The Official 3/24 2012 MCAT Thread

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I just took the MCAT this morning too. Mixed feelings.

The verbal passages are longer, but I thought they were easier than the earlier AAMC FLs. PS and BS both just seemed different to me. Lots of guessing! I'd probably recommend what some of the earlier posters have said: Go back and study a lot of the concepts, a lot of the essentials, and then get used to analyzing your passages, combing through them for important details and using that to answer your questions.

There wasn't a lot of OChem this time around. Not calculation heavy, IMO, but you did need to know some formulas.

I was lucky in that I did finish earlier than most people, but how that affects my final score... Well, we'll see April 24th.

Originally Posted by iBear

I just took the MCAT this morning too. Mixed feelings.

The verbal passages are longer, but I thought they were easier than the earlier AAMC FLs. PS and BS both just seemed different to me. Lots of guessing! I'd probably recommend what some of the earlier posters have said: Go back and study a lot of the concepts, a lot of the essentials, and then get used to analyzing your passages, combing through them for important details and using that to answer your questions.

There wasn't a lot of OChem this time around. Not calculation heavy, IMO, but you did need to know some formulas.

I was lucky in that I did finish earlier than most people, but how that affects my final score... Well, we'll see April 24th.

can you elaborate on what formulas? I know they wont be the same obviously but just as an idea I'd like to know

Originally Posted by typicalindian

can you elaborate on what formulas? I know they wont be the same obviously but just as an idea I'd like to know

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to get specific? I realized my message could have been misconstrued though--I'm not saying OChem was calculation heavy or needed formulas. I was talking about PS, haha. If you have the ExamKrackers books for physics and chemistry, they highlight all the ones you need to know, and I thought it held pretty true?

8 am 3/24 mood: calm n focused.
~9.10 mood: alright
~10.20 mood: eek. rough
Writing...small of a fraction of my study plan.
~12:30 mood: alright.

I'd agree that VR was not terribly difficult but being my weak point, and the time crunch just leaves me full of anxiety. AAMC FL Range (8-11)
I feel like the decision to retake will largely be based on whether it's an 8 (retake) or >8 (ok)

BS was slightly different, but IMO do-able. Same for PS.

Avg AAMC FLs was a 32 so here's CAUTIOUSLY hoping.

I left as any student would, somber. Tried not to let it get the best of me, but here I am late at night sharing with the forum.

Going to be the outlier I guess and say VR felt hard for me (but then again, doesn't it always?). PS and BS weren't too bad, PS definitely easier. And agreeing with everyone else, there were very few "fact check" questions -- largely passage and interpretation based.

There is no way to really be sure that we are all talking about the same test is there?

Originally Posted by Lark12

There is no way to really be sure that we are all talking about the same test is there?

I'm pretty sure they administer the same test to everybody

Originally Posted by typicalindian

I'm pretty sure they administer the same test to everybody

nope thats not true

Originally Posted by Melomare17

nope thats not true

Really? Hm I thought it was since I saw nearly everyone from the 1/28 group complaining about some figure and I'm sure not everyone I this site isnt taking the test at the same place...

pretty sure that not everyone takes the same exact test.....its all a bit different, maybe not drastically.

But who knows anymore...


was there mostly genetics passages? My freind said what it was about 80% genetics when she took it....

Originally Posted by jon stewart

pretty sure that not everyone takes the same exact test.....its all a bit different, maybe not drastically.

But who knows anymore...


was there mostly genetics passages? My freind said what it was about 80% genetics when she took it....

Haha, I heard the complete opposite. Someone said "there was barely any genetics on it."

Originally Posted by jon stewart

pretty sure that not everyone takes the same exact test.....its all a bit different, maybe not drastically.

But who knows anymore...


was there mostly genetics passages? My freind said what it was about 80% genetics when she took it....

Originally Posted by fas376

Haha, I heard the complete opposite. Someone said "there was barely any genetics on it."

There was only one genetics passage on the one I took. Maybe one or two discretes, can't remember.

Took the MCAT back in August and thought that this test was pretty comparable with that...the test definitely went down to the last possible second with each section...I also felt that this test had extremely easy questions and extremely difficult questions, nothing in between

for PS, I felt like there were a lot of topics that were left out...not too many equation based questions...also a lot of the questions seemed more intuitive i.e. what you think would happen in a given circumstance

for verbal, I think 5 of the 7 passages were really easy to read and the questions for those focused on the main points of the passage...for the two I got stuck up on, they had really specific questions which are the worst! they take away a lot of time because often time you have to go back to the reading and try and pull out specific details, kinda lame with those 2 passages

for BS, I was happy there was not much orgo...for the orgo that was on there, the discretes were easy but the one passage kinda threw me off...also I felt like, with PS, there were a lot of topics left out...I felt like a lot of the passages focused on the same topics over and over

overall, not too bad, I'm just glad its done! I'm sure you all did great!!! Nooooo stress!

Oh my god! Of course things didn't go as planned.

Got terrible insomnia night before. Adrenaline woke me up at 2am and it took hours to get back to sleep! Then my alarm didn't go off!!! (Turns out I forgot to set it -- whoops) Good thing I was at home and had my mom planning to drive me. She woke me up like "Didn't you want to leave in 20 minutes?"

Then I had the usual wrong turn getting there, but had enough extra time that I still got there early.

Overall I felt pretty good about it. There were some questions that threw me a little, but I was pleased with verbal cause it's been a struggle for me and this verbal section felt totally manageable.

And now I'm enjoying my post-exam-celebration recovery! Congrats for being done, everyone!

Anyone has experimental questions on BS yesterday, 56 questions?

By research type passage questions, do you all mean more biochemistry questions? I'm trying to figure out if they are slowly trying to move toward the 2015 format/way they would like to ask questions by sticking some experimental types in with the others. Maybe more biochem as well as that will eventually be required. What do you all think?

anyone have primarily genetics, cell molec passages? i have been focusing on that a little more over physio....maybe this will bite me ha...

Also anyone have a LOT of ochem? More than a whole passage and a few discrete?

thanks all

Originally Posted by no beans

By research type passage questions, do you all mean more biochemistry questions? I'm trying to figure out if they are slowly trying to move toward the 2015 format/way they would like to ask questions by sticking some experimental types in with the others. Maybe more biochem as well as that will eventually be required. What do you all think?

I would assume they mean there is a hypothetical experiment proposed. For example cell cultures are treated with various enzymes and or hormones and you need to interpret changes in growth, division, death ect. based on figures and graphs.

Originally Posted by jon stewart

anyone have primarily genetics, cell molec passages? i have been focusing on that a little more over physio....maybe this will bite me ha...

Also anyone have a LOT of ochem? More than a whole passage and a few discrete?

thanks all

Not alot of ochem, only one passage and a few discretes. I think we had a mix of both cell molec. and physiology. We didn't have much genetics either.

Yeah, like everyone already said, barely any Ochem. There were a few genetics discretes in there...
Damn the first passage of the PS, I was so lost and it took so much time! Argh!

Originally Posted by Xcellerator

Yeah, like everyone already said, barely any Ochem. There were a few genetics discretes in there...
Damn the first passage of the PS, I was so lost and it took so much time! Argh!

Can you elaborate on being "lost" on the first PS passage. It seems that this occurrence is fairly common and I realize that the real exam is probably different than most practice exams. However, I haven't encountered a single passage so far that I was lost on in all of my studying, and I am by no means an MCAT wiz. I'm scoring between a 30-33 on my practice tests. Was it the application of the concept that was just hard to follow?

I'm not chalking this one up to test day jitters. In my opinion, it made every other practice MCAT PS passage look elementary. It was a weird concept and I had difficult time visualizing it. I read the passage, became baffled, skipped it, and finished it last.

Originally Posted by jlescher

Can you elaborate on being "lost" on the first PS passage. It seems that this occurrence is fairly common and I realize that the real exam is probably different than most practice exams. However, I haven't encountered a single passage so far that I was lost on in all of my studying, and I am by no means an MCAT wiz. I'm scoring between a 30-33 on my practice tests. Was it the application of the concept that was just hard to follow?

the way i atttack PS section is i skip through the passages till i get to the discrete questions -solve them and bost my confiedence- then look for a passage that is not lengthy it only takes 15 seconds to decide. The test maker puts the longest passage with diverse applications that is hard to follow to be the first passage on purpose, which basically puts you down for the rest of the section, that's how they get you lol

Thanks for the insight! It makes sense that there would be one very difficult passage. Good job on the test guys, I hope your scores reflect the work you put in. 2 weeks and counting for me.

Originally Posted by Ochemlover45

I'm not chalking this one up to test day jitters. In my opinion, it made every other practice MCAT PS passage look elementary. It was a weird concept and I had difficult time visualizing it. I read the passage, became baffled, skipped it, and finished it last.

Would u say it similar to advanced passages in TPRH science workbook?

I honestly don't know what to think about that test.
PS was pretty much the level of difficulty I expected, VR was much easier, and BS was just overwhelming, I almost didn't finish in time which nearly gave me a heart attack. I also thought there was a LOT of genetics info on the BS section...totally surprising. REALLY thankful that was the bio class I chose to take this semester...
I came out of it feeling clammy, with a growing headache. The testmakers did a great job, I've never done so much concentrated critical thinking in my life .
On the practice tests I've taken (AAMC and TPR) I was getting in the 28-31 range, but I honestly can't even estimate how I did. I incorporated a lot of educated guesses into that test.
Also, I'm surprised at the number of Helicopter Parents posting on here about how they think their children did. Keep in mind that the line between being supportive and being smothering is very fine.
I might have to retake again this summer, but we'll see. EVERYONE is asking how I did, I'm refusing to make guesstimates for anyone, again, because I really have no idea. We'll see in 27 days

Originally Posted by Golaso

the way i atttack PS section is i skip through the passages till i get to the discrete questions -solve them and bost my confiedence- then look for a passage that is not lengthy it only takes 15 seconds to decide. The test maker puts the longest passage with diverse applications that is hard to follow to be the first passage on purpose, which basically puts you down for the rest of the section, that's how they get you lol

Golaso, how were you scoring in your practice prep before the exam? This sounds like a good idea otherwise!

Originally Posted by LDownes

Also, I'm surprised at the number of Helicopter Parents posting on here about how they think their children did. Keep in mind that the line between being supportive and being smothering is very fine.

If my mom was tech-savvy enough to know how to use a forum, she'd be posting on here and I think that's completely fine. Parents are so invested in us and just want us to succeed. There is no such thing as too supportive. If it weren't for parents, we'd have nothing. I think it's a bit rude to talk badly about people who are just being good parents. Just my 2 cents.




I also agree with the people who said that the PS was harder than expected. Going into the exam, I was just worried about BS, but I felt that the passages on PS were harder in the real thing. The ideas were presented in a complicated manner and combined so many concepts that teasing out an answer was really tough for me.

I did all the Kaplan FLs and the AAMC FLs and I felt that the March 24 BS was easier than most of those.

VR was really easy, IMO. I found it much easier than 2011/2010.

I will be outright honest with the rest of the aspiring doctors. This post might potentially be helpful to those pre meds who haven't; tasted the change in trend of MCAT exam yet. I took my MCAT on March 24, 2012 after having taken the online /classroom Kaplan MCAT prep i can tell you that the real deal was nowhere close to what kaplan teaches. Their Sciences content is way easy than what i saw on the real day. I was cruising along all the way in AAMC AND Kaplan practice tests getting 10s and 11 and sometimes 13 as well in PS and BS but when i saw the real test, i was scratching my head for almost every question. What I can advice folks who are planning on taking MCAT a year from now is to join a research lab and get used to reading and analyzing research articles from Journal of BioChemistry, or a journal with a decent impact factor if not Nature or Cell. it might sound wierd but i am totally serious. I have done research for 8 years and i felt that i was dissecting a research article when i read some of the Bio passages. There is only one great thing about the kaplan and that is its repository for concepts like the flash cards and the question bank . However, if one start believing that he or she is getting a straight 11 in each of the three sections in kaplan tests and therefore is going to cruise along on the real day , he or she needs a reality check. Challenge yourself into attacking tough questions in physics or biology . Learn to reason out concepts and their potential application in various fields. Look for problems that integrate information from all the facets of science. This test has told me that AAMC wants doctors who can integrate knowledge from all avenues of sciences especially when the biomedical sciences is advancing at such a fast pace.

Originally Posted by Lazybum2014

Golaso, how were you scoring in your practice prep before the exam? This sounds like a good idea otherwise!

My exam is on July 26th lol, my first diagnostic exam on Jan 16 (AAMC 7) scored 8-6-8 without studying, Now that i finished physics and half of general chem I will be ready to bost my score on my next AAMC 8 exam probably on April 26 or May 26 (will see) But yah definitely I would skip to the discrete questions do them first then probably look for a short passage to do....

I'm using BK for physics and Gchem...I'm score 10-11 on them and making notes on questions i get wrong.....i wonder if anyone had done BK end of chapter exams and can compare it to the real 2012 deal.
easier? harder? same?

For those who took the 3/24 MCAT, could you specify which of the practice materials you worked with (i.e. AAMCs, Kaplan FLs, Kaplan Section Tests, TBR, etc.) were the most similar to your actual MCAT? I know that overall, the test felt different and outside of what you were used to, but which materials correlate best, in your opinion?

Originally Posted by Realistic

For those who took the 3/24 MCAT, could you specify which of the practice materials you worked with (i.e. AAMCs, Kaplan FLs, Kaplan Section Tests, TBR, etc.) were the most similar to your actual MCAT? I know that overall, the test felt different and outside of what you were used to, but which materials correlate best, in your opinion?

Frankly, I have tried almost everything Kaplan, EK, TPR, TBR. None are close to the actual MCAT. The best material is the AAMC tests themselves which give you very good practice IMHO.
My take is that you need a very solid understanding of the concepts. Formulas are good, but on the MCAT we just took, I found that the PS was the least calculation intensive of all AAMC tests I have taken. However, it seems the questions are geared toward understanding and questions asked are the one you wouldn't expect. A lot of reasoning, and at time educated guessing. I think in the PS section I probably used less than 10 formulas all in all.

[QUOTE=redoitall;12329920]Frankly, I have tried almost everything Kaplan, EK, TPR, TBR. None are close to the actual MCAT. The best material is the AAMC tests themselves which give you very good practice IMHO.
My take is that you need a very solid understanding of the concepts. Formulas are good, but on the MCAT we just took, I found that the PS was the least calculation intensive of all AAMC tests I have taken. However, it seems the questions are geared toward understanding and questions asked are the one you wouldn't expect. A lot of reasoning, and at time educated guessing. I think in the PS section I probably used less than 10 formulas all in all.[/QUOTE

Ditto. It's an excellent test but super challenge. You need to have very strong fundation and solid concepts. We'll see the scores when it comes out on April 24th.

Originally Posted by Realistic

For those who took the 3/24 MCAT, could you specify which of the practice materials you worked with (i.e. AAMCs, Kaplan FLs, Kaplan Section Tests, TBR, etc.) were the most similar to your actual MCAT? I know that overall, the test felt different and outside of what you were used to, but which materials correlate best, in your opinion?

Obviously the AAMC exams helped, but as far as material goes they were quite different. The exams are really helpful in teaching you to manage your time wisely; they are a good practice on how to divide your time, which is actually very important. If you are stressing out over time, you won't' do well.

I wouldn't expect most, if any of your passages to be the same topics of those covered on the practice exams.

I felt EK was the best prep for me, even though I also used TPR. The material I covered in EK was everything I needed to know for the exam, there really was nothing on the exam that wasn't in those books. But, you have to remember that each test is structured differently when it comes to content. Our exam as many have said was very very light in orgo, one passage, a few independent questions, but that doesn't mean the next one will be too. And I feel if there was more orgo passages I would've been underprepared with just EK, but since there was only one passage EK was more than enough.

PS- EK Chem/PHYS was enough,- Compared to AAMC practice exams: Harder.
VR- Practice tests/TPR passages- Compared to AAMC practice exams: Significantly Easier
BS- EK BIO/EK Orgo*** enough- Compared to AAMC practice exams : Same/Slightly Easier

*** rmr there was barely any ORGO on 3/24 so EK was enough, but if there is more orgo passages, I would grab TBR or TPR to review.

The exam was obviously tough, but I felt better about it than most of my AAMC exams, AVG score on AAMC = 33-34. (Minus test 3 before studying which was a 16 )

[QUOTE=lingle1226;12330475]

Originally Posted by redoitall

Frankly, I have tried almost everything Kaplan, EK, TPR, TBR. None are close to the actual MCAT. The best material is the AAMC tests themselves which give you very good practice IMHO.
My take is that you need a very solid understanding of the concepts. Formulas are good, but on the MCAT we just took, I found that the PS was the least calculation intensive of all AAMC tests I have taken. However, it seems the questions are geared toward understanding and questions asked are the one you wouldn't expect. A lot of reasoning, and at time educated guessing. I think in the PS section I probably used less than 10 formulas all in all.[/QUOTE

Ditto. It's an excellent test but super challenge. You need to have very strong fundation and solid concepts. We'll see the scores when it comes out on April 24th.

Agreed. I didn't really try to memorize any equations (minus the basic velocity equations), I just worked at understanding the concepts until the equation variables made sense, that was really what was important; how the equation works not how to use it.

My GOD does anyone else feel like the month of March has been the LONGEST month of their life? Jeez I hope april goes by faster, the anxiety of not knowing my score is killin meeee. I thought i would feel relief when all this was over but I really cant shake the feeling that I could've done better, its stressful ugh #mcatproblemz

Wait. TPR and EK is EASIER than AAMC Verbal? I've been eeking out 8's and 9's....

Originally Posted by pfaction

Wait. TPR and EK is EASIER than AAMC Verbal? I've been eeking out 8's and 9's....

It just happened to be like that for this test. My friends who took the 1/28 test said the verbal was much harder.

I really didn't think that EK was any easier than this verbal. I prepped for verbal by doing a combination of EK test and Kaplan verbal section tests and I think the real deal was a very close medium between these. Definitely nothing out of the usual. I was doing 3 passages per day and allotting myself 25 minutes, by the end I was finishing 3 passages around 23 minutes and I finished just on time in the real deal. I like this timing strategy so if anyones feeling overwhelmed like theres no way to finish (as I felt in the beginning) Id recommend daily 3 passages/25 minutes till you get this timing down. My average was nothing great, 9's and 10's but at least I had the confidence of good timing.

Originally Posted by victoria12

My GOD does anyone else feel like the month of March has been the LONGEST month of their life? Jeez I hope april goes by faster, the anxiety of not knowing my score is killin meeee. I thought i would feel relief when all this was over but I really cant shake the feeling that I could've done better, its stressful ugh #mcatproblemz

yup longest ever it isn't helping i'm averaging 1 nightmare every other day

Originally Posted by victoria12

My GOD does anyone else feel like the month of March has been the LONGEST month of their life? Jeez I hope april goes by faster, the anxiety of not knowing my score is killin meeee. I thought i would feel relief when all this was over but I really cant shake the feeling that I could've done better, its stressful ugh #mcatproblemz

I'm so paranoid I've signed up for the next test date which makes no logical sense when you think about the timing... sigh

Did you guys feel like there were any trick questions or most cut and dry. Not saying it was easy. But some practice problems are straight up confusing with regards to the answers.

Second time test taker here. Took the August 23rd 2011 exam and scored an 28. After that exam I thought I got a 36! Everything was very easy and I thought I would have scored higher. This exam was not quite the same. The physical sciences was disgusting. I have not seen concepts this hard since CHM 444- Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. The verbal seemed relatively equivalent to other AAMC's as well as the Bio. Absolutely NOTHING like the Kaplan exams, if you are considering buying a Kaplan course SAVE YOUR MONEY! I can confidently say right now that I missed atleast 4-6 off hand from each of the sciences, and who knows about verbal. Maybe the overall increase in difficulty will give me a better curve than my easier August exam, who knows though.

yea yo i thought this test was kinda tough. i suck balls at verbal and the ps was no joke. oh well what can ya do ya know. but i will speak to you of a cool breeze. many times this breeze is completely unwarranted. nobody deserves it, yet it comes and comforts all who are willing to sense it. all you guys have done what you can to be docs and if **** hits the fan and we get wrecked by the mcat well i'll be damn happy the breeze will remain even when the heat of the unforgiving sun bears down on us and makes us feel as though all hope is lost. god bless my dudes lol

One week until scores are released. I'm going out on my mind waiting for these scores to be released.

Originally Posted by Strateego

One week until scores are released. I'm going out on my mind waiting for these scores to be released.

I agree... so close!

I agree

Originally Posted by rjsontag

i agree

agreed!

Originally Posted by slwnstdy

agreed!

Agree!

Well, this is the last weekend I have before I either have to start studying again for this God-forsaken test, or finally be done with it! So how the HECK am I supposed to enjoy it?!?!