the block's) which did not serve me well. Find what works for you and hone it. This is what worked for me:
For Psych/Soc, I took a Psych class and reviewed my notes and my Kaplan MCAT book and also Khan academy! The videos were sooo helpful, there is even a khan academy app and I would listen to while I was doing whatever. [I use the Khan academy app prep for all sections] Studied the Kaplan book for Soc and googled whatever I was unfamiliar with that wasn't covered in the book that was listed under sociology in the outline that aamc provides for what is going to be on the test.
For Bio/Biochem, I was in a Biochem course and reviewed my notes but really relied heavily on the my online Kaplan class. Learned all the major pathways and what not, all amino acids, etc. Kaplan books were amazing for bio; the acronyms were soo amazing and quite comical.
For Chem/Phys relied heavily on flashcards for all of the equations. Helped soooo much! Use flashcards!!! Integrate not only the equations but an explanation of some sort. I used something called the leitner system (google it) but instead of three boxes I had one box with dividers in them for the different days.
6) Other tips: Be confident, be sure to get plenty of exercise while studying (improves mental function), eat a lot of berries and almonds (brain food), pack lots of food come test day, sleep well, and pray and have faith!!
7) How long did you study for the MCAT?
Intermittent:
September-early December (part time because classes)
Mid December to Late January (Full time)
March – May (part time - review of previously jotted notes, and practice test with extensive review weekly towards the tail end)
God Bless and pm with any questions. You got this, conquer it. Work harder today for a more relaxing and fulfilling tomorrow.
[2017 UPDATE: Accepted to UCSF :'D God is good!!!!!!!]
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