Studying: When does it stop being viable?

[Busy]

Hey guys,

Been creeping around the forums for a while and I saw a few things that really brought caught my eye. There seems to be some consensus that beyond a certain score, it seems 36+ or so, improvement is no longer a matter of how much you study or do exams. What is your take on this? I'm asking because it seems quite relate-able - prior to my studying, I was scored 8s and 9s. After a month of intensive studying I've been scoring on average, 12. This includes high 11s, 12s and occasionally low 13s.

Is it now just a matter of your own personal intellect? I honestly cannot seem to score beyond a 13, its always a little thing here, some little thing there, and before you know it, 12. What can I, should I, do to improve this?

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[Global Warming]

Hey guys,

Been creeping around the forums for a while and I saw a few things that really brought caught my eye. There seems to be some consensus that beyond a certain score, it seems 36+ or so, improvement is no longer a matter of how much you study or do exams. What is your take on this? I'm asking because it seems quite relate-able - prior to my studying, I was scored 8s and 9s. After a month of intensive studying I've been scoring on average, 12. This includes high 11s, 12s and occasionally low 13s.

Is it now just a matter of your own personal intellect? I honestly cannot seem to score beyond a 13, its always a little thing here, some little thing there, and before you know it, 12. What can I, should I, do to improve this?

In my experience, mastering the material can yield a score of 10/11. 12+ requires good analysis and reasoning abilities under the time constraints of the actual test.

My test is 1 week away and I feel there's nothing for me to really improve... I will however do verbal everyday just to get into the "verbal mindset".

 

[miringains]

I know what you mean. I range from high 10's to low 12's... it seems as if ive made 0 progress in the last few weeks, so I just watch video lectures on youtube about optics and other areas I don't feel 100% about. Writing mine in 9 days


Just want it to be over with at this point and I don't even know if I am totally ready haha

 

[Global Warming]

I know what you mean. I range from high 10's to low 12's... it seems as if ive made 0 progress in the last few weeks, so I just watch video lectures on youtube about optics and other areas I don't feel 100% about. Writing mine in 9 days


Just want it to be over with at this point and I don't even know if I am totally ready haha

Keep doing full lengths to keep in the MCAT zone...if your weakness is verbal...keep doing that. Don't change your strategy now cause it's too late. Just work with what you got.

At this point, I predict a score of 12/9/12. Hopefully I can get lucky on test day and up one of my science sections to 13+. Other than that...I will feel very content with that score and look forward to never having to study this stuff ever again. Hell, I'd even be satisfied (not happy, but satisfied) with 10/9/11. I have other things in life that I like to do. I have other classes to take. If I can have just a satisfactory performance...that would be great. However, I have been studying this stuff for a long time and do feel a strong mastery of all the material. I'd like for investment of time to pay dividends.

 

[johnaddams]

For me it seems I have reached my limit for this amount of studying. I do admit the 1st first I studied for the test I got from 23-30 on AAMCs(3-11) and a 27 on the real thing(2 weeks of studying). This time I was getting 30-35 on practice tests(8-11) (4 weeks of studying + daily reading). A few days ago after a full content review I got 33 on AAMC 7 up from 27 the 1st time I wrote AAMC 7, bearing in mind I forgot the questions and answers on the practice tests I rewrote. For scores 14,15 in PS is highly due to luck once u hit the 12/13 barrier. For VR i believe if i had an extra year I coul go from 9/10 to 12. Higher then 13+ not gonna happen without skill+luck. For BS 12 is max i can hit constantly could bring it to a 13+ if i decide to memorize real tiny details that might come on discrete for the 1,2 point difference.

In short each human brain will reach a max based on the ability to memorize details and apply information and formulas. There really isn't anything u can do once u hit the 13/12/12 mark. Keep in mind the average score of kids who get into harvard is 35+ Luck is a huge factor in scoring really high. My friend who is in med school now NEVER got 11 or higher on BS on the real thing he got 15. Luck is a big factor in the higher end of this test. Also the version of the test u get can determine your score slighty. People say its like 10 or 11 my were not. Be prepared for anything thats all I can say. I wrote the test twice (July 6) and now im waiting to see if I need to write a third time (Aug 16).

MCAT:Test of alot of Skill and a little Luck.

 

[shaboobly]

MCAT:Test of alot of Skill and a little Luck.

luck is a residual of skill.

 

[illinichief89]

if you are at a 35 right now and then you dedicate the next year to just taking practice tests from AAMC, Kaplan, EK, TBR, TPR, GS, then I bet you could raise it to the 40s. You will probably have seen everything by then! You will just become an mcat destroying robot

 

[Global Warming]

if you are at a 35 right now and then you dedicate the next year to just taking practice tests from AAMC, Kaplan, EK, TBR, TPR, GS, then I bet you could raise it to the 40s. You will probably have seen everything by then! You will just become an mcat destroying robot

Definitely truth in this. When I begin reading any passage, I immediately recognize the topics and possible questions that they could ask. Most of the time, they ask these questions. Although the MCAT is a critical thinking test, I believe that most of the critical thinking occurs before the test. When you have seen every topic, done a 1000000 passages on that topic, learned all the exceptions/tricks that they will probably ask, it ceases to be about skill. On any practice test, I probably see 5-7 questions that actually require critical thinking. I usually get half of those right and score 12-14.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I'd say that once you hit 12 on a section you've maxed out all you can get from content knowledge and it just becomes about test taking skills, critical thinking, and luck at that point. If you look at most MSTP programs' stats, for example, which typically have the highest average MCAT scores of any programs, the average matriculant section score is about a 12, and likewise the average MCAT CS is 34-36. And like someone else said, 35+ is enough to get you into HMS. So there definitely is a point where even the brightest and most accomplished applicants hit a brick wall.

On a related note, I think that once you hit 38 the entire test devolves into a coin tossing contest since every additional point after that is the result of one more question correct on the test. The statistics would seem to confirm this as well since a 38 is already 99th percentile, meaning that scores of 40+ are essentially statistical flukes. Indeed, the fact that med schools don't really seem to care about how high your score is after you hit 38 would also appear to confirm this.

 

[PanRoasted]

I'd say that once you hit 12 on a section you've maxed out all you can get from content knowledge and it just becomes about test taking skills, critical thinking, and luck at that point. If you look at most MSTP programs' stats, for example, which typically have the highest average MCAT scores of any programs, the average matriculant section score is about a 12, and likewise the average MCAT CS is 34-36. And like someone else said, 35+ is enough to get you into HMS. So there definitely is a point where even the brightest and most accomplished applicants hit a brick wall.

On a related note, I think that once you hit 38 the entire test devolves into a coin tossing contest since every additional point after that is the result of one more question correct on the test. The statistics would seem to confirm this as well since a 38 is already 99th percentile, meaning that scores of 40+ are essentially statistical flukes. Indeed, the fact that med schools don't really seem to care about how high your score is after you hit 38 would also appear to confirm this.

I would've agreed with you maybe a few weeks ago, but now I'm not so sure. Personally, I know I could have squeezed a few more points out of my BS and PS combined score if I had a better grasp on the topics thrown at me in the discreets. Getting a 15, or close to it, is not just luck, it's a combination of having all the requisite knowledge needed as well as good test taking skills. For some people, having more of one can offset having a deficit in the other, but to do your absolute best you really should have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all the topics covered on the MCAT. After that point, I agree it is purely a combination of aptitude and luck.

 

[Busy]

So it "doesn't really matter what you score" beyond the high 30s? Say, a difference in 36 vs 41 wouldn't help (much) to offset whatever GPA, in my case beyond horrid, deficit there might be?

 

[TwinsFan]

I would've agreed with you maybe a few weeks ago, but now I'm not so sure. Personally, I know I could have squeezed a few more points out of my BS and PS combined score if I had a better grasp on the topics thrown at me in the discreets. Getting a 15, or close to it, is not just luck, it's a combination of having all the requisite knowledge needed as well as good test taking skills. For some people, having more of one can offset having a deficit in the other, but to do your absolute best you really should have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all the topics covered on the MCAT. After that point, I agree it is purely a combination of aptitude and luck.

I pretty much agree. Getting over 12 is not luck, it is truly mastering the material and being able to critically evaluate. Anyone who consistently scores 13+ isn't just "lucky" every time, if it was all the top scorers would score all over the place (11,14,12,15,13 etc.) but this isn't the case. Obviously it is easier for chance to play a role when only 1 question decides the difference between two scores, however, I think luck gets thrown around way too often. If you can repeatedly score in a narrow range then it is highly unlikely to be a case of "luck."

Personally, I think it is possible for someone to score as high as consistent 14s (those last 1 or 2 questions can come so far out of left field that it may be "chance" that you have ever been exposed to something like them). And VR seems to be more chance oriented since most people's scores fluctuate more than the other 2 sections and you virtually never see someone consistently score 13-15 (you do in the sciences) which is needed to add validity to the claim it is based on skill/thinking/analysis/intelligence etc and not chance.