worst MCAT ideas

[murphomatic]

I thought I would start a thread where those of us who have taken the test could give some eg's of what study tecniques we think are nonsense

Doing the passages out of order.

You are under such a time crunch anyway, why waste valuble time searching for easy passages. It is insane. The best way to get a better score is to finish every section, and if you are finishing every section you might as well do it in order.

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[RayhanS1282]

I thought I would start a thread where those of us who have taken the test could give some eg's of what study tecniques we think are nonsense

Doing the passages out of order.

You are under such a time crunch anyway, why waste valuble time searching for easy passages. It is insane. The best way to get a better score is to finish every section, and if you are finishing every section you might as well do it in order.

That's actually a pretty good idea, especially for Verbal. There is always one or two of those won't touch it with a 10 foot pole passages and I usually reserve them for last. But doing passages out of order also helps because one or two passages have around 10 questions attached to them and you should tackle those first since you have a chance of garnering the most points. Seriously that takes about 20-30 seconds which is much better than reading an entire passage and realizing you have no clue what they are talking about and re-reading it.

 

[Kussemek]

the out of order technique is complete garbage.

 

[RayhanS1282]

the out of order technique is complete garbage.

ooookay, guess you didn't like the out of order technique.

 

[ChuckRock]

I personally can't stand the "read only the first sentence from each paragraph" technique. I refer back to the passage so much to look for answers I wind up reading the whole thing anyway. It seems like such a waste of time constantly trying to search for the paragraph a particular answer is in. Just read the whole thing and be able to answer the questions right after reaching them!

 

[freesolo]

i bet the read the passages in order answer questions in order works the best in verbal. But thats too simple to sell so... make something up.

 

[Avalanche21]

I agree that it helps for verbal. My form had 10 questions on the last passage, so if you only left time for 6 or 7, you might have been screwed...

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Do no eat any kind of meat product or anything that is full of fat during lunch the day of the test. When you come back, the only thing you will want to do is go to sleep. Eat carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables.

Do not load up on caffeine either. I once took a final during college after I had a double espresso. I DO NOT suggest this. You will not be able to sit still.

Don't listen to the radio the morning before the test. What is worse than taking the verbal and getting a damn song stuck in your head.

Do not go into the MCAT cold. Read a newspaper or magazine while eating breakfast to warm up your brain.

If you cannot sleep the night before, DO NOT take sleeping pills. You will be too drowsy to get up on time.

Set your things out the night before. What you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, your pencils, registration card, ID, etc. Do not get worked up looking for things before the test you are nervous enough.

Do not study the day before. Rest.


While I am taking the test this August, I took it way back when. Psyche everyone else out with your coolness

Be the Fonz.

 

[Kussemek]

they way i do it is i go in order and if i notice that i dont get the point of a paragrah, i skip it. there are usually two that i skip and go to at the end. i spend to much time debating with myself if a passage is a now/later/never.

 

[slmsmith]

I thought I would start a thread where those of us who have taken the test could give some eg's of what study tecniques we think are nonsense

Doing the passages out of order.

You are under such a time crunch anyway, why waste valuble time searching for easy passages. It is insane. The best way to get a better score is to finish every section, and if you are finishing every section you might as well do it in order.

i agree. and doing the discretes first (though i know it works for others) really messed me up too because i am unable to keep track of the bubbles.

 

[angietron3000]

I thought I would start a thread where those of us who have taken the test could give some eg's of what study tecniques we think are nonsense

Doing the passages out of order.

You are under such a time crunch anyway, why waste valuble time searching for easy passages. It is insane. The best way to get a better score is to finish every section, and if you are finishing every section you might as well do it in order.

I disagree. When I get a mental block with a passage and can't make sense of the first few sentances, I'll move on to the next passage and come back later. I only did this once on the real thing and still finished with 5 min to spare.

The technique that worked best for me tho was taking a 5 sec mental break before starting each passage. Close your eyes and take a deep breath,then you're ready to hit the next one full speed.

 

[medicomel]

during my kaplan full-lengths, i skipped around in the VR section because some passages were less boring than others. for some reason, the actual MCAT had more interesting ones, so i just went in order.

as for the science sections, i always did the 15 discretes first for both kaplan and the actual exam, and quickly skipped around to do the ones i could handle. you have to get used to this practice, because the chance for misbubbling could occur.

 

[MochaMD]

I thought I would start a thread where those of us who have taken the test could give some eg's of what study tecniques we think are nonsense

Doing the passages out of order.

You are under such a time crunch anyway, why waste valuble time searching for easy passages. It is insane. The best way to get a better score is to finish every section, and if you are finishing every section you might as well do it in order.

So true. It's such a waste of time looking for easy passages.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

ooookay, guess you didn't like the out of order technique.

actually i can see it being helpful for someone who panics. Until you find a passage you can answer well you'll be totally freaked out which will result in poorer performance.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I disagree. When I get a mental block with a passage and can't make sense of the first few sentances, I'll move on to the next passage and come back later. I only did this once on the real thing and still finished with 5 min to spare.

The technique that worked best for me tho was taking a 5 sec mental break before starting each passage. Close your eyes and take a deep breath,then you're ready to hit the next one full speed.

right, i agree

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Do no eat any kind of meat product or anything that is full of fat during lunch the day of the test. When you come back, the only thing you will want to do is go to sleep. Eat carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables.

Do not load up on caffeine either. I once took a final during college after I had a double espresso. I DO NOT suggest this. You will not be able to sit still.

Don't listen to the radio the morning before the test. What is worse than taking the verbal and getting a damn song stuck in your head.

Do not go into the MCAT cold. Read a newspaper or magazine while eating breakfast to warm up your brain.

If you cannot sleep the night before, DO NOT take sleeping pills. You will be too drowsy to get up on time.

Set your things out the night before. What you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, your pencils, registration card, ID, etc. Do not get worked up looking for things before the test you are nervous enough.

Do not study the day before. Rest.


While I am taking the test this August, I took it way back when. Psyche everyone else out with your coolness

Be the Fonz.

really great advice!

 

[prettygirl1908]

I hated how for the verbal section Kaplan suggested writing a brief synopsis of each paragraph in the margins. What a waste of time!

 

[jeffsleepy]

Do no eat any kind of meat product or anything that is full of fat during lunch the day of the test. When you come back, the only thing you will want to do is go to sleep. Eat carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables.

Do not load up on caffeine either. I once took a final during college after I had a double espresso. I DO NOT suggest this. You will not be able to sit still.

Don't listen to the radio the morning before the test. What is worse than taking the verbal and getting a damn song stuck in your head.

Do not go into the MCAT cold. Read a newspaper or magazine while eating breakfast to warm up your brain.

If you cannot sleep the night before, DO NOT take sleeping pills. You will be too drowsy to get up on time.

Set your things out the night before. What you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, your pencils, registration card, ID, etc. Do not get worked up looking for things before the test you are nervous enough.

Do not study the day before. Rest.


While I am taking the test this August, I took it way back when. Psyche everyone else out with your coolness

Be the Fonz.

I just realized I broke every single one of those.

 

[Thundrstorm]

Do not study your flash cards at every break and during lunch. I saw several people doing this, and was thinking that it prob just made them more anxious. I read a book during lunch, which kept my brain going, but also relaxed me.

Don't sike yourself out As a retaker, I had to struggle with intense feelings of anxiety, but I know that my calmness and my internal pep talks to myself made a huge difference.

Don't be careless about what you eat, adn don't drink so much that you're constatnly running to the bathroom.

Don't neglect sleep the night before.

Don't go to bed w/o pacing your bag and setting atleast 2 alarms. You don't want to feel rushed. I go up early enough to walk to the test center to wake myself up and get rid of excess nervous energy.

Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. You could FEEL the tension and anxiety at my test center. I just kept my headphones on until it was time to start, and tried to remain calm.