MCAT is seeming like endless knowledge.

[September24]

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My MCAT is on August 15th. At this point, I feel like I've gone through so much, I've done a lot of passages and studying so much, but it still feels like I'm learning more and more information. CRUCIAL information that involves discrete information.

I'll read through Princeton or Exam crackers respiratory system notes and decide to look at the berkeely review notes and BAM- loads of new info that I didn't know.

I'm doing okay on my practice tests though the range is still quite large.

It's so irritating. I feel ready and then one day I study and turns out, I know nothing....

 

[mbaumann1123]

I feel like this every day. I keep delaying taking practice tests because I'm afraid I'm still lacking so much content even though I've gone through all the TPR books and some EK. Every time I review a section or concept I'm shocked by how much I don't know or don't remember about it. Starting to panic that I won't be ready by September 12

 

[September24]

I feel like this every day. I keep delaying taking practice tests because I'm afraid I'm still lacking so much content even though I've gone through all the TPR books and some EK. Every time I review a section or concept I'm shocked by how much I don't know or don't remember about it. Starting to panic that I won't be ready by September 12

I'm thesame way. Im also delaying the practice tests more and more since I wanna learn "one more thing". This new worthless knowledge makes me forget old important ones.

 

[Sarvish]

My test is on August 16 and I haven't done any practice tests yet, so don't complain

 

[The Kraken]

My test is on August 16 and I haven't done any practice tests yet, so don't complain

Why? You're only hurting yourself.

To op: there is a finite amount of stuff to learn for this test. One time through it isnt enough. Make a list of problem topics on a piece of paper or white board, review those topics via high yield flashcards or review sheets, EVERY NIGHT and any free time. Simple, and effective.

 

[Gauss44]

My MCAT is on August 15th. At this point, I feel like I've gone through so much, I've done a lot of passages and studying so much, but it still feels like I'm learning more and more information. CRUCIAL information that involves discrete information.

I'll read through Princeton or Exam crackers respiratory system notes and decide to look at the berkeely review notes and BAM- loads of new info that I didn't know.

I'm doing okay on my practice tests though the range is still quite large.

It's so irritating. I feel ready and then one day I study and turns out, I know nothing....

According to Descartes, you're ahead of most people.

Remember that if you do well on the AAMC practice tests, you are likely to do well on the real thing. There is no need to know everything about every topic covered by MCAT. And there's certainly no need to endlessly knowledgeable which is impossible anyway.

 

[DocMC]

[/B]

According to Descartes, you're ahead of most people.

Remember that if you do well on the AAMC practice tests, you are likely to do well on the real thing. There is no need to know everything about every topic covered by MCAT. And there's certainly no need to endlessly knowledgeable which is impossible anyway.

This. Develop an understanding of each topic, that is all you need. The passage will provide you with everything else to answer the questions. It is much more important to learn how to eliminate wrong answers when encountering questions that you are not familiar with. Keep that in mind and don't panic when you get a topic/question you are not comfortable in - read the passage and eliminate wrong answers. You'll get it!!! Gluck.

 

[Synapsis]

You should take a couple hours and just go through each topics list and make sure you have some type of understanding about everything. I've always felt that the worst case scenario would be getting something that you can't even make an educated guess on because you never looked at it. The goal is to make sure that you can make at least an educated guess on every single question in the test, without any wild guesses.

The MCAT is a thinking test, but you can't think about things if you don't even have the fundamentals there.

 

[millimpeter]

I feel the same way... I just took my first practice test after going over most of the topics generally, and some of the topics in great detail. It almost seems that the questions for the topics I skimmed over were easier, because I could see through the question and think logically about it. Strange...

I think its useless to memorize random facts and answers to random questions. When you take a practice test, focus on the topics you were weakest in, and explore possible questions types for that topic.

 

[Uafl112]

I use to feel this way until I started doing practice exams. When you hit the content enough, it shows in the practice exams, even if you do not think you can do it. Once you do well and get use to the style of ques, you start developing confidence in your abilities. Recently I felt like my PS was seriously lacking because I forgot a couple of formulas. However, I took an AAMC exam today and I actually saw improvement on my PS. Rather than being scared, have some confidence in yourself and you will succeed on exam day

 

[freakingoutabit]

Studying for the MCAT became much less overwhelming for me when I stopped focusing on each question and started focusing on the answers, eliminating the ones I knew were wrong. You know enough right now to mark out at least 2 out of 4 answers. A 50/50 shot is a great place to start! If you immediately do that for every question, you'll realize that you don't have to be an expert in any area. You just need to know enough to beat the odds.

When I took the real thing, there were a LOT of questions I didn't know or wasn't sure about. I took all my science pre-reqs at a community college (non-trad), and I haven't had any orgo at all. I just crossed out answer choices that I knew were wrong, and then picked (and occasionally guessed) between the remaining answers. I got a 34 doing this and had time left over in every section because instead of trying to work out problems, I just deduced which answer had to be right.

During my last weeks, I focused on practicing writing formulas so that I wouldn't panic and forget them at the last second, practicing math, and understanding the big picture concepts (I loved Khan Academy for this). A lot of the MCAT I took was conceptual, not formula-based. You didn't need to use a formula -- you needed to know WHY x was proportional to y but inversely proportional to z.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[mbaumann1123]

Studying for the MCAT became much less overwhelming for me when I stopped focusing on each question and started focusing on the answers, eliminating the ones I knew were wrong. You know enough right now to mark out at least 2 out of 4 answers. A 50/50 shot is a great place to start! If you immediately do that for every question, you'll realize that you don't have to be an expert in any area. You just need to know enough to beat the odds.

When I took the real thing, there were a LOT of questions I didn't know or wasn't sure about. I took all my science pre-reqs at a community college (non-trad), and I haven't had any orgo at all. I just crossed out answer choices that I knew were wrong, and then picked (and occasionally guessed) between the remaining answers. I got a 34 doing this and had time left over in every section because instead of trying to work out problems, I just deduced which answer had to be right.

During my last weeks, I focused on practicing writing formulas so that I wouldn't panic and forget them at the last second, practicing math, and understanding the big picture concepts (I loved Khan Academy for this). A lot of the MCAT I took was conceptual, not formula-based. You didn't need to use a formula -- you needed to know WHY x was proportional to y but inversely proportional to z.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

This is very helpful actually, thanks for taking the time to respond