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MCAT Retake Strategy (Advice Please)
- Thread starter ralphstein
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A 24 is not a bad score, in fact it could get you into a DO school. It's not a disaster as a first score but you do want to do better next time. The 6 in VR dragged you down a lot, definitely focus on that. EK VR is pretty good but also use other materials and read a newspaper of your choice daily (about half an hour I'd say). I would use Sn2ed's schedule, it's sticky and also check into other resources.
1. 2-6 months depending on free time - if 2 then 8 hours/day
2. if the notecards are good, then use them - toss out the ones that you know
3. EK TBR TPR - TBR is excessive though and you mentioned you want a less intense
plan
4. I would take the FLs again, they still offer good practice and simulate the real mcat.
1. 2-6 months depending on free time - if 2 then 8 hours/day
2. if the notecards are good, then use them - toss out the ones that you know
3. EK TBR TPR - TBR is excessive though and you mentioned you want a less intense
plan
4. I would take the FLs again, they still offer good practice and simulate the real mcat.
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I'm in the exact same boat as you man. I was studying by myself for 5-6 months using EK and a lot of online materials and had to relearned a lot of concepts. I am now taking TPR online course and utilizing their method this time around. We'll see how it goes.
I had the same verbal score as you and trying darn hard to improve it. TPR method is do 6 passages and just pure guessing on 1 passage. I have not tried this method yet, but seems somewhat scary. Their logic is to aim for consistency and accuracy rather than trying to finish all the passages. If you read fast your accuracy suffers. If read a little slower, you'll understand better and have a better chance at answering the q's. Say if you guess on 5 q's and picking the same letter for all of them, you'll have at least 1 or 2 right. So now you have 35 q's that you must answer correctly. If you miss 5 or 6 more q's out of the 35, (1 wrong answer per passage that you did) you'll get around 75% correct. That usually translate to a 10+.
For people that been on our boat, what's your opinion on this?
I had the same verbal score as you and trying darn hard to improve it. TPR method is do 6 passages and just pure guessing on 1 passage. I have not tried this method yet, but seems somewhat scary. Their logic is to aim for consistency and accuracy rather than trying to finish all the passages. If you read fast your accuracy suffers. If read a little slower, you'll understand better and have a better chance at answering the q's. Say if you guess on 5 q's and picking the same letter for all of them, you'll have at least 1 or 2 right. So now you have 35 q's that you must answer correctly. If you miss 5 or 6 more q's out of the 35, (1 wrong answer per passage that you did) you'll get around 75% correct. That usually translate to a 10+.
For people that been on our boat, what's your opinion on this?
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Before you decide what you should do this time, I think you need to honestly assess what you did last time and which parts worked and which ones didn't. Your scores look like they peaked in the middle, like you said, but there is also the randomness factor of which MCAT you get. With a range of 24-30, it looks like luck didn't work in your favor that sitting. It might next time, although you can't count on that.
Looking at your AAMC scores (being that they are statistically the most valid predictors of the actual MCAT) you did the following in each of the sections:
For PS, two things look to be true. (1) You did your mean. On a different day you might have gotten a 9 or an 11. (2) You didn't improve over the course of your preparation. That's usually a sign of someone who studies the material intensely but doesn't master the nuances of how to take the exam. You have to honestly answer for yourself whether you mastered the art of POE and whether you relied more on common sense or memorized information when you took the MCAT.
For VR, it looks like you lost your mojo about half way through and never got it back. You were doing fine in the beginning and then suddenly dropped at that fourth AAMC test. Because the scores stayed consistently low after that, it would seem like you made a change that didn't work for you. I think you need to go back to whatever approach you had in the beginning of your studies, even if that means no real strategy besides just reading passages and answering questions.
For BS, you did within the range of your mean. On a different day with a different test you could have been a 9 or 10. I think you need to go back and see what subjects on AAMC 5 caused you trouble and recall whether those were on your actual MCAT. For BS, it could be as simple as emphasizing the areas you struggled at your first time and glossing over your areas of strength.
No matter what, you need to start by analyzing what led to each of your subscores. There is no way you'll improve beyond your range (24-30) if you don't first identify where you were weak on your first sitting.
Over studied? No! Studied incorrectly without transitioning from absorbing information to learning to take the exam efficiently and confidently? Yes. Forget labeling it as more intense or less intense. Instead, give yourself more time this go-around to completely go over each and every answer explanation, emphasizing which choices could be eliminated, which are distractors, and which are tempting choices that don't quite answer the question. Recognizing what not to pick is just as important as knowing what to pick.
The ones on the questions for sure. But define what you mean by review. Reading them a few times over until they stick in your head? No! Rewriting those questions and answer choices to practice with at a future date? Yes! Emphasize the thinking not the knowing.
I'll pass on this one for reasons of etiquette. The only thing I'd emphasize is that you need to first decide whether it's information or test strategies you want to prioritize this time around. If it's information, go with the one that you absorb best from. If it's strategies, go with the one with the best answer explanations.
Repeating is an option, but you can't take the scores seriously. Redoing AAMC exams to see patterns in their answer choices is an excellent way to improve your test skills. But because you've seen the answers to those questions already, they can't simulate the real exam for you. When it comes to fresh CBTs, you're pretty much down to either BR or GS. Do a search and see what people think.
Looking at your AAMC scores (being that they are statistically the most valid predictors of the actual MCAT) you did the following in each of the sections:
PS: 9, 10, 11, 10, 10, 11, 10, 9 for an avg of 10 -- real test = 10
VR: 9, 10, 10, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7 for an avg of 8.25 -- real test = 6
BS: 8, 10, 9, 9, 7, 9, 8, 9 for an avg of 8.63 -- real test = 8
VR: 9, 10, 10, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7 for an avg of 8.25 -- real test = 6
BS: 8, 10, 9, 9, 7, 9, 8, 9 for an avg of 8.63 -- real test = 8
For PS, two things look to be true. (1) You did your mean. On a different day you might have gotten a 9 or an 11. (2) You didn't improve over the course of your preparation. That's usually a sign of someone who studies the material intensely but doesn't master the nuances of how to take the exam. You have to honestly answer for yourself whether you mastered the art of POE and whether you relied more on common sense or memorized information when you took the MCAT.
For VR, it looks like you lost your mojo about half way through and never got it back. You were doing fine in the beginning and then suddenly dropped at that fourth AAMC test. Because the scores stayed consistently low after that, it would seem like you made a change that didn't work for you. I think you need to go back to whatever approach you had in the beginning of your studies, even if that means no real strategy besides just reading passages and answering questions.
For BS, you did within the range of your mean. On a different day with a different test you could have been a 9 or 10. I think you need to go back and see what subjects on AAMC 5 caused you trouble and recall whether those were on your actual MCAT. For BS, it could be as simple as emphasizing the areas you struggled at your first time and glossing over your areas of strength.
No matter what, you need to start by analyzing what led to each of your subscores. There is no way you'll improve beyond your range (24-30) if you don't first identify where you were weak on your first sitting.
Over studied? No! Studied incorrectly without transitioning from absorbing information to learning to take the exam efficiently and confidently? Yes. Forget labeling it as more intense or less intense. Instead, give yourself more time this go-around to completely go over each and every answer explanation, emphasizing which choices could be eliminated, which are distractors, and which are tempting choices that don't quite answer the question. Recognizing what not to pick is just as important as knowing what to pick.
The ones on the questions for sure. But define what you mean by review. Reading them a few times over until they stick in your head? No! Rewriting those questions and answer choices to practice with at a future date? Yes! Emphasize the thinking not the knowing.
I'll pass on this one for reasons of etiquette. The only thing I'd emphasize is that you need to first decide whether it's information or test strategies you want to prioritize this time around. If it's information, go with the one that you absorb best from. If it's strategies, go with the one with the best answer explanations.
Repeating is an option, but you can't take the scores seriously. Redoing AAMC exams to see patterns in their answer choices is an excellent way to improve your test skills. But because you've seen the answers to those questions already, they can't simulate the real exam for you. When it comes to fresh CBTs, you're pretty much down to either BR or GS. Do a search and see what people think.
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1. 3 months is good. But intense prep does not mean efficient prep. I think you prepped the wrong way. Most common problem I see are ppl over emphasizing content over doing practice problems and analysis. It doesn't matter if you memorize everything if you don't know how to apply things. I would say spend more time doing problems. 4 hours doing problems /analysis 2 hours of content review
2. This question proves you did not study properly. The point of making note card is to nail down the concept you missed.
3. You can get good scores with any prep company's materials.
4. You've made a same mistake I did. You have wasted really useful practice exams without even trying to fix your problems. Did you carefully analyze and made sure you knew the concepts thoroughly enough before attempting the FLs? I see that your verbal is lacking. Have you tried to practice verbal on a consistent basis first then attempt FL? Your scores show that you do a lot of guessing and you get lucky on few of the exams. You cannot get satisfaction from those lucks. You have to be solid. Know every concept.
2. This question proves you did not study properly. The point of making note card is to nail down the concept you missed.
3. You can get good scores with any prep company's materials.
4. You've made a same mistake I did. You have wasted really useful practice exams without even trying to fix your problems. Did you carefully analyze and made sure you knew the concepts thoroughly enough before attempting the FLs? I see that your verbal is lacking. Have you tried to practice verbal on a consistent basis first then attempt FL? Your scores show that you do a lot of guessing and you get lucky on few of the exams. You cannot get satisfaction from those lucks. You have to be solid. Know every concept.
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Dont worry about the value of retaking the AAMC full lenghts. Its been long enough that you likely wont remember the questions. They are extremely useful tests and you definitely need to retake all of them.
Also throw out your 1000s of notecards. Thats not a good way to study. Focus on concepts, speed, and ways of thinking, not on individual questions or practice tests scores. You cant trade in a whole stack of correctly answered questions for points on test day. Just focus on really understanding a science topic that you currently don't and the MCAT questions about it will seem trivial.
Also throw out your 1000s of notecards. Thats not a good way to study. Focus on concepts, speed, and ways of thinking, not on individual questions or practice tests scores. You cant trade in a whole stack of correctly answered questions for points on test day. Just focus on really understanding a science topic that you currently don't and the MCAT questions about it will seem trivial.
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I'm in the same boat as you are, OP, except I have a 23 (PS 7, VR 8, BS 8) Q. I studied a lot, too, but I think learning the information is where my culprit is. I have read on here that learning the content down cold (for the sciences) can get you a 10 in each section, which you already have in PS. Since your weakness seems to be in the VR, what worked for me was the Princeton review books - their practice and their textbook. Also the EK 1001 passages (I only did a few) were helpful. I would get those books. I liked the TPR strategies better than EK's. On practice tests after using the TPR strategies I went from a 5 to an 8 on the real thing.
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I think that's a big mistake many people make when studying. They read an answer explanation and feel okay because they know the material. But most questions we miss are not because of a lack of understanding and knowledge, but more so because we misread the question, didn't really know what they were asking, lost focus during the questions, and so on. It's critical that you figure out why you missed a question. On those times when it came down to now knowing a word or equation, then you can add to your information base. But for most questions, it more important to figure out how you were suppose to have read it and take note of which clues to look for on future questions. Labeling wrong answer choices can be as helpful as understanding the right choice. Knowing how to eliminate worng answers is critical.
Go back over the AAMC exams and see if you can classify right answers and wrong answers on most of their questions. This skill will be extremely useful. For instance, if you could do the following hypothetic layout on a given question, you'd see improvement in test taking.
A. incorrect because it has a negative sign when it should be positive
B. tempting wrong answer because it was stated in the passage, but it does not answer the question
C. incorrect because it lists the opposite effect of the data in the passage
D. correct answer because it fits the conclusion of the passage and has the correct sign convention.
Do this for several questions, and your test taking will improve in all sections. Surprisingly, many of the same tricks used in the sciences work in verbal and vice versa.
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At the risk of being the bad guy here, I want to chime in and remind you to be realistic about the score you think you should/are able to get.
I got a 28 the first time I took it (10, 9, 9) and I studied from June to early September. After realistically considering how much I studied and the actual quality of the studying done, I realized that I hadn't done much. I didn't take any practice full lengths, I didn't do any VR practice, and I didn't do any passages. I only did the EK chapter problems (and I didn't even do all of those). I didn't study in undergrad and got C's in Physics 1, Chem1, Chem 2, Organic 1, and Organic 2 so I didn't really know the material to begin with. I was also sick on test day. All of that considered, I think that it's very possible for me to score a few points above 30 if I fully commit to preparing for my retake.
As others have said, maybe you didn't prepare right (lots of prep isn't the same as good prep) the first time, but it looks like you did about the same on all of your practice FLs. From my point of view (e.g I don't know anything about you, I don't know how intelligent you are) it looks like your potential is a 32 (I took the 3 highest scores from your practice FLs). You should only retake if you honestly (HONESTLY) think you can improve significantly.
A 24 is much better than retaking and getting a 25.
I got a 28 the first time I took it (10, 9, 9) and I studied from June to early September. After realistically considering how much I studied and the actual quality of the studying done, I realized that I hadn't done much. I didn't take any practice full lengths, I didn't do any VR practice, and I didn't do any passages. I only did the EK chapter problems (and I didn't even do all of those). I didn't study in undergrad and got C's in Physics 1, Chem1, Chem 2, Organic 1, and Organic 2 so I didn't really know the material to begin with. I was also sick on test day. All of that considered, I think that it's very possible for me to score a few points above 30 if I fully commit to preparing for my retake.
As others have said, maybe you didn't prepare right (lots of prep isn't the same as good prep) the first time, but it looks like you did about the same on all of your practice FLs. From my point of view (e.g I don't know anything about you, I don't know how intelligent you are) it looks like your potential is a 32 (I took the 3 highest scores from your practice FLs). You should only retake if you honestly (HONESTLY) think you can improve significantly.
A 24 is much better than retaking and getting a 25.
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