MCAT sucks

[Nanu]

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Hello everyone,

I need advise for applying pod school for fall 2010. Applications will be open on sep 1st and I am registered for mact on sep 4th. I just took kaplan full length test and did horrible on it.
Shud i postpone the test? or any tips on studying effectively?

Thanks

 

[Carbon13]

The way I see it is..... if your probably going to do poorly on the September mcat , you might as well just wait until January or sometime in the spring to take the test.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Here is my take on it. If you take the MCAt on Sep 4th, and do terrible, there is still time to retake before you're out of the running. If you do postpone, and for whatever reason, still do bad, then you might be out of time to retake the test. I guess if you are confident that by postponing the test, you will get a good enough score on your first try, then that is what you should do. Good luck in whatever you choose. The MCAT is a beast of a test!

 

[kamfeets]

i am in the same boat as you. i am signed up for the sep 3rd test and since i worked 40 plus hrs/week and took 9credits of summer school i don't feel as prepared as i should be for the mcat. i am strongly thinking of taking it in january and taking a prep course this fall. we can still apply and be interviewed i'm sure they will just wait to accept us until after the mcat. there were people that took the mcat in late spring early summer and applied in june and still got in for the same year. so i think we should be fine. some reassurance would be nice tho. 🙂????

 

[Sig Savant]

MCAT success depends on what kind of student you are. If you remember some basic science from your college classes, I would simply work on test format. I took the Kaplan class, and mostly what I learned was that you can successfully answer any question with very little background information. You simply need to learn how to break down each question and understand test format. For almost all questions, you can narrow the answers down to two and take a guess. For me, I was the kid that studied only the night before for exams in college and forgot everything the next day. If you are like this, I would suggest simply taking as many tests as possible. My first Kaplan MCAT score was 17. I took 9 tests in 11 days before my actual MCAT, and day after day, my score increased until I hit a 33 two days before the exam. Don't study the day before the exam.

If you have time, I would consider learning as much background science information as possible. Any review book helps, as most information is the same. I have heard exam crackers is the best, but I never used that. I basically blew off my $1700 Kaplan class, but they really did teach me how to dissect each question. I intended to study for many months before the exam, but kept putting it off until the final two weeks. If you are going to keep putting it off, just take it ASAP.

Honestly, I feel it is luck. I excel in genetics, so a genetics passage would help me get almost all the questions right. A passage I knew nothing about would throw me off.

 

[Nanu]

Thanks Sig.This is Inspiring. I have Mcat in about 2 weeks.
What practice test did u use? Kaplan or aamc?

 

[air bud]

wow, Nanu is really inspired.

 

[futurepod2014]

wow, Nanu is really inspired.

Air Bud is perfect, which means he is able to judge people and make condisending comments. Catch my sarcasm?

Either mind your own business or stop posting like a 2 year old....

 

[244869]

...

 

[air bud]

Air Bud is perfect, which means he is able to judge people and make condisending comments. Catch my sarcasm?

Either mind your own business or stop posting like a 2 year old....

For your information futurepod, at the time of posting, it showed his post being repeated 4 times, 1 minute apart each time. Obviously this has been cleared up, and so my post does not make sense.

I guess this is an example of what a reputation can do for you.

 

[futurepod2014]

For your information futurepod, at the time of posting, it showed his post being repeated 4 times, 1 minute apart each time. Obviously this has been cleared up, and so my post does not make sense.

I guess this is an example of what a reputation can do for you.

I jumped to conclusions, but I'm not really in the wrong for doing so.

As for what the thread actually concerns. I do believe that even though the September 4th MCAT seems so close, you still have time to improve your score. I have had the most gains in the past few days concerning my MCAT knowledge/abilites and I take it this friday. Just buckle down. Its past 11PM and I'm still doing some studying and I probably will for another 2 hours.

 

[jehjr]

So I just got my MCAT scores...I hadn't really studied that much and it had been 5-6 years since I took Chem and Physics, so my expectations weren't too high. Somehow I ended up with a 30. Life's not fair I guess.

 

[phillypd]

that's great.....where are you applying?

 

[jehjr]

DMU is my top pick right now. I'll have to see how I feel after interviews (assuming I get them). I have several friends who are in the DO program there and they speak highly of the place. The fact that housing is relatively cheap in Des Moines doesn't help either.

 

[NormColeman4MN]

DMU is my top pick right now. I'll have to see how I feel after interviews (assuming I get them). I have several friends who are in the DO program there and they speak highly of the place. The fact that housing is relatively cheap in Des Moines doesn't help either.

Except it's iowa. We just fly over that area.

 

[Carbon13]

Here is my take on it. If you take the MCAt on Sep 4th, and do terrible, there is still time to retake before you're out of the running. If you do postpone, and for whatever reason, still do bad, then you might be out of time to retake the test. I guess if you are confident that by postponing the test, you will get a good enough score on your first try, then that is what you should do. Good luck in whatever you choose. The MCAT is a beast of a test!

Although you can take the MCAT in September with plenty of time for a retake before the deadline.......I would think that adcom's wouldn't give you an interview to begin with because of a sub 20 test score. Therefore it "might" be better to apply without the mcat taken.......and plan on presenting adcom's with a strong score in the spring.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Although you can take the MCAT in September with plenty of time for a retake before the deadline.......I would think that adcom's wouldn't give you an interview to begin with because of a sub 20 test score. Therefore it "might" be better to apply without the mcat taken.......and plan on presenting adcom's with a strong score in the spring.

I can definitely see your point. Either way, you won't get accepted without a decent score. If you think you can do it in one try, wait and take it later. If you think that you will need two tries, it might be better to take one in Sept and then retake. You can always explain that you are retaking, and they can re-evaluate your application when your new score comes in. Either way, they will have to wait for a later score, and you have the upside that if you do get a good score on your first try, you can get an earlier acceptance and not have to worry about the MCAT anymore. But I can also see where a school might reject you based on the poor first MCAT score and not give you a chance to retake. You'll have to weigh both options and see which one makes sense to you.

 

[NAVYLABTECH08]

Here is my take on it. If you take the MCAt on Sep 4th, and do terrible, there is still time to retake before you're out of the running. If you do postpone, and for whatever reason, still do bad, then you might be out of time to retake the test. I guess if you are confident that by postponing the test, you will get a good enough score on your first try, then that is what you should do. Good luck in whatever you choose. The MCAT is a beast of a test!

I disagree here. No need in taking the mcat if you are doing bad on practice tests. Your lucky shirt won't work on mcat test day. I would only gamble the mcat if I am only a min 5 points below the accepted average score. (ie averaging 20-25 on practice tests) You prob will do a few points worse on teh real test and a 20-22 may still get you in. If you take it and score like a 8 or something, that 8 will haunt you for the next 7 yrs as everytime you release scores, that 8 will show its ugly head. Better to take it 1 time than 2x times!