12 Things You Need To Know To Ace MDCAT

Amna Rashid
1st Year

Hey MDCATians! I hope you all had a blessed Ramadan amidst the books you just wanted to throw after FSc exams, but no worries, all is well that ends well (InshaAllah). All the struggles will be worth it in the end.
MDCAT is the gateway for those who aspire to get admitted in medical college, so you need to prepare yourself well for it. I have a few tips and suggestions regarding the exam you're going to give in a few months, based solely on my experience (and that too, twice. Yes! I am the 2017 one). I really hope those will be of a little, if not all, help to you. Now before sharing, I just want to say something. Please, please, put yourself into this thing if you really aim to succeed. Otherwise, it will be nothing but a havoc and source of frustration for you.

HOW TO PREPARE

1. Have your concepts clear as water.
Stop cramming each and every thing like you did in FSc. The topics you have just memorized with zero concept in the two years of FSc, it's time to understand them. MDCAT is mostly about concepts so you have to clear them.
2. Practice MCQs as much as you can.
Keep attempting different MCQs from workbooks you have or take online tests just after you read a chapter from any of the subjects to make it have a full command on it. Especially for physics and English. Physics is all about numericals and calculations and formulae, and practicing MCQs is of great help to make your concepts more and more clear. As of English, there's no need to cram each and every rule of grammar and you can't possibly do it, so solve different MCQs with different rules applicable to them and keep learning new ones this way.
3. Stick to text books and syllabus.
This tip is especially for biology, most of the lines  are copied as it is from books and pasted in the test . Just carefully and critically read all the included topics from the books and memorize them. Nothing comes out of text books in the final test.  Nothing out of syllabus UHS assigned , so just stick to it completely.
4. You need to cram some stuff too.
Cramming is required too for MDCAT, especially for English. More than 800 vocabulary words, you need to have them crammed with as many synonyms as you can. Mnemonics are of great help for that. Not only the vocabulary portion but the portion of "sentence completion" is also dependent on those words. Plus, you need to read your text books too and pick grammar rules from them. Textbook lines are the favourite ones to come in the final test, especially from the novel Mr. Chips. Now, there is contradiction at many places in the book as of the grammar rules, you just have to follow what's written in the book, and for that surely you'll have to take help of your cramming ability. In physics and chemistry,  you have to learn some values and quantities by heart.
5. Short cuts.
Shorten your ways of solving specific problems. Especially for physics, make your own short cuts for solving numericals as there is very less time for each mcq in the test.
6. Don't compare yourself with others.
Depressors and depressing material is all around you when you go for attending classes at academies, but don't have them get on your nerves, okay? Everyone has his own way of preparing things and takes his own time to learn and understand. You're different, and so your way might be, but the goal is same. So just focus on your own self rather than having your self down on hearing that your friend has prepared three chapters while you're stuck on the first one.

HOW TO ATTEMPT THE TEST

1. Calm yourself down.
No need to panic. No need to be nervous. Just be confident of yourself and the preparation you've  done in all these months. Believe, that you can ace it.
2. Solve easy ones first.
If you're well prepared for the test, you can pick out the easy ones from the test by glancing at them. Solve those first which you are sure of and don't feel the need to give them a second thought. If you feel you're stuck on an mcq, pass it on and come to the next one first. Don't waste your time. Even a second is valuable that day.
3. Don't overthink.
After filling a bubble, forget about it completely and move on to the next. Don't start thinking as if you've done it right or wrong, just move on.
4. Hidden concepts.
Some mcqs in the test will give you a hunch  that they might be out of syllabus, but they're not actually. They are just moulded the way as to confuse you but don't. Be intellectual while solving such mcqs. Find the key word in each mcq, and try your best to draw on your concepts. You'll find the answer, just don't panic.
4. Better leave then mark wrong.
To save yourself from negative marking, try to avoid filling bubbles for those mcqs you're zero percent sure of. For those you are 40 or 50 percent sure of, you can rely on your luck. But don't make random guesses. If you don't want to leave any bubble unfilled, then make intellectual guesses and be analytical, otherwise it's always better to just leave them.
5. Division of time.
It's quite important that you divide your time before beginning the test. As of me, the way I divided my time was :
Biology : 35 mins
Physics : 60 mins
Chemistry : 35 mins
English : 20 mins
Solve the portion of the subject you feel you're best at. Do whatever you're okay with, going from easy to difficult, or the other way around. Biology portion is the most lengthy one, so it's usually advised to solve it first, but ultimately, your call.
6. Be careful while marking.
If you're skipping any mcq, then be careful of the series and mark the bubble as to the assigned mcq and don't get it all wrong.

The night before exam, relax yourself. Don't read the stuff again and again as you won't be able to memorize anything new at that stage of time. Just be sure of the things you've already learned and pray that it's enough. Recite darood paak and bismillah before test, take deep breaths, and start. Have faith in Allah, he'll never waste your effort. And one more thing, MDCAT is 50% effort, 50% luck. So Don't consider yourself a failure if you aren't able to do good in it, though I hope you all do.

Prayers for you all. Best of luck!

[For more related stuff, visit our PreMed section]