mcat tips

[Raja]

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I'm taking the MCAT in August and I was hoping someone could provide me with some helpful advice. I took a diagnostic and I scored 11VR 8PS 8BS.

Also I looked at some old hyperlearning materials (1999) and they appeared to be a bit easier than the Kaplan topical test etc. Anyone else notice this?

Lastly, I was wondering what's the deal with the new practice vision essay - anyone know what the admissions committees are expecting?

thanks.

 

[Popoy]

If noone else responds to your question, use the "search" link and search the forum site.... You'll get several perspective on things.... Best wishes and good luck on your MCAT's

 

[synite]

practice, practice, practice....you'll hear it again and again. if you are taking kaplan, do all the materials in their library. going through passages will help so much more than memorizing details.

your verbal looks really strong already, and since that is usually everyone's pet peeve, you should be fine. it's quite straightforward to improve your science scores, by doing practice timed sections. gluck.

 

[spacecadet]

I just took the April MCAT and I used Kaplan to prepare. The "classes" were mostly a waste of time, but the practice materials were awesome. I did every single practice item available in the library, including the AAMC problems.

Your verbal looks good, and it's the hardest to improve. If I were you, I'd review some of the major topics in physical sciences that you might not be up on (ie - pH, equil, projectile motion, harmonic motion, etc). Do that for one or two days max. Then start on the practice tests again. Find your weaknesses. By the way the Kaplan topicals are much, much harder than they need to be. If you get a 50% or better, you're doing well.

Biological is a little tougher to stucy because it's mostly memorization. Don't waste your time going through the Kaplan organic stuff - it's way too detailed. You're better off just focusing on a few reactions like SN1/2, E2, NAS, NAA, EAS and making sure you know which of these would occur. I totally blew off the other reactions and I got a 13 on BS. Oh, on the biology stuff the Kaplan materials might help. I made a "cheat sheet" with the major things I needed to memorize (mitosis, endocrine system, digestion, etc) and looked at it whenever I had a moment.

Hope this helps. There's really no perfect strategy. I think taking full-length tests under test-like conditions helps a lot. However, also do at least one full verbal section first thing in the morning so you are prepared for how hard it will be to read that junk as the first thing you do!

By the way, I scored six points higher on my real test than I did on any of the full-length Kaplan tests. I don't know if that's typical but it might make you feel better.

Pam