pookiez, you give me hope, if I can get a 6 point on my score in a month that was would be awesome. Can you please tell me what you did to go up that much?
Do you guys think that if I delay my exam and go through all the EK 1001s and TBR passages it would be possible improve my score by that much in one month? As stupid as it sounds, with my practice scores, I feel as if scoring well on the MCAT is an inherent ability.
I have a 3.86 and good extracurricular (imo). If I can get a 6 point jump and get closer to the 30 mark, I am confidant I can get in some where.
It's just taking the Aug test will be really late and I'm already taking a year off, I don't know what I would do if don't get in this cycle. Argh!
But I guess an acceptable late MCAT score is better than a poor MCAT score anytime.
What is your weakness? You have to identify what's holding you back. Did you do a thorough content review? I first started off with the EK books way back when, I don't even remember lol. To be quite honest, I don't think the EK books are good for content review (except the bio book). For me, my problem was content review-I kept missing small details that were screwing me over and costing me points on the practice exams. At that point, I took out my TPR books from the hyperlearning course (I never read them, as I thought I was good with the content review). I read the entire Physical Sciences review manual (made notes or augmented my previous notes), read only the Bio section of the Biological Sciences review (Orgo is my strong point so I didn't even bother) and did the same for my bio notes. I also did practice problems along with my content review, which I think is crucial. Don't just do content review-do practice problems as well but do NOT, I repeat, do NOT take full length exams before you're done with content review. It's a waste. Do timed passages and stuff, just not full lengths.
So, once I was done reading my TPR books, I set out to review my notes (which are pretty extensive). They are compilations of stuff from TBR content books, ALL the concepts I was getting wrong (anytime I'd get a question wrong, I'd add the explanation/concept to the pertinent sectionof my notes. Like if I got a fluids question wrong, I would open up the fluids/solids section of my physics notes and write a detailed explanation), stuff from previous TPR exams, etc. I thoroughly reviewed those notes and really drilled them in my head (which was great, because I was basically reviewing my mistakes and the correct reasoning over and over again). When I was done with that, I took my remaining TPR tests (I had like 3 left, those tests are hard!). After I was done with those, I took AAMC 6 which seemed like a little baby. I thought it was a joke, especially compared to the TPR exams.
My point is, identify your weakness. Mine was content review and I took care of that. What's yours? I would recommend getting the TPR Hyperlearning books from someone (I really like them), or go through your TBR books. Do all the passages, review them thoroughly. Don't forget about content review, even when you're done, keep reviewing things. Lastly, don't forget about confidence. You can do this. If I can, then so can you.
