non-traditional student and bad MCAT

[TechDoc19]

hi guys,

I have a question and please those who have the experience I need your help in figuring out what is going on.

I am a non-traditional student. I have an engineering degree and a master degree. my GPA is 3.9. I had taken all the pre-requisite classes and had A in all of them and i totally understand each subject. However, when I tried the MCAt my score was horrible the first time. I took like 5 practice tests from the blueprint and my score was improved a bit. I was doing alright in them but always felt that some information was missing for me. so at this point, I am sure that my information and the classes that I took weren't enough and I will never have the same knowldege that a pre-medical student has. and that is impacting my MCAT score badly.

so for those who are non-traditional students like myself, what did you do to overcome the gap in the information. I don't want to give up on my dream and I need your help please.

thank you all so much.

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[Dr Meow]

Prerequisite classes doesn't have much to do with your mcat score.
ex: I'm a biochem major with a 3.91 GPA. When I started studying the MCAT 7 years ago, I got nearly all the questions wrong. I was in the bottom 1% percentile. No one was worse than me.
It took me 7 years to get a 508.

College classes have little to nothing to do with mcat studying. At least, it didn't help me whatsoever

 

[TechDoc19]

Prerequisite classes doesn't have much to do with your mcat score.
ex: I'm a biochem major with a 3.91 GPA. When I started studying the MCAT 7 years ago, I got nearly all the questions wrong. I was in the bottom 1% percentile. No one was worse than me.
It took me 7 years to get a 508.

College classes have little to nothing to do with mcat studying. At least, it didn't help me whatsoever

thank you for responding. so what did you do different to change your score? what was the problem? I am so confused quite frankly. I understood everything and yet I am not answering the questions right. so at this point, I am not sure what approach to take

 

[Dr Meow]

thank you for responding. so what did you do different to change your score? what was the problem? I am so confused quite frankly. I understood everything and yet I am not answering the questions right. so at this point, I am not sure what approach to take

Yes! It took me 7 years to figure that out for myself! I don't know if it'll work for you but it did for me.
I had several problems:

1. One problem is what I have a weird sort of memorization that works perfectly for short term recall allowing me to answer college exams perfectly. I visually memorize the textbook and lecture notes as it is like a camera but then after the exam, I forget EVERYTHING.
2. When I memorize things, I memorize too much stuff at once and every little insignificant detail. Then, I forget everything equally.
3. Becuase I forget everything as a permanant cycle, it didn't matter how much I studied. I'd always forget 100% of it.

Therefore, my problem was content first. Doing well isn't about being able to visualize some lecture slides or a page on a textbook. It's about being able to use each piece of knowledge but individually and being able to re-arrange any piece as necessary to answer a question. So flashcards is perfect for that because it broke everything down into essentially nonconnecting pieces that you could assemble as needed to answer a problem.

I think the solution for me was ANKI and a premade mcat deck. I did it for a few months, and anki alone skyrocketted my mcat score. Heck, I even watched Yugioh while doing it.

I heard somewhere that proper content review can get you to at least a 500-505. Beyond that, requires understanding the test writers and application of knowledge.

As for MCAT verbal, that was a different beast. I'm a strongly visual person. I don't subvocalize when i read and so when I see complex words and patterns I don't recognize, I can't visualize it, and therefore I understand ZERO of what I read. The solution was to keep using Kaplan's method and to never get infuriated when I get an answer I think is dumb wrong. Just accept how the test writers want you to read and think (to do that, you get questions wrong, and twist your way of thinking to fit theres.
But I can't remember in detail how I did it....But I forced myself to subvocalize and read slowly. I still didn't understand much but with enough effort, it somehow became enough to do ok.

Anyways, finally after 7 years, I got the score I wanted....problem was that the score that I wanted was no longer acceptable for MD.
ANKI MCAT PREMADE DECK IS KING. I did like 10K cards or so.

 

[TechDoc19]

Yes! It took me 7 years to figure that out for myself! I don't know if it'll work for you but it did for me.
I had several problems:

1. One problem is what I have a weird sort of memorization that works perfectly for short term recall allowing me to answer college exams perfectly. I visually memorize the textbook and lecture notes as it is like a camera but then after the exam, I forget EVERYTHING.
2. When I memorize things, I memorize too much stuff at once and every little insignificant detail. Then, I forget everything equally.
3. Becuase I forget everything as a permanant cycle, it didn't matter how much I studied. I'd always forget 100% of it.

Therefore, my problem was content first. Doing well isn't about being able to visualize some lecture slides or a page on a textbook. It's about being able to use each piece of knowledge but individually and being able to re-arrange any piece as necessary to answer a question. So flashcards is perfect for that because it broke everything down into essentially nonconnecting pieces that you could assemble as needed to answer a problem.

I think the solution for me was ANKI and a premade mcat deck. I did it for a few months, and anki alone skyrocketted my mcat score. Heck, I even watched Yugioh while doing it.

I heard somewhere that proper content review can get you to at least a 500-505. Beyond that, requires understanding the test writers and application of knowledge.

As for MCAT verbal, that was a different beast. I'm a strongly visual person. I don't subvocalize when i read and so when I see complex words and patterns I don't recognize, I can't visualize it, and therefore I understand ZERO of what I read. The solution was to keep using Kaplan's method and to never get infuriated when I get an answer I think is dumb wrong. Just accept how the test writers want you to read and think (to do that, you get questions wrong, and twist your way of thinking to fit theres.
But I can't remember in detail how I did it....But I forced myself to subvocalize and read slowly. I still didn't understand much but with enough effort, it somehow became enough to do ok.

Anyways, finally after 7 years, I got the score I wanted....problem was that the score that I wanted was no longer acceptable for MD.
ANKI MCAT PREMADE DECK IS KING. I did like 10K cards or so.

thank you for the detailed explanation. believe it or not, I have the same problem when it comes to memorization. I might try Anki then. if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do now then if the 508 isn't enough? it is very unfair for you that after all of this great effort to not get accepted into medical school.

 

[Dr Meow]

thank you for the detailed explanation. believe it or not, I have the same problem when it comes to memorization. I might try Anki then. if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do now then if the 508 isn't enough? it is very unfair for you that after all of this great effort to not get accepted into medical school.

Sweet, Anki might just be the one to save you 7 years.
I am in med school! Starting 2nd year DO in 1 week.

 

[DOCOC15]

hi guys,

I have a question and please those who have the experience I need your help in figuring out what is going on.

I am a non-traditional student. I have an engineering degree and a master degree. my GPA is 3.9. I had taken all the pre-requisite classes and had A in all of them and i totally understand each subject. However, when I tried the MCAt my score was horrible the first time. I took like 5 practice tests from the blueprint and my score was improved a bit. I was doing alright in them but always felt that some information was missing for me. so at this point, I am sure that my information and the classes that I took weren't enough and I will never have the same knowldege that a pre-medical student has. and that is impacting my MCAT score badly.

so for those who are non-traditional students like myself, what did you do to overcome the gap in the information. I don't want to give up on my dream and I need your help please.

thank you all so much.

How long ago did you take the pre-reqs? If it was more than a year or two ago, you should go through the Kahn Academy review classes (they're free).

My best advice is to use all of the AAMC material, starting with the practice questions/section banks.

Review the answers you got wrong/subjects you're unclear on. Study them/make flash cards. Then take the full length AMCAS material. Review those thoroughly as well.

I had gaps in my knowledge too. I'd say at least 80% of material that comes up on the real exam also came up at least once in the official practice material.