Prep Course? Jack Westin? I'm a lost Pre-med with a Void.

[JustDoMed]

Hello All!
Long time lurker on SDN first time poster, but need help.
So I recently took the 1/19 test date and voided due to low AAMC Practice scores leading up to exam day (I've taken all of them, sample &1-3) and it was too late to cancel with a refund, so I figured to just do it as a costy experience boost.

My scores have increased from my original diagnostic I took (Used my friend's kaplan account for that), but there's still a gap between my practice exam scores and the score I'm shooting for.
I kinda made my own schedule that worked for me (during content review) but it got really messy as exam day got closer (Did FLs and practice passages on my weakness but started forget other concepts because I was focusing on weaknesses and it became a really disorganized back and forth situation). I've used all my AAMC items at least once, some I've done or half way finished the 2nd time around.

On a side note I've noticed that my CARS scores were getting worse with more practice 😳 (IDK if it was fatigue) But I was averaging around a 122-124 during my first couple exams, but my last 2 exams were a 119 and a 120 (AAMC exams). I used EK 101 and AAMC Q-pack and I've basically searched/youtubed any and all CARS tips, and tried to use them in some way, which didn't work out as I tried to use/change my strategies.

TL-DR
I voided my MCAT, Self studying didn't work for me, CARS has been my worse section and getting worse.

I've been reading old threads on SDN and reddit, but I've still got mixed feelings about everything. (Expenses, value, my learned helplessness etc.)
I'd also really appreciate your opinions if you took a prep-course/other tutoring gig that helped you.
I'm not sure what to do right now, as I'm just overwhelmed and just trying to de-stress and relax, but at the same time I'm also trying to evaluate my next move...

Thanks in advance for any advice all!

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[JustinM88]

I’d like to hear some comments on prep courses / advice as well. Part of me is thinking that this is simply a reading comprehension exam and that if you can’t read fast enough while retaining all the info your SOL :S

All through pre-med courses I had classmates/professors looking up to me and telling me to go for med school, got highest score my genetics prof ever gave a student, straight 4.0 pre-med gpa, one of maybe 3 students out of 25 to successfully complete our schools EMT course (all others failed out), got basically poached to tutor pre-med classes at my local community college...and here I am struggling to finish FL sections and scoring middle of the pack.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

Hello all,

First of all, please relax and look at everything logically; that is the best way to make your decisions. Everyone needs some help sometimes.

CARS is definitely a beast. The reason it's a beast is because you haven't done anything like it before. As a scientist, you are trained to find a bold answer and are able to reason it out from many angles, thus proving it as you go. CARS is similar, yet very different. On CARS, you can find your answer, then reason it out, but many times, the reasoning is much less and doesn't necessarily prove you right in that instant.

I'm sure that on many occasions when you were taking your practices, and you were 100% sure of an answer because you reasoned it out and tried to prove it, it was actually wrong when you checked the right answer. That left you floored because you thought you had it. That's the problem with CARS; it's a very subtle line between the right and wrong answer.

Prep classes can teach you methods, but it's up to you to really use them. I like EK and their method of imagining the author sitting next to you and creating them based on the passage. During questions, you'd "ask" the author what they'd pick. If it was an old dude from the 20's and one of the answers was a feminist's dream, then you can scratch that answer. Speaking of which,

Learn how to make decisions easier for yourself. For CARS, find answers that are too big, too bold; those usually can be removed because they're too out there. Try your best to remove what is completely wrong. If you manage to not remove the right answer, your odds will improve, and you have less to worry about in terms of selecting an answer. You can concentrate on 2 answers and compare them, as opposed to trying to reason out 4 answers. You'll be quicker and more accurate. Basically, your cheating the test, legally of course. If the right answer is hard to find, come at it from another standpoint. Find what's definitely not right and you've made the test easier!

I think you suffered from fatigue from either studying too long or studying too hard. Either way, you have experience with the MCAT now, so that should get better. Pace yourself. Building muscle doesn't happen overnight, and if you work too hard or too little, you won't see results; look for the middle ground.

I didn't take a prep-course, but a friend did. "Ehhh it wasn't the best. The strategies were helpful but Kaplan passages and questions were fairly different from the real thing."

The MCAT is a reading comprehension test, but you cannot possibly remember everything about its questions. Too much of this will make you slow and clumsy. The trick is to learn the patterns, recognize questions and answers, and recognize themes. Also, many silly questions can be answered by subtle cues in the passage; learn to not blow by them, but learn to blow by irrelevance. Stupid and common sense I know, but you'd be surprised at how one word can give you the answer so many times.

This test is not a test of smarts, it's a test of how well you can play their games and how well you can think on your feet and critically. JustinM88, that's exactly right in your other post about philosophy majors and biology majors; biology majors aren't trained in their lives and for their tests to ask, "why?"

Struggling to finish sections means too much time is being wasted absorbing too much info or too much time is being spent on questions. Every question is worth the same.

 

[JustDoMed]

@JustinM88 I know how you feel, I've worked really hard throughout undergrad in the past and go rewarded for it with good grades, just can't seem to translate that on the MCAT though...

@cjohns89 Thank you so much for the advice!
And ironically that methodology you mentioned about CARS was how I was shifting my strategy for CARS towards the latter end of my studying which messed up my timing and I ended up getting more incorrect than previously.

I've read both EK and Kaplan strategies for CARS, for me Kaplan's method was great for practice, but not feasible for me as it was taking too much time. So eventually used a modified EK version. I always hear the whole "practice, practice" for CARS, and I've done the whole EK101 passage book and the AAMC set. This is why I'm kinda looking for ideas as to how to re-invent my strategy or approach to studying.

As for Prep-courses, I have also gotten vague and iffy answers from close friends who did use them, they said it didn't really help them, but at the end of the day all my friends who did take a Prep-course managed to score in the 30s/509+. I'm aware you do still have to put in the effort and a prep-course can only do so much.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

@JustinM88 I know how you feel, I've worked really hard throughout undergrad in the past and go rewarded for it with good grades, just can't seem to translate that on the MCAT though...

@cjohns89 Thank you so much for the advice!
And ironically that methodology you mentioned about CARS was how I was shifting my strategy for CARS towards the latter end of my studying which messed up my timing and I ended up getting more incorrect than previously.

I've read both EK and Kaplan strategies for CARS, for me Kaplan's method was great for practice, but not feasible for me as it was taking too much time. So eventually used a modified EK version. I always hear the whole "practice, practice" for CARS, and I've done the whole EK101 passage book and the AAMC set. This is why I'm kinda looking for ideas as to how to re-invent my strategy or approach to studying.

As for Prep-courses, I have also gotten vague and iffy answers from close friends who did use them, they said it didn't really help them, but at the end of the day all my friends who did take a Prep-course managed to score in the 30s/509+. I'm aware you do still have to put in the effort and a prep-course can only do so much.

Right. That's very odd!

My biggest thing that raised my grades was the knocking away terrible answers. Do you do that?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using SDN mobile

 

[JustinM88]

Right. That's very odd!

My biggest thing that raised my grades was the knocking away terrible answers. Do you do that?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using SDN mobile

I, too got great grades in undergrad pre-med classes and am not translating that onto the MCAT. I'm talking aced every pre-med class, got the highest grade my prof ever gave to a student for my genetics class, placed 6th out of 100+ students at UT Austin for Biochem, got poached to be a pre-med tutor at the local community college, was one of only 3 students out of 25 to complete this rigorous EMT course at my local community college.

Fast forward to 6 months later of studying ~8h per day for this MCAT and I'm scoring only 501 on an AAMC sample FL, 500 on an Altius FL 1, and 506 on NS FL (we all know these are inflated though lol), and 498 on Altius FL 2 (the drop in score and feeling quite clueless after reading each passage was a kick in the nuts).

This is why I'm so adamant on this reading comprehension thing. You've got to have a high level of reading comprehension to get a high MCAT score...tell me you have good reading comprehension! haha

 

[Lawpy]

Read the passage slowly and actively comprehend what you are reading. Understand the main idea of the passage, and use the main idea to answer the questions. The answers that are most closely aligned with the main idea are the correct answers (unless you are dealing with questions that ask you to find the answer that weakens/contradicts the author's main argument).

Doing well on CARS/verbal requires understanding the author's main argument. You need to picture yourself as someone interviewing the author, and repeatedly ask why the author wrote this passage, what's the author's main message etc. Having a strong grasp of the main idea is essential to do well on CARS.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

Reading comprehension: The ability to read text, process, and understand meanings associated. I sure hope that people doing well have high reading comprehension. The problem is that on the test, students understand either too much or too little of the text, and if they get something wrong, the reason is because they couldn't understand the associated meanings the way they should have. And it's worth noting that reading comprehension isn't memorizing something; it's understanding a concept and applying it somewhere else.

The same can be said for science passages. There could literally be a question that asks, "what color is the indicator in test one?" The answers would be

A. Blue
B. Red
C. Burgundy
D. Orange

And somewhere in the text it would say, "the color indicator is chosen by its relative cool color." But people start freaking out because they weren't taught this is undergrad or in MCAT prep! People worry and then once that happens, it's hard to process and harder to make the right guesses, much less use their strategies.

 

[JustDoMed]

@cjohns89 I resort to elimination when I'm too sure about a definite answer so I try to nitpick why each are wrong. I end up choosing the answer that's the last wrong? If that even makes sense. Though I do catch myself at time eliminating the correct answer before the 50/50 choice.

@Lawper
That's actually what I try to do after doing a timed sesh, I go back and redo the passage un-timed and try to reason out my answer choice with supporting details/ change my answer along the way.

The drawbacks I've encountered though is that my timing regressed backwards and now I'm having trouble following the usual time restraint per passage. Also I don't think I'm at the level of "thinking what AAMC is thinking" I get annoyed sometimes when I encounter a question where my answer is pretty reasonable, but not the "Best answer"

I personally like main idea questions as those are the easiest for me (unless the passage is verrrry passive stringed w/ few subtle words that make it not "neutral"). It's the specific detail questions that I get flustered on.

 

[JustinM88]

Reading comprehension: The ability to read text, process, and understand meanings associated. I sure hope that people doing well have high reading comprehension. The problem is that on the test, students understand either too much or too little of the text, and if they get something wrong, the reason is because they couldn't understand the associated meanings the way they should have. And it's worth noting that reading comprehension isn't memorizing something; it's understanding a concept and applying it somewhere else.

The same can be said for science passages. There could literally be a question that asks, "what color is the indicator in test one?" The answers would be

A. Blue
B. Red
C. Burgundy
D. Orange

And somewhere in the text it would say, "the color indicator is chosen by its relative cool color." But people start freaking out because they weren't taught this is undergrad or in MCAT prep! People worry and then once that happens, it's hard to process and harder to make the right guesses, much less use their strategies.

I love when I see those kinds of questions since they point you exactly to the info and you can determine an answer by using just that sentence/reaction (and i could literally not need to even read the whole passage). Its the other question types from the Section Bank asking something like, "Based on passage info and Figure 1, which of these is supported?" and you have to genuinely understand the experiment (ie. the whole passage) that you just read to reach that ultimate conclusion. :S

 

[JustinM88]

@cjohns89
The drawbacks I've encountered though is that my timing regressed backwards and now I'm having trouble following the usual time restraint per passage.

Right there with ya man. Go slow and really understand whats going on and screw up your timing -or- speed up to grab the easy ones and feel more disoriented as you're doing this. Im still thinking this test is ultimately designed to find those who can read and comprehend full passages at a time and do so exceptionally quickly (and im fine with putting in countless hours each day to hone this skill, but id just like someone who scores 510+ to confirm this) :S

 

[JustDoMed]

@JustinM88
I never thought about it like that!
I'm more of a "main idea" kind of person so I don't keep tabs on every single detail, so when specific questions do come about I end up having to almost re-read paragraphs to find what they're talking about.
And not necessarily about your figure example! I feel like the figure and caption alone are usually good indicators of coming to a reasonable conclusion.... so long as you understand the figure!

I hope your wrong about the test though, because I'm more of the opposite haha, but I mean I guess we can learn to do that, but like you I'm also hoping to get some other advice from people!

 

[Lawpy]

@cjohns89 I resort to elimination when I'm too sure about a definite answer so I try to nitpick why each are wrong. I end up choosing the answer that's the last wrong? If that even makes sense. Though I do catch myself at time eliminating the correct answer before the 50/50 choice.

@Lawper
That's actually what I try to do after doing a timed sesh, I go back and redo the passage un-timed and try to reason out my answer choice with supporting details/ change my answer along the way.

The drawbacks I've encountered though is that my timing regressed backwards and now I'm having trouble following the usual time restraint per passage. Also I don't think I'm at the level of "thinking what AAMC is thinking" I get annoyed sometimes when I encounter a question where my answer is pretty reasonable, but not the "Best answer"

I personally like main idea questions as those are the easiest for me (unless the passage is verrrry passive stringed w/ few subtle words that make it not "neutral"). It's the specific detail questions that I get flustered on.

@JustinM88
I never thought about it like that!
I'm more of a "main idea" kind of person so I don't keep tabs on every single detail, so when specific questions do come about I end up having to almost re-read paragraphs to find what they're talking about.
And not necessarily about your figure example! I feel like the figure and caption alone are usually good indicators of coming to a reasonable conclusion.... so long as you understand the figure!

I hope your wrong about the test though, because I'm more of the opposite haha, but I mean I guess we can learn to do that, but like you I'm also hoping to get some other advice from people!

Since most of CARS questions are answered by using the main idea and there are very few detail questions, you are doing something wrong if you are messing up in CARS. You need to follow the author’s arguments and understand the author’s reasoning. You should not be memorizing details.

If you understand the main idea well, answering questions will be straightforward and your scores will improve to at least a 127.

 

[JustDoMed]

Since most of CARS questions are answered by using the main idea and there are very few detail questions, you are doing something wrong if you are messing up in CARS. You need to follow the author’s arguments and understand the author’s reasoning. You should not be memorizing details.

If you understand the main idea well, answering questions will be straightforward and your scores will improve to at least a 127.

Then maybe I'm not understanding the main idea completely then?
I usually like these questions as you don't need to know all the details of the passage so long as you have the author's main point/thesis....
Maybe I'm interrupting them incorrectly then?

Do you have any advice on how to find the main ideas and then how to use them?

 

[Lawpy]

Then maybe I'm not understanding the main idea completely then?
I usually like these questions as you don't need to know all the details of the passage so long as you have the author's main point/thesis....
Maybe I'm interrupting them incorrectly then?

Do you have any advice on how to find the main ideas and then how to use them?

Here is a good guide that will help you to understand and use the main idea effectively: Testing Solutions' 30 Day Guide to MCAT CARS Success

 

[JustinM88]

Since most of CARS questions are answered by using the main idea and there are very few detail questions, you are doing something wrong if you are messing up in CARS. You need to follow the author’s arguments and understand the author’s reasoning. You should not be memorizing details.

If you understand the main idea well, answering questions will be straightforward and your scores will improve to at least a 127.

Is this how the EK101 passages and questions are? I've heard this^ advice time and time again and I still feel like EK 101 (which is supposedly one of the better CARS practice material out there) requires me to dig into the passage details quite a bit

 

[JustinM88]

Then maybe I'm not understanding the main idea completely then?
I usually like these questions as you don't need to know all the details of the passage so long as you have the author's main point/thesis....
Maybe I'm interrupting them incorrectly then?

Do you have any advice on how to find the main ideas and then how to use them?

I also like main idea questions because I like the idea of reading a passage just for the main idea lol but I stlll feel like I need to return to reread paragraphs at a time to hunt for something in the passage to answer plenty of questions -.-. It's been said over and over how this section is know for being notoriously hard to improve in and I'm starting to actually believe that no matter how much practice I do (almost done w/ EK101 and took 4 FL's) I'll end up with the same damn score I've been getting, a ~124 -.- Yeah yeah learned helplessness and self fulfilling prophecy yadda yadda I'm very aware of these things everyone

 

[Lawpy]

Is this how the EK101 passages and questions are? I've heard this^ advice time and time again and I still feel like EK 101 (which is supposedly one of the better CARS practice material out there) requires me to dig into the passage details quite a bit

EK 101 isn't a good source of verbal passages because the questions involve assuming more things than what's stated/inferred in the passage and there are also a lot of detail questions. The old EK 101 has too many easy passages, but the new EK 101 book has too many difficult and convoluted passages. Better verbal resources like TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook and NextStep 108 CARS Passages provide realistic verbal passages and ask questions that focus on the main idea and making inferences based on it. The AAMC verbal passages follow a similar approach and thoroughly emphasize understanding the main idea well.

 

[JustinM88]

EK 101 isn't a good source of verbal passages because the questions involve assuming more things than what's stated/inferred in the passage and there are also a lot of detail questions. The old EK 101 has too many easy passages, but the new EK 101 book has too many difficult and convoluted passages. Better verbal resources like TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook and NextStep 108 CARS Passages provide realistic verbal passages and ask questions that focus on the main idea and making inferences based on it. The AAMC verbal passages follow a similar approach and thoroughly emphasize understanding the main idea well.

Oh man, I was using the old EK 101 (the "easy passages" as you say) and under timed conditions i was barely ever getting > 60% of the questions right. Here's to hoping the AAMC CARS and TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook's main idea focused questions go more smoothly for me

 

[Lawpy]

Oh man, I was using the old EK 101 (the "easy passages" as you say) and under timed conditions i was barely ever getting > 60% of the questions right. Here's to hoping the AAMC CARS and TPR Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook's main idea focused questions go more smoothly for me

EK 101 isn't good for verbal. A lot of high scorers complained the book had so many bad questions that assumed too many things or relied on some random detail that they were unrealistic. TRPH/NextStep are the way to go. AAMC CARS is obviously the best and you need to thoroughly analyze your answers in AAMC passages so that you understand how AAMC reasoning works.

 

[JustDoMed]

@Lawper
After doing the EK book I agree lol
the passages were pretty easy and sometimes really interesting, but the questions were so convoluted coupled with ambiguous answers and explanations that made me go "Well I guess you can interpret it like that..."

AAMC had waaaay more boring and complex passages, but pretty straightforward questions, but they passages were so difficult that the questions become difficult .
PS: Thanks for the link! I've actually seen and read that one before, but didn't really look into each of the sublinks, I'll check'em out!

 

[esob]

I've taken Jack's course and found his approach to be helpful. If finances are not an issue, I would definitely recommend it.

 

[JustDoMed]

I've taken Jack's course and found his approach to be helpful. If finances are not an issue, I would definitely recommend it.

Money is a bit tight for me atm, which is why I was asking for advice on these classes.

Do you mind giving me a break down of how a usual study week was for you with the class/other subjects you studied?

Thanks!

 

[esob]

Money is a bit tight for me atm, which is why I was asking for advice on these classes.

Do you mind giving me a break down of how a usual study week was for you with the class/other subjects you studied?

Thanks!

Well, taking Jack's course is the equivalent to adding another course to your semester. It takes about 3 hrs per day to keep up with the homework, plus attending the class once and week and ideally, office hrs once per week. It gets easier as things progress because you are learning to "read" for the mcat, which is different than the way we typically read. Jack will teach you this method but like with anything new, you will be slow at it when you first start doing it. You will eventually get faster at it and it won't be quite so daunting. I was taking 4 classes (3 science) at the time and it was a little rough but doable (while working as well).

 

[JustDoMed]

Well, taking Jack's course is the equivalent to adding another course to your semester. It takes about 3 hrs per day to keep up with the homework, plus attending the class once and week and ideally, office hrs once per week. It gets easier as things progress because you are learning to "read" for the mcat, which is different than the way we typically read. Jack will teach you this method but like with anything new, you will be slow at it when you first start doing it. You will eventually get faster at it and it won't be quite so daunting. I was taking 4 classes (3 science) at the time and it was a little rough but doable (while working as well).

Ouch, Didn't know you took it during the semester, I meant to ask about juggling your other MCAT subjects with the course, or were you feeling confident in those areas already?

 

[esob]

Ouch, Didn't know you took it during the semester, I meant to ask about juggling your other MCAT subjects with the course, or were you feeling confident in those areas already?

No, I wasn't studying any other MCAT subjects at the time, just doing prereqs. Jack does go over the science passages though and shows how the approach he teaches you for cars can be effectively applied to science passages as well. The MCAT in general is a reasoning test, so it makes sense that improving that skillet should improve your overall performance. Honestly, at this point it sounds like you have done a good amount of content review and you are in need more of someone to help you improve your strategy. I think Jack's course could do that. If it is out of budget, you might try to locate an experienced MCAT tutor and try to work out a session where you spend a few hrs focusing on strategy only. Taking a full kaplan or similar course at this point seems like it would be adding a lot of redundancy (and cost) to what you have already done.

 

[JustDoMed]

No, I wasn't studying any other MCAT subjects at the time, just doing prereqs. Jack does go over the science passages though and shows how the approach he teaches you for cars can be effectively applied to science passages as well. The MCAT in general is a reasoning test, so it makes sense that improving that skillet should improve your overall performance. Honestly, at this point it sounds like you have done a good amount of content review and you are in need more of someone to help you improve your strategy. I think Jack's course could do that. If it is out of budget, you might try to locate an experienced MCAT tutor and try to work out a session where you spend a few hrs focusing on strategy only. Taking a full kaplan or similar course at this point seems like it would be adding a lot of redundancy (and cost) to what you have already done.

Thanks so much for the advice, there was a lot of important things you pointed out that I neglected! I'll look into that!