Situation...

[nmed44]

Hi Everyone,

Hope that whoever reads this can offer some guidance and advice. Please, before you do, write back with if you are/are not a med student now, and what your background is.

I graduated a middle-tier undergrad in '07 pre-med with bio and sociology double major (science GPA 3.0, overall 3.4). The last two years of undergrad were filled with bio classes, but also some classes that ultimately propelled me to complete a MPH in '09 (GPA 3.7).

I decided to start studying for the MCAT this past March, took a Princeton course that ended in end-May and have been studying on my own. At first I got a 12-14 on my diags, then I pulled it up to a 20-21 ish (taking different scores from different sections on different diags combined) and I have already pushed my test date back from 6/17 until 7/30.

I have been spending the last 5 weeks solid on concepts, going through them and completely each passage in the PR book. I want to take the exam on 7/30 knowing that I've studied as much as possible for this summer and going into the test center knowing that I can do well.

Realistically though, I'm having difficulties understanding what someone is my situation should do. I'm studying ~35 hrs/week I'm just NOT seeing an improvement in numbers.

Your opinion/guidance would be very helpful.

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[Northwesterly]

When you say diagnostics, do you mean AAMCs? Because I'm not sure Kaplan or PR are very good predictors of actual test performance. And what are your section breakdowns? Are you consistently struggling with particular topics? Have you taken all the prereqs? Sorry to bombard you with questions, but it's hard to advise anything other than "study harder/better" without more info.

 

[AcclratngCharge]

Hi Everyone,

Hope that whoever reads this can offer some guidance and advice. Please, before you do, write back with if you are/are not a med student now, and what your background is.

I graduated a middle-tier undergrad in '07 pre-med with bio and sociology double major (science GPA 3.0, overall 3.4). The last two years of undergrad were filled with bio classes, but also some classes that ultimately propelled me to complete a MPH in '09 (GPA 3.7).

I decided to start studying for the MCAT this past March, took a Princeton course that ended in end-May and have been studying on my own. At first I got a 12-14 on my diags, then I pulled it up to a 20-21 ish (taking different scores from different sections on different diags combined) and I have already pushed my test date back from 6/17 until 7/30.

I have been spending the last 5 weeks solid on concepts, going through them and completely each passage in the PR book. I want to take the exam on 7/30 knowing that I've studied as much as possible for this summer and going into the test center knowing that I can do well.

Realistically though, I'm having difficulties understanding what someone is my situation should do. I'm studying ~35 hrs/week I'm just NOT seeing an improvement in numbers.

Your opinion/guidance would be very helpful.

I am a hopeful med student. I don't know anything about PR, but ExamKracker's has been really good for me. I took the AAMC 3 before starting and missed like half of the questions, don't even know exactly the final outcome, I'm guessing 18-22, I'm sure someone can correct for 50%.

But, with Exam Krackers, in less than 2 months, I have brought my avg AAMC up to a peak of 35, and low of 32, tests taken since middle of June. I usually make 9-10(have made 8) on VR, and 12-13 on PS, 11-12 on BS. I think EK is very succinct & it seems to 'know' what will be on the actual test. It really hammers down concepts that are frequent on the MCAT. It is too late for you to use it for the 7/30 MCAT, but if you need to retake it next year I recommend the complete study package and audio osmosis by EK.

 

[PharMed2016]

I am a hopeful med student. I don't know anything about PR, but ExamKracker's has been really good for me. I took the AAMC 3 before starting and missed like half of the questions, don't even know exactly the final outcome, I'm guessing 18-22, I'm sure someone can correct for 50%.

But, with Exam Krackers, in less than 2 months, I have brought my avg AAMC up to a peak of 35, and low of 32, tests taken since middle of June. I usually make 9-10(have made 8) on VR, and 12-13 on PS, 11-12 on BS. I think EK is very succinct & it seems to 'know' what will be on the actual test. It really hammers down concepts that are frequent on the MCAT. It is too late for you to use it for the 7/30 MCAT, but if you need to retake it next year I recommend the complete study package and audio osmosis by EK.

That's been my experience too.

 

[Simplify]

I agree with the previous posters. Here is what worked for me:

-Buy every AAMC practice exam
-Buy EK for every section (1001s too)
-Start by taking AAMC #3 and use that score as your baseline
-Study from each book a few hours each day. Work problems in 1001 from sections you've just finished to help reinforce material
-Test yourself on a fresh AAMC each week on the same day (keep track of scores)

I worked it out so that I had 3 days of studying, 1 day off and then I would sit for an exam + review where I went wrong. I did the same things on each day. I did this every week leading up to the exam. On exam week I studied like normal and took a day off. Then I took the exam. It was just like practice. My score went up over the course of my studying and I actually scored within 1 point of my average of all AAMC practice tests.

I scored a 33 FWIW.

 

[Armywife06]

The above poster is right on with his strategy. That is what I did. It sounds like you have been studying the concepts for a while now. Do you understand the material? If you understand the material, but are still scoring low then it isn't "an understanding of the topics" problem, its a "applying the concepts to the questions" problem. If this is the case then the only cure is practice, practice, practice. Get EK's 1001 question in bio, chem, physics, ochem, and 101 passages in verbal. Do the questions and then read why the right answer is right, whether you got it right or wrong, you should still read the explanation. Do the same thing on your practice tests. It should take you 2-3 times as long to go over a pratice tests after you have taken it than it did to take the test. Good Luck!