MCAT Skills tested prep materials

[beastfromtheeast]

I am just getting my feet wet with my MCAT prep and going over the content outline and I noticed that the new MCAT apparently focuses on testing these four skills:

1. Knowledge of scientific concepts and principles
2 Scientific reasoning and problem solving
3. Reasoning about the design and execution of research
4. Data-based and statistical reasoning

Seeing that the exam seems to have changed so much (I'm comparing old practice tests with the new section banks from AAMC), would it be silly to study with old prep resources/ material like BK, EK or Kaplan made before this change? I was thinking of just using them for content review, but does anyone know of any good prep resources that have this new MCAT "focus" in mind. I noticed that the new MCAT has much much more of a critical thinking and experimental focus just comparing old and new questions.....Any guidance would be much appreciated! I've seen some of the new Kaplan stuff and it does look re-done but it seems to me they haven't really had the time to dissect this new MCAT

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[BerkReviewTeach]

You pose an EXCELLENT question that I wish more people would contemplate. This is perhaps the most important question anyone can consider before studying. Most of the "2015" materials on the market were written in late 2013 and released in early 2014. This means that it was written not only before the new MCAT had been given but even before AAMC released their practice exam and latest version of their guide.

We (BR) took a big hit in terms of popularity by not releasing new books until mid 2015 (for the biology) up to April 2016 (for our physics). We were very late in terms of putting new books out there, but we had a very good reason for it. While the current MCAT is a hybrid of their older style material and the new additions (biochemistry, psychology, and biological applications of physics and chemistry), it is moving more and more into what they describe in their guide. Our top students (the ones with scores through the roof) are always the ones who are particularly good at #3 (reasoning about the design and execution of research). Questions of Type #3 were a big part of deciding which which old passages to put to rest when adding in new passages. We didn't make big changes to our text (as we already had many biological applications spread throughout all of the books), but our passages had to incorporate more questions of #3 type. You'll read here (at SDN) that many people using our older books have done quite well on the new MCAT, and I think that is because our materials have always been rich in question types #1, #2, and #4. But #3 is key for the top tier scores.

 

[beastfromtheeast]

With any major test change/overhaul, I presume it takes test prep companies time to evolve. I'll be keeping an eye out to see which test prep companies are making necessary changes. I will provide an update with all useful information I come across.

Cheers

 

[locknessmonsta]

Look forward to your post!

 

[beckybecks]

For the new MCAT it is important to address all four skills:

1. Knowledge of scientific concepts and principles
2 Scientific reasoning and problem solving
3. Reasoning about the design and execution of research
4. Data-based and statistical reasoning

I find a lot of the material from the test-prep companies you mentioned doesn't masterfully address skill 3. I've been patiently amassing resources from certain textbooks and research papers to address this skill. However, I have yet to see any test prep company address all skills in a proficient manner.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

With any major test change/overhaul, I presume it takes test prep companies time to evolve. I'll be keeping an eye out to see which test prep companies are making necessary changes. I will provide an update with all useful information I come across.

Cheers

It would be so beneficial for this site if you would do this. Not all materials are created equal (or even close to equal), and using the right materials for what you need could be the differences of maybe 3 to 6 points.

 

[Susanoo951]

This really got me thinking...to me, I feel like the MCAT now has such a huge focus on Critical Thinking. Get through the sample passages and picking out what is important from what is not, knowing when to rely solely on your background knowledge/ content vs when to use the passage (partially or completely) to answer a question, the conceptual tricks employed...Not to mention the fact that I have personally heard of so many friends do well on the MCAT without a very strong background in what are essentially the prerequisite sciences....Maybe the MCAT is not as much about science as it is about your ability to just think/ reason under pressure and use logic and such to make the right choice...after all it is a multiple choice exam....end rant...lol

 

[Kitkatkat]

It would be so beneficial for this site if you would do this. Not all materials are created equal (or even close to equal), and using the right materials for what you need could be the differences of maybe 3 to 6 points.

There is so much truth to this. A lot of my friends fail to notice the discrepancy in both content and skills that certain prep companies choose to focus on versus what the AAMC actually wants covered for the new MCAT.

This whole concept of "high yield" that I've come across in certain books is just so much bogus to me. How do prep companies know that a certain topic is "high yield"? Are they best of buds with the test writers? Lol. Sure, some foundational concepts are more fundamental to a wider range of disciplines tested by the MCAT, but how would company a) know that this topic (in isolation) is more than likely to show up on the MCAT? Furthermore, a lot of topics are presented in prep resources in isolation which is not how the MCAT likes to play.

Then you have so many students who talk about their MCAT experience with "So much harder than previous practice tests" or "the most random of topics". Excuse my rant...lol - people need to pick their resources wisely!