How much info had you retained before you started studying for the mcat??

[Fakhter]

A percentage would be nice and posting your mcat score would be even better. Thanks

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[Frazier]

60%

32-35 bracket

 

[von Matterhorn]

I remembered almost nothing from gen chem, physics, and general biology. I had a pretty solid understanding of orgo. Did the bare minimum in college to get by and my retention was nill. I Scored a 28. I'm pretty confident I could score well into the 30s if I retook it with my Berkeley Review books now as they actually jog my memory on a lot of things.

 

[Thego2guy]

good thread. Would like to know more as well.

 

[mirimonster]

A percentage would be nice and posting your mcat score would be even better. Thanks

2 years out of school:
100% Physics intact.
~10% Orgo (I mean literally had forgotten Sn1/Sn2)
~50% Bio (only ever took Intro Bio 1&2)
~60% Gen Chem

Studied for 5ish months....40T

Content is necessary, but secondary. The MCAT is testing your critical thinking skills, not your ability to memorize random enzymes.

 

[mimelim]

I'm not really sure how to define % retained, seems like a difficult to determine number and not terribly useful. I guess 100% for PS, 70% for BS, 100% for Verbal? (Physics major, TAed Physics, tutored physics/chem).

I didn't study PS, so my score didn't change by studying. Probably improved a couple of point on bio. Verbal, I didn't learn any new verbal stuff. But, I DID learn how to take the verbal section of a standardized test better. By far the easiest section for me to get better in. Ended up being very solid .

38+ on the exam

 

[darkjedi]

I took all 4 pre-reqs (Gen Chem, Physics, Bio, Orgo) in a single year and so I felt pretty confident about most of the material. I was farthest removed from Gen Chem, but after going through review books like Examkrackers, I felt pretty confident. If I had to put a number on it I would probably say 90% for Physics, Bio, and Orgo, maybe 70% for Gen Chem.

Was doing 33-36 on my practices that I was taking concurrently with 2nd semester pre-req classes and wound up with a 37 on the real deal.

 

[mr chievous]

I wasn't a science major, so I had a weak science background. My first test was 3/5/3 for a total of 11. It took me about 5 months to bring my score up to a 30. Everyone is different. My friend just finished anatomy and said the bio is fresh in his head.

 

[blomar]

.

 

[Frazier]

I wasn't a science major, so I had a weak science background. My first test was 3/5/3 for a total of 11. It took me about 5 months to bring my score up to a 30. Everyone is different. My friend just finished anatomy and said the bio is fresh in his head.

Am I reading that right or are my eyes blurry? Your composite score was 11?

If so, wow, truly AWESOME improvement, dude.

 

[Rumalum]

i started studying a week before the test, and everything was familiar. I was in orgo and calc based (i.e. real) physics at the time, and I had plenty of biology already completed. the key to success on the mcat is to take plenty of practice tests under test conditions. 32R

 

[TheMightySmiter]

How could you possibly come up with an accurate percentage? Anyone who has so far completely pulled that number out of their butt. The knowledge you need for the MCAT does not necessarily correlate to the knowledge you learned from class. So as long as you took the prerequisites and did well enough to be competitive for med school in the first place, a couple good prep books will teach you all you need to know.