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I am a PhD toxicologist who’s had approximately three years experience tutoring MCAT Physics. It’s a formidable test. What follows comes from my experience.
Ideal preparation for the MCAT includes the combination of high performance in the undergraduate courses covered by the MCAT, taking the Kahn Academy MCAT section (it’s free), taking a top rated preparation course such as TBR, and drilling on all available AAMC practice tests.
Not everyone needs tutoring, let alone physics tutoring. On the MCAT, physics only accounts for about a sixth of the points or about seven of the possible 45 points. However, for many who make less than perfect scores on the other areas of the MCAT, the seven points can make the difference in a score that qualifies for admission to a US medical school.
Esoteric passages pervade all sections of the MCAT. These passages leave you cold and flat footed but lead to the adage hard passage - easy questions. At this point in the test the student's confidence in their knowledge is the momentum that carries them through to correctly answering the passage questions. Examples of these esoteric passages in the physics portion of the Physical Science section of the practice tests are: seiches, who has even heard of seiches besides Feynman?, well it turns out to be a wave passage, once you make that interpretation the passage fits right into your physics studies. Light from earth quakes, go figure, no one includes light from earthquakes in their MCAT prep, but it turns out to be a passage of simple heat transfer and the Doppler effect. A plasma oscillation passage turns out to be a simple harmonic motion passage.
Getting past the panic that such passages engender is key to defeating the MCAT. This is why drilling on the practice tests is so important. It demystifies these passages and gives you the confidence you need to stay calm and carry on to answer the attending questions.
Khan Academy is a free and easy way to review and test yourself on the knowledge needed for the MCAT. This refresher will help you in drilling the practice tests.
A major caveat is that my statements are only based on the physics portion of the test. I am extrapolating to other sections of the test. I was very scared by the verbal reasoning section but see how it fits into my esoteric passages hypothesis.
I have an advertisement in the SDN advertisement section for MCAT Physics Prep. I am accepting a small number of students to help them prepare for the MCAT. Please review the ad if you feel tutoring in MCAT physics may help in your preparation.
Ideal preparation for the MCAT includes the combination of high performance in the undergraduate courses covered by the MCAT, taking the Kahn Academy MCAT section (it’s free), taking a top rated preparation course such as TBR, and drilling on all available AAMC practice tests.
Not everyone needs tutoring, let alone physics tutoring. On the MCAT, physics only accounts for about a sixth of the points or about seven of the possible 45 points. However, for many who make less than perfect scores on the other areas of the MCAT, the seven points can make the difference in a score that qualifies for admission to a US medical school.
Esoteric passages pervade all sections of the MCAT. These passages leave you cold and flat footed but lead to the adage hard passage - easy questions. At this point in the test the student's confidence in their knowledge is the momentum that carries them through to correctly answering the passage questions. Examples of these esoteric passages in the physics portion of the Physical Science section of the practice tests are: seiches, who has even heard of seiches besides Feynman?, well it turns out to be a wave passage, once you make that interpretation the passage fits right into your physics studies. Light from earth quakes, go figure, no one includes light from earthquakes in their MCAT prep, but it turns out to be a passage of simple heat transfer and the Doppler effect. A plasma oscillation passage turns out to be a simple harmonic motion passage.
Getting past the panic that such passages engender is key to defeating the MCAT. This is why drilling on the practice tests is so important. It demystifies these passages and gives you the confidence you need to stay calm and carry on to answer the attending questions.
Khan Academy is a free and easy way to review and test yourself on the knowledge needed for the MCAT. This refresher will help you in drilling the practice tests.
A major caveat is that my statements are only based on the physics portion of the test. I am extrapolating to other sections of the test. I was very scared by the verbal reasoning section but see how it fits into my esoteric passages hypothesis.
I have an advertisement in the SDN advertisement section for MCAT Physics Prep. I am accepting a small number of students to help them prepare for the MCAT. Please review the ad if you feel tutoring in MCAT physics may help in your preparation.
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