MCATs

<p>well that is why you start your prep 1-2 years in advance and don't listen to what people say otherwise.</p>

<p>1-2 years in advance is a bit much. i guess you are technically preparing for the mcat by studying for your chem/physics/bio exams. 1-2 years of formal preparation is not needed.</p>

<p>From what i have read throughout these boards, there is a general consensus that the MCAT requires a very high level of reading comprehension on the VR section as well as the PS/BS sections. It seems that it would be very difficult to "study" this skill in those last two months before the exam date. From what i have gathered, one of the keys to success on the MCAT is reading from a variety of sources throughout your college years leading up to the exam.
I was curious as to whether anybody (specifically someone who has taken the exam) found certain types of readings to be of specific help. ie- Are there any interesting scientific journals/magazines that you felt gave you a leg up. Should i be reading the newspaper?Stick to literature? Or just do it all (unfortunately, that seems to be a prevailing theme).</p>

<p>Overall, i'm just looking for tips to increase my reading comprehension that i can work at in a more casual and enjoyable setting.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>read the new yorker/wall street journal</p>

<p>I'm getting the ginormous ExamKrackers pack today ; as an incoming sophomore, anyone know how easy it would be to begin self-studying for O-Chem? Or is that the kind of thing that you need a teacher for? (I'm a fairly good self-studyer, but all the same...)</p>

<p>well, I just took the MCAT yesterday and lets say that the practice aamc exams are not as challenging as the real thing. The VR section is on par, but my PS section had way too many time consuming calculations even though the material was fairly easy. The BS portion, which should have been my best, was pretty darn hard. two ochem passages in a row kind of sucks and they were a lot harder than any of the practice aamc practice tests. </p>

<p>My best advice for anyone studying: don't worry about trying to cram every little amount of information into your brain because it really only helps on the discretes. The passages basically have the answers written in the, but you have to read through all the distracting and useless info in the passage. The most important thing you must do is master your timing of the test. I was cruising through the PS section, but somehow when I started my 6th passage I noticed I had less than 10 minutes to finish that passage and another...panic mode set in and I'll probably lose two points from that section due to my poor time management for that section</p>

<p>For those who are wondering how Kaplan may be able to help - they do spend time going over pacing strategies as well as strategies to help you sift through the information in the passages so that you don't waste time on useless info...of course, I had a lot of students in my classes who despite paying for the course refused to use these strategies, but whatever.</p>

<p>i went to a medical school fair yesterday and they told the rising sophomores that now was the time to start preparing for the mcat....
schools represented: uchicago, upenn, j.h, upitt, uva, unc, etc...</p>

<p>Rising sophomores? That's absurd. A recently-finished sophomore, I could see, because the best time to take the MCAT is over the next few months.</p>

<p>don't kill the messenger. that is exactly what they told us...im just relaying the message.
by the way...duke was among those that encouraged it...</p>

<p>It's ridiculous advice. They must have misunderstood the question.</p>

<p>Or perhaps they meant that now was a good time to start taking the requisite coursework. Or that reading articles monthly was a good idea.</p>

<p>But there is no way -- none whatsoever -- that anybody sane would be encouraging kids to be taking practice tests or buying MCAT books at that stage. Zero chance.</p>

<p>bdm when you discouraged me from not studying for the MCAT right now...well I agree with you but thing is i'm studying organic chem and bio. So, im not really studying for the MCAT as getting a head start at the courses i will be taking in colleges.</p>

<p>you ARE studying for the MCAT by taking the prerequisite classes. Don't open up a kaplan book and start working at practice exams when you're in freshman or sophomore year. wait till ur done with the prereqs; then review.</p>

<p>As far as scores (MCAT and GPA and SGPA) are concerned, the combination of both is very important since they are both factored into the Academic Index, which is the equation used to compare applicants scores and to bring it all together.</p>

<p>However, in general, State Universities reject applicants with GPA or SGPA less than 3.0 and MCAT scores below 9 (individual). Ivy league raise the stakes to 3.5 and 11 respectively. Private schools are the most flexible (they need the money) but will usually reject applicants with GPAs below 3.5, SGPA below 3.3 and MCAT scores below 10.</p>

<p>The Academic Index is a reality and like it or not, it will probably determine whether one gets into med school or not. Unfortunately, the GPA contributes only to 17.4% of the AI score. Science is counted twice because it affects both your overall GPA and the SGPA which accounts for another 17.4% of the score. Class rank, etc is not calculated into the Academic Index at all. The last 65% of the Academic Index score is made by the three individual MCAT scores (no writing) divided by 3.</p>

<p>As we can see, 2/3 of the score is made up by the MCAT and only 1/3 comes from the combination of the GPA and SGPA. A high MCAT, could certainly be a bit of a cushion...</p>

<p>I'd be shocked if all schools used the exact same weightings, but it's certainly true that the MCAT carries heavy weight for a one-day test.</p>

<p>True, but the above is a fairly close approximation as far as specific numbers for MCATs and GPA.</p>

<p>However, the Academic Index is indeed used by all medical schools as a screening and ranking tool for easy comparison of applicants.</p>

<p>If this index is used, it is not used openly. And in any case I'm sure each school has its own tweaking that they do. But, again, the core principle -- that the MCAT is disproportionately important compared to GPA -- is true.</p>

<p>(Disproportionate relative to the time students spend on it, I mean, not in proportion to some arbitrary "ought" standard.)</p>

<p>The Academic Index is probably one of the most secretive and hated aspects of the medical school admission process. It has been criticized for some of the reasons we have mentioned already; nevertheless it is the first cut off used to compare applicants during the admission process. It is actually very interesting to see some of the comparisons between state schools and ivy leagues. For an ivy, you need to be comfortably above a certain number.</p>

<p>Conventional wisdom is that the MCAT and the GPA are approximately equally important.</p>

<p>This is different from the 2/3 vs. 1/3 weighting that MB suggests, but only by 1/6th. And in any case it remains true that the six hours you spend on the MCAT will be vastly more important per-hour than the four years you spend on coursework.</p>

<p>Well, unfortunately, the reality is 2/3 MCAT and 1/3 GPA as plotted into the Academic Index formula. Conventional wisdom is way off on this one.</p>