How to Bubble the Scantron

[Miss155]

Hi

Please tell me your bubbling technique which helps you save precious time.

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[~CDN Pre-med~]

Immediately after each passage. If at the end you're short for time...bubble after every question.

I didn't know that there were strategies for bubbling....

 

[adiddas125]

Immediately after each passage. If at the end you're short for time...bubble after every question.

I didn't know that there were strategies for bubbling....

Take a pencil that isnt too sharp, but not tooo dull, and after every problem bubble in your answer... If you end up transferring blocks of answers each time... you are more prone to making a bubbling error which will not be a good thing. Find the happy medium between sharpness of pencil and dullness. Make sure you try out the pencil before the exam. Overly sharp pencils tend to tear my bubble sheet when bubbling! But dull pencils piss me off because I feel like I am writing with a crayon!

 

[Mutt]

This is going to sound like I'm making it up, but here goes.

I took AAMC 8 using the bubbling sheet they have and to get a score, had to transfer it to a Kaplan MCAT Scantron. In so doing, I decided to time how long it would take me to bubble in all 214 answers.

I would like to think I have a pretty good bubbling technique wherein I do not go over the same spot more than once with the pencil and found that it took me just over 12 minutes just to bubble!!!

This averages out to [13min(60s/min)]/214 questions = 3.3 sec/questions

To compound this is the fact that the Kaplan scantron bubbles are about a third the size of the ones on the MCAT. Although most the time is taken up in moving from test sheet to finding answer bubble, and then bubbling....

I invite anyone else to run the same experiment (assuming they got their nerdiness factor way high).

Is this a ridiculous post or what?

Anyhow, maybe somebody will find it interesting.....

 

[gotgame83]

I went to Staples a few days ago and I picked up 5 of my favorite pencils with a pencil sharpener. I sharpened them, scribbled until they were slightly dull. My technique is bubble after every answer. Quick circular motions while staying inside the designated area. I am not using my automatic pencil because when im rushing or stressed i push too hard and that will be detrimental to my timing.

 

[FutureDoc2010]

This is going to sound like I'm making it up, but here goes.

I took AAMC 8 using the bubbling sheet they have and to get a score, had to transfer it to a Kaplan MCAT Scantron. In so doing, I decided to time how long it would take me to bubble in all 214 answers.

I would like to think I have a pretty good bubbling technique wherein I do not go over the same spot more than once with the pencil and found that it took me just over 12 minutes just to bubble!!!

This averages out to [13min(60s/min)]/214 questions = 3.3 sec/questions

To compound this is the fact that the Kaplan scantron bubbles are about a third the size of the ones on the MCAT. Although most the time is taken up in moving from test sheet to finding answer bubble, and then bubbling....

I invite anyone else to run the same experiment (assuming they got their nerdiness factor way high).

Is this a ridiculous post or what?

Anyhow, maybe somebody will find it interesting.....

You have just been awarded the most ridiculous post of the year award. I thought things were getting crazy when the discussion came up about the differences between redbull w/sucrose and w/out and test performance. (-:

 

[freesolo]

no this is it, i think weve gone insane 2 days before the test,
lmao about dulling the pencil prior to mcat, my freind was on the floor in tears rollin after he read it. He's an engineering guy, i swear we all need to chill lol, why isnt anyone using trusty mechanical pencils?

 

[NapeSpikes]

There are scantron sheets??

 

[happydays]

just scribble it in as fast as you can. Use a good pencil.

 

[N1DERL&]

For PS and BS: I finish the discretes and all the passages for one subject like gchem and I bubble all those answers. Then work on all the physics passages stopping every other passage or so to bubble. When it gets closer to time I just bubble one by one.

For verbal: I bubble after 2 passages. It gives me a break from reading and helps me recharge.

G'luck on Saturday!!

 

[ctv1116]

I just bubble them in after each question. I didn't know there was a science to bubbling.

 

[NilamPatel]

I just bubble them in after each question. I didn't know there was a science to bubbling.

i bubble in blocks..so after 1-2 passages...TPR says bubbling after each question is a waste of a second..77 seconds = 1 minute and 17 seconds, sooooooooo im gonna listen to them

 

[~CDN Pre-med~]

Lol...this is a ridiculous post...but I'm at the point where I am just sick at looking at anything MCATy...

Bubbling after every passage is quicker and improves accuracy so you don't lose your spot...

 

[NRAI2001]

Quick tutorial

http://www.zurqui.co.cr/crinfocus/bubble/skil.html

Now, I m sure u won't have trouble getting that 37

 

[jintonic5]

PAHAHA i love sdn

i'm bringing a ****load of pencils, all of which i hand sharpened so that the lead is a flat edge (like a screwdriver). this way i can underline with the thin edge or with the fat edge for emphasis. it's also faster in terms of bubbling in b/c sometimes regularly sharpened dull pencils will still develop a slight point after a while.


goodness i'm rereading this post and i want to slap myself...

 

[NilamPatel]

PAHAHA i love sdn

i'm bringing a ****load of pencils, all of which i hand sharpened so that the lead is a flat edge (like a screwdriver). this way i can underline with the thin edge or with the fat edge for emphasis. it's also faster in terms of bubbling in b/c sometimes regularly sharpened dull pencils will still develop a slight point after a while.


goodness i'm rereading this post and i want to slap myself...

well i went to staples today and bought a pack of 50 pencils...you think that will be enough to cover me just in case my special "mcat" pencil dies?

wow we need help..immediately

 

[OldOgre]

I find that a .9 mm mechanical pencil with HB (#2) lead works quite nicely. Though I haven't taken the MCAT yet, I use it for all of my regular university tests. The wide lead maintains its size and will fill a bubble in 2-3 strokes.

I got the idea from a similar thread about a year ago, so credit goes to the person who originally posted it.

Just my 2 cents, good luck

 

[Sansfrontier]

Loving this thread...
Don't try this on the real test, but just curious to know what the minimum shaded area you can get away with is on the test. (If it saves me a second, I could use that extra second on my last verbal passage).