MCAT Journey: Returned

On May 23 2011 04:25 intoyourrainbOW wrote:
key to verbal? practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice. the first time i took the MCAT i got a 7 on the verbal. i was like wtf? i'm not retarded. i can read. second time i got a 12. so practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice.

On May 23 2011 04:22 krndandaman wrote:


same here... going for my last SAT.
i raised my first score by 150 points.
but the thing is, that was pretty much all math/reading improvement.
math went up by 90 points, reading went up by 40, writing by only 20 and essay score went DOWN.

if i just fix up my essay score which is horrendous compared to my other scores/multiple choice on writing, i should be able to get into most of the colleges i am looking at!

so good luck and study hard to those others looking to improve their standardized test scores

On May 23 2011 05:17 LoneWolf.Alpha wrote:
i don't understand how some people i know get such good gpa in college and don't do well on teh mcat. on the other hand, i did ok in college, but my mcat beats their's horribly. it's like some people receive the information but it doens't sink into their thought process or something. very strange.

On May 23 2011 05:40 xxSK8rGUy277xx wrote:
I was worried that you had given up on starcraft. Glad to hear an update from you and hopefully you can start streaming again sometime soon =]

good luck on the MCAT!

On May 25 2011 14:51 berkguyyy wrote:
Good luck on the MCAT. I took it 3 years ago and if I have one tip (although the exam may have changed) it's to not memorize every single detail because most of the answers will be in the passages. As this is the second time you're taking the exam I'd recommend you take it only if your practice scores are showing good results cause you really don't want to leave it up to chance. I'm preparing for the Step 1 right now and all I can say is you'll look back on the days of MCAT and realize it really wasn't so bad after all...

On May 25 2011 15:32 13th Marine wrote:
I took the first iteration of the new MCAT 2 years ago, and my suggestions for you would be:

1. Structure your studying around goals, rather than time spent. It seems like you are already doing this by focusing on getting chapters done, but it's good to make sure. Structuring studying around time spent can be quite unproductive. Think of the difference of spending 5 hours doing 6 pools vs. spending 5 hours practicing macro, micro, and maneuvering.
2. Make sure you have some sort of feedback, along the way, for gauging your progress and and areas in need of further improvement. Hopefully your chapters have practice questions at the end. If not, it may be beneficial to consider taking one of those practice exams from that final week of studying a bit earlier to see how things are moving along. I personally found that improving weaknesses had a higher yield than improving strengths, given that the strengths were of a reasonable magnitude, and not just a "I think I know this" sorta deal. Sorta like how your league and ranking within a league can serve as an indicator of progress, ala Day[9] style.
3. Consider taking the day or half day before the MCAT off for rest and relaxation. I suppose it depends on your style, but personally I found it was helpful to have some time to gather my strength and stamina for the big day to avoid burn out. Of course, I refreshed some key facts with some of those laminated fact sheets the morning of the MCAT to enhance recall. MarineKingPrime likes to do this sorta thing before a big match and get a lot of sleep the day before, if I'm remembering this correctly.
4. Try and see if you can figure out the "type" of question you are being asked, and learn to do so efficiently. It'll help with all sections of the exam, in that it'll frame your mindset in the right way for dealing with the task presented to you with each question, e.g., find a fact in a verbal passage vs. identify an overarching theme. It's sort of like scouting the front of an opponent's base. Based on what you see (or don't see) you can react and adjust accordingly.

Of course, this is just what worked (luckily for me, excellently) in my case. Depending on your learning style and performance style, these suggestions may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps, and good luck!

On May 25 2011 14:51 berkguyyy wrote:
I'm preparing for the Step 1 right now and all I can say is you'll look back on the days of MCAT and realize it really wasn't so bad after all...

On June 02 2011 04:40 ZeaL. wrote:
GL man. If you can just raise your score by 5 points or so you're in contention for top 20 med school with a good essay to back you up. BTW, I'd start worrying about your essay right after you take your test as its just as if not more important than your MCAT. I've seen a few 35-38's rejected from top schools because they couldn't write a good essay, in addition I saw a girl get owned last year because she submitted her primary in late august. She did get into a med school but might have done better had she submitted earlier. Since you're taking your test so late you better bust your ass right after you finish your test because every day you don't submit is a day every other med school applicant gets exposure to the admissions comittee.





Depending on how your school does it, step 2 might be even worse than step 1 =/. I don't envy you guys in med school.

On June 04 2011 16:56 WardenSC wrote:
wow lith u were alive after all!!
GOOD LUCK IN MCAT and HOPE TO SEE YOU BACK in SC2!!
Also come check out my stream when you get a chance <3

On October 12 2011 10:50 pebblebeach wrote:
Not bad, are you applying for this cycle?