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RE: mcats





On Mon, 25 Mar 1996, JACK L. URETSKY (C) 1996; HEP DIV., ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB, ARGONNE, IL 60439 wrote:

Hi-
Yah, but. Is your high-priced advice any different from what
students get when they buy a $5-$10 book on how to take the MCAT?
Regards,
Jack

Actually--my advice is FREE. I'm running study sessions in the evenings.
What we're actually doing is looking closely at HOW TO THINK about the
questions. Having students work through practice questions and then
DISCUSS how they approached them and then going over techniques,
strategies, and the like is, IMO, more helpful than just the books. Of
course they COULD PAY to attend more formal/professional prep-sessions.
I've actually broken down my own OBJECTION to such, in order to provide my
sessions--mainly because I see that the student difficulties with these
kinds of tests IS NOT so much the content BUT their ability to THINK
about the content. It is this latter that I'm primarily concerned about
while teaching my classes, and I see this current 'exercise' as a way I
can better understand what the problems and deficiencies are and
therefore attack these in my regular courses.

My objection to test prep-courses center around a strong feeling that the
SATs have not REALLY leveled off, but rather the current scores reflect
much more the better preparation students have FOR TAKING THE TEST than in
their true level of skills and knowledge. I realize that the TEST WRITERS
are constantly adjusting these tests to try and minimize the effectiveness
of these prep-courses, but IT IS an ongoing battle.

Rick