September 2015 MCAT Thread

[DAF16]

Registration for the September MCAT opens up soon, so I thought I would make the thread.
Who else will be taking the test in September?

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[orgogogo]

How do you convert the percentage correct from the AAMC FL to an actual score? Sorry, I'm sure this is posted elsewhere but I can't seem to find it. I keep only finding things that convert between old/new MCAT.

Edit: I think I figured it out, by converting my % correct per section to the old section score (out of 15), then converting that to new section score (out of 132) - does this sound right?

 

[orgogogo]

@Dreamstoo - see white text below

None of the nitrogens are chiral centers - theoretically nitrogens are "chiral" if they have 3 different things attached + lone pair, but the lone pair racemizes it, so it's not actually chiral. There are five chiral centers (basically all of the carbons that have a wedge or dash).

 

[PooshBag]

Safe to say that cars pack 2 is much easier than cars pack 1. I got 82% right for cars 2 versus 68% for cars 1.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Safe to say that cars pack 2 is much easier than cars pack 1. I got 82% right for cars 2 versus 68% for cars 1.

Currently finding it REALLY hard to get the motivation to finish CARS 1

 

[PooshBag]

Currently finding it REALLY hard to get the motivation to finish CARS 1

It was a handful for me. I hated the passages in cars 1. You're not alone in it. After the first half, I did not have any energy to tackle the second half.

 

[orgogogo]

What did you guys think of CARS on the FL? CARS is consistent my worst section (using TPR FLs) and somehow I scored very high on the AAMC FL. I'm about to do the CARS qpacks so I guess I'll see how that goes (though my hopes aren't too high for #1!)

 

[Aretehopeful]

Just finished up the qpacks - 95% bio, 92.5% physics, 93% chem... really hoping this translates to the real thing on saturday

 

[Gibbward]

Just finished the AAMC FL! 85%/89%/86%/85% split and a total of 86%! That is absolutely a confidence boost, though generally, I thought the questions were so much easier and more straightforward than the other FLs I've taken.

This was definitely the easiest C/P I've encountered. Lots of Orgo and biochem, and a bit of gen chem which played to my strengths. Not surprisingly, a handful of my mistakes were from physics

The CARS difficulty I thought was pretty comparable with Qpack 1b, and the first few passages of Qpack 2 (I haven't finished it all yet). I also just blazed through that section for the first time ever. I had ~20 minutes to finish the last passage, when I usually go down to the wire, so that felt pretty good.

I thought I struggled to get through B/BC. I had lots of concepts that I wasn't completely sure on, but I guess I got lucky in a bunch of my 50/50 questions.

P/S was business as usual. There were a few topics that I wasn't completely sure of, but most were covered in the TPR book, Khan, or was something I encountered in my previous FLs.

Overall very happy with the results, and I'll be pretty happy with the real MCAT if it's pretty similar to this FL!

 

[dahmsom]

im scoring really bad with CARS. im using Next step critical analysis and reasoning skills and i find it difficult. should i just use the AAMC question packs?

 

[torontopharm]

499 on Kaplan FL 3.
124/125/125/125.
Screw...you..physical sciences

 

[TheAnonymous]

Hey guys,

I haven't looked at the AAMC Outline as of yet... was hoping to spend the last day going through the list.. do you think that's enough time/a good idea?? I don't think I got time before that.. currently trying to rush through my notes feeling like I forgot most of the biochem I studied

 

[itsmemario]

im scoring really bad with CARS. im using Next step critical analysis and reasoning skills and i find it difficult. should i just use the AAMC question packs?

AAMC materials are always the best to use. Most people also recommend using solely AAMC during last week of prep.

 

[itsmemario]

Hey guys,

I haven't looked at the AAMC Outline as of yet... was hoping to spend the last day going through the list.. do you think that's enough time/a good idea?? I don't think I got time before that.. currently trying to rush through my notes feeling like I forgot most of the biochem I studied

I went through the outline today and I think you shouldn't leave it for the last day incase certain topics come up that you don't know.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I went through the outline today and I think you shouldn't leave it for the last day incase certain topics come up that you don't know.

Thanks man. Were you able to go through the entire list today? And did you see many new topics? Thanks for the heads up!

 

[itsmemario]

Thanks man. Were you able to go through the entire list today? And did you see many new topics? Thanks for the heads up!

no problem! I was able to go through it all today. Just saw a few things I didn't remember (i.e. boltzmann constant).

 

[TheAnonymous]

no problem! I was able to go through it all today. Just saw a few things I didn't remember (i.e. boltzmann constant).

Thanks (and I have no idea what that is haha)

 

[PooshBag]

Halfway through the OG questions, and i must say, i am getting my ass kicked. This is so difficult. Good lord.

 

[FutureD.O]

Halfway through the OG questions, and i must say, i am getting my ass kicked. This is so difficult. Good lord.

I was thinking about doing mine tomorrow. Are you going to thoroughly review it after? (Review topics you were weak in according to the OG, etc. )

 

[PooshBag]

I was thinking about doing mine tomorrow. Are you going to thoroughly review it after? (Review topics you were weak in according to the OG, etc. )

Tbh... there isn't much content involved in it. The passages are simply so obscure and difficult. But yes I shall once i finish it.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Ahhhhhh my plan was to do NS 5 tomorrow but I feel like I forgot alll my biochem, metabolism stuff and need to review notesss

 

[FutureD.O]

Ahhhhhh my plan was to do NS 5 tomorrow but I feel like I forgot alll my biochem, metabolism stuff and need to review notesss

Haha I feel the same way. A few hours of thorough review should suffice! Don't sweat it.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Haha I feel the same way. A few hours of thorough review should suffice! Don't sweat it.

Man I neglected a lot of things and left them to review at the end and now I'm in ****hole lol... I need at least 1 full day of biochem review, 1 full day of psyc/soc review, and 1 full day to review AAMC outline and perhaps another day to memorize all the small stuff...

Should I take NS5 tomorrow any ways and cram the other stuff?

 

[FutureD.O]

I would probably do review instead, but that really depends on how many full lengths you've done. You have to remember, (at least for me) review of full lengths takes a long time! If you left out a lot of important review points just nail those down!

 

[FutureD.O]

Also, I've read ns 5 is similar to the aamc. So if you've done the aamc I would definitely lean towards review..

 

[TheAnonymous]

I would probably do review instead, but that really depends on how many full lengths you've done. You have to remember, (at least for me) review of full lengths takes a long time! If you left out a lot of important review points just nail those down!

Also, I've read ns 5 is similar to the aamc. So if you've done the aamc I would definitely lean towards review..

Thanks man! I guess thats what I'm going to do.

 

[FutureD.O]

Thanks man! I guess thats what I'm going to do.

No prob man! Good luck.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Hey are you guys memorizing/studying all those reactions in TCA + ETC? Like all the names and everything? I have glycolysis down but the other 2 seem way harder to nail down.

 

[Biswas]

Oh my Lord this is the week.. It's finally here. Anyone else taking the exam in College Station?

 

[El-Rami]

Scored 87% overall on FL (83/98/88/80). Hooray?

 

[Dolly96]

Scored 87% overall on FL (83/98/88/80). Hooray?

Amazing! Good job!

 

[TheAnonymous]

Scored 87% overall on FL (83/98/88/80). Hooray?

Jeesssus.... 98% on CARS? What are you? Sorry, who are you? Brah share some love (tip/strategy) for CARS

 

[Ad2b]

Sorry to hear Ad2b Relieved it's not your dad, but losing any loved one is so difficult. Just went through this myself--lost my closest friend last week-- 48 hours before my first exam in med school. Hugs and best wishes for coming back even stronger.

Thanks, Itsa <3 Combo of Dad, family, other personal stuff not for public posting hit me at same time. This was best decision. You keep going!! Keep that mojo from your White Coat. YOU are going to be a phenomenal doc! <3

 

[Dolly96]

Barely finished physics qpack with a 68%. FML. Had a >77% until optics and waves came along and I got a little tired towards the end. Please no optics on 9/12!!

 

[itsmemario]

Hey are you guys memorizing/studying all those reactions in TCA + ETC? Like all the names and everything? I have glycolysis down but the other 2 seem way harder to nail down.

I have a feeling this is going to be emphasized a lot on the test. Based on other comments, test is quite biochem heavy and these pathways seem really high yield.

 

[El-Rami]

Jeesssus.... 98% on CARS? What are you? Sorry, who are you? Brah share some love (tip/strategy) for CARS

Pretty sure the difference between this score on CARS and May had to do with me being weak on support/analogy questions. I had a few of them on OG that I missed, and I reviewed that stuff last night. I didn't realize that when they asked that question, it meant "Which statement in the passage was mentioned and barely elaborated on" rather than "Which statement in the passage has strong research to back it up."

Honestly, I thought C/P was whooping my ass... Also, what was your question from last night about the FL?

 

[TheAnonymous]

I would say understanding them and knowing unique parts of each would be high yield. I think memorizing all the intermediates and reactions would be very low yield.

Thanks.. how much do you think we need to know for example for electron transport chain? like any complexes? enzymes? names? ... I only know how ETC works

 

[El-Rami]

I had a few questions on the AAMC FL about specifics of metabolic pathways. I agree with HopefulPilot for the most part; just have a general understanding of what is going on, how many electrons are passed thru the system, how to tell if something is oxidized/reduced, major intermediates, etc. It's big picture stuff, but you need to know what goes on but not necessarily be able to draw arrows to every single intermediate in the pathway.

I know this is late advice, but Metabolism at a Glance by Salway is a good book if you want stylized drawings of tissues showing how the pathways interplay with each other.

FYI I did not finish reading the Kaplan metabolism chapters, but I was able to answer metabolism questions on the AAMC stuff and on FLs. Just know which pathway makes what, general idea of redox, and major intermediates such as pyruvate.

 

[jimmypod]

Look below

vvvvvv

 

[El-Rami]

Kaplan metabolism chapters were like being put butt-naked into the wilderness with nothing but a hunting knife and someone saying "Good luck, buddy."

 

[jimmypod]

I added some fancy coloring to it to make it easier on the eyes. Again, this is an AAMC FL -> MCAT score converter made by @billeboi31 that has been updating using a sample size of around 45.

"I updated that wonky "MCAT Score Predictor" spreadsheet that was linked earlier in this thread. The n=45 here (compared to ~15 from the previous predictor), pulled from @Xenith'scompilation Google sheet. I would take this with an extreme grain of salt, but there was a request for a revised version in this thread.

I went through and checked all of the reported scores based on AAMC FL scores using this revised predictor, and nearly half of the actual scores fell within the "Likely" range. Of the actual scores that were outside that range, they were +2.54 points higher - so that's fun."

Useful!

 

[PooshBag]

OG guide: 73/76/73/83 Total: 76.25%. Man, that was some difficult stuff..

 

[PooshBag]

why do you guys think Biochem from kaplan is bad? I've relied on it and I havent taken an official biochem course. I've been doing alright, i guess.

 

[El-Rami]

why do you guys think Biochem from kaplan is bad? I've relied on it and I havent taken an official biochem course. I've been doing alright, i guess.

I think it's a great book, actually. My criticism stems from Kaplan's focus on detail rather than big picture concepts in the metabolism chapters. People feel bogged down reading stuff that most likely won't be asked, while the high-yield stuff is buried in the minutiae.

 

[PooshBag]

I think it's a great book, actually. My criticism stems from Kaplan's focus on detail rather than big picture concepts in the metabolism chapters. People feel bogged down reading stuff that most likely won't be asked, while the high-yield stuff is buried in the minutiae.

I can't argue with that...

 

[TheAnonymous]

Kaplan metabolism chapters... so bad.

Kaplan metabolism chapters were like being put butt-naked into the wilderness with nothing but a hunting knife and someone saying "Good luck, buddy."

I think it's a great book, actually. My criticism stems from Kaplan's focus on detail rather than big picture concepts in the metabolism chapters. People feel bogged down reading stuff that most likely won't be asked, while the high-yield stuff is buried in the minutiae.

Would you guys say watching/understanding Khan videos on metabolism stuff suffice?? The only reason I've panicked is because I looked at Kaplan biochem and was shocked by amount of stuff in there..

If Khan suffice, I can perhaps take NS5 tomorrow rather than memorizing all these kaplan biochem stuff..

thanks you guys are awesome!

 

[itsmemario]

Would you guys say watching/understanding Khan videos on metabolism stuff suffice?? The only reason I've panicked is because I looked at Kaplan biochem and was shocked by amount of stuff in there..

If Khan suffice, I can perhaps take NS5 tomorrow rather than memorizing all these kaplan biochem stuff..

thanks you guys are awesome!

I personally found Kaplan to be quite decent. For example, the chapter that talks about the absorptive state and post-absorptive state (last chapter?) was good. In my opinion, if you're good with timing and comfortable with the exam format, it would be better to review notes (especially the weak areas) rather than do another FL at this stage.

 

[El-Rami]

If videos help, watch them. Don't spend 3 hours cramming a biochem metabolism chapter from Kaplan. You won't remember anything. Hell, look metabolism discretes and try to answer them, even if you get most of them wrong. If you play around with quick questions like that, you'll see the high-yield stuff.

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

...look at metabolism discretes and try to answer them, even if you get most of them wrong. If you play around with quick questions like that, you'll see the high-yield stuff.

Any suggestions for metabolism discrete practice? I'm in a similar boat as @TheAnonymous re: biochem.

 

[Doctor Dream]

I added some fancy coloring to it to make it easier on the eyes. Again, this is an AAMC FL -> MCAT score converter made by @billeboi31 that has been updating using a sample size of around 45.

"I updated that wonky "MCAT Score Predictor" spreadsheet that was linked earlier in this thread. The n=45 here (compared to ~15 from the previous predictor), pulled from @Xenith'scompilation Google sheet. I would take this with an extreme grain of salt, but there was a request for a revised version in this thread.

I went through and checked all of the reported scores based on AAMC FL scores using this revised predictor, and nearly half of the actual scores fell within the "Likely" range. Of the actual scores that were outside that range, they were +2.54 points higher - so that's fun."

Useful!

Good lord this things got me at 518-522....I'll believe it when I see it haha I'd just be happy with anything higher than 508!

 

[El-Rami]

Kaplan EOC Questions, TBR Bio II, MCAT 500 questions in biology chapter 1, whatever else you can find. It doesn't matter if you know it or not, just attempt them. You'll remember some stuff, especially if you get things wrong.