Info

[1992MariahCarey]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

hi

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Off-topic, but what does the rest of your app look like and where have you applied?

The average MCAT for matriculants is ~ 510.5, so your score isn't terrible by any means.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[GreenDuck12]

Hey all, it’s a bit early I guess, but I am currently waitlisted to the only school I received an interview from and am mentally preparing to reapply. Looking at my app, I think it was the mcat that did me in. I took it in 2018, and received a 508 (128/126/126/128). I sat for it again in 2019 before the app cycle but voided it due to anxiety (regretting).
I am a bit removed from this however. I am currently working a scribe job which is around 11 hours a day, and will not be able to study while I work. I plan to quit the job in mid March to get my stuff together including mcat for the next cycle. I can’t quit earlier as I have a lease I need to continue paying and don’t want to ask my parents for too much. Given that I’d have about 1.5-2 months before needing to take it again, do you guys have any tips on what materials to focus on. For some back ground, I think I need a complete content refresher being a year out of science classes, as well as practice. Seems straightforward I guess, but I dont want to mess up another app cycle/mcat. That’s why I’m looking for sort of a concrete study plan that others, perhaps in a similar situation have used, but any info much appreciated!

as the poster above mentioned, your current score isnt bad, just slightly below the median for matriculants.Can you describe what you did before when prepping for the mcat the first time?

 

[1992MariahCarey]

Off-topic, but what does the rest of your app look like and where have you applied?

The average MCAT for matriculants is ~ 510.5, so your score isn't terrible by any means.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Pm'ed you!

 

[GreenDuck12]

Used the $2200 Kaplan course + AAMC as far as resources. Spent my summer before senior year (first time) focusing on it, do not think I used 4 months effectively by any stretch. Basically, took notes in a notebook from Kaplan materials for content, and did 4-5 practice passages of each section daily. Did about 6 practice tests. Second time around did content with the condensed notes I took from the Kaplan books + UWORLD + AAMC. Did 4 practice tests this time. I was scoring well on FLs both times, but Im not sure what happened. I just feel lost since Im 1 year removed from the whole process.

Well before contemplating a retake I would try to figure out why you decided to cancel your most recent attempt. Until you can really diagnose what do you want to do differently when preparing for the MCAT I would recommend holding off. In terms of how to prepare for the MCAT below is a copy posts I had for another thread about preparing for the MCAT and I think it’s an outline that I’ve used with some success with students that I have worked with.

phase 1 content review (1 month): For this phase your goal is to go through all the content that’s covered on the MCAT exam. You want to use active learning strategies to engage with content instead of passively receiving the information such as watching videos or reading. During this phase I would make flashcards a key concepts in terms that are most likely to appear on the MCAT and flashcards (Anki is great) for every psychology and sociology term covered by Kaplan or Khan Academy. I would also practice one or two free Jack Weston CARS passages each day to get used to the structure and topics covered on the MCAT such as philosophy history art etc. again the goal is not to learn the content of those areas but to just be familiar with the writing style.

phase 2 test/section practice and content gap identification (1 month): This phase is really focused on getting used to the length of MCAT and the length of each of the individual sections of the MCAT as well as to identify content gaps.I would take one full length MCAT exam understimulated testing conditions each week and thoroughly review each question you missed and each question you got right. In between the full length exams I would go through you worl I would take one full length MCAT exam understimulated testing conditions each week and thoroughly review each question you missed and each question you got right. In between the full length exams I would go through UWorld Sections of the MCAT under time conditions. When I did this I tried to simulate half of an actual MCAT exam by doing the CP + CARS one day and then BB + PS the next. I would then spend a day or two reviewing things that I missed. What’s the goal for this phase is to get your number of reps up so that you are used to the length of the exam.

phase 3 AAMC prep (1 month): This is the most important phase as this is when you were going to transition to only using AAMC practice materials. There are five total full length exams that you should take under simulated conditions ideally once per week. In between your full length examples you should practice using the cars question pack and the section bank. In between your full length examples you should practice using the cars question pack and the section bank (ideally do the section bank once before either in phase 1 or phase 2 because it’s really excellent practice). Hear your goal is to really take a deep dive into how the writers of the MCAT structure questions, answers, wording, reasoning etc. The writers of the MCAT have a different way of asking questions that you have to be familiar with. Your goal is also to fill in any remaining content gaps starting with high-yield concepts and going all the way down to those nitty-gritty small pieces of information that we secretly hope will not be are fair game.

if you look at the overall structure of this plan you will notice that it’s roughly 1/3 content review and 2/3 practice. Ideally I would prefer to have 1/4 content review and 3/4 practice. if you wanted some additional resources during content review to increase the amount of practice I would highly recommend the Berkeley review books for general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and biology, but they are pricey. TBR Worked well for me because of the way they structure the practice passages by having a nice loop back to previously covered concepts several timeworked well for me because of the way they structure it the practice passages by having an is loop back to previous covered concepts several times to reinforce the material,. You could also achieve a similar result using more KA practice passages during content review, just make sure you loop back to old topics regularly.