SCORE RAISES

[willieverbeadoc]

hey all

I was just wondering. I got a 21 on my MCATS taken this august. I know that sucks and all. AND i took kaplan, but prolly didnt study as hard as i should have. WHat do you all think should take them over and get a kaplan tutor? or should i just try studying on my own? i know someone posted they raised their scores by 10pts. I mean i would LOVE to do that. Is it practical though? I'm a senior with a gpa of around 3.4. I mean should i try taking these things over again??????

thanks

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[Dr. Kermit]

I took Kaplan the first time I took the MCATs (April 2000). I got what I got on my first practice test, a measly 23 (7,8,O,8). I used all of the Kaplan material, requested extra practice tests from Kaplan telling them that I did not want to take the course again, bought AAMC practice tests, and studied own my own. I retook the test in August and raised my score 7 points. So, it can be done on your own.

 

[luckyduck]

I also took Kaplan the first time and I got a 21 as well. I raised my score seven points in August. To improve, I spit on my Kaplan books and bought the Examkrackers stuff online at www.examkrackers.com for $150 and I bought the MCAT AudioLearn tapes on amazon.com. Examkrackers also have CDs that you can listen to which sound pretty cool. The Examkrackers books were the best thing I have ever seen. They really concentrate on what you need to know and leave the rest of the b.s. out. Their practice questions were more like the actual test than the Kaplan stuff in my opinion. I also did AAMC tests 3 and 4 for practice. I wish I had used this stuff the first time around and saved money, but hey, I improved my score and I am not complaining! Let me know if you have anymore questions!

 

[THE instiGATOR]

I'm not going to try to tell you what material to use. Whatever you decide to use, get a friend and do TONS of problems. Review the ones you missed together. Focus on doing as many problems as possible.

I don't advise studying alone, nor do I advise rereading a lot of material. When you are studying with someone, you are both teaching and being taught. Studying with a friend and doing loads of problems helped me raise my score by 4 points. I used Princeton Review material, but I am sure there are many other good resources.

Good luck.

 

[allengal]

Hey luckyduck, what were the tapes called that you bought on Amazon.com? Thanks.

 

[luckyduck]

allengal,
The tapes were I believe called "MCAT Audiolearn". There were four tapes that reviewed the sciences and they had a guy on them lecturing. I took notes about five times from each tape and listened to them to and from work and they helped me alot! I know that Examkrackers has CDs called "MCAT Audio Osmosis". They are more like two people talking to you (ratehr than lecture). You can request a free CD sampler online if you want to try before you buy. And I proise that I do not work for these companies...I just have tried soooo many books and other review aids and these are the ones that helped me the most by far!

 

[kreno]

I raised my score 11 points from my kaplan diagnostic. Raised it about 3 points from my highest practice test. Just study hard... i studied well over 600 hours for the MCAT.