June 1st Void?

[joe7456]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am heartbroken. I have been studying and practicing passages for 3+ months. I have read TBR gen chem and physics and done half their passages. I read EK biology. I have read EK cars strategy. I have taken 5 NS exams within two months ranging from 497-501, EK FL 1-3, and AAMC 1 & 2.

I don't understand. I scored a 499 on AAMC 1 a month ago, 125/123/126/125, and then 496 125/120/125/126 just a few days ago on AAMC 2. I have practiced CARS fairly consistently, with about 3 passages per or every other day i guess. I am not trying to throw a pity party, but I just found myself crying and not understanding. I have put so much energy and time into studying for this and I can't seem to break my threshold, with a decrease in cars score. I am generally an optimist and believe I can improve and I don't mean to have a negative attitude.

I want to just postpone my exam until july 21, but the reality is that I have already spent over 3 months and i don't know what good another month would do? especially putting me at a disadvantage in the application pool. Additionally, I am going through a program this summer june 2-july 1st, which includes 180 hours of shadowing & research & extras to prepare students for medical school and I don't want to quit the program to risk not improving on the mcat. If I take another gap year, I might drive myself insane and just revert to applying to pa schools ( 4k+ hours of healthcare, 303 GRE score, and 3.6 GPA). I guess I am a very confused and frustrated young man.


Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas on what I can/should do?

 

[pms_testosterone]

From your previous thread, it looks like your goal is 510 and you had already decided to postpone your MCAT. In any case, you absolutely should void your June 1 MCAT, as getting around 500 is most likely, and getting higher than 505 would be a miracle.
Attend your summer program, take a break from studying, and take a gap year. Remember, nothing is stopping you from applying MD, DO, and PA all at once next year if you want to hedge your bets.

In terms of improving your score: have you taken all the MCAT pre-reqs? What is your background in English? How do you review CARS?

 

[joe7456]

Thank you for replying. So yes you are correct in assessing me from previous threads.

I actually just graduated from UGA with a bachelor's in Biochemistry this past December, 2016.

I am just a standard white male, however, I have always struggled in my english classes in college.

For CARS, I had tried a mixed bag of things. At first, I tried getting my timing to 30 min for 3 passages, and retried wrong answers before looking at the correct answers. some days I would skip. Some days I jot down why my answer is wrong, and why the right answer is right. I will be honest and say I have not 100% been consistent with any particular strategy though. I was improving and eventually built up to 60-70% correct using NS 108 passages. Then, I finished NS 108 and burned through TPRH, and ended up scoring 60-70% correct on these too. Then I switched to the new EK 101 and it destroyed me. I mean I was luckily scoring 50% correct. I switched to AAMC material recently and noticed that I was also scoring 50% correct. For example, on AAMC Scored #2, i got 23/53 correct and ran out of time on the entire last 2 passages basically.

I don't know if that helps you as much to understand, but I hope that paints a picture of what I have been doing for the past few months. I feel like I was progressing on the sciences, particularly Psychology, as I scored 46/59 correct on AAMC scored 2, and I feel I can hold my ground on the other two sections pretty well, too.

 

[pms_testosterone]

When you read what the correct answers are, do they make sense to you?
You may just have to offset the bad CARS score by doing very well in the other sections (128+). That's unlikely to happen in the next month or two, though.

 

[joe7456]

When you read what the correct answers are, do they make sense to you?
You may just have to offset the bad CARS score by doing very well in the other sections (128+). That's unlikely to happen in the next month or two, though.

Yes, they do make sense. I struggle with understanding a translation of text sometimes; for example; passage --> question stem --> answer choice ( somewhere in the arrows I lose track of what is being asked or what they are looking for. I am not illiterate, I just don't understand sometimes). I have been getting better at catching the main idea, it's just difficult implementing that into answer choices for me. I am not as flexible a thinker as I should be. I just want to learn and understand at this point. I know that I don't deserve MD with the scores I have displayed currently. But I am determined and I am not a quitter.


From my understanding; I should take a gap year. re-try studying for the MCAT, and possibly apply broadly to MD, DO, and PA?

The question is, what material do I use to practice now? I have burnt through almost all AAMC material, including SB, and FLs. I have used NS 1-6 ,EK 1-3, and some TBR passages.

And if you have gathered enough info to make a diagnosis for my issue with improving, what should I do to improve?

 

[pms_testosterone]

If you don't look at the AAMC material for the next few months, you should forget most of it and be able to use it again. (Of course, you will remember some of it and get inflated scores.)
You could also do Khan Academy passages. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat

From my understanding; I should take a gap year. re-try studying for the MCAT, and possibly apply broadly to MD, DO, and PA?

Yes, assuming you'd be happy as a PA (otherwise only apply MD/DO). You're unlikely to get a good MCAT score this summer, so I think it is probably better not to attempt it.

I'm still a bit stumped by your CARS difficulties, since I found the logic in P/S was pretty similar to the logic in CARS...and you seem to be doing fine in P/S.

 

[joe7456]

If you don't look at the AAMC material for the next few months, you should forget most of it and be able to use it again. (Of course, you will remember some of it and get inflated scores.)
You could also do Khan Academy passages. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat


Yes, assuming you'd be happy as a PA (otherwise only apply MD/DO). You're unlikely to get a good MCAT score this summer, so I think it is probably better not to attempt it.

I'm still a bit stumped by your CARS difficulties, since I found the logic in P/S was pretty similar to the logic in CARS...and you seem to be doing fine in P/S.

Oh I forgot to mention, I have been using Khan academy for psychology this past month. I did half of their psych/soc passages already. I have done some of their bio passages too. They're really good for content I guess.

Yes, I agree with you. I am stumped myself, I literally started crying today after doing a practice full length in CARS and got 23/52 correct. I don't understand it.

 

[doglover919]

Since you have a year at your disposal before you retake, I suggest you start reading some books that interest you. They don't have to be super hard or science heavy or thought provoking. Just read books that you find fun (think Harry Potter or whatever). Try to read a lot of books. I never practiced the CARS section except for taking the AAMC full lengths and scored quite well. I know I scored well because I have always loved reading and built up huge skills over the years while reading books I actually wanted to read. Basically, I say read lots and lots of fun books over the next year. It will seriously help you start making these connections in the CARS section. Eventually, you will look at these CARS passages and know what the answer to the question is without really having to ~think~ about it, the answer will become apparent because your brain will already be making conclusions without you knowing it. Good luck to you don't be discouraged!

 

[pms_testosterone]

You could try hiring a CARS tutor for one session and see if they can pinpoint your problem. (I wouldn't sign up for a whole course or multiple tutoring sessions until you get a feel for whether the tutor is going to be able to help you.)