January 2012 MCAT...Is it too early for this Thread

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Sailor Senshi Dermystify

Sailor Senshi Dermystify

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Is anyone taking the MCAT in January 2012? I know it's pretty early but I just wanted to know whose down with me :).

Hopefully, I will have time to come back to the States during my vacation break to take this exam. I will probably start some light studying in August :D
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I'm in scored awful on the 7/28 test. Taking the EK classroom course, god I hope it's better this time around.
 
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Starting the SN2 schedule once my books come in sometime this week. Got a decent score the first time around, but still want to get it up in January.
 
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Made my own schedule. Using Princeton for organic, bio and chem. TBR for physics.

Hyper learning for passages. (verbal too). Using TBR for passages. :) good luck people! :thumbup:

Sutton said:
Based on last year's date, I would guess around 10/6.
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On a side note, I'm watching this right now :D as in the show lol
 
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I am scared too.it's just too hard to do while Taking bunch of classes but no worries ... Lets see what happens
 
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Sitting on 01/2012 also :rolleyes:

Using EK + all AAMC tests

Just took AAMC 8 one month into studying and got:
10PS 10VR 9BS

I never really appreciated just how tired you get once you hit the BS, usually I do much better on that section than on PS....or maybe i got lucky on the passages :laugh:
 
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im with you all too!

I just started studying at the beginning of October. I want to take the exam in January as well. Is this enough time to study?
I am going through all EK right now and want to be done with EK by December 15. Then I will switch to using Kaplan from December 15 onwards. Then the last month I want to do practice exams. Is this a good method?
 
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I'm in as well. did crummy on my 8/23. i got a 24Q, breakdown was a 9PS/8VR/7BS. soooo looks like i'm going to be taking it jan 28 since i hate waking up early to study let alone take a 8am exam haha.

First time around i used EK and Kaplan review books, along with some AAMC's.
I didn't take AAMC 10/11 because i had a feeling i might have to retake again.

This time, I will be following something similar to the SN2ed plan by using the following:

TBR - O-chem, G-chem, Bio, Physics
TPRH - Science Workbook, PS Review, BS Review
TPRH - Verbal (looking for it, currently dont have it! :()
EK - Bio
EK 1001 - Physics, G-chem

In terms of passages, i feel the science workbook will give me lots of practice passages for the sciences. couple that with TBR passages and i think i will have had plenty of practice under my belt.

For verbal, i figure the BR verbal and TPRH verbal books will be good. As long as i can find the TPRH i should be okay.

I would love to get a 30, but of-course anything higher i won't be complaining! Any thoughts/concerns/or complains about what i am using...advice would be greatly appreciated.:thumbup:
 
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I am so scared to register now that I see the schedule up. From now on untill Jan 28..I am going to be in an awful mood :(

I think I will take the am date because I discovered that thru my undergrad career, I do better on exams when I take them early in the am. Maybe that will bring me luck :rolleyes:...maybe :xf:
 
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I am also planning on taking it in January. So far I am almost done reading and taking notes on all the TBR chapters (Metabolic pathways was brutal!)

I plan on doing all the passages in TBR, then moving on to TPRH Science Workbook. Also, I have the TPRH Verbal Workbook and In-Class Compendium + EK 101 to do for verbal prep.

The hardest part is that I am taking 18 credits right now, which is somewhat manageable: mostly philosophy courses. I just hope after all this prep that the actual test day goes well meaning, I don't get nervous, I test optimally etc.
 
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BurghStudent said:
I am also planning on taking it in January. So far I am almost done reading and taking notes on all the TBR chapters (Metabolic pathways was brutal!)

I plan on doing all the passages in TBR, then moving on to TPRH Science Workbook. Also, I have the TPRH Verbal Workbook and In-Class Compendium + EK 101 to do for verbal prep.

The hardest part is that I am taking 18 credits right now, which is somewhat manageable: mostly philosophy courses. I just hope after all this prep that the actual test day goes well meaning, I don't get nervous, I test optimally etc.
Click to expand...

BR Bio is way too detailed
 
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Don't worry guys, it's because I started a little before my semester began, on account of a full semester ahead.

You'll get there too. What I have learned about TBR is that yes there is way too much information, but I want to have read everything once. I don't reread, but I take very to-the-point notes on which I can rely. The reason to read everything is because once in a while you'll pick up some gems that you know are MCAT-question prone. This could be the specifics of regulation in metabolism, rather than the actual pathways themselves. Or, clinical conditions effecting the carbonic anydrase reaction, i.e vomiting, diarrhea, hyperventilation etc.

My biggest concern hear is, how will I remember everything. Even after taking short-hand notes, there is still a lot of info. I guess I'll just reread my notes every chance I get.
 
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BurghStudent said:
Don't worry guys, it's because I started a little before my semester began, on account of a full semester ahead.

You'll get there too. What I have learned about TBR is that yes there is way too much information, but I want to have read everything once. I don't reread, but I take very to-the-point notes on which I can rely. The reason to read everything is because once in a while you'll pick up some gems that you know are MCAT-question prone. This could be the specifics of regulation in metabolism, rather than the actual pathways themselves. Or, clinical conditions effecting the carbonic anydrase reaction, i.e vomiting, diarrhea, hyperventilation etc.

My biggest concern hear is, how will I remember everything. Even after taking short-hand notes, there is still a lot of info. I guess I'll just reread my notes every chance I get.
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how long would you say are your notes (page-wise) for each chapter of TBR? For me my problem is I can never guess what is important and whats not. It all seems important to me.
 
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aidakm said:
how long would you say are your notes (page-wise) for each chapter of TBR? For me my problem is I can never guess what is important and whats not. It all seems important to me.
Click to expand...

that's why I prefer EK, I used BR first time around and it left me flustered--depends on the person for sure because BR is great it just was way too much info for me.
 
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I hand-wrote notes for everything except Bio. For Bio, I typed it up, because it was faster and neater that way.

I would say 3-4 pages. That seems like a lot, but I learn and remember by writing, that's my preferred method. I have no doubt if I made notes on my notes, I could shrink that down to 1 page. It's just my process. You perhaps could make the leap quicker than I, and go straight to 1 page.

I just want something quick, neat and handy that I can study from. Not everything has to be memorized, just the bigger concepts. The small details they throw in here and there that seem random, and don't match up with my courses (blood clotting?) I tend not to spend too much time on.
 
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BurghStudent said:
I hand-wrote notes for everything except Bio. For Bio, I typed it up, because it was faster and neater that way.

I would say 3-4 pages. That seems like a lot, but I learn and remember by writing, that's my preferred method. I have no doubt if I made notes on my notes, I could shrink that down to 1 page. It's just my process. You perhaps could make the leap quicker than I, and go straight to 1 page.

I just want something quick, neat and handy that I can study from. Not everything has to be memorized, just the bigger concepts. The small details they throw in here and there that seem random, and don't match up with my courses (blood clotting?) I tend not to spend too much time on.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: same here, writing stuff down over and over helps so much...the hand to brain connection is much stronger than the eye to brain connection ( can't remember where I read this)
 
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I think I'll be sitting jan 28th.

Has anyone had experience with the Princeton Review hyperlearning course? It's really expensive at 2K and I just barely have the money, but I think it'll keep me very focused. I want to take the course from dec 5th to jan 10th, then continue by myself until the exam.

I'm very nervous about organic chem.
 
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YouNeverKnow22 said:
:thumbup: same here, writing stuff down over and over helps so much...the hand to brain connection is much stronger than the eye to brain connection ( can't remember where I read this)
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Totally agree it's one of the most efficient way atleast for me for me. I typed up entire bio and it came up to 140 pages but I understood everything
 
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I am going for the 1 pm in Jan....
I got soooooo many MCAT books, and no job or school. so I guess I am spending 4 months fully for MCAT.
anyone from Toronto?
 
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I can never shrink it down to 4 pages. I always end up with like 6-8 pages for each chapter i summarize like that =(

BurghStudent said:
I hand-wrote notes for everything except Bio. For Bio, I typed it up, because it was faster and neater that way.

I would say 3-4 pages. That seems like a lot, but I learn and remember by writing, that's my preferred method. I have no doubt if I made notes on my notes, I could shrink that down to 1 page. It's just my process. You perhaps could make the leap quicker than I, and go straight to 1 page.

I just want something quick, neat and handy that I can study from. Not everything has to be memorized, just the bigger concepts. The small details they throw in here and there that seem random, and don't match up with my courses (blood clotting?) I tend not to spend too much time on.
Click to expand...
 
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Anyone else notice the AAMC page is down for maintenance for a few days now? Hope it clears up before 10/12...

D712
 
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aidakm said:
I can never shrink it down to 4 pages. I always end up with like 6-8 pages for each chapter i summarize like that =(
Click to expand...

That's fine. What matters is that you are taking notes in a manner that works for you. It's the writing process that helps me learn.
 
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I am pretty unsure right now. Its frustrating how much information you need to memorize and know to do well on the MCAT ... its not just critical thinking ... but I am glad its not JUST critical thinking because I suck at that ...
 
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Hey guys, I am taking the Jan 28th too! Just started my journey today, using TBR for gen chem, orgo, and physics and EK for Bio. Im also using all the EK 1001 and verbal 101. Has anyone heard abt TBR Bio? Is it worth all the reading? Also, anyone know about TPR verbal? Im debating on if I should buy it or not... But we got this guys! 40+ here we come!!!!
 
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Pisiform said:
I am pretty unsure right now. Its frustrating how much information you need to memorize and know to do well on the MCAT ... its not just critical thinking ... but I am glad its not JUST critical thinking because I suck at that ...
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you on this!
 
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Am I the only person who's still getting the "We are currently in maintenance" message when I try to get into the registration website? :(
 
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