People Who Are Retaking (Or have already retaken)

[MaraCeles]

I'm going to retake soon, and I could use some info to help me out.

1. What factors do you think made your first score unacceptable? (Didn't study enough, didn't study the right sections, ect.)

2. What is your plan for improving your score? (People who have already retaken successfully, what did you do differently to succeed?)

3. If you are following (or followed) a plan/thread already in the forums, could you link to it?

4. How much time did you take between MCATs?

Thanks a bunch!

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[WurangBlang]

1. I didn't study for the verbal section(i don't even know why) and I got 6 on the real thing. It was shocking

2. One word: Ek.

3. Sorry, but there are lots of 'em. Make sure you do AAMC CBTs--They are the best.

4. 2months. But i still remember stuff, so it's all good.

btw, I am retaking it on july 13th.
actually, it's my third time taking it... aug2006, apr 2007 and now jul 2007. My science sections are solid, I just gotta work on verbal.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

1. I didn't study for the verbal section(i don't even know why) and I got 6 on the real thing. It was shocking

2. One word: Ek.

3. Sorry, but there are lots of 'em. Make sure you do AAMC CBTs--They are the best.

4. 2months. But i still remember stuff, so it's all good.

btw, I am retaking it on july 13th.
actually, it's my third time taking it... aug2006, apr 2007 and now jul 2007. My science sections are solid, I just gotta work on verbal.

Are there answers to the AAMC CBTs and can I buy the AAMC CBTs from AMCAS?

 

[Nikki2002]

Are there answers to the AAMC CBTs and can I buy the AAMC CBTs from AMCAS?

purchase them here from the official site:

http://www.e-mcat.com/

 

[EBizzle]

retook, went from 25P in Aug 05 to 34S May 07

1. didn't study nearly enough (product of overconfidence), didn't do any practice tests/passages (that was the big difference this time around)

2. took every single CBT on e-mcat website; practiced verbal via EK 101 passages; did some EK questions in 1001 series, made own notes and notecards (and purchased others), listened to EK Audio Osmosis on way to work for about 3 months straight (I napalmed the CDs afterwards...sike).

I like the idea of notecards because, in my opinion, it helps you strengthen that "fast recall" skill that is required on the MCAT for the physical/biological sciences. So for instance, you see a word like "posterior pituitary" on the MCAT in a passage or stand-alone question, and you automatically can do some type of association, like stores excretions neurosecretory cells hypothalamus, releases oxytocin and ADH...make any sense?

Just my $0.02, seemed to work for me...PM for any other questions or strategies if so desired...

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

I retook because I had been teaching for Kaplan for over a year and felt like I could improve my score significantly, especially the verbal. To study, I focused on the material in the Kaplan Lesson Book (not the review notes) and did every single AAMC practice test (averaged 34s with a high of 36). I found out my weak areas (my verbal had dropped due to overconfidence from 12s to 9s) and worked on my "discipline", mapping, attacking questions, etc. I went from
a 10/11/11 Q to a 12/14/11 S (PS/VR/BS). I wish I had also improved my bio, but I think I'll be ok For me, I think the shorter test and being on the computer helped out.