When I stumbled upon SDN it was like a treasure chest of information that truly helps not only on the MCAT, but also eases some nerves by networking with other students. As far as the MCAT goes on my first diagnostic I got a 17 then every two weeks I took an mcat to see the progress. Now the curious thing about the MCAT is that you can be well versed in the sciences; however, still do poorly on the test. This should come to no surprise to anyone, by the time most of us take the test we are in our third or fourth year of college and we sort of forget the simple concepts. So I've taken my last two MCATs and got 34 on AAMC 9 and a 36 on AAMC 10. Here is a little formula I used to keep edging my score up.
You can not expect to jump 10 points from studying a few MCAT topics, this is unrealistc. In the same light it is unrealistic to to attempt all 52 questions in Physical and Biological sciences and 40 questions in verbal. Let me rephrase it is unrealistic during your practice time!!!! You want to always put an answer down, but you want to build your stamina and your confidence at the same time. So here we go.
1.) Take a diagnostic test, see where you are. Do not get discouraged if you get a bad score, even if your test in a month. Remember the MCAT is a thinking test so your score will not only reflect your knowledge set, but your attitude as well. One other thing be sure, I don't know if I need to say this, try as much as possible to simulate a testing environment. got to a library and where earplugs/headphones. You will be surprised how uncomfortable you will be if it is oyur first time trying to take a test with this tools in/over your ears. It's odd and the last thing you want to worry about on test day is the emptiness in your head or the pain from an earplug inserted too far haha.
2.) Review your test, NOT ONLY THE WRONG ONES! Review the right ones because these our your strength areas and you want to be able to confirm to yourself that you know how to do them, because come test day you will answer them in literally <10 seconds, saving time for any surprise questions. I did this in two different ways, I started on a piece of paper just writing the topic then I would write why I got it wrong or right and any sort of formulas that may need to be used, then moved on. Or, you could do it in excel spread sheet and have a tab for physical sciences, verbal, and biological sciences. Within those columns for question number, right or wrong, reason, formula. I would say in your first couple of test it is ok to skip the writing section because it is a make or break sort of section and it is very easy to pick up on the strategy in which they want you to write this in. Definitely once test day is a week or two a way start taking verbal to just get over the fatigue. If it took you 5 hours to take the test it should take you 4-5 hours to review the whole thing, especially in the PHYS AND BIO sections.
3.) Before you take you next exam use this FORMULA: (number correct in section * 20%) + number correct. This number tells you basically how many to attempt in the next test. instead of going for the whole 52 only do the number outputted and guess on the rest. I know this seems counter intuitive, but you are incrementally increasing your score by increasing your accuracy. You should expect to get 90% of the calculated number correct and a 20% increase in your previous score is a dramatic increase. Then on the next test do the same thing and so and so forth.
I took the test every two weeks and made sure that during those 2 weeks I was not only studying, but doing at least 104 questions a day in MCAT. Like 52 physics questions and 52 chemistry question in the exam krackers 1001 series. I would also do 1-2 verbal sections a week (this is 7 passages for those who do not know how many passages there are in a verbal section). Verbal is not difficult, it may seem difficult, but you are only discouraging yourself for thinking that way. If there is any section to shine in it would be verbal because there isn't any outside knowledge you need to bring its all in the passage. Take advantage of that and try to build your stamina for this section. What I found helpful for verbal, this may seem silly, but I do all of mine on the computer and I will highlight an entire paragraph and read it then when I am done I will unhighlight, highlight what I find interest (eg. words I do not know or main ideas), then highlight the next passage. I have an extremely difficult time paying attention in verbal and there is something about the yellow highlight that just draws all my attention against the white background.
My trend
AAMC 3 6P 7V 3B
AAMC 4 6P 8V 7B
AAMC 5 8P 8V 8B
AAMC 7 8P 9V 9B
AAMC 8 10P 8V 9B
AAMC 9 13P 9V 12B
AAMC 10 13P 10V 13B
AAMC 11 TBD
Remember, test day is going to be stressful and you may not score ideally as you have on your practice, but you've prepared for this moment and if you build your confidence outside the test and make that test your bitch, well needless to say, you will do great. PM if you need any other advice.
I take my test July 6, so hopefully I'll be seeing you guys come the interview cycles
You can not expect to jump 10 points from studying a few MCAT topics, this is unrealistc. In the same light it is unrealistic to to attempt all 52 questions in Physical and Biological sciences and 40 questions in verbal. Let me rephrase it is unrealistic during your practice time!!!! You want to always put an answer down, but you want to build your stamina and your confidence at the same time. So here we go.
1.) Take a diagnostic test, see where you are. Do not get discouraged if you get a bad score, even if your test in a month. Remember the MCAT is a thinking test so your score will not only reflect your knowledge set, but your attitude as well. One other thing be sure, I don't know if I need to say this, try as much as possible to simulate a testing environment. got to a library and where earplugs/headphones. You will be surprised how uncomfortable you will be if it is oyur first time trying to take a test with this tools in/over your ears. It's odd and the last thing you want to worry about on test day is the emptiness in your head or the pain from an earplug inserted too far haha.
2.) Review your test, NOT ONLY THE WRONG ONES! Review the right ones because these our your strength areas and you want to be able to confirm to yourself that you know how to do them, because come test day you will answer them in literally <10 seconds, saving time for any surprise questions. I did this in two different ways, I started on a piece of paper just writing the topic then I would write why I got it wrong or right and any sort of formulas that may need to be used, then moved on. Or, you could do it in excel spread sheet and have a tab for physical sciences, verbal, and biological sciences. Within those columns for question number, right or wrong, reason, formula. I would say in your first couple of test it is ok to skip the writing section because it is a make or break sort of section and it is very easy to pick up on the strategy in which they want you to write this in. Definitely once test day is a week or two a way start taking verbal to just get over the fatigue. If it took you 5 hours to take the test it should take you 4-5 hours to review the whole thing, especially in the PHYS AND BIO sections.
3.) Before you take you next exam use this FORMULA: (number correct in section * 20%) + number correct. This number tells you basically how many to attempt in the next test. instead of going for the whole 52 only do the number outputted and guess on the rest. I know this seems counter intuitive, but you are incrementally increasing your score by increasing your accuracy. You should expect to get 90% of the calculated number correct and a 20% increase in your previous score is a dramatic increase. Then on the next test do the same thing and so and so forth.
I took the test every two weeks and made sure that during those 2 weeks I was not only studying, but doing at least 104 questions a day in MCAT. Like 52 physics questions and 52 chemistry question in the exam krackers 1001 series. I would also do 1-2 verbal sections a week (this is 7 passages for those who do not know how many passages there are in a verbal section). Verbal is not difficult, it may seem difficult, but you are only discouraging yourself for thinking that way. If there is any section to shine in it would be verbal because there isn't any outside knowledge you need to bring its all in the passage. Take advantage of that and try to build your stamina for this section. What I found helpful for verbal, this may seem silly, but I do all of mine on the computer and I will highlight an entire paragraph and read it then when I am done I will unhighlight, highlight what I find interest (eg. words I do not know or main ideas), then highlight the next passage. I have an extremely difficult time paying attention in verbal and there is something about the yellow highlight that just draws all my attention against the white background.
My trend
AAMC 3 6P 7V 3B
AAMC 4 6P 8V 7B
AAMC 5 8P 8V 8B
AAMC 7 8P 9V 9B
AAMC 8 10P 8V 9B
AAMC 9 13P 9V 12B
AAMC 10 13P 10V 13B
AAMC 11 TBD
Remember, test day is going to be stressful and you may not score ideally as you have on your practice, but you've prepared for this moment and if you build your confidence outside the test and make that test your bitch, well needless to say, you will do great. PM if you need any other advice.
I take my test July 6, so hopefully I'll be seeing you guys come the interview cycles
