MCAT Self-Study Guide from a 524 scorer

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mcatdoggo

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hey y'all I wrote an MCAT guide for some friends and it blew up, hope it's helpful here. It's got info on making a study schedule, high yield topics, CARS advice, etc. I'd appreciate any suggestions or opinions.

Here it is!

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Wow thanks!

Also any tips for physics/organic chemistry?

I've been using Exam Krackers for these sections and it's not going so well. I was going to switch and use the Berkeley review, but Khan seems promising based on your score haha


And lol at neurotic premeds
 
Wow thanks!

Also any tips for physics/organic chemistry?

I've been using Exam Krackers for these sections and it's not going so well. I was going to switch and use the Berkeley review, but Khan seems promising based on your score haha


And lol at neurotic premeds



practice practice practice! for physics and ochem, i would recommend focusing on practice problems from practice exams. these will be very different from the kinds of standalone problems you will find, regarding things like the difficulty of calculations and the topics that are emphasized. the calculations on the mcat are (relatively) simple (no calculators needed, no crazy lever/pulley systems) but the difficulty lies more in knowing what topic the question is actually asking about.
 
hey y'all I wrote an MCAT guide for some friends and it blew up, hope it's helpful here. It's got info on making a study schedule, high yield topics, CARS advice, etc. I'd appreciate any suggestions or opinions.

Here it is!

How old is this? No AAMC scored test 2, only 4 NS Fl exams? Did you not have all 10 NS exams or all AAMC tests? I have all 10 NS exams and so far 1-5 were really good, are they all that good?
 
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Took the real MCAT at the end of summer 2016, before AAMC 2 came out. I didn't feel like I needed to take more exams than I did, though I wish I had taken some earlier instead of cramming a bunch into a two week span. And having AAMC 2 would've made my life so much better, I had no way of knowing how well I was doing until I took AAMC 1 the week of the exam.
 
Dude, you're amazing! Thanks so much!

How do you feel about only using these materials: TBR and KA for content review and the AAMC question pack (the one for ~200)?

Should I add anything else?
 
Don't know much about TBR but I'm sure it's fine. I love KA, though video format isn't for everyone. You're gonna need more AAMC materials, the QP is based on the old exam format. Check out my reviews of the AAMC materials, they're pricey but they're the most important investment.
 
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Thanks for this! Super helpful!

Just out of curiosity how accurate/indicative were your practice scores of you actual score?
 
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In chronological order:

AAMC Sample: 87% (83/92/88/85), untimed and open notes

TPR Diagnostic: 506 (125/128/126/127), untimed

EK1: 72%, (68, 81, 63, 76), untimed

AAMC SB: 85% (C/P), 82% (B/B), 81% (P/S), untimed

NS1: 513 (129, 128, 128, 128)

NS2: fell asleep//gave up halfway thru lol

NS3: 509 (126, 127, 127, 129)

NS4: 509 (127, 126, 128, 128)

AAMC QP: 87.5% (physics), 88.3% (chem), 87% (cars), untimed

AAMC Scored: 523 (130,132,131,130)

Real MCAT: 524 (131,131,132,130)
 
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For those of us who are waiting for our January scores to come back :depressed:, would you mind telling us how you felt during the real MCAT vs. AAMC Scored/other practice tests? I am holding on to hope that the AAMC FL 1 is supposed to be the most representative of what you will score on the actual MCAT (even though the actual MCAT felt harder for me), and I see that your scores lined up pretty well!
 
The real thing felt very different both because of adrenaline and bc some of the sections (esp C/P and CARS) had some passages that I found especially difficult. As far as I know, it's very unlikely that you will score more than 3 points off your FL1 score. TBH I literally felt nauseous the whole month of waiting for my score, and the only thing that helped was distracting myself. The waiting is hard because everything is out of your hands at this point, so my advice is to just focus on other things in your life as much as you can.
 
hey y'all I wrote an MCAT guide for some friends and it blew up, hope it's helpful here. It's got info on making a study schedule, high yield topics, CARS advice, etc. I'd appreciate any suggestions or opinions.

Here it is!


Did you computerize those flashcards you made on Anki or anything similar? If you, it would be much appreciated if you share them with us!
 
For those of us who are waiting for our January scores to come back :depressed:, would you mind telling us how you felt during the real MCAT vs. AAMC Scored/other practice tests? I am holding on to hope that the AAMC FL 1 is supposed to be the most representative of what you will score on the actual MCAT (even though the actual MCAT felt harder for me), and I see that your scores lined up pretty well!
Everything I've heard (I'll know for sure in about a month) is that the section bank is much more representative of the difficulty and style of the new MCAT.

Scored test 1, scored test 2 and the sample test are reported to be easier than the new test. In addition, they all contain old passages the AAMC recycled from pre-2015 prep materials they used to sell.
 
Everything I've heard (I'll know for sure in about a month) is that the section bank is much more representative of the difficulty and style of the new MCAT.

Scored test 1, scored test 2 and the sample test are reported to be easier than the new test. In addition, they all contain old passages the AAMC recycled from pre-2015 prep materials they used to sell.

Well I've already taken the MCAT haha (I was on Jan. 28), so I'm well aware of what the MCAT looks like. I was just personally wondering how the OP felt on the real vs. official AAMC FLs to try to make myself feel better while waiting for my scores to come back :p
 
Well I've already taken the MCAT haha (I was on Jan. 28), so I'm well aware of what the MCAT looks like. I was just personally wondering how the OP felt on the real vs. official AAMC FLs to try to make myself feel better while waiting for my scores to come back :p
Just remember, the harder the test the more lenient the curve will be.
 
Just remember, the harder the test the more lenient the curve will be.

The real problem is that I'm just an impatient soul :rolleyes:. I'm anticipating the Jan 19. score release tomorrow to assuage some of my anxiety (I expect that the majority of people currently freaking out about how impossible that exam was end up scoring as expected, due to the curve you're talking about). I do truly have so much more free time now that I'm not studying all the time for the MCAT, however, it will be nice to finally get my score back so I'm not thinking about that all the time, too!
 
Well I've already taken the MCAT haha (I was on Jan. 28), so I'm well aware of what the MCAT looks like. I was just personally wondering how the OP felt on the real vs. official AAMC FLs to try to make myself feel better while waiting for my scores to come back :p
I thought that's what my post got across, the level of difficulty of the real MCAT compared to the AAMC practice material. I did not mention anything about the look of the exam so I do not know where your statement came from.

If you have taken the real thing, can you not answer your own question about how the material relates to what you saw? Or, are you actually asking for how that person's personal feelings on test day matched up with their personal feelings after taking the practice tests? if so, that seems utterly worthless to me. Feelings are irrelevant, your scores are not. Especially as you have already taken the real exam. I would ask them how their Scored test 1, scored Test 2 performance matches up to their real test day performance, or what they considered the level of difficulty to be compared to the previous AAMC material they had seen. These are more fact based, and useful piece of information. But to each their own.
 
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Just remember, the harder the test the more lenient the curve will be.
The AAMC has stated over and over again our scores are generated from such a large cohort, that each exam is, on average, the same level of difficulty. As far as your own personal struggles with the test that day, I fail to see how that would somehow raise your score. Looking at all the old and current AAMC data since I've been studying, there was, at best, a 1-2 Q fluctuation from what a 127 (an old 10, or min score needed to gain admission, on average) is compared to a perfect 132 (old 15). There is no curve, unless we have to hope a tens of thousands of under and unprepared students take the MCAT in the same window we are, and then get the same exam we did, and then score much worse than us compared to the giant cohort that is used to generate our scaled scores.

Can anyone help put this myth to bed or not? If it's true, that would be helpful as well.
 
The AAMC has stated over and over again our scores are generated from such a large cohort, that each exam is, on average, the same level of difficulty. As far as your own personal struggles with the test that day, I fail to see how that would somehow raise your score. Looking at all the old and current AAMC data since I've been studying, there was, at best, a 1-2 Q fluctuation from what a 127 (an old 10, or min score needed to gain admission, on average) is compared to a perfect 132 (old 15). There is no curve, unless we have to hope a tens of thousands of under and unprepared students take the MCAT in the same window we are, and then get the same exam we did, and then score much worse than us compared to the giant cohort that is used to generate our scaled scores.

Can anyone help put this myth to bed or not? If it's true, that would be helpful as well.


I'm going by the way the AAMC describes their scoring process. "Curve" was a misnomer; there is NO curve based on how you compare to other students on your test day. But the conversion from raw scores (# of correct answers) to scaled scores (118-132) IS predetermined based on the difficulty of a given test. Hence, missing 3 questions on the AAMC scored practice exam COULD potentially come out to the same score as missing 6 questions on the real test.
 
I thought that's what my post got across, the level of difficulty of the real MCAT compared to the AAMC practice material. I did not mention anything about the look of the exam so I do not know where your statement came from.

If you have taken the real thing, can you not answer your own question about how the material relates to what you saw? Or, are you actually asking for how that person's personal feelings on test day matched up with their personal feelings after taking the practice tests? if so, that seems utterly worthless to me. Feelings are irrelevant, your scores are not. Especially as you have already taken the real exam. I would ask them how their Scored test 1, scored Test 2 performance matches up to their real test day performance, or what they considered the level of difficulty to be compared to the previous AAMC material they had seen. These are more fact based, and useful piece of information. But to each their own.

What my question was trying to get at is the fact that many people who end up scoring very well (either at or above their AAMC average) also feel horrible coming out of the MCAT exam. I personally felt a mixture of "eh" and numbness. While personal feelings may be irrelevant and worthless to you, that's what I'm currently interested in because I am still waiting for my scores to come out.

There is already a lot of data out there about practice MCAT scores vs. real scores, which I have analyzed a ridiculous number of times after I've taken the MCAT. I've counted the number of people with my AAMC FL score, and calculated the average real MCAT score that they recieved. None of this helps with the anxiety that is waiting for my MCAT score to be released, which is why I find asking about feelings helpful. It does make me feel better to know that how you feel on test day isn't necessarily representative of how you ultimately score. Because the AAMC FLs are easier than the real MCAT, it adds a layer of uncertainty because you begin to wonder how predictive these FLs can be, and you begin to worry that you did not score as well as your AAMC FLs would predict.

You also have to take into account that the majority of people who post their scores online do so because they are happy with their scores. A person who went from a 517 AAMC to a 511 real MCAT is just as fact-based as a person who went from a 511 AAMC to a 517 MCAT, but that fact doesn't really help you when you're waiting for your scores to come back. Maybe after you take your MCAT you'll be able to shut it away for a month while you wait for your scores, I don't know, but I have definitely had a hard time not thinking about it. That's why I care about feelings.
 
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I'm going by the way the AAMC describes their scoring process. "Curve" was a misnomer; there is NO curve based on how you compare to other students on your test day. But the conversion from raw scores (# of correct answers) to scaled scores (118-132) IS predetermined based on the difficulty of a given test. Hence, missing 3 questions on the AAMC scored practice exam COULD potentially come out to the same score as missing 6 questions on the real test.
Thanks, that does help! But, like the old MCAT, will this really fluctuate more than 1-2 Qs in a given section? If not, then there is a minimal impact here. And "hard" or easy is incredibly subjective, which is why the AAMC aims to make each exam about as even as possible, for the average test taker. Otherwise, one could just get "lucky" and score significantly higher.

You missed the paragraph below what you quote:

"While there may be small differences in the MCAT exam you took compared to another examinee, the scoring process accounts for these differences. For example, a 124 earned on, the Critical Analysis and Reasoning section of one exam means the same thing as a 124 earned on that section on any other exam. How you score on the MCAT exam is not reflective of the particular exam you took—including the time of day, the test date, or the time of year—since any difference in difficulty level is accounted for when calculating your scaled scores (see above for information about scaling)."

So by definition, you can get a "more forgiving" scale on a tougher exam, but if its tougher, then you will likely not get as many correct. Your score is still your ability, you cannot game the system or luck out with a real hard exam right? I don't think your scenario of 3 more questions wrong staying the same score is possible, and from what AAMC raw to scale data there is, there is no evidence of that big a discrepancy. Would that not undermine the consistency and standardization of the exam itself?

Either way, good luck to us all, just be careful about spreading misinformation or misunderstanding of information.
 
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What my question was trying to get at is the fact that many people who end up scoring very well (either at or above their AAMC average) also feel horrible coming out of the MCAT exam. I personally felt a mixture of "eh" and numbness. While personal feelings may be irrelevant and worthless to you, that's what I'm currently interested in because I am still waiting for my scores to come out.

There is already a lot of data out there about practice MCAT scores vs. real scores, which I have analyzed a ridiculous number of times after I've taken the MCAT. I've counted the number of people with my AAMC FL score, and calculated the average real MCAT score that they recieved. None of this helps with the anxiety that is waiting for my MCAT score to be released, which is why I find asking about feelings helpful. It does make me feel better to know that how you feel on test day isn't necessarily representative of how you ultimately score. Because the AAMC FLs are easier than the real MCAT, it adds a layer of uncertainty because you begin to wonder how predictive these FLs can be, and you begin to worry that you did not score as well as your AAMC FLs would predict.

You also have to take into account that the majority of people who post their scores online do so because they are happy with their scores. A person who went from a 517 AAMC to a 511 real MCAT is just as fact-based as a person who went from a 511 AAMC to a 517 MCAT, but that fact doesn't really help you when you're waiting for your scores to come back. Maybe after you take your MCAT you'll be able to shut it away for a month while you wait for your scores, I don't know, but I have definitely had a hard time not thinking about it. That's why I care about feelings.
I understand now that you are nervous/anxious and just want something to think about, to make your anxiety/nerves less scary? Something to justify it is ok to feel that way and still get a good score? If so I get it, but still do not understand it. Your feelings are subjective, and will not affect your scores whatsoever now that the exam is done. Has anyone met anyone who came out of their MCAT feeling fantastic and then get an amazing score? The exam is supposed to be tough, right? Feeling exhausted, worn out, "meh" or challenged when you are done would be a good sign IMO.

If it helps you though, then I hope you do feel better. I don't want to come across as too logical or uncaring, so we agree to disagree. Good luck to you!
 
So by definition, you can get a "more forgiving" scale on a tougher exam, but if its tougher, then you will likely not get as many correct. Your score is still your ability, you cannot game the system or luck out with a real hard exam right? I don't think your scenario of 3 more questions wrong staying the same score is possible, and from what AAMC raw to scale data there is, there is no evidence of that big a discrepancy. Would that not undermine the consistency and standardization of the exam itself?

You're putting words in my mouth there. I'm not saying you can game the system, my point was exactly the opposite. I mentioned above that it's pretty likely that your actual score is within 3 points of the results from the AAMC Scored practice exam. I got that number based on the AAMC's confidence bands and from the spreadsheet where people post practice scores compared to their real scores. Subsection scores have a confidence bands of +/-1 (eg 129-131 for a score of 130) and exam scores have a confidence band of +/-2 (eg 499-503 for a score of 501). So if the AAMC's system was perfect (it's not but it is very good) then your Scored practice exam score wouldn't be far off from your actual score, even if you felt the actual exam was much harder.
 
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@mcatdoggo I'd say don't even pay attention you did more than enough for us all by posting the great review people have to stop taking a helpful hand and kindness for granted.


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I understand now that you are nervous/anxious and just want something to think about, to make your anxiety/nerves less scary? Something to justify it is ok to feel that way and still get a good score? If so I get it, but still do not understand it. Your feelings are subjective, and will not affect your scores whatsoever now that the exam is done. Has anyone met anyone who came out of their MCAT feeling fantastic and then get an amazing score? The exam is supposed to be tough, right? Feeling exhausted, worn out, "meh" or challenged when you are done would be a good sign IMO.

If it helps you though, then I hope you do feel better. I don't want to come across as too logical or uncaring, so we agree to disagree. Good luck to you!

Yeah, my boyfriend is the type of person who can decide not to worry about something because there's no use – but that's definitely not me! :( The worst part is that now that the MCAT is over, I have all of this free time to be thinking about things... Anyway, good luck with your MCAT! Glad we cleared things up.
 
@mcatdoggo I'd say don't even pay attention you did more than enough for us all by posting the great review people have to stop taking a helpful hand and kindness for granted.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile


I appreciate it, but no worries. It's hard to convey tone on the Internet and I'm not trying to be combative, just want to make sure my point gets across!
 
You're putting words in my mouth there. I'm not saying you can game the system, my point was exactly the opposite. I mentioned above that it's pretty likely that your actual score is within 3 points of the results from the AAMC Scored practice exam. I got that number based on the AAMC's confidence bands and from the spreadsheet where people post practice scores compared to their real scores. Subsection scores have a confidence bands of +/-1 (eg 129-131 for a score of 130) and exam scores have a confidence band of +/-2 (eg 499-503 for a score of 501). So if the AAMC's system was perfect (it's not but it is very good) then your Scored practice exam score wouldn't be far off from your actual score, even if you felt the actual exam was much harder.
I guess I misunderstood what you said here, or you were not clear enough for me

"Hence, missing 3 questions on the AAMC scored practice exam COULD potentially come out to the same score as missing 6 questions on the real test."

To me that seems you are implying you can get 6 wrong on a given section or 3 wrong on a given section and still get the same scaled score. You did not mention confidence bands (which are a score range, not a scaled score). That is what i think you are wrong about and which contradicts all current and past AAMC MCAT data. If you really meant to say all that other stuff then it was not clear at all. Also, any stats or scores you see posted on SDN or anywhere online w/o a screen shot/pic of a score report may as well be random noise, and are not reliable at all. We have a self-selection bias online + the anonymity of the web + trolls + arrogant jerks looking to put others down which make any of these data unreliable at best and misleading at worst.

Thank for the study guide though, glad it worked for you!
 
you linked to Blind Review method. This seems like it would not work too well for mcat practice, would it? Or maybe take too much time. If I dont know content I can just put "?" next to a Q to remind me later this was content issue. LSAT is basically a gigantic logic test, with no previous content knowledge required, unlike mcat. Now that i think about it, maybe this method would be excellent for CARS only.
 
you linked to Blind Review method. This seems like it would not work too well for mcat practice, would it? Or maybe take too much time. If I dont know content I can just put "?" next to a Q to remind me later this was content issue. LSAT is basically a gigantic logic test, with no previous content knowledge required, unlike mcat. Now that i think about it, maybe this method would be excellent for CARS only.


Feel free to take it or leave it. It does take a while but if you don't spend time reviewing your practice exams you're not going to get the most out of them. One of the main ideas is to review the questions you weren't 100% sure about as thoroughly as the questions you got wrong. Ideally, you will get to a point where you are 100% sure of every answer. I wasn't totally there but I got pretty close. I used a very similar system to 7sage's for my review and it was really effective for all sections. You're right that it was especially helpful for CARS. The MCAT requires content knowledge as well as critical thinking; learning all the content will only take you halfway there.
 
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Great gift to the community, thanks for the help doggo.

My own study plan has been influenced by several, and I've found yours very impactful. Especially with making high quality flashcards, and I am already realizing the benefits. First time I've ever tried studying with flashcards, huge investment of time and effort to create, but they seem awesome for learning. Both when creating them and having to make sure you understand the content before you draw it out on your own, and with the convenience and ease they provide in review content once they are made.

Currently at week 5 (of 14) of studying atm and halfway through content, think I'm already on the path to being more prepared compared to my last MCAT (35 but expiring).

Also I wanted to comment that I've been using Kaplan books for review. I don't like them. I've gone through 50% of my content review in 3 weeks a little supplementation from Khan videos, about 7-9 hours a day, and this past week spent about 9 hours a day making flashcards as a halfway point review. While making flashcards, I used the official "What's on the MCAT" list as a guideline. The reason the cards took so long was because I was going through my Kaplan notes to make them and realizing it doesn't follow the content outline 100%. There were many lines that I felt I only received a shallow review from Kaplan, but Khan had much better depth and perspective with the way they taught specifically required material. There was also a lot of extraneous info in the Kaplan books, and some concept errors/misinformation. I felt duped into spending many hours of time studying things that may have little yield. Overall good material, but I don't think it's efficient.

I also found this site to be useful for filling in gaps that you might have with content outline: http://mcat-review.org/ they provide info in the exact same order/topic as the content outline.

Anyways, I'm planning on using mostly Khan videos for my next 4 weeks to wrap up my content review. I have gotten the impression that everything/anything essential you need to learn is taught there. @mcatdoggo would you say this is the case? What I've been doing going through Kaplan books has worked but it's just not efficient. I've already spent maybe ~180 hours for content review just to get halfway through. I feel like its more than needed and that it'd be better invested with practice problems. Are there other materials you would supplement this with?

Congratz on your great score!
 
Anyways, I'm planning on using mostly Khan videos for my next 4 weeks to wrap up my content review. I have gotten the impression that everything/anything essential you need to learn is taught there. @mcatdoggo would you say this is the case? What I've been doing going through Kaplan books has worked but it's just not efficient. I've already spent maybe ~180 hours for content review just to get halfway through. I feel like its more than needed and that it'd be better invested with practice problems. Are there other materials you would supplement this with?

Congratz on your great score!

Thanks! Congrats on your 35 and good luck on your next round!

I definitely agree with your sentiments on Khan vs Kaplan (also TBR, EK, etc, though I don't have as much exposure to these). The way Khan presents information often corresponds directly with the way AAMC tests it. Still, I recommend testing company books as potential sources of content review for two reasons:
1) The video format of Khan Academy doesn't work for everyone's learning style (although I feel that downloading/printing out the 300 page notes that students have taken on Khan Academy is still a better option than test prep books)
2) Content Review is not as important as practice. Doing practice tests and problems will provide you with the opportunity to fill in any major gaps in content review. Also, by taking the AAMC sample exam early on (two weeks into studying), I familiarized myself with the kind of content and questions that would show up, so when I did use Kaplan materials I was able to ignore the bull**** and focus on the high-yield stuff. Also, I used Kaplan mainly for Gen Chem and Orgo, which may have less variation in content from Khan than Bio or Psych/Soc.

I mainly used Khan so I can vouch for that method. Feel free to skip videos if they seem easy/low-yield. Make sure you do practice problems and practice tests throughout content review. I was never too particular on where my supplementary materials came from as long as I was practicing, though of course my main focus was always AAMC materials. Your plan sounds good, and it looks like you are really studying for the exam as the AAMC makes it, which a lot of folks forget to do.

Also, thanks for linking to that MCAT review site, I'll link it in the doc!
 
Still taking questions//suggestions. I want to make this advice accessible as possible so if anyone knows other places I can post it lmk !
 
hey y'all I wrote an MCAT guide for some friends and it blew up, hope it's helpful here. It's got info on making a study schedule, high yield topics, CARS advice, etc. I'd appreciate any suggestions or opinions.

DO you have the flashcard you made?
 
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