Missionary Orthopod in the Making

Although I’m horribly behind by Kaplan’s standards, I feel pretty good about the way my studying is going. I’ve got a pretty good thing going right now. My strategy is to do the Kaplan subject tests first. Each one of these tests is about 30 to 40 questions, in the format of the discreet questions you would find on the MCAT. This test basically tests your raw knowledge of the subject. It shows you where you might have holes in your understanding of a certain concept, so you can patch it up. After I take the subject tests, then I take the AAMC passages that were assigned. The AAMC passages are definitely challenging, but it shows you whether you are thinking the correct way when it comes to the passages. The good thing about the AAMC and the subject tests is that no time was specified for either of them. So you can take your time, and think through them. Its good practice, because times ARE specified for the topical tests, so it’s good to work on your thinking with the subject and AAMC tests, so you’ll have it down when you actually have a time limit for the topicals. As for how I’m actually doing; I would say that I’m doing alright. The verbal passages seem to be coming pretty easy to me at this point; I got a good amount of 100%s on those passages. The organic passages are pretty challenging, but I’m doing alright on them. I got mostly 100%s on the AAMC biology passages, so that gave my confidence a nice boost. I still dread the Physics passages, because they seem so calculation heavy, but I hear that that is just the way Kaplan makes them, and that they are a little different on the actual MCAT; I truly hope that’s true. We take our first practice full length test on Tuesday, July 5th, so I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve only covered about 1/3 of the assigned information, but I feel that I’ve done enough practice questions to hold my own for this first test. Now if they through a bunch of higher end concepts like optics in there, I probably won’t do well, but we’ll see. I hear that there is a Caribbean festival in Nashville, TN, so I’m thinking of driving up there with a couple of friends. If not, then I’ll just study on Sunday, and go to a BBQ on Monday. Other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. My next post will probably be after I take the 1st full length test, so I can tell you all how I felt about it. ————————————————————————-
Oh yeah, I just wanted to share my devotion this morning, and probably what is going to be my inspiration as I study for this MCAT. Although I said everything is going fine with the MCAT studying, it still is pretty daunting. Many times I would just stop studying, because I felt like I would never be able to practice enough to do well. But this morning, as I was reading the story of Moses in Exodus 4; here’s the excerpt (the Lord is telling Moses that he must go to Egypt and free his people):

1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

10 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

This last part truly touched me. Moses didn’t feel adequate for the job that was before him, but the Lord slapped some sense in him. As for me, I know that I feel inadequate for this MCAT beast, but the Lord spoke to me in this passage. As I was feeling this way, He asked me, “Who created the minds of the people who make the MCAT?” “Who created your mind?” “Who created in 7 days what biochemists, microbiologists, physicists, physicians, scientists, geologists, and astrologists for years have been trying to explain with their theories?” “Who spoke your molecules, atoms, and proteins into existence?” “Is it not I, the LORD?” Now go, and I will help you get the score you need to get.”

Kaplan proposes mentally putting all your anxieties and worries in a box and putting it on a high shelf, and associating the peace and tranquility that is left with a green dot when you get anxious about the MCAT. But this morning I found my green dot, I hope you all find yours too.