***Official "Please Help" Thread***

[mcatisthedevil]

Hey Ya'll,
Does anyone have advice for me to bring up my score? I am currently making scores between 21-23 on practice tests and I am studying a lot ( 8 hours a day)! There is not trend to my scores in each section because they all fluctuate. I have a good GPA and good EC so the only thing holding me back right now is my MCAT score. I refuse to let this one test hold me back!! I have already taken the Kaplan class this semester. Has anyone in here really struggled with the MCAT and knows some tricks? These scores are really starting to discourage me..Should I stop taking practice tests for a while? I take the test Aug 5th.. This is a cry for help! Anyone?

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[Tgi87]

This kind of thing really shocks me. How can an otherwise high functioning student who is very familiar with stress(I imagine maintaining a 3.8+ while being an athlete was stressful) manage to bomb out for the entire 5 hours. I could see one low section, recuperating during the break, and pulling it together. Something doesn't really make sense. Maybe you should ask AAMC for a re-score or to check your test again. A 20 would be shockingly low for someone scoring mid 30s in practice tests.

I know, i totally agree with you. I'm mailing in my rescoring request tomorrow and crossing my fingers. I saw here on SDN that someone took the MCAt in january this year, got it rescored and it went up 7 points. I couldn't believe it. I will hope the same happens with me! Yeah, i really couldn't believe it when i saw my scores online. It made me feel so stupid, especially because i studied soooooo hard. Oh well...gotta find some extra energy and get ready to kick *$$ on the aug 22nd one. I'm just not sure if I should apply to MD this year.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I took the MCAT May 10, 2008. Honestly, I left the test feeling horrible. I had been averaging between 28 and 32 on my kaplan practice testes and I thought that after that HORRIBLE my score would be around a 27.

I got my scores Monday and I got a 22!!! I am destroyed. I had all my papers and application ready to go, thinking that even a 27 wouldn't be so tragic...its better than taking he test again. So I registered to take it again and the best I could get was August 5.

I feel that they will be fine second time around, but my confidence is really down. Do most people bomb that badly and recover greatly?

Some show amazing increases while others stay pretty much where they are. The AAMC figures show that the average person increases by only 0.5, but from what I have seen it looks like about 3 points. The 3-point gain is bimodal, with half averaging a 5-6 improvment and the other half a point or so like the AAMC people predict.

I think the biggest difference between the two groups stems in attitude and a commitment to make changes in their study routine. Take your first sitting and learn from it. Seriously think about what you did and how the score ended up lower than what you had hoped to get. Answer the following questions:

• Did I freak out during the exam?
  Were the passages and questions different from what I had seen in my practice?
  Were there any passages on topics I didn't review?
  Did I have trouble interpreting some of the questions, and if so, roughly what percentage?
  Did I manage my time wisely? Did I pace myself correctly?
  Was I able to focus?

There are other questions, but I think you get the idea. Once you honestly answer those questions, you are ready to start round 2 with a vengence. If you freaked out, then you need to simulate the testing experience better this time around. Take practice tests in a campus computer lab. Practice your passages with mild distractions such as people moving around and random typing.

As for your answers to the questions above, if the passages and questions on the real MCAT were different from what you were practicing, then put the materials you used before aside and start with something new. Whether it's a placebo effect or an actual improvement in the quality of what you study, this will help a bunch.

As for the topics, start with the AAMC checklist and make sure that you cover everything in detail. Don't just do a cursory nod for the things that look really familiar. Write notes to yourself, especially science vocabulary terms.

The biggest thing you can do is learn from your first experience what to do differently this time around. As a previous poster pointed out, a jump is not only possible, but highly probable if you attack your preparation differently than before. I saw a 22-to-23-to-31 jump and a 24-30 jump just this past MCAT, so it can definitely be done on the CBT.

Lastly, keep in mind that with so few questions, the MCAT has great variability. Your score could reflect a bad luck of the draw as much as anything. You got the unlucky sitting out of the way and this next one will be better. And if possible, consider a different testing center. Start the experience fresh without any ghosts of MCATs past lurking about. If you have to take it at the same center, write yourself an insider's guide to how the center works. Read it before your exam and remind yourself that you have an advantage over the people there for the first time.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Some show amazing increases while others stay pretty much where they are. The AAMC figures show that the average person increases by only 0.5, but from what I have seen it looks like about 3 points. The 3-point gain is bimodal, with half averaging a 5-6 improvment and the other half a point or so like the AAMC people predict.

I think the biggest difference between the two groups stems in attitude and a commitment to make changes in their study routine. Take your first sitting and learn from it. Seriously think about what you did and how the score ended up lower than what you had hoped to get. Answer the following questions:

• Did I freak out during the exam?
  Were the passages and questions different from what I had seen in my practice?
  Were there any passages on topics I didn't review?
  Did I have trouble interpreting some of the questions, and if so, roughly what percentage?
  Did I manage my time wisely? Did I pace myself correctly?
  Was I able to focus?

There are other questions, but I think you get the idea. Once you honestly answer those questions, you are ready to start round 2 with a vengence. If you freaked out, then you need to simulate the testing experience better this time around. Take practice tests in a campus computer lab. Practice your passages with mild distractions such as people moving around and random typing.

As for your answers to the questions above, if the passages and questions on the real MCAT were different from what you were practicing, then put the materials you used before aside and start with something new. Whether it's a placebo effect or an actual improvement in the quality of what you study, this will help a bunch.

As for the topics, start with the AAMC checklist and make sure that you cover everything in detail. Don't just do a cursory nod for the things that look really familiar. Write notes to yourself, especially science vocabulary terms.

The biggest thing you can do is learn from your first experience what to do differently this time around. As a previous poster pointed out, a jump is not only possible, but highly probable if you attack your preparation differently than before. I saw a 22-to-23-to-31 jump and a 24-30 jump just this past MCAT, so it can definitely be done on the CBT.

Lastly, keep in mind that with so few questions, the MCAT has great variability. Your score could reflect a bad luck of the draw as much as anything. You got the unlucky sitting out of the way and this next one will be better. And if possible, consider a different testing center. Start the experience fresh without any ghosts of MCATs past lurking about. If you have to take it at the same center, write yourself an insider's guide to how the center works. Read it before your exam and remind yourself that you have an advantage over the people there for the first time.

BRT this is an excellent post! I enjoy reading your posts and I think there are valuable inputs to the SDN community. I kept some of them for references and I would like to include one over here. Thank you for your time and effort to help others in their time of need. I hope one day we can actually meet eye-to-eye since we live so close to each other, but until that day, I am glad to post side-by-side you here. Here is the post that I was talking about:

To Roadrunner, bozz, Vihsadas, etc...
You are amazing. Not because of your great scores and not because of your logic; you are amazing for the sincere compassion you show with each post. Thank God that people like you choose to go into medicine, because we need doctors with your understanding of and compassion for the human psyche.

A thread like this is filled with many people wanting to share how well they did with a group of people who can relate. Face it, you can't really go into a McDonalds with an ear-to-ear grin and tell the person next you in line that you're happy as a clam over a 38 on the MCAT. So people come here to share/brag/debrief over the experience and ultimately the score. Unfortunately, this thread follows the same trend we see when people report back their scores to us.

• Wave 1: The ecstatic over achievers with their 35+ scores
  Wave 2: The should I retake it? crowd with their 28-32 and one low subject score.
  Wave 3: After a few days, come the "I just don't know what happened to me" people. They get between 23 and 31 after expecting a much higher score.

The reality is that the Wave 3 people are the ones who go on to be some of the most amazing doctors. I have to believe that because they have to work so hard for it (retake the MCAT or spice up their application with amazing extracurics) that they appreciate the experience so much more. The ones who scraped into medical school according to the numbers end up doing some amazing things once they become doctors. Off of the top of my head there is a summer camp for disabled kids, a free clinic in Costa Mesa, a mobile medical team that goes into migrant farm worker camps, and too many international aid teams to think of that center around some former students who were Wave 3 people.

The MCAT is just a test and the score is just a number. I realize that taking pride in a high number is natural, but don't let the number define you. Despite all we make of this test, the number plays a role in your life for a very short period of time. Celebrate a good score, but don't use it as a calling card. Augment your applicant profile if you have a low score and don't let it discourage you. You want to be a doctor, not a number!

I checked my score a while ago and did horribly. I've cried soo much that my head hurts...I'm just soo freakin tired of this ****.

I want this soo bad and after getting my score back I feel like my dream of becoming a doctor is offcially over.

btw I got freaking 23. Even if I retake it and do better, won't they look at my score and think, what happened?

I'm soo very very tired...

Cry as much as you need to... then, once you feel dried out, walk away from this site and all of the things that tie you to the premedical community. Take a few days to contemplate not what it means to be a premed, but what it means to be a doctor. Being a doctor is more than a high undergrad GPA; it's more than an MCAT score. It's so much more than what we focus on at this point of the pathway. Once you feel that, starting to study for this exam again will be made easier. At that point, you need to make wholesale changes in your approach to this exam.

I feel like telling the story of a former student who probably parallels your tale. I met her about five years ago. I was doing one of those damn sales pitch seminars where all of the companies come and tell outrageous stories of how great their programs are and how you'll get taller, stronger, smarter, have a prettier smile and be a better person by simply taking our course. She came up and said she had taken the test the past summer and got a 23. She had spent her own money to take a review course and felt like she'd wasted so much time and money. We ended up talking for about an hour and a half. By the end of the conversation, it was apparent that she wanted to do medicine more than anything in the world and she had one of the more heartfelt reasons I have ever heard. We sat down a few days later and laid out a seemingly crazy plan that involved NO reading. She was to simply do passages in groups of theree to four and then grade them without looking at the answer key. If she got anything wrong, she repeated the question with just the three remaining answer choices. She again graded it. She repeated any questions she missed, now with just two answer choices remaining. Only then did she read the answer key. For any question she missed, I made her rank the answers choices from best to worst. Also, for every question she missed, I had her write a new question with four answer choices. A month or so later, she repeated the passage and did her questions. She absolutely worked her azz off. She ended up getting a 32 the next time around. Right now, she's an MSIII who is incredibly active in outreach. She's going to make a huge difference in people's lives.

You can do what she did... it will take work and it will require approaching the exam from a completely different path. But alas, if you do it right and learn the thought process behind this test more so than the information, you will kick its butt.

 

[korndoctor]

good posts everyone!

so i'm also in a very similiar situation with a 20R and plan on taking it in july..with only 6 weeks left, what's best approach?

Also, i plan on submitting my amcas july 1st to get it verified...My fear is that med schools will throw away my app right away due to the low mcat eventho i SELECT option to expect a second score in july. Is this true? could someone with experience tell me. There's no option to withhold ALL MCAT scores so that it will let me submit amcas without mcat been seen until i get all scores in and submit them all at same time, so it doesnt hold up rest of app. I dont understand why amcas doesnt have this feature. So should i submit all my apps anyways in july or submit 1 and update later when i have my second score?

i'm just curious...once u submit amcas...u should get secondaries almost immediately or whats the average wait time to getting secondaries once amcas primaries has been submitted...

 

[Tgi87]

good posts everyone!

so i'm also in a very similiar situation with a 20R and plan on taking it in july..with only 6 weeks left, what's best approach?

Also, i plan on submitting my amcas july 1st to get it verified...My fear is that med schools will throw away my app right away due to the low mcat eventho i SELECT option to expect a second score in july. Is this true? could someone with experience tell me. There's no option to withhold ALL MCAT scores so that it will let me submit amcas without mcat been seen until i get all scores in and submit them all at same time, so it doesnt hold up rest of app. I dont understand why amcas doesnt have this feature. So should i submit all my apps anyways in july or submit 1 and update later when i have my second score?

i'm just curious...once u submit amcas...u should get secondaries almost immediately or whats the average wait time to getting secondaries once amcas primaries has been submitted...

I'm in the same situation as you, also got a 20R and want an MD. What schools are you applying to? When in July are you taking your MCAT? Are you going to apply even before you take the new MCAT? Please let me know. i also need some advice. PM me if you prefer.

 

[korndoctor]

I am not sure whether i should apply early or wait till second scores are in. If i apply early, i want to be sure that the schools will HOLD my app and NOT loko at it until second scores are in. I hear some schools prescreen before secondaries with first mcat n that scares me fo rizzle. Could someone with knowledge please offer us some advice. Is it okay to send in primary early july checking off to expect second mcat scores. Or should i just apply to 1 score, wait for second scores and then update amcas to send to remaining schools. I just want u guys to know that money is not an issue for me, I have foudn a job to pay for my apps and WISH To apply this year no matter what. Question is i dont want schools to start making decisions based only on my first mcat when second arent even in yet eventhough i selected option to expect second score. Someone please offer us advice; we are super desperate now.

I take on july 10th. How about u? whats ur studying method, what are u changing this second time around? good luck studying

 

[Tgi87]

I am not sure whether i should apply early or wait till second scores are in. If i apply early, i want to be sure that the schools will HOLD my app and NOT loko at it until second scores are in. I hear some schools prescreen before secondaries with first mcat n that scares me fo rizzle. Could someone with knowledge please offer us some advice. Is it okay to send in primary early july checking off to expect second mcat scores. Or should i just apply to 1 score, wait for second scores and then update amcas to send to remaining schools. I just want u guys to know that money is not an issue for me, I have foudn a job to pay for my apps and WISH To apply this year no matter what. Question is i dont want schools to start making decisions based only on my first mcat when second arent even in yet eventhough i selected option to expect second score. Someone please offer us advice; we are super desperate now.

I take on july 10th. How about u? whats ur studying method, what are u changing this second time around? good luck studying

I'm taking Aug 22nd. The reason why i chose this late is because iw ant to make sure i will get a very good score. So until July 15ish i plan on review every subject and do tons and tons of problems and verbal passages, and then after that more problems and tons of practice tests. How about you?? Which schools do you plan on applying to? I was also thinking about getting my MCAT rescored, and maybe apply after i get those results. But i'm not sure. I jus don't want to apply to MD this year and end up wasting my money. How many schools do you plan on applying to?

 

[whatsupdoc08]

I have taken the mcat my Senior yr and got a 17.

I've now graduated and been working for the past year now.

My first time around i took the Kaplan course and slacked off so i can only really blame myself for the outcome.

This time i ready every single page of all the science book (not verbal because i dont like their verbal method, using the EK for verbal). I took notes on most of it until it became too time consuming so i just read.

Ive been using the Princeton review hyperlearning Science workbook and completed and reviewed 28 passages. Ive taken 3 full-lengths and done 3 EK 101 Verbal sections.

Today after all of that prep i took another AAMC exam and got a 17 another friggen seventeen. Is this real? Im literally crying my eyes out. Ive honestly been trying here and now with 4 weeks until my July 18th test date I dont know what to do.

Can someone who's been successful or have good ideas try and help me out here and give me tips as to what i can do at this point. Im so lost and so utterly discouraged. I want to give up RIGHT NOW!

only serious answers please. i understand were all in competition here but id like a little consideration in this time of stuggling. Thanks!

 

[mterp45]

I have taken the mcat my Senior yr and got a 17.

I've now graduated and been working for the past year now.

My first time around i took the Kaplan course and slacked off so i can only really blame myself for the outcome.

This time i ready every single page of all the science book (not verbal because i dont like their verbal method, using the EK for verbal). I took notes on most of it until it became too time consuming so i just read.

Ive been using the Princeton review hyperlearning Science workbook and completed and reviewed 28 passages. Ive taken 3 full-lengths and done 3 EK 101 Verbal sections.

Today after all of that prep i took another AAMC exam and got a 17 another friggen seventeen. Is this real? Im literally crying my eyes out. Ive honestly been trying here and now with 4 weeks until my July 18th test date I dont know what to do.

Can someone who's been successful or have good ideas try and help me out here and give me tips as to what i can do at this point. Im so lost and so utterly discouraged. I want to give up RIGHT NOW!

only serious answers please. i understand were all in competition here but id like a little consideration in this time of stuggling. Thanks!

You should reconsider the july 18th date, think about all the prep you did and time you put in, multiply it by 80, and that may be the amount of time and prep you will have to put into it. don't get discouraged, it will take time but it will happen.

 

[HippocratesX]

i don't think content review is your problem if you are scoring a 17. Not to sound mean, but alot of people can score this high without ANY content review, much less having read every page of Kaplan's lecture notes, etc. I think you should work on your MCAT test-taking skills and take every exam you can get your hands on. But that's not all. Once you take these exams, you have to then spend 3 times as much time sitting down and going thru each question, seeing what the correct answer is (according to the solutions manual that fully explains how to get the right answer). Usually there is more than 1 way to get to the correct answer in the sciences. Ask yourself was there any other way you could have gotten the right answer besides for the official answer in the solutions manual? Then after you take a few of these exams and review them, you need to then go back and do a 2nd review of these same exams you took, by marking the TYPE of questions you get wrong most and writing down WHY you missed the question in the first place. was it concept-related error? was it mathematical miscalculation? was it not using the tables/graphs properly? was it cuz u missed some important clue in the passage? was it because u ran out of time? Then continue taking exams with this knowledge of what you miss, in mind, and REMEDY the problem.

You can review content till you are blue in the face, but the test is not purely about scientific knowledge. It tests general intelligence too, by testing how well/how fast you read and comprehend - and this comprehension doesnt have to be a full understanding of the passage, ....just enough to know which answer choices are definitely wrong, probably wrong, and which one left MUST be the answer because the other choices sound less correct. Don't get me wrong, you still need to understand the concepts pretty well, but in those sections where you fall a little weak (and it can't be ALOT weak in any 1 area)...then test-taking skills usually helps to still get to the correct answer.

good luck!

 

[SN2ed]

First and foremost, know that you should never give up if you truly want to become a doctor.

For the actual analysis, here goes. You are not doing close to enough timed practice problems, that is your biggest mistake. For instance, on verbal you should really be taking and reviewing (not the test you just took, but the one before) 5 passages per DAY. Furthermore, it doesn't sound like you're spending the time needed to take on this beast. You should be treating this like a full-time job for at least three months. The MCAT is not something most people only spend a couple hours a day on and do well. Check out the stickies for some helpful information.

Finally what were your practice test scores looking like? If they were around 30, then it was probably nerves that got to you. However, if they were low, you should NOT have taken the test. This is especially the case due to your low first score.

 

[Mandarin142]

I have taken the mcat my Senior yr and got a 17.

I've now graduated and been working for the past year now.

My first time around i took the Kaplan course and slacked off so i can only really blame myself for the outcome.

This time i ready every single page of all the science book (not verbal because i dont like their verbal method, using the EK for verbal). I took notes on most of it until it became too time consuming so i just read.

Ive been using the Princeton review hyperlearning Science workbook and completed and reviewed 28 passages. Ive taken 3 full-lengths and done 3 EK 101 Verbal sections.

Today after all of that prep i took another AAMC exam and got a 17 another friggen seventeen. Is this real? Im literally crying my eyes out. Ive honestly been trying here and now with 4 weeks until my July 18th test date I dont know what to do.

Can someone who's been successful or have good ideas try and help me out here and give me tips as to what i can do at this point. Im so lost and so utterly discouraged. I want to give up RIGHT NOW!

only serious answers please. i understand were all in competition here but id like a little consideration in this time of stuggling. Thanks!

All I can do is tell you my personal study method and how it's helped me improve my scores....

I started with AAMC Practice Test 3 (the free one) before any content review, studying, or previous exposure to the MCAT at all. I scored a 7-9-9 (PS-VR-BS). I did not bother looking at what questions I missed and I took it under strict conditions (in a private room, timed, at my library)

From there I started moving through all the Examkrackers materials... I made out a schedule at the beginning of each week and stuck to it like glue. I varied up my subjects so I didn't get bored looking at the same stuff constantly.

For every lecture in each Examkrackers subject book I did the following:
1. Read the entire lecture (ignoring lecture questions) straight through without taking notes.
2. Read the lecture thoroughly a second time taking concise notes and completing the lecture questions as I went through.
3. Complete the 30-Minute end-of-lecture exam.
4. Weeks Later: ---- Skim through the lecture and my notes
5. Complete the lecture questions a second time, for each question I took notes why each choice was correct/incorrect and looked up the answer if I didn't know it. For questions requiring a formula: I boxed the formula I used in my notes and compiled a "formula-sheet" during this time.
6. Complete the end-of-lecture exam a second time, again for each question I proved the correct/incorrect answers.
7. Complete all of the corresponding questions out of the Examkrackers 1001 Question book.

I kept my notes and stuff rather organized and consistent, so at this point I can see which areas are my weakest ( I wrote % correct in red at the top of each cover page for each set of lecture notes ) across the board.

I've been taking AAMC practice tests regularly throughout my preparation. At this point I am scoring 13 +/- 1 point on each section. The constant practice of proving correct/incorrect answers has been golden. Even if you don't know the answer to a question, if you can prove some of the choices are wrong you can still get the question right! Hope this helps and good luck =)

 

[physics junkie]

I didn't need to read past the title to know your problem. Mcatism is monotheistic, not poly-. Praise be to MCAT God!

In all seriousness from the sound of it you haven't studied that much. 28 passages? That is 4 tests. 3 full length tests? I took 7 AAMCs, did a full content review from EK, took notes on all of it(I'd be glad to send them to you if you PM me your email), and then took the test. Maybe it's time to start taking a closer look at the ones you got wrong and seeing what categories they fell into and why you got them wrong. If you understand the content but couldn't apply it then you need to slow down and try taking the test without worrying about the time. Get a feel for the style of the test. Read some of BerkReviewTeach's posts about strategy to help you out. I think you might need to take a 2-3 day breather where you just do content review and review the tests you got wrong. After figuring out what the correct answers were to the problems you missed try to see how the answer is obvious. That will build more connections and get you thinking in MCAT mode.

Also, suck it up and stop crying. Tears don't make for a good application.

 

[wizenedone]

I didn't need to read past the title to know your problem. Mcatism is monotheistic, not poly-. Praise be to MCAT God!

In all seriousness from the sound of it you haven't studied that much. 28 passages? That is 4 tests. 3 full length tests? I took 7 AAMCs, did a full content review from EK, took notes on all of it(I'd be glad to send them to you if you PM me your email), and then took the test. Maybe it's time to start taking a closer look at the ones you got wrong and seeing what categories they fell into and why you got them wrong. If you understand the content but couldn't apply it then you need to slow down and try taking the test without worrying about the time. Get a feel for the style of the test. Read some of BerkReviewTeach's posts about strategy to help you out. I think you might need to take a 2-3 day breather where you just do content review and review the tests you got wrong. After figuring out what the correct answers were to the problems you missed try to see how the answer is obvious. That will build more connections and get you thinking in MCAT mode.

Also, suck it up and stop crying. Tears don't make for a good application.

lol

 

[atomi]

I have taken the mcat my Senior yr and got a 17.

I've now graduated and been working for the past year now.

My first time around i took the Kaplan course and slacked off so i can only really blame myself for the outcome.

This time i ready every single page of all the science book (not verbal because i dont like their verbal method, using the EK for verbal). I took notes on most of it until it became too time consuming so i just read.

Ive been using the Princeton review hyperlearning Science workbook and completed and reviewed 28 passages. Ive taken 3 full-lengths and done 3 EK 101 Verbal sections.

Today after all of that prep i took another AAMC exam and got a 17 another friggen seventeen. Is this real? Im literally crying my eyes out. Ive honestly been trying here and now with 4 weeks until my July 18th test date I dont know what to do.

Can someone who's been successful or have good ideas try and help me out here and give me tips as to what i can do at this point. Im so lost and so utterly discouraged. I want to give up RIGHT NOW!

only serious answers please. i understand were all in competition here but id like a little consideration in this time of stuggling. Thanks!

There is something wrong with your test-taking skills. Are you finishing all the sections?

 

[whatsupdoc08]

I always finish the Physics section in time (highest scoring section). Biology i finish most of the time with maybe 5 mins to complete the last passage and questions. Verbal i always have 1 to 2 passages to get to.

 

[whatsupdoc08]

.

 

[mcatisthedevil]

I am still having no luck with this test and after reviewing tests. I have narrowed down some of my issues. One: the timing causes me major anxiety and causes me not to think enough about my answers. I have found that I miss a lot of important information in the passages because I get to nervous to spend time really paying a lot of attention to the passages. It also causes me to not finish problems that I know how to do because i think that I am spending too much time on them. I tried doing some passages not timed and did really well. Does anyone think that I should do whole tests without timing myself?

I am not sure what else to try because my score is not going up and I have been studying and practicing tests galore and I seem to know the material pretty well, but no results.
Are there any other test anxiety people in here?

Also, is it better to do fewer passages thoroughly and get more answers right, than to finish all passages and only get a few right in each passage?

Thanks!

 

[Ari1584]

So i honestly don't know what to do...i have been doing a passage a day for almost 6 months..some passages i get all right and the next i will get 5 wrong. I am very inconsistent and i just don't ever understand the main idea of the passage. I feel like when i read through things quickly i miss important details that have to do with the main point. I just dont know what to do about verbal...i havent gotten any better than a 5 or 6 and i just dont know what to do to improve anymore

 

[tbvaug00]

I found the verbal to also be really variable for me. The best advice I can give is to try your best to find the passage interesting. Personally, I would do well on the passages I found interesting and terrible on the ones about poetry or some folk music hero. If you can somehow become intrigued about the passage you will be much more engaged and do much better

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Maybe you could find these links helpful.

BloodySurgeon Verbal Guide(you must of saw that coming)- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=509702

30+ MCAT Study Habits- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=503250

Tips for MCAT Studiers- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=3719232

A Very Good Verbal Guide - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=206944

QofQuimica & Shrike Guide to Everything- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=516521

mterp45 Guide- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=526316

Vihsadis Verbal Guide- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6022602&postcount=96

Bozz- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=499207

gecko45- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=499808

Official "Should I Retake?" Thread- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=412739

 

[erik11luc]

I have been doing the examkrackers homestudy plan on my own and I've been at it for about 6 weeks so far. I haven't seen much progess in my scores on the 30 minute exams. Some of these questions are so tough! I keep getting 6's! i started with 4's then i had a week where i got 8's and a 9 but lately im at 6 !!! I am feeling like I am learning a lot but i dont get why i cant get around their tricks!

Does anyone else have this hard of a time with the 30 minute exams? It is getting very discouraging getting knocked down day after day by these tests. I took a barrons test( ive heard they arent accurate) and got a 28 with guessing on about 20 problems because i havent gone over the material yet and i havent seen it since freshman year. That gave mea little confidence booster but then i get back to exam krackers and i cant beat them!

I usually get about 3-4 hours of studyin in a day. I work 32 hours a week and have very intense practices every morning (for track) so I am just trying to grind this out the best i can. I take my MCAT in september. I plan on taking a practice test every week untill my test date and i should be done with review soon and have about a month to tune things up. But ANY words of encouragment would help me sooo much. thanks everyone!
erik

 

[engineeredout]

Well look at it this way. You're not going to see THAT much of an improvement in the 30 minute exams because with each new exam comes new material. The exams are pretty tough, I score a 10 MAX on them. DOn't worry about it too much, and judge your performance by actual AAMC exams.

 

[cornpops21]

Well look at it this way. You're not going to see THAT much of an improvement in the 30 minute exams because with each new exam comes new material. The exams are pretty tough, I score a 10 MAX on them. DOn't worry about it too much, and judge your performance by actual AAMC exams.

Yeah same here. They are really tough. The only one I've done above-average on was O-Chem Lecture 3 Exam where I actually got 22/23 correct. But ochem is my strong suit. Too bad it's only 2 passages on the real thing!

 

[cornpops21]

I usually get about 3-4 hours of studyin in a day. I work 32 hours a week and have very intense practices every morning (for track) so I am just trying to grind this out the best i can. I take my MCAT in september. I plan on taking a practice test every week untill my test date and i should be done with review soon and have about a month to tune things up. But ANY words of encouragment would help me sooo much. thanks everyone!
erik

I suggest not using any more full length exams until AFTER you are done with content review. You said you're on week 6 of the home-study and are taking your MCAT in September. So you should be done with content review around the end of July / beginning of August. You can then start doing FL's every 2 or 3 days (depending on how many you have) up until your test date. If you do your FL's in the middle of content review, it's sort of a waste IMHO.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ldnk]

You obviously have done enough practice tests to realize that you aren't acing the material. Ask yourself why that is. What problems are you getting right, and which ones are you getting wrong. More importantly, why are you getting certain problems wrong.

A few suggestions:

1 - Relax before writing. Stay focused while writing it, but do something calming/fun before you take the test. If your mind is racing right before you write, you won't be in a good state of mind to start the test.

2 - After you finish each mini-MCAT go back and redo the exam without the time limit. Read each question carefully, do the standard "write out the given/key information", map out the type of question you think it is, ask yourself how to approach that basic question type, and then try and solve it. If you still get it wrong, try and work backwards from the answer to figure out where you went astray.

3 - Keep track of the type of question you got wrong on a separate sheet of paper. Write out what the mistakes you made were, whether it was a calculation error, a key step you forgot, a fact you "mis-remembered", or something that you just didn't know in the first place.

When you do this for a few tests you can start to see a trend in what was going wrong. Maybe you can't tell the difference between a strong acid/weak acid/buffer question and then you need to sit down and review those concepts.

Maybe you notice that you make the same calculation incorrectly when doing mental addition and you need to remind yourself to slow down during those questions. Finishing each passage is good, but if you make 7 calculation errors and finish easily, or make 1 calculation error and leave 2 questions at the end because you ran out of time, which mark is more likely to be better?

Or maybe you see that you answer the questions "correctly" but you are misreading the question. Again, this would mean that you need to take more time looking at what is being asked, even if it means you might have to just guess on a question or two at the end. The goal is always to get the best overall score, not just finish each question.

My personal guess though is that if you are averaging somewhere around 6, it probably means that you don't have all of the concepts under wraps just yet. You might know the general aspects of each question, but there is still something missing that you need to work on to get the finer details when you approach questions.

 

[unsung]

I have been doing the examkrackers homestudy plan on my own and I've been at it for about 6 weeks so far. I haven't seen much progess in my scores on the 30 minute exams. Some of these questions are so tough! I keep getting 6's! i started with 4's then i had a week where i got 8's and a 9 but lately im at 6 !!! I am feeling like I am learning a lot but i dont get why i cant get around their tricks!

Does anyone else have this hard of a time with the 30 minute exams? It is getting very discouraging getting knocked down day after day by these tests. I took a barrons test( ive heard they arent accurate) and got a 28 with guessing on about 20 problems because i havent gone over the material yet and i havent seen it since freshman year. That gave mea little confidence booster but then i get back to exam krackers and i cant beat them!

I usually get about 3-4 hours of studyin in a day. I work 32 hours a week and have very intense practices every morning (for track) so I am just trying to grind this out the best i can. I take my MCAT in september. I plan on taking a practice test every week untill my test date and i should be done with review soon and have about a month to tune things up. But ANY words of encouragment would help me sooo much. thanks everyone!
erik

As long as you feel like you're learning a lot from them, then it's all good. The scores are kind of designed to "motivate" you to study even harder Anyway, my EK scores have always kinda varied, not been stellar or anything, especially on those end of chapter tests, but what I *have* noticed is that I am scoring decently now on AAMC tests after all the practice I did with EK. EK seems a lot harder to me than AAMC, on every section (even verbal) in that the Qs just seem designed to twist your mind and reason through things. The real (at least my experience of it via AAMCs) test is simpler and if you can get through the twisted logic of EK, it'll really help you on the real thing. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do fine.

 

[ohiostatedoc]

Dude you only have 4 weeks keep going....u can do it. I gave up halfway thru and reallllllllly regret it after I found out that a lot of ppl were getting 8s and 9s on EK 30 min......just finish it and then look at other resources to improve on your weaknesses.

I also noticed that the chapters that I felt realllly good about and took my time reading (even reading paragraphs more than twice) I did well on EK 30min tests. Take your time reading the chapters thoroughly......if you want to bump it up the next day it's fine. Their schedule on the website is not necessarily the bible.

I know I'm not really in a steller position to give advice, I'm noticing significant improvement ( I mean an increase of 5 points in my AAMCs) so good luck and get cracking..

-Peace

 

[MDandreea]

I'm getting a disease when i'm only thinking about this test. I'm planning to take the test on september 13th. and i've only studyed 3 chapters gen chem from exam krakers, 3 chapters from biology and 2 chapters from physics. why it's taking me so much time is because i don't like and i can't really understand the gen chem and physics. is taking me sooo much time to read each phrase and i feel that i don't understand it. with biology i have no trouble just physics and gen chem. ( i didn't even take yet gen physics in college, i'm just studying from text).
what should i do?????????i'm desperate. i feel i want to cry because nothing works. after studying ( a lot a day) from ek and i'm trying the 1001 problems i get a lot of them wrong. i just can't comprehend why.
i'm just targeting a 8-8-8 because i plan on getting in sgu or ross. my school gpa is 3.95
please help!!!!!

 

[StarStup]

Hey! Don't give up! EK is pretty much for people who have had gen physics and gen chem. I have heard that NOVA Physics is really really good if you have never taken the class. I would suggest getting that book and maybe a different chem book. EK is really good as a refreshers but you probably need to supplement it with some text books. You still have plenty of time! Once you have a grasp on the concepts then you should use EK physics and gen chem. Hope this helps! Seriously check out NOVA physics and don't give up!

 

[kc99]

I am in the exact same situation as you, and I was beginning to get discouraged as well. I'm glad to hear all of these comments, it makes me feel a bit better.

 

[anitabee]

as terrible as this sounds, i'm so happy to read that you feel the exact same way i do about EK

i am also in my 6th week now and am taking the MCAT in september. we're literally in the same boat.

wish you all the best and... salty does nothing for me, either
Anita

 

[Dciple]

Hey guys and girls, so I am taking the MCAT July 10th (one week from today) and I am absolutely bombing the verbal section on a consistent basis . I feel like I am understanding the main idea of the passages, but I am somewhat constrained for time and I have somewhat of a hard time narrowing certain questions down to 2 answers...Anyone have any advice that I can accomplish in a week? Or can someone direct me to another thread with advice for the CBT verbal?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Brick Walls]

hey dciple...
from reading your question, im not sure if u r having trouble with keeping up with time or with narrowing down the answers...but i'll try to tell you what I did, because I faced these similar situations as well...

As far as timing goes, the best way to improve your time is to avoid reading word for word, line for line...rather learn to scan paragraphs. Usually, the first and last two sentences in a paragraph should give you the main idea. Don't bother with details unless a specific questions asks you to do so.
Also, in the short time you do have, practice verbal passages under "extreme" timed conditions. What I mean by that is, if you are currently taking 6-7 minutes per passage, force yourself to finish them in 5 minutes. Make yourself become comfortable under these "extreme" conditions, so when you take the real test, 6 minutes will be more than enough per passage.

Now to the questions. I think the reason you might be having trouble narrowing down answers is because you are not understanding the question, thus you fall into the MCAT trap. Keep in mind that the Verbal Reasoning section is testing your critical thinking, therefore, the questions are not always what they seem.
For example, a question might say: "Which of these magazines would the author of this passage be most likely to read?" At first glance, the question seems to be asking what kind of magazine the author might read at his/her spare time...
But, what the question really wants to know is "what is the opinion of the author(as stated in this passage you just read), and which of these magazines most likely agrees with the author's opinion?"

Here is something to keep in mind. There are only a handful of questions the MCAT asks on the verbal section, but the testmakers are creative enough to ask those questions in various forms. If you can breakdown a question and see what it is really asking, answering will become much easier.
Here is what you can do to: Read the passage under timed conditions. Then, rather than answering the questions, look at the answers first...yes..look at the answers...
Now, after you have circled the answers for all the questions for a given passage, go through each question one by one. For each question, go through each answer choice, right and wrong. Make sure you are able to in detail explain why choice A,B, and D are wrong, while C is right..and so on.
This method will help you focus on how the questions are structured/worded, and what to look for when answering those questions.

 

[Brick Walls]

This might be a little late...considering we are already into July, and your MCAT is in September.

But, as some of the posts above mentioned, your score won't change overnight.
First, learn all the concepts well. It seems to me that you are trying to answer questions for concepts you have not yet reviewed.
Second, review those concepts regularly. I used kaplan, so I had flashcards and little gadgets like that to help me remember the main things.
Third, do a lot of questions...not tests. Do discrete questions and individual passages first. Learn how to analyze and answer a question without timing yourself. This is where you learn to integrate your concepts with critical thinking.
Finally, take as many full-length tests as possible. Of course, when you finish taking these tests, make sure you review both the right and wrong answers in-depth.

Good Luck with your test.

 

[Dciple]

Thanks man, i'll try out some of these and see how they go by this weekend. This section is def ridiculous btw lol. When I go back over my results, I'll have passages with 1 or 2 wrong, then all of a sudden i'll get like 6 in a row wrong or i'll miss 5/6 questions in one passage! Anyone know how many can u miss and still get a 9 or 10?

 

[Brick Walls]

MDandrea....im sure the physics section feels hard especially since u havent taken the class. i would suggest maybe taking a kaplan classroom course or geting a tutor.

But I will also tell somethings i did that helped me on the physics..since i was really weak in physics when i started studying...

1) learn to manipulate formulas...
For example: F = m.a ..... you can convert this equation into one based on density...since D = m/v....
Learning the units is a good way to know how to manipulate equations.

2) Try to apply the concepts you learn in your physics review to real world things. I rememebr stuyding with kaplan books, and they would relate it to everyday things like cars and rollercoasters and so on....
After studying a topic, I would see how much I know. So, i would pretend that I was explaining it to someone else. By pretending that i was explaining/teaching someone else, it helped me rememeber and understand the concepts better.

3) I realized that it was not necessary to understand everything in physical science passages. Many times I just skimmed it and not bother with trying to entirely comphrend.
This is how i approached the passage questions: I took each question as if it was a discrete question. I realized i was able to answer many without even knowing what the passage said. There were a few questions where I couldnt answer because i was lacking a specific information...this is where the passage comes in. I would then look through the passage for that specific missing info.

Hope this helps. good luck.

 

[marspotter]

Maybe it would be a better idea to wait until you take the classes, unless you have a specific reason that you must take the MCAT. You have a great GPA, which to me is an indication that you can understand the concepts well as long as you have enough time to work through. If you must take the MCAT on september, how about using different books? Although so many people praise about EK set, one of the main reason is because it is concise and cut to the point. And it may not be the best for you to look through such books when you haven't had the classes that you went through all the concepts. I strongly suggest TPR (princeton review) as they are 'SO' thorough [more like overloaded with information], however, it may be beneficial to you as it will get you to understand the concepts better, especially you still have time to do content review. Also, I have heard TBR (berkeley review) being really good for PS, especially chemistry. Maybe you can check their websites out. I must warn you, getting their books can be quite painful as they ask you to send the checks and their books are pricey, not to mention their shipping fees are just whatever.. I, also, happen to think Kaplan books are okay for concept reviews. Kaplan has not much fans compared to TPR and TBR on the content reviews, however, they are quite thorough and their non-class version can be purchased through online websites, such as Amazon for less than 80 dollars. You can, also, think about taking the course, although I would not recommend as they go so fast and you are having tough time with the concepts.
I wish you the best and keep your hopes high!!

 

[goat1360]

Hi

English is my second language and I have a lot of problem with verbal, I practice more than 20 passages a day and I only improve 1point from 6 to 7, I tried to finish all 7 passage but I consistently got 6 then I only finished 6 and I got 7 , but I stay on 7, I start improving my vocabulary by memorizing GRE vacabs, oh I forget I totally use examkracker technique although I have to back to passages often since I usually don’t focus on details first time, I don’t know what I have to do know I don’t have any new passage and I really don’t know how should I improve

 

[deleted74029]

I don't think extending your vocab would help much, there are like 9 zillions words so the chances of you learning the ones you need to are pretty slim. Plus the passages that include harder words are oftentimes assimiliated in such a way that the words surrounding them clue you in to what the words mean. Understanding the passage is where you earn points. Make sure you understand what you are reading.

 

[johnnyp]

The best thing to do would be to read a lot of magazines (Time, Nature, National Geographic, Economist, etc) and different types of novels, basically anything to improve your vocabulary and overall comprehension. This isn't going to happen overnight.

 

[masterMood]

Hi

English is my second language and I have a lot of problem with verbal, I practice more than 20 passages a day and I only improve 1point from 6 to 7, I tried to finish all 7 passage but I consistently got 6 then I only finished 6 and I got 7 , but I stay on 7, I start improving my vocabulary by memorizing GRE vacabs, oh I forget I totally use examkracker technique although I have to back to passages often since I usually don’t focus on details first time, I don’t know what I have to do know I don’t have any new passage and I really don’t know how should I improve

i would focus solely on reading "MCAT" style passages. After a while you WILL get it.

Get as many verbal MCAT passages you can feasibly afford. You'll get the idea of it after enough practice.

 

[mcant]

The best advice I can give you is to read constantly. Trying to interpret these passages with a solid english background is tough enough! The highest I've scored so far is an 11 and English is my mother tongue.

Start off smaller and read magazines, newspapers, novels (make sure you're interested in them!) etc. As you read them, try and map out each paragraph in your head as you would for the VR section (ie: what's the author's purpose, opinion, message, whatever).

Eventually it will become second nature and you'll have better success with the MCAT passages. Like anything, it comes with practice, practice and more practice.

 

[215512]

Yes. You can recover. What was your breakdown?
I got a 22 (Apr 07), 21 (aug 07) and 29 (april 08). It can be done, and you can do it!

If you are set on applying this year, I'd go ahead with the AMCAS now and get verified. Turn your secondaries around asap.

Best of luck!!

Hey do the schools look down on you if you go down in score? 22 to 21 but then to 29?

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Hey do the schools look down on you if you go down in score? 22 to 21 but then to 29?

First off, I want to commend you on using the ***Official "Please Help" Thread*** instead of starting a new one. Good job!

To answer your question, it would matter which school you are applying to. Each school considers multiple MCAT scores differently and having a lower score (depending on the break down) may tell med schools something about you. In gradu8in2003's case, going from a 22 to a 21 in august will show that his previous score was not an anomaly and at this point of time he is genuinely at a low 20 score. However, gaining a 29 after eight months of his previous test will shows medical schools that he or she was determined to raise his or her school and had been studying for those 6-7 months to improve his or her score.

 

[yoman786]

Hey, so I'm registered to take the MCATs on this friday, the 22nd and I wanted to know if it would still be possible for me to move it, because I do not feel properly prepared and I believe if I tried taking it and getting it scored, I would end up doing much worse than if I had more time to study. I tried finding a way to reschedule or move the test date, but I can't find anything on the Mcat registration site, can someone help me please? Thanks!


(This is how i feel right about now. its not a nice feeling)

 

[QiheartuQ]

I can only tell you what worked for me when I took the MCAT this March. I ended up scoring 40Q.

The most important thing is to be relaxed. Yes, it's a long test, yes it's a big factor in getting into med school but worrying isn't going to improve the score. So relax, feel secure in the fact that you prepared as best as you could, and you tried your hardest, and that's all you can do.

So onto logistical stuff.
I used the EK books. I really like their verbal strategy. I was fluctuating between 9s and 11s on verbal and ended up getting a 14 on the actual test. Reading faster isn't the key to the verbal section. The key is finding that main idea that they are testing for. If you constantly go back to the passage it takes up a lot of time, and sometimes there are answers that use a lot of the same words as the passage so it looks like the right answer, but it actually isn't. Verbal, in the beginning I went over the answers, but a lot of times it would be too specific to the passage. So I did a lot of practice sets from the 101 passages by EK and their 16 minimcats.

For the physical science questions, most of the problems are basic. The important thing is that many of the problems are presented as passages. As you read the passages make notes of important information. During practice tests I missed many a problem because I thought the volume was 1L instead of 2L and such easy mistakes. Trust that you know enough to solve all the problems. Physics is usually the hardest section for me, but MCAT physics I found to be a lot simpler than the physics classes I took.

Biology is a bit more memorization than the other sections but I think usually premed students do better on this section. I can't be of that much help for this section since it was my weakest section.

General studying: do lots of practice tests. I would recommend doing the ones that AAMC offers since they're the ones writing the test, their tests would be the best gauge of how you'll do. Do the practice tests a lot so that you get used to how they ask their questions. There were some verbal questions that I knew the right answer to even though I didn't know why. I just knew that's what the right answer would be.

So to conclude, I used the EK set, audio osmosis, 101 passages, and the AAMC tests online.

Don't approach the MCAT like it's satan or something really bad. Just think: I studied my hardest for this test and I am going to rape it. Yup... that's basically what I was thinking all during my MCAT. "MCAT, you are going down."

 

[xianxTxx]

Im glad I found this thread. Im in need of major advice!

So I took one of the recent MCAT exams and scored horrible--23Q 6 VR/8 PS/ 9 BS.
I was shocked and demoralized when I saw that!
The fact that my practice average was 30 and I was averaging 10 VR/ 9 PS/ 10 BS made it worse! I need to get above a 30! I dont know what happened to me on verbal. On the test day, I did think that the verbal was longer and harder than the practice but how can I score 4 points lower?
I dont know what happened in PS and BS--which I actually felt confident about.

I am retaking it but I dont know what to feel? So my HX says that even if I score 14s on VR, I could still get a 8 or 9 on the real thing?
How am I supposed to practice and study after these demoralizing stats?

BUT I studied over the summer with breaks. I had a huge gap between because of family problems so I had to resume studying 1.5 month before. But I never got back to the studying mode....I would think Iam studying for MCAT but actually I was just studying for 2 hours and watching TV for the rest......I understand that but still I averaged 30!!! I dont know what this means; I cant figure it out but I need to before I sit down to study again! Pllllease HELP!