low SAT = possibly low MCAT = bad anxiety

[elitehacker1337]

I know these two things are correlated.
I did absolutely awful on my SAT. About 1500/2400 ~50th percentile. Didn't study at all.

Does this mean I am fighting an uphill battle? I am a slow reader and like to take my time and don't read very avidly at all. English is not my first language either. I'm asian, if it makes any difference.

So essentially, how hard am I going to get rekt by the MCAT? I'm beginning to do a CARS passage a day and am finding that I am taking way too long to read and answer the question. I'm trying to make sure I get it right instead of timing because I think that can come later.

Have any of you had similar SATs and high MCATs?? I would love if you can share and possibly a strategy you employed to obtain such a score since I'm (you're) already at a disadvantage.

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[deleted853480]

I

 

[Coltuna]

I know this is antidotal but I scored in the 90 percentile on the sat and 82 on the mcat.

Humble brag? lol

 

[deleted853480]

.

 

[Coltuna]

Not really just trying to help. Was actually upset with both those scores :/

I don't see how this helps OP at all. Is english your second language? Are you an otherwise poor test taker? What part of OP's post does this address?

 

[holdthemayo]

I know these two things are correlated.
I did absolutely awful on my SAT. About 1500/2400 ~50th percentile. Didn't study at all.

Does this mean I am fighting an uphill battle? I am a slow reader and like to take my time and don't read very avidly at all. English is not my first language either. I'm asian, if it makes any difference.

So essentially, how hard am I going to get rekt by the MCAT? I'm beginning to do a CARS passage a day and am finding that I am taking way too long to read and answer the question. I'm trying to make sure I get it right instead of timing because I think that can come later.

Have any of you had similar SATs and high MCATs?? I would love if you can share and possibly a strategy you employed to obtain such a score since I'm (you're) already at a disadvantage.

So you took a test without studying and didn't do well. If you take the MCAT without studying you also won't do well. Other than that, I don't think your SAT scores are indicative of how you will do on the MCAT with proper preparation.

I completely bombed my first diagnostic test. It was horribly discouraging, but I got better as a studied. You will too.

 

[elitehacker1337]

So you took a test without studying and didn't do well. If you take the MCAT without studying you also won't do well. Other than that, I don't think your SAT scores are indicative of how you will do on the MCAT with proper preparation.

I completely bombed my first diagnostic test. It was horribly discouraging, but I got better as a studied. You will too.

Would you mind sharing percentiles, or even percentile ranges from SAT to MCAT?

For background, I'm not a bad student guys. I have the highest grades on my ochem/physics exams and have been top of the class in a few science classes. My GPA is 3.75 but I had a really bad freshman year in which I got a C. I have learned from my mistakes and improved academically.

I feel like this is a common problem; decent GPA, low MCAT. However in high school, I didn't try at all in school and managed a 3.7 or so by doing homework an hour a day. No reading or anything unless absolutely necessary.

 

[holdthemayo]

Would you mind sharing percentiles, or even percentile ranges from SAT to MCAT?

For background, I'm not a bad student guys. I have the highest grades on my ochem/physics exams and have been top of the class in a few science classes. My GPA is 3.75 but I had a really bad freshman year in which I got a C. I have learned from my mistakes and improved academically.

I feel like this is a common problem; decent GPA, low MCAT. However in high school, I didn't try at all in school and managed a 3.7 or so by doing homework an hour a day. No reading or anything unless absolutely necessary.

I don't remember my SAT. I took it long ago before they changed the scoring (twice). I was 95%tile on MCAT.

My point was that you shouldn't worry about your SAT score in preparing for the MCAT. Your score on the SAT most likely has a lot more to do with you not preparing for it than any inherent weakness as a test taker. If after a couple of months of dedicated prep you are still struggling, then you can start to worry.

You aren't a low MCAT applicant. Make sure you don't take the exam until you are scoring where you want to be on your practice tests and you won't have to be.

 

[workaholic181]

I know these two things are correlated.
I did absolutely awful on my SAT. About 1500/2400 ~50th percentile. Didn't study at all.

Does this mean I am fighting an uphill battle? I am a slow reader and like to take my time and don't read very avidly at all. English is not my first language either. I'm asian, if it makes any difference.

So essentially, how hard am I going to get rekt by the MCAT? I'm beginning to do a CARS passage a day and am finding that I am taking way too long to read and answer the question. I'm trying to make sure I get it right instead of timing because I think that can come later.

Have any of you had similar SATs and high MCATs?? I would love if you can share and possibly a strategy you employed to obtain such a score since I'm (you're) already at a disadvantage.

Dude there is no correlation between a totally different test you took years ago and the MCAT.

 

[Zenabi90]

I did absolutely awful on my SAT. About 1500/2400 ~50th percentile. Didn't study at all.

They would be correlated if your study habits do not change. So change for the MCAT! You said yourself you learned your lesson. So as long as you prepare properly for your MCAT, I wouldn't worry about something similar to the SAT happening.

I am a slow reader and like to take my time and don't read very avidly at all. English is not my first language either.

Sounds like you know what needs to change. Read more avidly, and try to read at a faster pace when you practice. Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Economist, New Yorker are all great publications with a broad range of material to make you a more-read person.

I'm beginning to do a CARS passage a day and am finding that I am taking way too long to read and answer the question. I'm trying to make sure I get it right instead of timing because I think that can come later.

I think this is the wrong way to go about it. You stated your problem is your speed, so why aren't you working on it? Time yourself, but work up to it. The MCAT gives you 90 minutes for 9 passages, so to start, time yourself at 12 min per passage. As you become more comfortable, reduce to 11 min, then 10 min, then 9 min.

 

[elitehacker1337]

They would be correlated if your study habits do not change. So change for the MCAT! You said yourself you learned your lesson. So as long as you prepare properly for your MCAT, I wouldn't worry about something similar to the SAT happening.



Sounds like you know what needs to change. Read more avidly, and try to read at a faster pace when you practice. Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Economist, New Yorker are all great publications with a broad range of material to make you a more-read person.



I think this is the wrong way to go about it. You stated your problem is your speed, so why aren't you working on it? Time yourself, but work up to it. The MCAT gives you 90 minutes for 9 passages, so to start, time yourself at 12 min per passage. As you become more comfortable, reduce to 11 min, then 10 min, then 9 min.

It's not just timing that's my problem. I often misinterpret what the author is trying to say.

Because of this, I've resorted to reading passage, then reading questions, and reading passage again to find the best answer (often times still wrong). I want to continue to do this as I feel that I learn best in a uncontrolled environment.

For example, I can spend 2-3 hours on ochem questions out of book or whatever, but on the exam, I can finish quickly. I usually take up all the time on midterms and quizzes to carefully review my work for errors.

Do you guys think this is a decent strategy? With respect to CARS? For the other sections, I'm planning to hit content review hard over like 4-5 months and hopefully my knowledge carries some of my low reasoning abilities. Now I know that the MCAT will be nothing like this utopia of time so I hope at some point I can read passage just once and figure it out.

 

[Zenabi90]

One tip I have is to use the "Golden Rule" for Verbal. There's a nice thread posted by KoalaT, but essentially it boils down to "Wrong is wrong, least wrong is right." We've been taught for most of primary school onwards to give the best, most correct answer. This approach is incorrect for the CARS section of the MCAT, and truthfully, all of standardized testing.

If there's anything wrong, even a little wrong, then that is a wrong answer. The correct answer is not the answer that is most correct, but rather, the least incorrect.

How to Improve On Verbal: Golden Rule

 

[chillingpanda]

I feel ya OP. Got a 25 on ACT (26 if you super score lol). Don't even remember what my SAT was but I think it was at a lower percentile than my ACT. Didn't really try in HS besides doing all the homework assigned. Heading into my final semester of college, maintained a 3.8+ gpa as a science major, but my performance on the SAT & ACT still gives me self doubt that I won't be able to achieve a 510+.

 

[Seikuken]

Think of the MCAT more like the AP exams in high school. Know your content first and sharpen the reasoning skills by doing practice problems and you can get a great score!

For CARS, don't be intimidated! I was discouraged at first too. Search up KoalaT's strategy. It works. Good luck!