prep structure for you 30+'ers

[baby methuselah]

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i know this should go in mcat discussion, but it seems like all of the viewers in there are getting ready for it or just took it, so you guys might be a little more knowledgeable ...

not really as in prep company, just what plan of attack you used.
i've been studying for almost a month and have floated anywhere between 21 and 26. i take aug. 20 (2.5 months) but am wondering if i'll ever get above 30. it's not a steady increase and i don't know whether to do a practice test and review over and over or whether to do ek's 10 week schedule (which i can give to anyone who needs it). or should i just freelance and cover stuff i'm sucking at. any advice from those who have been there?

 

[doinmybest5840]

i know this should go in mcat discussion, but it seems like all of the viewers in there are getting ready for it or just took it, so you guys might be a little more knowledgeable ...

not really as in prep company, just what plan of attack you used.
i've been studying for almost a month and have floated anywhere between 21 and 26. i take aug. 20 (2.5 months) but am wondering if i'll ever get above 30. it's not a steady increase and i don't know whether to do a practice test and review over and over or whether to do ek's 10 week schedule (which i can give to anyone who needs it). or should i just freelance and cover stuff i'm sucking at. any advice from those who have been there?

I found that taking a course with scheduled lectures was more helpful than doing it on my own. I sometimes have trouble motivating myself to do it all on my own. I kept up with readings for each lecture (I did Kaplan, and I think we met 2 days a week for 3 hours each, plus 4 or 5 practice exams on Saturdays), and then also reviewed the notecards they provided. Once we finished the basic material I did practice questions/sections mostly. I ended up with a 31R (12P, 10B, 9V), but I know I could have done better, since I got sort of burnt out for a couple weeks and didn't do much. I also did very well in the physical sciences though because I had a tutor (I didn't take physics 2 until after I took the MCAT).

I would suggest setting up a schedule of studying and stick to it! If you have trouble staying with your own schedule, do that ek 10 week schedule you mentioned. Good luck!

 

[mms2k7]

Yah thats frustrating..one thing.. the MCAT test is all about mindset....it is actually possible to be a good MCAT taker.

Many, many of the science passages require very little external knowledge, a lot of them want to see how quickly you can link concepts that are already there, together. My biggest problem was, i constantly thought I needed to draw on outside knowledge--not so. Conceptual thinking will do wonders for your score, especially the PS section.

I am sure you know this, but the best way to diagnose yourself is to figure out what you got wrong and WHY. The "why" is so, so crucial. I realized, after several tests that i made the same mistakes over and over. It was NOT because i didnt know the material, i knew it very well. It was because of careless reading of the question and answer choices, and if it wasnt careless reading, it was misinterpretation, and if it wasn't misinterpretation, it was because i didn't refer to the passage. These were my three cardinal errors, it helped my score alot. These three are even more important in verbal, when the passage is the source of your points.

Review of the material is important, but you DONT need an advanced understanding, it helps, but you don't need it. That being said, practice is your primary goal, review will happen as you practice.
Always keep in mind, it is more helpful to understand the concept than simply reading it, and knowing it. Many of the MCAT passages at first seem esoteric in nature, but the one thing all of them have in common is no matter how complicated they look, they represent a simple concept. If you have a solid conceptual foundation, you can connect the dots easily on the test

Keeping that sort of mindset helped me alot. After a while on my practice tests, I could kind of see what the questions would be about, before i even saw them especially in verbal.

Good luck with your studying! keep chugging. you'll see results.👍

 

[baby methuselah]

thanks! you sdn guys are so cool. i mean that.👍👍👍
i guess that i'm just used to gunner pre-meds and all this helpfulness is freaky.. kinda like you guys enjoy helping others or something😛

 

[TheRealMD]

I'd say for a score range of 21-26, you are still struggling with the material itself. Go back and see why you missed easier questions. When your scores get above 28 or so, you need to work on guessing. Guessing is rather important on the MCAT becuase unless you are a genius, you will not know every correct answer. You need to learn how to eliminate incorrect answers well. On practice MCATs, I was guessing at about 90% correct in the BS and PS sections and was guessing on roughly 25% of them, so your score will definitely improve if you learn how to guess. Even more important is that on exam day when your mind goes blank, knowing how to guess will save you a ton!

 

[Aynsl156]

I freelanced my MCAT prep, and I don't think it hurt me any. Having said that, I think I could definitely have gone over the material more carefully, since I spent about a month reviewing the subjects. Mostly, I did the practice tests from AAMC. I purchased all of them, and then did one every single day the week before the test.

 

[shantster]

check the MCAT links section first. This thread was here. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=46880

 

[Dr2Bee]

First diagnostic MCAT I took was at Kaplan...scored a big 15 combined score. I used EK review + practice books and Kaplan exam and material for 6 weeks. Studied on a strict schedule (10+hrs/day) and ended up with a balanced 30+ score. I struggled most with the verbal and ochem sections ...the EK material worked great and prepared me well for the real thing. Just stick to what you're doing and practice, practice, practice.

 

[soonerfan77]

Buy the official AAMC Mcat website practice exams!!!!!!!
Take each one as you would on test day. Then go over each question to see which formula/line of reasoning/whatever should have been used.

😎

 

[ChristianJames1]

First go over everything you are having problems with. Just drill it hard so you are comfortable with the concepts you hate the most. Once you are done with that take as many practice tests as you can. I think by the time I took mine I had taken around 20 full lengths (pre-computer so these were LONG). I think the tests helped the most. But definitely get the concepts down first, and after that just go balls out on the tests.

 

[Xotica]

First diagnostic MCAT I took was at Kaplan...scored a big 15 combined score. I used EK review + practice books and Kaplan exam and material for 6 weeks. Studied on a strict schedule (10+hrs/day) and ended up with a balanced 30+ score. I struggled most with the verbal and ochem sections ...the EK material worked great and prepared me well for the real thing. Just stick to what you're doing and practice, practice, practice.

I also found ek's material very helpful. When I was studying for the MCAT I did 1 ek chapter a day and made sure that I understood every concept and every question. I think this took a little over a month. After finishing the ek books I went back and reread the chapters that were most difficult for me. I also finished the ek verbal book.

In the month of the MCAT I took 2 AAMC practice tests a week (This is sooooo key)

I would not recommend following a generic 10 week schedule because every person has their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, I had not taken general biology since high school so I spent a lot more time studying bio than physics. Make a plan that is right for you and focus on the areas that need the most help.

 

[kdburton]

i know this should go in mcat discussion, but it seems like all of the viewers in there are getting ready for it or just took it, so you guys might be a little more knowledgeable ...

not really as in prep company, just what plan of attack you used.
i've been studying for almost a month and have floated anywhere between 21 and 26. i take aug. 20 (2.5 months) but am wondering if i'll ever get above 30. it's not a steady increase and i don't know whether to do a practice test and review over and over or whether to do ek's 10 week schedule (which i can give to anyone who needs it). or should i just freelance and cover stuff i'm sucking at. any advice from those who have been there?

knowing the information is certainly a big part, but I found that after studying for 1-2 months and taking relatively few practice tests I was only able to come out with a 27 the first time around. The second time around I just breezed throught he information and then focused on taking as many practice tests as I could get my hands on (and then going through all the answers whether they were correct or not). I increased my score by 5 points... some due to luck, some due to knowing more information maybe, a lot due to practicing and being familiar with how the MCAT questions are written.

 

[soonereng]

Buy the official AAMC Mcat website practice exams!!!!!!!
Take each one as you would on test day. Then go over each question to see which formula/line of reasoning/whatever should have been used.

I only studied for 1 mo. before the test and this strategy worked for me, but I only took the BS sections after the first practice test. I used EK for study materials. BS (Bio and Orgo) was pretty much the only area I hit hard since I hadn't had these classes yet.

End result 34 (PS 13, VR 12, BS 9...definitely could score higher on BS now having taken orgo and more bio, but who cares, I got my acceptance).