Week Goals: Finish Notes on GC Lecture 5.
Monday: 1:30 Organic & :30 MCAT
Tuesday: 2 hours Organic, 1 hour MCAT
Wednesday: 1 hour Organic, 1:15 MCAT (finished notes on GC L5 CD)
Thursday: 1 Organic
Friday: 2 hours Organic :30 MCAT
Saturday: 1 hour Organic
Sunday: 1:30 Organic
Total Organic - 9 hours 30 min
Total MCAT - 3 hours 15 min
TOTAL - 12 hours 45
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Practice Test Recap
Well this is the long awaited and much anticipated practice test recap. I took two practice tests in only seven days and I made significant improvements in just one week. This quick improvement gives me confidence in my methodical approach to improving my score. I made a 21 on the first test with sub-scores of 5, 10, and 6 in Physical, Verbal, and Biological. I spent two days reviewing the physical science section and identifying/reviewing the my "problem areas" in the subject matter. I currently have many problem areas. However, I was able to brush up enough to answer nine more questions correctly and score 2 points higher on just that one sub section. I also moved quicker actually getting to about 41 or 42 of the 52 questions. On the first test I only got to about 35 of the questions. I also moved quicker on the Verbal although my score was worse. I was doing well until the end, but since I had moved quicker I thought I could quickly read and answer the last two passages. However, I ended up half assing both of them and actually half of the questions I missed came from those 2 passages (seven total). Hopefully next time I will finish all of the passages and questions but if not I will not rush through again. I will just finish out what I can and my pace and spend the last minute marking C for the ones I have not yet read. I didn't really study the biological sciences at all, but that section improved also. I really think learning the physical sciences and becoming familiar with the MCAT format helped that score improve. To recap, 2 tests in seven days and I answered 61% of all of the questions correctly on the second test, compared to 55% on the first. My studying is paying off and I know in four months I will be ready. Thank to my wife Brooke for being so supportive of my dream.
Goodnight,
Justin
Goodnight,
Justin
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up
It seems like all I type these days is the weekly wrap up. Oh well it's not like anyone reads this anyway. We had a good week. The two most notable events of course revolved around Owen. On Monday we took him for his 6 months photos at Bookout Studios and on Saturday he used "Sillytown" as a much need pillar of support and then stood right up. Granted he only made it made it up enough to make it look like he was ready to be potty trained, but he did make it there on his own and we were very proud of him.
The photos on Monday went really well. That kid might be an actor. He is photogenic and loves the camera. He smiles even bigger after the flash goes off. He seemed to be posing throughout the entire shoot and was very cooperative. However, it seems that Jackson has been sharing with Owen the importance of staking your claim so Owen "claimed" the rug used during the last set. But I guess we all deserved it. We are the ones that made him go comando for the last round of pics.
Finally, also on Saturday I took my second AAMC practice MCAT and made a 23 which was one point higher than my goal. I promise this time I will add a full test summary in the next day or two.
Again it's been another nice week, and now I'm going to bed. It feels like midnight (It's only 10)
'Night
The photos on Monday went really well. That kid might be an actor. He is photogenic and loves the camera. He smiles even bigger after the flash goes off. He seemed to be posing throughout the entire shoot and was very cooperative. However, it seems that Jackson has been sharing with Owen the importance of staking your claim so Owen "claimed" the rug used during the last set. But I guess we all deserved it. We are the ones that made him go comando for the last round of pics.
Finally, also on Saturday I took my second AAMC practice MCAT and made a 23 which was one point higher than my goal. I promise this time I will add a full test summary in the next day or two.
Again it's been another nice week, and now I'm going to bed. It feels like midnight (It's only 10)
'Night
Study Log - 1/11 - 1/17
Week Goals: Finish Notes on GC and Physics Lecture 4. Make 22 on MCAT 6, 6, 10 (minimums).
Monday: 3 hrs 30 minutes MCAT - 50 Gen Chem problems (atoms, molecules, quantum mechanics, gases). Material Review, Notes on half of gen chem L4. Plus first organic class.
Tuesday: 2+ hours Organic, 1+ hour MCAT
Wednesday: 1 hour Organic, 1 hour MCAT (finished notes on L4 CD)
Thursday: 1 hr - 20 gen chem problems. 20 minute review
Friday: 2 hours MCAT review
Saturday: 3 hr 45 min MCAT - Practice Test and Review
Sunday: 1 hr MCAT PT Review
Total Organic - 3+ hours
Total MCAT - 13 hours 15 min
TOTAL - 16 + hours
Monday: 3 hrs 30 minutes MCAT - 50 Gen Chem problems (atoms, molecules, quantum mechanics, gases). Material Review, Notes on half of gen chem L4. Plus first organic class.
Tuesday: 2+ hours Organic, 1+ hour MCAT
Wednesday: 1 hour Organic, 1 hour MCAT (finished notes on L4 CD)
Thursday: 1 hr - 20 gen chem problems. 20 minute review
Friday: 2 hours MCAT review
Saturday: 3 hr 45 min MCAT - Practice Test and Review
Sunday: 1 hr MCAT PT Review
Total Organic - 3+ hours
Total MCAT - 13 hours 15 min
TOTAL - 16 + hours
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MCAT Log 1/4/10 - 1/10/10
Monday: 2 hrs 20 min - Two Verbal passages, Reviewed MCAT Physics outline, Chemistry problems
Tuesday: 1 hour 45 min. - Reviewed MCAT Physical Science Outline, Took notes on Exam Krackers Thermodynamics sections of gen chem.
Wednesday: 3+ hrs - Worked 70 Chem problems (Exam Krackers book), reviewed weaknesses, finished taking notes on EK Thermodynamics Lecture
Thursday: 1hour 30 min - Worked about 30 EK Gen Chem problems, reviewed
Friday: Only 1 hour - Reviewed Notes from EK Gen. Chem and Physics Lessons 1-3.
Saturday: 3hrs 30 min - Practice MCAT # 3.
Sunday: 1hour: Reviewed Practice MCAT. Listened to EK Physics L1 (vectors, translational motion)
Total Organic - None
Total MCAT - Just over 14 hours
Tuesday: 1 hour 45 min. - Reviewed MCAT Physical Science Outline, Took notes on Exam Krackers Thermodynamics sections of gen chem.
Wednesday: 3+ hrs - Worked 70 Chem problems (Exam Krackers book), reviewed weaknesses, finished taking notes on EK Thermodynamics Lecture
Thursday: 1hour 30 min - Worked about 30 EK Gen Chem problems, reviewed
Friday: Only 1 hour - Reviewed Notes from EK Gen. Chem and Physics Lessons 1-3.
Saturday: 3hrs 30 min - Practice MCAT # 3.
Sunday: 1hour: Reviewed Practice MCAT. Listened to EK Physics L1 (vectors, translational motion)
Total Organic - None
Total MCAT - Just over 14 hours
Weekly Wrap-Up
Well I am officially a nerd. When I was running in college I would keep a log of how much I ran each day with notes about how I felt. Now I am doing the same thing with studying ( I bet most people don;t do this) It sort of makes me feel all statistical and anal. Very engineerish. which is alright I guess. I know it will help me with my studies.
So this week was highlighted by snow, A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, and my first AAMC practice MCAT (3rd overall). It began to snow on Thursday morning and I left work early to pick up Owen. On the way home we stopped by Lowe's to by a bow saw so I could cut up some firewood from behind our house. I'm not sure that Owen really new what the big deal was but we dressed him up in his new dog 'boggin and mittens and took him outside for pictures in the snow. We also made a very impressive miniature snowman in a flower port filled with frozen water (ice). Again he didn't seem to know what was going on but he was a good sport. When we got in his cheeks got really red but that didn't last too long. Oh yea Jackson played fetched with some snowballs and we video taped it. We had a good day.
Thursday night was the game and we watched it at Jennifer and JRs house. I know Bama fans have a reputation for being obnoxious red necks so I won't say much except welcome to the SEC; where people actually hit harder than they did in middle school. Side note, look for Tubberville to have some success at Tech bringing SEC style football to the Big 12.
Finally, yesterday was my third practice MCAT, but my first that was an actual retired MCAT exam. It was hard, yet in ways I thought it was easier than the others I had taken. I was hoping to make a 20 or 21 and I did in fact make a 21. I was very excited for two reasons. First, because my first two were a 18 and 17. Secondly, because I preformed the way I thought I would for this stage in the game. Granted if I make a 21 in May it will be a disaster, but for now I am right on track. I will be taking nine or ten more before the real deal and I hope to improve by one point every time. That at least put me in position to make a 30+, depending on how well I perform on the actual day.
I will give full report of the exam tomorrow but for now I am going to read my new Bible that Brooke got me for Christmas and then go to bed. Again it was a great week with snow, football, and standardized tests.
Good Day.
So this week was highlighted by snow, A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, and my first AAMC practice MCAT (3rd overall). It began to snow on Thursday morning and I left work early to pick up Owen. On the way home we stopped by Lowe's to by a bow saw so I could cut up some firewood from behind our house. I'm not sure that Owen really new what the big deal was but we dressed him up in his new dog 'boggin and mittens and took him outside for pictures in the snow. We also made a very impressive miniature snowman in a flower port filled with frozen water (ice). Again he didn't seem to know what was going on but he was a good sport. When we got in his cheeks got really red but that didn't last too long. Oh yea Jackson played fetched with some snowballs and we video taped it. We had a good day.
Thursday night was the game and we watched it at Jennifer and JRs house. I know Bama fans have a reputation for being obnoxious red necks so I won't say much except welcome to the SEC; where people actually hit harder than they did in middle school. Side note, look for Tubberville to have some success at Tech bringing SEC style football to the Big 12.
Finally, yesterday was my third practice MCAT, but my first that was an actual retired MCAT exam. It was hard, yet in ways I thought it was easier than the others I had taken. I was hoping to make a 20 or 21 and I did in fact make a 21. I was very excited for two reasons. First, because my first two were a 18 and 17. Secondly, because I preformed the way I thought I would for this stage in the game. Granted if I make a 21 in May it will be a disaster, but for now I am right on track. I will be taking nine or ten more before the real deal and I hope to improve by one point every time. That at least put me in position to make a 30+, depending on how well I perform on the actual day.
I will give full report of the exam tomorrow but for now I am going to read my new Bible that Brooke got me for Christmas and then go to bed. Again it was a great week with snow, football, and standardized tests.
Good Day.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Week Wrap Up
It's a day late but every Sunday I am planning on summarizing how the previous week's studying has gone. Last week was my first official week of "THE FINAL PUSH". However, that push will last 5 months, so don't think I'm cramming. I spent at leat 1:15 minutes studying last week and spent most of my time on physics Chemistry and Verbal Reasoning. Over the next couple weeks I hope to gain a better understanding of what I need to work on and develop a plan to improve my weaknesses. The practice test I'm taking this Saturday should help clarify the direction my future studying should take. This will be the first practice MCAT I've taken that is actually an old real MCAT. The two I've previously taken have been from an MCAT prep book company, so I am pretty excited about it.
In other news Boise State beat TCU tonight which is pretty cool since they were the underdogs. However, I won't using that line of thinking in picking my team for the Nat. Championship game. ROLL TIDE.
Ok, well school starts back tomorrow so I need to go to bed.
Goodnight.
In other news Boise State beat TCU tonight which is pretty cool since they were the underdogs. However, I won't using that line of thinking in picking my team for the Nat. Championship game. ROLL TIDE.
Ok, well school starts back tomorrow so I need to go to bed.
Goodnight.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Productive Day!
The past two days have been really nice. Undoubtedly that is in part because I haven't been working, but mostly it's because I made a conscious effort to focus on my wife and son and did not worry about school for once. I still did the studying (1:15 hour MCAT yesterday, 1:30 MCAT today) but I didn't stress or worry about it, I just did it. I'm going to try to do this for the next five months leading up to the MCAT. I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but I can't let that take me away from my family. I have to fully devote myself to studying for a few hours a day and then let it go and enjoy B and O.
Not only have the first two days of this year contain two good study sessions, but I also finished decorating O's room, made a ginormous grocery run, watched a bunch of football (GO SEC), and most importantly finished restoring O's high chair. This was special because it is the same high chair that first my dad and then I used. Before my dad passed away in late 2006 he had begun stripping the old finish off in hopes that one day my child would use it. Over the past month I completed the preparation, and finally yesterday and today I applied two coats of stain/polyurethane to complete the project. Once its dry I will reattach the hardware and Owen will get to eat in it tomorrow. I'm really excited about it. I thought a lot about dad while working on the chair and I think he would be really proud of how good it looks and relieved that I actually finished it.
Well the Alamo bowl is over, so I'm going to bed. Tomorrow will consist of some physics practice problems and taking notes on half of a general chem chapter in my Kaplan prep book. So far it's been a great 2010.
Goodnight
Not only have the first two days of this year contain two good study sessions, but I also finished decorating O's room, made a ginormous grocery run, watched a bunch of football (GO SEC), and most importantly finished restoring O's high chair. This was special because it is the same high chair that first my dad and then I used. Before my dad passed away in late 2006 he had begun stripping the old finish off in hopes that one day my child would use it. Over the past month I completed the preparation, and finally yesterday and today I applied two coats of stain/polyurethane to complete the project. Once its dry I will reattach the hardware and Owen will get to eat in it tomorrow. I'm really excited about it. I thought a lot about dad while working on the chair and I think he would be really proud of how good it looks and relieved that I actually finished it.
Well the Alamo bowl is over, so I'm going to bed. Tomorrow will consist of some physics practice problems and taking notes on half of a general chem chapter in my Kaplan prep book. So far it's been a great 2010.
Goodnight
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)