Never had test anxiety attacks...until now

[JJR22]

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Quick background: graduated last year with a 3.77 and am a fairly outgoing, "chill" guy. Never stressed out about tests, and if I performed poorly, it was my own fault for not knowing the content rather than nerves.

I took the MCAT and received a 12/5/11 after averaging about an 11/9/11. I walked out thinking verbal was fairly easy, too. No idea what happened. Ever since then, I've started doubting myself about everything I do in verbal and this has lead to some minor anxiety attacks during the section (not really hyperventilating or anything that extreme, but my heart rate increases, my mind shuts off...even if I'm doing 2 verbal passages). The more I think about it, the poorer I do. My girlfriend tried cheering me up by saying "you're not going to let verbal keep you out of medical school, are you?" Rather than motivate me, it freaked me out. Now every time I take verbal passages, I keep telling myself "this section is keeping me out of medical school, it will make or break me" which obviously doesn't help my situation.

I know all the verbal strategies, that's not what this post is about. My question is how do I get myself out of this slump. I'm taking the MCAT in 5 weeks and I know I have the skills to do well. I just need to get over this predicament. Thank you.

 

[TheShaker]

Take a break for a week. I had the same exact problem as you right before my MCAT. In the 3 weeks before, my practice scores descended from consistently getting 10's and 11's to getting 7's and 8's and I know that this was due to me losing confidence and second guessing myself in every answer. The night before my exam I decided to take another verbal test, and I got a 7. The verbal really is the most unpredictable section and getting shaken by nerves will definitely hurt you as it hurt me. By some miracle I managed to make it work out on test day but it's a huge risk.

I suggest that you take a break and take your mind out of that cycle. Maybe work on the science sections a bit more. Let yourself reset a bit and come back and maybe things will get better for you.

Disclaimer: If you're using that EK practice book then this is normal, a lot of people agree that the tests get stupider and the answers get iffy in the last few tests.

 

[Twinnering]

How did you feel about verbal when you were taking it the first time (on the actual testing date)?

Giving yourself the same stimulus before a passage, thinking about it as something keeping you out of medical school can unfortunately become a repeated pattern.

I forced myself before every passage (whether I thought I needed it or not), to take a 5 second break where I just close my eyes and get motivated before every new passage. If you make changes about your attitude, practice verbal in an efficient way, and remain motivated you really can turn that 5 on VR around. I think it also helps when you tell yourself if you absolutely need more than 5 weeks, you can push off your MCAT exam, it helped me actually cause I switched my date and felt so much better about it than cramming and stressing myself out.

I know it feels like a defeat when you get your MCAT score back, and it isn't close to what you think your potential is. It's hard to get back on the horse without being intimidated. Remember today is a new day, and luckily you have the opportunity to change around what you want. I genuinely think testing attitude correlates a lot with testing performance. Take your verbal passages when you're ready to kick some ass. The hardest part is going to be training yourself to stay focused, motivated, and calm under pressure when things don't go your way...when you get a passage you don't like, etc. I used a small quote, motivational quote every time I was beginning to lose my motivation that I would say to myself to snap myself out of it.

I suggest starting with Kaplan for a little bit to get your confidence back, their passages and questions are usually a little easier to handle than EK or TBR. I second the whole last few passages of EK are stupid, they drained my confidence first time around. When I got it back, I ended up with a 12+ on the real thing. I really wish you well, and good luck.

 

[JJR22]

How did you feel about verbal when you were taking it the first time (on the actual testing date)?

Giving yourself the same stimulus before a passage, thinking about it as something keeping you out of medical school can unfortunately become a repeated pattern.

I forced myself before every passage (whether I thought I needed it or not), to take a 5 second break where I just close my eyes and get motivated before every new passage. If you make changes about your attitude, practice verbal in an efficient way, and remain motivated you really can turn that 5 on VR around. I think it also helps when you tell yourself if you absolutely need more than 5 weeks, you can push off your MCAT exam, it helped me actually cause I switched my date and felt so much better about it than cramming and stressing myself out.

I know it feels like a defeat when you get your MCAT score back, and it isn't close to what you think your potential is. It's hard to get back on the horse without being intimidated. Remember today is a new day, and luckily you have the opportunity to change around what you want. I genuinely think testing attitude correlates a lot with testing performance. Take your verbal passages when you're ready to kick some ass. The hardest part is going to be training yourself to stay focused, motivated, and calm under pressure when things don't go your way...when you get a passage you don't like, etc. I used a small quote, motivational quote every time I was beginning to lose my motivation that I would say to myself to snap myself out of it.

I suggest starting with Kaplan for a little bit to get your confidence back, their passages and questions are usually a little easier to handle than EK or TBR. I second the whole last few passages of EK are stupid, they drained my confidence first time around. When I got it back, I ended up with a 12+ on the real thing. I really wish you well, and good luck.

I felt really good about it when I took it to be honest, which is why the 5 was such a shock. Thanks a lot for your kind words.

 

[Geebeejay]

You could always wait a few years till the verbal doesn't exist anymore. Preparing for the verbal goes beyond practicing for the test....you need to be proficient at reading and understanding scientific literature as well as understanding true motivation and reasoning behind these excerpts.

 

[Bluto385]

You could always wait a few years till the verbal doesn't exist anymore. Preparing for the verbal goes beyond practicing for the test....you need to be proficient at reading and understanding scientific literature as well as understanding true motivation and reasoning behind these excerpts.

Verbal will always exist. The writing section is what's being removed.

 

[JJR22]

You could always wait a few years till the verbal doesn't exist anymore. Preparing for the verbal goes beyond practicing for the test....you need to be proficient at reading and understanding scientific literature as well as understanding true motivation and reasoning behind these excerpts.

Yeah, I agree with the above poster...they're not taking anything out other than writing. They're actually making the verbal tougher.

 

[MedPR]

They're actually making the verbal tougher.

How so?

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