In PS hell. . with 5s & 6s. Please help!

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theunremarkable

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The PS section is killing my mcat practice score. I took 5R as my first diagnostic at the end of may and made a 25 (5, 10, 10) and I just took a second practice test: 3R, to view any improvement and scored a 26 (6, 10, 10). GAH! :mad:

What's really sad is I have been studying bio, ochem and verbal for the last month and was hoping to see some improvement. I've come to terms with not improving from a 10 (and will be more than pleased if I score a 10 on the real mcat), but the PS?! I am 1/2 through both the gchem and physics (using EK books).

How did/are you guys tackling the gchem/physics? Has going through the 1001 EK questions for the gchem/physics massively helped anyone? What about the TPR workbook? . . I should probably get through all 3 ASAP.

Please give any helpful hints on scoring decently on the PS!

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theunremarkable said:
The PS section is killing my mcat practice score. I took 5R as my first diagnostic at the end of may and made a 25 (5, 10, 10) and I just took a second practice test: 3R, to view any improvement and scored a 26 (6, 10, 10). GAH! :mad:

What's really sad is I have been studying bio, ochem and verbal for the last month and was hoping to see some improvement. I've come to terms with not improving from a 10 (and will be more than pleased if I score a 10 on the real mcat), but the PS?! I am 1/2 through both the gchem and physics (using EK books).

How did/are you guys tackling the gchem/physics? Has going through the 1001 EK questions for the gchem/physics massively helped anyone? What about the TPR workbook? . . I should probably get through all 3 ASAP.

Please give any helpful hints on scoring decently on the PS!




Im there with you buddy...i started off with a 6, then finally improved to a 9, but now i am back at a 5..how is this possible..aaah!
 
i would rather get 10 10 5, than 3 8's lol.
but alas... i seem to just be at the 3 8's. lets see what a month more of prep does... ;)
gl to u guys!
 
I did portions of the EK 1001 and the physics 1001

although with a 5 or 6 you might not understand the material...

I suggest you use the question book to highlight your weak areas and then use your reference source and take notes out of that, then go back and do more practice problems
 
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OP,

I started off with a 6 on my first TPR diag exam. Try to get TPR Physical Sciences Review book, it's really in-depth and teaches you the concept very well. Also, practice the Kaplan topical exams, which is guaranteed to give you a whoopin' but if you can do those, you should do relatively well on the MCAT. PM me if you need some practice materials.
 
I made flash cards for bio, ochem, physics and gchem and looking over the kaplan flashcards now which are simiilar to the ones I made on my own. That seems to be improving my score. My problem is VERBAL I am getting 5's and 6's, worst section by far. Cant make flashcards for this section but how are you guys improving verbal??
 
I would say get through the EK books (doing all quesstions and 30 min exams). Also use the 1001 books while you go in any free time you have. These help solidify a lot. Then, as you finish both EK chem and phys, then take 6,7,8,9 (AAMC) and see how you do. Also, go throught the 3R and 5R and do the ones you missed without the time constraints. This will help.

My diagnostic PS was 7, i then had practice scores of 8,9,10,10, and 2 days ago 13. Hang in there - you ll get the hang of it. There is a lot of material, so try to get through it all before practicing another test.

Best of luck.
 
I can't offer much advice b/c this section is also kicking my butt, but I can offer you mutual sympathy.
 
.

Get 11x17' graphing poster paper and rewrite your notes, tape them on your wall. Look at it every morning. Seeing the topics, the big picture, helped me find some important patterns. Also, memorize all the SI units to all formulas. Each week for the next three weeks, I'm going to force myself reread each subject book(hopefully I will pick up more details), and do 1/2 EK chapter a night.
 
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