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- May 25, 2007
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Please excuse my rambling in advance, but I just read what I think is some pretty dangerous advice in another thread. The advice was that it isn't necessary to practice CBT questions, because paper was just as good.
At face value, there is definitely some truth to that statement. Reviewing using paper materials is actually more efficient that reviewing on computer (we did a pretty long term focus group study that showed far and away that paper review was more effective in terms of learning). Hence, we strongly promote the idea of reviewing in a paper medium for at least two months before ever trying a CBT. Admittedly, we do provide a few passages throughout the course that can be taken either on computer or on paper, but it's only about 150 passages total and the answers are only in a paper format. Once reviewed to a good point, it's time to learn how to take the exam.
However, to go into the actual CBT MCAT without ever doing a CBT exam is suicide for most people. You have to learn the nuances of how you'll react to the actual setting. You have to experience seeing the countdown timer ticking before your eyes as you go through the exam. Mostly, you have to discover that it's a pain to do calculations and draw diagrams on scratch paper from a computer screen compared to writing right next to the question on a paper version. You need to take practice CBTs for at least a month before you sit for the real exam. This is how you'll get better at the format of the exam.
There are definitely some high-scorers who didn't do very many (if any) CBTs. But there are far more low-scorers (opting not to post I assume) that didn't do enough CBT practice.
No matter what you do with your preparation, you need to do passages and practice in a realistic environment. You need to learn from your mistakes by analyzing how to do the question better next time. Maybe we (BR) emphasize answer explanations a little too much, but this is where you learn test-taking methods, concepts, and how to apply information. It's all about doing passages and learning from your experience.
At face value, there is definitely some truth to that statement. Reviewing using paper materials is actually more efficient that reviewing on computer (we did a pretty long term focus group study that showed far and away that paper review was more effective in terms of learning). Hence, we strongly promote the idea of reviewing in a paper medium for at least two months before ever trying a CBT. Admittedly, we do provide a few passages throughout the course that can be taken either on computer or on paper, but it's only about 150 passages total and the answers are only in a paper format. Once reviewed to a good point, it's time to learn how to take the exam.
However, to go into the actual CBT MCAT without ever doing a CBT exam is suicide for most people. You have to learn the nuances of how you'll react to the actual setting. You have to experience seeing the countdown timer ticking before your eyes as you go through the exam. Mostly, you have to discover that it's a pain to do calculations and draw diagrams on scratch paper from a computer screen compared to writing right next to the question on a paper version. You need to take practice CBTs for at least a month before you sit for the real exam. This is how you'll get better at the format of the exam.
There are definitely some high-scorers who didn't do very many (if any) CBTs. But there are far more low-scorers (opting not to post I assume) that didn't do enough CBT practice.
No matter what you do with your preparation, you need to do passages and practice in a realistic environment. You need to learn from your mistakes by analyzing how to do the question better next time. Maybe we (BR) emphasize answer explanations a little too much, but this is where you learn test-taking methods, concepts, and how to apply information. It's all about doing passages and learning from your experience.
- Giving of $0.02 is now complete... you may now return to your regularly scheduled exchanges of "Will I get in anywhere with my 38, given that its not well rounded?"
