Initial Impression of MCAT?

[Avon Barksdale]

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I mean the first time you went about PREPARING for the test, not taking the actual test. I felt like I didn't remember half of the material the questions covered, and seriously wondered how I'd ever take this test. Granted I didn't blow the test out of the water at a score of 25, but I'm at least glad its over (although I may retake).

I noticed from the underdog thread that a lot of people here had pretty low sGPAs, but high MCAT scores. A lot of the people admitted to slacking in college, so they obviously didn't remember much from the actual courses and had to teach a lot of the MCAT material to themselves. That's impressive.

 

[Trogghunter]

I mean the first time you went about PREPARING for the test, not taking the actual test. I felt like I didn't remember half of the material the questions covered, and seriously wondered how I'd ever take this test. Granted I didn't blow the test out of the water at a score of 25, but I'm at least glad its over (although I may retake).

I noticed from the underdog thread that a lot of people here had pretty low sGPAs, but high MCAT scores. A lot of the people admitted to slacking in college, so they obviously didn't remember much from the actual courses and had to teach a lot of the MCAT material to themselves. That's impressive.

I taught myself physics, but knowing how to take the exam is more imporatant than actually knowing all of the material, especially for passage questions. It'd be better to take 15 practice exams than to ever open a review book. I learned all of the material in exam krackers, took 1 practice, scored a 36, and then bombed the real exam..relative to the 36 that is. If you're planning on retaking, then dont even bother going through the material again...just do practice qs as much as you can.

 

[Isoprop]

while i first starting studying for it, i thought it sucked. especially the physics, chem, organic chem, bio, and verbal parts. then in the middle of it, things starting to not be so bad. then at the end, it got bad again. like really bad.

 

[fiznat]

My initial impression was that I was never going to be able to do it. It seemed too big, required too much knowledge, too much time.

Like every other big project, it seemed smaller and smaller as the studying went on.

 

[UBCvan]

my first impression was that it was a FILTHY exam. I remember when I wrote it the first time, I got a really bad score. so I remember I was debating whether to write it again or to apply to the carib. I talked to my friend, I did extensive thinking, took almost a month to convince myself (or have the will) to start preparing for it again.

Having to write MCAT a second time has been the greatest challenge I've faced in my life. It requires A LOT OF determination (especially if it was a year ago when you wrote your first MCAT).

 

[donkeykong1]

hey bro, the best advice i can give u after taking the test last week is to take as many practice tests as u can and too never give up! the test is going to be harder than any aamc official test out there. so make sure you take harder exams like kaplan and tpr for practice. if you've taken all the pre-reqs, mcat review shouldn't be too bad. but its one thing to review and another to taken full lengths.

in the end, this is a crazy process, and for good reason. people's lives are going to be in your hands.

 

[SLC]

I actually thought the MCAT was a cakewalk. I only got a week to prepareand scored a 30.

I wouldn't say I slacked off in undergrad, but I did a LOT of stuff and didn't dedicate as much time as I would have liked to for studying. Still, I learned the material and I have a great ability to recall information so about 4 full length practice exams were all it took to put me at ease that I would be fine.

I honestly believe that 90% of the MCAT battle is getting over your nerves and just taking the exam stress free!

 

[kson223]

Something I wish others had told me: ask yourself if you are ready about 5 days before the test day. Ask again 2 days before. This way, if you are NOT ready, then you can cancel the test and give yourself a few more weeks. I took it when I was not ready and am now waiting for the score. Also, make sure you take gen bio, gen chem and physics before you take the test. A mistake I made - I still have to take the second semester of physics and taking the test early may have been a bad choice.