Hello everyone, I'm taking my MCAT soon and writing essays is not one of my favorite skills. Can you guys give me some suggestions or strategies on how to tackle this section. Thank you.
Writing section on the MCAT
- Thread starter gucci2513
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write like crazy. Read like crazy. Live hard. Die harder.
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practice writing under timed conditions. have a few current & historical events that can be applied to a broad range of writing prompts.
My suggestion is to take a look at the beginnings of the sample essays with top scores in the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT Exam.
My score last year was a Q, which I was not very happy with considering I come from a writing intensive background.
In my retest review, I spent a lot of time looking at the sample essays in the above book, making careful note of the stylistic techniques used in a good opening.
DO NOT open with "The statement means..." Instead, bust out with a famous quote, marginally related example, etc.
I did this the second time around. Although my organization and ability to stay on task with my retest on the writing was far worse, I hit an S.
This leads me to believe that they are reading these essays so fast that the grader is forming his/her opinion in the first one or two lines.
Work on a stylized opening and I bet you will be very happy with your results.
My score last year was a Q, which I was not very happy with considering I come from a writing intensive background.
In my retest review, I spent a lot of time looking at the sample essays in the above book, making careful note of the stylistic techniques used in a good opening.
DO NOT open with "The statement means..." Instead, bust out with a famous quote, marginally related example, etc.
I did this the second time around. Although my organization and ability to stay on task with my retest on the writing was far worse, I hit an S.
This leads me to believe that they are reading these essays so fast that the grader is forming his/her opinion in the first one or two lines.
Work on a stylized opening and I bet you will be very happy with your results.
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I just made stuff up. Then turned it into a logic argument. I'm not sure how it will work though. My score isn't out for another ~28 days...
