Likelihood of raising mcat score?

[deleted480308]

I'm in an odd spot, i'm applying this summer and am trying to gauge my mcat potential for an mcat likely in april)

Over christmas break I took the free mcat practice test online. I had not taken orgo or physics at all, and only one semester of bio which was 10 yrs ago...23 (9v,7b,7p)

This weekend i bought another practice test as I have been reviewing bio in a study guide and am three weeks into orgo1 and physics1 this semester....25 (9v,8b,8b)

I'm curious if it's reasonable to hope for similar improvement till april and hit the magical zone of =>30?

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[OCDOCDOCD]

The MCAT isn't like the SAT where studying won't help you very much. The MCAT is a test you have to study for. By taking practice tests before you even started studying, much less before taking half of the classes the exam expects you to have taken, you've effectively wasted two practice exams. Anyone could have told you you're not going to score well when you don't know half the material and haven't even prepped the other half yet.

You're also taking the test too early. Taking the test when you haven't even finished the first semester of both orgo and physics is just begging for a low score and bad grades in your classes as you try to teach yourself a year's worth of content in one semester.

All of that said, 25 is pretty good for someone with your level of knowledge (25 is actually the average score for the test). I'd imagine you won't have a hard time at all hitting 30+ assuming that you take the test next year. Don't rush things, it won't end well. Finish your pre-reqs and then take the MCAT.

 

[BABSstudent]

The MCAT isn't like the SAT where studying won't help you very much. The MCAT is a test you have to study for. By taking practice tests before you even started studying, much less before taking half of the classes the exam expects you to have taken, you've effectively wasted two practice exams. Anyone could have told you you're not going to score well when you don't know half the material and haven't even prepped the other half yet.

You're also taking the test too early. Taking the test when you haven't even finished the first semester of both orgo and physics is just begging for a low score and bad grades in your classes as you try to teach yourself a year's worth of content in one semester.

All of that said, 25 is pretty good for someone with your level of knowledge (25 is actually the average score for the test). I'd imagine you won't have a hard time at all hitting 30+ assuming that you take the test next year. Don't rush things, it won't end well. Finish your pre-reqs and then take the MCAT.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

Quit wasting practice tests! A 25 says you don't know a large part of the knowledge required for the test (and since you haven't taken all the orgo or physics, that makes sense).

I wouldn't take the test in April just because you will not have taken all of physics two. Physics one was something that I thought you could learn on your own, but physics two has some weird things that requires much more effort.

Unless you want to make your life suck from now until test day, push the test date back. If you don't, I would suggest study MCAT stuff for at least eight hours a day to learn what you need to know for the test. On top of that, you will need to study and go to class. After a month of studying like that, then start practice problems and exams.

 

[Shjanzey]

I'm in an odd spot, i'm applying this summer and am trying to gauge my mcat potential for an mcat likely in april)

Over christmas break I took the free mcat practice test online. I had not taken orgo or physics at all, and only one semester of bio which was 10 yrs ago...23 (9v,7b,7p)

This weekend i bought another practice test as I have been reviewing bio in a study guide and am three weeks into orgo1 and physics1 this semester....25 (9v,8b,8b)

I'm curious if it's reasonable to hope for similar improvement till april and hit the magical zone of =>30?

Please learn from my mistakes. Don't apply this year! You NEED to finish your pre-reqs first. This means you need to get your Bio in there, Physics 2, and Orgo 2. Not sure where you are at with Gen-Chem either.

Once you have those, you will need a good 4 - 6 months of serious study to prepare for the MCAT.

I took a nonchalant approach my first time and sat for the MCAT without having taken any Biology, or Org 2. I was hitting 27 - 29 average on my "practice tests" but ended up with an actual score of 22. Talk about brutal.

The second time I sat I got a 29 and I believe it is only because I had all of the requisites that I needed. For me this still isn't good enough so I will sit again, this time using a change in study strategy.

It takes real effort to do well on this test, so don't go in with a disadvantage.

 

[eleveneleven]

Definitely do not gauge what your potential score could be using diagnostics. Additionally, like Shjanzey said, DO NOT take the MCAT prior to completing all the appropriate pre-requisites. There is nothing that can indicate how well you will do on the real deal but actual AAMC practice tests taken after effective studying and prior to the real deal. With the pre-reqs completed and a solid chunk of effective studying, you can likely score >= 30, but there is nothing you have completed thus far that will indicate how you will actually score.

 

[deleted480308]

For clarification, both were aamcas tests. The first as a marker to show me were I was at, the next only to show amount of improvement over a fixed period of time

I will definitely consider delaying the test

 

[MedPR]

I'm in an odd spot, i'm applying this summer and am trying to gauge my mcat potential for an mcat likely in april)

Over christmas break I took the free mcat practice test online. I had not taken orgo or physics at all, and only one semester of bio which was 10 yrs ago...23 (9v,7b,7p)

This weekend i bought another practice test as I have been reviewing bio in a study guide and am three weeks into orgo1 and physics1 this semester....25 (9v,8b,8b)

I'm curious if it's reasonable to hope for similar improvement till april and hit the magical zone of =>30?

Very high likelihood of increasing the score as a 25 is a low score.

 

[deleted480308]

Very high likelihood of increasing the score as a 25 is a low score.

Likelihood of getting to 30?