* The Official August 11th - 2017 MCAT Thread *

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NabobSamurai

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Hello, people! Thought I'd start this thread since I haven't seen one yet for this date. I am still trying to find a good 6/7 month study schedule! Hit me up, yo. Right now I am doing an online TPR course. I was thinking of going through that first, then hitting Khan Academy and EK. Let me know what y'all be doing!

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The key to doing well on the MCAT is to do as many science problems (passage or stand alone) possible within a 3-5 month period. Use TPR, EK, or Khan as one of your primary resources to learn the content. But don't waste your time going over the same content in all three resources. Use the other two only as supplement for when you get questions wrong.

You should instead do is as many problems you can in one day - with a good review of each problem. If you are weak on a topic, then go and study it in the other two resources or seek a tutor. Usually the solutions to the problem will give you all the information you need to learn it.

The key here is to constantly test yourself - even if you are not 100% solid on every topic. There are educational research studies done on how testing yourself is the best way to learn.

A lot of students retake the exam simply because they did not do enough problems or practice their first time around. Don't save exams or problems till the last month. Finish all the AAMC question packs and exams a month or more before your exam date. I know that sounds crazy but you have to remember that this is not your average university exam where you can simply do all the old exams the professor gave the class or you found the last couple of days. You have to learn from your mistakes and change bad habits. This takes weeks if not months to do properly.

You are essentially taking 5-6 finals at once. Preparing should be a marathon, not a sprint.
 
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The key to doing well on the MCAT is to do as many science problems (passage or stand alone) possible within a 3-5 month period. Use TPR, EK, or Khan as one of your primary resources to learn the content. But don't waste your time going over the same content in all three resources. Use the other two only as supplement for when you get questions wrong.

You should instead do is as many problems you can in one day - with a good review of each problem. If you are weak on a topic, then go and study it in the other two resources or seek a tutor. Usually the solutions to the problem will give you all the information you need to learn it.

The key here is to constantly test yourself - even if you are not 100% solid on every topic. There are educational research studies done on how testing yourself is the best way to learn.

A lot of students retake the exam simply because they did not do enough problems or practice their first time around. Don't save exams or problems till the last month. Finish all the AAMC question packs and exams a month or more before your exam date. I know that sounds crazy but you have to remember that this is not your average university exam where you can simply do all the old exams the professor gave the class or you found the last couple of days. You have to learn from your mistakes and change bad habits. This takes weeks if not months to do properly.

You are essentially taking 5-6 finals at once. Preparing should be a marathon, not a sprint.

Thank you, Jack! That's very helpful. I definitely don't plan on doing content review from all three of the sources. You are the first person to recommend finishing up AAMC material that much earlier before the exam, but I do see the wisdom behind it. Do you have any recommendations on how to best improve scores on passages? Right now I am keeping a detailed record of what I got wrong and classifying into categories what went wrong, so I can identify patterns. But what I can't seem to figure out is how to implement this knowledge into a better approach as I am doing passages. Again, thanks for the advice!

And in news relevant to the thread, I am officially registered! (Cue second thoughts and freak-out mode.)
 
@NabobSamurai the best way to improve scores on passages is not simply to do a lot of passages, but to also review them thoroughly and to attack anything you feel weak on. This takes a lot of time and effort. Read through the solutions and make sure you understand the foundation/principle upon which you are being tested. If you have any doubt on that principle, read about it in EK/ watch a khan video, etc. But don't neglect doing even more questions on that very foundation/principle. Keep attacking what you are weak on and you will make it your strength.

Be focused and patient. Don't rush through a ton of questions only to do them. Go at a pace that works for you. Students have this misperception that they need to do a lot of questions. They absolutely do. But they need to do a lot the right way. I prefer that you did only a few questions the right way (which includes a thorough review) than a lot of questions the wrong way (simply looking at the right answer and moving on -without a thorough review).
 
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Registered for August 11th exam as well
Starting content review on Monday hoping to start doing practice outside of the one in the chapters on June 11
 
Checking in, going to register officially this weekend, and good luck to everyone studying! I'm on a 2.5 month study plan, so we'll see how this goes ...
 
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Hey,
I'm also registered for August 11. Though I started studying in May, got the Kaplan books and using KA, it has been going very slowly. I think I'm reading too much about each topic before attempting the problems. I am therefore happy to see the advice that Jack Westin has given earlier in this thread, about doing more passages earlier on and analyzing the result. I will try that beginning tomorrow!
Thanks!
Good luck to all...
 
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Hey,
I'm also registered for August 11. Though I started studying in May, got the Kaplan books and using KA, it has been going very slowly. I think I'm reading too much about each topic before attempting the problems. I am therefore happy to see the advice that Jack Westin has given earlier in this thread, about doing more passages earlier on and analyzing the result. I will try that beginning tomorrow!
Thanks!
Good luck to all...

I've started tackling more questions and passages even though I'm not completely finished with content review. I think that's good advice to start doing passages and full lengths sooner. Being able to have endurance during the exam to chug through will definitely help out in the end. I'm using Kaplan, KA, and other random test materials, but I think I'm going to buy the AAMC official online material so I can have their full lengths and Q-Banks.
 
I've started tackling more questions and passages even though I'm not completely finished with content review. I think that's good advice to start doing passages and full lengths sooner. Being able to have endurance during the exam to chug through will definitely help out in the end. I'm using Kaplan, KA, and other random test materials, but I think I'm going to buy the AAMC official online material so I can have their full lengths and Q-Banks.
Are you buying the whole package or just the Qbanks and tests I'm still undecided
 
Are you buying the whole package or just the Qbanks and tests I'm still undecided
I think I might buy the whole $204 online package just to have extra material. I mean it's an extra few dollars and it's made by the actual testing company. In the grand scheme of things it's a drop in the bucket.
 
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I think I might buy the whole $204 online package just to have extra material. I mean it's an extra few dollars and it's made by the actual testing company. In the grand scheme of things it's a drop in the bucket.
Just to give an update, I got the full AAMC online pack, definitely worth it! Practice exams and Q-banks each have their own separate uses, and the questions are written better than Kaplan questions (which tend to have confusing language in my experience). For $200, a no brainer....
 
Sooooo,
How is everyone feeling? I hope Ok, although I for one could have probably done a bit better if I could have only calmed down during phys/chem.....
 
Felt alright. Went for a run at 6 AM. I was literally stumbling around for the first half-mile as if drunk, but by the end I was clear-headed and sharp and I think that really helped.

I hate running but I might do this. I was wondering how I should "warm up" on exam day so I'm not foggy headed so early in the morning but don't want to consume copious amounts of caffeine (as it is a diuretic). Some people I heard did warm up passages to get their head in MCAT mode. Did you do anything like that in addition to running?
 
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