Okay, so I decided to buckle down and really get into some MCAT psychology practice questions today. I’ve been putting off psych/soc, I won’t lie. It feels so… vague compared to, like, organic chemistry, you know?
First, I gathered my materials. This meant my big ol’ MCAT prep book, some highlighters, a notebook for writing down stuff I kept missing, and a big glass of water. Gotta stay hydrated, right?
Diving In
I started by just flipping through the psychology section of the book to get a feel for the types of questions. There was a lot of stuff about theories – Freud, Erikson, Piaget… honestly, a bit of a blur at first.
Then I picked a section on, I think it was, cognitive biases. Sounded kinda interesting. I read the short chapter summary thing they had at the beginning. Then, I just dove into the practice questions.
- First few were okay. I got them right, felt pretty good.
- Then… bam! Started missing a bunch.
- Confirmation bias, availability heuristic… it all started to sound the same.
I realized pretty quickly that just reading the explanations after I got a question wrong wasn’t cutting it. I needed a better system.
The “Aha!” Moment
So, I changed my approach. Instead of just plowing through, I started to:
- Read the question carefully, twice.
- Try to answer it before looking at the choices. This was tough!
- If I got it wrong, or even if I was just guessing, I’d write down the concept in my notebook.
- Then, I’d actually go back to the chapter and re-read that specific part. Like, really read it, not just skim.
This took way longer, obviously. But, I felt like I was actually learning the material, not just memorizing answers. I even started to see patterns in the types of questions they were asking.
Wrap Up
By the end of my study session (which was like, 2 hours, my brain was fried!), I had a notebook full of notes on stuff I needed to work on. Things like “fundamental attribution error” and “cognitive dissonance” were at the top of the list.
It’s definitely a work in progress. I’m not magically amazing at MCAT psychology now. But I feel like I have a much better handle on how to approach these questions, and a solid plan for improving. Next up: more practice questions, and maybe some flashcards!
