The Official 1/29/2010 club

[Nanu]

lets see who is taking mcat on Jan 29th..

[praesto7]

I am! Many of us frequent the 1/30/2010 mcat discussion, as this is a young thread.

Who's registered?

[pseudotexan]

Meeeeeee! I registered today. I'm so nervous!

[luxi106]

I signed up today after going through a long registering process 1/29/10 .... ...But I am giving it my all and hanging in there until this is done.... got to make the rest of the way....

[Cedric]

I'm in and just registered successfully. Originally, I plan to take it on 30th Jan. I am in the international testing site which offers 29th Jan only.

Good luck for all of us^^

[sula325]

Me too, i just signed up today, this is my 2nd time writing hope everything goes well.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by sula325

Me too, i just signed up today, this is my 2nd time writing hope everything goes well.

You are in international testing site too?

[ready2rumble10]

I'm in! Let's destroy this beast! Go '29ers!!!

[phungus]

I registered! I was debating between the 29th and the 30th, but settled on the 29th because I wanted an AM test time. If I were wait 'til 1pm, I'd be tttooooo relaxed and may even get sleepy during the afternoon.

[Cedric]

Less than 80 days to go...
I'm still doing content review.
Have anyone have started FL tests already?

[itcanhappen]

I am! Anyone studying from Chicago???
Any techniques on how to study for Verbal Reasoning? Plz advise.

[ready2rumble10]

Originally Posted by Cedric

Less than 80 days to go...
I'm still doing content review.
Have anyone have started FL tests already?

Doubt it, unless they're using FLs other than AAMC. Because a great deal of folks are studying while taking fall semester classes, I would assume that most of those test takers are still involved in content review.

[phungus]

I've taken one FL test, but I did it on my own time (as in I printed it out and worked on it whenever I was on the train or had free time at work) I also took one of those free MCAT practice exams from Kaplan. I did alright. I'm about where I want to be considering I still have some material to cover.

As for prepping for the verbal section, I've simply been reading articles (news [political, science, sports, a range of topics] articles from my Blackberry so I feel less guilty about being on it so much .) From the practice exam, I've realized that I freak out about reading the passages because some times it feels like you can get away with answering some of the questions just from skimming. Perhaps a speed reading class might be helpful?

Good luck to everybody.

ps is anyone here in the San Francisco area?

[ready2rumble10]

I would like to have at least two FLs (Kaplan) under my belt by mid-December.

[Artimacia]

I am signed up for the 30th date. I took one FL (the free one #3) under the timer and everything, but didn't do as well as I had hoped. That was a few weeks ago, so I've been reviewing what the exam told me I was weak in, I've already caught so many things I didn't know, so I'm hoping it's helping.

[strang3Gonz0]

Originally Posted by Cedric

Less than 80 days to go...
I'm still doing content review.
Have anyone have started FL tests already?

I'm doing content review still too... debating whether I even want to take the January test. I've found that biochem is an excellent review of a lot of gen chem, organic, and biology stuff so I've mostly been reviewing physics and verbal. I plan on finishing content review by the time my semester ends (December 18) then starting FL's, probably one every 4 or 5 days until the exam, not really sure yet.

Not to offend anyone here (and I doubt this would), but I can't really figure out how people can study for 6+ months for the MCAT. Maybe verbal, since that's skills instead of content. If I had studied Physics over the summer, I would have forgotten most of the formulas by the end of this semester. Maybe that's just me or maybe i'll regret saying that after taking the MCAT who knows!

[strang3Gonz0]

Originally Posted by itcanhappen

I am! Anyone studying from Chicago???
Any techniques on how to study for Verbal Reasoning? Plz advise.

I used the examkrackers verbal book and now I'm going through examkrackers 101 passages in verbal reasoning and my score has gone up 2-3 points already! I also bought this for more practice: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098...F8&me=&seller=

[rama kandra]

I have yet to sign up, but I will be taking this exam for the last time in january.

[NontradatBeach]

Just wanted to wish all you guys lots of luck.

As far as studying for verbal, I think it depends where you are scoring right now. I had traditionally scored 10-12 on verbal, but after applying Kaplan's verbal techniques, I was getting 7-9. When I asked them, they said their verbal strategy works best for people averaging under 10 to start with. I think EK has a fairly strong verbal strategy.

[Cedric]

While you guys are talking about VR prep, I have just finished 4 VR tests in EK 101. I have been doing them 1/2 test each time. Fortunately, some improvements seen on the technique in solving the questions. My reading pace, however, has not been speed up significantly. I am worrying if I could only do 6 passages in 60 mins in the real thing (coz I finish each passage in 10-12 mins).

Knowing a lot of guys here are under tons of pressure in facing the school work. I am a pretty lucky guy who having 3 months free time all for the MCAT. But I still have to push the study schedule back a bit as I use 2 more weeks on BS content and practice works. Wish I could start FLs in mid Dec.

Do anyone here under similar situation like me? Study longer than estimated and have to delay the FL days?

[strang3Gonz0]

Originally Posted by Cedric

While you guys are talking about VR prep, I have just finished 4 VR tests in EK 101. I have been doing them 1/2 test each time. Fortunately, some improvements seen on the technique in solving the questions. My reading pace, however, has not been speed up significantly. I am worrying if I could only do 6 passages in 60 mins in the real thing (coz I finish each passage in 10-12 mins).

Knowing a lot of guys here are under tons of pressure in facing the school work. I am a pretty lucky guy who having 3 months free time all for the MCAT. But I still have to push the study schedule back a bit as I use 2 more weeks on BS content and practice works. Wish I could start FLs in mid Dec.

Do anyone here under similar situation like me? Study longer than estimated and have to delay the FL days?

Last week I made a "study plan" and outlined what I wanted to accomplish each day... I just accomplished something MCAT-related tonight for the first time since making my study plan. So yes, I'm definitely pushing my study schedule back. At the same time, I make a point of reviewing organic, gen chem, and bio when I study for my biochem class.

As for verbal, I'm using the EK 101 as well. I did a full length test and by the last two passages I missed over 50% of the questions but hardly any at the beginning. Oh and I also couldn't finish on time. Now I'm doing 2 passages a day until I'm missing no more than one question and giving myself 7 minutes a passage. It forces me to practice concentrating hard and get the main idea of the passage so I don't have to re-read at all when I do the questions, which has drastically increased my overall speed, but I doubt by reading speed has increased at all (I'm a slow reader too and I'm HORRIBLE at reading sections on standardized tests). Currently I finish perfectly in seven minutes and i'm only missing 2-3 questions (between both passages)