Kaplan MCAT Diagnostic

[Zakzak]

I am really concerned. I just took a Kaplan MCAT diagnostic (only studied for mcat using kahn for 10-15 hours at most (and only covered the cell membrane/cell-cell interactions videos)). I ended up with a 485 composite with the following scores:

Chem/phys: 118
CARS: 124
Bio/Biochem: 120
Psych/Soc: 123

I am really, really concerned, especially given my chem/phys and bio/biochem scores. I read other posts about 485 diagnostic, but i think my variation is worse (side note: do med schools care about particular subscores, or just composite). I essentially guessed on all of the questions for those two sections. I plan on taking the MCAT mid-May and I signed up (before taking the diagnostic) for a kaplan in-person plus course March 20-May 1. I decided to get a head start with the diagnostic test, but now am even more concerned. What could I do to improve?

Currently, I was thinking of watch the kaplan Mcat channel for biochem & behavioral sciences as well as taking the individual science assessments before the course started.

Also, I am currently taking gen chem 2 & gen physics two at a local college.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TheBiologist]

Kaplan and PR are both going to be exceptionally hard; the only good indicator of your real MCAT will be the AAMC's official practice tests (there are 2 of them use them wisely)

a 118 is pretty damn low though..... did you even try?

alos, what do you mean you only studied for 10-15 hours? have you recently taken these classes? that doesn't seem like enough studying if you haven't taken chemistry or biology for a few semesters now

 

[Zakzak]

Kaplan and PR are both going to be exceptionally hard; the only good indicator of your real MCAT will be the AAMC's official practice tests (there are 2 of them use them wisely)

a 118 is pretty damn low though..... did you even try?

alos, what do you mean you only studied for 10-15 hours? have you recently taken these classes? that doesn't seem like enough studying if you haven't taken chemistry or biology for a few semesters now

Yes, I did try, but I understood nothing. For 10-15 hours, I am referring to non-class related studying (as in studying for solely the MCAT). My college had only one semester of gen. chem, which i took my freshman year (fall 2013). We then went to orgo (spring 2014, fall 2014). I only took one semester of physics, which was last fall (fall 2016). I did a year of gen. bio (fall 2015, spring 2016) I took biochem this fall (fall 2017), but it was biologically oriented biochem. I also took A&P I last semester to get a better foundation (fall 2017).

 

[TheBiologist]

Yes, I did try, but I understood nothing. For 10-15 hours, I am referring to non-class related studying (as in studying for solely the MCAT). My college had only one semester of gen. chem, which i took my freshman year (fall 2013). We then went to orgo (spring 2014, fall 2014). I only took one semester of physics, which was last fall (fall 2016). I did a year of gen. bio (fall 2015, spring 2016) I took biochem this fall (fall 2017), but it was biologically oriented biochem. I also took A&P I last semester to get a better foundation (fall 2017).

So the 1 semester of gen chem is concerning and I would check to see if that class actually satisfies the chemistry requirement for med schools.

I think the physical science section of the new mcat is about 25 % each physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry, so considering you have taken a semester of physics, 2 of organic, and you are in second semester gen chem and physics , i would hope you would be able to understand SOMETHING. a 118 is the lowest possible score!

what I would suggest is definitely get at least a gen chem and physics review book (or use Khan Academy) and make sure you understand

 

[Zakzak]

So the 1 semester of gen chem is concerning and I would check to see if that class actually satisfies the chemistry requirement for med schools.

I think the physical science section of the new mcat is about 25 % each physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry, so considering you have taken a semester of physics, 2 of organic, and you are in second semester gen chem and physics , i would hope you would be able to understand SOMETHING. a 118 is the lowest possible score!

what I would suggest is definitely get at least a gen chem and physics review book (or use Khan Academy) and make sure you understand

Thanks. I know it is the lowest score.

As I noted, I am currently taking gen chem 2 and physics 2. I mentioned this in my original post: "Also, I am currently taking gen chem 2 & gen physics two at a local college."

 

[Saifa]

You're going to get butchered by these things basically going in dry. That C/P is concerning though. And yeah, subsections count. a 520 with a 124 is still going to raise a lot of concern. Good thing this is the part of your application you have the most control over.

 

[libertyyne]

these are supposed to scare you into buying kaplan courses. Of course they are going to say you are going to get a low score. But you shouldnt be wasting practice tests without prep.

 

[Lawpy]

This is why diagnostic tests are meaningless for most people. The people who get the most value out of diagnostic tests are those who already have a strong content background from their prereq courses. These are the people who start off at 510 and end up getting 520+ on test day since they spend few months doing a lot of practice passages and sharpening their test taking strategies and intuition.

OP, in your case, your poor diagnostic score shows you have major foundational deficiencies in content. Doing well on the MCAT requires content mastery and active, thorough practice.

Make sure you take all prereqs and ace them first before studying for the MCAT. You don’t want to waste study time focusing on content review.

 

[Siromas]

Im a firm believe

I am really concerned. I just took a Kaplan MCAT diagnostic (only studied for mcat using kahn for 10-15 hours at most (and only covered the cell membrane/cell-cell interactions videos)). I ended up with a 485 composite with the following scores:

Chem/phys: 118
CARS: 124
Bio/Biochem: 120
Psych/Soc: 123

I am really, really concerned, especially given my chem/phys and bio/biochem scores. I read other posts about 485 diagnostic, but i think my variation is worse (side note: do med schools care about particular subscores, or just composite). I essentially guessed on all of the questions for those two sections. I plan on taking the MCAT mid-May and I signed up (before taking the diagnostic) for a kaplan in-person plus course March 20-May 1. I decided to get a head start with the diagnostic test, but now am even more concerned. What could I do to improve?

Currently, I was thinking of watch the kaplan Mcat channel for biochem & behavioral sciences as well as taking the individual science assessments before the course started.

Also, I am currently taking gen chem 2 & gen physics two at a local college.

I'm a firm believer that Kaplan puts out a difficult diagnostic to scare people into buying their prep materials.

Despite this, your scores hint at some serious content knowledge deficiencies. It seems like you've already taken a lot of the pre-req courses awhile back, but your scores say that you need to hit the books again. I would suggest going through and taking notes from literally every video Khan Academy has out for the MCAT. The videos are sponsored by the AAMC, and they're also free. Good luck, OP.

 

[Zakzak]

Hi everyone, I ended up not being able to finish my Kaplan course (personal reasons, I think I was very depressed, and I had a burnout) and am retaking it. I retook the Kaplan diagnostic two weeks ago. My current diagnostic score is a 491 (in all honestly, I don't remember for sure if my two diagnostic exams were the same, but I think they were different). My subsets are the following:

Chem/Phys: 123 (a big improvement. It may have been just luck with guessing. I also remember some kaplan strategies, finished gen chem 2 and physics 2 in may, had the first chem/phys kaplan lesson, and I teach high school chem in thailand right now)
Cars: 123 (I stopped reading books as much, but was surprised to see this one as lower)
Bio/biochem: 121
Psych/soc 124 (I think luck was part of this with guessing correctly)


So I am still concerned. I plan to take the MCAT January 20 (in bangkok, which is an hour away from me). I currently work a full job, and am taking a once a week kaplan course. The good news: chem phys improved a lot. However, I recognize the way the curve goes, it a lot harder and requires much more question to get up to and past 125 for each section. How concerned should I be? I study about 7-8 hours before each kaplan course (usually start at 12 pm Saturday and course start around 11 pm Saturday). Im behind in the course given work schedule and was very sick. I don't know how to find the time to do all the work for the lessons. But I do notice retaking the course I am familiar with certain things. I get a 1 week vacation in two weeks and am hoping to spend 30 hours on MCAT, catching up. The course just finished the 3rd lesson, Biochem/bio 1. I actually finihsed most of precourse work for this, but didnt fully understand the chapters. I think my strategy would be to get bio/biochem and chem/phys to 125 and psych/soc and cars to maybe 130 if possible cause I feel (and could entirely be wrong, so please tell me if I am) that chem/phys and biochem/bio will be harder.

Also, I like reading fiction/memoir books, but would that help me with CARS (i know it may sound stupid, and yes, I will be doing practice questions, but I wanted to know if less tv/more reading books would make a different. I usually do that after school. when I get really exhausted). Also, if any premed person is in thailand and wants to study together/meetup, let me know.

Also, if people are wondering why I am teaching in Thailand, there are a couple reasons. Last spring, I started to doubt if medicine was for me. I believed if I did a health-related job, I would be so so burned out and would hate it. I wanted to spend this year doing something very different. I never studied abroad (partially because I was very sick in college) and thought going to Thailand would be a great experience (and a great growing one). I also considered teaching as a career, and wanted to explore that (for the record, I am a science teacher (the English program i work for is based on the idea that if thai students are taking a class where the material is English-based, then they can be immersed and pick up vocabulary)). After a month of teaching, I realized I do want to go back to medicine. I re-signed up for Kaplan, using the retake course.

Also, it is currently 2:25 AM here in thailand. Please excuse typos. I just finished a kaplan class (the bio/biochem one)

 

[northwestmedic]

good to hear you are improving........ i wouldn't worry too much about practice scores way before you are going to take the test....

i found K end of chapters very hard, much harder than exam........ in fact, exam was the easiest material i had seen by far. or maybe on a par with EK practice/chapter questions.....

are you ESL? that might explain some of your frustration.......... reading/interpreting passages is a massive headache. i don't think it gets that much easier with practice (at least you are no longer shell-shocked). it requires alot of concentration...

 

[Zakzak]

good to hear you are improving........ i wouldn't worry too much about practice scores way before you are going to take the test....

i found K end of chapters very hard, much harder than exam........ in fact, exam was the easiest material i had seen by far. or maybe on a par with EK practice/chapter questions.....

are you ESL? that might explain some of your frustration.......... reading/interpreting passages is a massive headache. i don't think it gets that much easier with practice (at least you are no longer shell-shocked). it requires alot of concentration...

I am American, English is my first language (and only one).

 

[northwestmedic]

fair enough. i saw thailand and thought maybe ESL.

not sure it's talked about much but i'd say those 2015 MCAT changes were basically armeggedon for ESL and international students in the USA (obviously ones from canada, UK etc.) would be fine.......... everyone hates reading the MCAT passages, i can't imagine how bad it would be if you were ESL

i recently took the MCAT, probably did ok by my standards and i don't think i could answer many Q's in the kaplan guide books (OC especially). i am going to take a 2nd time and almost exclusively do basic questions.

not sure i've mentioned it in this thread but schaum's has books with 3,000 questions each on most of the subjects.

 

[Doc_Ock]

Kaplan sucks anyway (same for Princeton Review)

 

[Zakzak]

My update: took the mcat in January 2019 and voided it. My two mcat practice before was a 494 (AAMC two weeks before)and the one before was a 499 (kaplan 3-4 Weeks before, however I Gave myself 1.25 time when taking that test) and I felt under confident after the chem phys section and voided it to avoid a bad score, as I never scored about a 500.

This voided MCAT was after the Kaplan do over course. As I was still teaching in Thailand After the January mcat, I called my boss and asked when is The earliest I can leave Thailand and head to the usa without violating my Contract and hurting my students (I refused to let them have a cover teacher bc I felt that would be bad for them and hurt their education). I then got a next step private tutor and used the tutor. We Skyped once in February but agreed all our meetings will Start once I get back into America . However( rather than the books, I started using Kahn academy as the prep Material and used nextstep
Questions a little, but content was mostly Kahn. I didn’t like the next step books and I do like the Kahn videos.

I moved back to America March 24 and took the mcat June 1. I realized I needed to treat the mcat as a full time job. I also changed how I studied. By May, Even though I was not close to finishing the content, I switched to doing mostly practice questions and did the 3 AAMC full lengths, the sections bamks, and chem and cars q packs (at the suggestion/orders of my tutor). I later redid the section banks the week before the exam (I also got burnt out and decided to read crazy rich Asians boom series-got super addicted to it).

On June 1, I took the exam.

My score: 504. 126 c/p; I28 cars, 125 bio/biochem, and 125 psych.

I am applying to med school this cycle (2019-2020) to d.o. Schools and I am happy with these results. So don’t give up. It took me over a year to go up from a 485 diagnostic to a 504 actual score.

 

[AB92]

My update: took the mcat in January 2019 and voided it. My two mcat practice before was a 494 (AAMC two weeks before)and the one before was a 499 (kaplan 3-4 Weeks before, however I Gave myself 1.25 time when taking that test) and I felt under confident after the chem phys section and voided it to avoid a bad score, as I never scored about a 500.

This voided MCAT was after the Kaplan do over course. As I was still teaching in Thailand After the January mcat, I called my boss and asked when is The earliest I can leave Thailand and head to the usa without violating my Contract and hurting my students (I refused to let them have a cover teacher bc I felt that would be bad for them and hurt their education). I then got a next step private tutor and used the tutor. We Skyped once in February but agreed all our meetings will Start once I get back into America . However( rather than the books, I started using Kahn academy as the prep Material and used nextstep
Questions a little, but content was mostly Kahn. I didn’t like the next step books and I do like the Kahn videos.

I moved back to America March 24 and took the mcat June 1. I realized I needed to treat the mcat as a full time job. I also changed how I studied. By May, Even though I was not close to finishing the content, I switched to doing mostly practice questions and did the 3 AAMC full lengths, the sections bamks, and chem and cars q packs (at the suggestion/orders of my tutor). I later redid the section banks the week before the exam (I also got burnt out and decided to read crazy rich Asians boom series-got super addicted to it).

On June 1, I took the exam.

My score: 504. 126 c/p; I28 cars, 125 bio/biochem, and 125 psych.

I am applying to med school this cycle (2019-2020) to d.o. Schools and I am happy with these results. So don’t give up. It took me over a year to go up from a 485 diagnostic to a 504 actual score.

This is awesome! As someone who is worried about content review (I took biology and physics over 8 years ago), what would you recommend in terms of when to start content review. And how did you review it? I thought about watching all the Khan academy videos, and then reading the corresponding chapter in the Kaplan books.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Im a firm believe

I would suggest going through and taking notes from literally every video Khan Academy has out for the MCAT.

This is gold.
I agree with this 100%. I have been doing this and my scores are steadily rising. I have gone from a 484(TPR) to a 499(Still low, but I have not even got to the chem and bio sections which are where Im scoring low c/p:122-124 b/bc:123-126) Keep studying. But study actively not passively!

 

[Zakzak]

My

This is awesome! As someone who is worried about content review (I took biology and physics over 8 years ago), what would you recommend in terms of when to start content review. And how did you review it? I thought about watching all the Khan academy videos, and then reading the corresponding chapter in the Kaplan books.

My tutor gave me a schedule based off NextStep prep. However, I would use the Kahn Academy Videos and then answer the next step questions. I accepted the fact that I just didn't understand Kaplan or NS books (NS sucked more). However, for subjects like physics, I actually used kahn's high school physics classes (not even the AP ones, just regular) as I found the chem/physic section missing important videos. The Kahn academy high school forces videos were amazing, even if they took so long to get through. Honestly, I wish I started content earlier bc I was only a little more than 1/2 content done when I started going to questions only practice. For me, I watched Kahn, whatever they wrote down, I wrote down. And for kahn high school videos like physics and chemistry, and even some bio, there articles had great practice questions. But, I would follow the schedule of an MCAT course, and simply use kahn videos to replace the textbook, but then still answer the end of the textbook chapter questions and the Kahn questions.

For psych, I made quizlet terms for the 100 page doc (only got 30-40 percent done as I started this too late). I would watch a kahn section, then make the QUIZLET terms for that section, and then review the terms 2 days later. In hindsight, I wish I focused on psych so so so so much earlier, because it is easy points (but probably a steep curve).

One thing I liked about my tutor was that he was understanding in me only using kahn for mostly content. As for when you should start (a year, 6 months) it really depends on how you will commit (part time or full time). When I really focused on the MCAT 24/7, I had two months and 1 week, and I felt that was not enough time so I would recommend 4 months. However, I will also say it is important not to get burned out (I spent the month before traveling Thailand and 1 week in Japan, so when I came back to the US, I felt more motivated).

 

[Zakzak]

This is gold.
I agree with this 100%. I have been doing this and my scores are steadily rising. I have gone from a 484(TPR) to a 499(Still low, but I have not even got to the chem and bio sections which are where Im scoring low c/p:122-124 b/bc:123-126) Keep studying. But study actively not passively!

I can disagree a bit. I loved Kahn, but for physics sections, I would actually use the kahn high school stuff. Kahn's mcat physics section skips important understanding videos to shorten the total time, but the high school assumes you know nothing (which for me was true) and I found the high school so much better.

 

[Calizboosted76]

I can disagree a bit. I loved Kahn, but for physics sections, I would actually use the kahn high school stuff. Kahn's mcat physics section skips important understanding videos to shorten the total time, but the high school assumes you know nothing (which for me was true) and I found the high school so much better.

For physics I just wrote down all the equations, didn’t use khan at all.

 

[Zakzak]

For physics I just wrote down all the equations, didn’t use khan at all.

To each their own, I needed understanding. Like with energy conservation and forces, drawing the newton diagrams and understanding how to apply angels into physics. I believe understanding units really helped, but for me, I did memorize certain equations (Like V = IR and their units), but for other things like forces and kinematics, I really had to understand them. Kahn was really good with that.

Also, on test day, I did spent the tutorial writing a "cheat sheet" (not cheating, but I had a list of things I would write from memory immediately; which included 1. alpha beta gamma radiation 2. Amino acids and letters codes 3. PI equation 4. V = IR and units 5. Force equation 6. Enzyme kinetic equations.

However, on test day, say you get nervous. you may blank on an equation, but the understanding of a concept can help you with the problem instead.

Side note: One thing that helped. Two weeks before my real exam, my last practice was a 495. It was my first time using a mouse and I realize I was going slower because I only used a keyboard. I spent the next two weeks using a mouse for EVERYTHING I did on computer with my LEFT hand (and I am right handed) When I redid the section banks, I had the LEFT hand for highlighting and scrolling (did it manually without keyboard shortcuts) and my right hand for my pen and sketchpad to take notes. I felt that made a huge difference.

 

[AB92]

My

My tutor gave me a schedule based off NextStep prep. However, I would use the Kahn Academy Videos and then answer the next step questions. I accepted the fact that I just didn't understand Kaplan or NS books (NS sucked more). However, for subjects like physics, I actually used kahn's high school physics classes (not even the AP ones, just regular) as I found the chem/physic section missing important videos. The Kahn academy high school forces videos were amazing, even if they took so long to get through. Honestly, I wish I started content earlier bc I was only a little more than 1/2 content done when I started going to questions only practice. For me, I watched Kahn, whatever they wrote down, I wrote down. And for kahn high school videos like physics and chemistry, and even some bio, there articles had great practice questions. But, I would follow the schedule of an MCAT course, and simply use kahn videos to replace the textbook, but then still answer the end of the textbook chapter questions and the Kahn questions.

For psych, I made quizlet terms for the 100 page doc (only got 30-40 percent done as I started this too late). I would watch a kahn section, then make the QUIZLET terms for that section, and then review the terms 2 days later. In hindsight, I wish I focused on psych so so so so much earlier, because it is easy points (but probably a steep curve).

One thing I liked about my tutor was that he was understanding in me only using kahn for mostly content. As for when you should start (a year, 6 months) it really depends on how you will commit (part time or full time). When I really focused on the MCAT 24/7, I had two months and 1 week, and I felt that was not enough time so I would recommend 4 months. However, I will also say it is important not to get burned out (I spent the month before traveling Thailand and 1 week in Japan, so when I came back to the US, I felt more motivated).

Thank you for all of this info!!!

 

[jdrb0130]

Awesome post...

 

[Zakzak]

Awesome post...

Thanks. I do warn , some people will make comments just to hurt you (Like "Did you even try" or "are you an ESL student") when the scores are not going well. I do not hold anger, but I do wonder what they say now, and some of those comments I believe were intended to be mean, or at least, condescending.

The last comment. For CARS, read tons of fiction books the weeks before your test. Reading helps with reading comprehension, which should make sense. I believe me going in a reading coma with Crazy Rich Asians trilogy the week of my MCAT really upped my CARS (My last 3 practice tests were 124, 123, 124 and I got a 128).

 

[AB92]

Thanks. I do warn , some people will make comments just to hurt you (Like "Did you even try" or "are you an ESL student") when the scores are not going well. I do not hold anger, but I do wonder what they say now, and some of those comments I believe were intended to be mean, or at least, condescending.

The last comment. For CARS, read tons of fiction books the weeks before your test. Reading helps with reading comprehension, which should make sense. I believe me going in a reading coma with Crazy Rich Asians trilogy the week of my MCAT really upped my CARS (My last 3 practice tests were 124, 123, 124 and I got a 128).

I'm a little over a year out from beginning to study for the MCAT, and while I want to start doing anything I can to start studying, I know that studyign too early is a bad idea for multiple reasons (burn out, poor retention of material, etc.). But I can definitely read some novels!! And then I'll feel as though I'm already starting to prepare!

 

[AB92]

My

My tutor gave me a schedule based off NextStep prep. However, I would use the Kahn Academy Videos and then answer the next step questions. I accepted the fact that I just didn't understand Kaplan or NS books (NS sucked more). However, for subjects like physics, I actually used kahn's high school physics classes (not even the AP ones, just regular) as I found the chem/physic section missing important videos. The Kahn academy high school forces videos were amazing, even if they took so long to get through. Honestly, I wish I started content earlier bc I was only a little more than 1/2 content done when I started going to questions only practice. For me, I watched Kahn, whatever they wrote down, I wrote down. And for kahn high school videos like physics and chemistry, and even some bio, there articles had great practice questions. But, I would follow the schedule of an MCAT course, and simply use kahn videos to replace the textbook, but then still answer the end of the textbook chapter questions and the Kahn questions.

For psych, I made quizlet terms for the 100 page doc (only got 30-40 percent done as I started this too late). I would watch a kahn section, then make the QUIZLET terms for that section, and then review the terms 2 days later. In hindsight, I wish I focused on psych so so so so much earlier, because it is easy points (but probably a steep curve).

One thing I liked about my tutor was that he was understanding in me only using kahn for mostly content. As for when you should start (a year, 6 months) it really depends on how you will commit (part time or full time). When I really focused on the MCAT 24/7, I had two months and 1 week, and I felt that was not enough time so I would recommend 4 months. However, I will also say it is important not to get burned out (I spent the month before traveling Thailand and 1 week in Japan, so when I came back to the US, I felt more motivated).

One last question- so you think Next Step was worth the money? I'm someone who likes structure and don't mind paying for it, if it was helpful!