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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[Pediateix]

VERBAL IS a hit or miss all the time...i can never finish on time and thats what I'm trying to practice . but of the questions i do, i surprisingly get at least more that 50-60% correct. its really a timing and endurace section. gah. and depends on the passage. gah

 

[RaspberrySlushy]

OMG I just took EK 1

Phys/Chem 71%
CARS 87%
Bio/Biochem 73%
Psych/Soc 68%
Overall 74%

A little discouraged. That's a lot worse than I did on the AAMC FL which I took in May BEFORE starting to study. Kinda gives me the feeling of like, have I really learned much in all my months of working on this??

Kinda freaking out. Not sure how I can get better at psych/soc. I've been studying for over four months but man that section felt like a cluster#&@! All the terms seem to swim together, especially the ones with similar names. I also need to have a better attitude towards psych/soc which is a struggle for me, b/c subject wise it's my least fave and prob also b/c it was last and I was tired but omg, some of that was really mind-numbing. Please give me some o chem anyday over that.

Also really surprised that my highest section was CARS, that is a total first, CARS is usually battling with psych/soc for lowest and my highest is usually phys/chem!

Hopefully I can learn a lot from reviewing tomorrow and thoroughly going through everything in all the sections. Still two and a half weeks left.

For now it's time to unwind with some trashy TV and go to sleep, then wake up tomorrow and review, review, review.

 

[El-Rami]

I hear EK is a bit harder than AAMC FL. Look at me, I scored 87% overall on the AAMC FL, and I still get thrashed by company FLs.

 

[Gibbward]

I really liked the metabolic pathways sections of the kaplan books! I've encountered it in a biochem course so it wasn't too unfamiliar, but I agree with what others said. You probably don't need to memorize all the structures and intermediates. Focus on, where NADH, FADH2, and ATP are created or used up, where there processes are located in the cells, how electrons are being passed on within and between each complex of ETC, etc.

 

[Gibbward]

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!

Yeah this predictor has me at 515-519, when I'm aiming for a 508! I don't believe it at all, but now I feel like I'd be such a disappointment if I don't reach my predicted mark!

 

[howlcat]

how accurate is this new predictor? its given me a 125 in CARS when every other calculator put me at a 126 for gettng a 72%

 

[medgirl1993]

How many questions wrong in each section will give you a 125 on each?
It's quite confusing to me.

 

[medgirl1993]

Who else here feels like they forgot everything My test is Friday SO nervous.

 

[medgirl1993]

I. HATE. AMINO. ACIDS. They are not sticking with me!!!!

 

[it'sabeautifullife]

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

Wow. Here's hoping you rebound stronger than ever...White Coat mojo is ancient history...standing in the trenches with big work boots on!

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Gee. Zuss. There are some really high scorers today over on the August thread and it's making me feel even worse... I've got to stop score release stalking and get back to work!

 

[howlcat]

Is it ok if i ask a question about the AAMC FL? its Q27- about ultrasound- it asks what minimal info the ultrasound requires. The answer is the speed of sound, and frequences emmited and observed. The other options state the same but add the speed of the moving obect, which I assumed to be the speed of the source..
so what i don't get is why those options are wrong. How come we don't also require the speed of the detector and source for ultrasound functioning?

 

[medgirl1993]

Gee. Zuss. There are some really high scorers today over on the August thread and it's making me feel even worse... I've got to stop score release stalking and get back to work!

My exam was supposed to be August but I chickened out and pushed it to September :/

 

[medgirl1993]

Noone knows. It's all speculation. You can look at the excel file that has the old aamc tests with percent correct to give you an idea.

I just tested it out on the NS exam...10 wrong on C/P gave me a score of 129.

 

[medgirl1993]

How comparable do you think our actual exam will be to the AAMC full length? Anyone take any other tests that have been pretty on-par with the real tests administered so far?

 

[keepSwimmingNemo]

The mcat is so draining!! One day you can have a good day and another you can start crying cause your not getting it! Yesterday I couldn't even finish the last section yesterday cause my brain was shutting down ,shoudknt have started the test at 1. And I'm getting more and more familiar with psychology terms but still it's all so draining .

 

[keepSwimmingNemo]

How comparable do you think our actual exam will be to the AAMC full length? Anyone take any other tests that have been pretty on-par with the real tests administered so far?

Don't worry about scores. Be familiar with concepts. The passages that are conceptual will just depend on what you get on test day.

 

[keepSwimmingNemo]

Don't want to wake up in the morning to start studying. My head hurts

 

[El-Rami]

Does anyone feel that TPR has a more representative P/S section? I've scored 128-129 on the two tests I've taken from them, and I scored 77% on OG and 80% on FL, which is around that ballpark. My Kaplan P/S scores are always atrocious...around 123-125 and on all tests I've taken (taken a few).

 

[medgirl1993]

Does anyone feel that TPR has a more representative P/S section? I've scored 128-129 on the two tests I've taken from them, and I scored 77% on OG and 80% on FL, which is around that ballpark. My Kaplan P/S scores are always atrocious...around 123-125 and on all tests I've taken (taken a few).

when is your test date?

 

[El-Rami]

9/12

 

[keepSwimmingNemo]

9/12

Stop worrying about scores! The real test can be different. Worry about mastering concepts

 

[medgirl1993]

9/12

I wish I had that extra day...Mine is Friday and I'm absolutely freaking out at the insane amount of biochem and orgo in the C/P section. God-willing this section works out in my favor

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

My exam was supposed to be August but I chickened out and pushed it to September :/

Same. Now I'm wishing I had picked 9/23!!

Going over EK4, 70% of my mistakes in B/B were because I didn't know content. Just flat out didn't know it (eg stop codons, meiosis, virus structure, metabolism pathways). All areas I had already ID'd as topics to review [sigh]. I really have no idea what to expect. AAMC FL tomorrow...

 

[medgirl1993]

Same. Now I'm wishing I had picked 9/23!!

Going over EK4, 70% of my mistakes in B/B were because I didn't know content. Just flat out didn't know it (eg stop codons, meiosis, virus structure, metabolism pathways). All areas I had already ID'd as topics to review [sigh]. I really have no idea what to expect. AAMC FL tomorrow...

How are your scores in C/P? I'm doing great in P/S and CARS, but C/P and B/B will be the death of me.

 

[medgirl1993]

How's everyone's scores in C/P and B/B? My test is this Friday and I can't seem to master this section, even though I went through ALL of the information. *Sigh* I hate you MCAT.

 

[itsmemario]

How's everyone's scores in C/P and B/B? My test is this Friday and I can't seem to master this section, even though I went through ALL of the information. *Sigh* I hate you MCAT.

C/P has always been my worst! I'm retaking a 8/13/13 only because of it =( Compared to the old test, this C/P seems slightly better though due to a more biochem focus. I absolutely hate calculation heavy physics questions.

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

How are your scores in C/P? I'm doing great in P/S and CARS, but C/P and B/B will be the death of me.

It's hard to say. I really like the more bio-oriented C/P in the EK exam. I hope that's realistic or true for my test because straight C/P is the worst section for me. Aaand, I was really confident about Bio going into everything so I saved that til the last to review, and now there is just way too much. I wish I would have started doing FLs sooner. They took so much longer to review than I budgeted for, so I've only taken 3!

Kaplan FL1 (46/77/56/54) - 3 weeks ago
Kaplan FL2 (46/79/66/59) - 2 weeks ago
EK 4 (71/70/62/73) - this past weekend

 

[howlcat]

Can anyone help me with Q41 from AAMC FL C/P? I don't get why its because the enzyme is chiral and not the solvent, why not the solvent...please and thank you!

 

[El-Rami]

Can anyone help me with Q41 from AAMC FL C/P? I don't get why its because the enzyme is chiral and not the solvent, why not the solvent...please and thank you!

Enzyme chirality allows for the specific production/use of a certain enantiomer. This is why we can only use D-sugars and L-amino acids. We just evolved this way. Enzyme active site shape tends to be very specific or for very closely related compounds.

Just remember for any question like this in the future, it's always because of the chiral specificity of the enzyme. Evolution made us this way.

 

[TheDoctorist]

Just finished the AAMC FL and feeling so much awesome right now. Can't believe how high my CARS score was on this one considering i was averaging a 125 on kaplan and tpr.

AAMC FL
Bio: 93%
Cars: 89%
Bio: 88% - oddly usually my best section
P/s: 97%

 

[medgirl1993]

Just finished the AAMC FL and feeling so much awesome right now. Can't believe how high my CARS score was on this one considering i was averaging a 125 on kaplan and tpr.

AAMC FL
Bio: 93%
Cars: 89%
Bio: 88% - oddly usually my best section
P/s: 97%

Was this your first time taking it? I took it today and struggled so much with the C/P section

 

[El-Rami]

Just finished the AAMC FL and feeling so much awesome right now. Can't believe how high my CARS score was on this one considering i was averaging a 125 on kaplan and tpr.

AAMC FL
Bio: 93%
Cars: 89%
Bio: 88% - oddly usually my best section
P/s: 97%

The passages were very clear on the AAMC FL, so that's why it was easy to understand. I reviewed Picasso, and it was only so difficult because the passage was so convoluted, although there was one question that I thought was basically BS (the one where they use prior knowledge to reason through the answers). CARS Qpack had some answer choices that were vague, so I missed questions on those.

 

[TheDoctorist]

Was this your first time taking it? I took it today and struggled so much with the C/P section

Ahh yes it is, I'm taking the exam on saturday and I wanted to save the FL until after I was done review. What did you struggle with in C/P? I'm usually not so good with physics so maybe I can give you some pointers..

The passages were very clear on the AAMC FL, so that's why it was easy to understand. I reviewed Picasso, and it was only so difficult because the passage was so convoluted, although there was one question that I thought was basically BS (the one where they use prior knowledge to reason through the answers). CARS Qpack had some answer choices that were vague, so I missed questions on those.

The picasso passage is the bane of my exsistence. I'm banking on the real thing having some easy to read passages with answers straight out of the passage. The Fl's were so straight forward that I barely re-read the passages.

 

[TheAnonymous]

A friend of mine got her score back and she scored on the very bottom of the "Definitely" range on the predictor sheet... and CARS was 1 point lower than the bottom range.... Sighh definitely feeling worst than yesterday!

 

[orgogogo]

@TheDoctorist I had the same thing happen with my CARS score. I have been using TPR and always scored 125-126 on the CARS section, but somehow got a 94% on the AAMC FL CARS section. I thought the passages were a lot easier than the TPR ones. I'm hoping the passages we get on actual test day are comparable difficulty-wise. I won't be counting on it though...

 

[drbeat14]

When you guys say you are doing the organic Chem questions-are you talking about the Kaplan stuff or the old AAMC Org Chem Self-Assessment?

 

[Free411]

I scored a 130/132 (Bio; 97%) on the August 6, 2015 MCAT, if anyone wants any tips for that section.

 

[TheAnonymous]

@TheDoctorist I had the same thing happen with my CARS score. I have been using TPR and always scored 125-126 on the CARS section, but somehow got a 94% on the AAMC FL CARS section. I thought the passages were a lot easier than the TPR ones. I'm hoping the passages we get on actual test day are comparable difficulty-wise. I won't be counting on it though...

You guys....

my 85% in CARS probably means nothing then...

 

[orgogogo]

@TheAnonymous Honestly I'd be thrilled to get 85% on CARS on the real test though. I was really expecting something like 75% max on CARS based on how my practice passages have been going this summer. 85% is quite a good score!

 

[Free411]

You guys....

my 85% in CARS probably means nothing then...

Nice dude! That's better than I did on the real thing, and CARS has always been my strongest section. I only missed 5 questions on the practice AAMC.

 

[TheAnonymous]

@TheAnonymous Honestly I'd be thrilled to get 85% on CARS on the real test though. I was really expecting something like 75% max on CARS based on how my practice passages have been going this summer. 85% is quite a good score!

Nice dude! That's better than I did on the real thing, and CARS has always been my strongest section. I only missed 5 questions on the practice AAMC.

Already failed at MCAT twice (7 and 8 in verbal) so it's tough to be optimistic.. but I sincerely hope that 85% translates to a 126 on the real MCAT and you guys will all be invited for the party

 

[Free411]

Already failed at MCAT twice (7 and 8 in verbal) so it's tough to be optimistic.. but I sincerely hope that 85% translates to a 126 on the real MCAT and you guys will all be invited for the party

I ended up with a 125 which is a little frustrating because I've always had above average reading scores. Fortunately my sciences are carrying me though. I'm sure you'll be fine. The thing that got me was the length and depth of the passages. I developed a strategy that allowed me to circumvent reading most of the information on the sciences, but this definitely didn't work out for CARS.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I ended up with a 125 which is a little frustrating because I've always had above average reading scores. Fortunately my sciences are carrying me though. I'm sure you'll be fine. The thing that got me was the length and depth of the passages. I developed a strategy that allowed me to circumvent reading most of the information on the sciences, but this definitely didn't work out for CARS.

I'm sorry to hear that... I hope that superb bio score compensates... congrats on that! may I ask how you did on AAMC FL CARS?

 

[Free411]

I'm sorry to hear that... I hope that superb bio score compensates... congrats on that! may I ask how you did on AAMC FL CARS?

Haha you won't believe this but I got 48/53 (~90%). Now granted, I read a ton so one of the passages I had seen before, so I already knew what it was about (the passage about metaphors) Honestly, I think game day nerves and the length of the passages threw me off. I remember getting a little thrown off before getting back on track during the real thing. If knew I was going to be blindsided like that I would have read the passages in their entirety.

 

[El-Rami]

I got 78% of the questions correct on CARS 1b for an overall CARS pack 1 score of 73%. Is this good?

 

[ieatshrimp24]

Just did the Physics and Chemistry Question Packs from AAMC. I'm just wondering how representative are the Q packs to the AAMC practice FL and the real deal in terms of difficulty?

I felt the majority of the questions were pretty straightforward. Is the difficulty on these Q packs similar to the practice FL and the real exam?

 

[TheAnonymous]

Haha you won't believe this but I got 48/53 (~90%). Now granted, I read a ton so one of the passages I had seen before, so I already knew what it was about (the passage about metaphors) Honestly, I think game day nerves and the length of the passages threw me off. I remember getting a little thrown off before getting back on track during the real thing. If knew I was going to be blindsided like that I would have read the passages in their entirety.

and I thought 85% was good

 

[El-Rami]

Just did the Physics and Chemistry Question Packs from AAMC. I'm just wondering how representative are the Q packs to the AAMC practice FL and the real deal in terms of difficulty?

I felt the majority of the questions were pretty straightforward. Is the difficulty on these Q packs similar to the practice FL and the real exam?

Q packs are way easier. C/P is more interpreting experiments and stuff. The entire section feels a lot like B/B except with more of a physical science focus.

 

[TheDoctorist]

A friend of mine got her score back and she scored on the very bottom of the "Definitely" range on the predictor sheet... and CARS was 1 point lower than the bottom range.... Sighh definitely feeling worst than yesterday!

Just did the Physics and Chemistry Question Packs from AAMC. I'm just wondering how representative are the Q packs to the AAMC practice FL and the real deal in terms of difficulty?

I felt the majority of the questions were pretty straightforward. Is the difficulty on these Q packs similar to the practice FL and the real exam?

Very straight forward... but lots of gimmes in the FL too