The MCAT and Preparation

[futurepod2014]

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Alright I have a question about the MCAT for anyone who has taken it before or is currently preparing and planning to take it soon.

I bought the kaplan MCAT book this weekend and today I opened for the first time and I decided to take an entire practice test. I finished the whole test and I scored a 20.

7PS
7VR
6BS

I took this practice without any preparation at all, I had not even seen what the test would be like before. I wanted to see where I am at now before I begin studying. I plan on taking the MCAT in late august and I want to know if there is a good chance that I can improve my score by 5 points or more. I really want to get a 27 or higher. What do you guys think? On top of studying for the MCAT, I am going to be taking Organic Chem 2 starting tommorrow for a summer term because I have not taken it before.

Any input on my situation or personal stuff that you have learned from studying? What do you think is the most efficient way to go about studying? Did your scores change from before you started studying until you actually prepared, if you did something like I just did?

Thanks

 

[air bud]

look in the pre med forum. there is an entire sub forum dedicated to mcat prep


http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=31

 

[IDDr]

I suggest spending some money and buying some (more) MCAT review books. Check out Amazon, half.com etc... and you can find some reasonable used books freindly to your student budget! I chose Examkrackers because of their focus on practice tests/questions. I bought the entire Examkrackers set and tore it apart in 6 weeks (all the time I had to study) and scored (in my opinion) very well. I'm an Economics major and still felt very prepared with the manuals. The manuals work and are well worth the money.

I think the thing that helped me the most were practice tests. I bought every practice test I could find no matter how old just to practice the endurance necessary. Its a grueling test, any amount of review is useless if you're too wasted to think during Biological Sciences. I got in the habit of every sunday spending the day taking a practice test just like it was test day, including breaks, THE ESSAYS!!!, no food/water except for the breaks etc... This was priceless in my opinion...

And of course don't over look verbal like too many choose to. 10's on PS and BS don't look all that impressive and wellrounded next to a 5 or 6 VR (once again my opinion).

Good luck! Especially with O-Chem 2!

 

[air bud]

the good news is that the organic section has decreased the last few years. On mine there were only 2 sections that were organic. The BS section is probably 25/75 organic, 33.3 tops. I too took the Augsut MCAT (22nd) and orgo 2 during the summer and was actually glad I did both concurrently. Hopefully you don't have any other responsibilities and you can focus on these two. good luck.

 

[apsprepod]

if u study the right materials... i took the MCAT kaplan course and did "ok" studying and got a 24... could have done better.... that is why i am cracking down and really killing myself with prep until august 14th when i take it again. I recommend practice practice practice... practice makes perfect 🙂 My goal is a 27 as well 🙂

 

[futurepod2014]

Thanks for the input, I have alot of studying to do and its almost July...

I am kind of second guessing taking the second organic chemistry this summer. I am in class and lab for almost 30 hours a week, plus I have to study for quizzes and tests and to the pre/post lab work. It will end up taking me 40 maybe 50+ hours per week. I would rather focus on the MCAT since I only have about 7-8 weeks to study. I'm just not sure if that would fly with some of the schools.

What do you think about applying to podiatry schools without the second organic chemistry and taking it next spring instead? Would they look down upon that? I dunno what to do at this point besides have no life if I'm going to stick out the class and study for the MCAT, and work my part time 10 hours a week job.

 

[futurepod2014]

Uh oh. Organic Chemistry II in the Summer? This might be slightly dangerous, but I guess it's a little late to change that. Looks like you roughly have two months for studying. I recommend checking out this link here on SDN and see if you can modify it to fit your needs:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=623898
I believe two months of hardcore studying will get you a minimum 27. If this is really what you want, you will make it happen. Start studying! I wish I could go back and follow a more rigorous study schedule. These two months will be one of the most important events in your life. Treat it that way. Good luck. By the way, try not to spend hours on SDN each day-for now anyway.😀

I was wondering why you thought that organic in the summer is dangerous? I just finished the first organic chem last week (its at a community college) , I did it in 5 weeks after never taking it before and I got a pretty high B, almost had an A if I didn't blow the final. Is there something I don't know about doing this? Would schools not look highly on this if I took it in the summer right before applying? Or are you saying to watch out because its hard?

 

[futurepod2014]

Thanks for responding,

So does anyone think I should wait to take organic chemistry 2 until my senior year in the spring to focus on the mcat for the next two months? (I cant drop within the first week which ends thursday lol) Or do you think I would be better off sticking with it this summer and cramming for the mcat during the class and then really intense for about 3-4 weeks?

I am just unsure because I want to have all my preq's done when I apply, but the mcat may be of greater importance. I have a 3.45 overall but only a 3.0 in science gpa. I feel that I may need all the time I can get for the mcat, what do you all think?