Retake MCAT study materials

[jbirenfe]

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Hey guys, I'm retaking the MCAT in 3 months this may. My last score was a 29 (10/10/9). I felt like I had a firm grip on the material, except for the BS section. I think I just choked. I used the TBR books and FL's along with TPR and EK verbal. I was reading multiple threads and they all suggest not to reuse old practice materials. What materials do you guys suggest?

 

[polyatomic]

Hey guys, I'm retaking the MCAT in 3 months this may. My last score was a 29 (10/10/9). I felt like I had a firm grip on the material, except for the BS section. I think I just choked. I used the TBR books and FL's along with TPR and EK verbal. I was reading multiple threads and they all suggest not to reuse old practice materials. What materials do you guys suggest?

Whether you reuse practice material or not depends on why you're retaking the test. For me, I retook the test because the first time I completely clammed up, couldn't stop shaking, and got 4-5 points lower than what I was getting during practice. So I reused nearly all my material while throwing in a new book or two. Result: my MCAT score went up 4 points. But again -- that's what I expected to get the first time.

Where are you standing? Did you expect to get a higher score? Or did your practice exams predict the score you got? Honestly, your score is not bad. It's actually very good because of the balance. I have friends with scores similar to that who have gotten many interviews and many acceptances.

If you're looking to seriously improve your score, you'll probably want to change your prep materials. Using some old books is just fine, because it'll let you review your mistakes and teach your brain how to solve those problems you got wrong. But you need new material to assess whether you're actually improving or if you're just remembering the answers.

 

[jbirenfe]

Whether you reuse practice material or not depends on why you're retaking the test. For me, I retook the test because the first time I completely clammed up, couldn't stop shaking, and got 4-5 points lower than what I was getting during practice. So I reused nearly all my material while throwing in a new book or two. Result: my MCAT score went up 4 points. But again -- that's what I expected to get the first time.

Where are you standing? Did you expect to get a higher score? Or did your practice exams predict the score you got? Honestly, your score is not bad. It's actually very good because of the balance. I have friends with scores similar to that who have gotten many interviews and many acceptances.

If you're looking to seriously improve your score, you'll probably want to change your prep materials. Using some old books is just fine, because it'll let you review your mistakes and teach your brain how to solve those problems you got wrong. But you need new material to assess whether you're actually improving or if you're just remembering the answers.

I'm retaking it because I have a pretty low GPA (3.4). My practice exams were averaging around 31-32. My highest score was a 34 on a TBR FL. However, on my last AAMC (test 11) I scored a 29. I would like to improve by at least 3 points. Do you suggest using the TPR books?

 

[TheAnonymous]

I'm retaking it because I have a pretty low GPA (3.4). My practice exams were averaging around 31-32. My highest score was a 34 on a TBR FL. However, on my last AAMC (test 11) I scored a 29. I would like to improve by at least 3 points. Do you suggest using the TPR books?

neither TBR nor TPR/EK/Kaplan full length exams hold any predictive power. Your AAMC average is the only predictor (roughly speaking) of your score on the real exam so don't use TBR.

I personally think TPR books can't help you score 32+ as much as TBR books can.

 

[polyatomic]

I'm retaking it because I have a pretty low GPA (3.4). My practice exams were averaging around 31-32. My highest score was a 34 on a TBR FL. However, on my last AAMC (test 11) I scored a 29. I would like to improve by at least 3 points. Do you suggest using the TPR books?

Honestly, I think what's more important than picking the right books is thoroughly examining your weaknesses in the material, then targeting those specifically.

It sounds like your actual MCAT score was not far off from what you were getting on your practice tests. Don't pay too much attention to high or low scores, they are probably outliers. And like TheAnonymous said, you should rely on your AAMC scores more heavily.

I would be very careful about retaking the exam. There are many threads on here about how people who retake often get the same or lower scores. It's very difficult to improve unless you had an area you were severely lacking in, and then fixed it. Or if you were like me, where you just didn't get the score you should have.

If you do end up retaking, make sure you're 100% certain you can make the 3-4 point jump. However, I still think your score is good, and a 33 might not do the wonders you think it will. You would probably do better by strengthening your extracurricular/work profile. When it comes time, focus your energies into writing top notch personal statements and highly individualized secondaries. Then of course, nail your interviews.