3 Techniques to Develop Essential MCAT Skills in Daily Life

The medical school admissions test, or MCAT, is distinct from other admissions exams due to its format and substance. For success, a particular skill set is needed. It's crucial to recognize these skills early on and take efforts to improve them in college as you prepare for the MCAT. They may or may not overlap with the skills you generally learn during college curriculum.

In order to perform well on the MCAT, you need develop the following three skills, along with practical applications for them in daily life:

• Turn to science courses to understand data analysis.
• Practice efficient reading in college courses.
• Parse persuasive writing.

Turn to Science Courses to Understand Data Analysis

The physical and biological sciences sections of the exam will have a majority of passage-based questions. Often, these passages will present an experiment with supporting data with questions asking what that data ultimately means.

Build your ability to draw conclusions from data by taking general chemistry, organic chemistry and biology lab courses at your university before taking the MCAT. These courses should expose you to scientific methodology, data collection and critical appraisal of data. Be sure to solidify these fundamental skills during the courses so that when it comes time to take the MCAT, you are well versed in them.

One test-taker saw his score for the biological sciences section plateau on practice exams after weeks of preparation. He was able to move his score an average of three points higher by spending a few weeks reading a paper from The New England Journal of Medicine each day to gain a better understanding of how conclusions are drawn from data.

He also brushed up on basic statistical principles, like the t-test and chi-square analysis to better understand what those conclusions actually mean.  

Practice Efficient Reading in College Courses

All sections of the MCAT are timed and will put pressure on you to quickly read, comprehend and apply information in the presented passages. The question stems can be several sentences long, and reading them can take up valuable time.

It's paramount for you to be able to not only read quickly, but also efficiently. This means being able to identify key parts of the passages or question stems accurately without getting bogged down by irrelevant details. For example, a biological sciences passage describing an experiment that examined the effects of different hormones on kidney function may include several introductory paragraphs describing normal kidney function. Prepared students will likely know this information already and can save time by skimming through the background material and moving on to the paragraphs detailing the different experiments.

Parse Persuasive Writing

Many MCAT questions can be answered simply by understanding the overall theme and tone of the corresponding passage. For example, a passage in the verbal reasoning section may discuss the merits of developing the nation’s science museums, with an overall positive tone toward museums. Several of the questions might have only one answer choice that exhibits a positive tone about museums. Thus, the correct answer would be the choice that correlates with the overall tone of the passage.

Many questions will ask you about conclusions based on the main theme of a passage, so identifying the theme is key. This skill requires you to be able to identify the overarching main idea of a passage.

Practice doing this by reading essays, news stories, editorials, opinion pieces or blog posts where the author is trying to make a certain point and persuade the reader. Try to read one piece per day while you’re preparing for the MCAT to continuously improve this skill.

For college course, try creating succinct outlines of study material. Write out the main argument of your assigned reading, and then catalog the concrete details or facts that support the argument.

Incorporating outlines into daily study can help test-takers boost their verbal reasoning score. It bolsters the ability to identify the tone of a passage, which can prove extremely useful when encountered passages about unfamiliar subjects on test day.