your secret recipe for - Retake

[jaiku]

So I took the Sep 10th MCAT and scored a 7 in verbal. Which to be quite honest I was expecting becus I did not study much for it (Big mistake) . But what worries me is that I scored 9 in PS and 10 in BS. ....& that really puzzles me. Honestly I studied atleast 5 Months solid for MCAT (basically sciences)Did most of the TBR/TPR /Kaplan Practice/ passages(timed) / logging mistakes /post game analysis...and never scored higher than 11 in any of the 14 FL'S I took.... I was consistently 10/11 in sciences...almost 50 days prior to exam...but then It just stayed there!

Now If you are beginning to think I might be dumb/or just cram ...then I will only say that I have overall GPA 4 and I usually study conceptually. I really dont know what to do differently with sciences this time around ....Any insight will be appreciated.

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[AG22]

Oh gosh, the MCAT is such a beast of a test! I can sympathise with your situation, because I was in the same boat. My practice scores were good, my actual first score was bad

For my second time around, I would do verbal practicing by reading everything I could get my hands on! No matter how boring. A word of caution though: this practice didn't reflect well on my VR practice scores the second time around. I was doing better VR wise on my first set of tests...odd! But, it did help me on the real deal. The VR passages are also insanely long these days, so make sure you read through everything once, and then never go back! On my test, I must've spent soo much time going back and forth on passage number 2 (def killer passage) that for all the other psgs, I couldn't afford to go back all that much.

VR though, is just an art. And you've got to hope for the best.

As for the sciences, I had used solely TPR before, the second time, I used EK for everthing, and Nova for physics. I also used Ek 1001 for physics. Which was my weakest subject. I also supplemented EKs with Kaplan's questions i.e. subject tests and sectional tests etc. And I did a few Kaplan FLs (old school).

I think what really does it, is having confidence. Reviewing things a second time makes it easier, and you just have to be focused. You cannot let external circumstances determine your performance. Be intrinsically motivated, learn because you want to learn! Study because you CAN! (not because you "have to"). And do your best, and leave it in the hands of god. You've done your part, and He/She/It will do the rest.

I hope this helped.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

So I took the Sep 10th MCAT and scored a 7 in verbal. Which to be quite honest I was expecting becus I did not study much for it (Big mistake) . But what worries me is that I scored 9 in PS and 10 in BS. ....& that really puzzles me. Honestly I studied atleast 5 Months solid for MCAT (basically sciences)Did most of the TBR/TPR /Kaplan Practice/ passages(timed) / logging mistakes /post game analysis...and never scored higher than 11 in any of the 14 FL'S I took.... I was consistently 10/11 in sciences...almost 50 days prior to exam...but then It just stayed there!

Now If you are beginning to think I might be dumb/or just cram ...then I will only say that I have overall GPA 4 and I usually study conceptually. I really dont know what to do differently with sciences this time around ....Any insight will be appreciated.

why is it puzzling?

 

[Compass]

+/- 1 point is to be expected when taking the test compared to your scores.

 

[rama kandra]

Your PS/BS scores were in line with your practice tests. Also if you studied for 5 months on science, you could retake the MCAT with less time since you would be re-reviewing that content. I think just going through something like the hyperlearning book full of passages may be useful.

On the end, a 10 on each section is a pretty good average goal and you are almost there... just verbal, but I have no advice for that section, its tough.

 

[jaiku]

why is it puzzling?

well actually ...what I really mean by puzzling is that I never scored more than 11 even on any practice test & WHY ? becus I did most of the practice passages available in mcat world...thoroughly

...I understand 9/10 are pretty much in line with my practice scores of 10/11 but I got stuck at 10 /11 almost 50 days( then I never thought I will not be able to break 11 in next 50 days ) before mcat and no matter how hard I tried it just did not move.

 

[jaiku]

thnx AG22 & Rama for insight .....I will get my hands on EK books too !

 

[RogueUnicorn]

well actually ...what I really mean by puzzling is that I never scored more than 11 even on any practice test & WHY ? becus I did most of the practice passages available in mcat world...thoroughly

...I understand 9/10 are pretty much in line with my practice scores of 10/11 but I got stuck at 10 /11 almost 50 days( then I never thought I will not be able to break 11 in next 50 days ) before mcat and no matter how hard I tried it just did not move.

i think your VR is indicative as to why - the MCAT is a reading/reasoning test as much as it is a science test. without the ability to critically and quickly navigate passages, your science scores are bound to be lower regardless of your scientific knowledge. at this point i would guess that's what's holding you back.

 

[J ROD]

Practice more at testtaking.....under time constraints...using reasoning more than knowledge.

 

[ezsanche]

i think your VR is indicative as to why - the MCAT is a reading/reasoning test as much as it is a science test. without the ability to critically and quickly navigate passages, your science scores are bound to be lower regardless of your scientific knowledge. at this point i would guess that's what's holding you back.

100% agree. I was able to improve my scores solely by working on these areas.

 

[jaiku]

I think you guys are right...Verbal/reading skills have lot to do ...becus there's nothing else really that I can think of either. I used to complete sections just on time at AAMC practice /hardly before time except in BS...& therefore end up doing a good no of them in kind of haste .

I do not think I spend a lot of time on useless details but I do think it takes me longer to digest/dissect/comprehend the imp info out of passages...hence I am beginning to think its timing / and my speed of comprehension/analysis.

I am going to focus on verbal ...and hope that my improved timing and reasoning skills help me in sciences too...open to more suggestions ....