Kaplan MCAT General Chemistry Review

One of the most valuable strategies to help you finish the sections in time is to learn to recognize and deal first with the questions that are easier and more familiar to you. That means you must temporarily skip those that promise to be difficult and time-consuming, if you feel comfortable doing so. You can always come back to these at the end, and if you run out of time, you’re much better off not getting to questions you may have had difficulty with, rather than not getting to potentially feasible material. Of course, because there’s no guessing penalty, always put an answer to every question on the test, whether you get to it or not. (It’s not practical to skip passages, so do those in order.)

This strategy is difficult for most test takers; we’re conditioned to do things in order, but give it a try when you practice. Remember, if you do the test in the exact order given, you’re letting the test makers control you. You control how you take this test. On the other hand, if skipping around goes against your moral fiber and makes you a nervous wreck—don’t do it. Just be mindful of the clock, and don’t get bogged down with the tough questions.

2. LEARN TO RECOGNIZE AND SEEK OUT QUESTIONS YOU CAN DO

Another thing to remember about managing the test sections is that MCAT questions and passages, unlike items on the SAT and other standardized tests, are not presented in order of difficulty. There’s no rule that says you have to work through the sections in any particular order; in fact, the test makers scatter the easy and difficult questions throughout the section, in effect rewarding those who actually get to the end. Don’t lose sight of what you’re being tested for along with your reading and thinking skills: efficiency and cleverness.

Don’t waste time on questions you can’t do. We know that skipping a possibly tough question is easier said than done; we all have the natural instinct to plow through test sections in their given order, but it just doesn’t pay off on the MCAT. The computer won’t be impressed if you get the toughest question right. If you dig in your heels on a tough question, refusing to move on until you’ve cracked it, well, you’re letting your ego get in the way of your test score. A test section (not to mention life itself) is too short to waste on lost causes.

3. USE A PROCESS OF ANSWER ELIMINATION

Using a process of elimination is another way to answer questions both quickly and effectively. There are two ways to get all the answers right on the MCAT. You either know all the right answers, or you know all the wrong answers. Because there are three times as many wrong answers, you should be able to eliminate some if not all of them. By doing so you either get to the correct response or increase your chances of guessing the correct response. You start out with a 25 percent chance of picking the right answer, and with each eliminated answer your odds go up. Eliminate one, and you’ll have a 33 ⅓ percent chance of picking the right one, eliminate two, and you’ll have a 50 percent chance, and, of course, eliminate three, and you’ll have a 100 percent chance. Increase your efficiency by actually crossing out the wrong choices on the screen using the strike-through feature. Remember to look for wrong-answer traps when you’re eliminating. Some answers are designed to seduce you by distorting the correct answer.

4. REMAIN CALM

It’s imperative that you remain calm and composed while working through a section. You can’t allow yourself to become so rattled by one hard reading passage that it throws off your performance on the rest of the section. Expect to find at least one killer passage in every section, but remember, you won’t be the only one to have trouble with it. The test is curved to take the tough material into account. Having trouble with a difficult question isn’t going to ruin your score—but getting upset about it and letting it throw you off track will. When you understand that part of the test maker’s goal is to reward those who keep their composure, you’ll recognize the importance of not panicking when you run into challenging material.

5. KEEP TRACK OF TIME

Of course, the last thing you want to happen is to have time called on a particular section before you’ve gotten to half the questions. Therefore, it’s essential that you pace yourself, keeping in mind the general guidelines for how long to spend on any individual question or passage. Have a sense of how long you have to do each question, so you know when you’re exceeding the limit and should start to move faster.

So, when working on a section, always remember to keep track of time. Don’t spend a wildly disproportionate amount of time on any one question or group of questions. Also, give yourself 30 seconds or so at the end of each section to fill in answers for any questions you haven’t gotten to.