August 15 MCAT Club

[Cumberland_Doc]

August is coming fast. For those of you August 15th MCAT folks, post your thoughts, preparation, and questions here.

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[Fulfuric]

Man, I am taking the MCAT on the 15th as well. Verbal section is just killing me.... I realize that most of the passages are way too boring for me to even remember what I read.

 

[AndrooOppa]

Man, I am taking the MCAT on the 15th as well. Verbal section is just killing me.... I realize that most of the passages are way too boring for me to even remember what I read.

that's why I don't read them. Sure, some say it's a copout. I say it's being efficient.

 

[Fulfuric]

that's why I don't read them. Sure, some say it's a copout. I say it's being efficient.

Haha how do you answer the questions without reading the passages?!?! I must learn.

 

[trojanMD]

I saw this thread on the 2nd page of the MCAT forum and thought to myself, "we cant have that!"

so heres a bump

btw, im scared!

 

[prudvi]

I saw this thread on the 2nd page of the MCAT forum and thought to myself, "we cant have that!"

so heres a bump

btw, im scared!

I am scared too since I have never got above a 30. I just miss a lot of questions that I should have gotten right. I guess I just need to continue to practice and hope for the best. I am getting to a point where it is just getting really boring to study all day everyday.

 

[AsuKa]

i hear that. ive been studying since june, now i think 12 weeks was way too long, maybe i should have taken it at 8-10 weeks lol.

oh well, forcing myself to study :/ this is important lol

 

[amar21]

how's it coming along people?

I'm pretty solid on my content... and i've started to do kaplan "mini-mcats" or random passages from their online content here and there and its going pretty non-consistently haha

tomorrow i'll do my first FL from Kaplan... FL-2 and hope for the best! Its crazy to think we have exactly 3 weeks to go... it seems like its not enough time, but also like its an ETERNITY!

 

[AndrooOppa]

[deleted]

 

[pitt1166]

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm getting a little weird as test date approaches. I'll go through periods of feeling extremely confident, cocky almost, and then periods of extreme worry. Up and down. Overall though, I'm feeling OK about where I stand.

I have a bit of an obsessive personality, so I've been studying like crazy. Probably too much, to be honest. But that's kind of what I have to do to feel confident going in to these sorts of things.

I've taken 5 practice tests in about the last 12 days. Kind of going back and forth between Kaplan and AAMC. I just took my first two AAMCs, and now I'll probably alternate back and forth for awhile. In the end, I think I'm going take AAMC 7-10 at the very end. My understanding is that they are the most indicative. Anyone have any thoughts on that notion?

Scores have been 31, 36, 34, 33, 36. Obviously I would be pretty happy if my scores fell in that range, but what do you guys think the chances are of improving in three weeks time?

 

[AsuKa]

those are great scores. go over what you got wrong on your aamc's.

if you got the same concept wrong more than twice, make sure you really drill it in. use flash cards or something.

your next aamc exams should be higher. i think you'll do great

 

[amar21]

first aamc done(#3) = 29

yeeeeeesh

I was so burned out by it haha... I definitely gotta build up my tolerance to this! My lowest section was PS with an 8. I better work on that a bit more. I topped out on bio with 12.. alot more orgo than I expected, I got almost half of them wrong.

I think the hardest part about doing these exams is maintaining focus.. I found i'd be playing with my pen halfway through a passage and then realizing I just wasted a minute.

 

[pitt1166]

Hey question for you guys.

So most of us are probably taking practice tests now.

But are you doing the writing samples?

I am not. I do think, though, that on Mon/Weds before the exam, I will take my final practice tests exactly like the real deal on Friday, ie doing the writing samples, taking the proper breaks, etc.

Anyone else have a similar sort of plan?

 

[mk2009]

hey guys. I'm retaking mcat on the same day too.

I've already done all of the aamc tests before and I was just wondering
do any of you guys know if examkrackers tests are similar to aamc tests by any chance? (I heard that kaplan and princeton review tests are way easier) Thanks!

 

[pitt1166]

I'm getting a little loopy.

I just took a Kaplan FL, and felt absolutely terrible while taking it. I almost quit in the middle of it several times.

But then I got a 40 on it.

I don't know, I'm happy with that score, but getting a little burned out, I fear.

 

[StIGMA]

I don't trust kaplan with high section scores. A 15 on a bio section could mean missing 7-8 questions, which on AAMC would be approximately a score of 11-12. You are likely to miss a few questions just by misunderstanding them (hence missing 1-2 for a 15 on aamc is not equivalent to a 15 on kaplan), so take a high kaplan score with a grain of salt.

 

[ladyoflies]

I don't trust kaplan with high section scores. A 15 on a bio section could mean missing 7-8 questions, which on AAMC would be approximately a score of 11-12. You are likely to miss a few questions just by misunderstanding them (hence missing 1-2 for a 15 on aamc is not equivalent to a 15 on kaplan), so take a high kaplan score with a grain of salt.

Yea, but getting a 40 would be a huge confidence boost. I'd be on top of the world after that. Great job!

 

[amar21]

guys

i am no longer a part of the club

i just re-scheduled to august 22 as a seat in toronto came up... gives me another week to do more practice exams. best of luck.

 

[pitt1166]

It's quiet... too quiet.

How's everyone's studying come along?

 

[amerz404]

i'm so ready for this to be over. i'm on a 4 practice tests a week binge trying to get as many under my belt as i can. i'm just hoping i don't wear myself out come test day. part of me wants the test to be sooner so i can get it over with but part of me wants extra time to study.

 

[Merissa87]

I'm a re-taker from June 13 taking it on Aug 15 also. I did really good in my sciences but screwed up verbal. Trying to get on track to do well on this test but it just seems like I can't find the time in the day to study all of the sections!!!!

 

[Tiss229]

We got this. I'm just so burned out from the studying already. I still have 4 AAMC's left so hopefully that will encourage me

 

[AndrooOppa]

[deleted]

 

[amar21]

I've been hitting a low streak. I've been breaking 30s the past two weeks and now I'm lucky if I break 20. I think I'm just burned out...but really, what other choices do I have but to study? Can't take a day off or anything with 2 weeks left. ...crap.

burnout is detrimental and will only compound itself... id take 2 days off the books, go out, watch movies, play sports, hit the gym... during that time if you really feel obligated to study, try to quickly read over some content or refresh some formulas.

 

[maxim3L]

Guys, with all due respect, alot of you are soooo negative about your prospects. In the end, it's all about the effort you've put in and how bad you want that 35 or 40.

Hard work is like Gibbs Free Energy. You put in the hard work (+enthalpy) and remove the chaos (-entropy) and you significantly increase your potential (Gibbs free energy).

 

[futuredoctor10]

Hard work is like Gibbs Free Energy. You put in the hard work (+enthalpy) and remove the chaos (-entropy) and you significantly increase your potential (Gibbs free energy).

Haha nice analogy!

 

[Duffy]

Just 16 more days and it's done with (hopefully, assuming I do well enough)!

 

[Fulfuric]

Let's hope 8/15 is the last time I'll ever ever look at the MCAT again!!! If only I can score high on VR. =[ I can break into the 30's but that's just because I score like 12ish on both PS and BS...and then get 7 on VR.

 

[maxim3L]

Haha nice analogy!

Thanks! Keep grinding at the stone!

 

[ldnk]

I just got some very good personal news relating to my schools of choice if I get into med school! My motivation to study just went through the roof. These next 15 days are going to be rocking.

Two days Bio review
Two days Chem review
Three days Physics review (I have held off on memorizing anything pertaining to optics)
Two days Orgo Review

6 days of pure test taking

So pumped.

15's or die trying

 

[trojanMD]

Another 2 weeks guys!! We are in the home stretch. Lets finish strong and nail this sucker!

How is everybody doing on the practice tests??? I am still trying to squeeze out a couple more points of improvement, so I am hoping to hit the 35+ mark here in a few days!

 

[maxim3L]

15's or die trying

Thats the spirit. Good decision on holding off with optics cause there are probably more challenging things to practice. Optics problems can be easily managed knowing two core concepts: 1) 2/r or 1/f = 1/di + 1/d0 and 2) knowing when to make numbers negative AKA real images are positive and inverted.

...and of course know the shapes of the lenses and mirrors

 

[pullandbear]

my scheduel till test day

wake up and review a Lecture from EK Bio completely. make flashcards for it. Do 4 passages from EK 1001 Bio. Do 1-2 sections of a real AAMC test. Review that. Review Orgo flashcards. Sleep

Rinse and repeat.

Oh, and if i get adventurous ill swap the bio for another subject but bio is my weakest so im doing extra work on that. Im in the 32 range for my AAMC's. Im in an accelerated med program tho so i only have to get a 28 and im into med school! woot!

 

[trojanMD]

Sounds like a good schedule! Here's mine (these two days will cycle until test day):

Day 1
-PR Online practice passages (2 hours+)
-4 Verbal passages timed (34 min.) from EK 101 or PR Verbal Woorkbook
-EK Bio 1001 ~100 questions (3 hours)


Day 2
-Kaplan or AAMC test
-Post-analysis of test/review content if needed
-EK Bio 1001 ~50 questions

Progress so far: TPR diags: 29,31,31,33,33 (wretched verbal keeps driving down my scores; verbal avg.= 8.5)

August 14th - Absolutely zero studying. Dinner and a movie with the gf?

August 15th- GAME TIME

 

[trojanMD]

Crap!!! Today is the start of August, the month of made or broken dreams!

 

[Celestine]

I'm new here, but I really needed some support, I've been totally spazzing out of late.

Dear god, I just started like really studying. I mean, I've been taking practice tests and stuff for the last month, and reviewing, but like now I'm really freaking out. Thankfully, I only need a 27 (yay BS/MD ), but I wouldn't call that a completely easy feat. Plus, I really want to do better, like 36, so 12s...ahhhh, I'm rambling. I should be reading ochem! Or something else I suck at...bleh.

How's everyone else faring?

 

[AndrooOppa]

[deleted]

 

[Celestine]

Yeahh, it's really hard to stay focused. Like, I keep playing Scramble on Facebook...and before I know it, I've lost two hours. Bleh.

So I have the AAMC practice tests, and like the one that comes with the ExamKrackers books. Are there any others that are worth taking? And, uh, I know people have probably asked this question somewhere else, but how good of an indicator are AAMC practice test scores?

 

[pullandbear]

Sounds like a good schedule! Here's mine (these two days will cycle until test day):

Day 1
-PR Online practice passages (2 hours+)
-4 Verbal passages timed (34 min.) from EK 101 or PR Verbal Woorkbook
-EK Bio 1001 ~100 questions (3 hours)


Day 2
-Kaplan or AAMC test
-Post-analysis of test/review content if needed
-EK Bio 1001 ~50 questions

Progress so far: TPR diags: 29,31,31,33,33 (wretched verbal keeps driving down my scores; verbal avg.= 8.5)

August 14th - Absolutely zero studying. Dinner and a movie with the gf?

August 15th- GAME TIME

wow thats an intense schedule! you'll be done with the EK1001 Bio in a week or so! Have you done any AAMCs yet?

I'm new here, but I really needed some support, I've been totally spazzing out of late.

Dear god, I just started like really studying. I mean, I've been taking practice tests and stuff for the last month, and reviewing, but like now I'm really freaking out. Thankfully, I only need a 27 (yay BS/MD ), but I wouldn't call that a completely easy feat. Plus, I really want to do better, like 36, so 12s...ahhhh, I'm rambling. I should be reading ochem! Or something else I suck at...bleh.

How's everyone else faring?

Im in the same boat, i only need a 28. But that doesnt mean you can really slack. Can you reschedule to the aug 22? That'll give you 3 weeks to study which should be enough to put you into the 30s consistently. What are you scoring on the practice tests now? I don't think reaching ~36 score would be possible in 2 weeks. Relax though man, if you've been studying sporadically, 2 weeks of intense work will bring it all together and you should be fine to get into the 30s.

Yeahh, it's really hard to stay focused. Like, I keep playing Scramble on Facebook...and before I know it, I've lost two hours. Bleh.

So I have the AAMC practice tests, and like the one that comes with the ExamKrackers books. Are there any others that are worth taking? And, uh, I know people have probably asked this question somewhere else, but how good of an indicator are AAMC practice test scores?

Everyone says that they are really good indicators, specifically exams 8-10, which are the most recent.

 

[Tiss229]

Yeah here August is, never thought it would come so quickly. I'm taking AAMC 7 tomorrow and depending on that I'll see what I really need to focus on in the short amount of time we have left.

 

[Celestine]

Thanks for the response pullandbear. I'm curious, what program are you in? I'm the six-year PSU/Jefferson Medical one, I just finished my first year at Penn State.

I'm not worried about getting a 27, on the practice tests I've taken so far (AAMC 3-7), I got in the mid-thirties, usually. I just wanted to do better than that, personally, so hopefully I can get my scores up to high thirties consistently on the practice tests by exam time. If anything, it'll just make me more confident and calm going in, you know?

 

[ROADscholar]

just wondering how you guys have been keeping your energy up throughout the exam? i'm due for the Aug.15 test, too, and after taking only my first full-length (let's just say it was somewhere in the 20s) i noticed i was loosing lots of steam and REAL fast the entire second half of the exam. i definitely dont want hunger to be an issue/distraction during the test, so what have you all been doing, or planning to do, about this? btw, i've been eating a decent breakfast beforehand, but 4-4.5 hours is a long way from scrambled eggs!

 

[amar21]

its extremely hard to keep focus when you're doing practice tests... but trust me, you wont run out of "Steam" when it comes down to the real thing haha.. the pressure itself will keep you going.

just eat alot of carbs during your 10min breaks to keep the noggin' functioning.

on days where im just too tired to put forth 100% effort in my practice exams i just do section by section, or sometimes even passage by passage with breaks in between... but i always time them to make sure im on pace if it were the real thing.

 

[Celestine]

Ahh, I've been reading the horror stories from the July administrations...I really hope I don't have to deal with any situations like that. It would totally mess me up. As it is, I'm already pretty messed up - I've been having difficulty sleeping before 4, 5 am, and getting up before noon. And I'm scheduled to take the 8:00 am exam. *sigh* I need to take Benadryl tonight or something, lol.

And I can't focussss at all, omg. I alternate between wanting August 15th to be here right now and wanting like another 98 weeks to study. Bleh.

 

[ROADscholar]

its extremely hard to keep focus when you're doing practice tests... but trust me, you wont run out of "Steam" when it comes down to the real thing haha.. the pressure itself will keep you going.

just eat alot of carbs during your 10min breaks to keep the noggin' functioning.

on days where im just too tired to put forth 100% effort in my practice exams i just do section by section, or sometimes even passage by passage with breaks in between... but i always time them to make sure im on pace if it were the real thing.

thanks. i tried something a little different today during my practice test (btw, i only got a single pt. higher! ) but i tried having a quick snack right before the bio section and it seemed to help out. and this might be a stupid question, but on test day, do i have to run to the locker devour my snacks and be back in my seat before the 10 minutes is up?! ..or can you bring food into the room? I'm just trying to picture it in my head.. haha. and it doesn't look pretty.

 

[ROADscholar]

btw Celestine^^ i can definitely relate. as of lately, i've been trying to force myself to be in bed no later than 1am, but i can't keep from snoozing the next morning and getting up any earlier than 9:30am! it's weird because if I stay up until 3am or maybe even 4, i still get up around the same time, if not only a half-hour later. and that's w/2 alarm clocks! hopefully, i can make it work before 8am Aug. 15??

 

[cornpops21]

thanks. i tried something a little different today during my practice test (btw, i only got a single pt. higher! ) but i tried having a quick snack right before the bio section and it seemed to help out. and this might be a stupid question, but on test day, do i have to run to the locker devour my snacks and be back in my seat before the 10 minutes is up?! ..or can you bring food into the room? I'm just trying to picture it in my head.. haha. and it doesn't look pretty.

No, you can't bring food into the testing room. That would be so annoying if someone next to you is eating chips. God..

 

[Celestine]

I'm already having nightmares of people who whisper to themselves while test-taking, let alone people eating. I think I'd be a total bitch if something like that presented itself, and complain to the proctor. Gahh, it just seems like so many things can go wrongggg.

ROADscholar, isn't it frustrating? I made sure not to doze off while reviewing today (gahh, so boring, I can't deal with DNA replication, hahaha), so hopefully I can sleep by midnight tonight.

And now I'm really worried about the physical sciences section too. I usually do pretty well on that section, but people have said that recently, it's been harder and a lot more out there than the AAMC practice exams. *shakes head* What to dooo...

 

[ILikeFood]

I'm freaking out.

 

[rocuronium]

And now I'm really worried about the physical sciences section too. I usually do pretty well on that section, but people have said that recently, it's been harder and a lot more out there than the AAMC practice exams. *shakes head* What to dooo...

You guys need to stop stressing! Remember, these tests are all curved. If you find it harder, chances are that everyone else will find it harder. If you have been doing well consistently on the practice exams, you should be fine.

Remember: Don't worry, be happy! ... (and study more)

 

[Celestine]

Remember: Don't worry, be happy! ... (and study more)

Hahaha, I love the end of that. That's what I want to do, it's like, wheee, almost there, do some practice, don't stress, lalalala...oh crap, I didn't know that question! OMG, I don't know that topic! Omg omg, I have to studyyyyy everything vaguely related to it RIGHT NOW. *sigh* And so I cycle...