*Official August 2016 MCAT Thread*

[leelee12]

Hi everyone,

This thread is for everyone that is writing the MCAT on August 4th, 5th, 19th, 20th or on the 25th.

Slow and steady wins the race.

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[Dr_Curry]

I just took the Bio/Biochem Section Bank, oh wow did it beat me up. Time to study up and make sure I know my Biochem for test day.

Glad I'm not the only one!! Started working on it earlier this week and the B/BC section bank in particular hurt my confidence :/. Don't know my percentage yet but I've heard 60%+ on SBs is pretty good. Pretty sure I'm in the 50s..

 

[neurodjent]

Glad I'm not the only one!! Started working on it earlier this week and the B/BC section bank in particular hurt my confidence :/. Don't know my percentage yet but I've heard 60%+ on SBs is pretty good. Pretty sure I'm in the 50s..

Yea, it definitely knocked me down a few pegs and it made me realize I don't know my biochem very well. I reviewed it and saw that a lot of my mistakes were just lack of content knowledge in that area so that made me feel better because content knowledge is a deficiency I can fix, whereas it's harder to fix reading comprehension errors. I ended up with 51% but I am staying positive. Time to hit the biochem books hard.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I just took the Bio/Biochem Section Bank, oh wow did it beat me up. Time to study up and make sure I know my Biochem for test day.

Hell, even the Pysch/Soc section kicked my ass. And that's normally my best section

 

[Dr_Curry]

Has anyone done EK 3 and 4 and willing to share their score? I got 60% (2 weeks ago) and 67% (2 days ago) respectively.

 

[kamikama101]

Has any one been doing EK 101 VERBAL practice? I just want some advice. I am not sure what I am doing wrong because I keep getting 10s and 9s. Does anyone know how representative this score might be in relation to the actual MCAT?

 

[MrsSheperd]

Has any one been doing EK 101 VERBAL practice? I just want some advice. I am not sure what I am doing wrong because I keep getting 10s and 9s. Does anyone know how representative this score might be in relation to the actual MCAT?

Does it come with explanations for the answers? After doing quite a bit of TPR passages, I started to see a pattern that, for example I was scoring lower on topics that bore me (harder to focus) and a lot of times I got questions wrong although the answer was IN THE PASSAGE so I focused on reading every passage as if it was super interesting and paid more attention to the question stem.

Long story short: try to find the pattern somewhere in your wrong answers hope this helps!

 

[jahcat]

Has anyone done EK 3 and 4 and willing to share their score? I got 60% (2 weeks ago) and 67% (2 days ago) respectively.

I won't be doing them until next week but those seem like pretty good scores based on spreadsheets I've seen! 65%+ is solid

 

[neurodjent]

Has anyone done EK 3 and 4 and willing to share their score? I got 60% (2 weeks ago) and 67% (2 days ago) respectively.

I won't be doing them until next week but those seem like pretty good scores based on spreadsheets I've seen! 65%+ is solid

I haven't taken them but I agree with jahcat, these are great scores. Keep up the good work!

 

[MrsSheperd]

Can anyone suggest a good timing strategy for CARS? I'm thinking about trying to skim it for the "main point" and then answer specific questions by going back...thoughts?

 

[jahcat]

Can anyone suggest a good timing strategy for CARS? I'm thinking about trying to skim it for the "main point" and then answer specific questions by going back...thoughts?

I don't think you can skim and successfully get the main point, just my opinion! I think if you're working on timing, don't sacrifice reading time, but time answering questions. I found that when i spend thoughtful time reading the passage, trying to understand without having to reread, and staying focused, answering the questions goes by much more quickly.

It's hard to not move on to the next question without being 100% sure of our answer choice, so we tend to spend longer than needed to confirm our choice. However, if you've read the passage well enough, the "main idea" type answers are more likely to stick out. Each passage takes me between 4-5 minutes to read, and I take 3-4 minutes for questions. Try this with the CARS qpack!

 

[neurodjent]

Can anyone suggest a good timing strategy for CARS? I'm thinking about trying to skim it for the "main point" and then answer specific questions by going back...thoughts?

What I do that seems to help me the most is try to engage with the passage and find interest in what it's saying. When I get bored with some of the more monotonous passages, my answers suffer. With that being said, I read through the passage, not too fast, not too slow, and I try to remember where in the passage certain things were said. I don't highlight and I don't take notes, that only seemed to slow me down. Reading the passage takes me 3-4 minutes. Then I go to the questions and if I can't answer it off the top of my head, I identify what part of the passage that question is referring to, go back and reread that part real quick. That seems to work for me. I finish my CARS sections with about 10 minutes to go.

 

[MrsSheperd]

I don't think you can skim and successfully get the main point, just my opinion! I think if you're working on timing, don't sacrifice reading time, but time answering questions. I found that when i spend thoughtful time reading the passage, trying to understand without having to reread, and staying focused, answering the questions goes by much more quickly.

It's hard to not move on to the next question without being 100% sure of our answer choice, so we tend to spend longer than needed to confirm our choice. However, if you've read the passage well enough, the "main idea" type answers are more likely to stick out. Each passage takes me between 4-5 minutes to read, and I take 3-4 minutes for questions. Try this with the CARS qpack!

Thank you @jahcat ! That actually makes more sense.. Do you happen to know how well the TPR workbook (the one with 4 exams) represents the actual AAMC? Some of the passages seem a little lengthy, but maybe that's just my frustration lol

 

[MrsSheperd]

What I do that seems to help me the most is try to engage with the passage and find interest in what it's saying. When I get bored with some of the more monotonous passages, my answers suffer. With that being said, I read through the passage, not too fast, not too slow, and I try to remember where in the passage certain things were said. I don't highlight and I don't take notes, that only seemed to slow me down. Reading the passage takes me 3-4 minutes. Then I go to the questions and if I can't answer it off the top of my head, I identify what part of the passage that question is referring to, go back and reread that part real quick. That seems to work for me. I finish my CARS sections with about 10 minutes to go.

Thank you, @neurodjent That is what I'm aiming for! As far as highlighting goes, I try to limit it to names or years...depending on the type of passage. It just helps me to find certain key elements..

 

[jahcat]

Thank you @jahcat ! That actually makes more sense.. Do you happen to know how well the TPR workbook (the one with 4 exams) represents the actual AAMC? Some of the passages seem a little lengthy, but maybe that's just my frustration lol

I'm sorry I don't know :/ I've been doing the CARS qbank and I really like it, seems less ambiguous than other test companies. Just both the second bank today!

 

[neurodjent]

Thank you, @neurodjent That is what I'm aiming for! As far as highlighting goes, I try to limit it to names or years...depending on the type of passage. It just helps me to find certain key elements..

Definitely use whatever you have identified as working for you. There is no one size fits all when it comes to approaches to this test. I'm glad I could help, good luck!

 

[Dagrimsta1]

cars section bank 1 has messed me up really bad so far, not looking forward to this section on the exam. I feel like it really depends whether or not you like what your reading... Anything to do with literary philosophy is a blatant waste of time and I would castrate the writers of those passages.

 

[neurodjent]

I just finished the Chem/Phys section bank. Not as hard as the bio/biochem one which is funny because I am fully expecting C/P to be my worst section. With that being said, it was still really hard lol.

 

[neurodjent]

cars section bank 1 has messed me up really bad so far, not looking forward to this section on the exam. I feel like it really depends whether or not you like what your reading... Anything to do with literary philosophy is a blatant waste of time and I would castrate the writers of those passages.

Hahahaha I know exactly what you mean. I totally lose it when there are passages about ancient philosophy and ethics, linguistics, grammar, all that boring stuff. Give a good passage about history, science, anything that relates to modern day life and Im good to go.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I wish the mcat included cars passages pertaining to sports and pop culture...

 

[premedkid1994]

I wish the mcat included cars passages pertaining to sports and pop culture...

I'll get a 132 if that were true.

 

[MrsSheperd]

I'm sorry I don't know :/ I've been doing the CARS qbank and I really like it, seems less ambiguous than other test companies. Just both the second bank today!

How many are there?? Are these new ones or old AAMC passages (old MCAT)?

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I'll get a 132 if that were true.

Same, I'd blow off the other sections with a 126....still end up with a 510 lol

 

[jahcat]

How many are there?? Are these new ones or old AAMC passages (old MCAT)?

So there are 2 CARS Q banks on the AAMC website, volume 1 and 2. Both have an equal share of insane, moderate, and easy passages. They're from the old MCAT but I heard they're really similar to the real thing!

 

[MrsSheperd]

So there are 2 CARS Q banks on the AAMC website, volume 1 and 2. Both have an equal share of insane, moderate, and easy passages. They're from the old MCAT but I heard they're really similar to the real thing!

Oh that's great! It probably makes more sense to practice those then Thank you!!

 

[jahcat]

Does anyone know how many times you get to retake an EK full length?

 

[Dr_Curry]

Just finished CARS question pack 1. I've heard the first half it super hard but I ended up with 61% overall. CARS is my lowest and I'd be content with a 125 but pushing for 126. What do you guys think that translates to on the real MCAT?

 

[neurodjent]

What order should I do my practice exams in? My first FL is this week, and will likely be TPR course test 1 to get myself started. I have all 11 TPR FLs, all EK FLs, 3 Kaplan FLs and the two AAMC exams as well. I have time for about 8-10 FLs (2 of which will be AAMC, so 6-8 in reality).


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I can't speak to the TPR and EK FL's but I suggest saving the AAMC tests for last. I am spacing mine to be 2 weeks before and then 1 week before. I did the 3 Kaplan's and despite them being really hard I highly suggest doing them, they made me study so hard and it kept my ego in check by constantly destroying me lol. But Im sure no matter which ones you decide to take, if you make sure to go over them and understand what you got wrong and why, you'll be fine for the real deal.

 

[Dr_Curry]

I'm thinking of following this order:
- TPR Course Test #1-3
- AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT (half FL)
- EK FL #3-4
- AAMC Sample Test
- TPR Course Test 4
- AAMC Official FL #1
- TPR Course Test 5

I'm unsure what the consensus is regarding the four EK FLs relative to each other but I'm going to assume #3-4 are better than #1-2 since they are more recent (correct me if I'm wrong). Also, do you know which FLs are more representative between EK and NS? I'll be doing TPR over Kaplan only because I've heard they're difficulty is similar, and they're what I've used for prior attempts, so it'll be a good place for myself to start I think. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Looks like a solid sequence. I also chose to do EK 3-4. Haven't done EK 1-2 so I can't really answer that question but I have done NS 1-4. I'm a retaker and both felt pretty representative to be honest but its hard to answer which is more. The consensus on SDN has been that EK is the best but I can't agree. It almost depends on which test and which section honestly. For example, the C/P section of EK 3 was brutal. I thought I did really well but ended up getting like 56% correct. They had a lot of tricky questions that you would not see on the real MCAT. NS also had stuff like that in the C/P section except it was because of how calculation heavy some of the stuff was. As far as Skill 3 and 4 questions (experimental/data interpretation) both did a good job of giving you practice in that regard. Also EK doesn't have 1 question per screen like NS does and doesn't give you a "scaled" score like NS does, only percent correct. But there is a correlation graph of EK AVG % vs. Real MCAT if you choose to go with EK (60%+ is good). Sorry I couldn't give you a straight answer because they're both equal to me but I can say that they are both better than Kaplan.

 

[jahcat]

Looks like a solid sequence. I also chose to do EK 3-4. Haven't done EK 1-2 so I can't really answer that question but I have done NS 1-4. I'm a retaker and both felt pretty representative to be honest but its hard to answer which is more. The consensus on SDN has been that EK is the best but I can't agree. It almost depends on which test and which section honestly. For example, the C/P section of EK 3 was brutal. I thought I did really well but ended up getting like 56% correct. They had a lot of tricky questions that you would not see on the real MCAT. NS also had stuff like that in the C/P section except it was because of how calculation heavy some of the stuff was. As far as Skill 3 and 4 questions (experimental/data interpretation) both did a good job of giving you practice in that regard. Also EK doesn't have 1 question per screen like NS does and doesn't give you a "scaled" score like NS does, only percent correct. But there is a correlation graph of EK AVG % vs. Real MCAT if you choose to go with EK (60%+ is good). Sorry I couldn't give you a straight answer because they're both equal to me but I can say that they are both better than Kaplan.

Based on the spreadsheets I would think 60%+ on EK is good (508+)? And Ugh I'm taking EK 3 on Monday...not looking forward to the C/P section if that's the case haha but happy to hear it's good prep!

 

[Ad2b]

sick of psych/soc... geebuz; the questions in the SB seem completely "odd" - oddly worded questions with oddly worded rationale

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

Based on the spreadsheets I would think 60%+ on EK is good (508+)? And Ugh I'm taking EK 3 on Monday...not looking forward to the C/P section if that's the case haha but happy to hear it's good prep!

Forreal? 60%+ is around a 508 on the real thing? Would you happen to know if it's like this for Kaplan's FLs as well?

 

[jahcat]

Forreal? 60%+ is around a 508 on the real thing? Would you happen to know if it's like this for Kaplan's FLs as well?

I was speculating/asking more than actually stating because people who score at least 60% on EK tend to do fine on the real thing! In terms of Kaplan, I've heard that those are really deflated but can't really say exactly by how much.

 

[Dr_Curry]

Forreal? 60%+ is around a 508 on the real thing? Would you happen to know if it's like this for Kaplan's FLs as well?

Haha I wouldn't say 60% on EK is a 508. I personally don't think you can even correlate tbh, but I'd say if you average over 60%+ on EK then your probably looking at 505+

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

Haha I wouldn't say 60% on EK is a 508. I personally don't think you can even correlate tbh, but I'd say if you average over 60%+ on EK then your probably looking at 505+

I was speculating/asking more than actually stating because people who score at least 60% on EK tend to do fine on the real thing! In terms of Kaplan, I've heard that those are really deflated but can't really say exactly by how much.

Well damn, I was preparing to drop my books and take a week off lol

 

[jahcat]

Yea, it definitely knocked me down a few pegs and it made me realize I don't know my biochem very well. I reviewed it and saw that a lot of my mistakes were just lack of content knowledge in that area so that made me feel better because content knowledge is a deficiency I can fix, whereas it's harder to fix reading comprehension errors. I ended up with 51% but I am staying positive. Time to hit the biochem books hard.

How do you feel after reviewing the content from the section bank? I'm starting them tuesday, anxious I haven't started already but thats 2 weeks before test day so I think it'll be okay? I just really want them done before I do the unscored and scored tests.

 

[neurodjent]

How do you feel after reviewing the content from the section bank? I'm starting them tuesday, anxious I haven't started already but thats 2 weeks before test day so I think it'll be okay? I just really want them done before I do the unscored and scored tests.

I feel much better now after reviewing my deficiencies. After doing and reviewing the Chem/Phys and Bio/Biochem section banks I saw that there were parts of biochem that I still didn't understand and even never saw before through my prep books and online. I hit those topics hard and I have every intention on doing the SB's again to make sure that I have them down. I wanted to do every AAMC thing out there before the AAMC practice tests so that I know what content they're looking for. I've used the SB's and Qpacks as learning materials, not testing materials. Just make sure you really go over what you don't know and you'll be fine .

 

[betterfuture]

Taking it in August now. Couldn't handle the bad CARS scores

 

[jahcat]

It's my birthday today so I'm only spending 6 hours at the library instead of 9 hahahaha (dying inside)

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Hey guys, just finished NS 4 last night, got a 504... Been reviewing and I noticed that NS likes throwing in difficult vocab to throw you off lol. Makes process of elim. much harder. Out of the first 4, this one seemed the most similar to the real thing and mimicked the percentages of the real one I took, except i did better. Best advice, take NS 4 instead of any other FL in crunch time (not including AAMC obv.)

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

Hey guys, just finished NS 4 last night, got a 504... Been reviewing and I noticed that NS likes throwing in difficult vocab to throw you off lol. Makes process of elim. much harder. Out of the first 4, this one seemed the most similar to the real thing and mimicked the percentages of the real one I took, except i did better. Best advice, take NS 4 instead of any other FL in crunch time (not including AAMC obv.)

How much does the FL cost?

 

[neurodjent]

Hey guys, just finished NS 4 last night, got a 504... Been reviewing and I noticed that NS likes throwing in difficult vocab to throw you off lol. Makes process of elim. much harder. Out of the first 4, this one seemed the most similar to the real thing and mimicked the percentages of the real one I took, except i did better. Best advice, take NS 4 instead of any other FL in crunch time (not including AAMC obv.)

I just took NS 3 yesterday so I think I will take NS 4 either this upcoming week or next week. I'm happy to know that it's a good test. Thank you.

 

[neurodjent]

I've been fairly confident through this whole process but the closer I get to the test date, the more I find myself doubting my abilities. I am so nervous! Anything 504+ and I will be happy. I hope I can get that.

 

[Ad2b]

Just did the biochem section bank... looking for my ash somewhere up in the swamp; or maybe the gulf jet stream picked it up and dumped it in Georgia.

If you find it, could some please text me:

822-FIN-DASS ... (lame but I have to laugh because otherwise, I'll panic... drawing all these stupid graphs on a separate sheet, making notes on why the test makers put this into an exam for premeds... )

 

[779663]

I'm writing on the 20th of August.

I just finished reviewing all the material on the exam but I've done very few questions and no full lengths. I've basically been reading through all 7 Kaplan books and I've written ~200 pages of notes in total.

How should I use the remaining five weeks to be prepared for the exam? My goal is a 511.

I wrote the old MCAT in Aug 2013 and scored a 32. It was my only ever MCAT attempt but unfortunately that score is expired at some schools so I'm retaking.

What is the best use of my remaining 34 days to meet my goal of a 511?

 

[779663]

Just did the biochem section bank... looking for my ash somewhere up in the swamp; or maybe the gulf jet stream picked it up and dumped it in Georgia.

If you find it, could some please text me:

822-FIN-DASS ... (lame but I have to laugh because otherwise, I'll panic... drawing all these stupid graphs on a separate sheet, making notes on why the test makers put this into an exam for premeds... )

Where did you find this question bank? Is it free?

 

[Ad2b]

Where did you find this question bank? Is it free?

Not free. You get it from the AAMC by paying for it (Section Bank for Biochem/Psy/Soc) or if you pay for Kaplan's course (probably true for TPR as well).

 

[779663]

Not free. You get it from the AAMC by paying for it (Section Bank for Biochem/Psy/Soc) or if you pay for Kaplan's course (probably true for TPR as well).

Damn

 

[pre-med444]

I am feeling the pressure. I have my AACOMAS verified and AMCAS being verified tomorrow. I have submitted two secondaries. I am not doing secondaries until I take my MCAT august 20. I am starting my studying my real studying tomorrow. I am freaking out a little. I got an A in physics but I know nothing. This will be quite the feat if I pul this off. After I take the MCAT I will pre write secondary essays and immediately submit them when my scores are released in late September. Am I screwed or has anyone heard of someone pulling this off. I am going to take AAMC sample test tomorrow to learn what i don't know.

On this list to start with is amino acids and functional groups

 

[Dagrimsta1]

How much does the FL cost?

Bought all 10 for like 280

 

[Ad2b]

I am feeling the pressure. I have my AACOMAS verified and AMCAS being verified tomorrow. I have submitted two secondaries.

How did you get secondaries when the schools have not been yet notified you're applying there?

It's been my understanding school's don't know about "you" until a person is:

1) Verified by AMCAS
2) School has received the primary (which relies on #1)