What is your experience with the MCAT?

Question

Do people generally pass it the first time? Is it really hard. Are the books tailored to prepare you for the MCAT usefull?

Answer 1

I will be taking the MCAT in two weeks, and here's my experience:

1) People don't "pass" or "fail" the exam. It's like the SAT, you either get a good score or a bad score. The lowest score is a 3, the highest is a 45 (there are also essay grades from J to T, which, I know, is a very bizarre grading scale, but ultimately doesn't count for much). The average matriculation score of first-year medical students last year was about 30.

2) Yes, the exam is difficult, but that is why you must concentrate in your science classes the first two years. Prep for the MCAT usually starts about 4-6 months before test day, and you (ideally) should not be learning new material during that time.

3) Every company says that their books are tailored to maximize scores. However, in my opinion, I think that Examkrackers is the best out there. The whole book set costs about $150 and they boil it down to the necessities for you. However, I am also taking the Kaplan course, and while the class time seems useless for the most part, I find the online practice tests and quizzes INVALUABLE, especially since the MCAT is now in a computer format. So what I would do is buy the Examkrackers material, and buy the Kaplan online course, for a total of about $1250.

Of course, this is only my opinion/style. Some of my friends don't have the motivation to set their own schedules and signed up for the Princeton Review course, which meets for 12 hours a week over four nights.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

P.S. Latest practice MCAT: 14 PS / 12 Verbal / 14 BS / S (on the essay)

Answer 2

I scored in the 85-86th percentile twice. It *IS* a tough exam, and it is both mentally AND physically demanding.

August 2001 11V/9PS/11BS/R
April 2004 11V/10PS/11BS/Q

I took the Princeton Review courses both times, and they were helpful. It takes a lot of discipline to study on your own. Given the importance of the MCAT, I was NOT taking any chances with my score.

If you will be using books, supplement them by downloading old exams from http://www.aamc.org There's no better study material than real MCAT questions. And since it's computer-based now, get a practice CD and get used to taking the test on a computer.

Reviewing the science material helps, but the writing and verbal sections are the two toughest sections because 1. There are a lot of passages in verbal and not a lot of time. 2. The style of writing they demand is not something most people are used to.

Practice with a real MCAT timeframe. Even if you know the material, you need to get accustomed to staying sharp for several hours on end. The exam was 8 hours or more on paper (don't know how it'll go with the computer exams, though). Your brain gets tired. You get tired. After I took those tests I was so out of it, I could not talk.

Answer 3

I took the PCAT, 5 years after getting my BS. I found the books by Kaplan the most helpful. I got a 450.