MCAT tips

[SDN2013]

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I haven't posted here in a while. Here are some tips, having already taken the MCAT.

Drink gatorade.
Eat easily digestable snacks. A spoon of white sugar is probably better than a whole grain bar. I personally recommend those high energy/instant energy protein bars, they usually come with alot of sugar too.

Practice test taking strategies (I'm sure you heard of it before, but it's key).
I have my own test taking strategies I use. It's hard to explain and I don't know how to explain. If I was really bored, I might one day do another practice mcat with a notepad beside me, and make a note whenever I use a strat. This is only way I know how to explain my strats, it's built into me, I don't know how to recite it other wise. One thing I will say is, don't do kaplan mapping if it simply isn't your style. Don't even do it on more than a couple practice tests if it's not a fit for you. I did not highlight a single word or write down a single note. My scratch paper was only used for PS/bio calculations/pathways, but mostly empty because I used alot of mental math.

Don't let one section affect the next. I was gonna cry/consider voiding my test after physical science, but I toughed it out, felt I did well on verbal/bio, and didn't have the courage to press void button at the end. One of the best choices of my life 🙂

Don't be too hung up on the writing sample, make sure that even if you felt rushed during it, just submit the thing at like 2 min left or something. Don't keep revising it, use those last 2 mins or so to relax for the bio section.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I haven't posted here in a while. Here are some tips, having already taken the MCAT.

Drink gatorade.
Eat easily digestable snacks. A spoon of white sugar is probably better than a whole grain bar. I personally recommend those high energy/instant energy protein bars, they usually come with alot of sugar too.

Practice test taking strategies (I'm sure you heard of it before, but it's key).
I have my own test taking strategies I use. It's hard to explain and I don't know how to explain. If I was really bored, I might one day do another practice mcat with a notepad beside me, and make a note whenever I use a strat. This is only way I know how to explain my strats, it's built into me, I don't know how to recite it other wise. One thing I will say is, don't do kaplan mapping if it simply isn't your style. Don't even do it on more than a couple practice tests if it's not a fit for you. I did not highlight a single word or write down a single note. My scratch paper was only used for PS/bio calculations/pathways, but mostly empty because I used alot of mental math.

Don't let one section affect the next. I was gonna cry/consider voiding my test after physical science, but I toughed it out, felt I did well on verbal/bio, and didn't have the courage to press void button at the end. One of the best choices of my life 🙂

Don't be too hung up on the writing sample, make sure that even if you felt rushed during it, just submit the thing at like 2 min left or something. Don't keep revising it, use those last 2 mins or so to relax for the bio section.

BRILLIANT POST

Thanks so much for reminding everyone of the simple things that have a major impact on your score. Too many people focus so much on information, they forget how all the factors come together.

I might add, if you don't mind, ...

• Get Good Sleep not only the night before, but for a few days in a row. Go in well rested.

• Keep in mind on the weird passages that the test is curved. A few missed questions here and there could still result in a 12 or 13. Don't let the lingering stress of a hard passage hurt your focus on the next passages.

• When in doubt, look for the simple answer. Many of the seemingly trickiest questions can be solved by a simple thought.

 

[SDN2013]

I was taking a quiz in my physics 1 class today (should of taken AP in high school).

Here are some notes I took down:

Know 1/6 = 100/6 = 16

Know 1/3 = 33

Know 1/7 = 15

1/8 = 12.5

1/9 = 0.11, 2/9 = 0.22, etc

Look at the units of problems, if you get a wrong unit, you used a wrong equation.

Eg. You know energy should end with kg m^2/s^2, if you ended up with something else, you screwed up somewhere.

There were alot more I used in the 3 problem quiz but I forgot them by now. We had 3 huge questions to do and were only given 10 minutes, open notes. I had formulas memorized, did not even reach for my calculator, and was the only one that walked out of the room before the 10 min mark.

 

[SDN2013]

oh yea, one more.

Don't plug numbers into equations right away.

eg: a * b = b^2 * (c / b)

cancel the b's, and you have

a = c

not a single calculation needed if they give you a = 5, and you need to find c

obviously the real equations will be more complicated, but you get the idea.