MCAT TIPS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MCAT TIPS TO HELP YOU
STUDY? WELL, YOU’RE NOT ALONE... IN THE DAUNTING SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS, THE MCAT
WILL TEST YOU ON NEARLY EVERYTHING YOU LEARNED DURING YOUR FIRST YEARS OF UNDERGRAD STUDY…
IT'S NO WONDER THAT MOST STUDENTS FEEL COMPLETELY LOST WHEN TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW THEY CAN
ORGANIZE THEIR MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE, LET ALONE KNOW WHEN THEY SHOULD BEGIN THEIR STUDY PREPARATION...
THE TRUTH IS, KNOWING WHEN TO START STUDYING FOR THE MCAT WILL VARY GREATLY BETWEEN STUDENTS
AND IS LARGELY DEPENDENT ON YOUR LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND AVAILABLE TIME COMMITMENT…
IN THIS VIDEO, I'LL GO OVER A SERIES OF TIPS TO HELP YOU ACE YOUR MCAT AND EVEN THE CARS
SECTION… HI! I’M NATALIE STOBERMAN AND I’M AN ADMISSIONS
ASSOCIATE HERE AT BEMO. BEFORE WE GET STARTED, SUBSCRIBE ON WHATEVER SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL
YOU’RE WATCHING THIS ON SO YOU DON’T MISS ANY OF OUR UPCOMING VIDEOS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE
US TO HELP YOU ACE YOUR MCAT, VISIT BEMOMCAT.COM TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.
F-Y-I... CHECK OUT THE TIME STAMPS IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS VIDEO TO NAVIGATE TO SPECIFIC
SECTIONS OF THIS VIDEO THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN. HERE’S WHAT WE ARE GOING TO COVER:
MCAT STUDY TIPS AND TIPS TO ACE THE MCAT CARS SECTION
BY THE WAY WE'RE GIVING AWAY $50 AMAZON GIFT CARDS EVERY WEEK TO THE BEST COMMENTS AND
QUESTIONS… SO COMMENT BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN! AND WE KNOW THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL
MCAT PREP THAT WILL HELP YOU ACE THE BIG EXAM… AND I'LL EXPLAIN MORE ON THAT CLOSER TO THE
END OF THE VIDEO, SO KEEP WATCHING TO FIND OUT… WITH THAT SAID, LET’S GET STARTED!
MCAT STUDY TIPS >>KNOW WHAT IS ON THE EXAM
FIRST THINGS FIRST, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE MCAT EXAM. THIS ONLINE
AAMC RESOURCE PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT EACH MCAT SECTION, AS WELL AS HELPFUL VIDEO TUTORIALS,
SAMPLE QUESTIONS, AND EXPLANATIONS. IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO PRINT THIS RESOURCE AND
REFERENCE IT ALONGSIDE YOUR COURSEWORK WHEN STUDYING. IT WILL GIVE YOU A GUIDELINE AS
TO WHAT DISCIPLINES YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON AND ON WHICH SECTIONS OF YOUR STUDIES TO CONCENTRATE.
>>TAKE PRACTICE TESTS TO PREPARE A STUDY PLAN, YOU MUST FIRST FIGURE
OUT YOUR BASELINE WITH WHERE YOU STAND AND HOW MUCH YOU KNOW... YOU SHOULD TAKE A FULL-LENGTH
MCAT DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN THE DISCIPLINES AND AREAS
COVERED IN THE EXAM… UNFORTUNATELY, PRACTICE TESTS ARE USUALLY NOT FREE. BUT IT’S RECOMMENDED
TO PRACTICE WITH THE AAMC TESTS AS THEY PROVIDE A SCALED SCORE... YOU’LL GET RESULTS WITH
FEEDBACK AND ANSWERS TO ALL QUESTIONS, AS WELL AS THE PERCENTAGE OF YOUR CORRECT ANSWERS
IN EACH SECTION... A PRACTICE EXAM PROVIDES DETAILED EXPLANATIONS
OF YOUR CORRECT AND INCORRECT ANSWERS, SO YOU CAN LEARN AS YOU ARE TAKING THE TEST.
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO STRATEGIZE WHICH DISCIPLINES, CONCEPTS, AND SKILLS YOU NEED TO STRENGTHEN
AND INCLUDE THEM IN YOUR MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE... SOME SECTIONS MAY BE EASIER AND MORE FAMILIAR,
WHILE OTHERS WILL POSE A CHALLENGE. ONCE YOU KNOW WHICH SECTIONS OF THE TEST YOU MUST WORK
ON, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GATHER THE NECESSARY RESOURCES AND ORGANIZE A STUDY PLAN TO FILL
IN THE GAPS... >>REVIEW.
REVIEW WHAT YOU STUDIED OR PRACTICED DURING THE PREVIOUS DAY WHENEVER YOU HAVE TIME. REVIEW
THE PROBLEM AREAS YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED IN YOUR PLAN. REGULAR REVISIONS WILL HELP YOU RETAIN
INFORMATION… BUT YOU DO NOT ALWAYS NEED TO BE IN A FORMAL SETTING FOR YOUR REVIEW…
YOU CAN PRACTICE ON YOUR WAY TO SCHOOL OR WORK, ON THE BUS, OR IN THE SUBWAY. USE FREE
TIME TO REVIEW SMALL CHUNKS OF INFORMATION YOU LEARNED THE PREVIOUS DAY...
>>TIME YOURSELF. PRACTICE TIMING YOURSELF WHEN YOU ANSWER PRACTICE
QUESTIONS. WHEN YOU REVIEW ANSWERS, TRY TO ANALYZE WHY YOU ANSWERED THEM CORRECTLY OR
INCORRECTLY... IN THE CASE OF A WRONG ANSWER, GO BACK AND REVIEW THE DISCIPLINE OR CONCEPT
TO ADVANCE YOUR LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE... >>PREPARE QUESTIONS.
MAKE SURE TO PREPARE A SET OF QUESTIONS YOU WILL ASK YOURSELF AFTER YOU READ A TEXTBOOK
OR WATCH A VIDEO. YOUR LIST MAY INCLUDE QUESTIONS LIKE:
HOW CAN I EXPLAIN THIS CONCEPT TO A FRIEND? CAN I THINK OF A REAL-LIFE SCENARIO WHEN THIS
CONCEPT MAY BE APPLIED? HOW IS THIS CONCEPT RELATED TO OTHER CONCEPTS
I ALREADY STUDIED? DO I UNDERSTAND THIS CONCEPT AND IF NOT, WHERE
CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CONCEPT? >>FLASHCARDS.
CREATE YOUR OWN DETAILED FLASHCARDS WITH CONCEPTS, VOCABULARY LISTS, AND DIAGRAMS.
>>STUDY WITH A PARTNER OR IN A GROUP. TRY TO INCLUDE COLLABORATIVE STUDY INTO YOUR
SCHEDULE… YOU CAN TRY TEACHING EACH OTHER AND GOING THROUGH EACH TOPIC YOU FIND CHALLENGING.
USE OTHER PEOPLE AS SOUNDING BOARDS TO ASK QUESTIONS, THINK OUT LOUD, AND SHARE KNOWLEDGE.
YOU CAN EVEN QUIZ EACH OTHER! >>INCLUDE A VARIETY OF TOPICS.
SCHEDULE DIFFERENT TOPICS INTO EACH STUDY SESSION TO MAKE CONNECTIONS AND RELATE CONCEPTS
TO EACH OTHER. >>ASK FOR HELP.
IT IS NORMAL TO APPROACH A PROFESSOR WITH A LIST OF QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT MCAT
CONTENT. WHILE YOU STUDY, KEEP A LIST OF CONCEPTS YOU STRUGGLE WITH AND ANY OTHER QUESTIONS
YOU MAY HAVE. ARRANGE FOR A MEETING WITH YOUR PROFESSOR AND ASK FOR HELP WITH YOUR QUESTIONS.
>>SUMMARIZE. SUMMARIZE WHAT YOU LEARN FROM MEMORY, CREATE
DIAGRAMS AND CHARTS THAT COMPARE CONCEPTS. CHECK YOUR SUMMARIES BY USING LECTURE NOTES,
TEXTBOOKS, OR ANY OF YOUR OTHER STUDY RESOURCES. SUMMARIES ARE A GREAT WAY TO REVISIT CONTENT
YOU ALREADY UNDERSTAND. THIS PRACTICE WILL CEMENT YOUR LEARNING.
>>CLASS. JOIN A CLASS IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU NEED MORE
HELP THAN YOU CAN SOURCE BY YOURSELF. TIPS TO ACE THE MCAT CARS SECTION
MANY STUDENTS FIND THE CARS SECTION AS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE MCAT BECAUSE
IT’S VERY DIFFICULT TO PREPARE FOR… BUT I HAVE SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU ACE THE CARS...
>>1. ACTIVE READING HOW YOU READ THE TEXT WILL GREATLY DETERMINE
YOUR PROGRESS IN READING AND UNDERSTANDING OF CARS PASSAGES. SO, THE NUMBER ONE STRATEGY
FOR ACING YOUR MCAT CARS SECTION IS ACTIVE READING. RATHER THAN SIMPLY SKIMMING OVER
THE PASSAGES, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO READ THEM OUT LOUD. AS YOU READ, STOP AFTER EACH
PARAGRAPH AND IDENTIFY ITS MAIN POINT. YOU MAY WANT TO HIGHLIGHT ANY KEYWORDS OR SENTENCES
WITHIN THE PARAGRAPH THAT YOU FIND IMPORTANT TO THE OVERALL MESSAGE OF THE PARAGRAPH. THESE
CAN OFTEN SERVE AS IMPORTANT SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, SO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORDS AND CONCEPTS
MEAN; TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK THEM UP IF YOU NEED TO. AFTER READING EACH PARAGRAPH, SUMMARIZE
ITS MAIN POINT IN YOUR OWN WORDS AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS CONTRIBUTING
TO THE PASSAGE AT LARGE... AFTER YOU FINISH READING THE PASSAGE, BEFORE
YOU READ THE QUESTIONS, USE YOUR OWN WORDS TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN POINT OR THE CENTRAL
THESIS OF THE PASSAGE. THINK OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU PINPOINT THE THESIS:
“WHAT IS THE TOPIC OF THIS PASSAGE?” “DOES THE AUTHOR FEEL GOOD OR BAD ABOUT
THIS TOPIC?” USING A SPECIFIC PARAGRAPH WITHIN THE PASSAGE,
SUMMARIZE WHAT THE AUTHOR IS DOING. ARE THEY GIVING AN EXAMPLE TO SUPPORT OR REFUTE THEIR
MAIN POINT? ARE THEY COMPARING AND CONTRASTING CONCEPTS? ARE THEY STATING THEIR OPINION?
YOU WILL NOTICE HOW THESE SIMPLE QUESTIONS HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONTENT AND THE STRUCTURE
OF THE PASSAGE. WITH THEIR HELP, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DISSECT THE PASSAGE, IDENTIFY ITS
MAIN POINTS, AND PICK OUT IMPORTANT SUPPORTING EVIDENCE WITHIN THE TEXT. REMEMBER, INSTEAD
OF FOCUSING ON NAMES, DATES, OR ANY OTHER SUCH DETAILS, FOCUS ON THE MAIN ARGUMENTS
THE AUTHOR IS MAKING. THE IDENTIFIERS INCLUDED IN THE PASSAGE WILL BE INCIDENTAL AND THEREFORE
WILL NOT INFLUENCE THE MAIN ARGUMENT. >>2. PRACTICE READING CHALLENGING TEXTS
LET’S BE HONEST, PEOPLE WHO DO WELL ON CARS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO READ A LOT. YES, SOME PEOPLE
START PREPARING FOR CARS ONLY 4 TO 6 MONTHS BEFORE THEY TAKE THE TEST, BUT THE TRUTH IS,
COMPREHENSION AND ANALYSIS ARE SKILLS THAT ARE ACQUIRED BY EXTENSIVE READING OF COMPLEX
AND CHALLENGING MATERIALS... SO, IDEALLY, STUDENTS WHO ARE LOOKING TO DO WELL ON THEIR
CARS SHOULD START READING EXTENSIVELY 2 OR 3 YEARS BEFORE THEY TAKE THE TEST... IF YOU
DO NOT HAVE THE LUXURY OF TIME, I SUGGEST YOU HABITUATE YOURSELF TO READING CHALLENGING
MATERIAL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... SET ASIDE AT LEAST 30 MINUTES OF YOUR DAY
TO READ CLASSICS OF LITERATURE, LITERARY ARTICLES, JOURNALS, AND OTHER SCHOLARLY MATERIALS. IT
IS NORMAL TO FEEL OVERWHELMED WHEN YOU FIRST START READING THESE MATERIALS; AT TIMES, YOU
MIGHT NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND ALL THE WORDS USED OR CONCEPTS DISCUSSED. HOWEVER, KEEPING UP
WITH YOUR READING WILL IMPROVE YOUR COMPREHENSION AND REASONING SKILLS AS YOU EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY
AND BROADEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE. MAKE SURE YOU APPLY THE SAME SYSTEM OF IDENTIFYING THE MAIN
ARGUMENTS AND THESES TO YOUR PRACTICE READING. IF YOU ARE READING AN ARTICLE, REFLECT ON
WHAT THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW IS AND IDENTIFY THE MAIN THEME OF THE ARTICLE.
BE AWARE, IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO PRACTICE FOR CARS USING CARS SAMPLE PASSAGES AND QUESTIONS.
YOU MUST DO OUTSIDE READING IN ADDITION TO PRACTICE PASSAGES TO SUCCEED ON YOUR CARS.
LOOK TO PUBLICATIONS LIKE THE NEW YORKER, THE ECONOMIST OR THE NEW YORK TIMES… AND
MAKE SURE TO DIVE INTO JOURNALS AND LITERARY CLASSICS..
>>3. IDENTIFY CARS QUESTION TYPES IT IS COMMON FOR STUDENTS TO HAVE TROUBLE
IDENTIFYING THE TYPE OF QUESTIONS THEY ARE FACING… SO IT’S VITAL TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY
THE QUESTION CATEGORY BY YOURSELF INSTEAD OF RELYING ON THE AAMC TO TELL YOU WHAT IT
IS. YOUR ANSWERS WILL BE HIT OR MISS IF YOU CANNOT SUCCESSFULLY IDENTIFY THE QUESTION
TYPE... REMEMBER, YOU SHOULD GRASP THE FOUNDATIONS OF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS FIRST, AS IT WOULD
BE DIFFICULT TO REASON WITHIN OR BEYOND THE TEXT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING
OF THE TEXT IN FRONT OF YOU… IF YOU’RE STRUGGLING WITH COMPREHENSION,
A PART OF YOUR PREPARATION FOR CARS SHOULD BE ASKING YOURSELF ABOUT THE MAIN POINT OF
WHATEVER MATERIAL YOU HAPPEN TO READ. IF YOU’RE READING AN OP-ED ARTICLE IN THE MORNING NEWSPAPER,
ASK YOURSELF A VARIETY OF QUESTIONS LIKE: “WHAT IS THE MAIN TOPIC OF THIS ARTICLE?”
“HOW DOES THE AUTHOR FEEL ABOUT THIS TOPIC?”, AND
“WHAT POINTS DOES THE AUTHOR USE TO SUPPORT OR OPPOSE THE MAIN ARGUMENT?”
AS YOU CONTINUE TO PREPARE FOR CARS BY READING COMPLEX AND DIVERSE MATERIALS, GET IN THE
HABIT OF ASKING YOURSELF THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS. YOU WILL SOON NOTICE THAT IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTS
AND MAIN POINTS BECOMES EASIER. >>4. A STEP-BY-STEP ANSWER STRATEGY
WHEN YOU ARE READY TO TACKLE THE QUESTIONS, START BY CAREFULLY READING EACH QUESTION AND
THE ANSWERS PROVIDED. IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE IDENTIFYING THE CORRECT ANSWER, FOLLOW THESE
STEPS: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE.
IDENTIFY THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW AND NOT YOUR OWN. REMEMBER THE MAIN THESIS AND
ARGUMENTS YOU IDENTIFIED WHEN READING THE PASSAGE.
WHAT TYPE OF ESSAY IS IN FRONT OF YOU? IS THE PASSAGE A COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY,
A METAPHORIC TEXT, A LIST OF IDEAS, OR A CAUSE AND EFFECT ARTICLE?
IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND A SENTENCE, READ IT AGAIN. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT AFTER
SEVERAL ATTEMPTS, YOU CAN LEAVE IT AND RETURN TO IT A LITTLE LATER, OR YOU CAN TRY LOOKING
UP ANY WORDS THAT ARE UNKNOWN TO YOU. A GOOD PRACTICE IS TO TRY TO COME UP WITH
YOUR OWN ANSWER BEFORE READING THE ANSWERS THAT ARE PROVIDED TO YOU. ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR
OWN ANSWER, YOU CAN THEN PICK A PROVIDED ANSWER THAT MATCHES YOUR OWN.
IDENTIFY WHICH ARE THE CLEARLY WRONG ANSWERS AND ELIMINATE THEM FROM YOUR LIST OF CHOICES.
IF YOU ARE STUCK AND CANNOT PICK THE RIGHT ANSWER, YOU SHOULD PICK THE ONE YOU THINK
IS MOST CORRECT AND FLAG THAT QUESTION. REMEMBER, MCAT IS A TIMED TEST AND YOU ONLY HAVE 90
MINUTES FOR THIS SECTION, SO MOVE ONTO THE NEXT QUESTION AND COME BACK TO THIS QUESTION
LATER IF YOU HAVE TIME. >>5. WORKING ON SPEED
DURING THE INITIAL STAGES OF YOUR CARS PREPARATION, YOU SHOULD NOT FOCUS ON TIME. YOU SHOULD FOCUS
ON ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY BEFORE YOU MOVE ON TO WORKING ON YOUR SPEED. MOST
STUDENTS STRUGGLE TO IDENTIFY THE CORRECT ANSWERS IN THE INITIAL STAGES OF THE CARS
PREP. THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL. WHEN YOU START STUDYING FOR CARS, YOUR PRIMARY GOAL
SHOULD BE TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPES AND SLOWLY WORK ON ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY.
REMEMBER, CARS PREP TAKES MONTHS OF HARD WORK, SO YOUR PROGRESS WILL DEPEND ON WHETHER YOU
PRACTICE WITH ADDITIONAL CARS PASSAGES AND READ COMPLEX MATERIALS...
ONLY START WORKING ON YOUR SPEED ONCE YOU ARE CONSISTENTLY ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY.
WHEN YOU BEGIN TIMING YOURSELF, START BY GIVING YOURSELF MORE TIME, THEN GRADUALLY WORKING
DOWN TO 10 MINUTES. AGAIN... DO NOT SACRIFICE ANSWERING QUESTIONS CORRECTLY FOR SPEED. FIRST
AND FOREMOST, YOU MUST GET COMFORTABLE WITH TACKLING THE QUESTIONS AND IDENTIFYING THE
RIGHT ANSWER. THOSE ARE OUR TIPS TO HELP YOU ACE THE MCAT...
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG TO READ MORE ABOUT MCAT TIPS... I HAVE INCLUDED THE LINK IN THE DESCRIPTION
OF THIS VIDEO FOR EASY ACCESS... IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO HELP YOU ACE YOUR MCAT, VISIT BEMOMCAT.COM
TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION... HOPEFULLY YOU ENJOYED THIS VIDEO SO PLEASE
SUBSCRIBE, LIKE AND LEAVE A COMMENT. AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MCAT THAT
I DIDN’T COVER, LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON
AS POSSIBLE... DON’T FORGET THAT WE'RE GIVING AWAY $50 AMAZON GIFT CARDS EVERY WEEK TO THE
BEST COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS… SO COMMENT BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN. THANKS FOR WATCHING
AND SEE YOU NEXT TIME.