taking the mcat cold?

[Bandit]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

anyone ever take the mcat without study? I know this sounds like a bad idea---and as the 15th approaches it REALLY sounds like a bad idea to me, but this is what I did!

I have a gravy six digit salary job as a PA and thought--"who cares if I dont get in, lets just see what happens." Now, I do care and have a lump in my throat you cant beleive! Doubt very much the scores will be competetive.

well, if any have--what were your score like?!

 

[ajnak182]

I studied for about a week and got a 37. I'm entirely unconvinced that studying for longer periods is a decent use of your time. (Especially for the verbal section.) I don't understand people who study for months for that thing. What are you doing that whole time? The amount of material covered on the MCAT is relatively narrow.

(Of course, this is coming from somebody currently studying for Step One.)

Do you honestly believe this, or are you just trying to inflate an ego? Cause if you actually think that studying for the MCAT is futile, you might have a few things in common with John Nash. Not necessarily a bad thing, he did win a noble prize. Do you see dead people? Good luck taking the Step One after studying for a week, I'm sure you'll do great!

AJ

PS- If Sacrament's post is true, why does it always seem to be that some of the smartest people out there tend to say stupidest s***? Talk amongst yourselves...

 

[lissa1217]

Do people really have $200 to throw away to just see what happens in an 8 hour exam? FUN. Seriously, if I had $200 to waste, I would probably be buying another coach or louis vuitton bag or something. Any donations? I will gladly give my address..if you wanna blindly spend $200 who would I be to stop you?

 

[sacrament]

Do you honestly believe this, or are you just trying to inflate an ego? Cause if you actually think that studying for the MCAT is futile, you might have a few things in common with John Nash. Not necessarily a bad thing, he did win a noble prize. Do you see dead people? Good luck taking the Step One after studying for a week, I'm sure you'll do great!

I've been studying for >1 month for Step One, because Step One isn't the MCAT.

PS- If Sacrament's post is true, why does it always seem to be that some of the smartest people out there tend to say stupidest s***? Talk amongst yourselves...

I've noticed that whenever I speak my mind about the MCAT, people get pissy. In fact, several times in the chat room people have gotten downright violent. WHY?! Are you so dedicated to the notion that hard-core studying for the MCAT is an effective tactic? It isn't. Sorry to inform you that you've pretty much wasted your time, but there you have it.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Wow a 37.

EDIT: What school are at now, Baylor?

 

[cher25]

I've been studying for >1 month for Step One, because Step One isn't the MCAT.




I've noticed that whenever I speak my mind about the MCAT, people get pissy. In fact, several times in the chat room people have gotten downright violent. WHY?! Are you so dedicated to the notion that hard-core studying for the MCAT is an effective tactic? It isn't. Sorry to inform you that you've pretty much wasted your time, but there you have it.

It's absurd to say that studying for MCAT is a waste of time. Just because you may be a good test taker or may be one of the people that doesn't need to study to do well, doesn't mean that everyone else is. Plenty of people go up 7+ points after studying for their MCAT and that's not a waste of time. Therefore, studying for the MCAT is indeed an effective tactic for most. I have a friend who says he aced step one with little prep. So is it therefore ok for him to say, 'what are those people studying for step one doing all that time?' or 'Sorry to inform you, but you're pretty much wasting your time' Thats just plain silly. Congrats on doing so well with 1 week's studying. But no need to belittle people that need more than a week.

 

[freaker]

mbess481 is lying. 👎

 

[Premedtomed]

Hey I started early, but was slow and steady and seriously tried to master everything in a very relaxed way! I don't feel like I wasted time coz I did in such a smooth manner.
If you are good at verbal then you are at advantage. For me, I had to get better at it and will conitnue to do so for some unknown reason 😎

 

[iggyboop]

I think the amount you need to study depends on your learning style. If you have a photographic memory, natural intelligence and really absorbed the concepts in your pre-med classes, you may be able to get by without studying as hard as the rest of the population. But for most of us, myself included, it takes time to master the concepts (and I still don't think I quite "mastered" anything on my test) and to also familiarize with the test/passage/question format. That for me is the hardest part. That, and physocs.

Not lying here. 👍
Man, did mbess481 get her karma screwed up in some other thread or something?

I've noticed that whenever I speak my mind about the MCAT, people get pissy.

It's because you make self-absorbed, insensitive comments. If you refuse to see the situation from any other perspectives other than your own, that's fine, just don't be surprised when they get violent, as you say.

 

[vinoyp]

sacrament's a smart cookie. Him I can believe.

--Vinoy

 

[iggyboop]

It's not that I don't believe him, it's....

You know what? What am I doing here? It's time for me to go to sleep. 😴

Where's the friggin' OP that started this whole mess, anyway?

 

[sacrament]

It's absurd to say that studying for MCAT is a waste of time. Just because you may be a good test taker or may be one of the people that doesn't need to study to do well, doesn't mean that everyone else is. Plenty of people go up 7+ points after studying for their MCAT and that's not a waste of time. Therefore, studying for the MCAT is indeed an effective tactic for most. I have a friend who says he aced step one with little prep. So is it therefore ok for him to say, 'what are those people studying for step one doing all that time?' or 'Sorry to inform you, but you're pretty much wasting your time' Thats just plain silly. Congrats on doing so well with 1 week's studying. But no need to belittle people that need more than a week.

I'm not belittling anybody, which is why I don't understand why people get so pissed off. I'm not saying "I'm a genius so I didn't need to study, unlike you *****s!" I know the value of studying: I've been studying about eight hours a day for the past month for the m-f-ing Step One, because I'm not a genius and I don't have a photographic memory. I'm saying that, in my opinion, you get seriously, seriously diminishing returns from MCAT review. There is a very managable chunk of information that simply must be memorized (a lot of the O-chem, for example, which nobody remembers no matter how well you did in that class), but a great deal of the MCAT simply can't be "studied for." This is, apparently, an incredibly controversial statement to make, but I'm sticking to it.
And if I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't have wasted an entire week.

 

[sacrament]

There are so many nasty people on this website. I can't believe how many people on this thread have tried to make me upset just because I don't appreciate being told that I am a liar when I am not.

I have been using these boards for about two weeks and I am astounded at how competitive and nasty the members of this forum are for no good reason.

They're pre-meds. There you have it.

 

[larrywalkerdds]

First off, if larrywalkerdds had posted first rather than the belittling "my BS meter is off the charts" and infantile "you are so full of ****" that came as responses to mbess841's post, then everything would have been groovy with me. In other words, the way everyone attacked her without at least trying to find the reason behind the 39T (which she eventually gave) was just...stupid, really.



First, the original poster has already taken the exam cold, so it's not like he's going to be misdirected by mbess841's post, he just wants to know the range of scores for people who haven't studied specifically for the MCAT (well, at least that's my definition of "taking it cold"). Perhaps mbess481 should've given his background info first, but flaming her was a bit harsh. Of course, her providing so much flamebait in her responses didn't help... 🙄

Second, who takes the MCAT without any understanding of the material? At the very least, you have to at least taken the prerequisites, if not for the fact that you need those classes to apply for med school.



I've been in worse forums, thanks. And ones in which there are many more topics other than those based around a number (not that that's a bad topic given where we are). I doubt it was her intention to spread rubbish. Speaking of which, I didn't notice much flaming of people who spread the earlier test score release dates (of which I am guilty as well), so I attribute this flame to jealousy and ultracompetitiveness rather than any sort of search for truth.



And so it was the latter.

Iggyboop

I see where you are coming from but I think you also need to credit the other posters on this thread. Read mbess first post and it indeed does ring of pure BS. Only, until others attacked her did she reveal that her boyfriend was a science major and had taken all the pre-reqs. It sounds much better to say that my boyfriend took it cold and got a 39T than to say my boyfriend was a neuroscience major and physics genius who had mastered the pre-requisite courses and scored a 39T despite not taking a formal review course. Hell, I think if Stephen Hawking took the MCAT "cold" he would do well too. That's the type of ill-formed logic she used. Her initial post mentioned none of this and simply the statements that he had taken it cold and gotten a 39T. Was her post misleading? Absolutely Was it her intention mislead posters? Probably not. Was she responsible for posting ALL OF THE BACKGROUN INFORMATION! Yup!

Seriously, I think the responsese to that statement was normal if anything. If I had written that I would have expected to been flamed as well. If you are going post baseless statements like that then be prepared to be attacked on here. It's her responsibility to preface that with pertinent information. And basically what it came down to was that her boyfriend did not in fact take the exam cold. Gee, what a shock! And you would be suprised by how many people like myself take it cold. Yes, we are stupid and lazy for doing so but many people do it. Many of us didn't do well in our pre-reqs to understand the material the first time or many of us have yet to finish all thre pre-reqs before taking the MCAT so we walked into the test knowing very little. So yes, there are people who genuinely take the MCAT cold. That's where the difference existed. I will let everyone know how I did. Either way, it should be interesting.

 

[iggyboop]

mbess481:
Whoa, there! While larrywalkerdds hasn't agreed with you, at least he has been reasonable in his responses. Save the insults for those who deserve it, yah?

larrywalkerdds:
Given the circumstances, with the high stress level around here due to the impending MCAT scores, I understand that people would be eager to take flamebait when they see it. 😛

Alright, I'm officially extracting myself out of this thread. And again, where is that OP to see the carnage s/he has left behind?

 

[larrywalkerdds]

Larry:

Are you kidding me? The OP is a PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT. S/he had obviously taken biology, chemistry, anatomy, etc, at some point in his/her past, too. How can you define "taking it cold" as having not taken those classes before, when the OP clearly was not in that situation and was looking for advice?

Oh, I see- upon re-reading your post, you defined "taking it cold" as someone who maybe didn't do so hot in the pre-reqs or didn't finish them. Well, clearly we all define 'taking it cold' differently. I assumed that the OP, being a PA, meant that s/he was someone who took it without studying! S/he even said this in the OP, as I quoted before.

I think your definition of "taking it cold" is different than mine and what I read from the original is different than what you read. Does that mean I was trying to be obnoxious? No, it does not. People like you chose to view my response as obnoxious and to assume that I was lying about his credentials. I was forthcoming in a previous post about his background and I thought that since the OP was a PA that it was fairly obvious that this was not a question asked from the perspective of someone who had never cracked a science text before.

What is your point in being here, anyway? To be a ****ing jerk? To defend the honor of people who are nasty for the sake of being nasty? To prove through your words that you were RIGHT and JUSTIFIED in being a prick?

Just stop trying so hard to be nasty and to justify it.

mbess

Rather than being apologetic for not clarifying the issue, you chose to be defensive and nasty about it because it's fairly obvious your first post was misleading as hell. I highly doubt you "accidentally" failed to inform the rest of the forum that your boyfriend happened to be a genius who was a science major and had recently taken the pre-reqs. Also, there is a difference in being a PA and 4th year undergrad who had recently took the pre-req's just a year or two ago. It should be fairly obvious to you that someone who took the pre-reqs a year ago vs. a PA who had taken those same courses 3 + years ago would retain that information a little better wouldn't you think. And based on your obnoxious rebuttals, you are certainly deserving of all the $h!t you have taken. It's not my fault that you can't apply simple logic to this situation. Only a ***** would suggest that her genius neuroscience and physics expert boyfriend took the MCAT "cold." Don't get upset at us when we called you on your ridiculous post. Getting mad after we exposed you just makes you look worse so go ahead and throw a tantrum. You are entertaining all of us.

 

[daelroy]

My ex-boyfriend took it "cold", or essentially cold. He had been out of school for a year and prepped for one day- by reviewing obscure concepts such as the role of myoglobin or weird organic reactions. He had never seen the test and had no idea the format.

He got a 39T.

There you go-- little bit o' hope for you, there.

If this is the post everyone is referring to then I agree that this has got to be one of the worst pieces of advice I have read on here in a long time. It's no wonder the author of the above quote chose to delete it; she is probably embarrassed that she wrote something as shallow as that. You aren't providing any real hope or constructive advice by alluding to a genius. Your ex-boyfriend is hardly your average MCAT test taker as you admitted. Did you really think the OP would come anything close to representing your ex? Regarding the topic taking an exam cold versus not taking an exam cold, I think this issue has less to do with pre-reqs, review courses etc and everything to do with how much knowledge the person has prior to taking the exam. It is misleading to suggest that your ex took it cold when he is a genius who mastered the subject matter. Shouldn't that be obvious? Many students don't study for the MCAT if they felt that they truly learned the material the first time around. I know a few students who did this. They didn't score a 39 but they all did quite well. They didn't take it cold since they mastered the subjects during class.

Let's apply a little common sense to this scenario. The OP probably forgot most of the information in the pre-requisite subjects since he/she is a PA. PA school is two years and who knows how long the OP has been in practice as a PA so it could several years before the OP even saw those classes. And aside from physiology, medical school coursework is far different than undergrad pre-med coursework. You aren't studying general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics in PA school. I highly doubt this PA felt as confident about her pre-med classes as your ex-boyfriend. Common sense people! Let's not forget to apply this once in a while.

I personally believe that heavy MCAT preparation will enhance one's score. I wouldn't take it lightly. I know people who have taken it cold. Yes, some people scored in the upper 20's while others received scores in the lower teens..yikes.

 

[neoncandle]

I took a practice test cold (without several required classes) and I got a 29. Hilariously enough, after tons of preparation, the practice test I took a week before the MCAT... 29. So, who knows.. maybe you will be fine. Besides, your gravy job as a PA is good experience for medical school and you might not have to score as high as a 21-yr-old premed who volunteered a couple of times.

 

[neoncandle]

P.S. Several of my friends scored 29's with little to no prep.. and some after months of very heavy prep can't crack a 27... so I think each individual's experience varies wildly enough that you should go with your gut on it. I decided to study my butt off despite being very familiar with the MCAT topics. I started taking my premed classes last july and finished them in May (post-MCAT) so the material was VERY fresh. One good thing about taking it cold is that you get a good idea for where you are at. Many schools here in Texas take your last score or your best score (depends on the school)... so taking it cold doesn't have too many consequences besides the money. On the other hand, lots of prep takes time and commitment and some students/workers can't juggle all the extra commitment without failing in some aspect.

 

[frank51]

Many schools here in Texas take your last score or your best score (depends on the school)... so taking it cold doesn't have too many consequences besides the money..

Very true.

 

[R_C_Hutchinson]

I really dont care about who got what, I just wanted to hop in here with a quick aside:
I agree wholeheartedly with the guy who said that MCAT studying is an endeavor with rapidly diminishing returns. The real key to the MCAT is taking hard premed classes and challenging yourself as you learn this stuff the FIRST time you see it, not memorizing blocks of info and then forgetting them after exams. In your premed core, you are forming the framework for all subsequent knowledge you will encounter in science- this is why the MCAT provides questions that can't be memorized: to test how you assimilate and interpret knowledge, not how you memorize it. I do agree that a week of studying is probably not enough for most premeds, but these people talking about studying for the August MCAT for 3+ months are equally ridiculous. Really the only thing those kinds of approaces will help you with is the (very) odd non-passage question about something that's fairly obscure (on my exam the tyndall effect). If it will personally help you to boost your confidence to review a ridiculous amount, then go for it, but it is by no means necessary to do well on the MCAT.
I hope I didnt offend anyone, i know how hard this test (and especially this time right before scores come out) can be. Good luck to everyone who's counting down to Tuesday,
When in doubt just remember the fable of pinkertinkle...
R_C_

 

[Premedtomed]

I hope I didnt offend anyone, i know how hard this test (and especially this time right before scores come out) can be but it is by no means necessary to do well on the MCAT.

R_C_

Taking things out of context
J/k