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I've studied hard for the mcat and I took the exam on July 29, 2010. I have not gotten my scores back yet, so I am not sure exactly how I did, but I did increase my scores on the AAMC practice tests and got scores in the 40s days before my exam. I hope the tips I offer may help some of you who have upcoming exams achieve the highest scores that are awarded.
I study at UC Berkeley and have been doing very well in my classes. I care about the science, the logic, the concepts covered in my classes, and do well on exams, but I believe I have under-performed on some exams because I lack test saavy. For a month and a half, I studied to try to reverse this situation by develop the test-taking skills to match my understanding. These are my insights and my way of saying thanks to everyone who helped me prepare for this exam.
MCAT has 4 sections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHYSICS/G.Chem:
The most important criteria for success on PS/Bio sections is to learn the material well. But honestly, this applies more to the PS section. Many questions on this section are logical; they seem difficult, sometimes very difficult, but ultimately the answer can be deduced using basic principles you learn in G. Chemistry or Physics. When you start this section, you have to believe in yourself. No matter how hard the questions seem, the answer can be discovered if you use your logic. So for this section, do not let difficult questions psyche you out. Do what you can do easily, MARK any hard, or confusing questions, even mark the ones that make you feel a bit uneasy. When you have gone through the entire section, go back and attack these again. Think about principles first, logic first, then try to apply concepts to the questions. On this second round, answer the ones that are easiest, and keep the most difficult questions for the third round.
Going through the hard questions several times makes me feel more confident about my answers. Once I've answered everything, I often reviewed all the questions I previously marked for reassurance, to pat myself on the back, and to feel confident.
As for the passages in this section, I think it is best to read the text at the pace you would read your physics textbook. This means DO NOT SKIM, DO NOT SKIP SECTIONS BECUASE THEY SEEM OBVIOUS...Read it all, and decide what is important after you have absorbed everything. Use the highlighter liberally, if it helps you understand. Use scratch paper to make any QUICK notes that will help you keep your facts straight(but only write EXACTLY what you need ; do not write more than you need). Really learn the concepts, then tackle the questions. I did this and the questions started to seem obvious.
For questions that are really out there, make some reasonable assumptions and do your best. Look at limiting/extreme scenarios; look at units. Sometimes, you may get a topic that you are not at all prepared for. For me, that topic was a very specific application of thermodynamics/work concept that I had difficulty learning. However, once I got through my initial confusion, I used logic, different scenarios, units and common sense to eliminate nearly all of the wrong answers.
And, for ALL questions, MAKE SURE that you read ALL the answer choices. If two choices are similar, try to figure out why they are different, and how a mistake in your calculation could have given the other answer.
To adequately prepare for PS, I suggest you get the KAPLAN GUIDE TO 45 from the library, flip to the PS section and look at the list of topics. First, make sure you know each topic on that list, and second, try to relate that concept to as many other concepts that you know. Try to learn that material on a deeper level, in more depth than you learned it in school. MCAT rewards deep understanding. Be devoted to the science, you may be rewarded.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verbal
The first time I took a practice test, AAMC 3, I got an 11. Eager to improve my score, I cracked open EK 101, EK Verbal, Kaplan books and started doing poorly. All of these sources try to teach strategy. They talk about using the answer stems, eliminating crazy answers. They also talk about ways to read the passage. Some people say you need to skim and look for organization, others say you need to read the passage once, and try to go back as few times as possible.
It's ridiculous. I followed these strategies, did over a hundred verbal passages and watched my score drift down to: 8, 9, 10, 9 on AAMC exams. It felt terrible. I tried to devise my own strategies, to visualize more, to read faster, to focus on adverbs...the list goes on. I tried a lot of different tricks, nothing worked. A week before my exam, my father sensed my frustration and asked me to try something.
He wanted me to read the passage carefully, at my own pace. He wanted me to highlight, and read like I normally read nonfiction. He told me to toss all the test-taking strategy away. I was skeptical, but I had nothing to lose. On the next AAMC exam I took, I got a 12. The one after that was a 13. The truth is, this was the strategy I used on AAMC 3(on which I got an 11). I read the passage and did my best. Staying ignorant of the test-taking philosophy was the best way for me to raise my score.
My advice, Don't Even Use the EK or the Kaplan or Princeton guides. First try reading the passage carefully. If you do this, the questions start to seem do able.
<side track: those of you who have taken AP lang know that you need to get something like 60-70% correct to get a high score = 5. On this exam, to get the high score you need to get nearly all 40 questions correct, so this means AAMC expects you to get them all right. The questions cannot, therefore, be that hard. This exam is doable, so don't let the questions get to your head>
When I was trying the EK/Kaplan methods, the questions seemed confusing. Once I started reading the passage and highlighting whatever seemed important to me, the questions started to seem obvious. The answers almost started to jump out at me. The wrong answers seem so obviously wrong. You have to try this. Also, do not feel like it is against the rules to go back to the text(like EK seems to tell you), to back as much as you want, as much as you need; do what you have to do.
Lastly, I don't think the passages in the other verbal books reflect the verbal passages on AAMC. AAMC passages are the best!!! Just practice on those. Also, if you are just starting studying, do AAMC 3; if you do poorly, wait a few days, then repeat the same exam(and keep doing it until you get a 13-15), then move onto the next AAMC and keep doing it. This way, you exams will last until you get to test day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Essay:
I felt successful writing like this:
the prompt is something like "X always is Y", explain the statement, discuss a counter example, discuss when this is valid.
5 min planning
15 min writing
10 min editing/proofing
For the planning:
So the first thing you need to think about is the conclusion(the validity of the statement). Ask yourself when does X = Y and when does it not. What criteria are important for determing when x = y and when it is not y.
Then quickly type out ideas for the other two paragraphs: explain the meaning of the statement
Then quickly type out ideas for the counter case
Do not focus on spelling, and don't get caught up on grammer. This is RAW Brainstorming
For the WRITING:
quickly jot down sentences in a logical order to form 1st, 2nd and 3rd paragraphs. write fast, let the thoughts flow. Don't get caught up on grammer/spelling, but don't go crazy and ignore all rules of syntax either.
Editing:
Go through and edit fast. Add commas, periods, fix the phrasing, make it smooth, concise and powerful. Also check all blatant spelling mistakes.
The key: some websites post 100s of past MCAT essay topics. Go through 30, 40, 80 essay prompts just to practice the planning(the 5 min stage). Then, once you can plan ANYTHING, start writing/editing. The whole process should be solid after a couple rounds. Finally, when you do the essays on the practice AAMC exams, give a friend of yours a copy of your essay and the sample graded essay. Ask that friend to read both and tell you if you did better than the sample. If you buy all 8 AAMC exams, that's 16 real opportunities for comparison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIO:
Studying for the bio was the most difficult for me. I have only taken upper-division classes in college. The last time I took a general bio course was in High School, 6 years ago. This means I understood enzyme kinetics and biochemistry very well, but knew very little about human physiology before I started preparing.
I think it is extremely important to read a good general bio book for background. I read all of the Human Physiology chapters of the Campbell bio book. I think it is also important to practice and learn all genetics concepts and about the cell cycle. If you like this stuff, you'll enjoy the studying process.
A good book about just human physiology, like an introductory med. school text might also be useful; I used a book like htis to learn about certain body systems in greater depth.
For OChem, I suggest you really learn well in school. It's hard to learn this stuff on your own. If you must, however, Start at the "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language" series.
I don't have too many suggestions here. You just have to know your stuff. Learn as much as you can, and moreso than for physics, DETAILS COUNT, be studious.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom line: don't follow the test-taking strategies for the verbal, and the essay sections. KAPLAN, EK and PR are no good.
For the sciences, take as many practice exams from 3rd parties as you can. You need to learn as much as possible and Kaplan, and PR are great. I think EK 1000 questions are not worth it. Some questions are written poorly and are ambigous, others are just plain confusing. When you take these exams, use a timer, and then review the ones that were confusing, BUT DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR STRATEGIES. THEY DID NOT WORK. THE BEST STRATEGY FOR READING THE PS/BIO PASSAGES, WAS THE SAME STRATEGY I USED FOR THE VERBAL SECTION. Read the text normally, like you would read a textbook, and highlight liberally when the concepts are difficult.
For the verbal, just do AAMC exams.
There are many ways to get 3rd party exams. The best way is legal: go to the library, get all the MCAT prep materials and study from them(but please don't write in the book because that's mean). There are other ways too, but I will not discuss them. Other people may share other ways of getting other properietary materials.
If you want the 40+ score, you have to buy all AAMC exams and practice with them. It's expensive-I know. It'll cost $35 for each exam, but remember, Med School is also expensive. If you want a chance to get a scholarship, or just want to get into the shcool of your dreams, paying $35 x 8 is a trivial. The more important thing you should think about is you time. To do well, you have to commit and you have to be determined to kill this exam.
Good luck,
RR
I study at UC Berkeley and have been doing very well in my classes. I care about the science, the logic, the concepts covered in my classes, and do well on exams, but I believe I have under-performed on some exams because I lack test saavy. For a month and a half, I studied to try to reverse this situation by develop the test-taking skills to match my understanding. These are my insights and my way of saying thanks to everyone who helped me prepare for this exam.
MCAT has 4 sections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHYSICS/G.Chem:
The most important criteria for success on PS/Bio sections is to learn the material well. But honestly, this applies more to the PS section. Many questions on this section are logical; they seem difficult, sometimes very difficult, but ultimately the answer can be deduced using basic principles you learn in G. Chemistry or Physics. When you start this section, you have to believe in yourself. No matter how hard the questions seem, the answer can be discovered if you use your logic. So for this section, do not let difficult questions psyche you out. Do what you can do easily, MARK any hard, or confusing questions, even mark the ones that make you feel a bit uneasy. When you have gone through the entire section, go back and attack these again. Think about principles first, logic first, then try to apply concepts to the questions. On this second round, answer the ones that are easiest, and keep the most difficult questions for the third round.
Going through the hard questions several times makes me feel more confident about my answers. Once I've answered everything, I often reviewed all the questions I previously marked for reassurance, to pat myself on the back, and to feel confident.
As for the passages in this section, I think it is best to read the text at the pace you would read your physics textbook. This means DO NOT SKIM, DO NOT SKIP SECTIONS BECUASE THEY SEEM OBVIOUS...Read it all, and decide what is important after you have absorbed everything. Use the highlighter liberally, if it helps you understand. Use scratch paper to make any QUICK notes that will help you keep your facts straight(but only write EXACTLY what you need ; do not write more than you need). Really learn the concepts, then tackle the questions. I did this and the questions started to seem obvious.
For questions that are really out there, make some reasonable assumptions and do your best. Look at limiting/extreme scenarios; look at units. Sometimes, you may get a topic that you are not at all prepared for. For me, that topic was a very specific application of thermodynamics/work concept that I had difficulty learning. However, once I got through my initial confusion, I used logic, different scenarios, units and common sense to eliminate nearly all of the wrong answers.
And, for ALL questions, MAKE SURE that you read ALL the answer choices. If two choices are similar, try to figure out why they are different, and how a mistake in your calculation could have given the other answer.
To adequately prepare for PS, I suggest you get the KAPLAN GUIDE TO 45 from the library, flip to the PS section and look at the list of topics. First, make sure you know each topic on that list, and second, try to relate that concept to as many other concepts that you know. Try to learn that material on a deeper level, in more depth than you learned it in school. MCAT rewards deep understanding. Be devoted to the science, you may be rewarded.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verbal
The first time I took a practice test, AAMC 3, I got an 11. Eager to improve my score, I cracked open EK 101, EK Verbal, Kaplan books and started doing poorly. All of these sources try to teach strategy. They talk about using the answer stems, eliminating crazy answers. They also talk about ways to read the passage. Some people say you need to skim and look for organization, others say you need to read the passage once, and try to go back as few times as possible.
It's ridiculous. I followed these strategies, did over a hundred verbal passages and watched my score drift down to: 8, 9, 10, 9 on AAMC exams. It felt terrible. I tried to devise my own strategies, to visualize more, to read faster, to focus on adverbs...the list goes on. I tried a lot of different tricks, nothing worked. A week before my exam, my father sensed my frustration and asked me to try something.
He wanted me to read the passage carefully, at my own pace. He wanted me to highlight, and read like I normally read nonfiction. He told me to toss all the test-taking strategy away. I was skeptical, but I had nothing to lose. On the next AAMC exam I took, I got a 12. The one after that was a 13. The truth is, this was the strategy I used on AAMC 3(on which I got an 11). I read the passage and did my best. Staying ignorant of the test-taking philosophy was the best way for me to raise my score.
My advice, Don't Even Use the EK or the Kaplan or Princeton guides. First try reading the passage carefully. If you do this, the questions start to seem do able.
<side track: those of you who have taken AP lang know that you need to get something like 60-70% correct to get a high score = 5. On this exam, to get the high score you need to get nearly all 40 questions correct, so this means AAMC expects you to get them all right. The questions cannot, therefore, be that hard. This exam is doable, so don't let the questions get to your head>
When I was trying the EK/Kaplan methods, the questions seemed confusing. Once I started reading the passage and highlighting whatever seemed important to me, the questions started to seem obvious. The answers almost started to jump out at me. The wrong answers seem so obviously wrong. You have to try this. Also, do not feel like it is against the rules to go back to the text(like EK seems to tell you), to back as much as you want, as much as you need; do what you have to do.
Lastly, I don't think the passages in the other verbal books reflect the verbal passages on AAMC. AAMC passages are the best!!! Just practice on those. Also, if you are just starting studying, do AAMC 3; if you do poorly, wait a few days, then repeat the same exam(and keep doing it until you get a 13-15), then move onto the next AAMC and keep doing it. This way, you exams will last until you get to test day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Essay:
I felt successful writing like this:
the prompt is something like "X always is Y", explain the statement, discuss a counter example, discuss when this is valid.
5 min planning
15 min writing
10 min editing/proofing
For the planning:
So the first thing you need to think about is the conclusion(the validity of the statement). Ask yourself when does X = Y and when does it not. What criteria are important for determing when x = y and when it is not y.
Then quickly type out ideas for the other two paragraphs: explain the meaning of the statement
Then quickly type out ideas for the counter case
Do not focus on spelling, and don't get caught up on grammer. This is RAW Brainstorming
For the WRITING:
quickly jot down sentences in a logical order to form 1st, 2nd and 3rd paragraphs. write fast, let the thoughts flow. Don't get caught up on grammer/spelling, but don't go crazy and ignore all rules of syntax either.
Editing:
Go through and edit fast. Add commas, periods, fix the phrasing, make it smooth, concise and powerful. Also check all blatant spelling mistakes.
The key: some websites post 100s of past MCAT essay topics. Go through 30, 40, 80 essay prompts just to practice the planning(the 5 min stage). Then, once you can plan ANYTHING, start writing/editing. The whole process should be solid after a couple rounds. Finally, when you do the essays on the practice AAMC exams, give a friend of yours a copy of your essay and the sample graded essay. Ask that friend to read both and tell you if you did better than the sample. If you buy all 8 AAMC exams, that's 16 real opportunities for comparison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIO:
Studying for the bio was the most difficult for me. I have only taken upper-division classes in college. The last time I took a general bio course was in High School, 6 years ago. This means I understood enzyme kinetics and biochemistry very well, but knew very little about human physiology before I started preparing.
I think it is extremely important to read a good general bio book for background. I read all of the Human Physiology chapters of the Campbell bio book. I think it is also important to practice and learn all genetics concepts and about the cell cycle. If you like this stuff, you'll enjoy the studying process.
A good book about just human physiology, like an introductory med. school text might also be useful; I used a book like htis to learn about certain body systems in greater depth.
For OChem, I suggest you really learn well in school. It's hard to learn this stuff on your own. If you must, however, Start at the "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language" series.
I don't have too many suggestions here. You just have to know your stuff. Learn as much as you can, and moreso than for physics, DETAILS COUNT, be studious.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom line: don't follow the test-taking strategies for the verbal, and the essay sections. KAPLAN, EK and PR are no good.
For the sciences, take as many practice exams from 3rd parties as you can. You need to learn as much as possible and Kaplan, and PR are great. I think EK 1000 questions are not worth it. Some questions are written poorly and are ambigous, others are just plain confusing. When you take these exams, use a timer, and then review the ones that were confusing, BUT DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR STRATEGIES. THEY DID NOT WORK. THE BEST STRATEGY FOR READING THE PS/BIO PASSAGES, WAS THE SAME STRATEGY I USED FOR THE VERBAL SECTION. Read the text normally, like you would read a textbook, and highlight liberally when the concepts are difficult.
For the verbal, just do AAMC exams.
There are many ways to get 3rd party exams. The best way is legal: go to the library, get all the MCAT prep materials and study from them(but please don't write in the book because that's mean). There are other ways too, but I will not discuss them. Other people may share other ways of getting other properietary materials.
If you want the 40+ score, you have to buy all AAMC exams and practice with them. It's expensive-I know. It'll cost $35 for each exam, but remember, Med School is also expensive. If you want a chance to get a scholarship, or just want to get into the shcool of your dreams, paying $35 x 8 is a trivial. The more important thing you should think about is you time. To do well, you have to commit and you have to be determined to kill this exam.
Good luck,
RR
