study tips

[busygyal]

I decided to take my mcat a second time and I am having trouble trying to figure out what to do differently. I decided to do content review in a different way than before. Instead of reading the review books chapter by chapter, I was thinking I'd use the AAMC outline and go topic by topic and write down what is important using the review books.

I took my MCAT over 4 months ago and need to brush up on my content. I know my weaknesses on the exam were CARS and BIO. I wanted to switch up how I was learning in order to improve my score. If you guys have any other words of advice for these two sections lmk ! Thanks

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[Lawpy]

Ideally, the best way to improve your score is to do a lot of practice passages and actively review your answers to understand the reasoning behind the correct answers and how test writers think. Doing a lot of practice passages also helps you to strengthen your content knowledge and sharpen your test taking skills.

If you'd like more specific answers, consider providing your past scores/practice scores (or their estimates if you want for anonymity), the materials you used to study, and what you did.​

 

[Ad2b]

So, I took the MCAT over a year ago and barfed all over it (Irmageddon delayed my exam date and... yeah).

My content from last being in school 2+ years ago is now weaker than ever. I bought the entire set of EK content books, and the passages and the problems plus I have the 2nd edition Kaplan books. Painstakingly, I'm going through a chapter in a couple different areas per night and making sure I really understand the material.

For instance, I never really looked at the research methods during any other prep - and you know what? I finally (!) understand how to use a whisker/box-plot and can easily discuss different ways that graphs depict data and what the differences are in the stats and why to use one over another. Before, my understanding was pretty good but not sufficient.

Painstaking? yes. but my hope is that taking the extra time now, and not presuming my general understanding will be solid, when I start doing FL exams in 2 weeks, my scores should be where I need them to be to feel good going into real thing.

One thing I noticed with several people before me: they could answer those nagging little questions with ease while I struggled. I want to be more like them so am following their pathways hoping for similar success.

Maybe you need to do something similar?

 

[Swagster]

Ad2b, please don't take this the wrong way, but you may be putting too much energy into the wrong area. While the MCAT has research-based passages, the questions are more often than not thinking questions built on the most basic concepts. Although I wasn't cognoscente of it at the time, I took a reverse engineering approach looking at answer choices and working backwards. Picking a right answer is easier when you know the logic and reasoning behind why they wrote the answer choices the way they did. Wrong answers have a pattern. There are obvious wrong answers and then there are nuances, which you pick up after much practice.

The most important place you should be spending that painstaking time is on the answer explanations of any questions you do. If I remember right, the materials you are using didn't invest much energy in their explanations.

 

[Ad2b]

you may be putting too much energy into the wrong area.

Thank you for the response. As @PapaGuava said in his post there really is NO other way to crush the MCAT than to have solid content knowledge.

I already took the test (1 void, 1 scored). The voided one after my dad nearly died of stroke + heart attack + pseudomonas/beta hemolytic strep/MRSA... plus a death in the family 3 days after that AND the scored one after Irmageddon (delayed 2x due to transformer blowing and then the hurricane; all of which = not studying at all during the event). Pre-Irma, before transformer blew: AAMC FL2: 512... bombed the real thing.

1.5 years later, I question how I was studying in the first place. FOR ME, this is ALL the right energy in the right place. There is no credible way to circumvent ensuring content knowledge is solid without going through the books, making sure I understand and reviewing anything that is slightly fuzzy and solidifying things I know (amino acids, kidney, neuro, genetics)

I'll get to the FL's - I have 15 of them to take between now an 3/29 but now, it's time for me to crush content, to really make sure to the best of my ability I understand all the concepts on the AAMC guide.

I have no other shot with the MCAT and really, with all the odds stacked against me anyway (age being one of them), I am giving it my all as if I've never seen any of this before.

Do, or die... well, not die really, just ... do!

 

[Swagster]

Then go knock it out the park! You sound like you have the enthusiasm and background to do great.

For me, I think I picked up missing content by reviewing answer explanations. I didn't feel like I lacked any soundbite of knowledge on my MCAT. The difference maker for me, when I was studying for it, was learning how to systematically cross out wrong answers fast.

It sounds like you'll be doing that with your FLs.

Not just good luck to you, but GREAT luck!

 

[Ad2b]

For me, I think I picked up missing content by reviewing answer explanations.

TBH, I think that's what I did WRONG the first time: skimmed content and hoped the FL/SB/qpack reviews would shore up any loose ends; I had 2" thick stack of diagrams and notes on the SB/FLs and what I learned from each of those... bad me; what I needed was to get back to basic, detailed knowledge.

What I remember from the test I scored, none of that would have helped; I could rattle off the reasons for the answers in the SB's but couldn't tell you the physics equations needed to understand "something" (I remember what it was but won't say... AAMC violations and all that). Same can be said, for me, with orgo. I loved orgo and physics but my love and great grades in those courses weren't fresh enough.

I also remember taking my ADHD med that morning, having no lunch or water because I woke up late, had to drive 90 miles and was 10 mins late for 8am start... by lunch I was needing hydration and food but had none; took the rest of the test while the med looped through my body (ADHD med requires I eat at certain periods and drink water all day long or I get very light headed)

All lessons learned. Giving it what I have and if it works out, great! And if it doesn't? I'll figure it out too