I just took FL3 and got my world rocked.

[deleted1160863]

I got a 499 (section breakdown: C/P: 122, CARS: 128, B/B: 122, P/S: 122). I'm planning on taking the MCAT on June 24th, but after seeing this I'm really discouraged.

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[MrPuff]

You've got some wood to cut. You didn't say what score you are targeting but having a part-time job and only two months to study before your test could be problematic.

 

[deleted1160863]

You've got some wood to cut. You didn't say what score you are targeting but having a part-time job and only two months to study before your test could be problematic.

Ideally, I'd want to score over a 510, but I'm unsure if that's realistic in two months. It's clear I have some content gaps. I know that my problem is that I haven't committed much of the content to memory, but while taking the exam I could tell what I did and did not know.

 

[MrPuff]

It's good that you know your weak points so that you can key on that content. A 510 is certainly possible with focus and determination. Will you be able to put in 4-5 hours every day - including those days you work part-time? Also, I would recommend doing 5-6 more FLs before the real McCoy. I assume you are applying this cycle, correct?

 

[gyngyn]

Also, I would recommend doing 5-6 more FLs before the real McCoy.

If OP really scored FL 3, there is only one more (FL 4).
They need to save it until it really matters.

 

[deleted1160863]

If OP really scored FL 3, there is only one more (FL 4).
They need to save it until it really matters.

I haven’t taken 1,2,4, or the two free samples

 

[gyngyn]

I haven’t taken 1,2,4, or the two free samples

Use them judiciously. They are the best estimate of the result on the real thing.

 

[MrPuff]

Great point @gyngyn, I was thinking of other free or BP FLs. Definitely save your AAMC FLs until the last month before your test.

 

[systematicX]

If OP really scored FL 3, there is only one more (FL 4).
They need to save it until it really matters.

There’s an FL 5 now too

 

[chilly_md]

Focus on learning content before taking another non-AAMC FL. Your time would be better spent shoring up the major subjects (based on your subsection scores).

 

[AKYetiMan]

When I took the MCAT, I only left myself 2 months to study when I started due to the intensity of my final semester of undergrad. I knew it was a risk but it paid off.

I started studying May 3rd and had my test scheduled for June 30th. I took my first practice test around May 10th…495 (Kaplan). I wasn’t impressed. I used this score to identify my weak spots and studied hard until my next practice test on June 1st FL1…500. At this point I thought I was screwed, but for some reason I decide not to move my test date and studied harder than ever.

I was using Kaplan, blueprint, and AAMC. I realized I was wasting a lot of valuable time just trying to use the 3 different platforms that honestly all had pretty significant content differences. I decided to ONLY use AAMC material after June 1st. I did a ton of flash cards for P/S, memorized equations for C/P, CARS I had a natural skillset but just practiced timing every morning and night, and Bio/Biochem I just practiced reading dense articles and picking out what I needed to know. I only used AAMC material. I scored 505 FL2, 513 FL3, and 515 FL4. I Took them all a week apart.

I probably dedicated 7-8 hrs a day in June to achieve this and only took Sundays off. I think your goal is totally achievable! If it were me, I would only use AAMC question banks and tests. There is enough AAMC material to thoroughly cover in the next 2 months in the Q banks and practice tests. From my experience, all the AAMC questions were exactly like the real deal if not harder. I picked up trends in the AAMC material and made mental notes of content that was almost guaranteed to be on the real exam and it paid off.

 

[Lupercal]

A 10 point climb is very doable in 2 months. You must put in the hours.

Save AAMC materials for last month. Do not forget to do the Section Bank. FL5 is probably the closest test to the real deal. I would save it for last. The Sample is easier than the real test, especially CARS section. I would take it sooner than the other AAMC material.

If you take a test once a week from here until your test, you should hit at least 7 tests, with some rest leading up to the exam. I suggest taking the test on Saturdays, away from the quiet of your home and in a foreign environment. This will simulate the real thing, which will be in a foreign environment. Don't take it in a super comfortable place like your home. Review tests on Sunday, which could take just as long as taking them.

Ignore any score you get on a 3rd party test. The score you get on a 3rd party is irrelevant. Take their tests to build stamina and familiarize yourself with how the test format will be so that you will be more comfortable on the real one. Review every question, both right and wrong, to see if you understand the underlying concepts. 3rd parties help you identify your weaknesses in content knowledge. Use the tests to find the areas you are weak and focus on learning those.

For Chem/Phys: Get comfortable with recognizing units. There will be times where you do not know the formula or concept but can derive the correct equation by looking at units of the answer. If the answer is in Newtons, you know a Newton is (Kg)(m)/s^2. So if the passage gives you the mass, length, and time, you can just plug them in to arrive at Newtons in your answer just by putting in the units in the right place. You can do this with a lot of questions. Get good at understanding relationships. There will be times where you see a bunch of large numbers that will take you a lot of time to calculate. However, if you know you need to multiply the numbers, and that the answer will be a larger number, you can eliminate any answers which will be lower. By knowing which direction the answer will be, you can lower the probability of being wrong. Sometimes, you will not even have to calculate anything because the real answer is the only answer that even remotely resembles the correct direction of calculations. These are tricks to help you with questions even when you do not understand the underlying concept or the math seems too difficult. Knowing the concept is always better.

For CARS: I would spend the least amount of time on this section. You have naturally scored high, and it is the most difficult section to improve in my opinion. Take it seriously during your practice tests and review them rigorously. It just comes down to finding your style of going through the section that is comfortable. For me, I never skipped passages, and I never went back unless I had free time, which I rarely had. You seem to have done well, so just perfect your style and work on timing.

For Bio/Biochem: Amino acids and enzymes. If you understand amino acids and enzymes, you will get many questions right. That means understanding their structure, properties, etc. Be comfortable with lab techniques and interpreting lab data. Do not skip that section of your review. Content review is really big here. There is so much that can be drawn from.

Psych/soc: Your CARS affinity will help here. You need to just drill definitions and concepts until you memorize them, but understand that simply knowing the definition will not answer many questions. You will need to be able to critically analyze a passage that uses those concepts to answer a question that requires your knowledge of said concept to even answer. It is important to understand studies, their structure, and their weaknesses based on their design for this section. If you do not know many concepts, this sections is amazing to score low in initially because it, in my opinion, has the fastest rate of improvement.

 

[deleted1160863]

A 10 point climb is very doable in 2 months. You must put in the hours.

Save AAMC materials for last month. Do not forget to do the Section Bank. FL5 is probably the closest test to the real deal. I would save it for last. The Sample is easier than the real test, especially CARS section. I would take it sooner than the other AAMC material.

If you take a test once a week from here until your test, you should hit at least 7 tests, with some rest leading up to the exam. I suggest taking the test on Saturdays, away from the quiet of your home and in a foreign environment. This will simulate the real thing, which will be in a foreign environment. Don't take it in a super comfortable place like your home. Review tests on Sunday, which could take just as long as taking them.

Ignore any score you get on a 3rd party test. The score you get on a 3rd party is irrelevant. Take their tests to build stamina and familiarize yourself with how the test format will be so that you will be more comfortable on the real one. Review every question, both right and wrong, to see if you understand the underlying concepts. 3rd parties help you identify your weaknesses in content knowledge. Use the tests to find the areas you are weak and focus on learning those.

For Chem/Phys: Get comfortable with recognizing units. There will be times where you do not know the formula or concept but can derive the correct equation by looking at units of the answer. If the answer is in Newtons, you know a Newton is (Kg)(m)/s^2. So if the passage gives you the mass, length, and time, you can just plug them in to arrive at Newtons in your answer just by putting in the units in the right place. You can do this with a lot of questions. Get good at understanding relationships. There will be times where you see a bunch of large numbers that will take you a lot of time to calculate. However, if you know you need to multiply the numbers, and that the answer will be a larger number, you can eliminate any answers which will be lower. By knowing which direction the answer will be, you can lower the probability of being wrong. Sometimes, you will not even have to calculate anything because the real answer is the only answer that even remotely resembles the correct direction of calculations. These are tricks to help you with questions even when you do not understand the underlying concept or the math seems too difficult. Knowing the concept is always better.

For CARS: I would spend the least amount of time on this section. You have naturally scored high, and it is the most difficult section to improve in my opinion. Take it seriously during your practice tests and review them rigorously. It just comes down to finding your style of going through the section that is comfortable. For me, I never skipped passages, and I never went back unless I had free time, which I rarely had. You seem to have done well, so just perfect your style and work on timing.

For Bio/Biochem: Amino acids and enzymes. If you understand amino acids and enzymes, you will get many questions right. That means understanding their structure, properties, etc. Be comfortable with lab techniques and interpreting lab data. Do not skip that section of your review. Content review is really big here. There is so much that can be drawn from.

Psych/soc: Your CARS affinity will help here. You need to just drill definitions and concepts until you memorize them, but understand that simply knowing the definition will not answer many questions. You will need to be able to critically analyze a passage that uses those concepts to answer a question that requires your knowledge of said concept to even answer. It is important to understand studies, their structure, and their weaknesses based on their design for this section. If you do not know many concepts, this sections is amazing to score low in initially because it, in my opinion, has the fastest rate of improvement.

Thank you so much for the advice I really appreciate it. I think part of my problem is that I am reading way too fast. I had around 25 minutes left in each section when I finished, and I think that contributed to my lower score. I'm going to practice reading slower and see if that helps.

 

[deleted1160863]

A 10 point climb is very doable in 2 months. You must put in the hours.

Save AAMC materials for last month. Do not forget to do the Section Bank. FL5 is probably the closest test to the real deal. I would save it for last. The Sample is easier than the real test, especially CARS section. I would take it sooner than the other AAMC material.

If you take a test once a week from here until your test, you should hit at least 7 tests, with some rest leading up to the exam. I suggest taking the test on Saturdays, away from the quiet of your home and in a foreign environment. This will simulate the real thing, which will be in a foreign environment. Don't take it in a super comfortable place like your home. Review tests on Sunday, which could take just as long as taking them.

Ignore any score you get on a 3rd party test. The score you get on a 3rd party is irrelevant. Take their tests to build stamina and familiarize yourself with how the test format will be so that you will be more comfortable on the real one. Review every question, both right and wrong, to see if you understand the underlying concepts. 3rd parties help you identify your weaknesses in content knowledge. Use the tests to find the areas you are weak and focus on learning those.

For Chem/Phys: Get comfortable with recognizing units. There will be times where you do not know the formula or concept but can derive the correct equation by looking at units of the answer. If the answer is in Newtons, you know a Newton is (Kg)(m)/s^2. So if the passage gives you the mass, length, and time, you can just plug them in to arrive at Newtons in your answer just by putting in the units in the right place. You can do this with a lot of questions. Get good at understanding relationships. There will be times where you see a bunch of large numbers that will take you a lot of time to calculate. However, if you know you need to multiply the numbers, and that the answer will be a larger number, you can eliminate any answers which will be lower. By knowing which direction the answer will be, you can lower the probability of being wrong. Sometimes, you will not even have to calculate anything because the real answer is the only answer that even remotely resembles the correct direction of calculations. These are tricks to help you with questions even when you do not understand the underlying concept or the math seems too difficult. Knowing the concept is always better.

For CARS: I would spend the least amount of time on this section. You have naturally scored high, and it is the most difficult section to improve in my opinion. Take it seriously during your practice tests and review them rigorously. It just comes down to finding your style of going through the section that is comfortable. For me, I never skipped passages, and I never went back unless I had free time, which I rarely had. You seem to have done well, so just perfect your style and work on timing.

For Bio/Biochem: Amino acids and enzymes. If you understand amino acids and enzymes, you will get many questions right. That means understanding their structure, properties, etc. Be comfortable with lab techniques and interpreting lab data. Do not skip that section of your review. Content review is really big here. There is so much that can be drawn from.

Psych/soc: Your CARS affinity will help here. You need to just drill definitions and concepts until you memorize them, but understand that simply knowing the definition will not answer many questions. You will need to be able to critically analyze a passage that uses those concepts to answer a question that requires your knowledge of said concept to even answer. It is important to understand studies, their structure, and their weaknesses based on their design for this section. If you do not know many concepts, this sections is amazing to score low in initially because it, in my opinion, has the fastest rate of improvement.

I'm definitely going to be going over content more. I think I'll use Uworld and if I'm unfamiliar with a topic I'll read up on it in a kaplan book or Khan academy. I also noticed that I went through the test way too fast and had around 25 minutes left in each section when I ended. I'm also going to try reading slower, I hope this helps me get a better grasp on what the passages are saying.

 

[deleted1160863]

Thanks for the help everyone, like I said in some other replies I think over the next month I'm going to finish Uworld and supplement with Milesdown's/Jacksparrow's Anki deck while diving deeper into certain topics I'm less comfortable with via my Kaplan books or Khan academy videos. I will also work on reading slower because I looked back and I ended each section with around 25 minutes of extra time. I think the speed at which I read through the passages defiantly contributed to me missing critical information and getting things wrong.

Hopefully, I can do this in the next month so I can dedicate the last month of my studying to finishing all the AAMC materials.

Time to put in the work so I can put this test behind me! Thanks again for the advice, everyone.

 

[Lupercal]

Thanks for the help everyone, like I said in some other replies I think over the next month I'm going to finish Uworld and supplement with Milesdown's/Jacksparrow's Anki deck while diving deeper into certain topics I'm less comfortable with via my Kaplan books or Khan academy videos. I will also work on reading slower because I looked back and I ended each section with around 25 minutes of extra time. I think the speed at which I read through the passages defiantly contributed to me missing critical information and getting things wrong.

Hopefully, I can do this in the next month so I can dedicate the last month of my studying to finishing all the AAMC materials.

There is no need to finish 25 minutes early. That is way too fast for a 499. The passage answers many of the questions if you can piece it together, so having extra time to look for those clues is important. I agree that you should take your time when taking the test and pace yourself accordingly. That would be a good fix. Alternatively, If you do finish early, take that extra time and go back through your answers to spot any little mistakes you have made in haste. There will be some tiny mistake you made on almost every test, so to end the section early instead of finding those mistakes will only hurt you. Part of maximizing your score is minimizing dumb mistakes that cause you to lose points on something you actually knew. You may have read something wrong, or not put together two concepts in that moment until you reviewed the question. Either way, you should be spending every minute you are allotted.

I believe the more tests you take, the better you will get at handling the grueling longevity of the MCAT. For me, it was very common to end the Psych section with plenty of time left because my mental stamina had run out and I began to impatiently speed through the section. You have to use that time.

As for the bolded, that is great that you feel comfortable attacking weaknesses. Many people avoid the subjects they are uncomfortable with, when they are the most important subjects that should be addressed.

 

[AKYetiMan]

I'm definitely going to be going over content more. I think I'll use Uworld and if I'm unfamiliar with a topic I'll read up on it in a kaplan book or Khan academy. I also noticed that I went through the test way too fast and had around 25 minutes left in each section when I ended. I'm also going to try reading slower, I hope this helps me get a better grasp on what the passages are saying.

Also check out Shemassian Consulting. They have really great, concise content review on their website that is MCAT specific.

 

[deleted1135735]

I think you definitely need to study a lot more (499 is quite quite low, not trying to be harsh sorry, I just want to see you succeed). However, I will say from my experience (and from reading about many others' experiences), that FL3 is by far the most difficult of all the practice exams. Best of luck!