MCAT prep

Hello everyone! Is there anyone else out there getting ready for MCAT, August '05? I know that gabelerman is; met him at OPM Conference last weekend. Anyone else?

Hi Blessed1. I am preparing and I have decided to start over with lecture 1. I am getting a little frustrated. Maybe nervousness. Anyway.
Good luck

Hi.
I’m registered for the Aug '05 MCAT. I decided to take a Kaplan course to help me prepare for the test. And since the closest location for the class is a good 45 minute drive from where I live, I’ll be listening to Audio Osmosis CDs on the way there.
Anita

Hey Blessed. I’m preparing as well. I’m doing TPR and using Audio Osmosis.
Larry

Hey gabelerman! I understand the frustration/nervousness. I have been a little frustrated because I have realized that I need much more work with Physics and Inorganic Chemistry than I thought. I find myself doing some sort of Chemistry or Physics review and problems every day.
Good luck to us all!!!

Hi all.
I’m taking the August exam as well. I am preparing with a Kaplan course and am using the ExamKrackers books as a supplement. So far, verbal is my best and PS my worst (Physics is just not my thing…!) I’ve been doing practice problems in a “Physics for dummies” type book that I found. It’s really been helping! Even though I did well in my Physics class, it’s obvious by my diagnostic score (7) that I need the extra practice! Anyone else struggling with a weak area? How much time should I spend on this area vs. the one’s I know well?
Good luck with studying this summer!
Rose

I am using the Kaplan on line and the AO CDs. Physics is my achilles heel. Everything else is improving but physics is much slower.
Even in my diagnostic physics was the weakest. Knowing my luck, my PS section will be mostly physics.
Back to studying,.

The worst vice is advice…but, Physics was also my worst subject. I memorized the formulas the week before the MCAT and it ended up being my best section. I went from 8s and 9s to a 13 on the real thing. However, do not neglect your strongest subject either. In VR I went from 11s and 12s to a 9. Good luck.
DRD

Thanks for the advise. I am not neglecting an section. But I spend a little extra time in physics. Generally I print out the topical tests from Kaplan and figure out what I did wrong on the incorrect answers on my way home from work while on the subway (about a 20 minute ride).

Hey, all you August MCATers!
I’m chiming in a little late, but I have been studying since classes ended in May. I am using mostly EK books (including the 1001 questions) and AO. I also plan to try the Mini-MCATs beginning in a couple of weeks. Of course, I have scheduled several practice tests here and there throughout the summer.
So far the review is going pretty well. My strongest subject is (surprisingly) O-Chem! Like many of you, Physics is my weak suit. I find that doing a little bit every day keeps it fresher in my mind.
Good luck to everyone else looking forward to August 20th!
Lu

I’m taking a Kaplan Review course…of course, I’m the oldest one in there. That irritated me the first few times when I felt like he was treating us like kids… Now I’m over it and in the middle of filling out my application, retaking Orgo I and getting ready for August. Other than that, nothing’s going on. LOL.
Clay

Hello everyone! After very careful consideration, I have decided to take the MCAT in April '06 instead of August '05. I am not pleased with my scores on my practice exams thus far and I feel as though I could do better (MCAT and tighter application) for the next cycle. I am starting to feel as though I am rushing the process and that is the last thing that I need to do so I am pulling back just a bit, to do better as an applicant.

I think that is a really good idea for so many reasons! You’ll have more time to study, you will be way ahead for the '07 application cycle, and you can even enjoy your summer a little bit (imagine!).

Thanks grousek! I really feel good with the decision and I plan to give the MCAT a much more concentrated effort for the spring exam. Thanks for your feedback.

Yep, I’m taking the August 2006 MCAT at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.





Am preparing with a Princeton Review course which I love. Highly recommend, at least I can highly recommend the Soho location in NYC. And yes, I am the oldest person there, but only by a couple of years.





My worst are biology and general chemistry. My postbacc biology classes covered NEXT TO NOTHING that appears on the MCAT. And the general chemistry is just really tricky. But I’m doing well on organic, physics, and verbal, so I count my blessings.





Am looking forward to it!





Matt

Quote:

Am preparing with a Princeton Review course which I love. Highly recommend, at least I can highly recommend the Soho location in NYC. And yes, I am the oldest person there, but only by a couple of years.



I started taking the same class at the same location in the fall (I was there October - December), when I was originally planning on taking the April MCAT.
I thought most of the instructors were okay - the Physics instructor and the Organic Chemistry instructor were especially good - but we had some major problems. TPR screwed up our scheduling several times, so that instructors didn’t know they were supposed to show up, and we would have to come again during the week or at other difficult times. This would have been understandable if it had happened once, but it happened at least three times. On top of that, the Chemistry instructor admitted to us that he got his high score partially by cheating, and he was terrible. He was never prepared nor able to answer questions, and when he covered material he was often wrong. We all complained about him individually and as a group, but TPR refused to fix the situation.
On top of that, all the classrooms and that airway are always so dark and dreary. It always felt like nighttime in that building.
While I liked the TPR materials, and the alternating instructors, on the whole, I wasn’t very pleased with the TPR SOHO location.
I was only one of the three oldest people in my class (at 29), there was a gentleman quite a bit older -50’s probably- and another guy about my age.
Erica

That’s terrible! I can definitely second the dark and dreary thing-- they are behind in changing a few lightbulbs around that place. BUT the rest was not in my experience, thank goodness.
Re the cheating: that’s so serious-- I can’t believe such a person would tempt fate by teaching a class and then gloating about it.

Quote:

I was only one of the three oldest people in my class (at 29), there was a gentleman quite a bit older -50’s probably- and another guy about my age.



On the lighter side, since I am 40, do I qualify as a gentleman or am I still just a guy. LOL.
~Craig