The right direction... and careless mistakes

[peterockduke]

So I've taken AAMC tests III,IV, and V... , VI is ready for Monday.
My breakdowns were:
III 11v/9p/9b
IV 10v/11-12/9-10 (we'll go w/ a 31 if there was a gun to my head)
V 10v/10/12


I see repeats about all over the test whether it be bio and acetylcholine or physics and it's fettish for radioactive decay and specific gravity. My scores have sneaked up b/c of this... but what I'm really worried about is the number really stupid mistakes I make (as high as 6-7 in one section). I actually feel that I could get 11v/12/12's if all went well, but I am having a lot of trouble concentrating... Case in point.... on the 5r... I got a PHASE DIAGRAM question WRONG... my roommate, the econ major who had chemistry in HS 9 years ago knew the right answer. I don't even have predictive skills on this bitch of a test... I thought the bio on the 5R was gonna come back as a 9 and instead I get a 12. Is anyone else having this problem... or figuring out how to remedy it?



I need a bigger score than most, just about everyone that is "premed" at my undergrad who scores a 31 MCAT gets into at least ONE school.

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[lotanna]

Originally posted by peterockduke
So I've taken AAMC tests III,IV, and V... , VI is ready for Monday.
My breakdowns were:
III 11v/9p/9b
IV 10v/11-12/9-10 (we'll go w/ a 31 if there was a gun to my head)
V 10v/10/12


I see repeats about all over the test whether it be bio and acetylcholine or physics and it's fettish for radioactive decay and specific gravity. My scores have sneaked up b/c of this... but what I'm really worried about is the number really stupid mistakes I make (as high as 6-7 in one section). I actually feel that I could get 11v/12/12's if all went well, but I am having a lot of trouble concentrating... Case in point.... on the 5r... I got a PHASE DIAGRAM question WRONG... my roommate, the econ major who had chemistry in HS 9 years ago knew the right answer. I don't even have predictive skills on this bitch of a test... I thought the bio on the 5R was gonna come back as a 9 and instead I get a 12. Is anyone else having this problem... or figuring out how to remedy it?



I need a bigger score than most, just about everyone that is "premed" at my undergrad who scores a 31 MCAT gets into at least ONE school.

I totally understand, I got 1 wrong and i was like Phase diagram thats supposed to be a giveaway.
Can u pls share what repeats you are seeing, I'd love to get a 12 on BS. Please please

 

[mosfet]

I thought I really messed up the BS section on aamc V but when I got my score back, I ended up with a 12. I couldn't believe I missed only 12 questions and most of them from that "cell division cycle of some protozoan" passage. And on the PS, there is always only 2 questions at the most where I don't have a clue at all how to approach it. But then add to that, at least 10 silly mistakes that I make that's bringing my score down to a 11. If I can fix those somehow I should get a comfortable 13. For the VR, I am just hoping I will get a 10 on the real deal by some miracle 'cause I suck at that section.

Lotanna,
Most of the repeats I noticed on BS was about neurotransmiters, pre and post synapse stuff. You should know that stuff so well that you should be drawing a mental picture in your head as you are reading the passage (for example, how the acetylcholine is moving, its destination, what happens afterwards and things like that). That really helps me and I am sure a lot of people do that too. Also know your genetics inside out. You can score some easy points on the pedigree charts. Also memorize what happens in Mitosis and meiosis. For me, the organic section just comes intuituvely so I don't know if I can help you there. I am hoping to get a lot of organic on my mcat form.

Good luck

 

[lotanna]

Originally posted by mosfet
I thought I really messed up the BS section on aamc V but when I got my score back, I ended up with a 12. I couldn't believe I missed only 12 questions and most of them from that "cell division cycle of some protozoan" passage. And on the PS, there is always only 2 questions at the most where I don't have a clue at all how to approach it. But then add to that, at least 10 silly mistakes that I make that's bringing my score down to a 11. If I can fix those somehow I should get a comfortable 13. For the VR, I am just hoping I will get a 10 on the real deal by some miracle 'cause I suck at that section.

Lotanna,
Most of the repeats I noticed on BS was about neurotransmiters, pre and post synapse stuff. You should know that stuff so well that you should be drawing a mental picture in your head as you are reading the passage (for example, how the acetylcholine is moving, its destination, what happens afterwards and things like that). That really helps me and I am sure a lot of people do that too. Also know your genetics inside out. You can score some easy points on the pedigree charts. Also memorize what happens in Mitosis and meiosis. For me, the organic section just comes intuituvely so I don't know if I can help you there. I am hoping to get a lot of organic on my mcat form.

Good luck

thanks so much
Orgo is my downfall, i hope mine isnt more than 26 questions.
Most of my bio misses are because i'm not paying much attention to the passage. So i end up in the 8-10 range. Which is sad cause my verbal is 11-12

 

[mosfet]

Lotanna
How much time do you spend reading each passage and answering its questions? Also, do you often refer back to the passage to answer the questions?

thanks

 

[lotanna]

Originally posted by mosfet
Lotanna
How much time do you spend reading each passage and answering its questions? Also, do you often refer back to the passage to answer the questions?

thanks

I spend about 3 mins reading the passage. I use the Examkrackers method. I come up with main idea in my head right after reading, then proceed to answer the questions. On the hard passages, i spend about 6-7mins on the questions, the easier ones like 3mins, so I usually finish with like 3mins left at the end.
I dont refer back to the passage much, I pretty much stick to the main idea, and if the answer choice doesnt match up with the main idea, I cross it off.