Just took my first AAMC

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musicalfeet

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I'm not sure how I should feel about it-- I did about a month of light-ish content review (I had just finished taking all the pre-req classes in one year, so I thought most of my content knowledge should still be there). I'm trying to create a plan for the next two months (taking it Sept 6) that would "optimize" my time to get the highest score, but am trying to debate whether or not I should put more emphasis on practice Q or content review. Here's my AAMC 3 breakdown:

PS: 10 (with most of the missed questions in Gen Chem; only missed 2 Physics questions)
Verbal: 10 (Most of questions missed were in humanities passages..have yet to do an in depth analysis to see where I keep messing up...I think I zone out on some of the passages)
BS: 8 (Largely missed Bio questions. I missed about 3 Ochem questions; but got almost half the Bio questions wrong..)

Composite: 28

I did write down which sections in general I consistently missed and plan on doing some sort of content review for those. Although I do wonder whether or not that means that Physics and Ochem I'm generally fine content-wise.

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28 is a solid start, and the fact that you know where your weaknesses are is great. But as an FYI, AAMC 3 is the easiest one of them so expect the other ones to be tougher.

Typically, less than a 10 in a category means you are lacking some content, in the PS and BS categories. For PS you are in good shape, just go back and focus on covering the topics you do not understand. When I was studying, I went through my practice and if I got more than 2 questions wrong on a topic I went back and reviewed it extensively. By extensively, I mean I went back and reread the topic in book and see why I missed it. The part that helped me the most, since I am a visual learner, was to watch videos on that specific topic. I used Chad's videos, and I would 100% recommend them since they are an excellent resource. I would do that for the Gen. Chem questions you are missing.

For BS I would go back and again just review what you tend to be missing. For biology, you want to see if it is content review or you are not completely understanding the passages. One tip I used was to analyze the passages just like you do with verbal. Really make sure every sentence makes sense and how it ties together with everything else. As you do more and more practice, you get familiar with the types you questions asked and get a "feel" for how to attack certain questions - it all comes with experience.

Verbal you are in solid shape, I don't think the types of passages you miss matters too much. Just focus on doing passages EVERY day so you remain in practice and try out different techniques here and there to see if you can make an improvement.

Overall, keep up the content review that you need help in. Go above and beyond to make sure you understand what is wrong and nail it down so next time it comes around you will knock it out the park. Once you get the concept down, try and find practice passages that pertain to that topic to make sure you have it.
 
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Ahh!! Thanks for the feedback! I thought some of the biology passages were really hard to understand-- any tips on how to understand the passage better? The passages in Verbal weren't too difficult for me to understand (probably because I'm non-trad and non-sci major..) but wow some of the biology passages just make me go "huh".

I also notice that I was finishing the Verbal and BS sections wayy too fast (like with 30 minutes to spare). Not sure if I was just tired/bored by that time or what because I definitely didn't feel like I was purposely rushing through.
 
30 minutes in each section or 30 minutes total to spare?

And 28 is a wonderful score for AAMC if you haven't done serious content review yet.
 
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I'm ending with about 30 minutes per section; I would feel like I thought my way through each question (unless I just had no idea what the answer was and I guessed), but then realize I had a lot of time left. But then, if I tried to go back and "check my answers" with the remaining time, it was almost as if my brain can't quite recall or remember what I did (or remember the passage topic that well).

I think I'd benefit from slowing down--but I'm not sure what I'm not doing while working through these passages (which is probably the reason why I'm somehow speeding through everything)
 
If you are able to finish each section with 30 minutes remaining (especially verbal), and still score a 28, then I am beyond impressed.

Had you used that time to actually think a little more about the questions, then your score most likely would have been higher. Especially verbal because all the answers are in the passage.
 
Do you think there's a good systematic way to routinely go through the questions as you do them? I usually just cross off the answers I know are wrong, and then if I can't come up with a good answer that pretty much matches one of the answer choices, I just guess at it. (Probably explains some massively missed questions in Gen Chem and Bio)
 
Yeah I use mainly POE. If you read the passage carefully and applied you basic background knowledge you should be able to figure out the answer.
 
Do you think there's a good systematic way to routinely go through the questions as you do them? I usually just cross off the answers I know are wrong, and then if I can't come up with a good answer that pretty much matches one of the answer choices, I just guess at it. (Probably explains some massively missed questions in Gen Chem and Bio)

Never guess, you should always have a basis for why you are going for one question. If anything, the last thing should be to go with your gut instinct.

Every answer can either be related to the passage or your background content knowledge. Always match that to the answer you think is right. Even if there is one small point where you are unsure about, make sure you really think it through before you select a specific answer.

With 30 minutes to spare, you have plenty of time to go back and use the passage as a resource. A very useful took is the "Mark" button. So once you finish you can go back and review those questions.
 
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It's impressive you can get a 10 on VR with 30 minutes to spare.. I couldn't get a 10 (I got a 9) with all 60 minutes, haha. Good luck OP!
 
Sometimes, they ask unexpected questions and it is better in my opinion to do more questions and see

your limits and what you should improve. You learn a lot from practice but that should be in parallel

with content review.

I don't know what to expect in the MCAT but I know that in a standardized test, you want to be able to

answer all the easy questions, that would mean that you are at least EQUAL to the rest of the students

taking the MCAT and then, you want to be able to do the hard parts so you can be BETTER then the

majority and if you can answer everything correctly, in time, then you are one of the BEST or the best.

So, focus on the easy parts, master them all, then go to the harder and harder. But don't skip the easy

part and take it for granted, a score is a score, you don't want to lose any pt.

Good Luck.
 
Thank you guys so much for all the advice! I've always had a problem of rushing through/losing concentration (even in exams during class). I'm going to try going over every question and seeing if I can explain why the answer is the answer for every practice Q I do from now on and hopefully I'll improve! We'll see how that goes..good luck to me...ha.ha.
 
Never guess, you should always have a basis for why you are going for one question. If anything, the last thing should be to go with your gut instinct.

Every answer can either be related to the passage or your background content knowledge. Always match that to the answer you think is right. Even if there is one small point where you are unsure about, make sure you really think it through before you select a specific answer.

With 30 minutes to spare, you have plenty of time to go back and use the passage as a resource. A very useful took is the "Mark" button. So once you finish you can go back and review those questions.

The problem with marking and going back (at least for me), is that I completely forget my thought process and even how I arrived at my "marked" answer in the first place. Hopefully next time I'll slow down and retain what I was doing much better than this time..
 
The problem with marking and going back (at least for me), is that I completely forget my thought process and even how I arrived at my "marked" answer in the first place. Hopefully next time I'll slow down and retain what I was doing much better than this time..

I also had a problem with that, but I feel like it kind of helps you. If you review the question right after you do it, you tend to be in the same mindset and could make the same mistake. However, going away from the problem for a bit will give you a fresh look again. That fresh look could help you see if you overlooked anything.
 
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