Preparation for MCAT

by Adil Siddiqui- D'18

(with some contributions from Anum Zehra Raza- D'18)

I know how it is, how it feels to be hanging there not knowing what the future awaits for you. Trust me, you need not calm down right now since you hardly have a month left. If I had been writing this post a month back, I would have asked you to be cool about the exam and take it easily. But since the span is less, you guys need to bring up your A-game right now.

I hope by now you all have joined a coaching centre for MCAT preparation and given dozens of tests there (it surely helps!). In case you haven’t, you need not worry. There are students who managed to get in, without attempting a single practice test. These institutes are going to scare you about how hard the paper is going to be and how competitive the race is. They may be true about the latter but not about the former.

The NTS test was the easiest MCQ test I've ever written in my life! My emotions were contrary to this conclusion (and yours might be too) when I first entered the test venue: an enormous, tented ground with thousands of chairs and tables. The only thing that helped me out there was a little trip to the lavatory before the test and loads of prayers to settle my nerves.

So this was a brief strategy as to how you are to think about the day of the paper but there are still questions unanswered. How do you need to prepare for it? Is it okay if you leave some topics? There are thousands of people who have given the MCAT and everyone might have a different tactic to study for it. What worked for me might not work for you. Nevertheless, I will tell you about my experience, how I failed to do what I was supposed to do and what you should do.

 

Study smartly!

Although I am in DMC on merit, I do have regrets. I didn't study much for the paper. I did not go through the books at all before the last month. And whomever you are going to is going to tell you the same thing, "The paper is made from the Intermediate books and the Intermediate books only".

It's good if you have gone through all the subject books twice by now. If not, it's okay. I hadn't too. When it comes to how much you are supposed to study, I had friends studying six to seven hours a day apart from the six to seven hours they spent in the coaching center and it did pay off for some. For some, it didn't. (I won’t tell you how long I studied because it’s shameful :p ).

The key to it all is smart studying. Smart studying is studying in a manner in which you'll be able to retain whatever you go through and not simply reading the way you would read The Kite Runner.

Highlighters are a good tool for this purpose but please don’t end up painting the book! Highlight the lines that deem importance, for example you should highlight the vitamins involved in the Krebs cycle (Vitamin B complex), what the grasslands are called (bread baskets of the world), or the definition of Pauli's exclusion principle.

You might be wondering if you can leave some topics. Yes, sure you can but on your own risk. You cannot expect anything from the NTS! 

There is a fair chance of repetition of questions. So try solving past papers; any NTS paper will do. MCAT books might also facilitate you; I had Dogar Sons. I didn't look at it much but the chapters I went through became my forte. You should only go for MCAT books if you are done with intermediate books. If not, then don't waste your time on anything extra.

Subject wise tips

It's been a year, I cannot recall it all but what I remember is that the Biology and Chemistry section of the test can be easily solved if you have read the books (thanks to the "ratta" type questions).

Try not to ignore Organic Chemistry since it's important. Do chapter 10 thoroughly. In Biology, no chapter is less important than the other. If you are worried about Kingdom Plantae and Animalia, you should at least know the botanical names of plants and classification of animals. Though, no more than one hard and three easy questions are going to be made out of these two chapters combined.

Physics is what most pre-medical students find difficult. The key to do good in Physics is to solve all the numericals and examples given in the Intermediate books. It helps when you have the image of the answers of each and every numerical in your mind from the examples of the books (This is a good trick, trust me :D).
Any numerical requiring very lengthy working is not expected to come. So, do not and I mean DO NOT look at the ladder numericals in God knows fourth or fifth chapter of the first year book. The examiner isn't stupid to give it in the paper since you only have a minute for a question.
Chapter 2, 3,4,10 are most important. You cannot, at any cost, ignore them. At least one dimension would be asked from chapter 1 and that would probably be the only thing to be asked from this chapter. You must know the definitions from chapter 5. Numericals would be mostly from chapter 2,3,4,7,8,10. Doppler effect is the likely thing to be asked from chapter 8. You are expected to know the mass, radius of earth/moon from chapter 6. Learn the values of all important constants.

For English, you need to not worry at all. Two vocabulary questions are the only tricky thing in this section, which wouldn’t be a problem if your English is fine.

 

Manage your time properly

"One minute for a question", keep that in mind. Contrary to this, I was taught "20 seconds for a question" from where I did my preparation but the mere thought of it is bogus too.

Yes, you might not even need 20 seconds for easy biology questions but then there are Physics numericals and Organic chemistry that definitely take a minute. I used the word 'easy' here , you must understand that every student who's least interested to get into a medical college will get these questions correct (the pattern of the NTS test is approximately 10 difficult questions, 50 moderate questions and 40 easy questions).

Don't bother about more than half the hard questions if you're not aiming to get in the top 25. Getting in the top 25 sounds very fancy but it all dies down in a while when you're in the medical college.

Do not overdo your paper

All of you might have calculated your score out of 50 by now. If not, then you should do it now. Add 10% of your O levels’ equivalence or Matric percentage to 40% of your Inter or A levels percentage and you have the result. It's well and good if it's above 40. If it's not, you just have to score more in the test, there's no big deal there.

This score, out of 50, will give you an idea of how many questions you need to attempt correctly in order to secure your seat. If for instance your score is 43/50, keeping in mind last year's closing percentage of 85.3, you need to score a minimum of 86 in your test. If you are sure you'll get 86 questions correct, do not try to pick an intuitive answer. Negative marking can mess it up for you. I attempted 91 and got five wrong. 

Final Advice 

Lastly, do not rush with the smearing circles there, you're supposed to fill it in pen so no recovering your answer.

At the day of the paper, be prepared with everything you're supposed to bring. DO NOT leave the admit card like a lot of people did. Have a light breakfast, try not studying a lot the day before, and rather spend some time watching light comedy, praying or reading poetry. This helped me and it might help you too.

You need to have that one determination in you: you are going to beat the sh** out of the paper! It probably is the most important paper of your life and you'll be dealing with a hundred folds difficult papers from now on. I'm not going to say it's okay if you mess up the paper. You're going to ruin your life if you do that trust me. And it'll be a matter of hours when you find out if you're becoming a doctor or not.

I'm sorry to fabricate this tension in you but start studying like there’s nothing else to do. Read the books again and again. As the stress starts building, don't be too fussy with your parents; they are the ones who want it the most for you.

I've given you a good tactical analysis I hope, but of course, the experience of it will be somewhat different. Good luck with everything that comes along the way. Do share your experience after the paper and ask anything if you're confused about it.