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

Boost your MCAT score by 12 points or more.
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southpawcannon

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I had a dream last night that I got a 32, and my breakdown was a 15 in VR and BS, and a 2 in PS. And instead of questioning or laughing about the 2 in PS, I woke up FREAKING out like "well, at least there is NO way I got a 15 in VR."

If that doesn't sum up my post-test feelings, I don't know what does.
 
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I've found that going through all of the earlier MCAT threads and reading their score reports and comments is a great way to increase your anxiety levels...
 
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I'm No Superman said:
I've found that going through all of the earlier MCAT threads and reading their score reports and comments is a great way to increase your anxiety levels...
Click to expand...

The worst is when everyone says that a certain section was hard and then there ended up being little/no curve and everyone scores their lowest on that section.
 
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Are you guys going to read your scores yourselves? I'm thinking of getting my roommate to see them first and tell me if i did good or bad, then i look at the number.

The scores come out the day I go back to school so it will either make or break my semester
 
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I started school on Monday and have a pretty heavy courseload...Pharmacology, Neuroscience, and Immunology. Im finding that im much less worried about my score now than i was the week before school started.
 
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Wait, so are scores supposed to come out Sunday or Monday? I need to know so I can not sleep on the correct night.
 
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I wonder how come you guys have a dream about your MCAT scores; I have never had any dreams about it even though I always keep thinking of it after the test and this is the 3rd time retake LOL.

From my experience: the time AAMC releases scores is EST. So for the folks at East Coast it is around 5PM, but for those at West coast it is around 2PM. And this is true for my previous MCAT score release.
 
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Oh god...I just checked available MCAT dates in California in the possibility that I will retake and there are almost no dates left! Does anyone know if openings usually pop up here and there if you check often? I'm hoping some people preemptively signed up for a date later this year(something I should have done) and are awaiting score releases so hopefully they will cancel if they scored well enough.
 
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maxn said:
Oh god...I just checked available MCAT dates in California in the possibility that I will retake and there are almost no dates left! Does anyone know if openings usually pop up here and there if you check often? I'm hoping some people preemptively signed up for a date later this year(something I should have done) and are awaiting score releases so hopefully they will cancel if they scored well enough.
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Yeah, absolutely. Even though it's disconcerting to see there are none left at the moment, just give it time and check regularly! Especially immediately after each scheduled score release date, because many might cancel a registration after seeing their score. I'm almost sure you will find a seat eventually. Hopefully it won't be necessary though :)
 
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Hi everyone :)

A total late comer to the game, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

PS: Difficult but really based solely on time. I know I missed 2 (maybe 3) really easy questions but for the most part, looking back I felt like I at least knew how to do everything. But! Even though I never have such issues with time, before I knew it, I had 26 minutes left and something nuts like 3.5 passages left.

Was that how everyone else who thought PS was difficult felt? That it was easy question wise, but just not enough time to do all the calc heavy probs? Or did people feel more like it was the actual difficulty of the problems?

VR: Almost too easy! The passages were a breeze/actually interesting- the questions did seem to be a little more difficult. Here again, I had 5 minutes and 1 passage left- If I had been able to calm my nerves I would have been fine, but I freaked out and may have lost points on all last 5 of those questions :(

BS: So easy. Just really easy. I have a lot of research experience, so maybe that was why. But still. Also, I agree with those who thought there were tricks thrown in there. There totally were! But as long as you caught them, it was actually a really easy test.

GOOD LUCK to everyone! Only a few more days left!
 
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oh btw: if anyone feels comfortable messaging me the answer about the PS "why is this thing so good at its job" question ( you know the one! ) I would love you forever. I picked an answer that sounded right- but I picked it because there was something in the passage that made me guess it- totally answered it based on reading comprehension which we all know doesn't always pan out well with PS.

The reason I ask is because I can't remember if there were two options where one was the right answer, and the other was the reading comp answer I picked. Ya'll know how those 1 or 2 questions will freakin' bug the crap outta yah after a while :p
 
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The pit in my stomach grows deeper and deeper as the release date creeps closer and closer.

Really, this is too much of an emotional roller-coaster! I went from feeling terribly after the test, to feeling slightly confident, to feeling terrible again! Damn MCAT...
 
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sammiesings said:
oh btw: if anyone feels comfortable messaging me the answer about the PS "why is this thing so good at its job" question ( you know the one! ) I would love you forever. I picked an answer that sounded right- but I picked it because there was something in the passage that made me guess it- totally answered it based on reading comprehension which we all know doesn't always pan out well with PS.

The reason I ask is because I can't remember if there were two options where one was the right answer, and the other was the reading comp answer I picked. Ya'll know how those 1 or 2 questions will freakin' bug the crap outta yah after a while :p
Click to expand...

Use google, you'll get the solution quicker :p
Best not to discuss answers...
 
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For me, I definitely felt a time crunch in PS. Despite how many problems I practiced, I am just not great at calculation heavy gen chem questions. I thought that this test had an unusual amount of those types of problems and they were not all that simple. There were at least 2-3 questions that I just had no idea how to solve. However, if it wasn't the MCAT and I had like 5 minutes to work through each question at my own pace, then no I don't think they were all that difficult.

Anyways my AAMC scores for PS on practice tests ranged from 10-13 with most scores hovering around 11-12. Most of the practice test questions though were much more conceptual, which I think makes it much easier to eliminate answers and reason through questions. With calculations though, you can't really do that as easily. Just nervous that I had to straight out guess on 2-3 questions.
 
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I'm pretty sure I'm driving the struggle bus around town waiting for these eff'ing scores to be released.....*exhale*
 
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neworleans8 said:
For me, I definitely felt a time crunch in PS. Despite how many problems I practiced, I am just not great at calculation heavy gen chem questions. I thought that this test had an unusual amount of those types of problems and they were not all that simple. There were at least 2-3 questions that I just had no idea how to solve. However, if it wasn't the MCAT and I had like 5 minutes to work through each question at my own pace, then no I don't think they were all that difficult.

Anyways my AAMC scores for PS on practice tests ranged from 10-13 with most scores hovering around 11-12. Most of the practice test questions though were much more conceptual, which I think makes it much easier to eliminate answers and reason through questions. With calculations though, you can't really do that as easily. Just nervous that I had to straight out guess on 2-3 questions.
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That was exactly how I felt even for some questions I knew how to do!! Just way too much time per question I felt, anyway. Surprised really that they lumped all those calculation heavy problems into one test. I can't remember, but there were probably a few PS questions I just flat out didn't understand- PTSD associated amnesia or something lol.
 
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me after scores have been released

we-survived-but-we-are-dead_950.gif
 
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I just hope my score is better than the 12/10/10 I got last year, or else, it was just a waste of a summer.

Just curious: If I had a 3.91 GPA with a 32 MCAT w/ above average ECs (tons of clinical experience, plenty of volunteering/leadership experiences, few merit-based awards + lots of academic ones, and research experience), would I have a good chance in US?

Because, in Canada, I'm below average in most schools stats wise. :(
 
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Crosbyfan87 said:
I just hope my score is better than the 12/10/10 I got last year, or else, it was just a waste of a summer.

Just curious: If I had a 3.91 GPA with a 32 MCAT w/ above average ECs (tons of clinical experience, plenty of volunteering/leadership experiences, few merit-based awards + lots of academic ones, and research experience), would I have a good chance in US?

Because, in Canada, I'm below average in most schools stats wise. :(
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.... a 3.9 GPA is considered below average?? what's the average, a 4.0...?
 
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Crosbyfan87 said:
I just hope my score is better than the 12/10/10 I got last year, or else, it was just a waste of a summer.

Just curious: If I had a 3.91 GPA with a 32 MCAT w/ above average ECs (tons of clinical experience, plenty of volunteering/leadership experiences, few merit-based awards + lots of academic ones, and research experience), would I have a good chance in US?

Because, in Canada, I'm below average in most schools stats wise. :(
Click to expand...

I'm an Ontario student applying this year. Where exactly did you hear that 3.91 cGPA is considered below average for applying? If you are applying to U of T with a 3.9 your chances are good as long as you have good references, EC's, and essays at getting an interview, and you just have to keep trying really. Ottawa is fully an option if your 3-year GPA >3.85, but with Ottawa you may be below average. As for Queens, you meet their cut offs, and as long as you show diverse EC's on your Autobiographical sketch, you have a chance. The only thing stopping you from western and mac is your Verbal score really, if you raise that to an 11 for MAC you are above the cut off in GPA terms and have to do well on the CASPER and guaranteed an Interview. If you meet Western cut offs almost guaranteed an interview (you can check their website for admission criteria). I can't speak to other schools in Canada (as they are super competitive) but with that GPA and MCAT you REALLY shouldn't think of yourself below average. Tons of clincal experience, awards, volunteering, scholarships and research? No - you are a very good candidate, you just have to apply and improve your CV and if your MCAT improves you'll be in, in no time.

As for others, in Canada the GPA requirements for entry are generally ridiculous and hover 3.8 and above and anything below a 30 for most school disqualifies you with an 11 in Verbal being crucial to success in many school. We do not have DO school, so anything below a 30 balanced-ish MCAT disqualifies you almost immediately from schools that require the MCAT, and the ones that do not either require a GPA around 3.95, or require you to have lived in rural community most of your life.
 
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Canada also doesn't have tiered med schools.

Like, you can't use less than subpar stats to get into say a lower or middle tiered med school. They all hover around the same level of admission requirements. Mac has an average VR accepted of 11 (lower than a 10 severely hinders you); Queens will discard your application if you have even one 9 or below (even if its 15/9/15); Western will disqualify you for less than a 9/11/12 on the MCAT; (even if its 15/15/11); The schools that don't have rigorous MCAT requirements have high GPA requirements: UoFT and Ottawa have an average GPA of around 3.92 ish.
 
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Crosbyfan87 said:
Just curious: If I had a 3.91 GPA with a 32 MCAT w/ above average ECs (tons of clinical experience, plenty of volunteering/leadership experiences, few merit-based awards + lots of academic ones, and research experience), would I have a good chance in US?
Click to expand...

zzzetrigan said:
As for others, in Canada the GPA requirements for entry are generally ridiculous and hover 3.8 and above and anything below a 30 for most school disqualifies you with an 11 in Verbal being crucial to success in many school. We do not have DO school, so anything below a 30 balanced-ish MCAT disqualifies you almost immediately from schools that require the MCAT, and the ones that do not either require a GPA around 3.95, or require you to have lived in rural community most of your life.
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Oh wow, I was clearly not familiar with how rigorous admission was for Canadian schools. I apologize. I can tell you that with those stats, you would have no problems getting admission to at least mid-tier schools in the United States.
 
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The first time I waited for my scores to come out, I was super nervous all day and had a stomachache.

Since this July test, I've gone through the 8 stages of grief at least 10 times and have come to accept the fact that if I get into an MD school in the bottom 10, I can still climb out of the hole and place into a good residency if I do well on Step 1.

I guess this time around waiting for scores...I feel nothing. .___. I am dead inside, guys.
 
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Pericynthion said:
The first time I waited for my scores to come out, I was super nervous all day and had a stomachache.

Since this July test, I've gone through the 8 stages of grief at least 10 times and have come to accept the fact that if I get into an MD school in the bottom 10, I can still climb out of the hole and place into a good residency if I do well on Step 1.

I guess this time around waiting for scores...I feel nothing. .___. I am dead inside, guys.
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All we need is one! That's how I'm trying to look at it and stay hopeful.
 
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Also, do we get an email notifying us that scores are released or do we just have to keep checking ourselves?
 
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EndoAdduct said:
I've never heard of them releasing scores a day early. Has this ever happened? Does anyone know?
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EndoAdduct said:
Also, do we get an email notifying us that scores are released or do we just have to keep checking ourselves?
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I don't think scores have ever been released early! We also don't get a notification email. The best way to check is the AAMC twitter account in my opinion. It's @AAMC_MCAT. They tweet as soon as scores have been released, and that way you can save yourself the stress of constantly having to check. Usually they are released between 3 PM and 5 PM.
 
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dopa-mean said:
I don't think scores have ever been released early! We also don't get a notification email. The best way to check is the AAMC twitter account in my opinion. It's @AAMC_MCAT. They tweet as soon as scores have been released, and that way you can save yourself the stress of constantly having to check. Usually they are released between 3 PM and 5 PM.
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Thanks! The no email thing will be hard. I need time to mentally prepare myself before checking my scores. I'll probably end up going on twitter or here first before logging on.
 
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I couldve sworn you could go over a 4.0 in Canada thats why 4.0 is considered good. Ive met some people from Dalhousie saying they have 4.6 gpas n stuff
 
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jordansnfootbal said:
I couldve sworn you could go over a 4.0 in Canada thats why 4.0 is considered good. Ive met some people from Dalhousie saying they have 4.6 gpas n stuff
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You're right. I'm from Canada but I went to university in the US. Most of my friends back home are also applying for medical school. They have a slight advantage in that their GPAs get bumped up when converted in their AMCAS applications. On the other hand, US applicants who apply to Canadian medical schools have a disadvantage because their GPAs get bumped down.

I was originally going to apply to Canadian med schools but now I realized it's not even worth it. They're also very picky about out-of-province students.
 
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