How to eliminate careless mistakes???

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Dr.Forssmann

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I've been missing quite a few problems on each section just cause of stupid errors like misreading and such... It might be because i do so many problems on a daily basis sometimes i don't bother to pay fine attention to detail. Maybe i trained myself not to pay attention. But now i want to pay ATTENTIOn to Detail!!!!

does anybody have any Tips? or advice?

MUCH APRECIATED!!!

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After nearly 2 months of studying, I somehow can't remember that lower pH = more acidic, and a week doesn't have 30 days in it...
 
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You need to take more time. Pure and simple. You might think you need to rush through but you are much better off to take your time on 95% of the questions and make sure you get the points you are capable of.

Survivor DO
 
best advice i've read thus far has been to read each word more slowly than normal. pause between each word. i might try that next time i take the FL.

Any other creative tips??? much apreciated.
 
Sometimes you fly through questions you "think" you're really familiar with. Give those types a questions a quick once over after deciding on an answer and don't underestimate it.
 
Make a list of affirmations for every careless mistake you make. No matter how general or specific, just write them down. After each test, I come up with almost 10 new ones.

For example:
"I will not make rounding errors"
"When faced with an unfamiliar situation I will ALWAYS consult the passage"
"I will always find the correct interpretation of a question"
"I will always rewrite the the units of any table and the axis of any graph"

With the last one in particular, I found if I just write exactly what is on a graph's axis on my margin, or just rewrite the data type in each table column, this essentially eliminated 100% of my table/graph related errors instantly.


Once you have all these affirmations, commit them to memory.
Recite them, or write them down just before your exam. When you begin you won't have time to even think about them. But you will automatically avoid these errors.
 
I had similar issues. The following helped me:
-Read every single question word for word carefully emphasizing words like EXCEPT, NOT, etc.
-For non-math problems read every single answer choice and use POE. Mentally justify your reasoning for the correct answer to yourself.
-With math problems work the math out twice in two different ways (e.g. when converting grams of reactant A to liters produced of product B, after computing liters take that answer and work backwards to compute grams of reactant A).
-After completing the section and reviewing 'marked' questions, quickly go back through all of the questions backwards. By starting back from the beginning you are just going through the motions with the same reasoning you had before. By starting backwards you encounter the questions in a different order and are more likely to see any mistakes in your initially reasoning. Work through all math problems again.
 
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Yeah but how do i practice? Just do more problems with the intention of not misreading?

Take your FLs seriously. I had that same problem, and I got better at it, i belive it came dowm to treating every set of Q's like the real deal, FOCUS, concentration, reading a bit more slowly/actively and once i chose a "best answer" quickly making sure my answers makes sense
 
I had a HUGE problem with this. I kept getting easy questions wrong on the practice exams. Honestly I think the biggest fix is; RTFQ.... Read the F**king Question.
 
What does that mean? Just read it???

Well to be honest we all have that mindset that you need to be blazing by these questions at lightning speed because lets be honest they don't exactly give you a lot of time. But the biggest thing for me was that I was trying to go too fast and not exactly reading the question and understanding what it was asking for. For example lets say VR "which of these is the author NOT saying" I would read that fast and then look at the answers and choose an answer that the author was making an argument FOR because I didn't fully read the question. Simple mistake like that multiple times in a row can bring down your score a lot. Just make your you understand what the question is asking for.
 
This question could be translated to "How to eliminate my humanity?"

Not to put OP on the spot, but unfortunately, careless mistakes are a part of being human, and they're a part of the reason why we'll never be fully prepared for a test like this. The fact that your brain is at maximum for three hours and some just means it's going to get tired and worst of all, you may not know when you make a mistake until after.

But you can greatly minimize them by eating properly and taking breaks. In my studying I learned that sometimes you burn out a little, but because you're so driven to improve and work harder, you don't even know it!

Also during your FLs, take a break before each passage. In my actual test, when I started the PS section, I clicked Start and just stopped for 10-15 seconds. My brain needed just a few seconds to accept and digest the fact that it was the real deal, and to do its best to translate the experience into a practice exam experience. Then, for each and every subsequent passage following, I took another 5-10 second break, and before starting the discretes, I did the same thing. Seems like a waste of time right? Turns out it only totaled to about a minute and a half. Also, when your brain is tired, it will relax, whether you want it to, know it, or not. It's just gonna happen. That means you're gonna get things wrong. Instead of letting it relax on its own, which is likely when you'll be working problems, why not chill out for a second so that you can go into each passage with maximum focus and energy?
 
This question could be translated to "How to eliminate my humanity?"

Not to put OP on the spot, but unfortunately, careless mistakes are a part of being human, and they're a part of the reason why we'll never be fully prepared for a test like this. The fact that your brain is at maximum for three hours and some just means it's going to get tired and worst of all, you may not know when you make a mistake until after.

But you can greatly minimize them by eating properly and taking breaks. In my studying I learned that sometimes you burn out a little, but because you're so driven to improve and work harder, you don't even know it!

Also during your FLs, take a break before each passage. In my actual test, when I started the PS section, I clicked Start and just stopped for 10-15 seconds. My brain needed just a few seconds to accept and digest the fact that it was the real deal, and to do its best to translate the experience into a practice exam experience. Then, for each and every subsequent passage following, I took another 5-10 second break, and before starting the discretes, I did the same thing. Seems like a waste of time right? Turns out it only totaled to about a minute and a half. Also, when your brain is tired, it will relax, whether you want it to, know it, or not. It's just gonna happen. That means you're gonna get things wrong. Instead of letting it relax on its own, which is likely when you'll be working problems, why not chill out for a second so that you can go into each passage with maximum focus and energy?

indeed. i would love to beable to transition between machine and human.
 
I've been missing quite a few problems on each section just cause of stupid errors like misreading and such... It might be because i do so many problems on a daily basis sometimes i don't bother to pay fine attention to detail. Maybe i trained myself not to pay attention. But now i want to pay ATTENTIOn to Detail!!!!

does anybody have any Tips? or advice?

MUCH APRECIATED!!!

If a patient came in and said, "I cough in spells a few times a day. I try not to and want to supress it, but I cant help it. I want to cough less. Do you have any tips or advice?"

Would you tell them things like "just don't cough" or "coughing is natural"? No, you'd start by looking at potential causes of the coughing, both physiological and environmental. Once you narrowed down the source, then you'd proceed with a prognosis and cure.

That's what YOU should be doing here. Asking for general advice to this question is not going to get you where you wish to be. There are many different careless errors, and you need to start by determining they type of CE you are making. Are you:

(1) When reading the question, does your mind drift to the inventory of questions you've seen before that look like the one you're doing, and do you end up re-answering an old question rather than statying focused on the question at hand?

(2) Do you overlook simple facts and information given in the passage because you are trying to solve everything by recall?

(3) Are you missing longer questions by getting fatigued and bored midway through your analysis?

(4) Are you making estimation and sign errors on math questions?

There are many questions you need to ask to self-diagnose your specific situation. There has been some very good advice given in this thread, and the time has come to stop asking for more and instead ask yourself what YOU are going to do about YOUR specific test issues. Moose, PingPongPro, Ambitionista, SSerenity, Tomato, Knight, Synapsis, and Gauss have all brought up some very good ideas to try. Now it's time for you to figure out where you are getting into trouble and which of those tidbits of insight will help with that problem.
 
If a patient came in and said, "I cough in spells a few times a day. I try not to and want to supress it, but I cant help it. I want to cough less. Do you have any tips or advice?"

Would you tell them things like "just don't cough" or "coughing is natural"? No, you'd start by looking at potential causes of the coughing, both physiological and environmental. Once you narrowed down the source, then you'd proceed with a prognosis and cure.

That's what YOU should be doing here. Asking for general advice to this question is not going to get you where you wish to be. There are many different careless errors, and you need to start by determining they type of CE you are making. Are you:

(1) When reading the question, does your mind drift to the inventory of questions you've seen before that look like the one you're doing, and do you end up re-answering an old question rather than statying focused on the question at hand?

(2) Do you overlook simple facts and information given in the passage because you are trying to solve everything by recall?

(3) Are you missing longer questions by getting fatigued and bored midway through your analysis?

(4) Are you making estimation and sign errors on math questions?

There are many questions you need to ask to self-diagnose your specific situation. There has been some very good advice given in this thread, and the time has come to stop asking for more and instead ask yourself what YOU are going to do about YOUR specific test issues. Moose, PingPongPro, Ambitionista, SSerenity, Tomato, Knight, Synapsis, and Gauss have all brought up some very good ideas to try. Now it's time for you to figure out where you are getting into trouble and which of those tidbits of insight will help with that problem.

+1 👍

It is always very enlightened to see your comment.

On the side note, this is also applied to VR. I have seen hundreds of posts people asking for VR improvement. At the end of the day, quick fix/tips just weeks before facing the beast becomes meaningless. Unfortunately, that is not what people who have problems want to hear.

Edit: (for me only) .....to be good at VR, one needs to learn to read and comprehend "months" before any MCAT prep.
 
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If a patient came in and said, "I cough in spells a few times a day. I try not to and want to supress it, but I cant help it. I want to cough less. Do you have any tips or advice?"

Would you tell them things like "just don't cough" or "coughing is natural"? No, you'd start by looking at potential causes of the coughing, both physiological and environmental. Once you narrowed down the source, then you'd proceed with a prognosis and cure.

That's what YOU should be doing here. Asking for general advice to this question is not going to get you where you wish to be. There are many different careless errors, and you need to start by determining they type of CE you are making. Are you:

(1) When reading the question, does your mind drift to the inventory of questions you've seen before that look like the one you're doing, and do you end up re-answering an old question rather than statying focused on the question at hand?

(2) Do you overlook simple facts and information given in the passage because you are trying to solve everything by recall?

(3) Are you missing longer questions by getting fatigued and bored midway through your analysis?

(4) Are you making estimation and sign errors on math questions?

There are many questions you need to ask to self-diagnose your specific situation. There has been some very good advice given in this thread, and the time has come to stop asking for more and instead ask yourself what YOU are going to do about YOUR specific test issues. Moose, PingPongPro, Ambitionista, SSerenity, Tomato, Knight, Synapsis, and Gauss have all brought up some very good ideas to try. Now it's time for you to figure out where you are getting into trouble and which of those tidbits of insight will help with that problem.

What are some solutions to question 2?

thank you for your response!
 
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