The Official 9/11/2012 MCAT date

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Hi guys,

How is the studying going for those of you taking it on arguably one of the worst days in American History? Finished content review yet? Any FL?

Just wanted to do this so we could keep each other motivated.

Ok now back to studying !!!!!!

Started content review June 11th. I take a FL every saturday to track my progress and identify weaknesses. So far its been like this:

6/16 AAMC 3: 8PS,7VR, 10BS
6/23 AAMC 5: 8PS,9VR, 10BS
6/30 AAMC 4: 9PS,10VR,12BS
7/7 AAMC 7: 8PS,11VR,10BS

I'm super weak in Gen Chem, Phys, and Orgo so I'm going to concentrate on those areas the next couple weeks to bump up my PS and get my BS in the 12+ range.

Been using chad's videos along with TBR, EK, and TPR. I use TBR as my primary resource but there are some topics in which EK is more thorough. TPR I've been using for verbal and their science wrbk for passages.

Good luck to everyone lets conquer this beast!

Nice job

Here are my FL:

Listed in order of when I took them:
date PS VR BS -- TOT
Kaplan FL-2 6/23 10 7 9 -- 26
Kaplan FL-1 6/30 8 8 8 -- 24 (Went down 2pts!!!! )
AAMC FL-3 7/6 9 9 10 -- 28
Kaplan FL-3 7/24 10 9 10 --- 29

You are going through the AAMC tests really fast. Try to take some other ones first so you can save the AAMC's till after content review to give you a better predictability.

woo! other 9/11 ers!! About 2 months left of studying guys!

Originally Posted by ebasappa

woo! other 9/11 ers!! About 2 months left of studying guys!

Yep! How is your studying going?

Originally Posted by nisarg2010

Nice job

Here are my FL:

Listed in order of when I took them:
date PS VR BS -- TOT
Kaplan FL-2 6/23 10 7 9 -- 26
Kaplan FL-1 6/30 8 8 8 -- 24 (Went down 2pts!!!! )
AAMC FL-3 6/7 9 9 10 -- 28

You are going through the AAMC tests really fast. Try to take some other ones first so you can save the AAMC's till after content review to give you a better predictability.

I know I didn't want to. TBR wont activate my CBT's until the Jul 27th so I'll be using up AAMC 3-9, then TBR 1-5, then using AAMC 10 & 11 right before the exam.

You're doing well too! I think 34+ is more than doable.

We have 2 months, I think we can make it to 35 guys. If anyone wants to do like a skype study group lets coordinate.

Might as well post here, since i'lll be delaying it to 9/11.

I took Kaplan FL 1 and did horrible as fudge
6BS 5PS 5 VR

And that's after 70% done with content review

I need a new approach to this sht. I'm not getting anywhere by content review. I read slow as fudge and can't remember itty bitty details after reading 50 page chapters.

I suck at verbal. I read the passage, and only understand about 5% of the information in the passage. It's like reading a different language. I'm using EK 101 for verbal review.

Originally Posted by johnnybravo19

Might as well post here, since i'lll be delaying it to 9/11.

I took Kaplan FL 1 and did horrible as fudge
6BS 5PS 5 VR

And that's after 70% done with content review

I need a new approach to this sht. I'm not getting anywhere by content review. I read slow as fudge and can't remember itty bitty details after reading 50 page chapters.

I suck at verbal. I read the passage, and only understand about 5% of the information in the passage. It's like reading a different language. I'm using EK 101 for verbal review.

Dont give up hope yet! You can definitely do well. Maybe try flashcards for those small details. Thats what I have been doing for anything I need to memorize. Dont over do them though. Just write down stuff you know you need to memorize and that you dont know it yet. For verbal, do the kaplan section VR tests. Thats what I have been doing along with EK 101 tests. It seems to be helping.

im gonna terrorize this test.

Originally Posted by mmmmd

im gonna terrorize this test.

I love that attitude. And the avatar

Wow you guys are way ahead of me. Only done two chapters per BR book, meaning I'm 20% through content review.

I regret buying EK bio. It's questions are WAY too ****ing easy and content review is extremely sub-par. I'm a bio major entering 4th year and have taken all the typical classes, biochem, molec bio, cell bio, dev bio, genetics, a few neuro classes, and EK bio - content and question-wise - is utter garbage imo. So far I haven't gotten a single question wrong from that book. I'm thinking of just putting it away for good.

I mean I do understand if you haven't taken a bio class in FOREVER, how it could be a good place to start - but by all means don't think you're "set" for the bio section if you're doing good on the EK bio problems. They're a joke.

BR bio may be a bit drawn out, and its passages can be difficult at times, but when has practicing with hard problems ever been a bad thing...?

Awww is your poor confidence shot because you did terribly on a practice passage? Boo-****ing-hoo. You're trying to enter the MEDICAL FIELD. You're supposed to be overconfident, do you expect to be able to handle making life-or-death decisions if your morale is that easy to shake? Give yourself a nice, hard slap in the face. Cuss out your books. Then get back to studying.

/end rant

Originally Posted by theNard

Wow you guys are way ahead of me. Only done two chapters per BR book, meaning I'm 20% through content review.

I regret buying EK bio. It's questions are WAY too ****ing easy and content review is extremely sub-par. I'm a bio major entering 4th year and have taken all the typical classes, biochem, molec bio, cell bio, dev bio, genetics, a few neuro classes, and EK bio - content and question-wise - is utter garbage imo. So far I haven't gotten a single question wrong from that book. I'm thinking of just putting it away for good.

I mean I do understand if you haven't taken a bio class in FOREVER, how it could be a good place to start - but by all means don't think you're "set" for the bio section if you're doing good on the EK bio problems. They're a joke.

BR bio may be a bit drawn out, and its passages can be difficult at times, but when has practicing with hard problems ever been a bad thing...?

Awww is your poor confidence shot because you did terribly on a practice passage? Boo-****ing-hoo. You're trying to enter the MEDICAL FIELD. You're supposed to be overconfident, do you expect to be able to handle making life-or-death decisions if your morale is that easy to shake? Give yourself a nice, hard slap in the face. Cuss out your books. Then get back to studying.

/end rant

Bio major here too.

Yeah, and I know what you mean. The EK biology review book is pretty terrible in it's lecturing. IMO it is especially bad for the circulatory/lymphatic/immune systems (Lecture 7). It is pretty much a simplified version of a textbook, something you'd expect an undergrad to write up when taking notes. But did you try doing the in-class exams? They aren't that hard either, but definitely closer to what the MCAT is like than those silly check-in questions in the lectures.

It'd be somewhat illogical to expect much out of it. I mean let's look at it here, it is a $10 review book and it's for the MCAT. They don't expect everyone to have taking rough upper-div university courses (though they may help tremendously for bio). There's no way they would review the content in such a way to match the thought processes you had taking your upper-division university courses. They really do go over most of what you need to know (from what I can tell). The rest of the questions you can answer based on reading comprehension and a bit of intuition (pretty important). EK bio isn't meant to be practice for the exam.

This being said, I haven't been completely satisfied with any of the PR, BR, or EK material. I constantly look back at my past notes/old exams to catch a glimpse of more in-depth comprehensive knowledge. I don't think any review book does as much justice to a topic as a unviversity course does. I'm not saying the MCAT is easy. Maybe something along the lines of if I had the skills/knowledge that I had while taking every final (lower-div courses) I've taken, it would be. No review book/set of time will give you that.

Now I can say, I think BR bio passages are mainly "hard" because, as they should, they incorporate a wide variety of concepts within each test (genetics, metabolic, cell bio). If you've reviewed everything well (EK is fine), you should be able to at least get a 10 on their scale with each test. But man, some of their passages can just be like wtf when you first see them. Not even their "drawn-out" review content will help for those ones.

I had postponed my July 7 MCAT....Now my latest AAMC9 score: (10PS, 6VR, 8BS)....Can I get that score up to 28+ in the remaining weeks? I am very weak in VR and I am trying to brush up organic chem now and doing 2-3 verbal passages per day.

Originally Posted by BoxVersionAce

Bio major here too.

Yeah, and I know what you mean. The EK biology review book is pretty terrible in it's lecturing. IMO it is especially bad for the circulatory/lymphatic/immune systems (Lecture 7). It is pretty much a simplified version of a textbook, something you'd expect an undergrad to write up when taking notes. But did you try doing the in-class exams? They aren't that hard either, but definitely closer to what the MCAT is like than those silly check-in questions in the lectures.

It'd be somewhat illogical to expect much out of it. I mean let's look at it here, it is a $10 review book and it's for the MCAT. They don't expect everyone to have taking rough upper-div university courses (though they may help tremendously for bio). There's no way they would review the content in such a way to match the thought processes you had taking your upper-division university courses. They really do go over most of what you need to know (from what I can tell). The rest of the questions you can answer based on reading comprehension and a bit of intuition (pretty important). EK bio isn't meant to be practice for the exam.

This being said, I haven't been completely satisfied with any of the PR, BR, or EK material. I constantly look back at my past notes/old exams to catch a glimpse of more in-depth comprehensive knowledge. I don't think any review book does as much justice to a topic as a unviversity course does. I'm not saying the MCAT is easy. Maybe something along the lines of if I had the skills/knowledge that I had while taking every final (lower-div courses) I've taken, it would be. No review book/set of time will give you that.

Now I can say, I think BR bio passages are mainly "hard" because, as they should, they incorporate a wide variety of concepts within each test (genetics, metabolic, cell bio). If you've reviewed everything well (EK is fine), you should be able to at least get a 10 on their scale with each test. But man, some of their passages can just be like wtf when you first see them. Not even their "drawn-out" review content will help for those ones.

Ya I guess you're right. I shouldn't have expected much from EK bio in the first place, esp compared to the upper div classes. Were your physics courses heavily calculation-based? Cause mine were. Those are the only classes I feel like is helping me the least with studying and recall.

I agree with you completely about being slightly dissatisfied with all the prep books, as far as content review goes. For physics and gchem and ochem, so far I've gone through the chapters in my textbook immediately before going through the BR chapter. It does take more time, but honestly I believe it's helped me nail down the real concepts we have to understand, i.e. when x is increasing what is y doing, doubling q will have what effect on z, etc. Especially when it comes to the physics. I may be wrong, as I'm barely crawling through content review right now, but I think that'll help a lot come test time.

Ya some of those BR bio passages are ****ing crazy and time-consuming. But I do enjoy the BR bio content, how it throws random details in (that a bio major can easily understand not to stress taking notes on, but to just read through it), and sometimes those details are actually interesting. Like in chapter 7 (metabolic components) where it talks about ethylene glycol poisoning and how you can counter that by drinking a ****-load of ethanol b/c it competes for it's enzymes active site. Kinda cool, so if you ever get antifreeze poisoning just down a fifth of Hennessy ;-)

Originally Posted by Temperature101

I had postponed my July 7 MCAT....Now my latest AAMC9 score: (10PS, 6VR, 8BS)....Can I get that score up to 28+ in the remaining weeks? I am very weak in VR and I am trying to brush up organic chem now and doing 2-3 verbal passages per day.

You absolutely can.

You NEED a strategy for verbal. You can't just keep doing passages and hope your score will improve, if you're not changing the way you're approaching these passages. From your current score it's apparent you're approaching the passage all wrong.

For starters, try reading the passage extremely slowly, and don't get stressed out on sentences that make no sense to you. MCAT writers purposely throw those in there to kill your time and get you frazzled. Initially I was trying to read the passage as FAST as I could so I would have time to answer the questions, as that seemed pretty viable to me. I was averaging 8 minutes per passage, with 4/7 correct answers. BADDDD. Then I tried reading the passage extremely slowly, and to my surprise that made me answer the questions way faster since I understood the theme and opinion much better. My average time now is 6 minutes with 5.5/7 correct. Try it out.

Edit: Also rely heavily on process of elimination. You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah DUH I already do this, I've been taught PoE repeatedly since I was in 4th grade" but honestly...don't pick an answer until you've disproved all 3 of the other answers.

I am so stoked to be done with this exam, the nights are long and the days are even longer, Lord Almighty.

And to "Temperature 101", getting your verbal is completely possible, totally doable - have you gotten a hold of EK's Verbal or TPR Hyperlearning Verbal? Very, Very, Very, Veryyy helpful!

what do you guys think of TPR bio?? I'm not gonna lie EK bio IS kind of easy, but thats the main review book I've been using. I just read ^^ your guy's conversation and I'm getting kind of scared that it won't be enough haha.

I looked through TPR Bio and compared it to Kaplan's Bio and hands down TPR does a solid job at covering everything - no doubt that EK is "easy" to read through but that's because its designed that way, you are supposed to read through EK many times until that information is ingrained within.

Originally Posted by theNard

Ya I guess you're right. I shouldn't have expected much from EK bio in the first place, esp compared to the upper div classes. Were your physics courses heavily calculation-based? Cause mine were. Those are the only classes I feel like is helping me the least with studying and recall.

I agree with you completely about being slightly dissatisfied with all the prep books, as far as content review goes. For physics and gchem and ochem, so far I've gone through the chapters in my textbook immediately before going through the BR chapter. It does take more time, but honestly I believe it's helped me nail down the real concepts we have to understand, i.e. when x is increasing what is y doing, doubling q will have what effect on z, etc. Especially when it comes to the physics. I may be wrong, as I'm barely crawling through content review right now, but I think that'll help a lot come test time.

Ya some of those BR bio passages are ****ing crazy and time-consuming. But I do enjoy the BR bio content, how it throws random details in (that a bio major can easily understand not to stress taking notes on, but to just read through it), and sometimes those details are actually interesting. Like in chapter 7 (metabolic components) where it talks about ethylene glycol poisoning and how you can counter that by drinking a ****-load of ethanol b/c it competes for it's enzymes active site. Kinda cool, so if you ever get antifreeze poisoning just down a fifth of Hennessy ;-)

Calculation-based? We had to use some calculus for derivations with easy stuff like integrals and differential equations. But yeah, I just liked the way my prof and the textbook explains concepts. Though most of the physics will just come from the many past practice problems/scenarios. I think it is a good idea to tie stuff in with what you already know. I'm starting to do this less because, unfortunately times running out!!! 9/11/9/11/91\1\19119!! 9!!9

and lol at TBR passage. I've actually learned quite a bit about alcohol, specifically ethanol, in my Orgo class. Prof. thought it'd be relevant haha

I'm done with the first 3 chapters of Ochem and Genchem, and first 5 chapters of Bio, and doing the 5th chapter for physics atm. I'm thinking of finishing physics before doing anything else, since it's my weakest area.

Originally Posted by johnnybravo19

I'm done with the first 3 chapters of Ochem and Genchem, and first 5 chapters of Bio, and doing the 5th chapter for physics atm. I'm thinking of finishing physics before doing anything else, since it's my weakest area.

Nice work. Although, I would recommend (Im no expert) speeding up a bit to finish content review before mid Aug (or whenever your school starts up again if you are in school) so that you only have reviewing + FL's to do along with classes. That way you don't have too much on your plate at one time. You could also take a FL right now (NON AAMC; kaplan or someone else) to see how you are doing. If you do well, it would be a great confidence boost to carry through the rest of content review. If you dont do well, than it will just tell you to stay on the path of if started slacking or show you that you still have work to do. Remember to continue verbal practice along with science. I think we sometimes forget the verbal when doing hardcore science content (at least I do). Keep up the good work!!

Hey Guys!

Im signed up to take the exam on this date too. I've been studying with TBR; so far just finished content review for the first set of books for all subjects. Haven't started to take full lengths yet. Decided to take a prep class coming up, hopefully it will help me get through the rest of content review faster.

One question though, was looking through MSAR and notice some of the schools have this latest mcat date considered to be Sep 1, 2012. Does this mean that those schools won't except my scores if I apply this cycle???

Originally Posted by BoxVersionAce

Calculation-based? We had to use some calculus for derivations with easy stuff like integrals and differential equations. But yeah, I just liked the way my prof and the textbook explains concepts. Though most of the physics will just come from the many past practice problems/scenarios. I think it is a good idea to tie stuff in with what you already know. I'm starting to do this less because, unfortunately times running out!!! 9/11/9/11/91\1\19119!! 9!!9

and lol at TBR passage. I've actually learned quite a bit about alcohol, specifically ethanol, in my Orgo class. Prof. thought it'd be relevant haha

Which physics textbook are you using out of curiosity? I envy you, the physics profs at my school were horrible, my physics series was basically all plug n chug. I'm more worried about Gchem though, can't remember any of that **** allll the way back from freshman year which was just one big blackout lol

7 weeks til the celebration begins

Originally Posted by Philipp46

Hey Guys!

Im signed up to take the exam on this date too. I've been studying with TBR; so far just finished content review for the first set of books for all subjects. Haven't started to take full lengths yet. Decided to take a prep class coming up, hopefully it will help me get through the rest of content review faster.

One question though, was looking through MSAR and notice some of the schools have this latest mcat date considered to be Sep 1, 2012. Does this mean that those schools won't except my scores if I apply this cycle???

I bet it's a typo.

But why are you applying this late into the cycle??

Originally Posted by theNard

I bet it's a typo.

But why are you applying this late into the cycle??

I dont think its a typo! and yes this is very late in the cycle to apply.

Originally Posted by Philipp46

Hey Guys!

Im signed up to take the exam on this date too. I've been studying with TBR; so far just finished content review for the first set of books for all subjects. Haven't started to take full lengths yet. Decided to take a prep class coming up, hopefully it will help me get through the rest of content review faster.

One question though, was looking through MSAR and notice some of the schools have this latest mcat date considered to be Sep 1, 2012. Does this mean that those schools won't except my scores if I apply this cycle???

Yes that is exactly what it means. CALL THE SCHOOLS AND MAKE SURE. Dont apply if they dont accept it.

Originally Posted by nisarg2010

I dont think its a typo! and yes this is very late in the cycle to apply.

Lol, verbal reasoning, why would they accept every MCAT this year except the last three dates?

1) For Columbia, it says latest MCAT date considered is Sept 1. Yet on the Columbia admissions website it states "We accept the MCAT taken during the year that you are applying to us, or within the prior three years"

2) NYU. MSAR says latest date is Sept 1. NYU website: "For the 2012 entering class, the latest date that you can take the MCAT and still be considered for admissions is September 11th, 2012."

3) Duke. Same story, says latest date is Sept 1. Yet their admissions website says "Acceptable dates of MCAT: April 2008 – Sept. 2012"

4) Northwestern. Same story? You guessed it. "Students are encouraged to take the MCAT exam or any retests no later than June of the application year. The latest MCAT scores considered will be from the September 2012 test dates."

Makes no logical sense for med schools to not accept MCAT scores from Sept 2 - 11. The MSAR is often inaccurate.

Originally Posted by theNard

Which physics textbook are you using out of curiosity? I envy you, the physics profs at my school were horrible, my physics series was basically all plug n chug. I'm more worried about Gchem though, can't remember any of that **** allll the way back from freshman year which was just one big blackout lol

7 weeks til the celebration begins

The textbook is physics for scientists and engineers by wolfson. My professors weren't that great. But at the very least they explained some concepts well. A good portion of my exams were plug'chug. But hey that's what about 2/7ths to 3/7ths of the PS is going to be like ehh?

Originally Posted by BoxVersionAce

The textbook is physics for scientists and engineers by wolfson. My professors weren't that great. But at the very least they explained some concepts well. A good portion of my exams were plug'chug. But hey that's what about 2/7ths to 3/7ths of the PS is going to be like ehh?

Yeah that's a pretty damn good estimate. Which is why I'm diggin BR physics for their shortcuts, especially the translational motion stuff

Hi buddies. We're just 7 weeks away from arguably the most decisive/important test of our lives thus far. How far is everyone in their study sched???

For those using the BR books: how do you feel about specific chapters? If you've taken the AAMC practice tests, which specific sections have prepared you adequately or too much or too little?

Here's my progress. ( 10 / 38 = 26%)

BR Bio: (using EK bio as a refresher read before moving onto the BR bio chapter)
Chapters 7, 8

BR Ochem:
Chapters 1, 2

BR Physics:
Chapters 1, 2, 3

BR Gchem:
Chapters 1, 3, 4


BR Bio 7 (metabolic components)
========
Thought every part was sufficiently important, but I sorta skipped the chymotrypsin mechanism. Dunno if it's important or not but def will come back to it later.

BR Bio 8 (metabolic pathways)
========
I only have the glycolysis 1) intermediates and 2) enzymes and 3) regulation steps memorized. Which is cause I've had to memorize them SO many times. I used to have all three of those memorized for the rest of these pathways, but didn't feel like I should stress doing that again. Instead here I took note of where and how many NADH/FADH2/CO2's were formed, also ATP/GTP's, and their total net numbers. I did this for the F.A oxidation part too, i.e. in figuring out how many ATP's an unsaturated/saturated fatty acid will yield. I think enzyme names in relation to their function are quite important here. This section was a bit rough and took me a while to get through but again I highly doubt memorizing intermediates is important.

BR Ochem 1 and 2 (molec structure, structure elucidation)
=========
Overall pretty good, I mean so far this really depends on how strong ochem background you have. Personally my best subject is ochem and my school had extremely strong ochem teachers, so breezing through these two chapters was sort of fun for me. Plus I have an AWESOME ochem book, I read the corresponding chapters in my book before I moved onto BR ochem (Organic Chemistry by Janice Smith)

BR Gchem 1 (stoichiometry)
=========
Good intro. Got me back into the mindset of what gchem was like.

BR Gchem 3 (equilibrium)
=========
This was, by far, the hardest chapter for me. I got frustrated a lot and had to read through it twice. Will definitely have to revisit it, and thoroughly.

BR Gchem 4 (acids bases)
=========
One word: Mother ****ing Awesome. I love the way he wrote this chapter. Very structured, very well organized, all of the points are concise and relevant. No extraneous garbage.

BR Physics 1 and 2 (translational motion, forces)
=========
Loved both of these. The shortcuts he provides for translational motion are priceless. i.e. the drop distance / drop time / drop velocity chart on page 21. I'm definitely memorizing some of those values as they save SO MUCH time in those types of problems (rather than using kinematics). I'm also memorizing graphs...I could see myself spending more time than I should trying to answer graph questions so this could be a quick remedy.

BR Physics 3 (work energy)
=========
Concise, maybe too concise. It did cover all the important stuff, but I feel it could have gone a little more in depth with examples. Maybe those are in the passages which I haven't gone over yet.


Anyway, that was a fun waste of 20 minutes, back to the grind. Good luck.

physics is a struggle right now

Which topic

Originally Posted by Rezonance

I am so stoked to be done with this exam, the nights are long and the days are even longer, Lord Almighty.

And to "Temperature 101", getting your verbal is completely possible, totally doable - have you gotten a hold of EK's Verbal or TPR Hyperlearning Verbal? Very, Very, Very, Veryyy helpful!

I got EK verbal and I have done 8 tests so far and my scores have been 6-7 consistently...I got one 8 and one 9, which might have been flukes. I also have TPRH verbal and I have not touched it yet. I will use in the last month of my preparation.

Hi guys,

How's the studying going? Hope everyone is on task! I just wanted to update on here about FL. I just took my 2nd AAMC FL (FL 4: PS-10, VR-7, BS-9) and I got a 26 (). This is 2 pts LOWER than my last one. This is not looking good so far. I hope I can get this up. I thought the BS was much harder than FL#3. Lots of graphs and discretes that were just out of nowhere.

Originally Posted by nisarg2010

Hi guys,

How's the studying going? Hope everyone is on task! I just wanted to update on here about FL. I just took my 2nd AAMC FL (FL 4: PS-10, VR-7, BS-9) and I got a 26 (). This is 2 pts LOWER than my last one. This is not looking good so far. I hope I can get this up. I thought the BS was much harder than FL#3. Lots of graphs and discretes that were just out of nowhere.

Yea you have to pay attention to the data presented in experimental passages, I felt that with each increasing AAMC you had to pay more and more attention to the data presented in the passage. In earlier exams youre able to answer a majority questions without reading the passage for BS, but the higher up you go in AAMC's the less you can do that. Picking out the details from the passage is important to minimize point costing mistakes that are not due to a lack in content knowledge.

Dont worry about the score, minimize making little mistakes and focus on reviewing topics you are weak in and your score should come up to the SDN 34+ standard LOL.

Im not doing so stellar myself, just took AAMC 8: 9 PS 10VR 11BS T:30. Im super weak conceptually in Gen Chem, Phys, and Orgo so thats where I'm going to work to boost my score.

Good luck, and PM me if you want to do like a skype study session, I know I could always use the help especially when it comes to PS lol.

I want to do a review session on Skype. I need a lot of help with Physics. If anyone is interested, please PM me your skype address

Just did Kaplan FL #3 and got a 29 (PS-10, VR-9, BS-10). I ran out of time in both PS and VR. I need to work on time management a bit more. Im also doing the Kaplan section tests which I think are good practice. You can easily do 3 sections in a week which equals a whole FL without having to sit for like 5 hrs. You can easily take a section and review it the same day which is impossible for FLs (at least for me).

How are you guys coming along?

Doing verbal just makes me angry

Ok so I have changed for the third time to this date. Last one this year so I guess I cant put off even if I wanted too lol.

I started studing in April did pretty well for about two months, then stopped cold turkey. (Dont ask me why, just being dumb/lazy/unmotivated/). This will make my 3rd attempt actually taking the test so I feel like its make or break. I know I can do well just from my practice scores last go around. So here it is, I pretty much have one month to review it all over and start hammering out practice tests. My weak point is verbal and it seems I have more trouble now than before. Anyway, just wanted to mentally commit by providing you guys with my short story. We got this, practice practice practice! That is the one thing I have learned from my previous attempts. Good luck all!

Originally Posted by aburnet2

Ok so I have changed for the third time to this date. Last one this year so I guess I cant put off even if I wanted too lol.

I started studing in April did pretty well for about two months, then stopped cold turkey. (Dont ask me why, just being dumb/lazy/unmotivated/). This will make my 3rd attempt actually taking the test so I feel like its make or break. I know I can do well just from my practice scores last go around. So here it is, I pretty much have one month to review it all over and start hammering out practice tests. My weak point is verbal and it seems I have more trouble now than before. Anyway, just wanted to mentally commit by providing you guys with my short story. We got this, practice practice practice! That is the one thing I have learned from my previous attempts. Good luck all!

Welcome to 9/11.

Hopefully 3rd time will be the charm for you.

good luck

Originally Posted by theNard

Doing verbal just makes me angry

Me too man. I cant seem to do better than a 9!

Do you guys know how to analyze a verbal section after taking it? I usually just reread the passage and just try to see what the right ans was and why. Is there a better way of analyzing the verbal section after taking it?

I chickened out last year (didn't even set a date), and now I'm taking the MCAT with more confidence. I still feel discouraged though. A lot of the posters here start very high on their FLs. I wonder if there are any "zero to hero" type of stories (someone who started with a low 20 after content review and boosted their score to 30s-range).

Originally Posted by karafox

I chickened out last year (didn't even set a date), and now I'm taking the MCAT with more confidence. I still feel discouraged though. A lot of the posters here start very high on their FLs. I wonder if there are any "zero to hero" type of stories (someone who started with a low 20 after content review and boosted their score to 30s-range).

My first FL after content review was a 26 I think. I recently got a 29 on a FL. Im defiantly not a "Hero" but its possible to raise your score even after content review.

R u applying this year?

Originally Posted by nisarg2010

My first FL after content review was a 26 I think. I recently got a 29 on a FL. Im defiantly not a "Hero" but its possible to raise your score even after content review.

R u applying this year?

Nope, I feel my ECs are lacking, and I don't think I'm in a position where I can get a score >35, lol. I'll push to a January date if my next 2 AAMC FLs are below 28. I don't want to waste any of that precious gold.

Originally Posted by karafox

Nope, I feel my ECs are lacking, and I don't think I'm in a position where I can get a score >35, lol. I'll push to a January date if my next 2 AAMC FLs are below 28. I don't want to waste any of that precious gold.

Ya I haven't actually signed up for the 9/11th date yet. The deadline to sign up is like Aug 28th so Im gonna put it off till than and only sign up if I think Im ready. I didnt want to wast money signing up and than having to push back because I'm not ready. I wont be applying till next cycle.

Originally Posted by nisarg2010

Me too man. I cant seem to do better than a 9!

Do you guys know how to analyze a verbal section after taking it? I usually just reread the passage and just try to see what the right ans was and why. Is there a better way of analyzing the verbal section after taking it?

EK says to go back and read old passages and write down the authors main point in 1-2 sentences...then to go thru the questions when looking at just those two sentences u wrote down. I haven't tried it yet tho so can't say if its any useful

Also just a warning two of my buddies wanted to sign up for the 9/11 test over a month ago but they couldn't cause all 15ish locations within 100 miles of us were full, just sayin be careful if ur gonna lag signing up! :-)

Finally signed up for the last possible date! Dreading it from the moment I clicked "Submit"!


So here's the deal, I wasnt sure when I was going to take the MCAT so I put off studying for it a lot! Then other things came up and I just lost time!

I know 7 of so weeks isnt a lot of time to prepare but do you think I can at least make a 30-32 range?

I actually am done with Orgo Review- TPR and used kaplan and EK for clarification. Im waiting for all the content review to finish so I can start doing TBR practices and kaplan.

For Bio- I am done with the first 3 chapters of TPR/ Kaplan/ EK (I combined all these) and am left with Genetics and Body Systems.

For Physics- I know everyone is saying that TBR is good for physics but somehow Im not getting it at all. I dont know what my problem with physics is since I got A's in high school, 4 on AP, and I took it again in college and got an A. BUT I cannot solve problems on the MCAT! I finished 2 chapters for physics and for both, after practices, I got 10-12 range. Not bad, I know, but it's not that dependable as thats only sections and Gen chem is also included on the real thing.
Any advice on what I should do in that front?

Gen Chem- I havent started! because 1.) I hate Gen Chem after studying Orgo 2.) I dont have patience for it when I read passages!

Verbal- Ive been practicing 1 passage a day.


I havent done a single FL coz Im scared what Ill score. I was waiting till Im done with my content review which Im planning to finish by July. I want to keep August for practice.

Also, I got a 6 PS/7VR/8BS= 231 on Kaplan diagnostic w/o any content review and distractions (specially on PS--- I loathe physical science)

So basically, you think it's enough time to catch up? and If yes, am I on the right track? Anyone on the same boat, or was?

Or should I just cancel it...........Im so scared!

You should def start Gchem. I despise it soooo much too, but that just means it's bound to be the area that needs the most work/practice.

I'm also extremely behind. I'm using BR books (w/ EK bio as a refresher read before doing BR bio) and here's my progress.

Bio 3/10 chapters
Ochem 4/8 chapters
Physics 4/10 chapters
Gchem 4/10 chapters

Grand total of 15/38 = approx. 40% done with content review. Doing 4 verbal passages a day (will move onto ek101/tprh FL timed verbals in a week).

If you got the dedication and motivation, you'll be just fine. Get cracking

Is anyone on the 9/11 applying this year?

I took the June 21 MCAT and got a 24P 9BS-6VR-9BS after 3 weeks of studying..I was unprepared and it showed.. So this will be a retake for me.. I know I didn't study enough but I feel so discouraged because I was atleast getting 27's on my practice AAMC's..
so we have 45 days left approx, I am just gonna spend all my time practicing the material and I will apply this cycle to 1 MD and 1 DO school lol!

Originally Posted by MCAT777

I took the June 21 MCAT and got a 24P 9BS-6VR-9BS after 3 weeks of studying..I was unprepared and it showed.. So this will be a retake for me.. I know I didn't study enough but I feel so discouraged because I was atleast getting 27's on my practice AAMC's..
so we have 45 days left approx, I am just gonna spend all my time practicing the material and I will apply this cycle to 1 MD and 1 DO school lol!

Good luck!!!!

Youu got this!