SN2'd first day

[TexasSurgeon]

EDIT: This was supposed to be a thread about the first day of SN2. However as with all intelligent life, things evolve. This thread has now become a support page for people following the SN2 plan. You can think of it as Alcoholics Anonymous for people studying to take the MCAT using the SN2 plan.

EDIT July 1, 2014:
If you are interested in @mehc012's Anki Deck, DO NOT SEND A PM. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7if6wgaif98rkoa/mehc012 SN2edCh4s.apkg
**A NOTE: @mehc012 and several others (myself included) want to tell you guys that studying from another person's deck will probably not be as beneficial to you as creating your own cards. Yes you can take advantage of @mehc012's generosity, but you won't get the same advantage. Study the material. Create cards as you go along. You will find it more helpful to your studying. **

EDIT July 22, 2014:
The following is @TBRBiosadist's official MCAT Verbal Reasoning Strategy:
@TBRBiosadist's strategy that got [him] from a 7 average to scoring 13-15 average..

Spend the bulk of your time reading. Up to 3 minutes per passage.

• Read the first and last paragraph thoroughly to begin with. Understand what the authors main point will be because 90% of questions require nothing more than a general idea.
• After this, read the entire passage slowly enough where you dont feel like you need to reread sentences for understanding.

Next is just answer questions, there is a few tricks here that work about 90% of the time

• Unless the passage is asking you about a specific detail, dont look back. READ EVERY ANSWER THOROUGLY AND THEN Answer what makes sense from the general point of the passage. Its very easy to prove a wrong answer to be somewhat correct if you dig hard enough, dont. Answer what your gut says and move onto the next question, dont contemplate to much. With that being said...
• Answer like you were dropped on the head as a child. Alot of times if Im arguing between two answers, there is the answer that is 100% correct, and one that is 90% correct. Be an idoit and choose the one that seems like it is correct. However.....
• "Always" is a word to avoid. If an answer uses this word, or definites like it, it is something to avoid. I would say 80% of the time the wishy washy answer is more correct then the highly affirmative one. This leads to my final point....
• 100% of the time you are not actually looking for the "right" answer in verbal, this isnt PS or BS where 1+1 almost always equals 2 (unless we are talking about the different sedimentation values for Ribosomes). In verbal you are looking for the answer that isnt wrong. Often times an answer will seem very "right" but one aspect of it is clearly wrong, as compared to an answer that isnt wrong, but doesnt seem as right as that answer, these are meant to fool you. Choose the answer that isnt wrong.

I understand that I few of these tips may be at odds with each other. Ultimately you must adjust slightly for each passage, but it comes down to one thing. Read thoroughly. Read every sentence in the passage. Read every question. Read every answer. Then the correct answer will be fairly obvious. This may seem like it takes longer, but it takes much less time than skimming, and then trying to find the correct information later.

Or to summarize in one sentence

Understand what the hell the author is arguing

EDIT July 26, 2014:
@DoctorInASaree uploaded a guide to Verbal Reasoning. If you're interested, it's worth a look. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2byivymmqwlvjms/MCAT VR Primer DRSAREE.pdf

EDIT 2, July 26, 2014: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/sn2d-first-day.1074344/page-52#post-15510851
________________________________________________
Just finished the first day of SN2...man is it long and exhausting.

The first day is BR physics chapter (translational motion) + 1/3 of the passages. I felt like I wasn't able to apply the stuff I read into the stuff I was tested on.

Has anyone felt this way when following the schedule? It just seems like the contents of the chapter didn't really stick in my head when I took the practice passages. Will this improve over time?

EDIT 3, March 4, 2015:

For verbal, if you are feeling lost and confused, I highly highly recommend you to look into the MCAT Strategy Course by @Jack Westin. I've been working with him, and nothing comes close to his course and teaching. It's a strategy course, so it will cover everything, not just the VR/CARS section.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

PS - grieving the end of a long term relationship while studying for "the most important exam of my life" (there'll be other more important exams in the future) throws in that extra challenge. However, my TBR books provide a good level of comfort.

 

[mehc012]

I here you, girl. Pathological perfectionists unite! It truly is terrifying. I figured I'm going to have to condense the rest of my content review into four chapters a week before I hit my month of AAMC FLs. I however, do have the luxury of devoting full time to the mcat, but even 10hrs a day seems like it's not enough.

Pssh, you people...I finished my content review 3-4 DAYS before my exam! Yeah, wouldn't recommend that. My first FL score definitely took a hit from it. But still, I used to consider myself a perfectionist, but I had to make do with a rushed end-game for sure. All worked out in the end. Or at least, I hope so

 

[K1NG]

Perfectionists anonymous haha.. I am a huge perfectionist. If my notes are not neat enough or if I don't do things in a particular order I have to do it all over again. Obviously was hard for me to study like that, but as I got close to my test date the more I stopped caring about those things, and just studied. It was actually worse in college during my freshman and sophomore years. As I got older my lazyness sort of took over a little lol.

 

[ymmit]

Perfectionists anonymous haha.. I am a huge perfectionist. If my notes are not neat enough or if I don't do things in a particular order I have to do it all over again. Obviously was hard for me to study like that, but as I got close to my test date the more I stopped caring about those things, and just studied. It was actually worse in college during my freshman and sophomore years. As I got older my lazyness sort of took over a little lol.

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my PhD training is that perfectionism is actually a very, very bad thing. We are praised for this trait as children, but it is one of the most counterproductive character flaws we can have as adults. I've been working hard to overcome this, but it's easy to get caught up in it. I need to constantly purge my mind of the idea that there is any merit to this whatsoever - honestly, any increase in quality of work gained by being a perfectionist is very quickly negated by the time we waste and the psychological toll it takes on ourselves. It is not worth it. Done is better than perfect. In the real world, no one values perfectionism past high school. I've heard this from multiple professors and professionals.

EDIT: For minor subject-verb agreement error.

 

[mehc012]

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my PhD training is that perfectionism is actually a very, very bad thing. We are praised for this trait as children, but it is one of the most counterproductive character flaws we can have as adults. I've been working hard to overcome this, but it's easy to get caught up in it. I need to constantly purge my mind of the idea that there is any merit to this whatsoever - honestly, any increase in quality of work gained by being a perfectionist is very quickly negated by the time we waste and the psychological toll it takes on ourselves. It is not worth it. Done is better than perfect. In the real world, no one values perfectionism past high school. I've heard this from multiple professors and professionals.

EDIT: For minor subject-verb agreement error.

I strive for perfectionism so that when I do the good (but not perfect) job that I wish to do, it feels like a relief! I psych myself up for a ton of work and then I check in, see where I stand, and let myself off the hook if I'm doing alright. So in this case, I was all hyped up to do 80 bajillion tons of work, pushing myself like crazy. Then I took an FL, even though I had 10Ch of TBR left to study, and was already hitting my goal score. So I backed off...but I was prepared to go the full distance if needed.

 

[K1NG]

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my PhD training is that perfectionism is actually a very, very bad thing. We are praised for this trait as children, but it is one of the most counterproductive character flaws we can have as adults. I've been working hard to overcome this, but it's easy to get caught up in it. I need to constantly purge my mind of the idea that there is any merit to this whatsoever - honestly, any increase in quality of work gained by being a perfectionist is very quickly negated by the time we waste and the psychological toll it takes on ourselves. It is not worth it. Done is better than perfect. In the real world, no one values perfectionism past high school. I've heard this from multiple professors and professionals.

EDIT: For minor subject-verb agreement error.

Very well said.. I'm quickly realizing this myself.

 

[JMMTB]

I definitely have some perfectionist tendencies myself, and have thus tried to read a lot on how to manage it properly and use it to my advantage.

Pros: Pushes oneself to work/train/study harder, increases one's need for diligence, when the work is done it is high caliber, highly focused, detail oriented...
Cons: Avoidance/procrastination of tasks until ample time to finish, never satisfied with anything less than 100% or 1st place, 2nd and below feels like failure, satisfaction should come with job well done, but doesn't, control oriented...

This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor do most of these apply to me currently. But I've really noticed that it is good to strive for perfection e.i. do your best, without requiring perfection to be satisfied/move on.

For example-having to finish every single practice problem in one's possession before the MCAT when time won't allow it. Realize that you can only cover what you can cover- starting with trouble spots first, then the problems untouched were hopefully one's strength already.

I'd say the percentage of doctors with perfectionism is greater than the percentage of the population as a whole. Anyone else agree?

 

[ymmit]

I strive for perfectionism so that when I do the good (but not perfect) job that I wish to do, it feels like a relief! I psych myself up for a ton of work and then I check in, see where I stand, and let myself off the hook if I'm doing alright. So in this case, I was all hyped up to do 80 bajillion tons of work, pushing myself like crazy. Then I took an FL, even though I had 10Ch of TBR left to study, and was already hitting my goal score. So I backed off...but I was prepared to go the full distance if needed.

I definitely have some perfectionist tendencies myself, and have thus tried to read a lot on how to manage it properly and use it to my advantage.

Pros: Pushes oneself to work/train/study harder, increases one's need for diligence, when the work is done it is high caliber, highly focused, detail oriented...
Cons: Avoidance/procrastination of tasks until ample time to finish, never satisfied with anything less than 100% or 1st place, 2nd and below feels like failure, satisfaction should come with job well done, but doesn't, control oriented...

This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor do most of these apply to me currently. But I've really noticed that it is good to strive for perfection e.i. do your best, without requiring perfection to be satisfied/move on.

For example-having to finish every single practice problem in one's possession before the MCAT when time won't allow it. Realize that you can only cover what you can cover- starting with trouble spots first, then the problems untouched were hopefully one's strength already.

I'd say the percentage of doctors with perfectionism is greater than the percentage of the population as a whole. Anyone else agree?

Yes, definitely appreciate the difference between striving for perfection and being controlled and paralyzed by the need to achieve perfection and nothing less (hint: it's impossible). The former is productive and the latter is destructive.

 

[lazyindy]

I got sidetracked with the great fappening of 8/31/14 and forgot I had to study for the mcat. It's been 4 days and my left arm has gotten alot bigger.

 

[TBRBiosadist]

I got sidetracked with the great fappening of 8/31/14 and forgot I had to study for the mcat. It's been 4 days and my left arm has gotten alot bigger.

#gainz

 

[TBRBiosadist]

I got sidetracked with the great fappening of 8/31/14 and forgot I had to study for the mcat. It's been 4 days and my left arm has gotten alot bigger.

Gotta develop that ambidextrous fapping so that when you become a surgeon you dont have disproportionate endurances in your arms/hands.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

I got sidetracked with the great fappening of 8/31/14 and forgot I had to study for the mcat. It's been 4 days and my left arm has gotten alot bigger.

Gotta develop that ambidextrous fapping so that when you become a surgeon you dont have disproportionate endurances in your arms/hands.

Dudes, I think there is a different forum/thread for this.

 

[JMMTB]

Ya seriously. And what happened to your commitment to this that you mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[lazyindy]

Ya seriously. And what happened to your commitment to this that you mentioned earlier in this thread.

don't think that will necessarily improve your life

 

[TBRBiosadist]

that is if i score +40

 

[JMMTB]

that is if i score +40

Oh, missed that.

 

[poop420]

I MISS being a flirt ... since school has started i have been ignoring all the booty shorts because i know all of those stuff are distractions and my only love should be TBR..

 

[pbrocks15]

Guys in struggling managing school and the MCAT right now and my test is October. Any thoughts on how to better manage them both?

I already have a plan to take an exam every Wednesday and Saturday.

 

[ayocaptain628]

Gl @orangetea and other September 6'ers! Cheering for u guys

 

[ayocaptain628]

Guys in struggling managing school and the MCAT right now and my test is October. Any thoughts on how to better manage them both?

I already have a plan to take an exam every Wednesday and Saturday.

Gl! I'll be cheering for u and me (i go back this coming monday XD)
U have to triage ur time carefully
If something isn't productive use of ur time, u gotta cut it out of ur schedule right away
Like for me, i anticipate i won't be learning a lot in my physics class anymore since i studied it for the mcat so I've already reserved that time for doing homework for another class
Dead time adds up
i always just tell myself: if it matters i will find a way, so just keep it up and remember ur goal! You wanna see how far you can stretch ur limits make it happen; find what dead time u can take advantage of

 

[namesthegame21]

Guys in struggling managing school and the MCAT right now and my test is October. Any thoughts on how to better manage them both?

I already have a plan to take an exam every Wednesday and Saturday.

You have to work overtime, and like ayoacaptain said you have to eliminate all distractions until your test. And like you wrote earlier, when you are studying make sure it is pure focus as much as you can. You can do this pbrocks!

 

[namesthegame21]

Somebody PM'd me about the TPR live-online class, and I thought I would re-post my reply here in case anyone could benefit. Thanks to everyone here who has shared info to help the SN2 first day team!

"My honest opinion is save your money. Its a lot to pay, and not worth it. I think the online material is great, and the practice tests are also great. (Btw, it comes with 11 TPR practice tests and all 8 AAMC FLs, so if you already bought them it would sort of be another money guzzler) But in terms of the actual classes, you basically log in and listen to, well in my case, a 2.5 h lecture covering lots of material quickly. Each subject has a different teacher, my phys and bio teacher were great but verbal, gchem and ochem SUCKED. Esp ochem, I just played that in the background while reading the book. The books are OK, but not as great as BR. I didn't really like their customer support either; overall if I could go back I would have not wasted time and focused on SN2 schedule earlier on.

But since you will be taking AFTER completing SN2 schedule and a bunch of FLs, it may be nice to go through all the material again with an instructor, to force to you stay on track....but I personally learn SO much more reading and practicing on my own, rather than in lecture. And you probably would want to focus more on your weaknesses rather than an overall review again. If you have any specific questions I am happy to help!"

 

[pbrocks15]

Gl! I'll be cheering for u and me (i go back this coming monday XD)
U have to triage ur time carefully
If something isn't productive use of ur time, u gotta cut it out of ur schedule right away
Like for me, i anticipate i won't be learning a lot in my physics class anymore since i studied it for the mcat so I've already reserved that time for doing homework for another class
Dead time adds up
i always just tell myself: if it matters i will find a way, so just keep it up and remember ur goal! You wanna see how far you can stretch ur limits make it happen; find what dead time u can take advantage of

I didn't realize how much the dead time really adds up. I have to stop talking so much and just sit down and work for 7 hour stretches without being distracted. I realize I can actually work for awhile but once I take that 30 min break I struggle to get back, I now take really short breaks which helped me today where I studied for 8 hours straight with a nice large cup of coffee.

I really wanna stretch my limits and I think I can do it, its probably just the struggle in the beginning with all the stress and readings/HW's already assigned. This could help though as I envisioned it only if I capitalize on the stress and make it beneficial for me. I'm going to start eliminating the silly things that take up time because not only does it take up time but it gets me out of the studying mentality which is huge for me.

You have to work overtime, and like ayoacaptain said you have to eliminate all distractions until your test. And like you wrote earlier, when you are studying make sure it is pure focus as much as you can. You can do this pbrocks!

Going into the semester I knew I was going have to work overtime but I thought I can make up for it by working harder. This hasn't been working and I don't think it will. I have to work harder but also longer. Not longer in the sense where I'm sitting there starring at the book but where I'm just reading more and doing more practice problems or watching videos about whatever topics it is I'm struggling with. I hope I can get over this little hump and learn to work to my full potential.

Ya'll rock, thanks for the responses!!

@namesthegame21 Quick Question: Which TPR exams did you take? What do you think of them? If you have taken over FLs, how does TPR compare to them?

 

[namesthegame21]

@pbrocks15 "Quick Question: Which TPR exams did you take? What do you think of them? If you have taken over FLs, how does TPR compare to them?"

I haven't take their exams yet, as I am saving them for end of content review. I did take their diagnostic tests and thought they were good, but I don't have anything to compare them to. Sorry I am not much help atm, I fell behind schedule for personal reasons and doing my best to catch up (using the same advice I gave you ). I can't wait to get to FLs, but don't want to do them until I am finished with content.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Who here is scheduled to take the MCAT Nov 7th?

 

[ayocaptain628]

school starting tomorrow *shrieks*!

 

[poop420]

Who here is scheduled to take the MCAT Nov 7th?

Present !

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Present !

Where are you at in regards to content?

 

[poop420]

Umm So i was actually freaking out about this today and decided to stop coming on this site so much because All I do is get freaked out .. But I am couple of weeks away from completing content review one or two weeks ... You ? I get flustered because I see people taking the Nov 7 exam already doing practice exams ..

 

[mehc012]

Umm So i was actually freaking out about this today and decided to stop coming on this site so much because All I do is get freaked out .. But I am couple of weeks away from completing content review one or two weeks ... You ? I get flustered because I see people taking the Nov 7 exam already doing practice exams ..

I was the same way...finished my content review 3-4d before the damn exam. People doing their FLs on here definitely had me freaked out a bit. All works out though, just go your pace! You can do FLs before you finish everything!

 

[MelloTangelo]

Where are you at in regards to content?

I'm taking it in November, too, and at this point, I finished Ch.6 of Physics going by the SN2 schedule. I know some people are already doing practice exams, but I figure as long as you're about half-way done with content review (unless you're awesome like mehc012), you're probably in an okay position!

Did you guys ever have trouble dealing with friends during MCAT studying, though? Like. I'm only one month in, and one of my closer friends is finishing up her last semester (I'm done with school). Most of our friends have graduated, and I'm sure she feels pretty lonely living alone/not having as many people around, so she wants to hang out more, but...It's kind of hard for me to hang out much when I'm studying for the MCAT! It's not like I don't have the time. I -do-...it's just that when I have free time, I either want to be by myself or hang out with my boyfriend (I am veeeery introverted by nature, so hanging out with people who aren't my boyfriend is mentally taxing).

I've explained to her how I won't be able to hang out much (especially unplanned, last minute gigs), but I end up feeling bad when I tell her that I can't hang out, and she's clearly disappointed! : <
I guess I just need a thicker skin.

 

[poop420]

I'm taking it in November, too, and at this point, I finished Ch.6 of Physics going by the SN2 schedule. I know some people are already doing practice exams, but I figure as long as you're about half-way done with content review (unless you're awesome like mehc012), you're probably in an okay position!

Did you guys ever have trouble dealing with friends during MCAT studying, though? Like. I'm only one month in, and one of my closer friends is finishing up her last semester (I'm done with school). Most of our friends have graduated, and I'm sure she feels pretty lonely living alone/not having as many people around, so she wants to hang out more, but...It's kind of hard for me to hang out much when I'm studying for the MCAT! It's not like I don't have the time. I -do-...it's just that when I have free time, I either want to be by myself or hang out with my boyfriend (I am veeeery introverted by nature, so hanging out with people who aren't my boyfriend is mentally taxing).

I've explained to her how I won't be able to hang out much (especially unplanned, last minute gigs), but I end up feeling bad when I tell her that I can't hang out, and she's clearly disappointed! : <
I guess I just need a thicker skin.

Send her to me! She needs a man to keep her busy

 

[MelloTangelo]

Send her to me! She needs a man to keep her busy

That's exactly what I need to do! I'll send her over right away!

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Umm So i was actually freaking out about this today and decided to stop coming on this site so much because All I do is get freaked out .. But I am couple of weeks away from completing content review one or two weeks ... You ? I get flustered because I see people taking the Nov 7 exam already doing practice exams ..

I'm freaking out a little as well - will only be thoroughly finishing BR CH3 for all subjects this week. I feel like I'm going to have to begin cramming in a few chapters. Horrible feeling

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Is anyone using or used BR Verbal reasoning as practice throughout their studies? I have been alternating from BR Verbal, EK 101 passages, and TPRHL each day but as I have only one month of practice left, I am wondering if I should stick to one method instead.

 

[mehc012]

Is anyone using or used BR Verbal reasoning as practice throughout their studies? I have been alternating from BR Verbal, EK 101 passages, and TPRHL each day but as I have only one month of practice left, I am wondering if I should stick to one method instead.

To be honest, I found all of them to be completely unrepresentative. I was hitting 10s when I started with TPRH, TBR, and EK101...when I tried to crack down and focus more, my scores dropped. I started taking AAMC verbal and I didn't score below a 13 (once even a 15). YMMV, but for me, the best practice, most bang for my buck, was the AAMC VR SA. Get that, no question.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

To be honest, I found all of them to be completely unrepresentative. I was hitting 10s when I started with TPRH, TBR, and EK101...when I tried to crack down and focus more, my scores dropped. I started taking AAMC verbal and I didn't score below a 13 (once even a 15). YMMV, but for me, the best practice, most bang for my buck, was the AAMC VR SA. Get that, no question.

Thank you! I am of the thinking, however, that the AAMC VR SA is very long and will not score anything for you until it is completely finished? How did you approach it? Did you complete it in one sitting?

 

[mehc012]

Thank you! I am of the thinking, however, that the AAMC VR SA is very long and will not score anything for you until it is completely finished? How did you approach it? Did you complete it in one sitting?

Nope, broke it up into 'whatever I have time for right now' chunks.
You can do it in the .pdf version if you prefer instant feedback. I just took them across several days and then did a thorough review prior to my next FLs. But then, reviewing VR by myself didn't do me much good...the only useful review I got I did by having my mom take a bunch of passages and then we'd discuss our answers together and point out the reasoning/hints that the other person had missed. Talking it back and forth with someone helped highlight the trends in my mistaken answer choices.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Nope, broke it up into 'whatever I have time for right now' chunks.
You can do it in the .pdf version if you prefer instant feedback. I just took them across several days and then did a thorough review prior to my next FLs. But then, reviewing VR by myself didn't do me much good...the only useful review I got I did by having my mom take a bunch of passages and then we'd discuss our answers together and point out the reasoning/hints that the other person had missed. Talking it back and forth with someone helped highlight the trends in my mistaken answer choices.

That's wonderful you were able to have that support from your mom! I am going to take you advice and purchase the VR SA and start doing those. I'm finding that some of the BR VR questions are requiring you to have outside knowledge about a few things - frustrating.
@mehc012 have you taken your exam already?

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

@mehc012 PS - did you purchase any of the science self assessments? If so, were they helpful?

 

[mehc012]

@mehc012 PS - did you purchase any of the science self assessments? If so, were they helpful?

That's wonderful you were able to have that support from your mom! I am going to take you advice and purchase the VR SA and start doing those. I'm finding that some of the BR VR questions are requiring you to have outside knowledge about a few things - frustrating.
@mehc012 have you taken your exam already?

Yah, took it on the 8/27...in the interminable score release purgatory at the moment. :/

I did purchase the science self assessments, but they were less useful to me. Let me break it down for you:
Why I purchased the SAs
- It was time to start AAMC practice Qs, but I had not finished content review. SAs let me practice only the material I was finished with.
- Timing was not even remotely an issue for me, so having the actual FL format/timing was completely inconsequential.
- More passages for fewer bucks
How I used them
- Took the VR over about 1wk (not every day, as I was working FT)
- Took Bio and Orgo, as I had yet to finish content review for Physics or Chem
- Did not take Physics, because I didn't finish content review until 3d before the exam
- Took half of Chem, never graded it. I'll touch on why in the next section
Thoughts
- VR SA is gold. Take it, use it, cherish it. Great way to have solid VR practice before you start FLs
- Science SAs should be taken ahead of time...I ran out of time to use them all, and didn't bother with much review because I didn't have time to go back over topics even if I had wanted to do so.
- Science SAs were not useful to me, not because they are not useful, but because I did not happen to need them.

Here's the deal: I am good at taking tests. I didn't even review my FLs, really, or spend much time on them. They were useful to me as score checks, not as practice. I was also fairly solid on my content review at that time. This means that, instead of being a breakdown on 'which topics should I review', they were more 'you missed a few questions here and there...which topics had fewer problems so that 1 or 2 wrong was a big percentage dip'. I don't say this to brag or anything, but because it really made them less useful to me, so I am not a good person to ask about their utility. I think I would have been OK on the MCAT without taking either the FLs OR the SAs, though perhaps not, given that my score jumped up 4pts between my first and second FLs and then stayed in the later range (this is confounded by the fact that I had 10Ch left to complete of my content review when taking my first FL as well).

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Yah, took it on the 8/27...in the interminable score release purgatory at the moment. :/

I did purchase the science self assessments, but they were less useful to me. Let me break it down for you:
Why I purchased the SAs
- It was time to start AAMC practice Qs, but I had not finished content review. SAs let me practice only the material I was finished with.
- Timing was not even remotely an issue for me, so having the actual FL format/timing was completely inconsequential.
- More passages for fewer bucks
How I used them
- Took the VR over about 1wk (not every day, as I was working FT)
- Took Bio and Orgo, as I had yet to finish content review for Physics or Chem
- Did not take Physics, because I didn't finish content review until 3d before the exam
- Took half of Chem, never graded it. I'll touch on why in the next section
Thoughts
- VR SA is gold. Take it, use it, cherish it. Great way to have solid VR practice before you start FLs
- Science SAs should be taken ahead of time...I ran out of time to use them all, and didn't bother with much review because I didn't have time to go back over topics even if I had wanted to do so.
- Science SAs were not useful to me, not because they are not useful, but because I did not happen to need them.

Here's the deal: I am good at taking tests. I didn't even review my FLs, really, or spend much time on them. They were useful to me as score checks, not as practice. I was also fairly solid on my content review at that time. This means that, instead of being a breakdown on 'which topics should I review', they were more 'you missed a few questions here and there...which topics had fewer problems so that 1 or 2 wrong was a big percentage dip'. I don't say this to brag or anything, but because it really made them less useful to me, so I am not a good person to ask about their utility. I think I would have been OK on the MCAT without taking either the FLs OR the SAs, though perhaps not, given that my score jumped up 4pts between my first and second FLs and then stayed in the later range (this is confounded by the fact that I had 10Ch left to complete of my content review when taking my first FL as well).

GREAT! Thank you, I've gone and bought the VR SA. Were you studying from BR? If so, how were you scoring on your thirds?

 

[mehc012]

GREAT! Thank you, I've gone and bought the VR SA. Were you studying from BR? If so, how were you scoring on your thirds?

I only did the first and second thirds (though I did not do ANY passages for Chs8+ due to time constraints), and was averaging 85% on everything with no appreciable difference between first and second.

On AAMC materials I consistently scored 95-98%.

 

[ymmit]

Just did the AAMC Verbal SA in 2 sittings... they weren't bad overall, though the final couple passages were kinda rough. Ended up with 85%, not sure what this means scoring-wise? Any input?

 

[bambam92]

I'm freaking out a little as well - will only be thoroughly finishing BR CH3 for all subjects this week. I feel like I'm going to have to begin cramming in a few chapters. Horrible feeling

when are you taking?

 

[bambam92]

Just did the AAMC Verbal SA in 2 sittings... they weren't bad overall, though the final couple passages were kinda rough. Ended up with 85%, not sure what this means scoring-wise? Any input?

thats really good. Assuming you timed yourself to 7 mins a passage or less.

 

[ymmit]

thats really good. Assuming you timed yourself to 7 mins a passage or less.

Timing the SA verbal passages was a bit tricky. Most of them were very short (regular length passages but only ~5 questions each), and I could finish these in a relaxed 4-5 minutes. There were a few passages toward the end that had 8 questions with 40-50% of them being 'hard' difficulty level. One of those took me at least 8 minutes. On the "regular" length passages, e.g. TPRH verbal workbook, I generally have no problems with timing.

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

when are you taking?

Nov 7

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Just did the AAMC Verbal SA in 2 sittings... they weren't bad overall, though the final couple passages were kinda rough. Ended up with 85%, not sure what this means scoring-wise? Any input?

They don't give you an overall "AAMC score" at the end of them? I would think 85% is pretty good!

 

[aspiringMD/DO]

Timing the SA verbal passages was a bit tricky. Most of them were very short (regular length passages but only ~5 questions each), and I could finish these in a relaxed 4-5 minutes. There were a few passages toward the end that had 8 questions with 40-50% of them being 'hard' difficulty level. One of those took me at least 8 minutes. On the "regular" length passages, e.g. TPRH verbal workbook, I generally have no problems with timing.

Btw, what is your general approach to a verbal?