To pursue a career in the medical field every aspirant is required to first take the MCAT exam. Many of the students are afraid of this test because of what they hear from individuals who have been subjected to this exam before, but the MCAT is neither hard nor simple. It is more dependent on your level of preparedness. The MCAT requires hard work and dedication in order to attain higher scores. You have to start preparing early for this test if you truly want to do well. Most of the students who begin their preparation during the last week of the exam suffer from phobia and anxiety which are the major causes of failure in an exam. So, below are some tips for conquering your MCAT prep that will hopefully help get rid of any test anxiety you may be feeling.
Keep Track of Time
Pay attention to how long it takes you to finish your questions so you can finish on time. However, don’t get so caught up staring at the clock that you waste valuable seconds. Take plenty of practice tests so you can start to instinctually know how to pace yourself during the exam. This will enable you to answer your remaining questions and finish the exam.
Inform Test Administrators of Any Issues
If you are encountering various difficulties, be sure to inform your MCAT tutor (during a practice exam) or the staff supervising the test (during the formal exam). Proceed with the other questions when your issues are being sorted out. Most importantly, be prepared for anything and don’t let any setbacks throw you off your game. This will ensure by the end of the duration set for the test you will have answered all the questions apart from the ones you feel have issues. Don’t let these problems affect your overall concentration on the test. You can even decide to skip the questions you have doubts about if you need to.
Do Practice Passages
Taking the MCAT is not all about knowing everything but it aims to test your analyzing skills. Developing this skill can be compared to learning a sport; you will have to keep on practicing from time to time to get better. To maintain your skills, you will also need to practice. Try talking to an MCAT tutor to find full practice exams and sample problems for you to work on during your test prep.
Don’t Get Stuck on One Problem
In an MCAT exam, there are all sorts of questions — some are hard while others are simple. When you encounter a difficult question and you have no idea how to solve it, then it’s advisable to skip that question and move to the next. Failure to tackle a difficult question does not necessarily translate to a low MCAT score. Do all the questions you are familiar with and skip those which may end up wasting a lot of time. You can always go back to the more difficult questions at the end if you still have time.
Check for Information at the End of Paragraphs
When it comes to questions with long paragraphs many students fail to read the whole paragraphs, and that is where most of the important information is outlined. So, make sure to read the whole question in spite of the paragraph length. This is one of the areas that has led to many students’ downfall.
Read (and Understand) the Question Stems
Most of the test takers make mistakes when interpreting questions. Particularly the simple questions can be the ones that fool the most students. Ensure to read every question carefully and understand the concepts needed in order to answer the question correctly. Skimming the questions while assuming you know where it’s going, is going to lead to mistakes.