only taken written version, thinking about taking computer version

[mommy2three]

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i am tinkering around with possibly taking the mcat yet again. i have only taken the written version and therefore have no experience with the computer version. i was looking for anyone out there with experience and advice on going from the written to the computer version.
tia.

 

[wisguy]

There is a thread exactly like this one and it's also on the front page. Search.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=375965

 

[mommy2three]

i saw that thread but was hoping for more personal stories from people who had done both and had some insight to give on how it worked.
i would like to know why you specifically think if you goof up one passage you are screwed over?? can you go back or once you leave a passage you can not come back...things of that nature. also prep wise what to do to get ready since i will have no experience with the ciomputer version.

 

[lisichka]

.

 

[League54]

hi mommy2three,
yes, you can go back and forth between the passages, you can even mark the answers you are not sure about, and then go back only to those ones if you wish.
good luck,

Just be careful you don't run into a passage towards the end about an evil giant robotuna that throws off your "go back" strategy 😛

 

[wisguy]

I mean the following:
The avg number of questions/passage is not that much less than on the paper version. Everyone has certain weak areas where they will on average get a higher percentage of questions wrong than on other topics. To use a personal example, I am terrible at equilibrium physics problems. They take me way too long and I don't always get the right answers. For this illustration, let's assume I get 50% of this type of problem incorrect, regardless of the exam format (that's another matter - it was nice to be able to write directly on diagrams on the paper version). Since each individual passage comprises a higher percentage of the total number of questions/section on the CBT than the paper version, missing 4/8 equilibrium questions should lead to a larger decrease in scaled score because there are fewer questions/passages. This is all hypothetical and other factors come into play, but there has been agreement on the strictly numerical aspect of this subject before.