Intimidated by practice MCAT score

[wondergirl3]

Granted I took this "diagnostic" Practice #3 MCAT by AAMC without studying (relying only on knowledge from classes), I scored very, very low.
I know studying would have a big impact on improvement, but I was still shocked at how little my knowledge from my previous classes helped.

For the BS section, the passage based questions involved heavy critical thinking and I had trouble distinguishing the right answer from the passage.
Verbal was remarkably not THAT bad, and PS involved mainly chemical reactions and a bit less critical thinking.

I was so surprised that the biology section was more difficult than I anticipated -> I thought it could be done by recalling facts from Gen Bio and applying them to the questions, but it seems now like previous knowledge does not help as much, and that critical thinking governs the bulk of your BS score.

Should this discourage me? I hope to get >90th percentile for the real thing, but now doubt that the basic prerequisites will be enough to get me this. It is heavily dependent on critical thinking, and I doubt content review (for Biology) can improve me that much unless my critical thinking skills sharpen.

Do any of you know how to improve upon critical thinking for the MCAT? Am I getting overly scared- will reviewing notes/prep material prepare be enough to do well? Is scoring 20 points higher than my diagnostic entirely possible?

Sincerely,
wondergirl3

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JuanPabloCastel]

read journal articles for understanding

 

[moop]

It's going to be a long road ahead to get to >90th percentile (this ain't no SAT percentiles now..), but yes, people have done it before. However, do not count on it. One point at a time, or you'll get discouraged (it seems you're the type to do so based on what you wrote) and it'll all go downhill from here.
Reviewing notes from school is definitely not enough. You need to do more practice problems that require the MCAT critical thinking.
Do content review with EK and your class notes. If you're scoring in the teens, you need content review. Don't lie to yourself about this. Anyone below a 28 does not know their stuff well enough to begin applying the material. If you really knew your class material well, you wouldn't be in such a rough spot (unless, like, you didn't do well in your classes or the classes were taught at a high school level, which I doubt). Look at the SN2ed schedule.
After that, get TBR for PS sections, and all the TPRH books. Subscribe to Kaplan On Demand for their online material, which is gold. (screw the class; it's worthless for most if you can do content review yourself). Drilling problems once your content is done is the only way to get better. Look up the Spinach method for how do maximize efficiency to learn critical thinking.

 

[moop]

read journal articles for understanding

No. Journal articles ≠ MCAT. MCAT problems = MCAT. Efficiency with journal articles is just way to f*cking low to be prescribed this early on. It's an alternative method IF the practice passages don't help, but again, she's not at that stage yet.

 

[Ophthoseidon]

I'm not saying it isn't doable but 20 points is a lot to increase by. If you said the Kaplan diagnostic I would say not to worry about it. However, AAMC #3 is by far the easiest practice exam available by the AAMC (in my opinion, but maybe not unanimous) This also depends on how bad the score was. A bad score of 8 is more likely to be resurrected to a 28 I'd think than an 18 to a 38. Verbal is also much harder to raise by a large margin than the sciences, so if you score a 5 or 6 on verbal you are not likely going to pull a 12 on test day. If your verbal was a 10 per se and you have very low scores in the sciences, with hard study I could see it happening

 

[JuanPabloCastel]

Efficiency with journal articles is just way to f*cking low to be prescribed this early on.

Early on? I wouldn't waste all my MCAT passages early on. I was under the impression she has a long while to go before her exam (>6 months), but now I see that she didn't actually say when she plans to take it. I'm going to maintain that reading journal articles and other scholarly publications critically is a good way to improve generally on the skills which the MCAT tests. But OP, if you plan to take the test <6 months from now, I agree with moop: get out the MCAT-specific practice books.

 

[moop]

Early on? I wouldn't waste all my MCAT passages early on. I was under the impression she has a long while to go before her exam (>6 months), but now I see that she didn't actually say when she plans to take it. I'm going to maintain that reading journal articles and other scholarly publications critically is a good way to improve generally on the skills which the MCAT tests. But OP, if you plan to take the test <6 months from now, I agree with moop: get out the MCAT-specific practice books.

Fair. I assumed she was >6 months out and thus recommended the content review first, which it seems she'd spend a long time on because no one gets that low knowing all their content. My gripe with "reading journal articles" is that it's such a vague recommendation..which ones? Where from? How? Never understood that, so I never picked up any. But basic science bores me in general so I'm an outlier in the premed world in that respect, definitely.

 

[Psai]

journal articles LOL. I second the exam krackers advice. I read through exam krackers over the summer while working to pick up the content. Then I did kaplan practice tests and bought a few aamc practice tests to get into the habit of taking long multiple choice tests and develop my thinking. Got over a 35

 

[wondergirl3]

I have 2 options (I have 2.5 months of study time)
1) First .5 month content review. Remaining two months immersion myself witb practice questions, daily questions and daily tests, both aamc and secondary
2) 2 fulllengths every week, content review every day for 2.5 months

 

[LegendaryTucker]

Oh you need to study for the MCAT. When I took the MCAT #3 (just the VR), I scored a 4 ! a FOUR!!!!!!!!! but again, I have done it really fast when I was a sophomore and just wanted to see what it is like. The next day, I went to check couple answers of what I got wrong and understood what was my mistake and went again to redo it (seriously this time ) and had a much better score (but still not good enough).

Later, I started my program of 3 month and I ended up with a 40+/- 2.

STUDY!!!! do not get discouraged by a score you had without even studying for it.

 

[estanton]

I have 2 options (I have 2.5 months of study time)
1) First .5 month content review. Remaining two months immersion myself witb practice questions, daily questions and daily tests, both aamc and secondary
2) 2 fulllengths every week, content review every day for 2.5 months

Where are you getting the full lengths? How many have been put out on the new MCAT?

 

[LegendaryTucker]

Where are you getting the full lengths? How many have been put out on the new MCAT?

I believe just one for now. Another one in Fall 2015.

The old ones would be gone by the 31st of January.

 

[terp720]

I'm pretty sure I scored under a 10 when i took my first practice test... and then I studied and went up like.. over 25 points. I don't know why people expect you to be crushing the MCAT without studying.

You're going to improve with studying and taking practice tests. Later scores will be more indicative of whether you're really able to get the score you're hoping for.

Edit: to be fair, i know nothing about the new MCAT.. forgot about that thing

 

[estanton]

I believe just one for now. Another one in Fall 2015.

The old ones would be gone by the 31st of January.

So maybe the full length study part of the idea is not a solid one...

 

[edgerock24]

I'm pretty sure I scored under a 10 when i took my first practice test... and then I studied and went up like.. over 25 points. I don't know why people expect you to be crushing the MCAT without studying.

You're going to improve with studying and taking practice tests. Later scores will be more indicative of whether you're really able to get the score you're hoping for.

Edit: to be fair, i know nothing about the new MCAT.. forgot about that thing

Yeah. Diagnostic score does not mean anything if you haven't prepped at all yet.

 

[wondergirl3]

Yeah. Diagnostic score does not mean anything if you haven't prepped at all yet.

So you're saying I should get all my content review done before I start any diagnostic or practice tests?

I believe just one for now. Another one in Fall 2015.

The old ones would be gone by the 31st of January.

This is so illogical!!! Why would you even offer the new MCATs from April-onwards if you've only released 1 official practice test so far! They're basically telling us that the people who took it before they released more would need to retake it anyways. These people have to rely heavily on the third-party tests, which may or may not be the equivalent!

Logistically speaking, the only option left until they release more FLs (if they do) is to do content review until test day and sprinkle in ONE official exam, and hope the secondary material full lengths are similar!

 

[moop]

I believe just one for now. Another one in Fall 2015.

The old ones would be gone by the 31st of January.

? I was under the impression the old AAMCs would still be available.

 

[FutureOncologist]

My diagnostic score with an AAMC test was, like, 12. Made a 36 on the second attempt. Things change OP

 

[ratman7]

If I want to matriculate in Fall 2017, should I still go ahead with my plans of taking the MCATs this summer (2015) or wait until they release more material and take it in Spring 2016? (or take the new one twice- they may be more forgiving than taking the old twice?)

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

If I want to matriculate in Fall 2017, should I still go ahead with my plans of taking the MCATs this summer (2015) or wait until they release more material and take it in Spring 2016? (or take the new one twice- they may be more forgiving than taking the old twice?)

Latest I would take it for this next cycle is early June. The secret with the MCAT is understanding that it requires knowledge of not only content but also an understanding of the tests structure itself. Knowing content is not enough for success. It takes a lot of practice to get it down. If it makes you feel better I scored a 4 on VR my first attempt and an 11 on the real deal. It is definitely possible to bring all scores up, it just takes a good plan to do it.

 

[cerinthee]

? I was under the impression the old AAMCs would still be available.

They put this statement around their site...so everything will be gone by Jan 31st. : (
"This product is for MCAT® exams administered in 2014 and January 2015. As of January 31, 2015, access to the current MCAT tests will be discontinued."

 

[ireoyellet]

This also depends on how bad the score was. A bad score of 8 is more likely to be resurrected to a 28 I'd think than an 18 to a 38.

 

[texan2414]

This also depends on how bad the score was. A bad score of 8 is more likely to be resurrected to a 28 I'd think than an 18 to a 38.

There's absolutely ZERO correlation to how high/low your initial score is to your eventual score on the real MCAT.

 

[moop]

There's absolutely ZERO correlation to how high/low your initial score is to your eventual score on the real MCAT.

You guys know how to spot a spambot when you see one, right? Right????

Hint: ireoyellet.

 

[LegendaryTucker]

So maybe the full length study part of the idea is not a solid one...

So you're saying I should get all my content review done before I start any diagnostic or practice tests?



This is so illogical!!! Why would you even offer the new MCATs from April-onwards if you've only released 1 official practice test so far! They're basically telling us that the people who took it before they released more would need to retake it anyways. These people have to rely heavily on the third-party tests, which may or may not be the equivalent!

Logistically speaking, the only option left until they release more FLs (if they do) is to do content review until test day and sprinkle in ONE official exam, and hope the secondary material full lengths are similar!

I know what you mean. One test is really not enough and I don't understand why it is hard to put more than one. But again, I don't work there and I don't know how they put together all these questions to say if it takes years to do so.

Anyway, just one test and even just two is really not enough and not fair because we had like 5 tests or more. I don't remember.

 

[Espadaleader]

You want to be ~12 points from diagnostic to final score. You should take your diagnostic after you review biology, chemistry, and organic chemistry at the very least.