every1blowz said:
I'm 18, and a senior in high shcool. today one of my brothers friends came over, who is studying to take the MCAT. I went through his pretest books, and whatnot, and realized a few things...
verbal reasoning - this section was a complete joke and an insult to my intelligence.
You must remember that everyone with English as their primary language fels this way. Your score is not about how many questions you get right, it's how you did relative to everyone else. And since it is so easy, the curve on that exam is hard as hell. I had expected it to be my highest score, but it wasn't (although it wasn't particularly low either). If your an avid reader, try to remain an avid reader throughout your college years to stay sharp. And also it is important to note that though the questions seem easy, the VR section is the most time constrained, so you need to be quick. I finished this section with about 1 minute to spare, while I had a good 20 minutes or so left over on the BS section, and BS was my weakest subject (I got a 13 on both of these subtests, however).
every1blowz said:
biological sciences - i somehow knew a lot of the answers already, probably just from years of reading science and health related magazines/books. i don't see this being a problem four years from now.
physical sciences - the chemistry blew my mind. for the most part i just stared at the book like an idiot for hours on end. this is probably because i've never taken any chemistry related classes before, but still. it's scared me sh*tless. physics was insanely difficult, too.
my question is is this; when you guys take the MCAT, is the physical sciences the ones you study for the most? should i start brushing up on chemistry and physics right now, before i start taking prequisites at college in a couple of months? or do they start from the beginning and assume you don't know what the hell is going on?
i'm scared...
Firstly, relax. If you go psyching yourself out now, you'll be a miserable nervous wreck in a few years.
You really can't assess how difficult you'll find that test untill you have a chance to take the many prerequisite classes. And again, since the tests are curved, and since physical sciences are not as common as majors for premeds, the curve in this section is far more forgiving.
I would also caution that the study aide books aren't entirely indicative of the actual MCAT questions. The prep course companies focus on knowledge, because it is easier to teach knowledge, but the actual test is mostly comprehension. There are a great many questions that are of the form of explaining an experimental design, and asking you to either explain or predict the data. As such, I personally think that there is no better way to study for the test than to take a great many lab classes. If you're really worried, you might want to consider majoring in one of the physical sciences, since you're smart enough that you can learn the subject matter if you devote the required time for the major. Even if you love biology, majoring in chemistry or chemical engineering (my major) will give you some good exposure to biology, but will really strengthen you understanding of the physical sciences and laboratory techniques. You'll still have a chance to master the world of human biology once you get to med school.
And a final bit of advice: it is good in this day and age to spend some time writing by hand. People often get so accustomed to typing that they cannot write both quickly and legibly, or they become over-dependent on spell checkers, and it bites them in the butt on the WS.
Good luck.