MCAT 2015 Score

[dnnguyen1]

Hey guys !! I just received my MCAT score back and I didn't do very well (total: 490). Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this and what I can do to still be a strong applicant? I plan on retaking it but I'm scared it won't help much since I'm not very good at taking standardize exams.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

I'd recommend stopping the "I'm not good at standardized exams" attitude. You're giving yourself an excuse. If you study and know the material and have good reasoning skills, your score will reflect that. I don't think a 490 will get you into an MD school so you will have to plan out a time to study more.

 

[NotWayneBrady]

Hey guys !! I just received my MCAT score back and I didn't do very well (total: 490). Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this and what I can do to still be a strong applicant? I plan on retaking it but I'm scared it won't help much since I'm not very good at taking standardize exams.

Retake, ditch the attitude, change your study habits, take timed practice tests, if you don't improve find what you're doing wrong and fix it.

 

[ArizonaVet480]

I havent taken the MCAT yet but maybe you took it prematurely. From everything I have gathered you should take several practice tests until your consistantly getting a score you are happy with. Until you can consistantly get that score you should study as much as humanly possible. You should also change your attitude telling yourself you are not good as something is a set up for failure. Bad excuse. Again I have never taken it but have done a ton of research on it. Good luck.

 

[mr.mkitty]

Like everyone has already said... The attitude "Im just not good at standardized tests" needs to go. What the problem actually is is that you didn't spend nearly enough time studying (or you didn't use your resources)! The MCAT isn't the A.C.T.
To increase your score, buy a test company's material that cover all the topics on the MCAT. Invest a bunch of time into these books. Buy and take a bunch of practice tests, then review the crap outa those tests and see what you got wrong and what you need to work on.
I'm not trying to be condescending, but it's not magic. Just work hard and invest time into studying for the MCAT.

 

[Goro]

Retake, but only until you fix your deficits. As a candidate right now, you're dead.

Do you have test taking anxiety? if so, that can be fixed.
Your school's learning or education center can help you with test taking strategies.

Keep in mind that we're addicting to high stakes standardized exams in med school.

Hey guys !! I just received my MCAT score back and I didn't do very well (total: 490). Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this and what I can do to still be a strong applicant? I plan on retaking it but I'm scared it won't help much since I'm not very good at taking standardize exams.

 

[el_duderino]

Med school is a neverending torrent of standardized exams.

Did you take full-length practice exams? How did you do on them? How did you prepare?

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

If you can't even find your way around basic science test questions to get the right answers, then what makes you think you can find your way around the human body to get the right, medical diagnosis?

 

[Pusheen]

If you can't even find your way around basic science test questions to get the right answers, then what makes you think you can find your way around the human body to get the right, medical diagnosis?

Why is there always the person who goes here

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Why is there always the person who goes here

Cause it's true. If you are anxious writing on a piece of paper, what about examining a human body knowing that it's fate may rely on your capabilities?

 

[Lawpy]

Cause it's true. If you are anxious writing on a piece of paper, what about examining a human body knowing that it's fate may rely on your capabilities?

The MCAT isn't a paper test. And your argument doesn't even make sense.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

The MCAT isn't a paper test. And your argument doesn't even make sense.

How does it not make sense to you?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

A couple questions OP: did you study for it? Did you take practice tests? How did you do on them?

Honestly a 490 hints to me you weren't really prepared. Usually a score that low means you weren't ready for the exam. Prepping for the MCAT is a lot of prepping for the test itself and not content. If you aren't familiar with how the test will go it can eat you up and spit you out. Like everyone said be honest with yourself and figure out what you did wrong. Fix it. Then study and practice for a good solid 4 months IMO. Then go kill the retake. You will need a 510+ for MD and as high above a 500 as you can for DO.

 

[Lannister]

Cause it's true. If you are anxious writing on a piece of paper, what about examining a human body knowing that it's fate may rely on your capabilities?

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people--including (and maybe especially) successful pre-meds, med students, and doctors--get anxious when taking an exam. As long as you perform well in the end, there is nothing wrong with being a little anxious.

 

[el_duderino]

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people--including (and maybe especially) successful pre-meds, med students, and doctors--get anxious when taking an exam. As long as you perform well in the end, there is nothing wrong with being a little anxious.

Well, yes, if you perform well. If you either totally crumble under pressure, or head into a major exam totally unprepared, then there is something wrong.

 

[Lannister]

Well, yes, if you perform well. If you either totally crumble under pressure, or head into a major exam totally unprepared, then there is something wrong.

Of course. But even then, you're not incapable of becoming a doctor. Like someone else said, that can be fixed. And the poster I was responding to was being a little bit ridiculous by applying that if you can't rock the MCAT or get a little bit of test anxiety, you can't handle being a doctor.

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people--including (and maybe especially) successful pre-meds, med students, and doctors--get anxious when taking an exam. As long as you perform well in the end, there is nothing wrong with being a little anxious.

I wonder what the difference is between people that say they have test-taking anxiety and perform poorly, and those that do well despite some anxiety.

I went into my MCAT feeling extremely anxious. I don't know if there is anything in my life that stresses me as much as exams. There were multiple times in my MCAT where I didn't know an answer and felt myself panicking, second-guessing all of my previous answers, thinking I might score sub-30, thinking about all the time I will have wasted if I can't get into med school, wasting time with these thoughts, etc. But I prepared sufficiently and knew the material and scored very highly. If I didn't prepare as well as I tend to, maybe I would just chalk up any poor performances to test-taking anxiety and not being good at standardized exams? Or maybe I am severely underestimating the anxiety that other people experience.

 

[dnnguyen1]

A couple questions OP: did you study for it? Did you take practice tests? How did you do on them?

Honestly a 490 hints to me you weren't really prepared. Usually a score that low means you weren't ready for the exam. Prepping for the MCAT is a lot of prepping for the test itself and not content. If you aren't familiar with how the test will go it can eat you up and spit you out. Like everyone said be honest with yourself and figure out what you did wrong. Fix it. Then study and practice for a good solid 4 months IMO. Then go kill the retake. You will need a 510+ for MD and as high above a 500 as you can for DO.

I realized my mistake. I have been studying content for months because it's what the books I bought (Kaplan, EK, Princeton review) emphasized. They did not have much passage based questions (unless it's online). I figured that if I knew the content, I could answer the questions. I'm currently studying with a new approach and mostly focusing on the passages and doing even more full-length tests. Hopefully that helps *fingers crossed*

 

[Astra]

I realized my mistake. I have been studying content for months because it's what the books I bought (Kaplan, EK, Princeton review) emphasized. They did not have much passage based questions (unless it's online). I figured that if I knew the content, I could answer the questions. I'm currently studying with a new approach and mostly focusing on the passages and doing even more full-length tests. Hopefully that helps *fingers crossed*

The number 1 trick to doing well on the MCAT is being able to gather resources.

You have the Mcat forum on here, with SEVERAL proven strategies that have gotten people high scores.

You need to be able to use the internet to research how to do well on the MCAT and treat it as if its your life.


Say someone asks you about your favorite hobby. You know about it inside and out. You need to be like that about the MCAT. make it your life and results will come.

 

[whatever5]

I'm not very good at taking standardize exams.

This is a big red flag for med school - to get a medical license, you have to pass 3 high stakes standardized tests. You should be studying for your MCAT like its your job, basically.