improving MCAT score

Started by AdemTD
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AdemTD

This post is truly for a friend of mine that just started to study for his July MCAT and he started by taking a test to see where he was at. He got a 19 and is freaking out. I told him there are a lot of people that do far worse taking it cold and to just buckle down and study with his Exam Kracker books until taking the exam. But he won't take my word for it. Would someone please let me know how much he can expect his score to increase before July if he studies/practices each day? Thanks!
 
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AdemTD said:
I told him there are a lot of people that do far worse taking it cold and to just buckle down and study with his Exam Kracker books until taking the exam.
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Who's a lot of people?

I can't think of a way to actually answer the rest of your question.
 
LateBl00meR said:
Who's a lot of people?

I can't think of a way to actually answer the rest of your question.
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a lot of people? Well, that would be the folks that were in my Kaplan course, and I imagine most people don't do well on their first MCAT that they take without studying, but I do realize there are exceptions. I just want to know how much he can reasonably expect to improve on the 19, I improved my diagnostic of 16 to a 31, but that was through a highly structured class.
 
I would tell your friend that he has two options: continue to freak out and accomplish nothing or study and improve his score. Well a third option would be to postpone to a later date.

This is a little blunt, but really what can you do.

Even if everyone on SDN scored a 12 on their first FL and on the official day made a 35 it would mean nothing. Everyone has their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Your friend needs to find the confidence within to overcome their low score. Hope that helps.
 
beckhunter116 said:
I would tell your friend that he has two options: continue to freak out and accomplish nothing or study and improve his score. Well a third option would be to postpone to a later date.

This is a little blunt, but really what can you do.

Even if everyone on SDN scored a 12 on their first FL and on the official day made a 35 it would mean nothing. Everyone has their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Your friend needs to find the confidence within to overcome their low score. Hope that helps.
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You know that's quite excellent advice...thanks 🙂 I was pretty similar when I first started studying for the MCAT and I never have been very good on these standardized exams, but I worked my ass off for the 3 months I was in the course and did quite well (at least for me).
 
AdemTD said:
This post is truly for a friend of mine that just started to study for his July MCAT and he started by taking a test to see where he was at. He got a 19 and is freaking out. I told him there are a lot of people that do far worse taking it cold and to just buckle down and study with his Exam Kracker books until taking the exam. But he won't take my word for it. Would someone please let me know how much he can expect his score to increase before July if he studies/practices each day? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what he was expecting taking a practice MCAT without even studying. Yeah, a 19 sounds about right.

He has 3-4 months before the exam; he can definitely get a lot of good studying done if he puts in the effort. What choice does he have but to "buckle down and study" anyway? It's stupid to worry about your diagnostic grade; worry if you've been studying for months and get a 19, not if you haven't studied at all.

And tell him to stop being emo.
 
Don't worry about starting low. My first TPR test I took I scored a 12 on it. My advise is to take the real one when you are scoring what you want to on the AAMC tests.
 
personally i thought exam krackers sucked but i started with a much lower score and scored high enough to my liking
 
I scored a 21 on my Kaplan diagnostic before any studying, and then several months later scored a 21 on my real MCAT... However, I certainly did not study very much, 3 weeks at most and not very focused studying either. I annoyed the crap out of myself. It was all on me.

I retook the MCAT and scored a 25, and then one month after that one I actually retook it again and scored a 29.

I was pleased with the progress. However, with the cramming at the end I was still left with the feeling that i could have done better had I prepared better. I chalk up my first score to being an idiot who couldn't find the time to study. My second score was improved obviously, and I should note that this occured with my switch from Kaplan to the Exam Krackers books... In my opinion, Kaplan's books are simply a re-hash of most all the sciences we have taken as an undergrad. I felt that the exam kraker books were much more streamlined for successful studying for the MCAT. Not only that, but I actually found them much easier to read and study... I also got the Exam Krakers Audio Osmosis tapes from a buddy of mine and listened to them and found them quite entertaining and very helpful. The last few weeks before my second and third test I simply took practice test after practice test. I purchased the official ones online from the AAMC, and this was probably the thing that allowed me to improve my scores the most.

So I would suggest to your friend to calm down, make a study plan/schedule and stick with it. Not to try to learn every single detail of every single science, and to take many many many full length practice tests...
 
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