Official July 24, 2014 MCAT Thread(because just once wasn't fun enough!)

[southpawcannon]

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[Raincouver]

Woo! Why is no one here? Is there another thread somewhere we don't know about?

 

[user12]

ill be taking it.

 

[dohyh88]

i'm with you guys.
I am retaking it with 32(10,10,12) on my May,8th 2014 MCAT.
From my first experience, and given that i remember adequate amt from last review on contents, I realized there's no point in doing content review. So i 'm focusing on doing passage problems and full length tests to hone my test taking skills
good luck everyone!

 

[Raincouver]

i'm with you guys.
I am retaking it with 31(10,9,12) on my May,8th 2014 MCAT.
From my first experience, and given that i remember adequate amt from last review on contents, I realized there's no point in doing content review. So i 'm focusing on doing passage problems and full length tests to hone my test taking skills
good luck everyone!

Nice! Well good luck...it sucks this group isn't very chatty...good luck to us all! I wrote the one last month...still don't have our results yet...but given that I ran out of time on pretty much every section I'm going to write this one anyway

 

[autobioo]

.

 

[Raincouver]

Hey guys, I am also writing my MCAT on this date.

How many FLs have you guys done so far? So far I've taken 3, 5R, 6R, and 8R. Going to buy 4, 7, 9, 10, and 11 to do for the next 2 weeks.

What do you mean by "R" ?

 

[autobioo]

They're the old, longer versions of the AAMC exams.

 

[Raincouver]

They're the old, longer versions of the AAMC exams.

Right. I didn't know. These are the ones we bought off of the AAMC website right?

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[maxn]

Writing it for the first time on this date. Good luck to everyone!

 

[dohyh88]

Hi, I'll be taking this.

I took 4 practice tests. Note: I'm an ESL speaker.
AAMC 3 - 26 - 11/6/9
AAMC 4 - 29 - 11/6/14
AAMC 5 - 31 - 12/8/9
AAMC 7 - 31 - 10/8/13

I always run out of time during verbal section. Please give me an advice how to improve.

I understand your pain with verbal, as i'm ESL as well. I scored 7~9 on AAMC tests but somehow i pulled 10 on my actual exam(i'm retaking). The only different thing i did before going into the real exam was i told myself that i would just guess on one difficult passage and try to do well on the other 6passages. Because i always ran out of time on my practice tests, I just admitted that i won't miraculously finish it on real exam. This relieved a lot of pressure and, as a result, i think i zoned in better. I ended up not guessing on any of the passage but except like the last 2 problems.
My point is, you don't have much time to try different things for verbal at this time. So don't pressure yourself to finish every passages in time but try to answer what you can as accurately as possible even if that means you have to guess on entire one passage. At least it worked for me. Good luck!

 

[Terps1011]

Hey, just now seeing this thread! I am retaking as well. Took it in april, got 9/8/10 for a grand total of 27....

Using the GS practice tests this time around since I already did all the AAMC. I think they are helping more?

My practice tests are still only in the 30-31 range, but hey thats way better than 27....

 

[dohyh88]

Hey, just now seeing this thread! I am retaking as well. Took it in april, got 9/8/10 for a grand total of 27....

Using the GS practice tests this time around since I already did all the AAMC. I think they are helping more?

My practice tests are still only in the 30-31 range, but hey thats way better than 27....

I'm doing the same. Using GS for practice materials. I finished PS and verbal for GS have two more bio to go. I'm getting 10-12 in each section never broke 13 yet. I'm also retaking AAMCs i just can't find better materials than these. I am noticing i miss those questions that i previously got right. I think i need to do better post-test analysis.

 

[dohyh88]

.

 

[ChandniP]

Where can you find the R versions? I have looked around but can't seem to get my hands on them

 

[Raincouver]

What is everyone planning on doing this week? I'm also gonna retake the the AAMCs. The only one that's new for me is number 11...so I'm leaving the "best" for last

 

[grey_wind]

Hey, just now seeing this thread! I am retaking as well. Took it in april, got 9/8/10 for a grand total of 27....

Using the GS practice tests this time around since I already did all the AAMC. I think they are helping more?

My practice tests are still only in the 30-31 range, but hey thats way better than 27....

I used up all the AAMC tests and voided the July 12th exam, so I'm deciding between this date and Aug. 7th

I was planning on buying some GS because I'm totally lost on what else to do......any suggestions?

 

[Terps1011]

I used up all the AAMC tests and voided the July 12th exam, so I'm deciding between this date and Aug. 7th

I was planning on buying some GS because I'm totally lost on what else to do......any suggestions?

Well I mean I can only say what I think is most helpful for me..... I am doing practice tests and practice problems. That's it. It really seems to be helping a lot.

As for GS, my personal take on it is that the PS is harder.... which is great for me because that is one of my weaker sections. The VS is about the same maybe slightly easier. And the BS is about the same.

I have HEARD the GS overall is harder than AAMC, so it MAY be a better route to use for studying. I took 6,7,8 already. I am about to take 9 today, then I will finish up with 10 on friday.

I am praying that I do better than a 27 this time around!!

 

[Raincouver]

Wha

Well I mean I can only say what I think is most helpful for me..... I am doing practice tests and practice problems. That's it. It really seems to be helping a lot.

As for GS, my personal take on it is that the PS is harder.... which is great for me because that is one of my weaker sections. The VS is about the same maybe slightly easier. And the BS is about the same.

I have HEARD the GS overall is harder than AAMC, so it MAY be a better route to use for studying. I took 6,7,8 already. I am about to take 9 today, then I will finish up with 10 on friday.

I am praying that I do better than a 27 this time around!!

What do you think about Kaplan FL 1 to 6?

 

[Terps1011]

Wha



What do you think about Kaplan FL 1 to 6?

Never tried them, maybe someone else can comment?

 

[user12]

Wha



What do you think about Kaplan FL 1 to 6?

here's the deal with Kaplan and gold standard. as much as I don't like Kaplan and their whole "passage map" crap (which is stupid by the way, I recommend you don't use it), Id have to say their practice tests are better than GS. they're harder, but there's a curve. I have a ton of problems with GS. first of all, their verbal SUCKS. it is absolutely NOTHING like the real thing. almost every single question is straight reading comprehension- as in the answer is both word for word in the answer choices and the passage. total waste of time. the mcat is testing thinking, not whether you can search and find a sentence that is verbatim in the answer choice. Kaplan might not be ALL that much better, but at least they try. they hit all the question types- like incorporating new information, strengthen/weaken, main idea, author's opinion. all that stuff is good. this might just be my impression, but GS just seems kinda lazy. they reuse exact same questions from test to test in PS except change a couple numbers around. and I caught at least one question that had an answer that was just plain wrong, and people called them out on it. they're passages and questions are chalk full of spelling errors. I saw at least one orgo passage that was reused in different tests. and their explanations are far from thorough. Kaplan's explanations are extremely detailed, which is great. they're passages are also more creative. they don't reuse questions or passages. they do a good job. so does Princeton.

in short, yeah, Kaplan full lengths are good. not as good as aamc obviously, but better than GS in my opinion. id give them a shot.

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[dohyh88]

I want to cry right now...I just took AAMC 10. Scored 14 on physic, 15 on bio....but a 4 on verbal? Are you sh**ttting me????????

Omg, why can't I sarcrifce some of my bio/physic to pump up my verbal so it doesn't look so horrendous

wow how do you do so well on those science sections ? any tips?

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[user12]

I did all the AAMC self packets and find out which topics I'm bad at and I spend more time studying them.

During the PS & BS, I first did all the questions I knew first. The ones I couldn't answer, I left them blank or clicked marked. I normally leave myself with at least 30 minutes on the passages I had trouble with. & If I bomb that passage, I'll study the topic on it. Tbh, AAMC 10 science test on topics that I am great at. That's probably why I scored so high.

in regards to aamc 10, the passage on the tortoise was kinda stupid. that was the killer of the section in my opinion. i think every section has one passage that tries to kill you. for the PS it was the last passage on the particle accelerators.

 

[user12]

and for the record, even with a 4 in verbal that's still an impressive 33.

 

[Raincouver]

in regards to aamc 10, the passage on the tortoise was kinda stupid. that was the killer of the section in my opinion. i think every section has one passage that tries to kill you. for the PS it was the last passage on the particle accelerators.

 

[Raincouver]

I want to cry right now...I just took AAMC 10. Scored 14 on physic, 15 on bio....but a 4 on verbal? Are you sh**ttting me????????

Omg, why can't I sarcrifce some of my bio/physic to pump up my verbal so it doesn't look so horrendous

I'll trade you scores ANY day. Just did AAMC 10 ....6 on physics, 10 verbal, 8 on bio. I'll be in the corner of my room crying if anyone needs me. Note: ran out of time and had to guess on bio and physics. My problem continues to be timing...any tips guys?

 

[ChandniP]

Do you guys think that the tests are getting harder from 3 to 11? I'm only on 7 right now and doing one a day.
These were my scores
AAMC # 3 - 29
AAMC # 4 - 35
AAMC # 5 - 34

I'm getting very nervous because I studied material and started the tests later than I should have..

 

[user12]

I'll trade you scores ANY day. Just did AAMC 10 ....6 on physics, 10 verbal, 8 on bio. I'll be in the corner of my room crying if anyone needs me. Note: ran out of time and had to guess on bio and physics. My problem continues to be timing...any tips guys?

i wouldnt be so willing to trade scores. you should consider yourself gifted to be able to get a 10 in verbal- especially consistently. and you're even more lucky if physical is your worst section because it is the easiest to improve on. not that im an authority on the mcat... but it's less likely that you can get really screwed up by a passage in PS if you know the stuff really well than BS. like, for example, if you know PS really really well, you can MOST of the time get at least a few questions right without even reading the passage- that almost never happens with bio. so that would be my advice on timing for PS- don't read the passages too hard unless you absolutely NEED to know the information for a question, which happens much more in bio.

 

[Raincouver]

i wouldnt be so willing to trade scores. you should consider yourself gifted to be able to get a 10 in verbal- especially consistently. and you're even more lucky if physical is your worst section because it is the easiest to improve on. not that im an authority on the mcat... but it's less likely that you can get really screwed up by a passage in PS if you know the stuff really well than BS. like, for example, if you know PS really really well, you can MOST of the time get at least a few questions right without even reading the passage- that almost never happens with bio. so that would be my advice on timing for PS- don't read the passages too hard unless you absolutely NEED to know the information for a question, which happens much more in bio.

Thanks! I needed that. I've been going at it all day using EK 1001. I'm just gonna keep doing physics questions and chem calculations to get my speed up. As you said physics is something I can improve my speed on in a week (I hope). Good luck everyone!!

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[user12]

In PS, what I do is I always skim for any number first and highlight them then read the questions. Most of the time, the questions don't even need you to understand the whole passage to solve any math problem. I tend to leave the verbal type questions in the end so I can read and spend more time on the passage and try to figure out what's going on. In BS, I jump into the questions first before I read any passage so I get the idea what to look for, especially with graph & tables.


I just redid the verbal part and got a 9...I did way better when I'm not under pressure
I hate the last one...it's about classical view, protocol, grandma...lol
And using spy satellites to save tortoise is pretty dumb.
I prefer the religion is myth passage. It's much more enjoyable to read and the questions weren't too bad.

I thought the last one wasn't bad. I think a good strategy is doing the last passage first for verbal... I think they actually make it easiest because they know people are running out of time.

 

[Terps1011]

5 days to go.....!?!?!

 

[dohyh88]

Yepp the time is coming!!
I have taken most of my aamcs and took all gs practice tests. Although my subscores fluctuate alot, im just hoping i will have my best luck on the test day so i can pull off best scores in each sections.
I figured from what i miss on aamc that my problem is not content but carelessness and thinking too deeply on easy questions. I 'm going to review my aamcs crazy for this last five days so i can minimize those mistakes.

Taking this test once already, i came to realize that luck is an undeniably important factor for this exam.
So everyone good luck!

 

[Terps1011]

Yah its been crazy... this is my second time too, last took it in april. My average score is much higher on practice tests this time, but i range anywhere from 27-34... hmph

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[SaintedHover]

I took AAMC 11 yesterday. I thought Bio was tough. Got a 29 (11 PS, 10 V, 8 BS).

 

[dohyh88]

How did you guys do on AAMC 11? I thought the Physical passages were much more challenging than any other test. The bio section was mean too. I spent no less than 25 minutes on Ebola and Melanosome passages.

Nway I can handle it if our MCAT is somewhat like AAMC11.

I agree that aamc11 felt harder compare to other exams, especially biological. But they also had relatively forgiving curve i think. I scored 11,9,10 which is little bit below my other aamcs average.

If i compare aamc11 to my May exam, I felt that my May exam had a way more difficult physical science section but easier verbal and biological questions.

 

[user12]

How did you guys do on AAMC 11? I thought the Physical passages were much more challenging than any other test. The bio section was mean too. I spent no less than 25 minutes on Ebola and Melanosome passages.

Nway I can handle it if our MCAT is somewhat like AAMC11.

just took aamc 11 today. NOW, admittedly, I took it before like 3 years ago... so the stuff was familiar, but anything I got right was because I truly knew the stuff, not because I remembered the answers. honestly, it wasn't THAT bad... neither PS nor BS. BS was definitely harder. But for physical... honestly nothing insane. the centrifuge passage was MAYBE the hardest one, like that question with the angle, got that crap wrong. I totally agree about the ebola and melanosome passages, those took time.... and unfortunately there probably WILL be something like that on the real thing. i bought the aamc book where they give sample passages that are indicative of what the test is like today. there was an experimental bio passage similar to aamc 11's. but then there are passages like passage VII that take 3 minutes to plow through... so it sorta balances out. be prepared for a lot of molecular bio.

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[user12]

I also have the AAMC book, which experimental passage are you talking about?

the hepatocyte proliferation one (passage II) was kinda rough. and the tumor one was also a little tricky.

 

[Eklipz]

Here is how I have been doing:

AAMC 4R- 9/8/9
AAMC 5R- 10/9/11
AAMC 6R- 11/11/10
AAMC 3CBT- 13/10/10
AAMC 8 CBT- 10/10/11
AAMC 9R- 10/10/10

In my experience the passage is what makes or breaks it for me. Some passages are so easy to me i finish them really fast and get them right. other passages I just find boring or in a subject im not the strongest in and i find myself making stupid little mistakes that I should have got right if i just thought about it a little more.

I have still to take AAMC 10 and 11 CBT. My worry is that I have been improving for the first half of my practice tests but I have been going down on my last few. I'm also worried that the AAMC practice tests are not representative of the current mcat.

Thoughts?

 

[Terps1011]

How did you guys do on AAMC 11? I thought the Physical passages were much more challenging than any other test. The bio section was mean too. I spent no less than 25 minutes on Ebola and Melanosome passages.

Nway I can handle it if our MCAT is somewhat like AAMC11.

In my opinion AAMC 11 was easier than the real thing. I started using GS and I thought their PS section was MUCH more comparable to the real one. However, some were a little brutal and involved too much calculation, but reviewing them REALLY helped me understand the concepts better.

Just to add on here were my test scores:

Before my april MCAT....
aamc tests in order of date taken PS VS BS Composite Date taken
aamc 3 9 9 11 29 22-Mar
aamc 9 11 8 11 30 29-Mar
aamc 10 9 8 10 27 11-Apr
aamc 8 10 7 11 28 13-Apr
aamc 7 11 11 11 33 18-Apr
aamc 11 10 10 11 31 21-Apr

My actual April MCAT score: 9/8/10.... 27

Studied for one more month before my July MCAT, now using GS (it was cheaper)
GS tests in order of date taken PS VS BS Composite Date taken
GS6 9 11 11 31 8-Jul
GS7 8 10 11 29 10-Jul
GS8 9 9 12 30 12-Jul
GS9 7 9 10 26 14-Jul
GS10 11 11 11 33 17-Jul
GS5 12 10 12 34 19-Jul.... subbed in princeton verbal this time in stead

 

[Eklipz]

The scaling for AAMC CBT 10 must be tough because I only got 10 questions wrong for each section and i ended up getting 10/9/10...

 

[user12]

Here is how I have been doing:

AAMC 4R- 9/8/9
AAMC 5R- 10/9/11
AAMC 6R- 11/11/10
AAMC 3CBT- 13/10/10
AAMC 8 CBT- 10/10/11
AAMC 9R- 10/10/10

In my experience the passage is what makes or breaks it for me. Some passages are so easy to me i finish them really fast and get them right. other passages I just find boring or in a subject im not the strongest in and i find myself making stupid little mistakes that I should have got right if i just thought about it a little more.

I have still to take AAMC 10 and 11 CBT. My worry is that I have been improving for the first half of my practice tests but I have been going down on my last few. I'm also worried that the AAMC practice tests are not representative of the current mcat.

Thoughts?

a decent amount of it is going to come down to luck on the real thing. like, if the passages are stuff you know really well or if the discretes aren't super ridiculous. im actually MOST worried about the discretes. especially in bio... fearing they'll throw some random questions on there or orgo will put some crazy structure. when I took it 3 years ago I remember there were at least 2 bio/orgo discretes I had legit no idea about. really knocks the wind out of your sails if you do them first.

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

How did you guys do on AAMC 11? I thought the Physical passages were much more challenging than any other test. The bio section was mean too. I spent no less than 25 minutes on Ebola and Melanosome passages.

Nway I can handle it if our MCAT is somewhat like AAMC11.

You should mentally prepare to expect your MCAT to be like AAMC 11. My July 12th exam was way harder than AAMC 11, especially the BS section.

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

Oh I already did them. They weren't too bad. I don't like the verbal type for bio. They make me gag.

Thanks for the warning. Now, instead of relaxing before the test, I should go panic instead

No you should go prepared and with confidence.