Should I reschedule my MCAT to January, or how to refine my current studying?

[Dr.ATS]

Hello! Currently, I am a rising junior who has completed all the required pre-requisites for the MCAT except for physics I and II as well as psychology. So far, I have taken this summer to review content for the MCAT and was planning on taking my exam on September 9th of this year, in order to have the year to research, volunteer, and shadow before I apply next spring.

Here is my current timeline:
- My classes begin August 30th. I have to take two full days to move from my apartment into my new home, but other than that, I will have a majority of the time to continue studying. This leaves approximately 7 weeks left for studying.
-I am using the Kaplan 7 book series to do content review: I have covered all of the books except for three chapters in general chemistry and biochemistry as well as their entire organic chemistry book. (I have a semi-strong background in organic chemistry and feel as if all I will need to do is refresh quickly.)
- I see that my weak areas are physics, chemistry, and general psychology.

Practice tests:
- As of now, I have only taken one Kaplan Full length exam and scored a 499: 123/125/127/124
- A majority of the errors for the C/P section came from not knowing formulas or mathematical areas. I figured improvement could simply be memorizing equations/more practice.
- My understanding of physics is limited to the Kaplan books and Khan academy. I have not had much practice in this area other than Khan's questions and Kaplan's discrete questions.
- My CARS sections in EK101 and Kaplan is hit or miss. Some passages I manage to get all the questions correct while others I barely manage 2/5 or 3/7 questions correct.

Current resources:
- EK101 CARS
-NS Psych/Soc Practice
- Kaplan FL 1/2/3
- All AAMC Materials
- Khan's Passages
- Two old TPR FL's

The questions I'd like your advice on:
1. Should I reschedule my MCAT to January and continue review throughout the semester with more resources? - My concern with this is that I have not shadowed much, nor do I have much clinical volunteering Also, I have not done any this summer as I have been studying for this test. I feel as if rescheduling my MCAT will show medical schools I was inactive during the summer and was not responsible. (My plan was to take the MCAT and continue on with my research, volunteering, and shadowing in the fall).

2. Should I chose to sit for the September 9th exam, how can I improve my chemistry and physics sections with the resources I have? - Currently I simply read and take notes over the Kaplan chapters, do their problems, and watch Khan videos if further explanation is needed.

3. My CARS sections seem to be all over the place, and my analysis has not yielded any major trends in why I am getting the questions wrong. Does anyone have any ways to better review missed questions other than simply reading the explanation and thinking about why you got it wrong?

4.Psychology and sociology seem to be brute memorization. I have the terms memorized, yet am having trouble applying them to the passages or understanding the experimental analysis. Should this get better with more practice as I develop the critical thinking skills necessary?

5. Lastly, how can I better use the resources I have now? I am antsy to move onto practicing, but I feel as if I can barely remember the multitude of equations for the C/P section as well as a bulk of the details of the psych and bio sections. I attributed some of this to be because Kaplan's books are incredibly detail oriented.


Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this and respond. Your advice is truly appreciated!

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[MoDiddy]

Take AAMC Sample and see how you do. You have like 6 weeks until MCAT you should ultilize that material soon

 

[pms_testosterone]

2. You have the right idea. Memorize the equations, and watch videos; animations may be especially helpful.

3. Only trust AAMC CARS material.

4. For psych/soc, you're right that it's memorization. Have you done AAMC or Khan Academy practice materials? If so, how are you doing?

 

[workaholic181]

Yea you need to take AAMC official practice exams to see where you're at.

Honestly I think it's a mistake when people think that more time to study always = a higher score. You should take the exam when things are still fresh for you.

Take an AAMC exam, see how you do. Honestly you'll probably do better than you think.

 

[Dr.ATS]

I just took the AAMC FL 1 Scored today and received a 506 (129/124/128/125).

I now have approximately 4 weeks that includes one week of classes.

Any suggestions?

 

[pms_testosterone]

What is your goal score? Or what is the median MCAT score of matriculants at your state school?

CARS is hard to bring up - are you already taking your time and reading every word of the passages?
P/S is easy to bring up, so that's probably the place to focus your efforts. Review your answers on FL1, and re-do the P/S section bank.

Is interpreting experiments an overall issue you have (in C/P and B/B as well)?

 

[Dr.ATS]

My goal score is a 510+, and I am a Texas resident. I believe the average of matriculates in Texas is around a 509. I do take my time to read every word of the CARS passages. On the Q-packs, I was getting 5/6 and 6/7 questions correct. I also felt like the CARS section on FL1 was relatively straightforward, but I was sadly mistaken. I finished the section with approximately 8 minutes left.

I do tend to struggle interpreting experimental results. As far as graphs go, I can generally understand what is going on as well as figuring out what is happening and how it pertains to the question.

If this helps any:
- I'm currently sophomore going into junior year. I have minimal shadowing experience (20 hours) and lack clinical volunteering, but I do have extensive non-clinical extracurriculars as well as leadership and one year of lab research. My cGPA is 3.82 and my sGPA is 3.74.

 

[workaholic181]

My goal score is a 510+, and I am a Texas resident. I believe the average of matriculates in Texas is around a 509. I do take my time to read every word of the CARS passages. On the Q-packs, I was getting 5/6 and 6/7 questions correct. I also felt like the CARS section on FL1 was relatively straightforward, but I was sadly mistaken. I finished the section with approximately 8 minutes left.

I do tend to struggle interpreting experimental results. As far as graphs go, I can generally understand what is going on as well as figuring out what is happening and how it pertains to the question.

If this helps any:
- I'm currently sophomore going into junior year. I have minimal shadowing experience (20 hours) and lack clinical volunteering, but I do have extensive non-clinical extracurriculars as well as leadership and one year of lab research. My cGPA is 3.82 and my sGPA is 3.74.

a) dont panic, four weeks out performing how you are (also being a texan with other good stats) you should feel fine.
b) You had solid scores for C/P and B/B. What's up with Psych/soc? Fortunately for you, that's the easiest section IMO to drastically improve in in a short period of time. If you improved by two points here, and one point in CARS (you really need to shoot for a 125 minimum CARS) then you're already at your state average. That's very doable.

 

[Dr.ATS]

With P/S, I did a light review directly after the test, and it seemed to come down to picking between two answers, and I managed to choose the wrong one. I scored 44/59, and had I not chosen the other answer, it would have been around 48/59.

a) dont panic, four weeks out performing how you are (also being a texan with other good stats) you should feel fine.
b) You had solid scores for C/P and B/B. What's up with Psych/soc? Fortunately for you, that's the easiest section IMO to drastically improve in in a short period of time. If you improved by two points here, and one point in CARS (you really need to shoot for a 125 minimum CARS) then you're already at your state average. That's very doable.

 

[Dr.ATS]

Also, my biggest concerns moving it to January are that I will have wasted a summer when I could have been volunteering, shadowing, or working as well as forgetting a majority of the information over the semester.

My fallback plan was to purchase 10 NS exams and take one per weekend during the semester leading up until January.

 

[pms_testosterone]

You have a month left, and it sounds like you just need to do a lot more practice questions, which you have time to do. Focus on AAMC (Khan Academy is also pretty good, but only for P/S).

 

[Dr.ATS]

I've yet to do the AAMC section banks. I will begin those by the end of this week after I review my FL exam! Thanks for all of your help guys and gals. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Dr.ATS]

So my scores on my EK101 CARS have been going up as well as the Q-Packs (Now I generally miss 1 question per passage. Rarely is it 2 questions, and I am incredibly distracted.). My new strategy is to read the passage slowly, and answer the questions without referencing the passage whatsoever. However, my P/S Khan practice and section bank has remained relatively stagnant. I recognize a majority of the terms and am generally able to narrow each question down to two choices. Is this the MCAT luck factor of guessing, or should I put more effort into extrapolating reasons why one answer may be better than another?

 

[Dr.ATS]

Just letting you all know: I had to reschedule, and I will be taking it in January. I was testing in Houston, and these last weeks issues with Hurricane Harvey happened.

If anyone has any suggestions for studying during the semester, please let me know. Thank you all for the help!