MCATs

<p>Its helpful to a point, but not completely necessary to understand things like titration. I didn't find anal chem hard ( at least at my school), but I guess it could be for some people. I know people that struggled to finish just gen chem, so I guess its what your best at. For me, the upper level classes go into topic in more depth so you are able to understand ever aspect of it, so it there is a question on the mcat on that topic, it should be easy (whichever way they word it).</p>

<p>Hi Folks,</p>

<p>Some quick questions -
* How many times can you take the MCAT to improve your score?
* Do you have to report all your scores? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>1.) Back in the good old days (2004), the answer was "Anything more than 3 requires special permission." I think they no longer require special permission, but you should retain that bias -- more than three is fishy enough to arouse not only annoyance but suspicion.</p>

<p>Frankly, the MCAT is long enough and annoying enough AND time sensitive enough that really you should only plan on taking it once. This isn't the SAT's (and even those you should only plan on taking once!).</p>

<p>After you've taken it, if you have good cause to believe future scores will rise substantially -- for example if Kaplan full-length practice tests usually came back ~5 points higher -- then I think a retake can be justified.</p>

<p>2.) Yes. And unlike SATs/GREs, schools usually do not claim to only consider your highest score. They will consider all your scores in an un-mathematical manner. They CERTAINLY will not break apart your scores and analyze them by your highest subsections to create a joint score, the way some schools do with SATs.</p>

<p>Links to retester's score changes by section:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/tables.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/tables.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Not sure what year this data is from, but it's tough to do better.</p>

<p>"Frankly, the MCAT is long enough and annoying enough AND time sensitive enough that really you should only plan on taking it once. This isn't the SAT's "</p>

<p>Well said, it's a living hell, prep, nerves, and money/time</p>

<p>a teacher told me it would be a good idea to crack open my old ap chem book and bio and physics books, a couple of used books and a practice test book of MCATs and start studying this summer to get a leg up on the insane competition i'll face at the ivy i'm going to. Is the summer before your freshman year too early?</p>

<p>Yes. (10 char)</p>

<p>Ok, just a quick question on TPR/Kaplan vs Self-studying with Examkrackers...</p>

<p>my dad was talking to a coworker of his whose son went to UCSF, and he was telling my dad that those class based MCAT preps were for people who just test bad and need help with that (all in all, a pretty condescending statement, imo). My question is, is there any truth to that statement? I dont really consider myself a bad test-taker, and based off the 2-3 practice sections I've done thus far, it seems all that's left for me is just acquiring knowledge, not so much learning how to tackle the questions. So I was considering just going through Examkrackers starting this summer, but I'd welcome eveyrone's views on this idea.</p>

<p>I certainly found the class very useful, and I'm far from a bad test-taker. I got a 1560 on the SATs and that was the worst I've ever done on a standardized exam*. The MCAT in particular is about more than knowledge or even intelligence: it's about getting into a rhythm, working through the timing, learning the pacing. The practice that you go through and the disciplined studying pathway that such a course sets out for you is possible but difficult to replace.</p>

<p>On a more annoyed note (an annoyance which you share, not an annoyance at you):
Without meaning to stereotype too badly, the sorts of students who go to politically correct schools tend to be very condescending regarding standardized measurements in general, especially in the case of standardized testing. (I had to spend fifteen minutes listening to a woman at UCSF try and explain why her medical school's USMLE scores were lower than expected, and her answer was that because her school was so vastly superior to the others, they didn't bother teaching their students about the test. By her logic, of course, higher test scores indicate worse schools.)</p>

<p>*On every other exam I've ever taken, I either had: (1) A higher percentile than I had on the SATs, or (2) a perfect score.</p>

<p>My opinion...</p>

<p>TPR/Kaplan are for those people who need the organized structure of a classroom setting. Examkrackers are for people that can make time to study and won't procrastinate. I personally recommend EK. I highly suggest you look at the two links below.</p>

<p><a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=280445%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=280445&lt;/a>
<a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=46880%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=46880&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As a former Kaplan instructor, I can attest to the fact that there is a lot about good test taking strategy. As a student, with a mom who used to teach LSAT for Kaplan, I considered myself a damn good test taker, but even then Kaplan was a huge benefit, and offered a lot of little tips and ideas that were of immense benefit to me. </p>

<p>I do agree with ASMAJ though, that if you are disciplined, you can do just fine on the MCAT on your own. But I've never seen the EK materials and so I can't make a good comparison. And personally...I need the structure of a class.</p>

<p>In terms of USMLE prep, there are a lot of different options Kaplan offers, and I'm doing the on-line streaming audio lectures with a friend. It's kind of similar to a class and I like it a lot (well as much as one can enjoy prepping for Step 1. I find it nice to have someone say, you need to know this enzyme, you don't need to know that bacteria.</p>

<p>Does any one know of any really good premed books that they read? </p>

<p>Right now I am reading "Get into Medical school" guide for the perplexed but its pretty old (1997). </p>

<p>i am also going to look on amazon and post if I find anything especially intriguing.</p>

<p>I liked/used Getting into Medical School Today by Scott Plantz. Pretty decent advice. I think that they put too much emphasis on dropping classes and such, but it was helpful. The parts on interviews were good, and included a list of common questions (more than 50), that I used to prepare for my interviews...</p>

<p>Hey big red med can you clear out your PM box? or send me an email at <a href="mailto:vanessaaishacoleman@yahoo.com">vanessaaishacoleman@yahoo.com</a></p>

<p><strong>cleared</strong></p>

<p>What would you guys say the writing sample measures?</p>

<p>Following instructions, organization, clarity, grammar/vocab/basic skills, sophistication/complexity.</p>

<p>My Kaplan teacher said that this was the single section that correlates best with clinical year grades. This isn't surprising, when you think about it.</p>

<p>So for people who plan to take the MCATs in the Spring of junior year and who plan to use a prep place like Kaplan, would they basically be taking the prep during the school year?</p>

<p>Since I've been reading that most people study 4 hours/day, how is this possible with classes and other time-consuming activities?</p>

<p>I've been trying to plan out my schedule so that I'll finish all of the classes I "should" have taken for the MCAT by the end of 2nd year, but it's a bit intensive and leaves little room for GEs, and other things, etc.</p>

<p>
[quote]
how is this possible

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</p>

<p>Most kids manage to pull it off. It's certainly not the hardest piece of becoming a doctor.</p>

<p>Yeah, you work it out. You might take lest credits that semester or reduce you activity level, so you have more time to study.</p>