pushmckoy

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Hey everyone!

Just wanted some insight on the basis of my scoring on my previous practice MCAT exams. I know these questions are rather redundant, but am seeking peoples advice since I'm sure others have similar inquires. I have recently taken 3 total practice exams so far, but don't know how to scale my progress.

For background knowledge I recently finished grad school program (SpecialMastersProgram) in Biomedical sciences, which was a year long program full of first year med school classes. For prep, I'm using primarily TBR for content review, going through about a chapter a day and doing all 100 Qs at the end of the chapter. Then, referencing Khan Academy for additional info I'm not sure about. Also, reviewing Anki note cards every day. Feel like more than anything content isn't the issue its more so test taking strategies. I'm currently about 70% through all my content review.

Overall goal is 508+

Here are my scores so far after the first 4-5 weeks of studying:

494- Kaplan practice test #2 (PS 124, CARS 123, BS 124, Psych 123) Scared S**tless after seeing this. Took this 2 weeks into intial studying to see where I'm at. Disclaimer: This was especially traumatic since this is what I scored the first time I took the MCAT a a couple years ago so it brought back horrible memories :bang:.

~2.5-3 weeks of intense studying later:
502- NS diagnostic (PS 126, CARS 123, BS 126, Psych 127)
505- NS FL#1 (PS 127, CARS 125, BS 127, Psych 126)

Since there is such a large gap between scores I'm trying to gauge my progress. My plan is to take test from various test companies but understand that clearly the scoring is very different. I know the AAMC Sample and Q pks are the holy grail of studying but want to wait at least until I take a few more practice exams and finish my content review before I use them. What do y'all think? I'm open to hear, advice or recommendations for other practice test and study tips.

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this may not be helpful, but my NS test scores were around 507-509 consistently, and I scored ten points higher on the actual MCAT. I felt like those exams were much harder than the real one (I def overthought a lot of the questions on the real thing bc I was used to more complicated questions)!

it can be hard to gauge your progress because of difficulty/scoring differences of various exams, so i would recommend primarily focusing on why you got each question right or wrong (which is what everyone says, i know i know). understanding what each question is looking for/how it is trying to trick you also helps a lot. as for other study tips, I found khan academy samples passages helpful :) good luck!
 
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this may not be helpful, but my NS test scores were around 507-509 consistently, and I scored ten points higher on the actual MCAT. I felt like those exams were much harder than the real one (I def overthought a lot of the questions on the real thing bc I was used to more complicated questions)!

it can be hard to gauge your progress because of difficulty/scoring differences of various exams, so i would recommend primarily focusing on why you got each question right or wrong (which is what everyone says, i know i know). understanding what each question is looking for/how it is trying to trick you also helps a lot. as for other study tips, I found khan academy samples passages helpful :) good luck!

Thanks. This actually helps ALOT! I'm finding myself missing a lot more of the straightforward "easy" questions bc Im overthinking it, I find in TBR usually there is no such thing as straightforward lol. So you're saying regardless of the scoring reviewing the exams were probably the most helpful in preparing and learning test taking strategies? @tessellate
 
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Does anyone know where i can get FREE aamc practice exams or FL? I'm currently studying for MCAT, have just started this week. I'm taking my MCAT in September. I am nervous and dying with all the biology I'm studying and how much information there is. I am using Kaplan textbooks 2016.
 
Thanks. This actually helps ALOT! I'm finding myself missing a lot more of the straightforward "easy" questions bc Im overthinking it, I find in TBR usually there is no such thing as straightforward lol. So you're saying regardless of the scoring reviewing the exams were probably the most helpful in preparing and learning test taking strategies? @tessellate

Yes! reviewing helped so much. I made different columns while reviewing and put each question I got wrong under a category such as "Missed because I overthought this", "Missed because I missed a key word in passage", "Missed because I did not know this science fact", etc. (It's also good to go over the ones you got right in case you guessed on those.) Overall, it was interesting seeing where you mess up the most and then figuring out how to fix it for the next practice exam
 
Hey guys,

Just received my May MCAT score results and I'm not too happy with what I got....received well below a 500 to say the least. I used Kaplan books to review the content, and only fixated on Kaplan resources for the past few months. I would review 2-3 chapters a day, take solid notes on those, and then do about 50-60 practice passages associated with the content from those chapters, and make notecards on the topics I missed. I'm just wondering, what other study strategies do you guys suggest? I'm planning to re-sit for the exam this upcoming September, and don't want to make the same mistakes I made. I know not taking a good amount of full length exams was a big problem with my studying method in the past, so I plan to start full lengths every week after I have a solid foundation of the content. Any recommendations on how to study the content? I have EK books that I plan to use, but could use different resources as well. Any recommendations would really help!
 
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Hey guys,

Just received my May MCAT score results and I'm not too happy with what I got....received well below a 500 to say the least. I used Kaplan books to review the content, and only fixated on Kaplan resources for the past few months. I would review 2-3 chapters a day, take solid notes on those, and then do about 50-60 practice passages associated with the content from those chapters, and make notecards on the topics I missed. I'm just wondering, what other study strategies do you guys suggest? I'm planning to re-sit for the exam this upcoming September, and don't want to make the same mistakes I made. I know not taking a good amount of full length exams was a big problem with my studying method in the past, so I plan to start full lengths every week after I have a solid foundation of the content. Any recommendations on how to study the content? I have EK books that I plan to use, but could use different resources as well. Any recommendations would really help!

did you do well on the practice passages you did for each chapter? there really is no better resource than full length exams, even redoing some to see if you make the same mistakes. also, were you nervous during the real exam or run out of time? that's another thing practice tests prepare you for (maybe not the nervousness thing, but time management and pushing through mental exhaustion!)

good luck on studying/your next test! even though your first score may be disappointing, it's great that you still have all the study resources, notes, and notecards from the first time around so you can spend less time on that (although still super important) and more time learning test strategies!
 
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Look into Berkley Review books, subsitute some kaplan in. Take next step exams and the AAMC full lengths. Also, look at the 100 day study plan and try to follow it, I didn't do great on the MCAT but i did get abover a 500 and this seemed to help for me.
 
So update... I'm about 2 weeks out from my MCAT and just took the AAMC FL1 test scored 508 C/P: 129 CARS:123 B/B:129 P/S:127
I'm a little upset with the CARS given I've been scoring between 125-127 on all other exams but guess I'll just have to make some quick adjustments and start practicing more with the AAMC material. Thanks for the advice from all you btw! I have adopted some of your suggestions and they seem to be working.

Lets hope I can get my score up a few more points before test day.
 
If you're doing that on the AAMC i'd say its a decent predictor. I think I scored 2 points above my AAMC score... and it's lower than yours, and I have 2 II already with D.O. schools to just give you an indiciation. With a 505-508 you'd be a shoe in for D.O. and would get some love from MD schools... so just don't stress, keep studying and pursuing that dream.
 
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Any advices or tips about how to tackle in the Biology passages? I am struggling there and in Cars too
 
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Any advices or tips about how to tackle in the Biology passages? I am struggling there and in Cars too

@Lamegane Try practicing with easier material and then work your way up. The good thing is that you're aware of your areas of weakness. Develop a study plan and stick to it :)
 
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So update... I'm about 2 weeks out from my MCAT and just took the AAMC FL1 test scored 508 C/P: 129 CARS:123 B/B:129 P/S:127
I'm a little upset with the CARS given I've been scoring between 125-127 on all other exams but guess I'll just have to make some quick adjustments and start practicing more with the AAMC material. Thanks for the advice from all you btw! I have adopted some of your suggestions and they seem to be working.

Lets hope I can get my score up a few more points before test day.

@pushmckoy With two weeks to go, practicing CARS passages and reading good solutions may be the best way to go.
 
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