Realistic score improvements in 3 weeks?

[gmail12]

Hey,
So my MCAT is on August 7th and I just took my first AAMC (#3) today and I got a 34 ( 12P, 9V, 13B) . My application is not that competitive and I want a 37+ in order to be competitive. Should I postpone my MCAT considering the fact that there are only about 25 days left? Or in other words, what kind of improvements can i realistically expect for the next few weeks? Thanks

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[lNVlNClBLE]

Depends: why did you miss the questions you missed? Lack of content? Unable to decipher passage? Random discrete questions?

Also, AAMC#3 is generally viewed as the easiest. I don't necessarily agree with that, though.

 

[gmail12]

For Verbal I think the issue was irresponsible time management leading me to completely guess on the last passage. For the other sections I would say only 1 or 2 questions were because of a lack of content but most of them were just logical errors that I made in interpreting the question. It is a little troubling to hear that AAMC #3 is the easiest. How much did you scores vary across the different AAMC FL's? Thanks.

 

[lNVlNClBLE]

For Verbal I think the issue was irresponsible time management leading me to completely guess on the last passage. For the other sections I would say only 1 or 2 questions were because of a lack of content but most of them were just logical errors that I made in interpreting the question. It is a little troubling to hear that AAMC #3 is the easiest. How much did you scores vary across the different AAMC FL's? Thanks.

My scores were all within 2 points of each other, it really depends on the individual and how much content you have down. I didn't find the latter ones harder, but the general opinion is that they are.

 

[Shipley231]

Hey,
So my MCAT is on August 7th and I just took my first AAMC (#3) today and I got a 34 ( 12P, 9V, 13B) . My application is not that competitive and I want a 37+ in order to be competitive. Should I postpone my MCAT considering the fact that there are only about 25 days left? Or in other words, what kind of improvements can i realistically expect for the next few weeks? Thanks

If you're considering postponing over a 34 on a FL.... I'm not even sure what advice to give you. You have a month to improve an already great score and if you are that worried about your application being weak then you should be working to improve it.

 

[gmail12]

If you're considering postponing over a 34 on a FL.... I'm not even sure what advice to give you. You have a month to improve an already great score and if you are that worried about your application being weak then you should be working to improve it.

I completelty understand your sentiment. Its just that there is not much more that can be done to improve the other aspects of my application for this cycle. I do have the power to raise my MCAT score and I wanted to use this opportunity to make my application stand out. That being said, do you guys have any tips on how to make the most out of the remaining few weeks?
Also was it just me or was the verbal on AAMC #3 really convoluted. I had a much tougher time on it than the TPRH Verbal passages.

 

[Rhino1000]

I completelty understand your sentiment. Its just that there is not much more that can be done to improve the other aspects of my application for this cycle. I do have the power to raise my MCAT score and I wanted to use this opportunity to make my application stand out. That being said, do you guys have any tips on how to make the most out of the remaining few weeks?
Also was it just me or was the verbal on AAMC #3 really convoluted. I had a much tougher time on it than the TPRH Verbal passages.

I am seriously so surprised by this! I thought that the verbal passages on AAMC3 were so much easier to get through than the TPRH ones, which I rarely can even finish in the allotted amount of time. Although, I did have nice caffeine timing before my AAMC3 test, which could have influenced this (also, my score wasn't anything amazing, being a 10).

 

[Alucard6]

AAMC 3 is the easiest, I would try doing 9, 10 or 11 and see how you do. If you are getting 34-35 I would stick with what you got and try and get a point or 2 improvement - go hard next 3 weeks.

 

[gmail12]

Thanks for the input. I am doing the SN2ed schedule and I feel like I can squeeze in a few more FL (other than the AAMC). Is it worth my time to do additional FL (like GS or TPR) or would I be better off just reviewing content in that extra time.

 

[Avalon University]

You are getting 34 that is not a bad score at all what you can do is try even harder...its very simple !

 

[RC4L]

A 34 is damn good. I think it would be more important to get verbal into the double digits rather than worrying about reaching a composite 37. If you made a 9 and had to guess a whole passage you may have your answer right in front of you. Work really hard on finishing verbal effectively and on time.

 

[gmail12]

A 34 is damn good. I think it would be more important to get verbal into the double digits rather than worrying about reaching a composite 37. If you made a 9 and had to guess a whole passage you may have your answer right in front of you. Work really hard on finishing verbal effectively and on time.

Thanks for the input. I really do need to get my verbal timing on point. I am sort of OCD so I have a difficult time moving on if I am having trouble with a question. With regards to the other sections, do you guys think is worth my while to do more content review or just buy a bunch more third party full lengths and just hammer out practice test after practice test?

 

[RC4L]

Thanks for the input. I really do need to get my verbal timing on point. I am sort of OCD so I have a difficult time moving on if I am having trouble with a question. With regards to the other sections, do you guys think is worth my while to do more content review or just buy a bunch more third party full lengths and just hammer out practice test after practice test?

I am the exact same way I had to battle my own nature to consistently go with my gut and move on and when I did I had great results. As for PS and BS those scores indicate your content knowledge is where it needs to be. The odds of you improving by doing more content review is probably not as great as with you practicing as much as possible and working out the kinks in your strategy.