Official 08/05/2011 MCAT Club!

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I bought the EK box set as well as 101 VR. My cousin who took it 8 years ago gave me a huge box full of Kaplan and TPR review books. Just finished my finals so ill start studying this week.
 
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I finished TBR ch-1 for each Gen chem, phy, organic and bio...also working on TRPH...verbal is making me nervous..though!!!
 
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Nirs90 said:
I finished TBR ch-1 for each Gen chem, phy, organic and bio...also working on TRPH...verbal is making me nervous..though!!!
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Need to catch up to you! Do you read TRPH first? I know TBR assumes that someone has a grasp of the material with the examples provided in each chapter.

Don't worry, Verbal will get better! My concern now is my time!

Stay encouraged!
 
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elusiveCHILD said:
Need to catch up to you! Do you read TRPH first? I know TBR assumes that someone has a grasp of the material with the examples provided in each chapter.

Don't worry, Verbal will get better! My concern now is my time!

Stay encouraged!
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I used TRPH for Verbal only...Science is my strong point...so think TBR is perfect for me...just kinda work on verbal....I am following that 3 month plant..but squiz is within 85 days...so moving quick!!!

u also stay focused...
 
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I'm also taking it on the 6th. I am using TPRH and BR and trying to do a minimum of 5 chapters a week. I'm finding it difficult to take time to go back and review the chapters that I have already done, so I'll need to figure out how to incorporate that into my schedule without using too much time. I'm afraid I will forget everything that I learnt if I don't, so I'm reading over the parts in the review notes that I highlighted.
What are you guys doing to review the stuff you've already learnt?

Does anyone feel like this next month is going to be the toughest of all? Oh well, just got to take it day by day, keep at it and hope for the best! :meanie:
 
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MD2BeWpg said:
I'm also taking it on the 6th. I am using TPRH and BR and trying to do a minimum of 5 chapters a week. I'm finding it difficult to take time to go back and review the chapters that I have already done, so I'll need to figure out how to incorporate that into my schedule without using too much time. I'm afraid I will forget everything that I learnt if I don't, so I'm reading over the parts in the review notes that I highlighted.
What are you guys doing to review the stuff you've already learnt?

Does anyone feel like this next month is going to be the toughest of all? Oh well, just got to take it day by day, keep at it and hope for the best! :meanie:
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yeah, i think this month is going to be the intense month cause its content review - squeezing alot of info into our heads. Hopefully, by july I'll be wiser and calmer🙂 For me, I try to review a previous chapter before starting on the new one that day.
 
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MD2BeWpg said:
I'm also taking it on the 6th. I am using TPRH and BR and trying to do a minimum of 5 chapters a week. I'm finding it difficult to take time to go back and review the chapters that I have already done, so I'll need to figure out how to incorporate that into my schedule without using too much time. I'm afraid I will forget everything that I learnt if I don't, so I'm reading over the parts in the review notes that I highlighted.
What are you guys doing to review the stuff you've already learnt?

Does anyone feel like this next month is going to be the toughest of all? Oh well, just got to take it day by day, keep at it and hope for the best! :meanie:
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Hey,
I am making my own notes while reading the chapters from BR. So, whenever I revise i use them, instead of reading again. I know its little bit time consuming but its my old study technique!!!...

By the way any technique to improve verbal??...I am really bad at that!!

Keep it uppp
 
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Nirs90 said:
Hey,
I am making my own notes while reading the chapters from BR. So, whenever I revise i use them, instead of reading again. I know its little bit time consuming but its my old study technique!!!...

By the way any technique to improve verbal??...I am really bad at that!!

Keep it uppp
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yeah, i'm making notes too. it's time consuming but I find it a little less boring than just reading. One thing I find helpful for verbal is to time myself to finish each passage in 7 mins. I basically use 3 mins for reading the passage and 4 mins for questions + going back to the passage if needed.

Edit: Today was my ochem day and I'm really unsure if I should continue my strategy of taking notes. Seems like alot of notes!
 
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sydneyy said:
yeah, i think this month is going to be the intense month cause its content review - squeezing alot of info into our heads. Hopefully, by july I'll be wiser and calmer🙂 For me, I try to review a previous chapter before starting on the new one that day.
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How long does it take you to review the previous chapter?
 
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Hey Everyone!

What I've done is that I make a cheatsheet for concepts that I don't know ( front and back) for Physics and GChem.

For Bio, I use MANY notecards and am trying to incorporate concept mapping.

For OChem, notecards for each step of a mechanism and I try to see if I can set up a rxn by place each step of the mechanism in its correct place.

This has helped me in terms of becoming more efficient in note taking because you don't need to know every detail as of yet, just the main concepts.

@Nirs90 For Verbal, I really place great emphasis on Author's Attitude in the passage and what he or she is trying to place great emphasis on in the passage. But I think over time you get in the habit of trying to grasp the author's attitude which can help answer attitude related questions.

Hope everyone is staying focused and encouraged!
 
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MD2BeWpg said:
How long does it take you to review the previous chapter?
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Well, for physics/chem less than an hour. I feel it's more conceptual so it's faster to get through 2nd time round. For ochem/bio, longer! but I usually stop after an hour so I can finish the day's work.

Right now, I've switched to reading orgo as a 2nd language for ochem cause I feel I need a foundation before BR. i seemed to be taking endless notes with BR ochem.

goodluck to all of us! I just got my butt to the library to stop getting distracted at home.
 
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sydneyy said:
Well, for physics/chem less than an hour. I feel it's more conceptual so it's faster to get through 2nd time round. For ochem/bio, longer! but I usually stop after an hour so I can finish the day's work.

Right now, I've switched to reading orgo as a 2nd language for ochem cause I feel I need a foundation before BR. i seemed to be taking endless notes with BR ochem.

goodluck to all of us! I just got my butt to the library to stop getting distracted at home.
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Ha I thought i was the only one supplementing with orgo as a 2nd language. I went in and erased all of my notes from the semester using it. Im using all of the EK books and supplementing with orgo as a 2nd language to really get ochem down. I also have some older (8+) Kaplan and TPR books ill glance at if i have time.
 
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FirefighterDoc said:
Ha I thought i was the only one supplementing with orgo as a 2nd language. I went in and erased all of my notes from the semester using it. Im using all of the EK books and supplementing with orgo as a 2nd language to really get ochem down. I also have some older (8+) Kaplan and TPR books ill glance at if i have time.
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Me three! I'm using OSL too! I 😍 it!
 
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i see there's a bunch of OSL fans here🙂 I think the resonance chapter is amazing. And it's a quick read too. I only bought the first book though. what do you guys think of OSL 2?
 
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sydneyy said:
i see there's a bunch of OSL fans here🙂 I think the resonance chapter is amazing. And it's a quick read too. I only bought the first book though. what do you guys think of OSL 2?
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While i did find it helpful, i didnt enjoy it as much as the first. Watch, our MCAT will have like no organic chem on it now.
 
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hey guys, for those using tbr... can you guys keep to the 6/7 mins per passage? cause mostly, I totally can't 😡
 
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sydneyy said:
hey guys, for those using tbr... can you guys keep to the 6/7 mins per passage? cause mostly, I totally can't 😡
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Not at all, haven't even attempted to do so yet. I usually time myself when I do the 2/3 of the TBR passages b/c by then I'm usually more acquianted with the material.

I know my timing in Verbal is WAY off. But hopefully by the end of the month I can be down to 10 minutes and keep chipping time off each week as we get closer to our test date.
 
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elusiveCHILD said:
Not at all, haven't even attempted to do so yet. I usually time myself when I do the 2/3 of the TBR passages b/c by then I'm usually more acquianted with the material.

I know my timing in Verbal is WAY off. But hopefully by the end of the month I can be down to 10 minutes and keep chipping time off each week as we get closer to our test date.
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getting screwed by BR either way. Shall post my passage scores when I'm done.
 
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Is it necessary to go down to 6-7 mins a passage? I know that Sn2ed's schedule says to do that, but on the actual MCAT, will we not have 70 minutes to do 7 passages + discretes? So Why can't we just take 8 mins per passage and give ourselves an extra minute per each discrete?
Please let me know your thoughts.
 
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MD2BeWpg said:
Is it necessary to go down to 6-7 mins a passage? I know that Sn2ed's schedule says to do that, but on the actual MCAT, will we not have 70 minutes to do 7 passages + discretes? So Why can't we just take 8 mins per passage and give ourselves an extra minute per each discrete?
Please let me know your thoughts.
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8 mins per passage is fine- if you can keep to that on the real deal. i think it is advised to go down to 6-7 mins because most people seem to take longer on the real mcat than any of their practice tests. there are quite a few people who say they usually have 5-10 mins extra on practice tests but finish just on time or have to guess on the last few on the real thing.
 
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Hey folks,

Writing on the 5th here. Any other rewriters out there? Started TBR content review on Friday. 2 chapters a day. Planning on starting FLs on June 30. How does that sound?
 
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capnamerica said:
Hey folks,

Writing on the 5th here. Any other rewriters out there? Started TBR content review on Friday. 2 chapters a day. Planning on starting FLs on June 30. How does that sound?
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I'm a re-writer. The goal of 2 chapters a day is pretty ambitious. Make sure you dont burn out! Good luck
 
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Haha my test date is August 6th, but that's pushed back from July 16th. By the end of the month I'll be done with content review, but I used EK and not BR since I only recently got the BR books from a friend. Gonna spend all of July doing practice passages and tests, should be fun, lol.
 
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salim271 said:
Haha my test date is August 6th, but that's pushed back from July 16th. By the end of the month I'll be done with content review, but I used EK and not BR since I only recently got the BR books from a friend. Gonna spend all of July doing practice passages and tests, should be fun, lol.
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had the same initial plan but I think i'll only be done with review 1st week of july. been doing passages with content so hopefully that helps :xf:
 
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How is everyone doing in their studying? I just finished an AAMC full length and got a (28). Im about half way done with my studying and compared to the first AAMC full length i took my first week (25), im showing improvement. Not as much as id like to see, but its still encouraging. My consistant weakness seems to be the physical sciences. This test i got 7, 11, 10. Looks like i know what i need to work on for that 30+. Keep it up guys
 
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FirefighterDoc said:
How is everyone doing in their studying? I just finished an AAMC full length and got a (28). Im about half way done with my studying and compared to the first AAMC full length i took my first week (25), im showing improvement. Not as much as id like to see, but its still encouraging. My consistant weakness seems to be the physical sciences. This test i got 7, 11, 10. Looks like i know what i need to work on for that 30+. Keep it up guys
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PS is the easiest to improve i think. If you get better at understanding the passage material through passage practice and content review, then you can answer passage questions no problem. If you practice the math portion consistently and know the equations and how to apply them, you're basically the rest of the way there. I think verbal is the hardest to improve, and you seem to be doing well there already, so good job!

I've taken two practice tests so far:

TBR 1 2002 written: 10PS, 11VR, 10BS.
AAMC CBT 3: 9PS, 10VR, 11BS.

Basically I think my biggest weakness is my inability to process the passage fast enough, in AAMC 3 i wasnt getting the math wrong in the PS i was getting the content questions :/ mostly because i was nervous about timing and it was affecting my thoughts 🙁. Thats what I get for saving my passage practice all for the end, I guess...

Just three pages and I'm done with my physics review... gen chem will only take a few more days hopefully, and then i just have to review organic lab techniques, stereochemistry and a quick review of all the mechanisms and reactions. Even with one final on the 28 and another test on the 30th, i should be done within the first few days of july.

Then... passage spam/practice test spam time, and reviewing where ever I feel weak.

Good luck guys, lets all get our target scores and rock August 5th/6th!!!!!
 
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salim271 said:
PS is the easiest to improve i think. If you get better at understanding the passage material through passage practice and content review, then you can answer passage questions no problem. If you practice the math portion consistently and know the equations and how to apply them, you're basically the rest of the way there. I think verbal is the hardest to improve, and you seem to be doing well there already, so good job!

I've taken two practice tests so far:

TBR 1 2002 written: 10PS, 11VR, 10BS.
AAMC CBT 3: 9PS, 10VR, 11BS.

Basically I think my biggest weakness is my inability to process the passage fast enough, in AAMC 3 i wasnt getting the math wrong in the PS i was getting the content questions :/ mostly because i was nervous about timing and it was affecting my thoughts 🙁. Thats what I get for saving my passage practice all for the end, I guess...

Just three pages and I'm done with my physics review... gen chem will only take a few more days hopefully, and then i just have to review organic lab techniques, stereochemistry and a quick review of all the mechanisms and reactions. Even with one final on the 28 and another test on the 30th, i should be done within the first few days of july.

Then... passage spam/practice test spam time, and reviewing where ever I feel weak.

Good luck guys, lets all get our target scores and rock August 5th/6th!!!!!
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Thanks, its good to hear that. I was really glad to see that 11 in verbal, because i was stagnant at 9 on my EK 101 and AAMC's. Like i said, im about half way done with my studying. That being said, hopefully i can start to see greater improvement when im done.

Oh did i mention my birthday is Sept 6th? This is either going to be a really great b-day or a really crappy one. Here's to the former.:xf:
 
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FirefighterDoc said:
Oh did i mention my birthday is Sept 6th? This is either going to be a really great b-day or a really crappy one. Here's to the former.:xf:
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Yeah mine is Aug 12th... i think my mind will still be in MCAT mode then...

Random friend: "Happy birthday! How's life?"

Me: Half life is the time it takes for a radioactive material to decay...

Family member: Here's 100 dollars, go buy yourself something nice!

Me: Dollars, green pigment, chlorophyll, photosystems I and II, accessary pigments extend the range in which light can be absorbed...

Mom: Take out the trash you lazy kid. And dont be late for work again.

Me: Trash... my MCAT score 🙁. Work harder... what I'll have to do next time 🙁.
 
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I some what feel like there is no time... Just getting done with the first books of TBR books... And there was so much information that I feel I need to re read everything.. Lol (test jitters)
 
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Ebattilana100 said:
I some what feel like there is no time... Just getting done with the first books of TBR books... And there was so much information that I feel I need to re read everything.. Lol (test jitters)
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I felt the exact same way!! Just go back and spend a couple days reviewing passages. I felt it was totally necessary to do this before going any further and I'm glad I did it.
I found that my studying was great during the month of May. Then the first 2 and a half weeks of June I started to burn out and slacked off. I couldn't study at all! I just started to pick it up again and it feels great to get back into the groove of things.

So far I did AAMC#6 and got a 27 which I am super pumped about 😀

Almost done content review. Goal is to finish by July 1st (using a mix of TBR, TPRH and EK) then do Kaplan FLs, Princeton FLs and then the AAMC practice tests/last 1/3 passages from TBR textbooks until Aug 6 - my big day!

Good Luck everyone!
 
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MD2BeWpg said:
I felt the exact same way!! Just go back and spend a couple days reviewing passages. I felt it was totally necessary to do this before going any further and I'm glad I did it.
I found that my studying was great during the month of May. Then the first 2 and a half weeks of June I started to burn out and slacked off. I couldn't study at all! I just started to pick it up again and it feels great to get back into the groove of things.

So far I did AAMC#6 and got a 27 which I am super pumped about 😀

Almost done content review. Goal is to finish by July 1st (using a mix of TBR, TPRH and EK) then do Kaplan FLs, Princeton FLs and then the AAMC practice tests/last 1/3 passages from TBR textbooks until Aug 6 - my big day!

Good Luck everyone!
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Well when I'm done with the first books, I'm going to review everything over...the only thing is I've been doing a subject a day and I don't think I would be able to continue doing that because I would be done with all the review the week of the exam... I need to start doing two subjects a day and I feel like that is going to hurt my brain to the max ( physics and Chem) (organic and biology) and on top of that verbal passages every day.... It's even hard to write all that... But I CAN do it
 
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So what does everyone think the best Ochem review is?
EK, TPR, Kaplan?
I took Orgo over a year ago and it is clearly my weakest..
 
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rgrell said:
So what does everyone think the best Ochem review is?
EK, TPR, Kaplan?
I took Orgo over a year ago and it is clearly my weakest..
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I'm no expert on the MCAT, but here is what I think: If you have time, I would do TBR. It's very detailed but it gives you a thorough account of OChem and I think if you can really take the time to learn TBR Ochem, you'll probably nail Ochem on the mcat. Thats just my opinion. However EK OChem is really good as well because its very condensed and although their book is only 100 pages, I felt they also covered everything. So it just depends on if you need more of a refresher or not. If you do, go with TBR, but beware that it is much more time-consuming.
 
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recently signed up -- im retaker. (5/21 mcat)

I hope in 6 weeks I will improve my verbal speed/timing.
 
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how are you going to do this?
I'm a retaker, as background knowledge, and my anxieties combined with brilliant laziness fed my destruction last august haha.

It's tough to focus on two subjects at a time. I know that if I continued with content review at the pace I'm going at, I'll be done when the test comes. So I think I'm going to stop and just start taking practice exams for the final month straight...

any thoughts on how to review "faster" ?
 
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