They usually start with my short video series and memorize my cheat sheets. If 4 quarters is one dollar and 3 quarters is $0.75, then I have $1.75!Īnd so I tell my students, ‘Drill math every day for 30 minutes until you feel confident.’ The thought process goes something like this: They look at me like I’ve grown a third eye.īut when I ask “How much money do you have if you have 7 quarters?” When I ask a student, “Quick, what’s 7 x 25?” Suddenly you’re told, Nope! You have to do all of this in your head!Īnd it’s not even that you don’t know it! The one that will help you finally reach your dream of becoming a doctor, When was the last time you had a simple math situation and didn’t reach for your electronic crutch to quickly find the answer?Īs you prepare for one of the biggest exams in your career, What about mentally calculating a tip or splitting the bill after dinner or drinks with friends? When was the last time you mentally calculated your change? Individual thinking is frowned upon, w hile mastering robotic regurgitation is rewarded with high grades and prizes.Īnd in real life, I find myself relying on ‘Hey Google’ so heavily, that the last time I was on an airplane without WiFi, I felt so lost not being able to quickly ask my phone for random information. We’re not used to doing the math this quickly, all in our head.įrom your very first kindergarten classroom all the way to college and beyond, The problem is, as soon as you take away the calculator and add in the timing pressure of the MCAT, We’re talking arithmetic and basic functions you learned in middle school or high school. We’re not even talking about solving basic quadratic equations, which you’ve already seen in your undergrad general chemistry class. We’re not talking about calculating limits or finding integrals/reverse integrals. I need to…īut in all of this, math is somehow overlooked. When you consider what’s included on the MCAT, you see the obvious. Something they can’t put their finger on.īut something that is enough to impact their confidence during full lengths, eventually costing them time and precious questions. It’s not about not knowing the math or not knowing what to do. In working with pre-med students for the last decade, I’ve seen this over and over.īeginner students who are overwhelmed with the sciences, mostly chemistry and physics, because the math slows them down.Īdvanced students who are about to test, still struggling whenever numbers and calculations show up. Are you tired of believing you’re bad at MCAT math because sometimes just seeing a calculation question makes you freeze up?Īre you frustrated when you still forget how to execute on math questions under pressure, even though you KNOW that you memorized the steps?Īre you easily overwhelmed when a problem seems to require calculation after calculation?
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