<p>Hi guys. I just finished up my first semester at a state flagship, taking gen chem (I placed out of gen bio b/c it was a weeder course at my school). This school has a pretty strong chem department and the course director is just simply GENIUS as are the professors. So by no means are our exams easy. Not bragging or anything but I earned a 98 in this course and I felt pretty confident about the gen chem 1 material (from quantum theory to phase diagrams). Every little concept in the book I took time to understand. If i didn't at first, I'd spend hours on that one concept till i got it. So I took a shot at some of the MCAT problems on general chemistry, at the least ones which involved basic concepts we covered thus far. Not going to lie but I felt really bad lol. Like i could only get the first two and the last 3 or 4 i couldn't even reason myself into getting. I just didn't know how to think about it (yea not the best way to spend winter break i know but i'm only curious so I'm not gonna obsess over this lol). So now I'm wondering whether people, even from top schools, felt this bad or did my state school underprepare me (and thus had a weak chem program in contrast to what i thought)? Because if this is how I'm always going to feel, then I'm screwed lol. I'm also not a bad test taker, having scored 2200 on SAT's and having around 40 credits as well as being valedictorian of my high school class. Of coures, I'm not saying either is a good predictor but I have some DEGREE of reasoning ability.</p>
<p>110 views and not one response? Better choose a different line now</p>
<p>No, I didn’t. Then again, I didn’t bother to try them until I had 3 years of undergrad under my belt. I’d recommend you do that too. One of the things you learn through college is to hone your critical thinking. Throw the problem book or whatever you are using out and don’t worry about it until your junior year.</p>
<p>P.S. I went to a “worse” school than you.</p>
<p>P.P.S. I don’t know what you are using but some problems are intentionally on the hard spectrum of MCAT questions in order to “push” students.</p>
<p>I am using the “MCAT 45 Advanced Prep for Advanced Students” Kaplan book. On the front cover, it says “the Toughest Questions”, “the Hardest Science”, and the “Strongest sciences”…I guess that explains it. -___-</p>
<p>I taught for Kaplan, and while I didn’t use that book in my classes I can definitely vouch that some Kaplan passages can definitely be harder than the real thing. However, the way that they grade compensates more or less (meaning an 80% on a Kaplan exam is graded similarly to a 90% on a AAMC practice test).</p>
<p>dont even bother with mcat stuff until after sophomore year. seriously.</p>
<p>I mean, the end of sophomore year isn’t relatively far away. What if i don’t develop the proper critical thinking skills by then? Shouldn’t i start early to preparing my brain for these types of questions, especially from prereqs that i’ve already taken as they are the freshest in my mind? I mean it’s winter break lol…I’m not losing anything. I still go hangout with friends and stuff. Just because im doing several MCAT problems doesn’t mean i’m wasting my life away.</p>
<p>@pushedaway,
</p>
<p>I agree with you. Ever since I’ve taken classes that have material that will be on the MCAT, I have made an effort to keep it “fresh”. It really doesn’t take that much time, just a few questions when you have nothing else to do (plus a MCAT question of the day service is a nice addition) Make sure that if you miss a question that you study the material so that you thoroughly understand why. The question of the day service that I use gives complete explanations of every answer and I always read through this because even though I recorded the correct response, they sometimes provide a different perspective. </p>
<p>There are many here on this forum who will tell you to wait until you are close to your test date to start studying. I think that is a plan for mediocrity. If your goal was to speak a foreign language by a certain date, would you wait until three months before then to cram, or would you start pecking away at it as soon as possible? Learning takes time.</p>
<p>I am scheduled to take the MCAT this Spring. I am looking forward to getting this milestone behind me. :)</p>
<p>Lol, mediocrity. If you say so. One question a day is not going to make a difference in the long run. No one is saying that it is impossible to keep all of the information fresh for all of the pre-reqs and then take the MCAT. What people are saying is that the content review of the MCAT is the easy part, and the amount of time it takes to keep all of the content fresh for 2+ years drains time away from other important requirements for getting into medical school. When I took the MCAT in my mediocre fashion, the questions that I struggled with had nothing to do with not knowing the content. If you want to do something that could actually help your score, read the Economist and other analytical journals. Read all the articles, and then one article a journal analyze in depth. Doing MCAT questions individually is a waste of time, because content review is not the hard part. The problem with doing MCAT passages is it, once again, requires you to waste time maintaining knowledge. It might not seem like much with just gen chem a week after you finished it, but I assure you when you have 3-4 done and you’re a year out from it things become more taxing. It’s your time, so do as you wish. I’m sure if plum gets a good score he/she will no doubt attribute it to doing questions for years. However, most people in hindsight will realize it was not worth the effort.</p>
<p>P.S. You should only start studying at the end of sophomore year if you intend on taking it winter of junior year. Otherwise, start studying 3-6 months prior to your exam date.</p>
<p>Agree with above. Didn’t realize 6 weeks during the summer while doing research and getting 97th percentile was mediocre.</p>
<p>And i did exactly what my friend who got 99.9th percentile did</p>
<p>@iwbBrown,
</p>
<p>Well then, that settles it. I bow to your superior “science”. You just can’t argue with “hard” evidence like this. :)</p>
<p>97th percentile would be a 36? As part of my summer research program in '11, we were given the Kaplan diagnostic. I took it “cold” since we were explicitly asked not to study for the MCAT during the program. (they wanted our complete attention) I scored a (13,12,11) without the benefit of completing all the pre-req courses at that time. However, I make no claim that my result supports my (study method) thesis in any way. That would be silly. </p>
<p>Now since the median MCAT score is usually around 25 (sounds mediocre to me), I wonder if ANY of those test takers also used the 6 week cram method? Couldn’t be, could it?</p>
<p>As pure conjecture, I would guess that if a meta-analysis were done, you might find a strong correlation between high scores in pre-req courses and high scores on the MCAT. If this were true, would this tend to support your method or mine?</p>
<p>By no means did I hit >97th percentile, but I did hit mid-80s using the “few months out” method. Actually I didn’t even think about the MCAT until Jan of junior year (when I was signing up for my Kaplan class and my test date). Had a nice collection of top-20 interviews and an acceptance. Worked for me.</p>
<p>To each his own, I think. If content review isn’t going your way and it’s stressing you out (which is what it sounds like–I mean, if it were really “no big deal” then you probably wouldn’t have bothered finding this website, creating an account, and posting here), I don’t think there’s any problem (or any disadvantage) if you wait to study. To echo mmmcdowe, content isn’t what’s challenging about the MCAT (and you won’t believe that until you study for it and take it)–it’s the critical thinking and process that’s challenging. You’re probably not building critical thinking skills by just reviewing questions from courses you’ve recently taken–by doing that, you’re mostly going over content (which, again, isn’t really necessary). </p>
<p>I like the suggestion to start reading challenging material (toss a science journal in there too). If you can do that–if you can read quickly and understand what you’re reading at a sophisticated level–then you’re probably improving your score across all sections. And chances are, it will be much more interesting than just doing questions (heck, you might even find a topic you’d like to pursue in a research lab).</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’d liken the MCAT to learning a language. I think it’s more accurate to say it’s like learning how to play a game–a game you want to be super good at for your big performance, but one you probably won’t play much more. Once you know the fundamentals and the rules, you’re golden. Much more than that, and you may be wasting your time.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t support either more than the other, actually. Technically it doesn’t support either at all.</p>
<p>I’d suggest focusing on your prereq’s and then start studying for the MCAT 8-10 weeks out. plumazul is my favorite know-it-all-despite-having-no-experience poster on this forum 
He’s like the patient who shows up in your office demanding medications after having done his “research” and disregarding your years of experience as a physician. As we like to say, he knows just enough to be dangerous.</p>
<p>There are at least 3-4 posters on this thread alone who scored 35+ on the MCAT (the real one, not the half-baked Kaplan diagnostic test). All of them are advising you to hold off on the studying.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Bravo! Was the ad hominem your area of specialty in debate class?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ok, let me put this in a form that even you might understand, norcalguy.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Do you agree that the vast majority (over 90%?) of those about to take the MCAT are indeed using the study method you are suggesting?</p></li>
<li><p>Do you agree that the median test score for those taking the MCAT any given year is about 25?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Do you agree that a score of 25 is mediocre?</p>
<p>If you agree with these three points, then you agree with my original post.</p>
<p>Sophistry bro-ski. The clear implication of your post was that studying earlier was the way to avoid mediocrity. The overall study method of most people scoring that low is a moot point (except for those who take it cold “just to try it” or the many people who do it with just a couple weeks of prep). For most of the others, no alternate method of studying would have launched them “above mediocrity.” Further, you have no data to support that studying your way does not end up with the same score (25), on average for the <10% (we will go with that estimate for arguments sake) that pursue it.</p>
<p>I feel like doing it in the 3-4 months prior to taking is not that much time at all when you consider adding a college courseload and extracurriculars. At least, not much time for such a huge test that can possibly determine your fate.</p>
<p>the point is, studying so far in advance is not going to really help you that much, but it wont exactly hurt either. you could be spending that time doing something much more productive.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Content review is fine as far as gen chem 1 is concerned. I know that it’s a small fraction of what the MCAT tests and that i have a long way to go, but in theory, if content comprehension is good for me, shouldn’t the respective MCAT portion be good as well? Why am i struggling?</p>