How much did you increase from your Prnctn Review diagnostic score to the real MCAT?

[Dr.who]

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I just took my Princeton Review diagnostic and went into it pretty much blindly. To my surprise, I got a pretty good score, and if their supposed 10 point increase average is true, I'll be in pretty good shape come the real thing. The question is, what kind of improvement is realistic...?

For those of you who've taken the course and the real thing:
How much of an increase was there from your diagnostic test to the real thing?

How diligently did you do the assigned homework?

How much time did you spend on supplemental material, e.g. old text books and alternate MCAT study materials?

And finally, how do you think you could have improved your study habits and gotten the most out of the course?

I appreciate your input.

 

[Golfing_Doc]

don't dispair. i heard about the 10 pt rule too and with a reasonably high 4911 diag (upper 20s) thought no way with the 10 pts. i was wrong! i also suggest EK verbal if ur not strong in it and to peruse the Kaplan Comprehensive and Kaplan 45 if u have time. g'luck!

 

[Golfing_Doc]

btw, i did all the homework (80-90% on pretty much all) and stayed up to date with all of the reading too.

 

[DrMichelle]

btw, i did all the homework (80-90% on pretty much all) and stayed up to date with all of the reading too.

No offense, and yes I am a lil bit bitter, but I think their 10 pt rule is crap. I went up 5, and worked my BUTT off with all of the homework and practice tests and examcrackers and such.

maybe im just a killjoy...

 

[Kikaku21]

I just took my Princeton Review diagnostic and went into it pretty much blindly. To my surprise, I got a pretty good score, and if their supposed 10 point increase average is true, I'll be in pretty good shape come the real thing. The question is, what kind of improvement is realistic...?

For those of you who've taken the course and the real thing:
How much of an increase was there from your diagnostic test to the real thing?

How diligently did you do the assigned homework?

How much time did you spend on supplemental material, e.g. old text books and alternate MCAT study materials?

And finally, how do you think you could have improved your study habits and gotten the most out of the course?

I appreciate your input.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the 10 pt rule is TPR average increase from the TPR diagnostic. Note the word AVERAGE. If you start with a 20, 10 points will put you at a 30... That ALOT different than going from say, a 30 to a 40. Just a guess, but I suspect the higher you start, the less (in raw points) you will improve. However... if you start of well... like 30 or so... a 5 point increase will result in a terrific score!

 

[EddieIndy]

20->29 on the real thing. Studied about 10 hrs a week outside of class.

 

[chaeymaey]

I went up 10 points, 17 to 27, and I didn't really study until 3 months before the test, although I had been in the classes since November for the April exam.

 

[KeyLime]

I went from a 14 on the first diagostic to a 30 on the actual test.
I worked full time during the class, so I wasn't able to do as much as the homework in the sciences as I would have liked.
I probably studied at least 10 hours a week outside of class. Some weeks much more and some weeks less. My husband says that I was studying non-stop, but I've kind of blocked that part of my life out.

Best wishes!!

 

[TPROrgoTutor]

24 --> 36R
- Took the class but did not spend a whole lot of time going over the material, main studying was done roughly a month before the test.
- I attended class every time and this is where most info came from for me, just hearing it really helped me learn it so ATTEND EVERY CLASS.
- I did not do the homework, though I woudl highly reccommend it. I teach the class and 95% of the students who do not do their homework do not even come close to their hoped for grade on the mcat. If you dont do all of your homework your whining will fall on deaf ears and for good reason.
- To get more out of the course... Im sure if I would have studied more diligently or did more of the homework I could have increased my MCAT score to a much higher score. I was hoping for a 38-40 but will not complain at all due to the fact that I did not put nearly as much effort into it as I should have. Essentially, study, do the homework, dont miss a single class (except verbal, I didnt goto any of those)

 

[BuffMed]

I went from a 17 (P-6 B-7 V-4) to 33(P-15 B-11 V-7) (16 points) from the first diag to the MCAT. I tried to do the HW early but found I forgot a couple weeks later. So I waited to do the HW until the last 3 weeks before the MCAT, but did reading everynight during the coarse.

Confidence is everything going into the test. Make sure you are almost completely prepared for the practice test leading up to the MCAT, this will be your confidence booster.

Good luck

 

[anon-y-mouse]

I echo the "Attend Every Class" comment. I'm also a TPR teacher, but I did take the course before my MCAT. I improved my score by 21 points from the first diagnostic. (without specifics, 99th percentile on all sections on real thing). I didn't do all the assigned homework, but did every passage I could find... I also completely ignored the physical sciences review book. Too much info! Even the bio book had too much info.