Second time taking MCAT.....in need of advice

[Premedstudent2020]

Hi, I have decided to start studying for the MCAT so I can retake it in March. I took it on 7/19 and I got a 497 (123,125,125,124). I had already applied this cycel and surprisingly I received a few secondaries from multiple schools that take lower MCAT scores. However, I have not received an invitation for an interview so here I am. I decided to start studying today and it has been absolute trash. I am not sure where to start or what to do. All I can think about is how this will be my second time and this is pretty much my last shot. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I know my weakest area is general chemistry and physics. If anyone has suggestions.

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[pms_testosterone]

How are you studying?

 

[Premedstudent2020]

How are you studying?

For my first test I read and took notes on the kaplan review books and I practiced CARS everyday. I did about 8-10 practice exams in total. I also used the flashcards from AAMC. So I do not know what to change this time around. Yesterday I decided to start with general chemistry since its my weakness and I began reading EK's book and taking notes but it just does not feel very efficient.

 

[Goro]

Hi, I have decided to start studying for the MCAT so I can retake it in March. I took it on 7/19 and I got a 497 (123,125,125,124). I had already applied this cycel and surprisingly I received a few secondaries from multiple schools that take lower MCAT scores. However, I have not received an invitation for an interview so here I am. I decided to start studying today and it has been absolute trash. I am not sure where to start or what to do. All I can think about is how this will be my second time and this is pretty much my last shot. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I know my weakest area is general chemistry and physics. If anyone has suggestions.

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly optimistic.

Take as many practice tests as you can.

SDNers seem to like ExamKrackers for exam prep.

Do NOT take the real thing until you are 100% ready.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Seems like you have the right idea: doing lots of practice questions and spending the most time on your weak subjects. It will feel very inefficient, but when you get to sujects you're more comfortable in you'll be able to go through them much faster.

I always studied with the AAMC's "What's on the MCAT?" pages open to make sure I hit every point.

You should be able to improve your P/S score quickly by memorizing vocabulary and your C/P quickly by memorizing the amino acids and common physics formulas.

 

[GlowCloud]

Are you utilizing active learning techniques? You need to rehearse and apply the information you are learning, don't just take notes and read over them. How are you reviewing your practice exams? If you want to significantly improve your score, I would recommend using completely different study methods and materials.

 

[Premedstudent2020]

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly optimistic.

Take as many practice tests as you can.

SDNers seem to like ExamKrackers for exam prep.

Do NOT take the real thing until you are 100% ready.

I am using the 2015 EK books do you think that this will be okay? Would the content still be good?

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Content on those should still be fine, I'm no expert on that but the content hasn't really changed since the new MCAT was instated, Snell's law is still Snell's law.
Did you take the AAMC full length practice tests? If you took 8-10 (great job on prep with those btw, those are grueling and nothing prepares you better for running a marathon than running one), how did you do on those compared to the real deal?

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi, I have decided to start studying for the MCAT so I can retake it in March. I took it on 7/19 and I got a 497 (123,125,125,124). I had already applied this cycel and surprisingly I received a few secondaries from multiple schools that take lower MCAT scores. However, I have not received an invitation for an interview so here I am. I decided to start studying today and it has been absolute trash. I am not sure where to start or what to do. All I can think about is how this will be my second time and this is pretty much my last shot. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I know my weakest area is general chemistry and physics. If anyone has suggestions.

Have you thought about taking a review course? I know they are not popular on SDN in general, but, given your first score and your self described "trash" start to studying again, maybe you would benefit from the structure and support. I don't know enough about them to recommend any one specifically, but you seem like you might be a good candidate, given all the room you have for improvement.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

For my first test I read and took notes on the kaplan review books and I practiced CARS everyday. I did about 8-10 practice exams in total. I also used the flashcards from AAMC. So I do not know what to change this time around. Yesterday I decided to start with general chemistry since its my weakness and I began reading EK's book and taking notes but it just does not feel very efficient.

IMHO, the problem is that you focused too much on content review and recall (flashcards) and not enough on passages. Taking 8-10 FLs is only useful if you spend plenty of time thoroughly reviewing them and improving at test taking. Before I started my review I looked at literally hundreds of study approaches and corresponding scores posted here and at reddit and all of the low scores focused on content review too much, with the majority of them using Kaplan like you did. You have to break that mold and focus on passages this time. EK is pretty good, but I don't think their answer explanations are helpful for improving test skills. Check out the study plans like Nymeria's and you'll see that they have you doing hundreds of questions each week. That is how you improve.

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly optimistic.

I can't stop laughing at that comment. At least until I start crying over all the money I've spent on secondaries.

 

[Premedstudent2020]

IMHO, the problem is that you focused too much on content review and recall (flashcards) and not enough on passages. Taking 8-10 FLs is only useful if you spend plenty of time thoroughly reviewing them and improving at test taking. Before I started my review I looked at literally hundreds of study approaches and corresponding scores posted here and at reddit and all of the low scores focused on content review too much, with the majority of them using Kaplan like you did. You have to break that mold and focus on passages this time. EK is pretty good, but I don't think their answer explanations are helpful for improving test skills. Check out the study plans like Nymeria's and you'll see that they have you doing hundreds of questions each week. That is how you improve.

I think I will focus more on passages. I used to review each exam very thoroughly sometimes it would take me 2-3 days to review 1 exam. Ho can i access Nymeria's study plan?

 

[Premedstudent2020]

Content on those should still be fine, I'm no expert on that but the content hasn't really changed since the new MCAT was instated, Snell's law is still Snell's law.
Did you take the AAMC full length practice tests? If you took 8-10 (great job on prep with those btw, those are grueling and nothing prepares you better for running a marathon than running one), how did you do on those compared to the real deal?

I took 2 of the AAMC practice tests and my highest one was a 502. On the previous exams i had taken my score was in the 490s range it continued to increase to 502.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I think I will focus more on passages. I used to review each exam very thoroughly sometimes it would take me 2-3 days to review 1 exam. Ho can i access Nymeria's study plan?

Nymeria's plan can be found by clicking here.

A similar plan can be found by clicking here.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

I took 2 of the AAMC practice tests and my highest one was a 502. On the previous exams i had taken my score was in the 490s range it continued to increase to 502.

There's nothing more predictive than those AAMC full lengths, why did you proceed to the real deal if you weren't happy with your score? For this round, don't take it unless you're happy with your practice test score

 

[hungrydoc710]

UW qbank and get your hands on a gen chem/physics anki deck somewhere on the web, to iron out your weak spots.

Using anki for Boards is a game changer.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

If I can only recommend one thing to anyone who asks, it's that they get the TBR books for chemistry, physics, and orgo. I have never seen anyone who used those as their main review and practice resource score less than 127 on C/P.

There are many other useful things as well like AAMC exams, TPR and the 300-page doc for P/S, and knowing your amino acids inside and out. That happens to be the biggest thing for my experience.

 

[NY_Med]

If I can only recommend one thing to anyone who asks, it's that they get the TBR books for chemistry, physics, and orgo. I have never seen anyone who used those as their main review and practice resource score less than 127 on C/P.

There are many other useful things as well like AAMC exams, TPR and the 300-page doc for P/S, and knowing your amino acids inside and out. That happens to be the biggest thing for my experience.

Is TBR that highly preferred over TPR content for those classes? (Disclaimer: I got the TPR course)

 

[KnightDoc]

Is TBR that highly preferred over TPR content for those classes? (Disclaimer: I got the TPR course)

No such thing -- it's always YMMV. Are you in the middle of the course now? If so, and if you prefer a course, the question is moot since I think TBR only has live classes in CA. If you can't be in CA for their live class, your only other option for them is books on your own!

 

[GreenDuck12]

TBR is different than other companies because of how their materials are structured. Most books have around 20 practice questions within a chapter followed by three phases of review that should be completed at space interviews to help gauge mastery and recall of the material. Their passages are quite challenging and will help most folks prepare for full length exams. A TPR course is fine for learning material but hop on KahnAademy and do some of their passage questions. Full length exams are useful for practicing timing, building endurance, and identifying gaps in content, question types that cause you problems, and learning how to reason through things. While the score on third party practice exams inevitably gets a lot of emphasis, they are mainly useful in terms of finding gaps and having a trend that is hopefully improving. UWorld can be really helpful as they have a lot of passage style questions with great explanations. However the gold standard is the material provided by the AAMC. The AAMC exams are just different - personally I think there is more emphasis on reasoning and questions have multiple avenues to the right answer. With Kaplan and NS there is often only one way to get to the right answer. A sub 500 score indicates significant gaps in content knowledge and likely issues with timing and test strategy. The MCAT is an incredibly learnable exam. There are some things that you just need to know but most of your points will come from understanding concepts and being able to reason with questions and the passage.

 

[NY_Med]

TBR is different than other companies because of how their materials are structured. Most books have around 20 practice questions within a chapter followed by three phases of review that should be completed at space interviews to help gauge mastery and recall of the material. Their passages are quite challenging and will help most folks prepare for full length exams. A TPR course is fine for learning material but hop on KahnAademy and do some of their passage questions. Full length exams are useful for practicing timing, building endurance, and identifying gaps in content, question types that cause you problems, and learning how to reason through things. While the score on third party practice exams inevitably gets a lot of emphasis, they are mainly useful in terms of finding gaps and having a trend that is hopefully improving. UWorld can be really helpful as they have a lot of passage style questions with great explanations. However the gold standard is the material provided by the AAMC. The AAMC exams are just different - personally I think there is more emphasis on reasoning and questions have multiple avenues to the right answer. With Kaplan and NS there is often only one way to get to the right answer. A sub 500 score indicates significant gaps in content knowledge and likely issues with timing and test strategy. The MCAT is an incredibly learnable exam. There are some things that you just need to know but most of your points will come from understanding concepts and being able to reason with questions and the passage.

So you think Khan Passages> TPR for practice? I have noticed the TPR material is almost like... they wrote the textbooks, and then after structured their passages so they center around their textbook (specific concepts and such). So it is SO specific for the TPR material and requires an unnecessary amount of recall straight from the textbook.

 

[NY_Med]

No such thing -- it's always YMMV. Are you in the middle of the course now? If so, and if you prefer a course, the question is moot since I think TBR only has live classes in CA. If you can't be in CA for their live class, your only other option for them is books on your own!

I am in the middle of running through the course for the 2nd time (content review). It is not terrible, but I think I need to move into different third party sources. But okay! seems since I am east coast I am sol then.

 

[KnightDoc]

So you think Khan Passages> TPR for practice? I have noticed the TPR material is almost like... they wrote the textbooks, and then after structured their passages so they center around their textbook (specific concepts and such). So it is SO specific for the TPR material and requires an unnecessary amount of recall straight from the textbook.

Are you taking classes, or studying on your own?

 

[KnightDoc]

I am in the middle of running through the course for the 2nd time (content review). It is not terrible, but I think I need to move into different third party sources. But okay! seems since I am east coast I am sol then.

Please explain! Have you taken the course once and are now repeating it? if so, have you taken the test yet? Or are you just working through the books multiple times without taking a class, or the test?

The answer to your real question, though, is that there is a market for all of this stuff (that's why it exists! 🙂), and there is no one size fits all. Everyone has an opinion, and there is no one right answer. The key is to find whatever works for you (class, self study, TPR,, TBR, Kaplan, etc.) and stick with it.

Soliciting opinions is fine to find out what people like and don't like about the various choices, but the only way to find out what is right for you is to sample things either online or in a bookstore, or to visit with the people running classes (in person or online) and see what floats your boat!

The only universal truth is that AAMC stuff is by far the best (because they write the test itself), but there is only a limited amount of it, so you have to be judicious in its use and supplement it with other things, hence, all the other stuff!!

 

[GreenDuck12]

So you think Khan Passages> TPR for practice? I have noticed the TPR material is almost like... they wrote the textbooks, and then after structured their passages so they center around their textbook (specific concepts and such). So it is SO specific for the TPR material and requires an unnecessary amount of recall straight from the textbook.

Nope, not saying that at all. I am not familiar with TPR but I am familiar with TBR and Kaplan. Having a detail oriented content review is fine if it is working for you. I really liked TBR for general/organic chemistry, and physics. I had a hard time with the biology books because they were too detail oriented for me so I would supplement the content review portion with Kaplan and then go back to TBR for the end of chapter passages/questions. I wouldn't get hung up on trying to memorize every detail but learn the concepts and keep track of the kinds of things you are missing. However, for P/S, you really do have to memorize things. . Check out Anki, its a really useful app for making flashcards that uses spaced repetition to help with recall. I used it for some terms, formulas, regulatory steps for biochemistry, and every definition for P/S section.

Based on an additional post above, if you already went through TPR once, I'm not sure going through it again will make a significant different unless you change the way you approach the material. Try to make your studying as active as possible instead of passive. Passive is reading a book or watching a video. Active is synthesizing the section you covered to rewrite it in your own words, or draw it visually, or orally explain it, etc. I found it was really easy for me to say to myself that I learned something after watching a video/listening to a lecture/reading a section of a book, and then just move on. I found it was a lot harder when I forced myself to close my resources, explain something, and then check it against the material.

 

[NY_Med]

Please explain! Have you taken the course once and are now repeating it? if so, have you taken the test yet? Or are you just working through the books multiple times without taking a class, or the test?

The answer to your real question, though, is that there is a market for all of this stuff (that's why it exists! 🙂), and there is no one size fits all. Everyone has an opinion, and there is no one right answer. The key is to find whatever works for you (class, self study, TPR,, TBR, Kaplan, etc.) and stick with it.

Soliciting opinions is fine to find out what people like and don't like about the various choices, but the only way to find out what is right for you is to sample things either online or in a bookstore, or to visit with the people running classes (in person or online) and see what floats your boat!

The only universal truth is that AAMC stuff is by far the best (because they write the test itself), but there is only a limited amount of it, so you have to be judicious in its use and supplement it with other things, hence, all the other stuff!!

okay! So... I have the self paced Princeton review course. Ran through the whole course once this summer (and did most the AAMC material). Took the mcat in August, got a 499 flat (Have diagnosed my problems, was scoring 508-511 on practice exams... anxiety got me and ALSO didn't mimic testing conditions like I should have so was demoralized and unable to recover after hardest C/P section I have ever seen so pacing was rough).

GROSSLY underestimated the importance of pacing and taking the FL's seriously (not pausing and taking bathroom breaks or making food whenever you want), which hurt me bad.

Currently I just finished a semester taking a ton of recommended courses like genetics, biochem, microbiology, sociology (as you already know from my other post 😊). Now I am just working at a hospital and plan on running through the entire course again (coupled with AAMC & other 3rd party FL's), and then sitting for my second MCAT in April!

But okay that makes sense!

 

[NY_Med]

Nope, not saying that at all. I am not familiar with TPR but I am familiar with TBR and Kaplan. Having a detail oriented content review is fine if it is working for you. I really liked TBR for general/organic chemistry, and physics. I had a hard time with the biology books because they were too detail oriented for me so I would supplement the content review portion with Kaplan and then go back to TBR for the end of chapter passages/questions. I wouldn't get hung up on trying to memorize every detail but learn the concepts and keep track of the kinds of things you are missing. However, for P/S, you really do have to memorize things. . Check out Anki, its a really useful app for making flashcards that uses spaced repetition to help with recall. I used it for some terms, formulas, regulatory steps for biochemistry, and every definition for P/S section.

Based on an additional post above, if you already went through TPR once, I'm not sure going through it again will make a significant different unless you change the way you approach the material. Try to make your studying as active as possible instead of passive. Passive is reading a book or watching a video. Active is synthesizing the section you covered to rewrite it in your own words, or draw it visually, or orally explain it, etc. I found it was really easy for me to say to myself that I learned something after watching a video/listening to a lecture/reading a section of a book, and then just move on. I found it was a lot harder when I forced myself to close my resources, explain something, and then check it against the material.

Thanks for the input! I think I definitely should use more active learning techniques in my approach!

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Nope, not saying that at all. I am not familiar with TPR but I am familiar with TBR and Kaplan. Having a detail oriented content review is fine if it is working for you. I really liked TBR for general/organic chemistry, and physics. I had a hard time with the biology books because they were too detail oriented for me so I would supplement the content review portion with Kaplan and then go back to TBR for the end of chapter passages/questions. I wouldn't get hung up on trying to memorize every detail but learn the concepts and keep track of the kinds of things you are missing. However, for P/S, you really do have to memorize things. . Check out Anki, its a really useful app for making flashcards that uses spaced repetition to help with recall. I used it for some terms, formulas, regulatory steps for biochemistry, and every definition for P/S section.

Based on an additional post above, if you already went through TPR once, I'm not sure going through it again will make a significant different unless you change the way you approach the material. Try to make your studying as active as possible instead of passive. Passive is reading a book or watching a video. Active is synthesizing the section you covered to rewrite it in your own words, or draw it visually, or orally explain it, etc. I found it was really easy for me to say to myself that I learned something after watching a video/listening to a lecture/reading a section of a book, and then just move on. I found it was a lot harder when I forced myself to close my resources, explain something, and then check it against the material.

This advice is perfecto! You should post this over and over and over, because everyone needs to understand this. Watching videos makes you think you know your stuff, but you really don't You only get that through practice. I agree 100% with the materials you recommend too, because I loved that homework was broken up into sections that had gradually more MCAT-applicable goals.

It's all about active learning, which only happens when you review passages and questions you just did.

 

[ovariantorsion]

Hey guys! I just wanted to share my own experience with the MCAT (and what I learned from it) in hopes it can help someone. (Sorry in advance for the long post).

I took the MCAT for the first time right after my junior year of college (May 2018). I started studying in January with TPR online course. I had just picked up a second major so my course load was extremely high, and I was trying to balance studying with my ECs. Admittedly, I coasted through the course I took and only took 2 practice tests, which led to a less than impressive score.

I knew I had to retake the MCAT to be a competitive medical school applicant, so I planned to retake the MCAT in my senior year (March 2019) and then apply for the 2020 cycle. I took a hard look at how I studied best and what I needed to do to improve and found that watching videos, making flashcards and doing as many problems as I could was what would work for me. I found a website (mcatselfprep.com) which had organized videos from all different companies into lessons. The site also sent a question of the day email, which included a video on how to solve the question posed. I made a strict study schedule (ex. x number of videos per day with x amount of time spent studying new material and x amount of time reviewing past material). I found that the Khan academy videos were the most helpful in learning content and the CrashCourse videos were the most engaging (which made it easier to remember material covered). I made flashcards for each problem I didn't understand or would consistently get wrong, and I studied them whenever I had a free minute; between classes, at lunch, at the gym.

I realized about 1 month before my scheduled exam, I was not as ready as I wanted to be. Taking the MCAT a second time adds so much pressure to do well, since you know you've done less than great in the past. One of the smartest things I did for myself was pushing my MCAT back a month in order to give myself time to feel more confident (April 2019). I used that month (and the few weeks before) to take 1 practice exam per week, using test-like conditions. The next day after the practice exam, I would go through the entire test, including questions I got right. I would make notes of topics I was getting consistently wrong, and made flashcards from questions I got wrong or had guessed on. I found that Kaplan and TPR had very difficult practice exams that were not very close to the actual exam. Obviously, the AAMC practice exams are the most useful in giving you an estimate on what your actual score will be on the real deal. All the hard work and HOURS of studying paid off and I was able to improve my score by 11 points!

In summary, I believe making a study plan for how you study best is the most important thing. If you burn out easily, make time to have a few smaller study sessions per day. If you don't learn well from just reading a textbook, don't do it! Find another source of information. Second to that is taking practice tests in an environment that will mirror your actual test day situation. Take the breaks allowed, eat a snack and NO PHONES during studying. And third, take the test when YOU are ready (well, as ready as you can be). It is much better to spend the money and postpone your test if it means you'll get a better score.

Other tips; know your amino acids and how they are categorized! This helps with a TON of problems in Bio/biochem. Also, the only way to prepare for CARS is to read CARS passages. Honestly, I didn't see much difference between Kaplan, TPR and AAMC passages for difficulty of CARS, and there are tons of YouTube videos that can help you with passage strategy.

Good luck! You'll do great as long as you put the work in!