Physical sciences...

[Optimistic]

Okay , I am having troubles with physical sciences. last time I took Mcat and I was taking practice tests I was able to finish the section in time and I always scored either 8 or 9s, which was not great score but was good enough to keep me motivated to improve. and now when Iam taking full lengths , I can not finish 3-4 passages and Iam scoring 4-5s . I actually am spending time on studying physics and chemistry and reviewing my weak areas . My score is going down regasrdless every time.I really can not figure out why this is happening. Any body has any suggestions or tips for improvement. <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" />

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[Papa Smurf]

Theory, theory, theory. That's all you need for the physical sciences. Don't get bogged down doing complex physics and chemistry problems. MCAT ain't about that. Focus on understanding the concepts and watch your scores go up, up, up.

 

[Mr. Furious]

Yeah, if you doubt your powers, you are only giving power to your doubts!

Mr.

 

[Optimistic]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Mr. Furious:
•Yeah, if you doubt your powers, you are only giving power to your doubts!

Mr. •••••Why did you say that Mr Furious? Iam not doubting my powers however Iam afraid if I keep going down like that I might even if I dont want to.

 

[megkudos]

Keep practicing, practicing, and studying concepts like the previous poster said. I had a ton of trouble with the physical sciences also and was getting anywhere from 6's-to maybe an occasional 9 on the practice exams I took. When it came to the real MCAT last April, I thought it was easier than what I had practiced. I felt lucky with the 9 I ended up getting. So I guess what I am saying is don't give up hope, it will come together for you. As a side note also...Have you looked at the Examkrackers Phsyics Book?.. it has more a more conceptual basis to it.

Also from your post it counds like a lot of what you have to work on is timing, so you can finish. To help that I would make sure you know how long you have for each section and stick to it. Use full length practice exams.

 

[bobo]

Strategies to beat the physical sciences was addressed in a very interesting manner some time ago by the illustrious Tim the Turtle. check out this <a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001690" target="_blank">here</a>

bobo

 

[Optimistic]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by megkudos:
•Keep practicing, practicing, and studying concepts like the previous poster said. I had a ton of trouble with the physical sciences also and was getting anywhere from 6's-to maybe an occasional 9 on the practice exams I took. When it came to the real MCAT last April, I thought it was easier than what I had practiced. I felt lucky with the 9 I ended up getting. So I guess what I am saying is don't give up hope, it will come together for you. As a side note also...Have you looked at the Examkrackers Phsyics Book?.. it has more a more conceptual basis to it.

Also from your post it counds like a lot of what you have to work on is timing, so you can finish. To help that I would make sure you know how long you have for each section and stick to it. Use full length practice exams.•••••Thanks for the encouragement. Yes , I have whole examkracker study packet and cds, I have finished half of the lectures in each section. I do practice test on the back and then I go kaplan and I do topicals on same topics I study from examkrackers .Iam doing well on examkrackers and luckily iam getting 60-80% questions correct on kaplan topical which is twice of what I use to get on them. But I dont why Iam screwing up on full lengths.

 

[Optimistic]

Thanks bobo for the link.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

mpp: I saw that you had planned to do this on the turtle thread. Did it work for you?

 

[megkudos]

Wow that link was very, very interesting. I wish I had know about SDN back when I took the MCAT, maybe it would have helped me Well I guess it's no matter now

 

[Papa Smurf]

You know, they might be onto something. I distinctly remember one PS passage on the April MCAT that I didn't have to even read and was able to answer all of the questions. I usually read the passage before I even look at any of the questions, but for some reason the first question for that particular passage caught my eye, and the next thing I knew, I was moving onto the next passage. I got an 11, not great, but still a good score.

 

[Street Philosopher]

I think the PS section is the one you can study for the most. If you know a few basic equations, you can mess around with them to find the most reasonable answer in most cases, without doing any calculation or anything... the chemistry part is less like this, but the physics I've found is fairly intuitive and conceptual, and not too much fact based. (i.e. dependent on new info)

 

[Optimistic]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Papa Smurf:
•You know, they might be onto something. I distinctly remember one PS passage on the April MCAT that I didn't have to even read and was able to answer all of the questions. I usually read the passage before I even look at any of the questions, but for some reason the first question for that particular passage caught my eye, and the next thing I knew, I was moving onto the next passage. I got an 11, not great, but still a good score.•••••I have heard people skipping the passages and just answering the Question before, but most of the time they are the people who are already scoring good score like 10's or so. I am afraid if it will work for me. I guess I will try it on practce test . I dont think I can score lower than 4 so there is nothing to loose.

 

[Optimistic]

Thanks every one for the input.