MCAT Studying advice???

[gibzfl]

Hey guys! This is going to seem like a weird post however I’m relatively “lost” and may just want to rant or be given some reassuring affirmations. I am taking the MCAT August 1st and have been studying since the first week of May. I am in an examkrackers prep course, however the pre course is kinda a waste of money since the lectures have poor audio quality and are typically a medical student reading off a PowerPoint. That being said the EK books are pretty good and help you understand the information. I just graduated from college this spring, so I have been relying LESS on spoon-feeding myself information and more on drilling questions into my brain. That being said, I feel like EK exams are really hard. Like TOO HARD, and it seems as if every question requires an extreme amount of analysis to come to a conclusion. Has anyone else had this experience? The EK exams are all I have taken thus far, and I have been more focusing on going back through them to understand the concepts and problems. I recently bought the AAMC question pack and have been going through those in addition to EK prep course materials. I do not know what score I am expected to be achieving on the real MCAT because EK only gives you the percentage of questions you got right, not a really MCAT scaled score (ie 510). When I take EK exams I get roughly 50-60% of the questions right. So my plan for the remainder of the three weeks I have left is to give myself an official AAMC practice test to gauge my score and to keep drilling the AAMC questions. Of course I wuld like to do really well on the MCAT (above a 515) but at the bare minimum I would like at least a 508. Please let me know if you have run into similar thought processes while studying, or if you think I am (have) been doing enough to study for this exam.

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[GreenDuck12]

Based on what you wrote above, I highly recommend finding a private tutor to help you identify what you need to focus on, create and execute a plan to prepare for the mcat, and course correct as you go. It doesn’t need to be one of the crazy expensive tutors you see online and through test companies. Just someone who has been through the exam and can point you in the right direction and give you advice. I specifically recommend a tutor and not a class because your issues sound less like content issues and more like you just need guidance and advice which is hard to get from an online video course. If you feel like you need help to really learn the material then a class would be a good option. I hired a private tutor during my mcat prep for less than a couple hundred dollars over the course of three months and it was invaluable for me. I knew that I didn’t need help learning the content or being disciplined with studying but instead needed help figuring out when I lost for forest for the trees so to speak. It’s a big part of the reason why I tutor now. If you have the means, check online to see if there are any tutors in your area.

 

[gibzfl]

Based on what you wrote above, I highly recommend finding a private tutor to help you identify what you need to focus on, create and execute a plan to prepare for the mcat, and course correct as you go. It doesn’t need to be one of the crazy expensive tutors you see online and through test companies. Just someone who has been through the exam and can point you in the right direction and give you advice. I specifically recommend a tutor and not a class because your issues sound less like content issues and more like you just need guidance and advice which is hard to get from an online video course. If you feel like you need help to really learn the material then a class would be a good option. I hired a private tutor during my mcat prep for less than a couple hundred dollars over the course of three months and it was invaluable for me. I knew that I didn’t need help learning the content or being disciplined with studying but instead needed help figuring out when I lost for forest for the trees so to speak. It’s a big part of the reason why I tutor now. If you have the means, check online to see if there are any tutors in your area.

Thanks! I am not really sure about searching for a tutor online given the fact that i already spent 1,700 dollars on a prep course and the virus. I am not really interested in searching for a tutor given that I have three weeks of studying left, just more talking about strategies and studying.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Then start with a scored FL exam instead of the unscored one. You’re going to need to do two FL exams per week till test day to get through them all. Make sure you go through the section bank and cars qpacks as well. Thoroughly review each question you get wrong. Your a bit close to your exam date to really do a lot of course correcting. As you get closer, trust the trend in your scores as well as the average. If your scores are static or declining, you should push. If one section is persistently below a 125, you should push. Ideally, you want to see a rise in your overall and subsection score week by week. Pay attention to the wording of questions and answers in the AAMC material. They are very exacting in their word choice and are not careless like 3rd party providers.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Do the AAMC FL exams to see how you're actually doing. Don't trust third-party scores.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

It's time to go all in on AAMC exams and see where you are at. Learn from your mistakes. If you discover you must postpone your exam, than bite the bullet and be ready to invest another $500 or so. Get the books on the SDN 100-day list. They are the very best in each section and will get you in the right mindset to do well on the exam.

 

[deleted987875]

I'm using Princeton Review to study for the MCAT. I’m currently finishing up going through content for biology since it’s a lot of material. I find that it helps me to read the chapters and take notes, then do practice passages in the Princeton science workbook. I’ve also been doing practice passages on AAMC.
In terms of retaining information, I’ve been working on study guides for each subject and I have just started practicing spaced repetition where I review my notes for each subject everyday.
Is this a good study strategy? I know that the MCAT is not a memorization test, but you still need to have some good solid foundational knowledge on the different subjects.

I have pretty much read and taken notes in all of the other Princeton Review books (general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and psych/soc). Physics is the only subject that I have not really studied at all for yet. I currently have a test date of August 29th

 

[GreenDuck12]

Reviewing notes is low yield - far too passive to make a significant impact in one’s performance. You need to engage with more active learning strategies. Writing notes and rereading them is one thing. Drawing concept maps and explaining the similarities/differences/consequences of different pathways is more active. The MCAT presents very few questions based on memorization. It presents many more questions based in concepts but presented in novel situations as described in the passage, graphs, and diagrams. Learning to work with passages and reason you way to the right answer will be much more impactful on your performance.

 

[deleted987875]

Reviewing notes is low yield - far too passive to make a significant impact in one’s performance. You need to engage with more active learning strategies. Writing notes and rereading them is one thing. Drawing concept maps and explaining the similarities/differences/consequences of different pathways is more active. The MCAT presents very few questions based on memorization. It presents many more questions based in concepts but presented in novel situations as described in the passage, graphs, and diagrams. Learning to work with passages and reason you way to the right answer will be much more impactful on your performance.

Yes I've been both reviewing my notes with spaced repetition and doing lots of AAMC practice passages and FSQ questions! And I if I get a question wrong, I always read the full explanations for why it is wrong