First, take a breather. Calm down. You're still in the game even if things are looking rough.
Here's what you did wrong on your first attempt:
Last year I will admit I did not review any books. All I did was a few practice questions with each topic. I thought I knew the material well enough.
You can't just think you know the material well enough. You need to do TONS of practice questions to figure out if you do have a content weaknesss, then address it with a review book.
Here's what you did wrong on your second attempt:
Here is what I did for 4 straight months. I studied each day for 6-10 hours. I read all the Berkeley Review books TWICE (with notes) for Chemistry, Orgo, and Physics. I read ExamKrackers Biology TWICE (with notes). I watched the Golden Standard videos for each topic twice- a total of 32 hours (with notes). I did some of the Kaplan premier practice questions and exams.
You only did passive studying. You only did "some" practice questions. Content review by itself is literally useless. You don't know any material well enough for the MCAT until you can answer MCAT-level passages about the material. You can't succeed by just reading and watching, no matter how many times you run over the material. Unless the review book covers the EXACT answer to a question, you won't get it right.. and they will almost never do that. The MCAT requires you to critically think about topics.. not just remember a detail you read in a book and select the correct answer.
I took 6 out of the 9 AAMC exams and I scored 17, 19, 21, 22, 22, 23. I did not know what I was doing wrong. I went ahead and took the exam because it was too late for me to reschedule. I was hoping to get a 24 and apply to the early decision program.
Terrible idea to just take a test anyways.. ESPECIALLY on your retake. ESPECIALLY when your practice scores didn't show improvement. You've not shot yourself in the foot.. you basically aimed for the chest. Any MCAT result you get now will be compared to two data points that are fairly similar. Sure, a higher test score will still help but now ADCOMs will always think of you as a high teens MCAT because you did that twice vs. whatever you get next time only once.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND FOR THE LIFE OF ME how I got a 17. SOMEBODY please tell me what to do.
First step, be honest with yourself and hold yourself accountable. You're assigning blame elsewhere and you need to figure out where you went wrong so you can fix it. Just doing things over again isn't going to change anything.
I have to apply this year. Please. I will do anything. I cannot afford to take a class. I cannot study anymore.
I don't think its a good idea to apply this year. You'll need several months to pull your score up into the mid 20s for a shot at DO at best.. and by doing so, you'll be fairly late to the party. It's not worth rushing into an application cycle.. just like its not worth to rush into a retake. Trying to just do it for the hell of it is going to make your life harder when you end up reapplying.
If you cannot study anymore, just mail it in now. I get that you are discouraged and looking for answers.. but no matter what the solution is.. it's going to require a **** ton of hard work. Figure out if you can handle it or don't bother, not even trying to be mean here.. it's just your efforts are better placed elsewhere for the time being if you are truly burnt out. You can come back to the MCAT later.
I have read the best rated books and even understood what I was reading. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOWWWW. Should I just do the ExamKrackers 1001 questions for each topic along with the Kaplan Qbank???? Basically I have no other choice. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments. I am literally about to have a panic attack. I can't think of what this will look like on my application. Will Med School even accept me if I pass the 3rd time with previous scores of 15 and 17? HOW????? HOW did I get that???
key words: "read"
EK1001: no.
Kaplan QBank: better.. but no.
My recommendation would be to sign up for an MCAT course. IMO, you need structure. You need to be told what to do at this point.. as you're asking exactly for that. I don't think a self-study plan is the way to go.
If you must, though, I would buy The Princeton Review Hyperlearning Series. Stop focusing so much on content review. Your goal is certainly to review the topics sequentially.. but it's all about finding your weaknesses through practice problems (which will simultaneously allow you to develop critical thinking skills you NEED to succeed on the MCAT). You should be spending more time a day on practice problems than reading/watching. The last month+ of your studying should be entirely practice problems/tests where you only pick up a review book when you figure out that you have a weakness somewhere.
As for whether you'll be able to get in somewhere, you're better off posting in the "What are my chances?" forum with more information like your GPA and ECs. You won't be able to get into an MD school with your current scores (or even likely with a 24 unless you are URM.. and even then its rough). DO is still probably a hard sell. My advice would be to slow down. Take a few weeks off. Start studying for the MCAT offered in September. Don't worry about applying until way after then.