Why can't I break above a 505

[DO_or_Die]

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I'm a non-trad RN, with a 3.8GPA. I feel like I am pretty intelligent and have done well in all of the post bacc courses. I feel like I understand the material, but my first AAMC fl1 was a 499 and aamc fl2 was a 503. My highest on all FL's both AAMC and NS are 503. The only thing that saved me on aamc 2 was a 128 in cars, otherwise I would be again sub 500. My test is in 2 weeks.

Seeing all of these 520+'s is ~slightly discouraging lol. Any last minute advice? I just want to be a physician, whether MD or DO.

 

[Gurby]

What practice questions have you been using / how many have you done and with what success? How did you do on the AAMC Qpacks and Section Bank?

What did you use for content review?

 

[DO_or_Die]

What practice questions have you been using, what did you use for content review?

TPR among all subjects for about ~1.5 months and have been using uworld and KA the last 1.5. I would still say I am not very strong in chem, but not entirely deficient. My average for uworld is 65%, section banks and qpacks range from 50-65% for all subjects.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

I know how discouraging it is when you're putting in a lot of hard work and effort and still not reaching your desired goal. I want to commend you on firstly putting in the effort that's required to do well on this exam. Can I ask what your goal score is? If you are fairly far off from your goal score and have only two weeks left until the exam, you might want to think about possibly moving your exam back so that you have more time to study. I believe at this stage, you may not get a refund for rescheduling, so if you choose to do so, go and sit for your exam and use it for practice and then void the score.

@MCATKINGS has laid out some really great advice as well and I agree with them! The MCAT is a difficult exam, because it requires two difficult to acquire skills: 1) a vast knowledge of scientific facts and 2) critical thinking skills to analyze a passage and derive information to answer questions. As you review the questions you are doing, you need to look into whether your mistakes are coming from a lack of knowledge over a topic or because you didn't understand how to analyze the passage. It's also possible on different passages to have both issues as well. After you recognize what your issue is, you need to use the review process to remediate these issues to make sure they are improved upon for when you do your next set of questions or another practice exam.

So, if you find with a set of questions that your knowledge was lacking, go back and thoroughly review that topic from a prep book or from a resource such as Khan Academy. Make sure to take notes and make time in your schedule to periodically review these notes. Then, do some discrete questions over this topic to reinforce that knowledge. Lastly, do a practice passage regarding that topic to ensure that you can now apply the knowledge to passage-based material.

If you recognized that your issue was more with passage analysis, then look back to see what connections you were missing in the passage that you needed to have recognized in order to answer the questions. I believe the more that you actively search for these passage-based connections, the more you're likely to understand how to find them on your own in the future. The logic of AAMC and other practice material becomes easier to follow the more thoroughly you review the practice material you are doing.

I wish you the best of luck in the future and if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out!

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

After having been a long-time paramedic, I struggled to really breach that 500 level. I think there is something about having previous medical experience which causes us to overthink and waste time. This (of course) leads to being rushed and making poor guesses.

I had to SHUT DOWN the paramedic side of my brain for the MCAT. Remember, it is designed so that a person does not need any clinical experience to get a decent score.

If you find yourself reading into the questions using your RN knowledge, force yourself to stop and come back to where your pre-req knowledge kicks in. It sounds kinda dumb (okay, a LOT dumb LOL), but it helped me quite a bit. Maybe it will work for you.

Good luck