5-Month 500s Plateau to 517 MCAT (ft. Chrysalis Mandell)

[00:00:01.380] - Speaker 1 It was definitely a good feeling to get the score back and also to know that I wasn't going to have to take it again. And then that's when I had the initial realization that this was one step. It's not over yet. This is just the start. At this point, when I was really feeling low about everything, I was like, it's time to get someone who has guidance because this is beyond what I know. So that's when I I started looking. That's when I stumbled across MedLife Mastery, and my whole journey changed. [00:00:40.950] - Speaker 3 Hey, future doctor. Quick reminder before we dive in. Did you know we've got a full library of free MCAT resources waiting for you? We're talking cheat sheets, checklists, practice passages, free courses, and more. All made by real top scores. Head to medlifemastery. Com/mcat free and grab what you need. [00:01:04.040] - Speaker 2 Hi, I'm Vera with MedLife Master. Welcome to another MCAT Master interview. So in these talks, we chat with MCAT TopScore about their journeys, find out what strategies work for them, and see how they can spark some inspiration for your own journey. So even the top scores hit bumps in their MCAT, but they figure out how to increase their scores to more competitive levels. We're here to spill the beans on how they did it so you could do the same. So for our chat today, I'd like to introduce you to Chrisola Sundell. Chrisola started her journey with a 505 and struggled for five months of prep until she got an awesome 517 on test day. Beginning her prep, she found that self-studying isn't for everyone. It never is. But she also ran into obstacles she didn't expect, like when she realized the MCAT isn't quite like other standardize exams that were taken before, and how it's not just about content knowledge, but how you take the exam. So she found she needed to approach the four sections with different strategies. Chemfiz and bio-bio-chem, were particularly difficult to master, as many of us probably know. And no matter how hard she studied the content material, she still wasn't seeing any improvement. [00:02:18.230] - Speaker 2 But after some help from a MedLife mentor and a lot of hard work on her part, she was able to create and utilize a study schedule that drastically improved her testing strategy and help her achieve that 517 on test date. Again, congrats on the 517, Chris Alice. In today's chat, we're going to dive deeper into her journey, explore how she boosted her chem-fiz and bio-bio-chem scores, Bummed up at overall MCATs for, and how she schedule her prep, the strategies she used for each section, and a whole bunch more. Let's get started. Could you tell our listeners a little bit more about yourself so we can get to know you before diving into the MCAT? [00:03:02.850] - Speaker 1 Thank you so much for having me on. I'm really happy to be here today to share my journey. My name is Chris Liz. I was born and raised in Long Beach, New York, which is a small barrier island off of Long Island, New York. I went to McAuli Honors College at CUNY Hunter College. I was in the class of 2022, majored in behavioral neuroscience and English. Right now I find myself in my second, I like to call it growth year, but my second gap year with Teach for America. I'm teaching high school biology and writing at an underserved school in the South Bronx, and it's really awesome and I love it. And then I'm also pursuing my master's in teaching. My current interests are pediatrics, underserved communities, and medical education, hence the whole Teach for America approach. I applied this last cycle to medical school. I was fortunate to receive 13 interviews, and so far, seven acceptances. So it's been really exciting. I'm still deciding where I would like to go, but it's really nice to be at this point in my journey. But I do remember what it was like when I was taking that first step with the MCAT and how daunting it all felt. [00:04:18.240] - Speaker 2 I feel like you've accomplished so much. Oh, my goodness. Congratulations on the acceptances and the interviews that you've seen so far. And I'm really curious about your master's as well, pursuing a master's in teaching. How did that come about and how do you think it's going to fold that in into your future with medicine? [00:04:38.590] - Speaker 1 Yeah, thanks for asking. So I thought that Teach for Abarica was a really good fit for me because, one, I'm really interested in pediatrics, so I love working with kids. So this was a really nice opportunity to actually be around kids outside of the doctor's office because kids spend the bulk of their time in a school. They don't spend most their time in a doctor's office. And I wanted to really understand what my future patient population was spending most of their time doing, what the obstacles they might face would be. And that brings me to the second point, which is Teach for America's goal is to place teachers in the communities that need it most. And I'm very interested in working in an underserved community and working to improve access across the board So it really aligned for that type of exposure. And lastly, I'm also very interested in medical education. I hope to one day teach communities and patients and families and maybe even future physicians, if I'm lucky enough. And I think having this teaching element really lends itself to that. It's something that I've always been interested in, but I didn't necessarily know if there was a place for education and teaching within the medical field. [00:06:02.600] - Speaker 1 And I was really excited once I got to college and I explored different opportunities, finding out that there is a place for it. So it worked really well together and it sealed the deal for me. So as one of my requirements to teach right now, I'm pursuing my master's. [00:06:19.700] - Speaker 2 That is amazing. I love that you're taking the initiative to actually learn more and explore the, I suppose, population of patients that you might potentially have in the future to really understand if that would be something you actually enjoyed. Sometimes they get an idea of, Oh, I want to definitely focus on geriatrics or something like that. But they themselves have never really spent that much time around people of that population. So when they actually get to the end of the line and they finally figured out that actually this might not be something that they want to dedicate the rest of their life to or the rest of their career to, at least. It could be really a daunting thing to discover. But I love that you have a strategy going in even for this. And you're taking the initiative to explore. I think that's really awesome. That's a little bit of an aside. I thought that was really interesting. But anyways, going back to it, now that we're talking about the medical journey itself, so what inspired you to become a doctor? [00:07:29.010] - Speaker 1 So growing up, my parents were very open with me early on that my brother had the condition, hypocondrioplasia, in more familiar terms, dorfism. So they were very open with me from the start. So I was very involved in the process of him going to the doctors, talking about treatment options, different plans like that. And because my mom is an immigrant and my dad was at work, I would often wind up being the person who was the communications intermediary between my mom and the physicians regarding my brother's care, clarifying things and whatnot. And during this time, I got a lot of early exposure and a pretty good foundation in seeing the good work that physicians were doing to help my family. And I think that doctors were my first role models and my first heroes. I mean, I vividly recall absolutely admiring my brother's pediatric endocrineologist. He was the coolest guy. He showed me magic tricks, even though I wasn't his patient. But beyond that, he used medicine to make my brother grow. And that was just pure magic to me as a kid. So once I got to high school, I already had this little interest in this science, this magic that was able to help people. [00:08:57.450] - Speaker 1 So in high school biology, when I started to learn about genetics and the endocrine system and mutations, it started to feel like answers to that magic I had first discovered. I also, in high school, started to get interested in service and teaching, volunteering. So by the time I got to college, I already knew that medicine was going to be the route that I wanted to explore. So I volunteered in Children's Hospital. I worked with a nonprofit organization for pediatric emergency medicine. I worked in a psych research lab, and I did a lot of activities to confirm that this was my path. And here I am today. [00:09:42.020] - Speaker 2 That's amazing. I have to say, I've never heard somebody tell me a story involving going to the doctors or being a part of that experience and saying the word doctors and magic tricks in the same event. But I think that's really awesome. Usually, when people talk about their experience with the medical industry, is usually it's been a negative experience. They really weren't able to help me. They just shuffle me around or tell me to go to a specialist. And it was the wrong one, or something of that track. But I think your experiences really highlights how amazing it can be when you do, when you are a good doctor who treats your patients well and not just shuffle them around for the sake of earnings or anything like that, but the act of being a good doctor and having that compassion for your patients, how amazing that can be for someone on the other end, even if they might not be your patient self, you can inspire so many people. And that's amazing that you have that little spark of interest from the very beginning. Moving on to the MCAT a little bit more. If you can describe the MCAT in one word, what would it be and why? [00:11:06.310] - Speaker 1 Yeah, I think if I had to describe it in one word, I would say an obstacle. The MCAT is something that has to be overcome to move forward in your pre-med journey, and an obstacle is something that blocks your path. And when it comes down to it, everybody who wants to be a physician is going to have to take the MCAT and be successful on the MCAT to move forward. This is an obstacle that must be surmounted one way or another. And I think that the tough thing is, I know we started to talk about this, but there's nothing really in college or before taking the MCAT, that prepares you for the strategy aspect needed for the MCAT, right? We're so used to in every class we take in college and before studying our content. And when you get a bad grade, you go back and you double down on the content because that's what you always do in order to get the better grade. And I think with the MCAT, you don't get that result that you'd normally expect if you go back and double down on the content. And I think that's why a lot of students, when they're facing this obstacle, turn to the content and start to bury themselves in it, because I think maybe the strategy aspect doesn't even occur to them, which is That's why I think that MedLife Mastery was different for me because it picked up on that idea that it's not just the content. [00:12:37.850] - Speaker 1 There's something more there. This is not one of your regular obstacles that you just hop over. It was going to require a little bit more climbing. [00:12:47.360] - Speaker 2 That's wonderfully put. And I think it's also very interesting because obviously, the road to becoming a doctor is a pretty tough one due to a lot of various reasons. And for a lot of people, their first big hurdle going to be getting a good score on the MCAT. And I think it's interesting when you consider thinking of the MCAT as a way to I suppose the best way to phrase it might be to weed out the week, to leave behind people who might not be entirely dedicated to the pursuit of becoming a doctor, people who might not be as passionate as they thought they were. The bad side is that it might also leave behind people who genuinely do want to pursue becoming a doctor, but for whatever reason, they can't get past the MCAT. And that's very something that can be really heartbreaking for a lot of people. But I think it's an interesting test, I suppose. If you've primarily gone through the American educational system, where our standardize testing are content. If you do bad, it's because you lack content. And you have to go the MCAT, and then suddenly there's a whole other field of it that you might not even ever have to consider before. [00:14:06.670] - Speaker 2 And it's really interesting, I think, to come from that space where it's like, I just got to cramp more content. I just got to remember more content. And to go here where it's like, Oh, there might be something more to this. And having that light bulb go off in your head where it's like, oh, it actually just... I might just be focusing on the wrong things for the MCAT. But yeah, I thought that's this really interesting thing about the exam itself. So when you begin prepping for the MCAT, where were you? What was going on in your life at the time? [00:14:41.460] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So when I started prepping for the MCAT, it was 2021, so we were still living in COVID. I was doing virtual classes for college. I was volunteering as a COVID screener at the Children's Hospital and involved in my nonprofit organization and online research, but everything was online, except for me and my books trying to get started on studying. [00:15:11.400] - Speaker 2 Yeah, it is hard. It is so hard. I think COVID really turned a lot of people's plans on its head. But I always find that people's dedication, I suppose, to their goals, especially trying to prep during COVID for the MCAT all the uncertainties going on, that was very admirable to me, especially because there was a lot of people going on with scheduling the MCAT and exams or test dates being canceled. And you just never know. You're just trying to live your life and survive whatever was going on at the time. But then you also had this huge, huge part of your life that was just like, okay, I need to forget all of that and just focus on prepping for the impact. And I think people don't quite talk about how difficult that is mentally. You might be trying to stick to your study schedule, trying to go over all of the different, I don't know, psych topics. And then all the while, the world is just a dumpster fire, I suppose. But that must have been so difficult. Did you find that you actually loved by It was a coincidence prepping for the MTI during COVID, or was it something that it was very difficult for you? [00:16:37.060] - Speaker 1 I don't know. It's hard to say. I think I look back on my study time a bit more fondly And then I actually experienced it. I think it was quite challenging having all the pressures of the world existing and still having the expectations of doing well in school and still having the expectations that, well, even though it's COVID, you still need your volunteer hours to apply to medical school, and you still need your research hours. And then knowing that I needed to study for this text. And I think it was maybe compounded by the fact that maybe I wasn't quite studying the way I should in the beginning. I think I spent a lot of time reading my trusty Kaplan books, which no hate to Kaplin, but I did spend quite a lot of time just reading those books, underlining things, and I don't know how useful that initial period was. So once we started to come out of COVID towards the end of or halfway through my study, I think that's when things started getting a little bit sunnier. [00:17:46.580] - Speaker 2 Okay, awesome. I knew a lot of people who, secretly, were very thankful for quarantining, for the mandatory quarantining when COVID started it to really, really spread because suddenly they had all of this time at home, and they didn't feel as obligated to do social things, like going out with their friends or having to go into work, to go into the office for work or things like that. So then they had all of this extra time. And it was actually very useful for them because they were able to spend it studying the MCAT. But then they also had to figure out, what am I going to do about my volunteer hours? How are we going to do that? Like online volunteering, virtual volunteering started popping up, but it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. [00:18:38.930] - Speaker 1 I thought it was the worst of people. Yeah. My study plan started definitely towards the second half of COVID once things were starting to open up again. So I almost wish I started studying earlier when it was during that time period where I could have just immersed myself fully. [00:18:59.840] - Speaker 2 Yeah, that's a shame. But still, hey, you got your score, you've gotten your acceptances. So it all worked out in the end, and that's what's important. [00:19:08.340] - Speaker 1 Yes, definitely. [00:19:10.640] - Speaker 2 So when you began studying for the MCAT, what was your goal score? How did you come up with that specific score? [00:19:17.730] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So I knew that I needed a 514 minimum in order to get a committee letter from my pre-health office. My pre-health office is very competitive in terms of giving out their letters. They only give it to maybe 40 or 50 students in the whole school. So I knew that I needed that 514 minimum to really secure that committee letter because for my school, it seemed as a red flag if you don't get that committee letter from our school. You could be asked during your interview, Well, why didn't you get it? So I wanted to eliminate that possibility, basically. But my real goal was shooting for the stars, shooting for the 520. And that came from my advisor at school who said, This is what I should shoot for in order to be competitive and have flexibility and choices. So I said, okay, I will try to do it. And then I found myself in the low 500s, very far away from that 520. [00:20:24.610] - Speaker 2 That's so interesting. This is the first time I've heard of a pre-health program requiring you to have a certain score before they would give you a letter. That's so interesting. It must be super competitive at your school. I remember my university, we barely had an advising office. So honestly, it didn't matter because you were basically on your own. But the downside was that you were on your own and you wouldn't be getting a letter from the office. You had to get it directly from a specific professor or something like that. But yeah, but that's crazy. That's crazy. I'm glad that you were able to eventually score higher than a 415, that you got that 517. So you did manage to get that letter from them, right? [00:21:11.890] - Speaker 1 Yeah. I have a Fantastic Pre-Health office, so they were super helpful throughout the process, very much orienting us to the different skills we were going to need to be successful as a pre-med student. And they were really helpful. So despite that 514 minimum, I feel like all in all, I really benefited in their care. [00:21:35.700] - Speaker 2 Oh, amazing. I love that. I love that because it is a tough journey and no amount of support is ever too much. So if you're able to get that from your pre-health office, if you're able to get it from your friends, from just the people around you, that's always awesome. I remember once, one of my friends told me this story, but we had at my university, we had a pseudo pre-health office, but not really. But she went to one of the people there, and we just a very basic question about medical school and whatnot. And then they weren't very knowledgeable about it, but But she asked them this question, and they were literally googling it right in front of her. She was asking this question. It was so hilarious. But it is valid as well. You don't know something? Yeah, okay, google it. But it was just so the idea of you're supposed to know this stuff, and then I could also have just googled it myself. But I'm so glad to hear that you actually did have a good experience with a pre-health office. They were actually able to support you and give you everything that you need, basically, to succeed on this journey. [00:22:46.410] - Speaker 2 But let's go on to talk a little bit more about planning and schedules and things like that. How did you plan for a steady schedule? [00:22:58.450] - Speaker 1 Initially, I I had help from my advisor who basically said, You're going to start with your content review, and then you're going to move on to the practice questions, and then you'll move on to practice tests. And we laid it all out week by week, month by month. I was going to do my daily Anki, my daily cars. And that was all good until I was not seeing the results that I was expecting to see. So then I also got some help from my tutor, which I can go into a bit more later. But with my tutor, we supercharged my schedule with more focusing on practice questions and the AMC materials, as opposed to just looking at my books, maybe the less active studying. [00:23:51.420] - Speaker 2 Right. Actually getting your hands dirty and actively trying to learn that way. But it's awesome that you were able to get insight, I suppose, into a new perspective, into a new way to approach the MCAT, because I feel like there are many people who get stuck on the content level. And because they don't see any improvements, they go back to content, and they try doing the passages again, or they try doing a full-length practice exam again, and they're still not seeing the score they want to, and they go back to content, and they're stuck in a perpetual loop which is so unfortunate. But thinking about challenges and roadblocks, what would you say is your biggest challenge, your biggest roadblock in prepping for the MCAT? [00:24:42.220] - Speaker 1 Yeah, well, it's funny that you mentioned the loop of going back to content and then trying again and going back to the content because that's the situation I found myself in. I was having major struggles with chem-phys and bio-bio-chem. I'm someone who got these and maybe some A minuses and these kinds of classes. So I knew that I was going to really have to know this content and really prove myself in these sections so that when I applied to medical school, I could show that I tackled these areas. I overcame the issues in my application, right? And I wasn't progressing the way that I thought I was going to. And that's when I started to begin to realize this wasn't like any test I had taken before, right? I started to have those thoughts then. And I realized maybe it's not just a content test, right? Because then we could all just study our content and show up and get our hundreds. And I think I started to realize I needed a strategy, but at the time, I didn't know what that might look like. I had been plateauing in the low 500s, and because I didn't really know what strategy meant, I knew I was going to need it. [00:26:03.920] - Speaker 1 I didn't know what it looked like or meant. I figured that this was not something I should continue to do alone. And again, in hindsight, most of my journey throughout this whole pre-med adventure, I have not done alone, so I don't know why I decided the MCAT would be the thing I did alone. But at this point, when I was really feeling low about everything, I was like, It's time to get someone who has guidance, someone who knows what's going on here, because this is beyond what I know. So that's when I started looking for a tutor, and I knew I wanted a tutor who was going to be strategy-focused. I initially was looking around, maybe going to do a content course like a Kaplan or Princeton online course, because I had been struggling with that chem, phys, and bio-bio-chem. But then I realized that strategy was what I really needed. And that's when I stumbled across MedLife Mastery and my whole journey changed. [00:27:09.530] - Speaker 2 I'm so happy to hear that, Aki, that we were a part of your journey, but also that we're part of your successful journey and that we were actually able to help. But now that we're talking about your mentor, let's go into more detail about that. So what specifically was it about tutoring that finally you saw that increase? Was it just the fact that you had somebody to talk to, or did you guys go over something specific? [00:27:37.950] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So to start out with, first I had been searching online, and I saw that there was a lot of content-related tutoring. But my gut, like I said before, kept telling me, No, it's not about that. I'm going to need someone who knows something about strategy, right? So when I met my tutor, he told me, basically, that content will only get you so far? Strategy is what you need to get to the score you want. And I was like, Wow, this is the person I've been waiting for. This is the person who is going to lead me into the sunset of my dream. It was fantastic because I had this vision of what I wanted to achieve and how I wanted to achieve it, but I had no clue. And if I had to summarize in one sentence independence. What my tutor taught me, it would probably be to rely on what you know, not what you don't know. I think that's the biggest strategy that helped me in general across the boards. And what I mean by that is when you see a question that looks totally insane, like words and phrases you've never seen before. [00:28:51.560] - Speaker 1 If you can just start by picking out the things you do know, you may be able to work your way backwards and then look at the answer choices and say, Hey, well, I know this one's wrong, and I know this one's wrong, and this other one is also wrong because I know these things. And hey, the last answer choice is something ridiculous that I've never, ever heard of, but based on what I know, this must be correct. And that was the biggest strategy that helped me. [00:29:19.300] - Speaker 2 Oh, that is so interesting, actually. I've heard of a strategy that's similar where you stumble upon a passive question or anything. You move forward it or something like that. And then when you go back to it, you pick out the reverse of that, where you pick out what you don't know and try to figure out how that might relate. But honestly, the strategy makes so much sense, the one that you ended up using. And also very applicable to just any other exam as well, not just the MCAT. [00:29:56.330] - Speaker 1 Yeah, because I think that the MCAT is really a test to see if you can think how they want a doctor to think, I guess. So they're going to dump all this information on you, and they're purposely showing you stuff that you never studied before, you've never seen before, but they throw in the things that They do know that you've studied, that every kid studying for the MCAT is going to know. And if you can tease around and peel back and pick out that thing that you do know, I think that can be the way to get to your answer. That's the strategy, right? Because you know they're dumping a bunch of stuff on you. And if you can stay cool and not let it scare you. It was really helpful for me, at least. I know on my test day, actually, I wish I remembered the exact question, but I remember there were three answer choices. It was like a definition question. So what is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And there were three answer choices that I knew it could not be. It could not possibly be those things because I knew what those things meant. [00:31:05.400] - Speaker 1 But the other last option was the most ridiculous sounding word that I had never, ever seen or heard of. I was like, it has to be the answer. I'm going to go for it because I know the other ones can't be it. And I don't know this, but it has to be it. And then I remember going home, the first thing I did was Google, what is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah the question asked, and it turned out to be the right answer. Oh, nice. So I felt like that was my big strategy in action. [00:31:39.880] - Speaker 2 Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing. I feel like there's a little bit of, I don't know, psychological warfare going on with the MTA. [00:31:49.730] - Speaker 1 It's enduring. [00:31:50.360] - Speaker 2 Yeah, and how they write it. It's like you think you're taking an exam, but you're actually playing 4D chess or something like that. [00:32:00.110] - Speaker 1 Oh, my gosh. Yes, it really is. It's so different. I think that's the key. Once you realize this is not like your lecture hall or go where you show up and you answer 200 questions about organic chemistry. Once you realize that it's actually this, can you take a large amount of information and pick out what really matters and rely on what you know? I think once you realize that, I think that's when you can start moving beyond wherever you've plateaued. [00:32:32.290] - Speaker 2 It's so clever of them, but also dare I say, gaspially. But if someone wanted to increase their MCAS for the way you did, What would be the biggest advice you have for them? [00:32:48.460] - Speaker 1 Well, my first biggest advice would be that if they did not already to get a tutor, do not try to do this alone. I think that getting a tutor, specifically a strategy focus to, they're like the ones at Midlife Master, I think that specifically is going to be so worthwhile. I think that's the single most best investment I made in my entire pre Med journey, honestly, not trying to do it alone. Getting someone I could talk to and ask specific questions, look at specific scenarios, having someone to walk through with me and check in with and also support me. I think that was the number one thing that I found really helpful. I'd also say to focus on strategy as much as content, maybe even more, because you do need the content. I keep saying Oh, I was doubling down on the content and nothing was happening, which is true that it's not going to get you to that next level, but you do need it. You need the content. But what you really need also is the strategy. So I would focus on strategy as much as content or more. I would also say weekly practice tests and simulated conditions with review the very next day. [00:34:11.120] - Speaker 1 I think that's my next biggest secret that I found to be really helpful, especially on test day. And lastly, to focus and repeat those AAMC materials because that's as close as it's going to get to the actual MCAT. [00:34:30.130] - Speaker 2 Awesome advice. I like that you mentioned, simulating the condition specifically, because that can be huge as well. You can be scoring very well if you're untimed, if you're just like, relax lax in your room, and it's the middle of the afternoon after you've had a great night of sleep. But when it comes to test date and you're in the morning session or something like that, it could feel very different. And all of those external things do matter. They do impact your score and impact your concentration and stamina. So I like that you mentioned that specifically. And in terms of materials and resources that you use, what are some that you would recommend? You mentioned the Kaplan books a little bit earlier for content. [00:35:18.670] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So I think that the number one top resource I would recommend is the AAMC materials. I went for the bundle. I did the bundles several times because repetition is something that works really well for me. I felt like I was becoming one with the AAMC and the MCAT. I even wish I did them a few more times. But the AAMC bundle, for sure. I did You World. I did the Kaplin books, which I think were good for the initial review, but I really liked also supplementing my content with Khan Academy videos. I did Anki flashcards. I'm a big, big Anki proponent. It worked really well for me again because I'm good with the repetition, the memorization. And I felt like because I had memorized these things when it came time to using my strategies, if I remembered Oh, I see the word cysteine. And I know that cysteine can make disulfide bonds. And then I'd have that memorized piece. And then when it came time to use my strategies, I could pull that out and leverage them against each I was able to more quickly answer questions that I had that background for. And then for my CARS passages, I did Jack Weston, and then I did practice tests from exam crackers, Kaplan, AMC, and I also did the free blueprint. [00:36:48.070] - Speaker 1 I did practice tests every single week for months leading up to the exam, so I was doing whichever ones I could, whichever ones I could find. Hey, again. [00:36:59.480] - Speaker 3 Hitting pause real quick. Our Daily Dose emails have been a game changer for thousands of students. Every morning, you'll get a practice question, a memory hack, a top scorer tip, a success habits checklist, and a motivational boost, all in one short, focused email. Totally free at medlifemastery. Com/mcatdailydose. And if you're stuck or unsure where to go next with your prep, don't wait. Book a session with one of our mentors who crushed the MCAT and can help you do the same. Just go to medlifemastery. Com/medlifemastery. Com/mcatmentors. To anybody listening, if you are struggling financially or anything like that, and you're looking into the AMC materials, I know that the AMC has a fee assistance program. [00:37:44.850] - Speaker 2 That you could be eligible for and receive a discount on their materials and whatnot. But I would look into that if that's something that interests you. Anyway, moving on. Let's talk about the MCAT in a little bit more detail, the different sections, specifically. So your highest score was a 131 on CARS. So how did you study for CARS? Any specific advice for people struggling with it? [00:38:12.770] - Speaker 1 Yeah, I think CARS is an interesting section. From the start, it had always been my strongest section, so I wound up studying for it the least. I have difficulty saying studying because CARS is the one section that you can't really study content for. It's all about reading and your comprehension skills. But I did, quote, quote, study for it by doing two Jack Weston passages every single day for six months. It was very committed, trying not to leave anything up to chance. And then for the last month leading up to my test day, I was only doing AMC CARS materials. And I minored in English, so growing up, I always really liked reading, and I always loved the grammar games and things like that. So it felt intuitive. But I'd say that since this is the only section where every single answer can be found in the text provided, it could be helpful to make reading part of your daily life. And in a way that you are quickly reading whatever you're reading whenever you're reading it and trying to synthesize that information quickly. Because I don't know how much of cars I spent actually grappling with the text, but more so grappling with the question. [00:39:39.310] - Speaker 1 So I think it's important to be able to quickly synthesize the text, quickly pick up on what it's about, what are the main ideas, what's the author trying to say. So then you can spend your time actually reading the questions and fighting those ones, because it's not a reading test at the end of the day. It's called critical analysis and reasoning skills. So you don't want to spend your time just reading the text and trying to make sense of it. We have to do that. So in preparation, something you can do is make sure you're reading every day and working on quickly reading and quickly synthesizing. So that come test day, you have that good to go and you can focus on the actual questions in front of you. [00:40:28.110] - Speaker 2 Yeah, that's a great point, actually. I think a lot of people focus. When they think about cars, they focus on you have to read, but it's more than just about reading. It's about analyzing it as well. And personally, I am the type of person who overthink things. For CARS question, for example, or really for any questions, sometimes I would read it. And if I'm under a lot of pressure, I would read it and I'll be like, okay, this is what it's saying, but it's actually not. I've misunderstood the question itself. And then I overthink and I'm like, okay, what if I'm misunderstanding it? And they actually want me to... They're trying to ask me something different, and I'm not thinking enough about it. But in reality, it's because I'm overthinking it. And now I'm just tripping myself up and I snowballed. I feel like a lot of people go through that when they're trying to go through cars as well. And it ends up in bloodshed, basically. But it's a great point that you mentioned that it's not just about the reading itself. It's like the analysis, it's the reasoning as well. And a lot of people, I think, only focus on how cars is And part of cars is about reading comprehension. [00:41:47.570] - Speaker 2 And then they're like, Oh, that's easy. I've been practicing reading comprehension my whole life in school and whatnot. And I think some people, honestly, overestimate their reading comprehension skills Sometimes I do that where I'm like, oh, I know what this text is saying. I'm on Twitter or something, and I read a tweet, and I'm just like, I know what you're saying. I'm just like, I didn't know I don't because I read it wrong entirely. So not a section to be underestimated for sure. [00:42:14.590] - Speaker 1 I think I actually read somewhere that 40 % or something of cars is asking questions beyond the text, right? So if it was just a reading comprehension, just a reading or English test, you could look at the questions and you could say, well, if the answer choice is not in the text, if it's not supported by the text, then I know that that's not my answer choice. But cars is different because now they're asking you, Well, if the author was having tea on a Tuesday, well, what would they think about this topic then? So they really ask you to go beyond in different ways. And I think that another way that cars can trip you up in this way is that they'll add in answer choices that seem like they're common sense if you were a regular person just reading that question. But if you go back to the text, then the author never mentioned anything about that common sense thing, and you can get really easily tripped up. There's no common sense in cars. It's only what the author says and feels and thinks. It's all about the author of the text. So if they say, A reason why this would improve the relationship between scientists is because they'll have more time to talk to each other in conferences, but the text never mentioned conferences. [00:43:42.320] - Speaker 1 Yeah, it sounds totally reasonable, but if it's not mentioned in our text, then that's where they like to get you, I think. [00:43:50.100] - Speaker 2 Yeah. I actually need that phrase that you just said on a T-shirt where you said, There's no common sense in cars. I actually need that on a T-shirt just for my own personal life. Great points, great points. So let's go over chemfiz and bio-biochem. So you mentioned them before, and on your actual M-Camp, you got a 129. Still an awesome score. So how did you study for these two sections? And do you have any specific advices for them? [00:44:17.080] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So I studied for chem-phys or chem-phys and bio-biochem the same way, basically, since I was struggling with both of them and trying to battle loss. So I had been using the Kaplan books initially, Khan Academy. I did my Anki every day. And I think starting to do practice questions, like exclusively and intensively with the advice of my tutor, is what started to help me a lot more. And then when I was doing my practice tests and reviewing them the very next day, which I will always say, When you do your practice test, review them the very next day so everything's fresh. Review what you got right? Review what you got wrong? Because I would go through these questions, and whether I got it right or wrong, I would wind up looking at them with my tutor, and we'd talk about, Well, if I got this question right, how long did I spend on it to get it right? How could I have gotten it correct quicker? How could I have more quickly relied on what I knew in order to pick up that keyword that was going to clue me into what the right answer was going to be, right? [00:45:28.980] - Speaker 1 Or if I got a question wrong, what was the piece of information that I missed? What was the one thing I knew in this entire question or passage that could have gotten me to the right answer? Kind of exercising all of those pathways so that the next time I saw any question, I already had this framework going on in my mind. And just like with every other section, I say strategy is just as important or even more important to be successful. And something else that worked for me was doing the AMC materials over and over again, which I know I mentioned before. But I would say that if you only have to choose one resource beyond the tutor, I would definitely go with the AMC materials because they helped me to actively review the content while also getting comfortable with how the MCAT actually asks their questions the way they want you to think. [00:46:25.820] - Speaker 2 Yeah. And that's super important as well. And it's awesome that you get both in the same materials. And also it's by the AMC. So it's the best thing out there to at least get started with. [00:46:39.250] - Speaker 1 Like Live, laugh, AMC. Live, laugh, AMC. [00:46:41.920] - Speaker 2 I need another T-shirt now. Oh, no. [00:46:46.240] - Speaker 1 So let's talk about- I used to write myself notes, actually, on my computer, like live, laugh, argue, live, laugh, course. I'd like to cheer myself up, give myself a boost. [00:46:59.110] - Speaker 2 Oh, I love I love that. I love that. What did you do with all of those? By the end, when you were done with prep, did you keep them as mementos or did you burn them in a bonfire and you were like, finally, it's over? [00:47:11.040] - Speaker 1 I should have burned them, though, but I left them up. They grew on me. It was a reminder of what I had overcome and what I had done. [00:47:21.650] - Speaker 2 Yeah, definitely. So what about psychsosh then, the last section? You got a 128 made an awesome score. Do you have specific advices for this particular section? [00:47:36.000] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So Psych Soch, I think, was an interesting section for me. I majored in psychology, so I studied the least for Psych Soch because I was like, Well, I'm doing horrible in chem, phys, and bio, biocam. I know nothing in there. Let me focus my efforts there. And during my practice test, I had always scored pretty highly on Psych Soch, but it wound up being my lowest section on testing. And I think that the reason why that was really a testament to the importance of strategy, because I had all my strategies for chem, phys, and bio, biocam I'm ready to go, even though I felt less comfortable with those section and those materials and that content, and I had all struggled. And with psych-social, I was like, Well, I got this. I know the content in and out. I'm good to go. And that showed on test day. I had the strategies for the sections I always struggled in, and I did better in those sections. And the section I didn't have strategies for because I was brute forcing it with content, I wound up having more issues with it come test day. To study, I basically use the Khan Academy psychsosh 90-page document that's floating around on the Internet. [00:48:56.720] - Speaker 1 And I did my Anki and my practice questions. But I really I do wish in hindsight that I had dedicated more time to strategies for this section rather than just relying on content. Another thing with psychsosh is that there are a lot of pseudo-discreet questions, so they'll give you this huge passage, make you read it, and you get to the question, and you actually could have answered it without reading. So I would suggest, as one strategy in psychsosh, as opposed to other sections, would be to go directly to the question, Just scope it out a bit, see what they're asking, see if you really need to read that whole passage, because time is really valuable, of course. [00:49:37.910] - Speaker 2 That's a really good advice. That would save you so much time. I would be so devastated if I finish reading this gigantic passage, and then I get to the question, and I didn't even need to read the passage. That would honestly make me a little angry at myself, at the writers who know that everyone. [00:49:58.460] - Speaker 1 It's like they're trying to mess with you. It's again, it's all about, can you figure out how they want you to think? Can you figure out how you're going to manage all of this information, whether it be a little trick, like going to the question first or something bigger, picking out the random answer that you've never heard of. [00:50:18.070] - Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. Again, 4D test. You got to walk into the testing and prepare to fight for your life. Just not what you thought you were fighting against. So on test day, what was that like? How did you feel in the morning? Were you able to have a good night's sleep? [00:50:38.530] - Speaker 1 Yeah. So the night before, I did some light studying, which it's not for everyone. For me, it was what I had done every single night before I did a practice test. It just put me at ease. I wasn't studying things that I still hadn't mastered yet. Like, oh, so and so equation. I still don't get this. Let me figure it out the night before. It wasn't things like that. It was more like some practice questions and Ankii cards to get my brain into that space, which worked for me, at least. I was in a situation where I was going to have to commute to my test center. So I gave myself the luxury of staying overnight nearby my test center so that I could walk to the test center in the morning, five minutes away and not have any concerns about getting there on time. I know it's not an option for everyone, but if it is, I think it really helped me to feel a bit more relaxed. I get very nervous when I'm rushing somewhere or there's traffic, or is my train going to come? So I didn't want to have that extra anxiety. [00:51:50.400] - Speaker 1 You just have to know yourself. If commuting for you is not going to freak you out, then by all means, commute on that day. It's what a lot of people But for me, I knew it was going to add a whole different element. And it was also going to be different from the practice test conditions I had put myself in, because now I was going to add another variable that I had never experienced. My whole big thing was trying to minimize the number of different variables that I was going to experience on test day so that I was doing something I had always been doing. So I had done so many practice tests in the testing conditions every single Saturday leading up to the exam that I just wanted to treat it the same way. In order to deal with the anxiety or the thoughts like, Oh, no, my test is really tomorrow, I personally felt like I was in my peaking state. So I told myself that even if I moved the exam or took it any earlier, this was the best time I could possibly take it. This is the only time I could possibly take it. [00:53:00.850] - Speaker 1 And I think that lends itself to the fact that I waited until I felt like I was totally ready to take the exam. So I was in the mental state where I could tell myself, Okay, you're in your peak. You got to do it now just like you do every single week. And when you sit down for the test, there's that momentary realization that this is for real. You just got to take a deep breath, keep doing what you've been doing every single week for the past however many months, and don't let yourself freeze, right? Because that's not going to do you good at this time. Just treat it like all the other ones. [00:53:36.160] - Speaker 2 Yeah. Very great advices towards the end there. And I'm happy to hear that you were able to give yourself a little treat and avoid commuting by staying near the testing center. I know for a lot of people, some people are lucky and their testing center is nearby or within a good amount of distance. And I also heard from other people who have had to commute two hours away or something like that. [00:54:01.650] - Speaker 1 It has been an hour and a half, but with a train, a subway or driving into Manhattan. And it was just going to be... I just knew it was going to make me not be in the right head space for this super important and possibly life-altering exam. So I was like, time to take my losses with this one. [00:54:24.650] - Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. And really, you're doing yourself a favor because then you don't have to deal the stresses of everything else other than the exam. You can just stress about the MCAT itself and not worry if the subway is going to be late or you're going to get on the wrong line or, I don't know, there's a delay or something like that. Or if you're driving into Manhattan, all of the traffic that's going to be going on, trying to find a parking space. You save yourself all of those worries. [00:54:56.110] - Speaker 1 As few stressors as possible. [00:54:59.000] - Speaker 2 Exactly. So what would you say to someone currently studying for the MCAT? Is feeling pretty burnt out? Is it feeling frustrated or sad that they haven't gotten to their goals for? Or anything. What would you say to them? [00:55:15.060] - Speaker 1 I would honestly say, don't take the exam until you feel ready. When you're feeling burned down and frustrated inside, we need to work through those feelings, right? But the one thing you don't want to do as a The way to, I guess, pull the plug on the whole MCAT situation is take the exam when you're feeling down and you don't feel ready to take it. And when you're feeling frustrated, burned out, that actually might be exactly when a tutor could be the right person to help you. Having someone to come in, someone who has that guidance, who's done this before, who knows maybe something you don't in this situation. I think if you were feeling like that, that those are two important things. [00:56:01.490] - Speaker 2 Exactly. And even if you're not interested in speaking to a tutor, if you have the option to reach out to somebody in your support group, in your community who have taken the MCAT or is going through the same journey, or just generally anyone you feel would be able to provide you some level of support, I think that's also a great resource. [00:56:25.260] - Speaker 1 Exactly. When you're feeling burned out, sad, frustrated, it's It's not the time to isolate yourself. It's not the time to be alone. [00:56:34.130] - Speaker 2 Exactly. So going back to your MCAT and your prep in particular, would you say there's anything you wish you did differently during your prep? Any regrets you may have had? [00:56:47.950] - Speaker 1 I think that, well, one, I really wish I did get my tutor sooner. I wish I met him sooner, just so that from the beginning, I could have had that guidance. I did spend quite a lot of time content review, months that I think would have been much better used had I had already met my tutor, and he'd already given me all these awesome tips for my study plan and strategies. So maybe time that could have been more well spent with the guidance of a tutor. I wish I focused more on psychosocial strategies because I only relied on that content, and it showed. And maybe I I wish I did the AMC materials a few more times. Just really felt like I did them to the very end. I got them in and out. Maybe it would have made me feel a tiny bit better Yeah, exactly. [00:57:47.120] - Speaker 2 But hindsight, regardless of all of those requests, you still managed to come out of it successful. And I think it's tempting sometimes to think about, what if I did manage to do all these things and change some things around, and I got an even better score. I think that's always something. But I think at this point, you move forward in your journey. You're in the application phase now in starting that school phase. So sometimes you just have to take the wins. [00:58:19.190] - Speaker 1 Right. This score got me where I needed to be, right? And I think the MCAT is also... It's not the end of the path. It's not once you do the MCAT, you're good to go. This is just the first step on the journey, really. I think that in hindsight, I had the realization that having made it past this obstacle, we said the one word I would describe it as an obstacle. Once I got past it, it was easier to see in hindsight that this was just one of the steps in the path to medical school, but a very necessary and important one. And it's your way to get your foot in the door. Everything else in your application is really important. You have to have a strong, well-routded application. But without that MCAT score, I think it's a bit more challenging. [00:59:11.920] - Speaker 2 Exactly. Well put. So What did you do while you were waiting to get your score back? How did you feel during that period of time? [00:59:22.290] - Speaker 1 I had taken the exam in May 2022, and I graduated college in June or towards the end of May, early June 2022. So in that time, I basically just tried to keep busy because it was already busy anyways. I had to finish my honors thesis and present it at a conference. I had graduation And I also had just started Teach for America towards when I was going to hear back from the AMC. So it was just a very keep yourself busy and take each day as it comes vibe for me. [01:00:01.240] - Speaker 2 Awesome. I'm glad that you had all of these things to accomplish and to do and to complete. Me too. And then you didn't have to, I don't know, plow around your house or your bedroom, just stressing and stressing about what you got, things like that. You were too busy living your life. [01:00:19.280] - Speaker 1 It was really nice, honestly. I definitely would have been the type to ruminate every day, but I just told myself, the day is going to come. I'm going to wake up one day and it'll be the day I open my email and get my test score. So just keep going until that day comes. [01:00:37.630] - Speaker 2 Exactly. Only thing you can do, really. So what was it like when you did get your score back? [01:00:44.310] - Speaker 1 Well, I think, initially, disbelief. I mean, I checked it over and over again just to make sure it was really there and it really was what it was. And then in the middle of the night, I had to check it again to make sure the numbers didn't change and it was what it was. So it was initially a lot of disbelief. And then that's when I had the initial realization that this was one step. I had a sense of relief, but also the realization that it's not over yet. This is just the start. But it was definitely a good feeling to get the score back and also to know that I wasn't going to have to take it again. I did everything the way I felt it needed to be done, and it worked out. [01:01:31.090] - Speaker 2 Awesome. That sense of relief. It's like, Oh, I got what I needed, and we're celebrating. But also, here's the next step. [01:01:39.820] - Speaker 1 Yes, but definitely celebrate it first. I did enjoy it. I did bask in it. And then I was like, Okay, well, now what? Here's all the other things. [01:01:49.660] - Speaker 2 Exactly. I'm glad you celebrate it. You deserved it. I hope it was an amazing celebration. So going on, what are your plans for the future? Like your short term, long term future? What are you hoping to be at 5, 10 years from now? [01:02:08.110] - Speaker 1 So for right now, my goal is to finish my master's in teaching this May. And then I'll start medical school this year. And then hopefully in the near future, if all works out, I'll be doing a pediatrics residency. And then in the farther future, one day, I hope to be caring for patients and underserved communities, serving as a physician educator, and being that compassionate physician who cared for me and my family when I was a kid, going back to who inspired me That's how I want to wind up one day. [01:02:47.880] - Speaker 2 That's amazing. And I hope that one day there's somebody out there who was a patient of yours or was with a patient of yours, and they tell their story to somebody else about how you inspired them. I think that would be really amazing. That'd be so nice. [01:03:02.260] - Speaker 1 That would be the fulfillment of my dreams. [01:03:05.340] - Speaker 2 My gosh, that would be amazing. Okay, so it seems like our chat has to wrap up for now. I'm honestly looking forward to all the things that you're going to accomplish in the future and seeing what happens. But thank you so much for joining us. It's been a blast talking to you, getting to know you, and a little bit more about your journey. And to all of you awesome listeners, I hope her journey has sparked some inspiration inspiration and perspective for how you can achieve your own goals score. But happy studying. You got this. Thank you. Before we sign off, remember, The path to med school isn't always smooth. [01:03:47.320] - Speaker 3 It's full of setbacks, doubts, and days that feel like you're not getting anywhere. But that's part of the process, and it's one every doctor you admire has gone through. Don't stop now. You got this. And if you're looking for someone to actually look at your prep and help you figure out what's missing, what's working, and what needs to change, you can work with one of us. We personally pair you with the most ideal top-scoring mentor for your MCAT situation. Learn more at medlifemastery. Com/mcatmentor. Mentors.