Realistic to improve 6 points in 1 month?

[batpad]

Hi guys,

So i am taking the exam jan 25 and have been studying for the last 3-4 months for the MCAT. I took AAMC 3 last week and scored a 29- 9/10/10.

Is it realistic for me to improve by 6 points in this last month? I am scared because this is supposed to be the easiest exam and actually least representative of the real MCAT.

Is it possible for me to improve? I think the biggest problem for me is not taking enough practice passages. I am working on finishing TPR SWB. Will it lead to a significant improvement in my score? Or am I better off postponing my exam?

Thanks!

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[Fedxup]

1) Post pone it if you aren't ready. 2) You are probably doing a lot of practice tests this month. If you don't feel ready or scores on AAMC tests aren't pretty consistent, i would post pone it.

 

[nemo123]

It would depend on how you're studying from here on out, but 6 points is a lot. I would say to postpone it because if you want to make such a large jump, you will need to do more content review and get all of the content down cold.

 

[snowflakes]

It depends. What kind of mistakes did you make on AAMC 3? Careless mistakes? Content errors? Reasoning/application errors? It's easier to improve quickly when you have content deficiencies and if you're a fast learner. It's harder to improve 5-6 points when you have a good grasp of the content and its the reasoning skills that are holding you back.

The 9 in bio suggests room for some easy points through bio content improvement--maybe 2 points. Take the self-assessment (AAMC one) and target your weakest areas. The 10 in physics leaves a little less room for improvement than bio but I think the PR section overall is more formulaic than the BS section, so I think another 2 points will be within you reach here also. Again, I'd recommend taking the AAMC self-assessment to identify your content weaknesses here. You're starting with a 10 in verbal which is good (and if I remember correctly, AAMC 3 verbal was one of the tougher ones). If you do some practice passages everyday, and really really focus on deconstructing the logic behind the questions and answers in your post-game analysis, its feasible for you to gain maybe 1-2 points in verbal over a month. Verbal is the trickiest to improve on, but again, you're starting in a good place.

Overall, 6 points is possible if you really hit the ground running with your approach this last month. However, the fact that you've already spent 3ish months preparing suggests that you may need to reassess your study methods a bit. Why the rush to take it in January? If you're not applying until this summer, March/April would work too. It's possible to be ready by January if everything goes right, but why not give yourself a little more room to breathe and postpone? What do you have to lose?

 

[Aerus]

If you are getting a 29, then it seems like you have a huge gap in content knowledge. I would hold off the practice passages and do more content review until you have a more firm grasp of the concepts.