MCAT timing

[nycfella]

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Before we take the mcat, during the tutorial, we have all the time in the world and can write whatever we want on our formula sheet right? Also for breaks, we don't have to be back exactly when they say we do right?

 

[halekulani]

eh
not all the time in the world.

formula sheet? you mean scratch paper? sure you can write whatever you want on it. you won't really need it though.

 

[deleted21595]

I usually tell my students (at kaplan) that if you're going to write anything down on your scratch paper in preparation for the physical sciences section, that you should start with the trig functions of popular angles. The way I do this is by following the following methodology:

1. create a table with 3 columns, in the left column, write the popular angles tested, one in each row: 0, 30, 45, 60, 90
2. in the second column, write sin at the top, In the third, cos
3. in every box, put a "divided by 2" fraction with no numerator yet
4. in every numerator, put a square root sign, with nothing inside of it yet
5. Starting with the sin of 0 box, put a 0 inside the square root, then put a 1 for the 30 angle, a 2 for the 45 angle, 3 for the 60, and 4 for the 90 angle
6. For cosine, do the exact opposite, start with a 0 inside the square root for the 90 degree angle, and work your way up the chart.

What you'll find is that you don't have to memorize any of the sines and cosines, and you'll have them for easy reference for the 5 or so questions that will require that you reference those values quickly.

See what it looks like in graphic format.


Just one of the things I picked up over the years of teaching.

 

[nycfella]

I usually tell my students (at kaplan) that if you're going to write anything down on your scratch paper in preparation for the physical sciences section, that you should start with the trig functions of popular angles. The way I do this is by following the following methodology:

1. create a table with 3 columns, in the left column, write the popular angles tested, one in each row: 0, 30, 45, 60, 90
2. in the second column, write sin at the top, In the third, cos
3. in every box, put a "divided by 2" fraction with no numerator yet
4. in every numerator, put a square root sign, with nothing inside of it yet
5. Starting with the sin of 0 box, put a 0 inside the square root, then put a 1 for the 30 angle, a 2 for the 45 angle, 3 for the 60, and 4 for the 90 angle
6. For cosine, do the exact opposite, start with a 0 inside the square root for the 90 degree angle, and work your way up the chart.

What you'll find is that you don't have to memorize any of the sines and cosines, and you'll have them for easy reference for the 5 or so questions that will require that you reference those values quickly.

See what it looks like in graphic format.


Just one of the things I picked up over the years of teaching.

This is pretty much what I was thinking, except i wanted to use the numbers written out in decimal form, and basically fill the sheet with as many formulas as i could remember.

 

[nycfella]

Also, do we get to see a periodic table during the tutorial?

 

[RoadRunner17]

No... you can look at a periodic table at any time during the science sections though, definitely for the PS section at least.