Taking August 20th MCAT...Last minute study/prep advice

by **jsheikh786** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:58 am

Hey everyone. I know people post hundreds of threads of advice for their last minute cramming. But i thought id get a fresh collectlive perspective on things by creating my own new thread. I take the MCAT August 20th, and i am really worried because i know im not as prepared as i should be. Any last minute tips, advice, habits, schedules or anything anyone did which they felt was most beneficial in this time away from the MCAT?

ANY suggestions are helpful. Thanks

by **desijigga** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:47 am

How have you been doing on practice tests? you still have plenty of time to take as many practice exams as possible. Then review the q's to understand why you got it right or wrong.

Mine is on August 14, so all I have been doing is Kaplan and AAMC practice exams.

GOODLUCK

by **jsheikh786** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:20 pm

not too good haha.....bio-8's, phys-9's, verb-7's.... I have no idea how to get my verbal up. I understand with bio and phys all you have to do is memorize concepts/process/systems/equations and etc. But verbal im lacking no other. good luck with yours as well

by **will381796** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:49 pm

jsheikh786 wrote:not too good haha.....bio-8's, phys-9's, verb-7's.... I have no idea how to get my verbal up. I understand with bio and phys all you have to do is memorize concepts/process/systems/equations and etc. But verbal im lacking no other. good luck with yours as well

Bio and Physical science isn't just memorizing. You need to know how to apply the information. The MCAT isn't so much a knowledge test as it is a test of your ability to apply your knowledge. Simple memorization won't get you the score you need on the MCAT.

by **desijigga** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:54 pm

I'm doing decent in VR and PS sections, getting 10's and 9's (also some 11s) . But BS is killing me, highest I got so far is a 8 (Im only getting like 3-6 of the orgo q's right). Remember for PS and BS its not just memorizing, you also have to be able to master the passages. I guess Im not a good person to give advice for the BS part... LOL.

As for the VR section, best thing to do is read the passage and try to grasp the main idea. I recommend getting the EK verbal book, it has some great tips. Also most of the q's for VR you can get the right answer by just looking at the question and going thru the choices.

I you haven't tried the AAMC tests, take some they are the best predictors for your actual scores.

by **jsheikh786** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:06 pm

will381796 wrote:
jsheikh786 wrote:not too good haha.....bio-8's, phys-9's, verb-7's.... I have no idea how to get my verbal up. I understand with bio and phys all you have to do is memorize concepts/process/systems/equations and etc. But verbal im lacking no other. good luck with yours as well

Bio and Physical science isn't just memorizing. You need to know how to apply the information. The MCAT isn't so much a knowledge test as it is a test of your ability to apply your knowledge. Simple memorization won't get you the score you need on the MCAT.

that is true i may have come off as "over simplifying" the way to tackle the bio and phys...But from what ive encountered a lot seems to be based around the overall knoweldge of the material. Apparently my scores show that its not working hahaha.

Anyway, I got that EK audio osmosis. Have you or anyone else tried/know anything good about the verbal section? I havent listened to that part, just the biology and physics lectures. I dont wanna waste time if it isnt helpful.

by **tourniquet1963** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:28 pm

the verbal section in audio osmosis is only like 30 minutes long.. you can listen to it atleast once.. i did

by **Vince86** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:15 pm

ive been pretty consistent in bio and verbal getting 10s and 9s, although i havent even started with studying hormones for bio, i can still answer those questions right. But for physics i get scared when i dont recognize the info, and if it is a calc, and i dont know the equation, i tend to guess and go on. But then after the test i realized i knew the eq and i was just giving up.

For bio i just have a general feel for everything, but i dont really know anything specific. My best bet is to read the bio review books and get familiar with the way how stuff works in the body. Sometimes a general knowledge of things helps to stop overthinking of the question, which leads to drawing deep conclusions and usually gets the wrong answer. The test isnt very specific, but there r always some exceptions. If there is anything complex for the bio section, it is in the passage and with ur general knowledge of biology, you should be able to figure it out. For orgo, i dont know any reactions outside of sn1,sn2,e1,e2. But i do know how reactions generally work, nucleophiles electrophiles etc and what attacks what in a reaction. I usually get 75% of orgo right from this. Once again a general knowledge will help in orgo.
For verbal, i kinda read the passage as a book. Then i just answer the questions like normal. It takes a bit of practice and concentration, and sometimes i look back into the passage to see if i am right. ive taken the kaplan verbal tests and have been scoring 22+/40, which isnt good in aamc terms cause u need 30/40 to score a 10 but it does help you understand what kind of questions will be asked. just do alot of verbal to get the feel for things, and the wheels start clicking

by **jsheikh786** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:41 pm

Thanks for the advice vince. For verbal ive just been doing passages one after another in between my normal studies of bio and phys so i hope that helps. But your right about the feeling part, getting the verbal is acquiring that feeling with the passage and not falling into those trap answers.

And i guess ill listen to the audio osmosis thing also if its only 30 min. It might have some tips or something.

Another question is i was told by TPR that for verbal i should focus on accuracy and not worry about finishing the entire verbal section. It seems to work cuz when i slow down i get better scores even though i totally guess on the last passage or two. But what about the other sections? Should i apply that technique to the bio and phys sections as well?

by **anamaky** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:43 am

you should try to take as many practice tests/passages as possible and then review all the answers. I taught MCAT classes for a couple of years and I can tell you from experience that if you want a certain score, say 10, 10, 10 you should be scoring at least that and above consistently on your last few full length practice tests. if you're getting 8,9 and 7 within a few days of the test, generally you shouldn't expect to get any thing above that. So focus on improving your timing and accuracy and review the stuff you already know, don't try to learn new things with two weeks left to your actual test date. and as I said take as many practice tests as you can and then spend the time to review the answers and their explanations.