Yeah me too. My average for VR on the practice tests was around a 9 or 10, and I thought that this section wasn't all that bad. WTF?!?!?
To all those retaking or have retook, how long did you wait to retake? I really want to sit for the August/Sept one now and get a better score to put out there. I know I can. I did not feel prepared to take it, but I did anyway. (Stupid I know.) I know I can buckle down and get a 30+.
Any advice on retaking?
I took the test for the first time on September 7th and then retook it on May 23rd. I took a total premed/mcat/science break for awhile - I basically did not think about it at all until December when I signed up for an April sitting. I thought if I started studying in January I'd be ready for an April test. However, January was the start of my last quarter and I was overloading units. At the same time my financial situation changed drastically and I had to work 30 hours a week. I was basically sick and injured (I was a college athlete) for the entire quarter and got NO (mcat) studying done. I finished school at the end of March and realized I would not be ready for the test, so I switched it to the 5/23 date.
Once I finally moved into my new place and settled (which took awhile) I went back to studying in all my spare time before and after work. I went about it TOTALLY differently the second time.
When I was studying for the Sept. test, I took a Kaplan class and made sure to read all of the review books and do all theq uestions at the end. I also took 1-2 full lengths a week under simulated conditions. Then I would go and do some of the online stuff - like the quizzes and things, also from Kaplan. I was totally high anxiety about it, didn't go out b/c I didn't want to be tired for studying the next day, and centered my days around it.
Second time around I was going out 1-2x/week, working full time (and sometiems overtime) and only studied a little bit each day. However, I focused mainly on the PS since that gave me the most trouble before. I made sure that I understood the concepts on a broader level before trying to memorize every equation. It hink that was key for me because it gave me the ability to reason through things. Also, I just was not as stressed about it.
The first time I took the test I felt like crying during it (and after). I literally could not speak full sentences for like 3 hours after since I was so exhausted. The 2nd time..well this is nerdy, but I kind of enjoyed taking it. Ih ad fun and walked out oddly elated and euphoric. As time passed I felt less confident about it the more I thought about it, but the contrast in my attitude before the 1st and 2nd times I think was huge.
So basically for me I would say the 2 most important things in the retake success (I went from 8 9 10 to 11 10 10) were focusing on broad topic understanding and just staying CALM. I was seriously ready to do well in Sept (my practice scores in the weeks before the test were 30-32) but I totally freaked myself out. I was maybe less prepared the second time but I was wayyyyyy more confident and relaxed.
Sorry I just gave you my life story by the way.