OOT MCAT advise

[The Truth]

I take the MCAT on April 22.

What tips and tricks do you OOTers have for me on this test?
I know some of you have done really well, let me know what secrets may help.

I have been preparing for awhile now. I have taken a few full legnth MCAT practice tests. I score them, and review why I missed the questions I missed. Review the material in an old text book. Then repeat the whole process.

While I have done well consistently on the practice tests, I am still quite nervous about the real thing. I am worried I am going to botch it.

Any help appreciated
blake

[lennytheduck]

I'm taking it too and have taken three full-length practice
exams so far (one each of the past three weekends). The key, for me, is sleep the night, and even two nights, before the exam. Good night's sleep = good preparation.

Also cramming something that you struggle with somewhat the night before, right before you go to sleep, helps out a lot. I'll probably cram lenses and mirrors before the real MCAT.

[johnd192]

if you can find old mcat exams take them. i also took the princeton review tests. i scored higher on the practice tests than the real test. i didnt study the recommended 200 hrs though. i think i studied about 40 but was fresh off of physics and organic chem. the physics part had very little formulas and the chem part was a bear. its just so long. i took mine in 92 and scored a 10/10/9 and the median that year was 7.9 and the top possible was a 15. i think the 10's scored in the top 15-25% rank that year. i dont know about current mcats though. mine was the first year they had the two essays. i scored the middle on the essay, i think it was a l or k some such letter. med schools werent looking at essays that year anyway. good luck.

[Marko Schmarko]

SCORES?!

[mute5]

Asking for "advise" on the MCATs = automatic failure. fold preflop.

[lennytheduck]

I've scored 31 on the last two I've taken (last one was Phys:11 Bio:11 Verbal:9).

[Matt R.]

The primary "trick" I tell everyone who asks for advice is do NOT skip questions. It is much better to take a logical guess at a question you aren't sure about rather than coming back to it. The reason being the sections are very time limited (most people struggle to complete each section) and it is much better to have the passage in front of you fresh in your mind rather than coming back after reading 11 other passages and trying to remember what one is about. If you start skipping questions, you will struggle to finish.

The other thing I tell people is to read the passage as quickly as possible while remaining focused (not really skimming, but as close to skimming as you can get while retaining the info). This seems obvious, but it's pretty hard to remain focused trying to 'speed-read' when you're testing for 8 hours. Basically I would try to remember locations of information in the passages so I wouldn't have to re-read the whole thing when the questions got difficult. I can read fairly quickly though, so this may be more of a personal thing -- when helping friends prepare I couldn't really get the idea across of how I would read the passages. My reading 'strategy' was more about trying to remember where I could find what I needed to find, rather than specific details.

[Matt R.]

Oh, and definitely eat a good breakfast the morning of (and dinner the night before). I know it's cliche, but it's ridiculous how much more clearly you can think when your blood glucose levels are normal.

[The Truth]

The tests I have taken dont score accurately above 36. If you make above a certain point you are assigned the 12+ range.

On the last one I took, I had scores of Verbal = 12+; Biological sciences = 11; Physical Sciences 10.

I am consistently weaker in the physical sciences section than the other 2 sections. I was making 8-9 on both biological sciences and physical sciences. I did a superficial review of both, and then a more in debth review of biological sciences. I have not done a full physical sciences review yet, and I haven't completed my 2nd physics class yet. I am sure this is reflected in my overall score right now.

After reveiwing the BS sections My score jumped from 8-9 range to 10-11 range. After a more in debth review, I have made 12+ once and 11 once.

I would like to get to where I make 12+ at least once on the physical sciences section before I take the real MCAT. So I know I am capable of falling in that range if I run well on test [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I have pretty much rocked the verbal section from the first time I took the practice test. So, I am not trying to fix what aint broke [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I think 30+ locks me up a spot in some medical school if that is what I decide to do, however a score of 36+ would be excellent for trying to compete for spots in the MD/phd programs of some of the more respected universities.

blake

[garion888]

Don't fail it...