March 27th MCAT, Need Advice!!!!!

[ViPa]

alright, theres pretty much one month left and i really need to kick it into high gear these next few weeks..i need suggestions on what to focus on to maximize score increases

here are my dismal scores so far:
AAMC #3: BS: 7 PS: 7 VR: 10 = 24
AAMC #4: BS: 7 PS: 7 VR: 9 = 23

im currently enrolled in the kaplan course, and i have all EK 1001 books

timing doesnt seem to be an issue for me as i usually finish about 5 mins early on each section

any advice would be helpful!

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[NYR56]

Why are you getting the questions wrong on the AAMC tests? You should analyze each question and determine if it is a lack of content knowledge or not. If it's content, obviously concentrate on those areas of studying. If it's due to tricks/careless mistakes, practice more problems. I'm guessing you need much more content review if you're scoring 7s so you should try to review any topics you don't feel confident on.

 

[rmadell]

I am also taking the March 27th MCAT so go us! Anyway, what I'm doing is going over problem areas during the week and then taking LOTS of practice sections and tests during the weekend (I'm in school so it's hard to do it during the week, but I might try and start). You are taking Kaplan, so I assume you have access to the Qbank which has been SUPER helpful to me...you can create an entire BS or PS section and just keep doing them (I would also do passages out of the EK 101 Bio). Forget about Kaplan verbal, and just do practice sections out of the EK book. However, I would suggest figuring out where your problems are and reading up on that material. I realized when I wasn't too up with my content I would finish with 5-10 min to spare, but now that I am doing better with the content, I am having more trouble finishing. But don't worry...in the past couple of weeks I went from a 24 (8BS 6PS 10VR) to a 28 (9BS 9PS 10 VR) and I think those last few points will come from taking massive amounts of practice tests to get myself more familiar. SO YOU CAN SO IT!!!

 

[ViPa]

thanks for the advice, i do believe a lot of my problem has to do with the content..but seeing that i only have one month left, im afraid im not going to be able to cram in as much content review as i need

 

[HyperSpank]

thanks for the advice, i do believe a lot of my problem has to do with the content..but seeing that i only have one month left, im afraid im not going to be able to cram in as much content review as i need

You might as well start cramming or reschedule, IMO. It's no use going into the test without being as prepared as you can be.
Past MCATs have been so random it seems that you would benefit most by learning at least a little bit about everything. I took the January 30th MCAT and there were at least two passages on ecology/evolution, which my EK instructor told us to skim because he had only heard of those types of questions in stand-alones.
If I were in your position, I would not take another FL until I had, at the very least, read through all of the content books. I wouldn't gamble with the test because it's not cheap (money-wise).

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Why are you getting the questions wrong on the AAMC tests? You should analyze each question and determine if it is a lack of content knowledge or not. If it's content, obviously concentrate on those areas of studying. If it's due to tricks/careless mistakes, practice more problems. I'm guessing you need much more content review if you're scoring 7s so you should try to review any topics you don't feel confident on.

I completely concur with this. The most important thing to do is to evaluate your question solving process. The problem with many people is that they read the answer explanation and think, "Okay, I know that concept." The reality is that they should be asking "How would I get the right if I saw it again? What does it take to choose the best answer in an efficient way?"

Wrong answers can often be categorized into areas such as (1) careless errors of the mis-reading type, (2) careless errors where you answered the question you wanted to answer (expected from previous conditioning) (3) make a computational error, (4) loss of focus during the question, or (5) didn't know the material or definitions well enough. There are other categories you can create, but no matter what, you need to determine if it's content or approach.

Once you know that, it's time to work on correcting the problem. If it's content (as you mentioned), then reviewing material at a better depth will help. If it's your approach to questions, then you need to read through some of the test strategies in the answer explanations and try to apply them to future questions. Practicing with certain question types can really be helpful, which is why there are some practice exams that are rich in computations and others that are rich in bait-n-switch questions (designed to trip people up who are conditioned to answer certain ways). Whatever you find is the major reason for not doing as well as you wish, you need to address it. If you can't do that in a month, then you should postpone your MCAT. Taking the MCAT with a hope of "maybe I'll get luckier on the actual exam than practice" is not going to do you any good. Postponing will allow you time to get the prep materials that best fit your needs.