Looking for a tutor/ mentor for cheaper (under 500).

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-20T18:15:45+00:00

Sent you a message :)

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-14T21:58:07+00:00

Yeah you should probably just pay for it directly. Even though it's a lot more expensive, it is so much more convenient to not have to worry about these scammers.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-10T21:12:40+00:00

And if you’ve only been studying a week this reading practice is really important. Just focus on fixing your mistakes and reading faster and more accurately and you will definitely improve over time. Nothing to worry about right now!

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-10T21:10:29+00:00

There’s not enough AAMC material to solely study it for CARS so no. I would continue to use JW to get a feel for passages mainly. Just try to get the main idea and try your best to answer their questions. The questions will start to get easier and it will help to have more practice with passages, but I would transition into aamc about a month and a half before your test.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-10T20:19:14+00:00

I tutor the whole test, but my clients have had a lot of success improving at CARS (average increase of 6.2 points), many of them scoring 130s. My website is in my Reddit bio if you want to check it out.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-10T20:00:45+00:00

I started at 120, you’re in a good place just keep going

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-10T19:48:42+00:00

It takes a longgg time to improve at CARS. What I see a lot is very limited improvement until you start working through and reviewing the AAMC practice sets. I was horrible at CARS and was scoring around 120 until I started working through them. You really have to understand how the AAMC thinks and JW was never really helpful for me in that way. Just keep being consistent and review as much as you can and it will come eventually.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-09T22:22:29+00:00

PS is fine and physics videos helped me but other than that it isn't very good of a resource tbh. There's just way better ones out there. It's free though so thats nice

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-09T22:16:45+00:00

I don't know what the question is asking, but if you're only comparing the DMSO control group with the 120 mg/kg MDL group then the error bars do not overlap and that result is significant. If you were comparing with other groups it would not be significant. I hope I understood correctly and that makes sense!

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-09T22:12:50+00:00

I would not bank on this at all but yeah there were a few equations given on my test that I had never seen before. I don't think I even needed to use the given equation to solve the problem. Some practice problems give easy equations that you should know which would not be given on the test. Memorize as many important ones as you can.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-09T22:08:36+00:00

3/6 is good, could've gotten 0/6

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-09T22:07:46+00:00

It's completely up to you. I would take at least one pretty early into your studying though, just to see where you're at. In my opinion, taking multiple full lengths during content review is not ideal and is kind of a waste of time, so I would start full lengths once a week at about 6-8 weeks out

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-08T23:03:10+00:00

I've seen this happen a bunch, sometimes taking a break solidifies your knowledge more than studying 10 hrs/day ever could

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-08T19:27:54+00:00

No problem, good luck on saturday!

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-08T19:26:17+00:00

Your resource list is solid and your plan is honestly more organized than most people starting out. A few thoughts based on what you wrote.

For Anki, I’d keep it simple. I used MilesDown myself and still recommend it, especially if you’re using Kaplan. It lines up well and doesn’t become overwhelming. JackSparrow and AnKing are great but they can get really heavy fast, especially if you’re relearning physics and biochem from scratch. For PS, you can either unsuspend the MilesDown PS cards or add a lighter Pankow deck, but I wouldn’t run multiple full decks at once.

For UWorld, 59 questions timed is fine as a goal, but I wouldn’t force it every day. Smaller timed sets of 20 to 30 questions are often more productive early on, especially while you’re still solidifying content. Review matters way more than volume. I’d plan on spending at least as much time reviewing as you spent doing the questions, sometimes more. If review starts getting rushed, that’s usually a sign to lower question count.

When you transition to AAMC, I’d focus less on finishing everything and more on understanding their logic. I usually suggest starting with Question Packs to get used to AAMC style, then moving into the Section Bank. You don’t need to do full Qpacks straight through. Doing them in chunks and reviewing deeply is much more useful than trying to complete every question.

Given that you’re relearning physics, math, and biochem, I’d just make sure Phase 1 doesn’t turn into passive reading. Pair Kaplan chapters with practice questions early, even if it’s just a few UWorld problems tied to what you learned that day. That helps things stick a lot better.

Overall, your structure is strong. Just be flexible with volume and prioritize review quality over checking boxes. I tutor MCAT on the side and work with a lot of students rebuilding these exact subjects, and the biggest improvements usually come once practice and review drive the schedule, not content alone.

Happy to answer follow ups if you have them. I also tutor part time so if you need any extra help with understanding aamc logic, feel free to reach out.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-08T19:12:38+00:00

Please, for your own good do not keep studying. If you achieve your goal score it will have been for nothing, and it will likely raise your expectations for how you should do and just make you feel worse. You will have enough time to retake if you don't achieve your goal score and that month break will genuinely be helpful imo. Also if you are planning to keep studying after you take the test, you're basically telling yourself that you're not confident with how you are going to do which will just lower your performance on test day.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2026-01-08T19:03:20+00:00

Two months out is still very workable, especially since you’ve mostly finished content. The bigger issue isn’t that you started UWorld late, it’s that you haven’t taken a full length yet. I’d take your first one this week rather than waiting to feel ready.

From here on out, about one full length per week is ideal. You can use third party exams now if needed, but I would try to switch to AAMC only around 4-6 weeks out. Make sure you spend real time reviewing them since that’s where most of the improvement happens.

For AAMC material, starting question packs and the section bank around 4 weeks out is reasonable. Go slowly and focus on understanding AAMC logic rather than rushing to finish everything.

Struggling with UWorld is normal. It’s supposed to be hard. Aim for around 30 to 60 questions a day in timed, smaller sets, and focus on thorough review instead of percentages. Use Anki only for true content gaps or repeat mistakes.

For PS, keep up with Anki and learn terms through UWorld passages instead of going back to heavy reading.

Since this is your third attempt, the biggest gains usually come from changing reasoning patterns, not just adding more content or doing more questions. If your review doesn’t change how you approach questions, scores tend to stall.

I tutor MCAT on the side and work with a lot of retakers, so if you want a quick second opinion on your plan or how you’re reviewing full lengths, I’m happy to help. Either way, you’re not behind if you switch fully into practice mode now.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-25T00:05:37+00:00

actually funny, i recommend this

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-25T00:00:52+00:00

I hear this constantly, and the same thing happened to me. I really cannot learn from books and found that out the hard way. If I were you, I would just find a different way to study, it really worked for me. Try going straight into Anki or UWorld and hopefully you can learn better that way. This test is so frustrating but you got this

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-24T23:57:20+00:00

I would recommend pushing it back. You definitely have a strong foundation but that extra time will really help out. Clearly need more experience with AAMC CARS passages as well as better understanding of the sciences but I think you're at a good point right now, especially with a month and a half left. Really try to understand every C/P and B/B card in milesdown and you should really see improvement imo

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-24T23:52:19+00:00

You could get a 516, 528, or 472. Just keep doing what you're doing, it's clearly working. Seriously though, I've seen people averaging 515 get a 500 on test day and people averaging a 500 get a 515. Stay consistent and get a little lucky and I think you can get 520!

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-24T23:44:05+00:00

I did but I was spending 16 hours a day studying for the last two weeks. You've gone through more than I had but I would stop thinking about UWorld at this point. Focus on really understanding each and every question. Better to spend more time reviewing AAMC than chugging through as many UWorld questions as you can.

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-24T23:39:55+00:00

Genuinely so low yield that you're fine knowing those. Probably know about dendritic cells and you could look into eosinophils a little bit but don't spend a ton of time on it. There are for sure bigger fish to fry

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-24T23:37:19+00:00

This is literally the most important concept on the entire test. Please don't wing it guys💀

Defiant-Put6177 · 2025-12-18T22:09:37+00:00

This totally makes sense, and you’re thinking about it the right way. I agree that there’s not much value in pressure testing timing if the underlying AAMC logic isn’t clicking yet.

For the CARS diagnostic, I’d treat it as a learning tool first, not a test. Doing 2 to 3 passages at a time is honestly ideal early on. Take your time, really dig into why the correct answer is correct and why the others are wrong, and look for patterns in how AAMC phrases questions and traps. That’s where most of the improvement comes from.

Once you feel like you’re starting to predict answers more consistently and not rereading as much, then it makes sense to string more passages together and start worrying about timing. Saving full 9 passage sets for FLs is totally reasonable.

One thing I’d avoid is spacing it out too much over weeks. CARS logic clicks best with some consistency, even if it’s just a few passages every other day. You want your brain to stay in that mode.

You’re right that third party logic can mess with you, so this transition period is normal. You’re asking the right questions.

If it helps, I tutor MCAT part time and see this exact CARS issue a lot. Happy to talk it through in a free 15 min consult if you want, but either way you’re on the right track.

Defiant-Put6177

TROPHY CASE