no calculators?

[supernareg]

man i almost use my fingers to count lol i'm horrible at mind math... i mean it'll stall me if i use paper pen... but why dont they let u use calculaters? i mean if they're worried about cheating (pre-programming) they should hand out their OWN calculators....


so please someone chime in?

i mean when u get numbers like 5.682x10^3 divided by 58.3x10^-4 = ? jesus i wouldnt know.

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[estairella]

A little less than 1 * 10^6... which is precise enough for the MCAT. Once you start studying you'll figure out the tricks, but for now.. 58.3 * 10^-4 = 5.83 * 10^-3

5.682 / 5.83 = a little less than 1
10^3 / 10^-3 = 10^6

And put it all together...

Exams are exams, they're not real life. In real life, you can carry around a list of hormones and their effects, but don't try that on MCAT day. It has nothing to do with them being worried about cheating. Knowing how to do quick math is just another useless skill they want to see how well you can learn.

(With calculator... 0.9746 * 10^6)

 

[supernareg]

i wasnt asking for the answer lol but thanks anyways haha

ya i guess ur right.

 

[DrBowtie]

There really isn't much math on it and the numbers aren't how you decribed.

 

[QofQuimica]

man i almost use my fingers to count lol i'm horrible at mind math... i mean it'll stall me if i use paper pen... but why dont they let u use calculaters? i mean if they're worried about cheating (pre-programming) they should hand out their OWN calculators....


so please someone chime in?

i mean when u get numbers like 5.682x10^3 divided by 58.3x10^-4 = ? jesus i wouldnt know.

You don't need to do much calculating on the MCAT, OP. If you find yourself setting up a complex system of equations to solve, you're working way too hard. Seriously.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

You don't need to do much calculating on the MCAT, OP. If you find yourself setting up a complex system of equations to solve, you're working way too hard. Seriously.

the calculations really are not that hard, just get good at scientific notation and you will be fine. I hated the math at first but then got much better the more I practiced and got my best score in the physical science section. So there is hope👍 👍

 

[gotmeds?]

i wasnt asking for the answer lol but thanks anyways haha

ya i guess ur right.

Troz was just illustrating how you do math on the MCAT. You estimate everything. g becomes 10m/s/s, not 9.8, etc. The other useful thing to do is memorize the value for a few logs and learn how to use them.

 

[Funky]

a few more extra things to remember is square root 2= 1.4
square root 3=1.7

and know the sin and cos of 30 45 60 degrees

 

[DrJekyll918]

i hate math 10x more than you do...i just cant stand all that complicated crap...but the mcat math is really basic crap...once you start doing practice problems you will notice. at first i used to find myself doing long math problems and then after a while i would stop as soon as i saw that my way required long math and read the question carefully. im kinda glad they dont allow calculators...it would just give them a reason to make the damn test harder by putting complicated math on it!! however, my friend took the cbt mcat in england back in 2003 or 2004 and he said they had a calculator on the computer.

 

[smuwillobrien]

It's simple mathematics - just learn how to manipulate and do arithmetic with scientific notation - it's not difficult. I think this relates to being able to think quickly on your feet, without the assistance of a machine.