Category Archives for MCAT Score Increase Strategies

2020 MCAT test dates are out!

It's time to decide on when is the best and smartest testing date for you to maximize your chances of med-school admission.

It's time to figure out your overall strategic approach for your unique situation, that will make sure you never have to write the MCAT again.

We'll be covering all of that in this article...

But before we get to all that good stuff, here are the 2020 MCAT dates if you haven't seen them already:

In this article, we've done a  full step-by-step demonstration for you of how a 130+ CARS scorer would go through all the paragraphs of an AAMC CARS passage, analyze all the questions and all the answer choices, and consistently identify the right answer choice.

It's our hope that with this and the many other CARS passage dissections we have for you, you are able to get a better understanding of how all the strategies we talk about, are applied in different scenarios.

Before going through this, it would be helpful if you're already familiar with a lot of the top scorer CARS strategies we mention throughout our blog and emails. But if not, you'll still find this valuable (you might just miss a few things here and there). 

In order to follow along you’ll need to have access to the AAMC CARS Question Packs (Volumes 1 and 2).

Here we’ll be covering Passage 15 from Question Pack 1. Before moving on, make sure you have it open.

Imagine this. It's the last week before the MCAT and your biggest MCAT prep fear has come true...

You just took a practice exam and you're not scoring ANYWHERE near the score you need to get into the med-school you're aiming for!

What do you do!? This is definitely a scenario that calls for a lot of anxiety and panic.

Well, that's exactly the situation Rachel found herself in...

And in this article, you're going to learn exactly how she managed to take her score from "disappointing" to hitting her target score in less than a week! 

With her MCAT prep insights and strategies, we hope you can replicate her results for yourself and increase your MCAT score significantly in just a week, regardless of how far you are from your MCAT test date!

Are you looking for effective MCAT strategies to add to your MCAT prep?

We've noticed a lot of our students come to us needing strategies when they're dealing with plateauing MCAT scores and a sense of urgency because the MCAT date is too close for comfort. 

We hope you have some time before your MCAT test date, but if not, don't worry because in this article we'll cover 5 effective yet easy-to-apply MCAT strategies that can lead to a very quick score increase, no matter what your starting point is...

The fact that you're even reading this and have found this article is evidence that you're thinking ahead and smarter than most of the students who are going to be writing the MCAT with you on exam day.  Why is that?

Because anyone who achieved a competitive MCAT score, did it by applying strategy to their MCAT prep. 

​Are your science sections suffering on the MCAT?
 
Do you feel like you know a lot, if not all, of the content but something is just off because it’s not reflecting in your score?

Are you looking for logical ways to approach those confusing science passages?

Do you want a quick score increase especially on the Chemistry/Physics section of the MCAT?

Hey Future Doctor, 

We have a question for you...

What's better than getting a jolt of inspiration from the success of someone who was once where you are now (struggling with the MCAT), and is now where you hope to be soon (with an amazing MCAT score and med-schools knocking at your door)?

Answer: Finding out exactly what steps they took to get there so you can do the same!

In this post, you're going to get both: the inspiration + the steps 😉

Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of MCAT test takers increase their scores to competitive levels and it’s obvious that Chem/Phys and CARS are two of the most challenging sections for most.

As we research and interview 515+ scorers and their strategies they used to dominate the MCAT, we also single out those who scored over 130 (we usually single out 132 scorers) in particular sections and try to drill down on the most powerful strategies they used for those specific sections.

In this post, we’re going to provide you with some of the most effective 130+ C/P scorer "quick strategies" which you can apply right away to increase your C/P score fast and get over the 129 mark yourself. 

Are you frustrated with not being able to consistently get over the 500 hump on your MCAT practice exams?

Or maybe you've already written the MCAT before and couldn't seem to break that 500 barrier?

You're not alone. We've come across many MCAT writers in our community who  faced the same frustrations...

Who doubted their abilities and their future...

But ended up achieving a competitive, balanced 510+ MCAT score. 

Today, they're in med-school and on their way to becoming doctors.

So our first piece of advice is to not worry. You'll be fine. As long as you're willing to adjust your current MCAT study process, you'll see your score improve.

With that said, let's begin with discussing how you can get over the 500 mark on your next practice test...

Are you spending days studying for the MCAT and still seeing low scores?

Do you feel you're doing a decent job at memorizing and understanding concepts, but still not scoring as high as you want to?

For most premeds there comes a point during MCAT prep where you hit a brick wall. A certain score or a score range that you can’t get beyond. 

Depending where you are in your MCAT prep it might be getting over the 500 mark, the 510 mark, or maybe it’s getting beyond mid 120’s on the CARS section.

Regardless, the walls are normal and come up almost inevitably for most students. But this can get extremely frustrating…

We truly feel you on that one. When your scores aren’t improving, and especially if you’ve gone days or weeks without seeing that improvement, things get scary. 

But don't worry, it's not your fault. You just need to take a new perspective...

Dear future doctor,

If your MCAT score isn't increasing fast enough....

If you got a disappointing score on your recent practice exam...

If you feel like you have a super long way to go before you reach your MCAT score goal, that you absolutely NEED in order to open doors to med-school...

The first thing we want to say to you is...

It's going to be okay. 

How do we know?

What if we told you that almost every 90+ percentile MCAT scorer felt the same way, at some point during their MCAT prep?

What if we told you that there came a point in every "current med-schoolers" MCAT prep journey where they felt 'stuck', where they felt like there was not enough time, where they feel like there was way too much information to study, where they felt like med-school admission might just be unattainable...

Yet today, those same students are on their way to becoming physicians. 

Over the the years at MCAT Mastery, we’ve seen premeds who have improved their MCAT scores from 499 to 512, from 489 to 509, from 500 to 521, from 505 to 517, from 50^th percentiles to 90^th percentiles (and the list goes on)... in a matter of weeks.

Clearly, something "clicks" for these top scorers that enables them to skyrocket their MCAT score very quickly. There comes a moment where they just 'get it'.  Our goal is to give you the key insights you need to make it 'click' for you too.

Is the CARS section of the MCAT turning out to be one of your biggest challenges during MCAT prep?

Do you finish reading a passage and have no idea how to move forward with identifying the right answer?

Are you struggling with timing, comprehension, and identifying the most important points in CARS passages?

​Lastly, are you hoping to increase your CARS score as soon as possible?

If so, this CARS strategy article was written for you 🙂

One of the biggest failures we see in those who are studying for the MCAT, is that they don't invest time and energy into maximizing their mental and physical performance abilities during this critical phase of their lives...

A phase on which the fate of their medical future rests.

One of the most common, most painful experiences for MCAT test-takers everywhere is taking the MCAT and receiving a disappointing MCAT score...

Knowing you'll have re-test.

It can be discouraging and we hope this MCAT success story inspires you.

We want this to be the last time you ever write the MCAT.

We hope these MCAT success stories give you the confidence you need to know that you CAN get a significant increase in your MCAT score that makes you competitive for med-school.

We also hope you use these case studies to not only use the top scorer tips recommended, but also to learn from their mistakes so you don't make similar ones.

With that said, in this article, we'd like to introduce you to Suman Ali, a top scorer at MCAT Mastery.

When Suman first wrote the MCAT, she scored a 503:

Top MCAT scorers know a cold truth about the MCAT that most average scorers don’t (and they use this to their advantage)...

They know that the MCAT was designed, as it’s main purpose, to identify the most viable med-school candidates; those who are most likely to succeed in med-schools.

They want to identify the outliers – those who clearly stand out from the average applicants.

So how do they ensure that only the outliers reveal themselves?

​We know for a lot of premeds, CARS is one of the biggest hurdles in getting a BALANCED, competitive score.

It’s frustrating to have one section holding you back from seeing the score improvement you need to hit your target score goal.

We completely get it and that’s why we decided to put some extra focus on CARS by recently releasing more articles and resources showing you exactly how 130+ scorers increased their CARS score and ended up dominating this section.

Plus, a lot of CARS strategies are also transferrable to other sections of the MCAT as well…

Which is why many top scorers have found that once they get a handle on CARS, everything else becomes easier.

We were surprised to find out how underrated and often ignored CARS strategy (and CARS overall) is by premeds studying for the MCAT.

130+ CARS scorers on the other hand, take this section very seriously (sometimes even more than other sections).

The problem is most premeds view it as having a familiar format of passages and questions, and assume it's going to be easy.

As you've probably seen during practice exams, it's not. In fact, AAMC themselves tell you how complex this section is on their website...

"Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills passages are relatively short, typically between 500 and 600 words, but they are complex, often thought-provoking pieces of writing with sophisticated vocabulary and at times, intricate writing styles." - AAMC

Our focus at MCAT Mastery is to help you dominate the MCAT using the only method that has been proven to work over and over again…

Using strategy. Proven top MCAT scorer strategies.

In this case, in order to help you dominate CARS, we're going to focus on proven strategies from 130+ CARS scorers.​