Berkeley Review CBT Scores

[TheBoneDoctah]

Haven't seen any posts for everyone to post BR CBT scores so here it is. I will start:

BR CBT 1: 31 (10/9/12) UGH VERBAL!


Feel free to add your scores!

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[TheAnonymous]

Just finished CBT 5. Wtf. That's all I gotta say.

Lol i got 8 or 9 on the PS on that one

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

do you think worth doing?

Ha idk. I haven't even done bio. I was so messed up by the ps I just quit. I just completed AAMC 9 PS and got 12 though.

 

[dudewheresmymd]

Ha idk. I haven't even done bio. I was so messed up by the ps I just quit. I just completed AAMC 9 PS and got 12 though.

loll

 

[markymark71990]

do you think worth doing?

I think so. I took all 7 BR CBTS. good practice. I took AAMC 10 today and finished with a 32, and was 1 question away in PS and one question away in BS from a point increase, so essentially I was 2 questions away from a 34.

PS 45/52 VR 32/40 BS 45/52

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I think so. I took all 7 BR CBTS. good practice. I took AAMC 10 today and finished with a 32, and was 1 question away in PS and one question away in BS from a point increase, so essentially I was 2 questions away from a 34.

PS 45/52 VR 32/40 BS 45/52

What were your BR scores again?

 

[markymark71990]

1-32 2-28 3-28 4-31 5-25 6-34 7-31

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

1-32 2-28 3-28 4-31 5-25 6-34 7-31

What was your breakdown on 5?

 

[markymark71990]

7-10-8

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

7-10-8

Ok so that ps was tough right? I didn't understand the electro Chen
Passage at all

 

[markymark71990]

yeah it was. The most helpful part for me with the BR CBTs has been going back through the test the next day and going over every question in PS and BS. Going through VR isn't that helpful for me because its so situational compared to actual facts in the sciences

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

yeah it was. The most helpful part for me with the BR CBTs has been going back through the test the next day and going over every question in PS and BS. Going through VR isn't that helpful for me because its so situational compared to actual facts in the sciences

Yeah I haven't been doin the BR vebr

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Does anyone know how to calculate the oxidation state when the molecule is drawn out like this? How do they get -3 and +3 for carbon?

 

[Lamel]

Carbon 1 is attached to O and S, which are both more electronegative, and 1 carbon (which is same electronegativity), so the carbon gets a +1 for each bond to O and S.

The second carbon is attached to 3 hydrogens, which are less electronegative, and 1 carbon, which is the same, so the carbon gets a -1 for each bond to H.

Gotta compare electronegativities. The more electronegative atom gets the negative charge.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Carbon 1 is attached to O and S, which are both more electronegative, and 1 carbon (which is same electronegativity), so the carbon gets a +1 for each bond to O and S.

The second carbon is attached to 3 hydrogens, which are less electronegative, and 1 carbon, which is the same, so the carbon gets a -1 for each bond to H.

Gotta compare electronegativities. The more electronegative atom gets the negative charge.

Ahhhhhhhh! Got it! Thank you so much! So all you do is do (-1) for every bond to a less electronegative atom and (+1) to a more electronegative?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Just finished CBT #5 science sections

PS-7
BS-10

For this exam I finished the bio with 15 minutes to spare which is very weird for me. I have NEVER finished with more than 5 minutes EVER. Hmmm.

 

[Lamel]

Ahhhhhhhh! Got it! Thank you so much! So all you do is do (-1) for every bond to a less electronegative atom and (+1) to a more electronegative?

Yup. And 0 for the same atom. The more electronegative atom gets the - charge because it attracts electrons more.

 

[toogoofy]

looks like I'm quite a few tests behind you guys but I just took the first test.
BR FL 1: 12/11/12

I lost some point in PS because I hit the back button my browser and ended up ending the section 18 minutes early . hopefully I'll catch up with you guys, sounds like I have a lot to look forward to in test 5 haha

 

[justalittlestar]

These exams hurt my feelings.

Just finished up TBR CBT 1 and scored a 5 /7/13

PS: , Obviously I definitely need to see where I went wrong. I found the section to be extremely hard the first question into the exam . I'm shooting for a 8 or 9 on the real thing at this point because it seems this is my worse section and I have yet to get higher than a 8 or 9 on any practice exam between AAMC, Gold Standard, Kaplan, BS: I'm not too thrilled with BS either but considering that was once my worse section at some point I won't complain. I'm really looking for a 10 or 11 on the real thing at this point. VR: I hear the VR on TBR isn't the best indicator of the real exam but I'll take it

 

[markymark71990]

Don't worry about PS being low. Use passages as learning tools. I ended up with an 11 on real test after getting anything as low as a 7 on BR. Also, don't trust the verbal. They will be extremely inflated on BR. Use EK TPR verbal workbook and real AAMC verbal passages to study verbal. I suggest buying AAMCs self assessment package

 

[khronos]

How are you guys finishing PS with >5 minutes remaining? Do you try to answer the questions first before reading the passage? I'm consistently having to rush through the last 3 passages.

 

[toogoofy]

How are you guys finishing PS with >5 minutes remaining? Do you try to answer the questions first before reading the passage? I'm consistently having to rush through the last 3 passages.

I've only done CBT 1, so maybe I'm not the best person to answer, but I got a solid score and finished each section with >15 min before going back to check answers. I read each passage first then go to the questions. I gradually decreased my time spent during my content review practice to 6:15 min/ passage for all subjects and always had time to check, so that helps. I would recommend getting a good physical intuition for PS and just read like the wind for VR and BS

 

[justalittlestar]

I've only done CBT 1, so maybe I'm not the best person to answer, but I got a solid score and finished each section with >15 min before going back to check answers. I read each passage first then go to the questions. I gradually decreased my time spent during my content review practice to 6:15 min/ passage for all subjects and always had time to check, so that helps. I would recommend getting a good physical intuition for PS and just read like the wind for VR and BS

Can you explain what you mean by good physical intuition? I'm struggling so much with PS and I usually start panicking when I spend too much time on one question which leads to me marking it and moving on and usually coming back in the final minutes to make an educated guess :/

On another note, I actually didn't do as great as I thought in TBR CBT 1 VR. It was actually a 10.

 

[toogoofy]

Can you explain what you mean by good physical intuition? I'm struggling so much with PS and I usually start panicking when I spend too much time on one question which leads to me marking it and moving on and usually coming back in the final minutes to make an educated guess :/

On another note, I actually didn't do as great as I thought in TBR CBT 1 VR. It was actually a 10.

I mostly just mean learning the equations and how each variable relates to the others and getting so fast that it feels natural. If the problem can be related to your real world experience thats great, but for me its just visualizing the system, see which equations will matter, and using that to figure out how the question will effect the relevant variable. Hope that helps!

 

[toogoofy]

Just took CBT 2: 13/9/13

I thought that verbal was much harder and the passages seemed really long to me. PS and BS didn't seem so bad but I found myself unsure way more questions than I actually missed

 

[premed1590]

CBT1: 11/12/11 --- no way is my verbal that high.

CBT2: 11-12/substituted AAMC 9 VR (11)/tbt

I think the VR on Berkeley's cbts is much easier than aamc. I am subbing the Aamc/tprh/ek101 verbals in for the Berkley ones. Given that this is my retake, I have taken all of the AAMC verbals before. Just doing it to get a feel for the real mcat style again.

I will say that I think the PS and the BS sections of Berkley are similar to what I encountered on my first real mcat.

EDIT: CBT2: 11-12/AAMC 9 VR = 11/11-12 --- total 33-35.

 

[Sammy1024]

Sorry if this hashes up an old post, but I was wondering what people through of the BS section for TBR CBT's.

I've taken CBT 1 and 2, and my breakdown was:

1: 11/10 (1 pt away from 11)/ 8
2: 10/8/8 (but when I took out those TBR focused q's it was a 10) - what I mean by TBR focused q's, such as when it asked me which two sugars made up lactose. And I know we don't need to know something like that for the AAMC.

Besides my PS score, I feel that my verbal/bs is all over the place! And when I take the bs portion, i'm just like wow this is crazy hard.

 

[premed1590]

PS and BS are pretty hard. VR is inconsistent and based largely off of things in the passage rather than interpretation. I substituted ek101 or tprh VR practice tests whenever I would do a CBT. The BS was good practice. PS is mainly conceptual but really helped out on the real deal (got a 13 in PS). GOOD LUCK!

 

[wuhsabee]

PS and BS are pretty hard. VR is inconsistent and based largely off of things in the passage rather than interpretation. I substituted ek101 or tprh VR practice tests whenever I would do a CBT. The BS was good practice. PS is mainly conceptual but really helped out on the real deal (got a 13 in PS). GOOD LUCK!

Would you suggest skipping the verbal section when doing the CBTs?

 

[premed1590]

I took CBT 1-3 and I skipped VR on all but the first one. I didn't think it was at all representative and considering how I got a 9 in VR, it wasn't. Bio and PS are good practice. Bio is a little orgo heavy, but the PS and BS sections both emphasize problem solving/critical thinking rather than straight memorization or basic application and this definitely helped me on my actual test. I skipped their VR and substituted TPRH or EK101. still using 10 minute breaks, simulated testing conditions, etc...

 

[Sammy1024]

Do you have any advice for bs section?

 

[premed1590]

don't let the score get you down.. Just review the material in depth post-test and make sure you're not just reading solutions, open up your book TPR or EK or whatever it is and find the material and review. typically spending at least half a day (7ish hours) going over your exam is a good start.