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| ARCHIVED Weekly Strategy Sessions Week 1- Applying the Socratic Method to the MCAT For anyone who may not be familiar with the Socratic Method, allow me to give a very brief synopsis: According to tradition, when Socrates instructed his protégés he avoided giving them direct answers to their questions. Instead, he asked them a series of questions designed to lead them into developing their own answers. This method is often utilized by professors who teach theoretical areas of study, such as psychology, philosophy and political science. The prevailing wisdom seems to say that the Socratic Method would not work well in a “hard science” application such as math, biology or physics. Imagine a student asking the professor “What is the sum of 2 + 2?” The professor then responds, “Well, what do you think it is?” Perhaps he follows that question by asking, “What is the meaning of ‘2’ anyway.”
Fortunately, however, the MCAT doesn’t test “2 + 2”-type knowledge. What it does test is a conceptual understanding of basic science topics and a student’s ability to think critically in applying that knowledge. This type of content is very well tackled using the Socratic Method. Today, we will discuss how to use this method in approaching MCAT questions.
Most of us take a decidedly non-Socratic approach to answering questions. First, we tend to take a simplified view that there is only one specific answer for each question. We therefore set about memorizing thousands of question-answer pairs. When we study for exams, we tend to memorize and recite instead of pondering and conceptualizing. For a moment, try to think what exactly goes on in your mind when you approach a question. Do you sometimes read the question nervously waiting for that “magic moment” when your brain kicks in and says “oh yes, I recognize that question, the answer is _______.” Similarly, when you face a question to which you cannot immediately generate an answer, do you ever sit there in a stupor, drumming your fingers on the desk, adjusting your position in the chair and “racking your brain” (whatever the heck that means)? Many of us appear to believe that there is a little troll in our brain, frantically sifting thru endless rows of filing cabinets and all we can do is wait patiently until that fateful moment when he finds the answer and pops it into our mind. If he never finds it (dang troll!), well, there’s nothing we can do about it. It has been my experience that even the most efficient critical thinkers still slip into this pit fall from time to time. We read a difficult question and let our mind just freeze. We fret for a few moments, getting increasingly nervous and frantic, and eventually guess and move on.
The antidote for this common problem is learning to reason thru difficult problems utilizing the principles of the Socratic Method. Instead of focusing on recalling the “answer,” one should focus on questions. We very well may not know the answer to the question at first glance. However, we do know something. In fact, after taking this course, we ought to know a whole lot of things. By focusing on what we do know about the subject, we can gradually “help” our brain toward understanding the question in a framework that will allow us to clearly see the correct answer.
With this in mind, the very first thing I do when attempting MCAT questions is to ask myself, “What do I know about this subject?” If the question, for example, asked me to predict the affects of gravity on two different objects, I would begin by asking myself questions such as: “What do I know about gravity? What formulas do I know involving or describing gravity? What is different about these two objects? Are any of those differences included in the formula?” This type of approach does more than just get your mind churning, it actually helps it along toward understanding the answer. The fact is, whoever wrote this question was obviously thinking of some basic principle of science. Although many students might falsely believe otherwise, it will NOT be some obscure, difficult concept. You can be perfectly confident that the question is based on application of a basic principle that you almost certainly covered in your lessons or in group session.
This attitude—a confidence that there is a simple principle being tested and you just have to figure out which one—is also a tremendous step toward being successful on the MCAT. The people who wrote these questions are no smarter than you are. In fact, most all of them are doctors who took the MCAT themselves and probably didn’t do as well as you are going to. Furthermore, they have proven themselves over the years to be extremely committed to removing unfair, difficult questions from the test. You can have confidence that you are a bona fide MCAT expert who can tackle anything they throw at you. Use this attitude as you analyze MCAT answer choices. Again borrowing from Socrates, focus on questions. Read an answer choice and deconstruct it. “Well, it says here that acceleration due to gravity is always independent of mass. Is that true? What is ‘acceleration due to gravity’? Are there any cases I’m aware of when acceleration is dependent on mass? What formulas do I know? I know F = mg, so g = F/m,” etc.
Use this same approach for each answer choice. Test the validity of statements against what you know, against the conceptual definitions you’ve developed in your study, even against real life experiences. I often find it helpful to ask myself, “well, if that statement were true, what else would have to be true?” This will often lead me to something I am absolutely certain is false, reassuring me that the answer choice is also false. This approach is so effective that it will almost NEVER leave you stranded. You may still miss the occasional question, but it will be because you made an error in your reasoning, not because you were just stumped and had no clue.
In conclusion, if you have understood this approach as I have explained it, you may also note that you can’t do very well at this if you don’t know very much, or are not very confident in the things you know. That is why mastering the lessons in a conceptual way is so important. Be sure that you have a good conceptual grasp of what all these things actually ‘are’ and why and how they work.
Best wishes until next week,
Lauren Week 2- Restating the Question Stem Last week we discussed the value of using a Socratic approach to answering MCAT questions. Hopefully, you have all been working hard to train yourselves to formulate questions about each stem and answer choice you face. In addition to the benefits we’ve already discussed, it will also have the side effect of helping prevent you from answering too quickly. If you haven’t already, you’ll kick yourself many times before this process is over for choosing an answer too quickly that you would have gotten correct had you slowed down a bit. Preventing such errors is an absolute must if you want to break that elusive 40 mark.
It was also mentioned in our last session that many of us have been essentially trained to memorize question-answer sets. Unfortunately, these memorized answers are so ubiquitous they can actually get in the way of our thinking. Quite often, we have a very logical answer jump into our mind and—since it just happens to be one of the answer choices—we can’t wait to mark it. The only problem is, it is often the correct answer to some other question, but not this one. I’m sure your tutors have already mentioned this several times in group, but almost every wrong MCAT answer choice is actually true in some context. They love to fill the wrong answer choices with statements that are entirely true, but are incorrect because they don’t answer the question.
This is just one reason why it is absolutely imperative that you 1) are extremely careful when reading question stems, and 2) that you always RESTATE the question stem with each answer choice. Here’s a brief review of how to answer an MCAT question: Begin by slowly and deliberately reading the question stem. I don’t use the word “anal” very often, but it is the perfect word to describe how you should be in reading MCAT question stems. Proceed slowly, pausing after every couple of words to ensure that you haven’t missed anything. By the end of the stem, you should be able to easily “get your mind around” the exact meaning of the question and be capable of restating it in simplified terms. If it doesn’t seem to “gel” in your mind right away, simply re-read the question stem once more. This might give you cause to worry that you’re taking too long. However, having a clear understanding of the question stem before you proceed will actually increase the speed with which you tackle questions. Like most Altius strategies, this is designed to improve both your accuracy and your efficiency.
Next, proceed to the first answer choice. Instead of reading it directly, restate your paraphrased version of the question stem with the answer choice. Often, it is fairly easy to turn the question stem and answer choice into a single statement or sentence. For example, the question stem might read, “Which of the following statements most strongly contradicts the author’s opinion about adoption?” Suppose that answer a) reads: “All children are innocent.” Rather than just reading the answer choice and trying to decide if it is true or not, read them together as a single sentence: “The statement, ‘All children are innocent,’ clearly contradicts the author’s opinion about adoption.” This approach—once again—makes the critical thinking process much easier for your brain. In the case of a Verbal Reasoning passage, it is very likely that the wrong answer choices are actually direct quotes out of the passage. In the passage I am referring to, the author took the opinion that all children are inherently good and therefore worthy of being adopted. Thus, the first answer choice is very tempting to students because it agrees with the author—something we are very often looking for in a correct answer. However, reading the stem and answer choice together will make it much more difficult for you to forget that you are actually looking for something that contradicts the author’s opinion. Repeat this process for each of the four answer choices. Remember not to be too easily sold on any one answer until you have given them all unbiased consideration.
This same approach works equally well for science questions. On many occasions, restating the question stem will cause you to catch yourself about to make a mistake. Hearing the question and answer together, your brain will kick in and say “wait a minute, that’s not right.” It is worth mentioning that some questions, particularly science questions, will appear very simple on their face. In such cases, do not be tempted to overlook this strategy. You’ll likely go thru the steps much more quickly—and that’s just fine—but still restate the stem to be absolutely certain that you’re not missing something.
If you practice this strategy every time you attempt MCAT questions, I am certain that it will help you answer more questions correctly. Remember, every strategy applied, every group session attended, every note card made, every lesson mastered—gives you a few more points toward your MCAT goals. One of the great things about these Altius strategies is that they will serve students at all levels of progression equally well. For the student struggling with almost every question, mastering these strategies will result in an almost immediate improvement in their scores. Meanwhile, for the student who is already doing extremely well and has a dream of getting a 45, these are also the strategies that must be mastered to systematically remove the pesky errors that stand in their way.
Keep up the great work,
Lauren Week 3- Getting the Most Out of Practice Questions There are two very important aspects of the Altius program thru which students gain hands-on practice with MCAT questions. The first, the group session component, gives you live practice with real AAMC questions on a repetitive weekly basis. The second, the Question Sets paired with each lesson, give you immediate feedback on how well you have mastered the materials in the lessons. From previous experience, we believe these two vital resources have been under-utilized by many students. One of our goals for this year is to help every student approach these two vital resources with greater determination, personal accountability and precision. If we can accomplish this goal, higher scores will almost certainly result. First, let’s briefly discuss how to get the most out of the questions you attempt during group session. Each passage and each question must be treated as an individual opportunity for learning. Each question gives you an insight into what will be on your actual MCAT. After attempting, scoring and analyzing a question with the group, make some brief notes next to that question. Identify what principles were being tested and how you can improve your knowledge in that area. Do this for both the questions you miss and those you answer correctly. However, especially for those you miss, make sure you figure out what went wrong! Was it a lack of knowledge, a formula you couldn’t recall, a flaw in your thinking, a failure to apply the strategies, etc.? From that point forward, the key to success is all about personal responsibility. You have identified a weakness, but you’ve also learned how to correct it. Take it upon yourself to guarantee that you will never miss a similar question again. To do this, you MUST do two things: 1) get it written down on a note card and 2) review that note card regularly. Far too many students have the faulty idea that they’ll just remember it without any further effort. Trust us, you need the repetition.
Another important note regarding group sessions: about half of the time you will be exposed to a new principle for the first time in group session. The other half of the time you will see it for the first time in your lessons. This is by design. Some students will ask their tutor “Are we going to cover this in the lessons?” The answer, of course, is yes. The implication, however, is that if we are going to review this again anyway, why bother to figure it out now? Bad idea! Remember that repetition is the key to long-term memory. You need to learn the principles behind every question, master those principles, and get them down on note cards, the first time you see them. If you don’t, then when we think you are getting a second exposure to the material, you will really only be getting your first exposure. The second resource I wish to discuss is the Question Sets that accompany each lesson. These questions have all been developed by careful analysis of those topics most frequently tested on the MCAT and how those topics are presented by the MCAT authors. We carefully model our questions so that they present the information, require critical thinking, and draw upon knowledge in the exact same format as those questions asked previously. Some students have astutely observed that the Question Sets seem harder than the AAMC passages. They are correct, but not in the way they suppose. The Question Sets are more difficult, NOT because any one question is harder than what has been asked previously on the MCAT, but because we only include questions that represent moderate to difficult MCAT items. Actual MCAT exams consist of about one-third easy, one-third moderate, and one-third difficult questions. An easy question, such as calculating the pH given the [H+], will either not be represented in the question sets at all, or may show up one time. We calculate that these easy tasks have been well covered in your tutoring sessions and want to focus more of your attention on the most challenging, most conceptual MCAT questions you are likely to face on each subject. To get the most out of the Question Sets, you simply need to treat them just as we have asked you to treat the AAMC questions in group session. Carefully analyze your performance on each item, note how you need to improve, get it down on a note card, and review that note card regularly. Toward the end of every program, I always do some informal sampling of students’ knowledge. I ask them fairly straight forward questions that I know have been emphasized in the lessons (usually in bold and italics), asked in the Question Sets, or covered in the group sessions. The results are too often disappointing. A few months separated from having learned something, many students have already forgotten it completely. Decide right now that you will NOT fall into that trap. There is another class of students. Our best students—the ones who end up scoring above our average—usually do remember. Which group will you be in? Best wishes until next week, Lauren Week 4- Becoming An MCAT Author
Attitudes do make a difference—a monumental difference. Watch almost any professional sport and you’re likely to hear comments such as: “Wow, he’s playing with tremendous confidence tonight,” or “She’s really struggling, she seems to have lost her confidence.” The MCAT is no different. You must develop an abiding confidence in your ability to tackle ANY question the MCAT presents to you. This confidence must be far more than telling yourself, “I can do this.” It must be based on a solid foundation of proven skill and accomplishment.
Today’s topic, “Becoming An MCAT Author,” will help you develop a key MCAT skill: the ability to dissect and analyze MCAT questions to the extent that you yourself can write effective, accurate MCAT questions. Once you begin to see the MCAT as the authors of the MCAT see it, you will gain tremendous confidence. Questions that once seemed entirely daunting can become almost laughably simple.
With this goal in mind, every time you attempt an MCAT question, whether on your own or in group session, you should take the time to analyze how the question is written and why. Ask yourself why the question stem was written as it was. The MCAT very often includes clues and key words in the question stem. Have you found and identified each of these? Is the question straight-forward or more conceptual? In what ways is it conceptual? Has the MCAT required this type of critical thinking on previous questions you’ve seen? Attempt to figure out how exactly the author intended you as the student to be able to answer the question. Sometimes they will have presented the answer to you in the passage. Other times they will NOT have presented the answer in the passage, but will have presented a related piece of information from which you should have been able to deduce the correct answer. Occasionally, they don’t even expect that you know the actual answer, only that you recognize the other three answer choices as impossible or illogical.
You will also want to ask yourself why the author chose those specific answer choices. Take a few moments to analyze how the answer choices are constructed. You will quickly learn to recognize favorite MCAT trends in writing questions. For example, they often present only two real options, but turn them into four answer choices by pairing them with alternate explanations. (i.e., a) increases, because the volume decreases; b) increases, because the temperature increases; c) decreases, because the volume decreases; d) decreases, because the temperature increases). This is just one such pattern. Try on your own to identify as many of these patterns as you can. Although the MCAT presents thousands of different questions on hundreds of different topics, there are probably only twenty or thirty different “types” of questions. In other words, whatever the subject is, when they decide to write a question testing that subject they are very predictable in the way in which they will ask it. As you begin to see and recognize these patterns, the MCAT will become significantly “de-mystified” for you personally. If you can see, understand and predict everything in their “bag of tricks,” then it is obvious why you can be justifiably confident on test day.
Make it a personal commitment that from this moment forward you will always take the extra time necessary to analyze each question you attempt. As you do this, you will begin to see just how “far off,” the questions written by other MCAT prep companies truly are. These questions are often far less conceptual than the AAMC questions, are presented in patterns that have never been used on any of the AAMC practice tests, and usually look far more similar to a question you might see on an undergraduate science exam than they do to what you normally see on the MCAT. When you can pick up a Kaplan book and quickly point out what is “wrong” with one of their questions, you’ll know you are well on your way. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to further assist you in your preparation. Your tutors truly do care for you and personally desire your success. Although I do not know each of you personally, I think of you often and inquire as to your progress. You have a lot of people cheering for you and all the tools you need to succeed! Lauren Week 5- Gut Check Time! Everyone on the Altius team is completely dedicated to giving each one of you the help and assistance you need to succeed; and by this point it ought to be entirely clear that our definition of “success” is far more demanding than others. We trust, however, that heightened expectations and results are a major reason why you chose this program. Results from previous years have been more than impressive; they demonstrated that we have something here that is truly different—something that truly works. However, it will only work to the extent that each individual student is willing to develop the internal determination, exhibit the day-to-day dedication, and make the personal sacrifices necessary to succeed. At Altius, we are keenly aware that providing students with the academic tools necessary to master the MCAT is only one part of the equation. A poor MCAT score is usually as much a result of improper motivation and discipline as it is a result of improper preparation. Although some of you may have just joined us, most of you have now been in the program for one, or even two months . . . and it's time for a gut check!
From recent discussions with the tutors, it has become clear that this year’s students are quickly separating themselves into two groups: 1) those who are working extremely hard, doing everything we ask of them, and are well on their way to a score in the high 30s or low 40s, and 2) those who, for various reasons, are not. That’s pretty much it. If you aren’t in the first group, then you are clearly in the second. I invite each of you to have a heart-to-heart discussion with your tutor this week. Ask them to give you their 100% honest, no-holds-barred evaluation of these three criteria 1) How well am I doing in terms of motivation and dedication?; 2) How well am I doing in regards to preparing adequately for my lessons, taking personal responsibility for mastering the material as we cover it, making sure I retain it long-term, etc.?; 3) If you were to estimate my likely score based on my current performance, what would it be?
It may be of interest to you to note that since the inception of this program we have had very, very few people actually earn a score of 30. Students in the lower half of each class seem to either jump over the 30 mark to the 31-33 range, or miss it entirely and score in the 26-29 range. I mention this because I know that in every group--despite all of our efforts to raise your sights--there will be a few of you who are secretely thinking "I'd be just fine with a 30." If you have thought such a thing, or even if you're only shooting for a score in the low thirties, you need to face the following FACT: Almost no one who scores in the 30-33 range gets that score because they were aiming for that kind of score. Students who earn these scores are usually those who were honestly striving for a score in the mid to upper thirties and just fell a little short on test day. And what about the students who were aiming for the low thirties? Well, they are the one's that give us fits by scoring in the 26-29 range. In other words, if you think you'll be happy with a score in the low thirties, you had better start figuring out how to be happy with a score in the high twenties.
What do these results tell us and how are they of value to you personally? First, they demonstrate that there is no room for fence sitting. You can have no logical expectation of putting in a moderate amount of effort and pulling off what you might consider to be a “moderate” score. Remember that a score of 33 requires you to score BETTER than 9 out of every 10 students taking the exam. It would be illogical to expect to attain to such a height without a truly intense, dedicated effort.
For those of you in group one, keep up the great work, but still seek your tutor’s feedback on where you stand. For those of you in group two, please go back and review your Student Accountability Tracking Sheet. These are the things you must be accomplishing every single week, without fail, if you want to succeed. You may also benefit from going back and reviewing the New Student Orientation Packet. Are you truly dedicating the amount of time required? Are you studying in the prescribed way and fulfilling all of our suggestions regarding study time, preparation for tutoring sessions, post-session review, question sets, note cards, etc.? Note cards, in particular, are a key component to success in this program. You will have to know everything you are learning now, as well or better than you know it now, 4-6 months down the road. If you don't use notecards as we've suggested, it's simply too hard to retain all of this information long-term.
Finally, it would be wise to ask yourself: Are my priorities in order? Many students simply try to do too much during the months they are preparing for the MCAT. Is the MCAT the most important thing in your entire life? No. But at this point in time, there shouldn't be any other academic or professional goals that trump it. In my experience, the value of a good MCAT score is severely underestimated by pre-med advisors. Admission committees love great MCAT scores and almost ALWAYS interview those students. Admissions committees will absolutely NOT care (and are unlikely to even notice) if you take an easy load, or even if you take no classes at all, during a single semester. They certainly WILL care and WILL notice when they read "MCAT Score: 35+" on your application. Likewise, they certainly WILL care and WILL notice if they read "MCAT Score: 29" on your application. I'm NOT saying you should get bad grades in your classes, or drop all of your extracurriculars, but you might consider re-arranging your game plan. Many students take a very light load spring semester. Classes need to be taken and good grades earned, but the world probably won't end if you postpone a couple of classes one semester. Similarly, employers and volunteer coordinators are usually INCREDIBLY understanding if you ask them for time off or an easier schedule while you prep for the MCAT. If you are pushed to the limit and struggle to dedicate the necessary time, your score will almost certainly reflect that fact.
You are all excellent students. I know you can all score in the mid 30s and up. If every one of you gives it your absolute best effort and does everything we ask of you, I am absolutely certain you will meet or exceed the average Altius score. Yes, we push you hard and expect a lot. However, we only want to get out of you the very best performance of which you are capable. If there is ever ANYTHING that we can do to be of better service to you, please let us know.
Until next week,
Lauren Week 6- Evaluating Answer Choices Hopefully, by this point in the game, you are all starting to realize just how important these strategies are in improving your MCAT score. This realization usually comes as students miss problems in group session only to realize that they would have very likely answered them correctly had they utilized a particular strategy. Later on, as students begin taking full-length practice exams, the frustration of repeatedly missing points on “silly” questions they should have answered correctly, motivates them to more religiously apply the strategies. It is very easy to see them as unimportant, but every point counts. The Altius strategies are safety nets that prevent you from making dumb mistakes.
This week we’ll discuss steps for accurately evaluating and narrowing the answer choices. The first rule of evaluating answer choices is to evaluate them ALL. This sounds simple, but the most frequent mistake students make is to stop analyzing when they find what they think is the right answer. To help yourself avoid this tendency, please remember that on many MCAT questions ALL of the answer choices are actually correct—but there is only one that will earn you a point. In other words, answers that are technically true statements are used by the authors as incorrect answer choices. Thus, stopping because you found something you believe to be true is foolish.
The second principle of evaluating answer choices is to not become sold too quickly. When you find what you believe to be the correct answer, do not think of it, or even refer to it, as the “correct” answer. Instead, call it a “maybe” and continue on to the next question. As I write this, I can almost feel that some of you are going to be thinking, “what’s the big deal, like that’s going to make a difference.” However, I’ve seen it improve student performance many, many times. If your thinking was always correct on these subjects, you’d never miss a question and you wouldn’t be taking this course. We know for a fact that students very frequently miss questions because they got themselves mentally stuck on the first “true” answer they read. In fact, we know that there is a mental tendency to block out the logic of subsequent answers once you’ve decided that an earlier answer is true. The simple use of the term “maybe,” helps to bypass this tendency and keep your mind open and on full-alert for accurately considering the remaining questions.
The third principle is just the opposite of the second. As bad as it is to be sold too quickly, it is equally foolish to be turned-off too quickly. There are several specific MCAT questions I can think of for which the correct answer choice tends to sound “ridiculous” to students at first glance. Those who determine too quickly that such answer choices are definitely the wrong answer, ensure that they will miss the question. On the other hand, if you think of them as “less likely,” and move on, you leave the window open enough to allow yourself the chance of correcting your thinking. Often, as you proceed thru the remainder of the answer choices you will find no better options, leading you to reconsider your previous evaluations.
Finally, don’t forget to always restate these answer choices WITH the question stem. We’ve demonstrated the importance and value of this approach in earlier sessions. Students who work hard and stick to the program will eventually reach the point where they are no longer missing any questions due to lack of understanding, only due to dumb mistakes. Those dumb mistakes are almost always the result of going too quickly and forgetting to adhere to the strategies. It sounds simple, “just slow down and use the strategies,” but in my experience it is a major final hurdle for most students. Still, it is well worth the effort. On a single MCAT section, dumb mistakes can account for anywhere from a couple of questions to several questions. Four or five missed questions could easily spell the difference between a 15 and an 11 on that section.
Have a great week!
Lauren Week 7- The Importance of Conceptual Definitions In the New Student Orientation Packet, the article on the science of memory and learning discusses the difference between semantic memory (memory based on understanding) and rote memory (memory based on rote memorization). This week’s topic is closely related to these two types of learning. A “conceptual definition” is a definition of a scientific principle or concept that includes a broad-based understanding of the “what,” “how,” and “why” related to that concept. If a student has mastered a good conceptual definition, he or she will be able to 1) easily visualize and “get his or her mind around” exactly what the principle is, and 2) be able to readily explain to another student precisely what it is and what it is not. For example, many students learn the term “force” in physics, but never master its conceptual definition. They may be able to state a couple of formulas that include force, but their mastery ends there. A student with a good conceptual definition can describe force very precisely as “any influence (whether it be a contact force, an electrical or magnetic field, etc.) that is capable of accelerating a mass.” They would feel comfortable with how forces act on objects. They understand that two forces can cancel one another out resulting in no net force, or that an opposing force will subtract from another force resulting in a smaller net force. They would understand that a constant force will cause a constant acceleration and that masses ONLY accelerate during those exact moments during which they experience a net force.
I suppose that many of you feel you have already mastered a conceptual definition of force. For the most part, I think you’d be correct; but we can all benefit from going back and being 100% certain that there are no gaps in our understanding. Using force as an example, you should go thru each principle discussed in the lessons and ensure that you have an equally strong mastery of their conceptual definitions. Are you equally confident with the concepts of velocity, acceleration, momentum, impulse, current, voltage, resistance, conductance, capacitance, refraction, reflection, diffraction, heat capacity, etc.? Can you explain to a friend confidently and precisely the conceptual definitions of the following: Lewis acid, titration, end point, equivalence point, electronegativity, electron affinity, enthalpy, entropy, Gibb’s free energy, nucleophilicity, basicity, electrophilicity, etc.? Of course, many of you haven’t covered these topics yet in your lessons, but the first time you visit them in either group session OR your lessons, please make sure you develop strong conceptual definitions. These lists represent only a sampling of the principles covered in the lesson outlines; the goal by the end of the course should be to have an equally strong conceptual definition for every topic and concept covered in the lesson outlines.
Once you have developed these definitions, you need to ensure that you actually use them. Whenever you answer MCAT questions you should be recalling the “Socratic Method” and constantly asking yourself questions. When you evaluate one of the answer choices and it states “momentum decreased,” don’t just ask yourself if momentum did or did not decrease. Instead, stop and remind yourself of exactly what momentum is. Momentum is basically a measure of inertia that factors in speed. It says that a mass will tend to remain in its current state unless acted upon by an outside force, but that the outside force must be significantly larger if that mass is traveling at some velocity (thus p = mv). It’s harder to stop a bowling ball coming at you at 200 mph than it is to stop one that is only going 2 mph. With these thoughts in your mind, you look at the situation presented and ask what changed. If the object didn’t somehow lose mass, then the only way momentum could have decreased is if velocity decreased. Did it? There’s your answer with almost no room for error.
Recalling a clear, precise conceptual definition gives your brain much more to work with and greatly decreases your chances of making an error. This has been demonstrated for me thousands of times as I have proctored group sessions. Very frequently when a student is stuck on a problem, or has erroneously chosen an incorrect answer and doesn’t understand why, all that I have to do is ask them a question or two about the conceptual definition of the principle involved. I might ask them, “What is momentum? This answer choice says it decreased, what would have to happen to make it decrease? Did that happen in this case?” That is usually all that is required for the answer to become entirely clear to them. The first take-home point is that you don’t need to wait for a tutor to ask you those questions—you can, and should, ask these kinds of questions of yourself. The second take-home point is that if you haven’t mastered the conceptual definitions of these principles, then you won’t be able to answer the questions.
Finally, having a well-developed conceptual definition for each principle is a safeguard against attempts by the MCAT to confuse you. MCAT answer choices will often make statements that are conceptually false, but easy to gloss over without noticing. As an example, consider this statement about the Modulus of Elasticity (ME): “Substance A is more elastic and thus has a greater modulus of elasticity.” This sounds entirely plausible and will be readily accepted by many students. However, reviewing the conceptual definition of ME would tell us that ME is a measure of how much stress something can experience without changing dimensions (ME = stress/strain). It is NOT a measure of how much something changes under a given stress (this would be ME = strain/stress). Thus, a greater ME means that something is less elastic and more rigid. Steel would have a very high ME and marshmallows a very low ME. Reviewing this definition makes the statement clearly false and therein lies the power of mastering and using conceptual definitions.
As you strive to develop these conceptual definitions over the coming weeks and months, don’t make the mistake of glossing over the more simple concepts. I am very surprised at how often students miss questions because they misconstrued something as simple as velocity or acceleration.
Your tutors report to me that many of you are doing extremely well. I am confident that we will have multiple students score 40+ on their exams. If you can’t readily think of yourself as being in that group, there is still more than enough time to buckle down and catch up. Communicate openly with your tutors and ask them for honest feedback as to where you stand and what you can do to improve.
Have a terrific week!
Lauren Week 8- Studying ALL Questions and Answer Choices to Maximize Learning
One of the most frequent errors made by students studying for the MCAT is their failure to adequately evaluate ALL of the MCAT practice items they attempt. There are at least three ways to learn from attempting an MCAT practice item: 1) Missing the question, then carefully reviewing it, 2) Answering the question correctly, then carefully reviewing it, and 3) Reviewing the WRONG answer choices for both those questions you missed AND those you answered correctly. Doing all three of these tasks effectively will greatly maximize your MCAT preparation.
The first task, reviewing those questions you’ve missed, is the most obvious of the three and the only one that will be attempted by most non-Altius students. I doubt anyone needs convincing as to the value of figuring out why you missed an attempted question. There is still room for improvement, however, in how effective students are at making sure they won’t miss a similar question again. When you do miss a question, whether it be in Group Session, on the Question Sets, or during a practice exam, make sure you truly understand the error in your thinking (and MAKE A NOTECARD). A potential “chink in your armor” has been exposed, so it is also a good idea to go back and review that entire principle in general. When a student misses a question on pH, it is highly unlikely that he or she misunderstood ONLY that specific aspect of pH and fully understands all of the other aspects. Thus, a complete conceptual review of pH would be wise.
Always remember, the likelihood that one of the practice questions you’ve attempted will show up on your actual MCAT is close to zero. Think about that carefully. If all you do is review the solution to the question and think “Okay, I won’t miss that one again,” you’ve made little, if any, progress toward a better score. You MUST go one step further and work on improving your conceptual understanding of that general principle. You know that you won’t likely be asked that particular question again, only different questions on the same subject. Practice questions, especially the AAMC practice items, are “windows” into how the MCAT authors are thinking and what they are likely to test. Every AAMC practice item should be seen by students as a guarantee of two things: 1) the principle or general concept being tested by that question is HIGHLY likely to show up on a future MCAT exam, and 2) when that principle does show up, it will NOT be asked in the exact same way.
The second task, reviewing those questions you answered correctly, is often the most difficult for students to understand. There are two main reasons why you should review the questions you answered correctly. First, you may well have answered the question correctly by sheer luck, or by making a good educated guess. This is hardly any different than missing the question, and so you should treat it as you would a missed question. Second, there is ALWAYS more that you can learn from a question upon careful examination. You may have answered it correctly, but did you use the correct reasoning? It is quite often the case that students apply modes of thinking that are entirely false and would usually lead them to an incorrect answer, but by mere chance happens to give the correct answer in that specific situation. Even more frequently, students misunderstand a principle only slightly. In the context of one particular question, their slight misconception doesn’t cause them to answer incorrectly, but on another similar question it very well may.
The third task, reviewing incorrect answer choices, should be completed for ALL the practice questions you attempt. The MCAT very consistently offers incorrect answer choices that are ALMOST correct. Frequently, they are statements regarding a principle that the MCAT does expect students to know, but that is untrue in the way it is presented. For example, suppose the MCAT asks the following question: “Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the typical human body response to dehydration.” The answer choices given are:
a) Aldosterone acts on the Loop of Henle to increase sodium uptake
b) ADH increases the osmolarity of the collecting duct lumen
c) The pituitary gland secretes more Calcitonin
d) ADH increases the water permeability of the collecting duct membrane
Take a moment to evaluate the options and decide what you think is the correct answer.
This question offers the MCAT student a wealth of information that goes well beyond the mere fact that answer choice D is the correct answer. Let’s begin by looking at answer choice A. This statement is true in that Aldosterone does cause an increase in the uptake of sodium, but is false because this occurs at the distal convoluted tubule, not the Loop of Henle. This is important to know, but it is far more important to decide what the MCAT has just revealed to you about itself. This question tells you that the MCAT authors expect you to know about Aldosterone and its effects on the body. You can easily guess, that they might also want you to be familiar with the gland that secretes it. Next, because the Loop of Henle is mentioned, you know that you must need to know about it as well. You should definitely self-evaluate your knowledge of these two subjects. You’ve just been clued-in that they are part of the MCAT repertoire and likely to show up on a future exam in some form. Similarly, from answer choice B we learn that we must be familiar with ADH, its effects on the body, and the physiology of the collecting tubule. Finally, from answer choice C we learn that we should be familiar with Calcitonin and the pituitary gland. The MCAT authors would never have expected us to recognize these answer choices as wrong if they didn’t expect us to be familiar with all of the principles just discussed. In this way, we can get SEVERAL valuable insights from a single practice question. The only information you technically needed to answer this question correctly was to know that in response to dehydration ADH increases the permeability of the collecting ducts to water. However, if you’ve taken the appropriate Altius approach to attempting, scoring and reviewing this single question, you won’t move on to another question until you’ve improved your conceptual understanding of hormones, the glands that secrete them, the conditions that lead to secretion of each hormone, the effects of each hormone, the concept of osmolarity, and the physiology of the kidney.
Once you grasp the pure simplicity and effectiveness of this approach, you’ll become really excited about your MCAT score. As a student in the Altius program, you will carefully analyze over 1,200 real AAMC questions during the group sessions alone. This will yield several thousand insights into “what to know” for the MCAT. You will then attempt and evaluate more than 1,000 additional AAMC questions as you take your full-length timed practice exams. If you will simply apply the systematic review described above to each and every one of those questions, you will be superbly prepared for the MCAT. You will understand EVERYTHING you need to understand to get a 40 or more. Most importantly, I guarantee you that you will outperform your friends in other prep programs, even if they have attempted thousands and thousands of prep company questions.
Until next week,
Lauren
Week 9- Dealing With Negative Qualifiers This week’s discussion will be brief. It will also be one of the most lucrative, score-improving skills you can develop. Either you will catch the vision of how important this is, or you will dismiss it; and your score will reflect that decision.
On some MCAT forms, nearly half of the questions will contain some kind of qualifier. Examples of common MCAT qualifiers include: NOT, LEAST, MOST and EXCEPT. The problem these qualifiers create for students is simple: we are habituated as students to take exams looking for things that are “true” or “correct.” When a question asks for the statement that is NOT true, or is LEAST true, or if the question states “all of the following are true, EXCEPT” our brains are fooled with unbelievable ease.
The issue we need to deal with is not so much understanding this strategy, but convincing ourselves 1) of how important it is, and 2) that ALL students can improve in how they deal with these types of questions. Last week I completed a full review and edit of all of the Altius Question Sets. As part of this process, I attempted each question again under timed conditions. Despite the fact that I wrote each and every question, and have probably spent an additional one to two hours per question reviewing and analyzing them, I still missed five questions. All five of those errors came when I got mixed up by qualifiers in the question stem.
When you are being careful, when you are taking the time to “think” about the need to cautiously approach these qualifiers, you won’t make mistakes. The problem with not making mistakes is that you will then become comfortable and stop “thinking” about being careful—then you will make more mistakes. The only way to prevent this is to establish a fool-proof habit and commit to follow it on every question, regardless of how simple the question seems, or how long it’s been since you missed a question due to confusing a qualifier.
Here’s what we recommend:
1) Make a BIG deal about qualifiers by writing them down in big, bold letters on your scratch paper.
2) Adhere to another important Altius strategy by re-stating each answer choice with the question stem, while emphasizing the qualifier.
3) Double-check your answer by looking at the big, bold note on your scratch paper and asking yourself, “Is that right? Is this the answer that is NOT true?”
Writing the qualifier down is a key element to this habit. If you will follow the three simple steps described above on every single question involving a qualifier, you will approach perfection on these questions. Your reward will be an average of 2 to 5 additional correct answers per full-length exam. Once you’re scoring an 11 or above on each section, these extra points would raise your composite score by 2 to 4 points.
CONSIDER THIS: Taking the time to write down the qualifier when I don’t think I’m going to miss the question: painful. Still writing it down two months later when I’m absolutely SURE I won’t miss the question: excruciating. Raising my score from a 34 to a 39: Priceless. Lauren Week 10- What to Do When You Get Completely Stuck Before we begin today’s discussion, we need to put it into perspective. The more experience I have with students, the more I am convinced that the single biggest difference—often the only difference—between a student who scores in the low thirties and one who scores a 40+, is the ability of the later student to avoid stupid mistakes. Call them errors, blunders, miscalculations, or whatever suits your fancy, but they absolutely kill your score. Once you are scoring in the 12+ range, you MUST realize that from that point forward a single question will more than likely raise or lower your scaled score by one point. If you can avoid two mistakes on each section, you’ll gain at least one scaled point per section, sometimes two, and your composite score would rise by 3-5 points. Think about that for a moment. Going from a 34 to a 39, or from a 36 to a 41, could be as easy as cleaning up a few silly mistakes.
This is the very reason that I continually harp on following the strategies. It is also the logic behind most of the strategies we discuss. They are designed to help you avoid mistakes. Today we’re not focusing on errors per se, but we will discuss a way to help you gain a few extra points on questions you would otherwise miss. All students run into questions that absolutely stump them. For most students, there will only be a few such questions per test—but getting those few extra points will make a huge difference.
Students have come to me thousands of times for help with questions. Of all those times, there were maybe a half-dozen cases when the student did NOT have the knowledge he or she needed to answer the question. The rest of the time, I am able to lead them into figuring out the answer for themselves just by asking them a few questions. This is our first step on “stumped” questions:
1) Ask yourself what you know.
As simple as this might sound, this is exactly how I resolve the problems most students have. They come to me about a question on acceleration that they just don’t seem to get. Often, I ask a single question such as “Tell me what you know about acceleration.” They begin talking thru what they know about acceleration. “Let’s see, acceleration equals Force/Mass . . . acceleration is change in velocity per time . . . oh, the object did change direction . . .” Bingo, the light goes on and they realize what they had missed before. I have chuckled many times at exactly how little I actually do or say. Thus, there is no reason we shouldn’t all attempt to do this for ourselves when we get stuck.
2) Write down equations.
When you get stuck, write down every single equation you can think of that contains the variable, or describes the principle, discussed by the question. Next, look at the equations and think about relationships. This will often be enough make things “click” in your head.
3) Think of a real-life example.
This tactic has always been particularly helpful to me personally. I have found that while my mind may not grasp the principle in the abstract way in which the question presents it, it will often become perfectly clear when I apply it to something I have actually experienced. For physics, I will try to remember a time when I have seen an object actually doing what the question describes. For chemistry, I will try to visualize past lab experiments or recall household examples. For biology, I have even gained insight by just looking at my own body or recalling some past injury or illness. Most of us have had more experience than we realize with things such as boiling and freezing points, solutions, acids, projectiles, circuits, light and optics, heart rate, hormones, digestion, etc. In fact, helpful examples need NOT be exact matches to what the question is asking. For example, you may not have much intuition about the sun and its orbiting planets, but the same gravity that holds the planets in line also controls the pencil you just dropped on the floor. Try to mimic the situation described with your hand, your pencil or an object right in front of you.
4) Go back to the question stem.
The MCAT will very often design a question wherein the only clue as to how to answer the question correctly lies in one or two obscure words in the question stem. If you’ve been following the strategies we’ve given you, you’re already focusing on reading the stems very, very carefully. Nevertheless, there’s still a chance you’ve missed something. Go back and check one more time.
5) Go back to the passage.
On verbal passages, this is a universally bad idea. However, for the other sections, going back to the passage is highly recommended. Skim the passage again, looking for something that might change the way you are thinking about the question. Also re-examine any charts or graphs. What information do they give you?
6) Look for clues in the answer choices.
Although this doesn’t always help, you can occasionally gain something just by analyzing the answer choices. If units are included in the answer choices, these can be very useful. Try working back from the units found in the final answer. On questions that contain words only, read the answer choices and try to decide what principle they are based on. One of them is obviously correct, so you can sometimes reason backwards from them to arrive at what the question is testing.
Practice applying these tactics and you should gain that ever-so-valuable extra point or two. If you can also make real progress toward preventing dumb mistakes, you’ll be well on your way. Here’s a review of ways to prevent errors:
1) Read the question stems VERY carefully.
2) Restate the question stem with the answer choices.
3) Evaluate ALL of the answer choices one by one.
4) Write NOT, EXCEPT and other qualifiers in big, bold letters on your scratch paper.
5) Take a second look: Double-check your answers, justify your reasoning, ask yourself “Is that what really happens?, Is that right?”
6) Slow down: Almost everyone needs to slow down a bit, take a deep breath or two, and THINK thru what you are doing.
Keep up the great work. Please let me or your tutor know if there is anything—anything at all—we can do to help you further.
Lauren
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