Struggling with PS

[vin5cent0]

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I have the MCAT on aug 18, and my BS and VR are improving nicely. I find them both easy to understand and study for. My VR especially has gone through the roof after just a few practice tests with the EK books.

PS, on the other hand, is absolutely destroying me. I'm using EK for all of the subjects, and I can't help but notice that I didn't learn a lot of the stuff they're presenting in both Physics and Inorganic (both of which I got A's in relatively easily). Are there any suggestions for trying to learn these sections better? I just find it hard to learn certain aspects of chemistry/physics from the short blurbs that they have, but I don't have textbooks on this stuff anymore. Should I be wiki'ing all of these subjects? Sometimes I feel like EK is giving me a lot of extraneous info, but I can't really tell if it is or isn't.

Thanks

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

How do you know that you are struggling? Have you tried any AAMC exams to get a numerical measure of how you stack up? Try not to panic until you can get a semi-accurate estimate of your score. You could be doing better than you think.

If PS is a problem, you need to assess what it is. Is it timing? Is it specific topics? Is it test taking logic? All of these factors play a role in how you'll do. Try one of the AAMC exams and see how you do in terms of finishing on time, understanding the passages and questions, and recognizing what they are asking (or not asking).

 

[vin5cent0]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure I have enough time for anymore books 🙁 I'll definitely look around tomorrow to see if I do, though. I'm really disappointed in the EK 1001 series for PS.

BRT, I know I'm struggling in it because I've taken two AAMC (third tomorrow) and PS has been my lowest section each time. Furthermore, when I take the EK 1001 questions, I often don't know the answer or have even a clue (more often for inorganic, but often for physics as well). A lot of it comes down to me not recognizing/never having learned the stuff. With physics, I find myself writing out complicated equations and whatnot that I know I won't have time for on the test, so I know I'm going about those wrong.

 

[rockstarramona]

I, too, would love some advice on PS improvement. My exam is 8/6 and I'm freaking out at this point. I used TBR, and still have the last third of passages to cover, but I'm not sure that will do the trick. I also just bought EK 1001 in chem and phys--hopefully they are in the mail.

My scores so far, order:
PS/V/BS
AAMC #4 11/10/11
#3 9/10/11
#5 8/11/10
#9 8/13/12 (just finished this one 10 min ago. Nice to see VR and BR improvement, but the PS is killing me).

Has anyone had success using EK 1001 at the point where I am, i.e., done content review and taking FL. I will review all material again using TBR by test day, but apparently need some additional help.

I would love to hear how everyone else is strengthening PS. Any advice BTR?

 

[rockstarramona]

Sorry vin5cent0. I just read that you are disappointed in EK 1001 (my brain is scrambled after that FL). Are you using both chem and phys EK? Do you not like them because the concepts are unfamiliar, or is it how the material is presented? I'm decent with concepts but flail when it comes to calculations, so I'm hoping that the 1001 series helps. I make a ton of stupid mistakes in PS because I am so flustered. Hoping practice of the basics gets me past that. Good luck conquering this section.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Take it with a grain of salt because I haven't gotten my score yet, but I also used to struggle with PS and eventually came to feel very comfortable with most of the topics. The key for me was to spend a lot less time on the passages and a lot more time on the question stems. All you need from the passages is usually: 1) What experiments were done and how do they differ? 2) If different results were obtained, or different properties were observed about two situations, what can they be attributed to? 3) What is the trend of the data?

Try to let the answers to those questions float into your mind as you skim the passage, and you'll often find that you've mentally answered many of the questions before you've even come to them. Also, characterize your answer choices like crazy. Before getting involved in messy math, look to see if your answer choices are all exponents that are hugely far apart. If they are, you can probably get away with just calculating the exponent of your final answer and voila.

Also, if you take note of what's going on in the situations of the passage, you will often be lead to the right answer. Example: a question where there was a simple chemical equation where the molar ratio of reactant to product was 3:1. So, the volume of reactant will exceed the volume of product given that all are to be treated as ideal gases. Lo and behold, only one answer choice gave this option.

 

[RoseHelene]

My physics and gen chem classes were absolutely terrible, so PS was my weakest spot. First MCAT I got an 8.

For my retake, I picked up a Kaplan review book and just worked really really hard at it. I did just about every AAMC test. Got my PS up to a 10 on the AAMC tests. Make sure you know your formulae (not just how to derive them - that takes too much time). Use the sample tests to find your weak subjects. Use the internet if you need it - I found the Kaplan optics section to be a bit incomprehensible and found help on the 'net.

Good luck folks!