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The Official May 8, 2014 MCAT thread
Started by southpawcannon
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Hello,
First of all congratulations on a great score! I was wondering, how did you work on verbal? Given you had a three point increase, i would love to know how long it took you and how you managed to achieve such a feat.
Thanks in advance!
The first time I studied for the exam, I used examkrackers (the VR study book as well as the 101 passages). I used their strategies, but even on my highest AAMC practice test I only got an 8. I went into the test hoping for a miracle. For my second time studying, I used the Kaplan VR book and continued to use the 101 passages to practice (I had about half of them left). I found the Kaplan book to be VERY helpful, much more so than examkrackers. Especially the way they teach the "wrong answer pathology" and how to recognize the distractors, I think their strategies just sort of clicked for me and verbal finally made sense. When I was trying to use examkracker's strategies, it always felt very forced... "just do what we say, and you'll do well..." sort of thing.... and it just didn't work for me. I did take the Kaplan prep-course the second time, but if verbal is the only section you're trying to improve, I would say don't waste your money. DEFINITELY get the Kaplan VR book and 101 passages from examkrackers for practice, but the class portion for verbal was not necessarily useful.
I NEVER thought in a million years that I was going to be able to break a 10 on the exam until I started studying the Kaplan book. I was definitely one of those people who was just "not good at verbal", and was forced to accept that. So if you're struggling in that section, don't be discouraged because YOU CAN IMPROVE (I was actually averaging an 11 on AAMC toward the end - from a 7-8 avg the first round) --- I studied for three months, but I was studying all subject matter, so if you were to just study verbal, I imagine it would take about 4-6 weeks to get to this point.
I guess my main advice (for what that's worth) is to read the entire Kaplan VR book, and then do every test in the 101 book under simulated test conditions. If you're like me, by the end, timing should no longer be an issue and something should just click and verbal will start to make sense if their methods are working for you.... Hope this helps, and I wish you the very best of luck!! 🙂
What physics prep did you use when you did your retake? Thanks!! 🙂
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Examkrackers the first time, Kaplan the second. Physics is NOT my thing, and I didn't take the time to learn it in undergrad so for me Kaplan was better because it was a lot more detailed... But if you have an okay foundation in physics already, examkrackers I thought was more concise and better organized.
Just wanted to say I hope all is well with everyone, whether you are applying this cycle, holding on to a satisfactory score and applying next cycle, or preparing to take the test again! I am giving it another shot next week on July 24th. Best of luck to everybody 🙂
I am applying this cycle, even though my score was below my average. I am region locked in SoCal, so I am applying to 6 schools. Hoping for that acceptance!
Best of luck everyone.
Some schools have linkages with official post-bacc programs. If you score well and do well you can apply to the school before MCAT, if accepted, you have to get a score of X for your acceptance to be valid.
They mean that everyone in this thread has already taken the MCAT thus won't likely need a study partner
you guys will go down in my medical career as the heroes who battled this beast with me. I hope those who are applying this cycle have been successful, and those gearing up for future cycles are well on their way!
05/08/14 Never forget: assume g=10 m/s^2
05/08/14 Never forget: assume g=10 m/s^2
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