I don’t really understand how the MCAT works?

[deleted947805]

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I know the cam has passages but I don’t really get it. Are all the questions for all sections dependent on a passage or are there specific sections on the exam that don’t have passages and require you to just answer the questions?

 

[Zenabi90]

Get the Official Guide and take the Sample test. It'll be apparent quickly enough.

 

[deleted947805]

As a freshman, the last thing I want is spending money on a book I’ll use in three years from now. Tuition is on top of my head, darling.

 

[northwestmedic]

i wish people would just answer the question as opposed to all the snarky answers on here. posting the link was good.

anyway, the exam is mostly passages... but has some stand-alone questions. i jump to the stand-alones first

here's my take on passages:

the biology/biochem ones are really hard to read and interpret....... the other 3 sections (chem/phys, CARS and P/S) are generally fairly easy to read. occasionally P/S's one can be rough (usually relating to an experiment)

on all passages, the 4-6 questions on the passage do NOT rely on you understanding the first concept of the passage. i.e. if the question is about XXXX amino acid, most of the questions are answerable if you have no idea about that amino acid. many/most of the questions don't necessarily require knowledge of AA's. i.e. a question will be asked about a chemistry graph at the end of the passage. or you'll need to answer a question about a later titration......... basically when people one passage might cover OC, ch, phys, bc, usually the questions are answerable with one aspect of the passage, NOT compound questions where if you don't understand one important concept you will get zero for five on the questions.

get "whats on the MCAT" pdf from AAMC............ it explains alot of what you might wonder about.

fire away on q's......... or pm me here if you want more or want to ask anon q's

 

[deleted947805]

i wish people would just answer the question as opposed to all the snarky answers on here. posting the link was good.

anyway, the exam is mostly passages... but has some stand-alone questions. i jump to the stand-alones first

here's my take on passages:

the biology/biochem ones are really hard to read and interpret....... the other 3 sections (chem/phys, CARS and P/S) are generally fairly easy to read. occasionally P/S's one can be rough (usually relating to an experiment)

on all passages, the 4-6 questions on the passage do NOT rely on you understanding the first concept of the passage. i.e. if the question is about XXXX amino acid, most of the questions are answerable if you have no idea about that amino acid. many/most of the questions don't necessarily require knowledge of AA's. i.e. a question will be asked about a chemistry graph at the end of the passage. or you'll need to answer a question about a later titration......... basically when people one passage might cover OC, ch, phys, bc, usually the questions are answerable with one aspect of the passage, NOT compound questions where if you don't understand one important concept you will get zero for five on the questions.

get "whats on the MCAT" pdf from AAMC............ it explains alot of what you might wonder about.

fire away on q's......... or pm me here if you want more or want to ask anon q's

Thank you for being mature about this issue and addressing it. People on here are so long-winded and it gets frustrating. Thank you so much for the explanation.

 

[northwestmedic]

i thought "what's on the mcat" from aamc actually said how many passage vs. stand-alone questions? i couldn't seem to see it with very basic perusal...

anyway, biology and chem sections (aggregate half the exam) are probably 80% passage, 20% stand-alone... i can't remember on P/S but it doesn't matter that much......... CARs = all passage.

 

[northwestmedic]

not certain about this, but i think the stand-alone questions are usually alot easier. that's my strong feel. and at the very least, you can usually answer them really quickly. you either know or don't know. so you can just move on.

..... the reading comprehension of the passages is a real contraint on absolute test score (i.e. number of correct responses) i think. but like i said, passages generally aren't compound where if you don't know question 1 or an important concept, you won't get zero for all the questions on the passage.

 

[deleted947805]

I have been so confused about this issue for a long time and you just clarified it right away. Thank you so much, darling!