How to become a good test taker??

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
D

deleted390966

I've tried the MCAT twice and got low 20s :( I don't know what's wrong. When I studied and practiced, I felt I got a good grasp of the material, but after taking the real test, I felt as if everything I studied for was nothing maybe because of the way the MCAT asked questions...
A classmate of mine got a 5 on PS practice test, but got a 10 on the real deal after 2 weeks of reviewing. She said, "I just became a better test taker".
Another classmate got really good scores, and he said he just "knew" how to eliminate wrong answers very quickly.
How is it possible?
How to become a good test taker?? Is test taking a skill that can be honed?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I've tried the MCAT twice and got low 20s :( I don't know what's wrong. When I studied and practiced, I felt I got a good grasp of the material, but after taking the real test, I felt as if everything I studied for was nothing maybe because of the way the MCAT asked questions...
A classmate of mine got a 5 on PS practice test, but got a 10 on the real deal after 2 weeks of reviewing. She said, "I just became a better test taker".
Another classmate got really good scores, and he said he just "knew" how to eliminate wrong answers very quickly.
How is it possible?
How to become a good test taker?? Is test taking a skill that can be honed?


I have mentioned this in another forum before. "MCAT is not a true test of Knowledge". People that have higher scores are not necessarily brighter than the lower scored students, they are just better test takers. So, it does explain why some students with less than a 3.5 GPA can easily make a 35+ on their MCAT, while some students with a 3.9 GPA struggle to make a 25 on MCAT. In my opinion a student's MCAT score somewhat mimics their SAT or ACT scores, and should not use a s a correlation to their cummulative GPA's.
 
MCAT is a good measure to distinguish among people that have inflated GPAs and deflated GPAs (I think)
Let's say you have 4.0 at state univ and other kid has 3.7 at harvard.
Would you still say harvard kid is smarter because he goes to the "harder" school?

But then when you look at the mcat score, you have 39 and other one has 35. That tells you harvard kid is just dumber.

That being said, MCAT is about 10% rote memorization and 90% critical thinking. My friend who got a 41 tell me he has spent 10% of his timing working on content and 90% doing passages and problems and reviewing them.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
MCAT is a good measure to distinguish among people that have inflated GPAs and deflated GPAs (I think)
Let's say you have 4.0 at state univ and other kid has 3.7 at harvard.
Would you still say harvard kid is smarter because he goes to the "harder" school?

But then when you look at the mcat score, you have 39 and other one has 35. That tells you harvard kid is just dumber.

That being said, MCAT is about 10% rote memorization and 90% critical thinking. My friend who got a 41 tell me he has spent 10% of his timing working on content and 90% doing passages and problems and reviewing them.

Full of it much?

The difference between a 35 and 39 is not all that significant. If it was like 39 and 30 or 39 and 32 then yes maybe, but seriously?
 
Full of it much?

The difference between a 35 and 39 is not all that significant. If it was like 39 and 30 or 39 and 32 then yes maybe, but seriously?

I was just trying to get my point acrossed. Why you gotta be so aggressive?
 
now you're just honestly nitpicking. The point was someone from the uni scored higher than someone from harvard, even though "harvard" is a tougher school.

Because the undergrad argument should have died ago and the MCAT is not a measure of intelligence.

Statements like 'harvard kid is just dumber' make one sound pretty pompous.

Apologies for coming off like a prick though. I have a raging hangover haha.
 
Because the undergrad argument should have died ago and the MCAT is not a measure of intelligence.

Statements like 'harvard kid is just dumber' make one sound pretty pompous.

Apologies for coming off like a prick though. I have a raging hangover haha.

my main point was trying to tell OP that MCAT is a measurement of critical thinking so test taking skills can improve if you practice a lot.

I never meant to arouse any undergrad argument. Im sorry if I came off as one. I used exaggerated examples to show my point.
 
Top