Lesson Notes
After initially struggling with practice exams, Pooja improved her strategy and confidence for the MCAT and increased her score from a 499 to 508/509 in her first 4 weeks of full time studying!
That's where she hit a hard plateau but once again, revamped her strategy and with less than 30 days left before her MCAT date, she once again skyrocketed her score to 522!
Pooja's Message For You:
"Before the MCAT, during my first and second years in college, I was a chemistry tutor. I watched people frustrated because they had learned the concepts years ago and were out of practice, or got frustrated because they understood the ideas and just couldn't get it right. When it was my turn to then study for my MCAT, I was expecting the journey to be easier, but I'm so grateful it wasn't. At the start, I thought it was just content coverage, but when I started writing practice exams, it was clearly more about rewiring my brain not only to think in the ways the MCAT asks, but also to train it to believe in myself, even when I wasn't performing up to my standards. I thought I was failing for the longest time, looking at my scores. It was then that I truly understood the feelings of my past students.
Ultimately, once I started having faith in my ability to improve, I finally started seeing results. I know what it's like to feel exhausted with studying, and to doubt yourself. When I found my faith, I realized that the dedication, hard work, and confidence required to take this exam are the qualities necessary to be a successful physician. I can't give up on my future patients, no matter how difficult their cases are, so should I give up on the MCAT, or my ability to become a better test-taker? No. I got into the mindset that this journey was preparing me to become a better physician to my patients, and the gratitude I felt helped me in my darkest moments. I refuse to give up on them, and if I'm your tutor, I won't give up on you either!”