Studied 2 days for the MCAT..chance that doesn't mean that I bombed it?

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wingnit

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The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
 
Unless you know without a shadow of a doubt that you have been gifted your entire life and can just destroy standardized tests, I would imagine you get a score in the high teens or low 20s which is not good enough for a US MD/DO school.

It is definitely hard to get a 26+ unless you either work hard and/or are, as I said, incredibly gifted at taking tests.

I know people who have an extremely good idea of the content (3.7-4.0 grades) and studied for weeks or months and still got sub 29 scores.
 
I'm more impressed than anything, even if you don't do as well as you hoped. I would've never gotten close to even finishing the verbal if I only studied two days.

To be honest, you more than likely did not do well. This isn't a test that you can study for two days and just do well, unless there's some divine intervention, if you believe in that. I recommend not to rush the exam. Plan for a retake and study during a semester that you can take off from school.
 
Awesome Sauceome said:
Unless you know without a shadow of a doubt that you have been gifted your entire life and can just destroy standardized tests, I would imagine you get a score in the high teens or low 20s which is not good enough for a US MD/DO school.

It is definitely hard to get a 26+ unless you either work hard and/or are, as I said, incredibly gifted at taking tests.

I know people who have an extremely good idea of the content (3.7-4.0 grades) and studied for weeks or months and still got sub 29 scores.
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wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have had friends and there first diagnostic was a 26. They are really smart though. I probably studied for about two weeks very hard and kinda not really studied before that. My score ended up being fine.
 
wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...

lol, that would be unbelievably lucky. There is the minuscule chance that you are an incredibly gifted test taker, but i think the MCAT is fairly BS-proof, meaning that it's designed to require a lot of preparation. You never know though, you could get lucky.
 
hawruh said:
lol, that would be unbelievably lucky. There is the minuscule chance that you are an incredibly gifted test taker, but i think the MCAT is fairly BS-proof, meaning that it's designed to require a lot of preparation. You never know though, you could get lucky.
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Exactly... everyone knows a guy that kills it or whatever with like no prep. But for the most part I do believe it is BS proof.
 
Who knows. My first diagnostic was a 26, and I'm not terribly smart, although I am decent at standardized tests. On the actual test, I felt like I had gotten every single one on verbal correct too, but my score turned out to be an 11, for what it's worth (basically what test prep predicted). I also thought I had done atrociously on the science sections, but they ended up being right where my practice tests had pegged them at. So practice exams are the best indicator imo, but it sounds like you hadn't taken any. Just hope for the best and expect the worst! Best wishes, and I'll be interested to hear how you do 🙂
 
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My diagnostic, (AAMC 3) was a 28. It really is not that bad if you did decent in your pre-reqs. Alot of the answers can be deduced with good test taking abilities.
 
Well, I appreciate all the honest feedback. At this point, I am expecting the worst and hoping for the best. But mainly hoping for the best. I'll update on the 12th with official scores!
 
This may be a stupid question, but did you take a diagnostic test before your two days of studying? I doubt your score would be very different than the diagnostic. If you scored a 20 on the diagnostic. I scored a 23 on my diagnostic and it took me several months to go up from that (still have yet to hit a 30).
 
mspeedwagon said:
This may be a stupid question, but did you take a diagnostic test before your two days of studying? I doubt your score would be very different than the diagnostic. If you scored a 20 on the diagnostic. I scored a 23 on my diagnostic and it took me several months to go up from that (still have yet to hit a 30).
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No, unfortunately, I did not. I guess this was my diagnostic. Lol

In the (likely) case of a retake, I'll do things a lot differently next time.
 
wingnit said:
No, unfortunately, I did not. I guess this was my diagnostic. Lol

In the (likely) case of a retake, I'll do things a lot differently next time.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately unlike a real diagnostic. This will be sent to medical schools no matter what. If it's bad and you are able to do better on a future exam, then it will likely the two will be averaged for your application by most schools. At best, taking the MCAT when you knew you weren't prepared shows poor decision making. Medical school lives for high pressured standardized tests. The MCAT is not a test really of raw ability, it's a test of how you approach a high pressure knowledge based test.
 
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to give you perspective, I studied pretty hard for about 3 weeks total and scored a 27 (8/10/9). I skipped verbal and focused on things I was very weak on as I knew I didn't have any time to give up, and I also had forgotten a lot. I did take practice exams though to get timing down (which is vital). I obviously regret this and know I could have done better, but time is of the essence with this process.

2 days really is no time at all. I'd be surprised if you broke low 20s, but stranger things have happened. remember, the MCAT and its scorers don't know how long you studied, so you might have done alright. Good luck, let us know how it goes!
 
wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Look t it this way. If you score over a 25, you did great considering the time you invested in it. If you scored under a 25, you know why and you can always study hard and retest later. If you have a decent GPA and didn't bomb it you'll have a great story to tell 30 years from now.
 
wingnit said:
I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol.
Click to expand...

Yeah... everyone thinks that about verbal on their first diagnostic and trust me, it's never the case. The verbal questions are designed to trick you a bit and you really can't pick up on that without practice.

Having kids and a job won't mean anything to adcoms if you're sitting on a super low score. But hey, like others said, maybe you'll pull a 24 or something and eek into one of the new schools. Or maybe you're an expert test-taker and will knock it out of the park - but keep in mind you'd be the 1% with that one.
 
I did pretty well on my first diagnostic (24) and didn't study very hard for the actual test. But it's very rare to score competitively without really studying for this specific test. Without knowing the tricks that are common on the MCAT it's easy to feel like you did a pretty good job and in actuality make a bunch of easy mistakes.

Hope you did well. If you didn't and are going to retake I suggest hitting up some question banks in your spare time, maybe taking a few full lengths. Realistically if you are comfortable with all the material I would give yourself 4 months of mild to moderate everyday question taking.
 
This test isn't even so much knowledge-based as it is knowing how to use your critical reasoning (something I didn't understand when I took it the first time). I am hoping the best for you, but maybe you can take a practice AAMC exam and see how you do there and most likely that'll give you the best idea of how you did before you get teh test score. I studied a lot for mine and still only managed to do okay, but as others have said there are always those ppl who do great without very much practice at all. Good luck to you!!
 
wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you get a 30+ I shall rage quit myself out of the medical admissions process.
 
wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I got a 27 on my first practice AAMC exam without studying. It's definitely possible to do decently without studying, but when you get your score back don't be discouraged if it's bad. Since you didn't study you'll know that you can definitely do better and should be able to get a much better score on a retake. Good luck!
 
Go take AAMC 11 while you are waiting for your score and you will have a pretty good idea of how you did and whether you should start prepping for round 2.
 
Do let us know whether you made a good choice, or a bad one, on a career-determining, high-stakes exam with little preparation.

wingnit said:
The story is that I work full-time, take classes, and raise two kids. I couldn't afford to take time off work and had to take summer courses to raise my science GPA. Signed up for the MCAT several months ago but had no time to study for it, and decided (foolishly, I know) to take it anyway. I figured I would score at least good enough to get in somewhere (anywhere) this cycle, which is really my only goal, as I don't have the financial resources to keep taking post bacc classes.

So, anyway, studied two full nights during the week before the exam (lol, I know). Only studied physics because I know that's by far my weakest subject. Took the exam on 7/12 and didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section.

I felt like I got all correct on the verbal, lol. I can't imagine that I missed more than a few, but who knows. I felt pretty good about the biological sciences section also, but couldn't remember some of the organic.

So now I get my scores in a week and I'm just wondering how hopeful I should feel at this point. Moving on past how stupid it was to take it..how often does someone "wing" the MCAT with any kind of success? Is it really that hard to get a 26ish without tons of practice, for someone with decent content knowledge?

Anyone else do this and still get an okay score? Just interested to see.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
.
 
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Unless your extraordinarily brilliant it is very difficult to score well on the MCAT without hard work. The testable content is massive and the format of the questions is very different from at least my undergrad exams. Depending on your background and how long you have been away from some of the courses, you may need several months of intense prep to get a 26 or higher.
 
I was pretty sure that I would receive a lot of criticism here, but let me offer my train of thought. From what I could tell, I had two choices. I could have cancelled my MCAT exam with intentions of finding time to study over the next several months and likely take the new MCAT, with even more content. At that point, it probably wouldn't even be worth it to apply that late in the cycle with my stats (3.4 cgpa, 3.2 sgpa). Or, I could just take it and see how I do, and possibly score high enough to land an acceptance this application cycle. If I don't score so great, I revert back to the first option and apply next cycle. I know taking the MCAT more than once isn't all that uncommon, so I honestly just felt that it might be worth taking the chance considering the time-frame I am working with.

If taking the MCAT was a one-time, do or die, sort of thing, I wouldn't have taken it when I did. But from what I can tell, that isn't the case, and several schools seem quite receptive to applicants who don't score great the first time and show significant improvement on a retake. I think worse case scenario, I'll be one of those students. And honestly, just based on score conversion charts I've seen floating around here on SDN, I don't think I scored below a 24. But I'll see in two days.

Thanks for the feedback, everybody.
 
There are a number of flaws in your logic, and that I hope SDNers will take note of so that they won't repeat your mistakes.

1) You were so desperate to apply in this cycle that you compromised your preparation; indeed, you didn't even bother to prepare. You know very very well reap what you sow. You yourself stated: "didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section."...which doesn't give much hope for a good performance.

2) A bad score doesn't go away....many schools will avg scores, so you really, really need to do better on the next exam.
3) You are relying on magic thinking. Magic doesn't work in the real world.
4) You are gambling that you will do well with a lot of preparation. This is likely, but with actually preparing, and taking diagnostics, we don't know the results.
5) Poor choice making is noted by Adcom members. If you score well on MCAT#2, you're likely to be asked at interviews about your success. Your response that you didn't study for MCAT# 1 because of your reasons below will raise concerns.

This illustrates again my dictum that applicants should apply once, with the best possible app, even if it means waiting a year.



wingnit said:
I was pretty sure that I would receive a lot of criticism here, but let me offer my train of thought. From what I could tell, I had two choices. I could have cancelled my MCAT exam with intentions of finding time to study over the next several months and likely take the new MCAT, with even more content. At that point, it probably wouldn't even be worth it to apply that late in the cycle with my stats (3.4 cgpa, 3.2 sgpa). Or, I could just take it and see how I do, and possibly score high enough to land an acceptance this application cycle. If I don't score so great, I revert back to the first option and apply next cycle. I know taking the MCAT more than once isn't all that uncommon, so I honestly just felt that it might be worth taking the chance considering the time-frame I am working with.

If taking the MCAT was a one-time, do or die, sort of thing, I wouldn't have taken it when I did. But from what I can tell, that isn't the case, and several schools seem quite receptive to applicants who don't score great the first time and show significant improvement on a retake. I think worse case scenario, I'll be one of those students. And honestly, just based on score conversion charts I've seen floating around here on SDN, I don't think I scored below a 24. But I'll see in two days.

Thanks for the feedback, everybody.
Click to expand...
 
I really don't want to wish ill on someone, but at the same time I almost want you to fail so we can use this thread as a reminder to those that think they can take the MCAT with no preparation and get away with it. I mean it literally goes against what every single person that got a successful score would tell you to do, so how could you expect anything but awful? You paid a chunk of money (which may or may not affect you) to have a bad score on your application that cannot be erased. Can you overcome it by taking it a second time? Yeah probably, but why would someone disadvantage themselves for no reason other than a panic application? I'm just blown away.

OEHAoA9.gif
 
to be fair, I got a 28 on my first time taking the diagnostic AAMC 10 Practice exam so it's totally doable, though I got a 6 on PS...
 
To summarize the last 20-some posts, you are an idiot if you don't study for the MCAT. I appreciate the advice and even the criticism, but that doesn't really answer my question.

I was only curious to see if others had managed to score well without significant preparation (aside from taking pre-reqs). Thanks to those who did answer that question.

Life is good.
 
wingnit said:
To summarize the last 20-some posts, you are an idiot if you don't study for the MCAT. I appreciate the advice and even the criticism, but that doesn't really answer my question.

I was only curious to see if others had managed to score well without significant preparation (aside from taking pre-reqs). Thanks to those who did answer that question.

Life is good.
Click to expand...
Bravo. Well Said.
 
I hope you do well too, but having been stupid myself, I imagine you will have scored around 17-19's.
 
You can do it. I just about did the same thing. I didn't study for biological sciences or verbal. Just some physics and gen chem for about 2-3 days and got a 27.
 
Doghead said:
You can do it. I just about did the same thing. I didn't study for biological sciences or verbal. Just some physics and gen chem for about 2-3 days and got a 27.
Click to expand...
Is that with having recently taken all the pre-reqs?
 
In all honesty instead of answering your question, I want to give something better. I want to tell you how you could have handle this situation better and what you should do in the future.

1) Try and take a practice AAMC to see where your at instead of hoping your real score will be the one to get you into medical school. There are a good chunk of people on this forum who are still studying even after their first MCAT attempt, because they are worried about scoring low.
2) If your GPA is more than 3.0 (cum and science), then you should just focused your energy only on the MCAT instead of summer classes.
3) Your mindset says, "I have so much on my plate as it is, even if I get the bare minimum MCAT, I should be okay." This mindset needs to be changed right here. There will be things you need to do, yes, but at the same time you need to make the sacrifices to get into medical school. Do you have a good support system (husband, mom, or dad maybe?) and could they take care of the kids every so often? This can definitely help ease your load. Can you try and finish your degree and then take the MCAT? This way you have the time to study and nail it. You may not be able to do all these things (I don't know your situation), but you need to start thinking like this. Once your in medical school, you shouldn't be having the mindset you have now. This has to change for the sake of your kids and yourself.
 
Goro said:
There are a number of flaws in your logic, and that I hope SDNers will take note of so that they won't repeat your mistakes.

1) You were so desperate to apply in this cycle that you compromised your preparation; indeed, you didn't even bother to prepare. You know very very well reap what you sow. You yourself stated: "didn't answer the last page of physicals science questions, which I think had four Q's. Honestly didn't realize I hadn't answered them until I was out of time, which really sucks because they looked like easy gen chem questions. I felt really blah about that whole section."...which doesn't give much hope for a good performance.

2) A bad score doesn't go away....many schools will avg scores, so you really, really need to do better on the next exam.
3) You are relying on magic thinking. Magic doesn't work in the real world.
4) You are gambling that you will do well with a lot of preparation. This is likely, but with actually preparing, and taking diagnostics, we don't know the results.
5) Poor choice making is noted by Adcom members. If you score well on MCAT#2, you're likely to be asked at interviews about your success. Your response that you didn't study for MCAT# 1 because of your reasons below will raise concerns.

This illustrates again my dictum that applicants should apply once, with the best possible app, even if it means waiting a year.
Click to expand...
Listen to GORO! I believe he is an adcom!
 
😱 I'm fascinated to know what you will get! I've been studying for a month and still feel nowhere near prepared.
 
Wish my daughter is that brave and smart....just kidding. She postponed twice already because she is not ready yet and I always support her. She is taking her MCAT in September.
 
Props to you. If you get a 30+, you deserve an award.
 
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