Overcoming stupid mistakes

[medstu2006]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

In my past 3 Kaplan exams and in my other practice items, I find myself repeatedly doing silly mistakes. Like, I missed something from a passage, misread a question, or even misread the ans. choices. Does this happen to anyone else? Any tips on how to overcome it? I would say, it atleast costs me 5 pts. on my final score.

 

[toxin]

It happens to me everytime I take an exam, and I'm sure it is the same with the majority of people. I dont think you can eliminate it completely, but I am sure with repeated practice you will be able to minimize the number of incorrect questions. Looking at the whole picture I dont think you should be worried that much, statistically speaking everyone is going to make the same amount of "stupid" mistakes (which is inversely correlated to the amount of practice you had), so your score will not be affected adversely.

 

[jintonic5]

yeah i'm in the same boat too... i think the only thing to do at this point is practice practice practice... the more familiar we get with certain calculations and concepts, the more automatic things will become.

i hope :-(

 

[ctv1116]

Improve your concentration. IMO, stupid mistakes are an artifact of practice tests where you aren't at your full concentration. I assume you'll be at full focus at the actual MCAT, so I wouldn't worry so much.

 

[el.harpo]

For me its because of endurance. Its near the end of the section where my stupid mistakes just start to add up. I think taking more practice tests would help my endurance so that this doesn't happen as much. You should look at which point in the test you are making the most mistakes and go from there.

 

[Ebete]

All my issues is MATH!!! stupid division or fractions or anything simple math related. I feel I need to take a pre-algebra course so get through the MCAT 😳 Anyone have a solution (one that would help in less than 3 weeks 😳 )
I know all the formulas, how to apply them and solve the problem, but them comes to the very last calculation...and I'm stuck on what is 30/120 or something like that 😡

Can someone Please help? Go figure I get the hard stuff but suck at the simple easy crap!!! Thanks!

 

[Mister Pie]

Happens to me too. 50% of my mistakes on my last diag were careless mistakes (for the sciences). Even for verbal, I'll miss the 'NOT" or "EXCEPT" part. I figure if enough other people make enough careless mistakes, it'll all get "normalized" in anyway. Just try to focus more but don't stress out about it!

 

[MrDocNYU]

Happens to me too. 50% of my mistakes on my last diag were careless mistakes (for the sciences). Even for verbal, I'll miss the 'NOT" or "EXCEPT" part. I figure if enough other people make enough careless mistakes, it'll all get "normalized" in anyway. Just try to focus more but don't stress out about it!

lol, I feel your pain. Somebody mentioned once that the "NOT", "EXCEPT" stuffs were specifically designed to make you NOT (did u see the NOT?) see them.

 

[adiddas125]

lol, I feel your pain. Somebody mentioned once that the "NOT", "EXCEPT" stuffs were specifically designed to make you NOT (did u see the NOT?) see them.

Dont Worry guys! Lets use the last remaining 2 weeks to our advantage and troubleshoot out weaknesses... what ever they may be!!!! 🙂

 

[sammyhagar19]

All my issues is MATH!!! stupid division or fractions or anything simple math related. I feel I need to take a pre-algebra course so get through the MCAT 😳 Anyone have a solution (one that would help in less than 3 weeks 😳 )
I know all the formulas, how to apply them and solve the problem, but them comes to the very last calculation...and I'm stuck on what is 30/120 or something like that 😡

Can someone Please help? Go figure I get the hard stuff but suck at the simple easy crap!!! Thanks!

Always get rid of 0's to make the numbers smaller and more manageable. Also, decimals are easier if you convert them to fractions, just remember to flip and multiply when you divide by them. Big numbers squared (i.e. 400 * 400) is just 4 *4 with all the zeros tacked on. Just some examples, but if you figure out the little tricks like that it makes it alot easier.

 

[JohnnyOU]

I realized I am good at algebraic manipulations, trig...etc etc... and then when I had to multiply 3.75 x 8.44 I had to stop and think...then double check everything cuz I am so insecure 🙂

I miss my calculator.

 

[Ebete]

Always get rid of 0's to make the numbers smaller and more manageable. Also, decimals are easier if you convert them to fractions, just remember to flip and multiply when you divide by them. Big numbers squared (i.e. 400 * 400) is just 4 *4 with all the zeros tacked on. Just some examples, but if you figure out the little tricks like that it makes it alot easier.

Thanks; I have been trying to figure out the little tricks...but running out of time.

I think I'll post a "Math tricks!" thread, maybe I'll get lucky and get a few math geniouses saving me.