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Preparation of MCAT
Preparation of MCAT
I’ll always remember 2011 as the most difficult year of my life. I scored
less marks in F.Sc. (887/1100). I did not learn from my shortcomings
in F.Sc. and continued the trend till MCAT 2011. I never took notice of
myself and kept on wasting time. I never realized that tomorrow my
dad has to step down and I have to take his place. I never looked at
the merit lists of 2009 and 2010. All the year I kept thinking that 80% is
more than enough. I never understood that in a country like Pakistan,
there is a heavy competition for survival. You take a short nap
somewhere in between and you are left way behind.
The biggest obstacle in my life that kept me away from success was
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook. I look behind and see myself sitting all
day long on Facebook aimlessly; and now I think what the heck was I
doing? I could have used Facebook to learn the concepts. I could
have used it to practice MCQs which are posted on a lot of pages that
aim to help you out in studies. But sadly all I did was to use it for
“chatting and talking”. (I still do it, it is such an addiction. But there is
a lot of difference in my today and my yesterday).But Facebook is not
the only culprit. Cable TV is also a major hindrance in my way.
The next day was not very good. I performed well in Physics and
Chemistry but not that good Biology. And well, English? I left all the
synonyms in English. That was my downfall. The result came and I
calculated that I had scored 874/1100. There was a difference of 101
marks between pre-exam calculation and post-exam result.
First thing I did was that I wrapped up all the stuff that tried to stop
me from achieving my aims. I deactivated my Facebook accounts. I
surrendered watching TV. I surrendered playing in the street/ground
etc.
I ‘made’ a plan in 2011 but I ‘organized’ a plan in 2012. I sat down and
thought about all the mistakes that I made last year. I made a program
to learn from them and to nullify them. My first challenge was English.
Being good at English simply meant that I can raise 50-60 marks from
the English section.
The theme was different this time because I did not forget about the
previous sections. When I was doing Inorganic Chemistry, I was
revising Physical Chemistry too. When I was doing Organic
Chemistry, I was revising Physical and Inorganic Chemistry too. So,
there was not a chance of any section to be forgotten. In the same
way I did physics and biology.
7. I always reminded myself of the reward that I will get after the
MCAT.
Still anything can happen. But I know one thing, that I honestly did my
job. I am contended. In this time span I learned a lot of things. Some
people said “I wasted a year of my life”. But now I look at the road to
MCAT 2012 and say “No, I didn’t waste a year at all. In fact I learned
from it. And when you learn something from something, it isn’t
wasted.”
MCAT 2013
You can do anything you want to. You can take 1100/1100 if you want
to. All you need to do is to build the confidence in yourself. And how
can you build the confidence in yourself? That can be done by
covering the whole syllabus. When you know that you have learned
everything, you’ll see the difference in yourself.
Start right now. No need to start at full pace. Take it easy at first.
Build the tempo and then slowly and gradually reach the climax.
Always start by making plans. Try to organize yourself and your
available time.
Can I do it?
1) When you start your program, always start spiritually. Start with a
prayer. A prayer will lift you up morally and spiritually. Always ask for
His help. My strongest statement “with Allah Mighty’s help I can just
do anything”.
2) Keep your books etc. organized. They all should be available
readily. Don’t waste time or tire yourself in finding books and copies
and notes.
4) Start with English; many of the words that are enlisted in the UHS
syllabus are present in our textbooks. So, when you finish English
you’ll be able to revise them.
5) Near me, the online dictionaries are the best choice if you want to
record all the word meanings. Try to do it all by yourself. This will
help you a lot. Don’t ask for other people to provide you with word
synonyms. Do it yourself.
- Google Dictionary
Just write “Define: xyz” in the Google search bar. Where ‘xyz’ is any
of the 872 words you are given. This will give you the definition of the
word you are searching for. This was the main secret behind my
score of 30/30 in English this year.
- Wiktionary
The second best choice, if you are not finding a word in Google
dictionary or if you are not satisfied with the meanings found there.
-Dictionary.com
The third best choice, this site however has an extra edge on the
above mentioned sites because it also provides you with synonyms.
For more synonyms you can search its sister site
www.thesaurus.com.
6) English is not all about words synonyms. You also need to know
the basics of Grammar. It is “High School English Grammar by Wren
and Martin”. It is a wonderful book and you should try to solve all of
its exercises. It will be good for your preparations.
- Physical Chemistry -
Out of the 58 marks of Chemistry 18 come from this section. For the
Chemistry 11 (although rewards only 18 marks) you have to do a lot. If
you have the Chemistry 11 of the Punjab textbook board then you
need not study Chapter no.2 (Experimental techniques in Chemistry).
You can also leave a major portion of Chapter no.9 (Solutions). But if
you ask me, then just leave the second chapter and read the
remaining chapters thoroughly. Don’t waste time in solving exercises.
But if you have a lot of time, do attempt the exercises of Chapter no.1
(Basic Concepts). And do give special importance to Chapter no.
7,8,10 and 11(Heat and Thermodynamics, Chemical Equilibrium,
Electrochemistry and Reaction Kinetics).
- Inorganic Chemistry -
Just read the Chemistry 12 from Chapter no.1 to 6 and you’ll be all
fine. In fact if you just follow the syllabus of UHS then you’ll just need
to study Chapter no.1 (Periodic Classification of Elements and
Periodicity), some topics of Chapter no.2 (s-Block elements) which
include page no. 26 to 29, some topics of Chapter no. 3 (Group III-A
and IV-A Elements) which include page no. 44 to 48, some topics of
Chapter no.4 (Group V-A and VI-A Elements) which include page no.
61 to 62 and 70 to 72, some topics of Chapter no.5 (The Halogens and
The Noble Gases) which include page no. 79 to 84 and 93, and some
topics of Chapter no.6 (Transition Elements) which include page no.
97 to 105.
However, your F.Sc. books don’t give you any information about
some topics that are listed in the UHS syllabus, for example, Inertness
of Nitrogen. For that you need to search the internet for an answer.
Just make sure that YOU DON’T SKIP ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THE
SYLLABUS JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR LAZINESS.
And also there are some topics in the Inorganic Chemistry that are
mentioned in the UHS syllabus but are not found in Chapter no. 1 to 6
of Chemistry 12. Don’t worry; they are present in your books. You just
need to search for them like for example …uses of chlorine in water
purification and as a bleaching agent, is not found in the first six
chapters. It is however a part of Chapter no. 16 (Environmental
Chemistry).
- Organic Chemistry -
A very good way to get the hold of organic chemistry is given below:
1. Carefully read all the topics mentioned in the UHS syllabus for
organic chemistry.
2. Open your book and start copying anything you find that is in
accordance with the UHS syllabus on a register.
3. It will hardly take you 2 or 3 days to virtually copy/paste the topics
that you need to study according to the UHS syllabus.
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You will find that the register you just made is far too easy than the
book. And you know? Almost 90% of the organic chemistry section in
MCAT will come from your register. It happened to me too. Revise and
revise again.
Not a big deal when it comes to reading. If you have the Physics 11
(Punjab Text Book) then just read out the following pages:
Page no. 1-6, 16-19, 36-42, 54-55, 99-104, 108-110, 116-118, 123-124,
127-138, 141-158, 161-172, 184-189, 193-211, 214-233, 237-256.
And from Physics 12 (Punjab Text Book) just read out the following
pages:
Page no. 1-7, 9-14, 22-27, 31-40, 56-63, 68-70, 135-142, 146-147, 167-
171, 208-212, 213-216, 219-222, 226-238, 249-254.
But your F.Sc. books will only help you out in developing basic
knowledge (which you already have). For a better insight, you’ll need
to consult A-level books (if you are a non A-level student). Anyway,
there is a section of “Bibliography” at the end of the books. Maybe,
choose a book from there and try it out. I did not try them and in the
exam hall I badly felt that I should have read another book just to
expand my “views” about the subject. The bottom line is you have to
make your concepts clear.
- Make sure that you revise your syllabus at least 10-12 times before
the doomsday (MCAT 2013) :). The more you read and the more you
repeat, the more you know and the more you remember.
- When you are reading again and again then just don’t try to overdo
anything. I mean that there is no need to complete the whole syllabus
in one day (except the last week). Just keep it slow.
10) Now some points that don’t include STUDY but will help you:
- I studied for 18 hours a day when preparing for MCAT. But I realized
now that 12-14 hours is more than enough if you have started
preparing for it long ago. (i.e., from January or February).
- Always try to keep the weekend off. And when you are on a ‘holiday’
try to do something that you like the most.
- When you feel tired, take a short nap. After refreshing yourself; start
again. Just don’t study with a headache.
- Try to drink a glass of milk (with sugar) before the test or eat a bar of
chocolate. Sugar provides you with glucose. Brain uses that glucose
to work efficiently and properly.
- Stay calm at the test centre. Don’t be depressed. Just stay cool and
try to keep a smile.
- Keep your eyes open during the test. Don’t fill in the wrong bubbles
just because of your tension.
- If you don’t know the answers of any question then DON’T attempt it.
There is 75% chance that you will lose a mark (Actually you will lose 6
marks).
- Don’t mind the aptitude test if it does not affect your merit and
aggregate. Just take it easy.
Well that’s all. I shared my experience with you guys. This article is
just to tell you that you can pick yourself up even after a fall. Just do
the basics right and you will be over the line. Give it all you got! Who
knows maybe you’ll be the next KANZA NOOR BUTT? Or even better!
All the best…