The MCAT Twitter Thread (AKA MCAT-oholics)

[ridethecliche]

Alright, so many of us are in the same boat, right?

We all have to take this exam, and lets be honest, it sucks. It's a roadblock and it's annoying. But we HAVE to do it, so we might as well enjoy it.

At the same time, I think having a 'support group' would be helpful. So why not post about MCAT trials/tribulations here?

Did you have an awesome study session? Grasp concept that you were having trouble with? Beast that practice test?

If so, post!

Did you have a crappy study session? Are you failing miserably at figuring out something seemingly simple? Just get frustrated at that practice exam you just took?

If so, post!

MCAT-oholics unite!

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[nabilesmail]

OMG!!!!!!!! I JUST F**GN SCORED A 27 ON AAMC7 I'MA CRY :[

11-6-10

I tried a new verbal technique that I paid a verbal tutor to teach me. When I go through passages with him its fine, but I just got rocked.

 

[ridethecliche]

How long do you have till your test?

If you're learning a new verbal strategy, you need to practice it a bunch by yourself till you get it.

Do you have both EK101 and TPR verbal?

 

[nabilesmail]

Mcat is in 2 weeks ( May 31st).

I'm super stressed, I'm not even sure I can finish TBR phase 3 and pushing for AAMC to be complted.

Yeah its a new verbal, extensive mapping and EXTREMELY slow reading. I'm just not ready yet for performance on the verbal using it. I think i may reschedule to July 14th (The closest time still open), Take it then and feel much more prepared, and then apply and be complete mid-august-ish. That way I can finish tbr phase 3, finish tprh science workbook, and do some more FL's.

I really think I can break a 37 if I just get this crap down!

 

[kasho11]

It's ok nabile, I really choked on aamc 11. Just brush it off and know you're better than that. It's a bit late in the game to be changing up your strategies and you DEFINITELY SHOULD NOT put off your application just for a marginally higher mcat score (if you're hitting 34-35 now). Applying late is always a bad idea.

 

[nabilesmail]

It's ok nabile, I really choked on aamc 11. Just brush it off and know you're better than that. It's a bit late in the game to be changing up your strategies and you DEFINITELY SHOULD NOT put off your application just for a marginally higher mcat score (if you're hitting 34-35 now). Applying late is always a bad idea.

Haha too late! Well I was scoring an 8ish on verbal AND I really like this new strategy, I just need to practice anbd I wouldnt be done by may 31st. Its been tough cause I'm in a shadowing internship that is 45 hrs long this week. And I'm behind, so I already rescheduled for july 14th. Everyone on SDN says being complete mid august is fine so I think things we'll be okay and I'll be more confident on my mcat =]

 

[ridethecliche]

A lot of this test is mental, so if you like this strategy, you should def take the time to figure it out and get consistent.

Get more verbal resources if you need them.

I actually didn't finish phase 3. I just started doing some review and paper aamcs.

I did phase 3 for weak spots though. Be reasonable though. Aim high, but a 37 is an insane score. Youre going to set yourself up for failure if youre that numbers obsessed.

You got it though. Git it done and tcb!

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[levodopa]

11 on AAMC 5 PS. One question away from a 12.

Last week I was scoring sub-30, now I'm averaging 30+. My test is next Thursday. Hope I can keep this going!

 

[kasho11]

Damn you diablo 3, taking up 20 of the past 48 hours of my life. Ok - serious break time from it starting... soon. And study time again.

 

[ridethecliche]

So its almost test day huh...

This time tomorrow ill be beasting the ps section. Boo yah!

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[levodopa]

Finally getting the scores I want on PS. Feel like such a rockstar.

 

[breeniee]

Haha too late! Well I was scoring an 8ish on verbal AND I really like this new strategy, I just need to practice anbd I wouldnt be done by may 31st. Its been tough cause I'm in a shadowing internship that is 45 hrs long this week. And I'm behind, so I already rescheduled for july 14th. Everyone on SDN says being complete mid august is fine so I think things we'll be okay and I'll be more confident on my mcat =]

Woah can't believe you postponed by over a month! Were you following S2Ned's schedule? I think I remember that you were because you started a few threads about it (I think) right when I started studying too.

Anywho... I'm curious as to what new strategy you are using for Verbal.

 

[nabilesmail]

Woah can't believe you postponed by over a month! Were you following S2Ned's schedule? I think I remember that you were because you started a few threads about it (I think) right when I started studying too.

Anywho... I'm curious as to what new strategy you are using for Verbal.

Hahah, Yeah I actually started SN2 4 month schedule 1.3 months early (mid december). I just felt too stressed with stuff right now and wanted to do more. I probably could of scored my average of 33 if I just did it and just read the verbal and andswer ?'s. But I want to get this verbal strategy down because I think I have more potential to score higher than an 8-9. Also, July 14th was the next earliest date .

My strategy now will be to finish Phase 3 of TBR.
Finish AAMC 8,9,10,11 (Going to do these later though). I might do a GS exam every week or something just to keep timing familiar.

Start and Finish TPR scienceworkbook (can I finish this comfortable in a month?)

and practice verbal.
Its a very systematic strategy that focuses on mapping and question. PM verbalmadeeasy for the program. Its pricey but it honestly seems amazing and he shows you how an AAMC verbal passage and questions are written.

RidetheCliche, I am setting the standards high for my mcat score, I know haha, but nbetter higher than lower! And the reason I believe in myself is because my mistakes are generally careless rather than content (in the sciences). I feel if I can just mitigate that I will be fine!

Also, anyomne know when the self assessment packages are coming out??

 

[breeniee]

Ahh...makes sense. I began following SN2ed's schedule (Dunno why I keep spelling SN2ed wrong all the time btw...I guess I type so fast I keep mixing it up? blah!!!) too but then I kind of never rotated between subjects.... Haha...I just stuck with physics for some godforsaken reason and now I feel like I screwed myself over because physics alone took me 2 months to do. Oh well...all I can do now is move forward and figure out a better way to allocate my time.

I think since you have nothing else to do but take practice exams and do the 3rd phase of TBR, you can easily do TPR workbook questions. I did all of the physics TPR workbook questions the first time I took the MCAT 3 years ago and it literally took me 3 days to do them all so if you space it out, you'll have more than enough time to do it all.

Interesting idea behind the strategy. I'm not so sure about how I'm doing with verbal now. Maybe after I do a practice exam, I'll see if my method needs any changing.

As for the assessment packages it still says end of Spring. I hate when there's no exact release date.......

 

[Belle Melodie]

I've only taken Bio I and CHm I, alot to go before i start studying for the MCAT but all you guys are so inspiring! I hope that soon i can post on here and have some awesome practice grades like you guys!. Keep up the good work!

 

[ridethecliche]

Not happy with the bio today at all. I think it's going to be lower than my pre content review diagnostic score. Seriously...

Start reading a journal article every week in prep for this thing. It's the only way to be even close to ready.

 

[ridethecliche]

Alright. I'm outta hurr for a month.

I'll be back with my scores. Good luck to everyone currently studying.

 

[nabilesmail]

Not happy with the bio today at all. I think it's going to be lower than my pre content review diagnostic score. Seriously...

Start reading a journal article every week in prep for this thing. It's the only way to be even close to ready.

Any recommendations on where to read these journals. Most journals I've seen have like 5 pages of graphs and tables and wording I don't understand

I'm sure you did fine!!

 

[kasho11]

wow ok. have to stop playing diablo 3... gonna blow the 7 months of studying. One week from tomorrow and I need to take 2 aamcs still. Gonna go over 8 tomorrow, work out a little, wean myself off d3 and do half of kaplan 45. Other half on Friday. I'll take 10 on Saturday, review sunday. aamc 9 on monday. review tuesday + go over all wrong answers on kaplan/aamc. Final run-through of notecards, kaplan quick sheets, topics, and mistakes also tuesday. Wednesday relax, no diablo 3 allowed, movie, exercise, etc.

Random use and disuse of grammar and punctuation in that paragraph. Too crazy to care right now... I'm at the point where I don't think I'll score as high as I wanted.. keep making some silly mistakes that I can't seem to get rid of. Verbal is random, practice scores from 11-15 so I'm just hoping to get lucky. PS I want to hit 14 on the real deal, I'll be ecstatic. BS I'll be super happy with at least a 13. I'm aiming for a 40 and I know it's kind of crazy and unnecessary, but it would make these past 7 months feel so worth it. As long as I stay around my aamc average I'll be happy, unless its more than 2 points lower in which case I'll retake.

Choked on aamc 11 and I refuse to let that happen on the real thing. Time for the sprint to the finish line, the last week of what seemed to be a never ending journey. I will hopefully be done with this thing after next week and will be able to relax until I apply in 2013. No one else understands exactly what the mcat is like and the work some people put in. This was my only support base from similar students and it has been a great source of stress relief.

Plan on reporting back every day about what I've done, gotta have someone to report to because with diablo 3 around I am a mess. Good luck to all of you with everything you are doing.

 

[osprey099]

wow ok. have to stop playing diablo 3... gonna blow the 7 months of studying. One week from tomorrow and I need to take 2 aamcs still. Gonna go over 8 tomorrow, work out a little, wean myself off d3 and do half of kaplan 45. Other half on Friday. I'll take 10 on Saturday, review sunday. aamc 9 on monday. review tuesday + go over all wrong answers on kaplan/aamc. Final run-through of notecards, kaplan quick sheets, topics, and mistakes also tuesday. Wednesday relax, no diablo 3 allowed, movie, exercise, etc.

Random use and disuse of grammar and punctuation in that paragraph. Too crazy to care right now... I'm at the point where I don't think I'll score as high as I wanted.. keep making some silly mistakes that I can't seem to get rid of. Verbal is random, practice scores from 11-15 so I'm just hoping to get lucky. PS I want to hit 14 on the real deal, I'll be ecstatic. BS I'll be super happy with at least a 13. I'm aiming for a 40 and I know it's kind of crazy and unnecessary, but it would make these past 7 months feel so worth it. As long as I stay around my aamc average I'll be happy, unless its more than 2 points lower in which case I'll retake.

Choked on aamc 11 and I refuse to let that happen on the real thing. Time for the sprint to the finish line, the last week of what seemed to be a never ending journey. I will hopefully be done with this thing after next week and will be able to relax until I apply in 2013. No one else understands exactly what the mcat is like and the work some people put in. This was my only support base from similar students and it has been a great source of stress relief.

Plan on reporting back every day about what I've done, gotta have someone to report to because with diablo 3 around I am a mess. Good luck to all of you with everything you are doing.

Lol dude just give your CD to your parents or something haha

 

[nabilesmail]

wow ok. have to stop playing diablo 3... gonna blow the 7 months of studying. One week from tomorrow and I need to take 2 aamcs still. Gonna go over 8 tomorrow, work out a little, wean myself off d3 and do half of kaplan 45. Other half on Friday. I'll take 10 on Saturday, review sunday. aamc 9 on monday. review tuesday + go over all wrong answers on kaplan/aamc. Final run-through of notecards, kaplan quick sheets, topics, and mistakes also tuesday. Wednesday relax, no diablo 3 allowed, movie, exercise, etc.

Random use and disuse of grammar and punctuation in that paragraph. Too crazy to care right now... I'm at the point where I don't think I'll score as high as I wanted.. keep making some silly mistakes that I can't seem to get rid of. Verbal is random, practice scores from 11-15 so I'm just hoping to get lucky. PS I want to hit 14 on the real deal, I'll be ecstatic. BS I'll be super happy with at least a 13. I'm aiming for a 40 and I know it's kind of crazy and unnecessary, but it would make these past 7 months feel so worth it. As long as I stay around my aamc average I'll be happy, unless its more than 2 points lower in which case I'll retake.

Choked on aamc 11 and I refuse to let that happen on the real thing. Time for the sprint to the finish line, the last week of what seemed to be a never ending journey. I will hopefully be done with this thing after next week and will be able to relax until I apply in 2013. No one else understands exactly what the mcat is like and the work some people put in. This was my only support base from similar students and it has been a great source of stress relief.

Plan on reporting back every day about what I've done, gotta have someone to report to because with diablo 3 around I am a mess. Good luck to all of you with everything you are doing.

You can do it! I know I'm so tempted to buy D3, and was plkanning on playing it over the summer with my friends. \But since I postponed, I don't think I'll buy it until the end of summer! I'm kind of glad, I'll also have 7 months of studying done by the time I take my MCAT. How is the kaplan 45 btw? I think I need to find more resources to do haha

 

[tigerpremed]

wow ok. have to stop playing diablo 3... gonna blow the 7 months of studying. One week from tomorrow and I need to take 2 aamcs still. Gonna go over 8 tomorrow, work out a little, wean myself off d3 and do half of kaplan 45. Other half on Friday. I'll take 10 on Saturday, review sunday. aamc 9 on monday. review tuesday + go over all wrong answers on kaplan/aamc. Final run-through of notecards, kaplan quick sheets, topics, and mistakes also tuesday. Wednesday relax, no diablo 3 allowed, movie, exercise, etc.

Random use and disuse of grammar and punctuation in that paragraph. Too crazy to care right now... I'm at the point where I don't think I'll score as high as I wanted.. keep making some silly mistakes that I can't seem to get rid of. Verbal is random, practice scores from 11-15 so I'm just hoping to get lucky. PS I want to hit 14 on the real deal, I'll be ecstatic. BS I'll be super happy with at least a 13. I'm aiming for a 40 and I know it's kind of crazy and unnecessary, but it would make these past 7 months feel so worth it. As long as I stay around my aamc average I'll be happy, unless its more than 2 points lower in which case I'll retake.

Choked on aamc 11 and I refuse to let that happen on the real thing. Time for the sprint to the finish line, the last week of what seemed to be a never ending journey. I will hopefully be done with this thing after next week and will be able to relax until I apply in 2013. No one else understands exactly what the mcat is like and the work some people put in. This was my only support base from similar students and it has been a great source of stress relief.

Plan on reporting back every day about what I've done, gotta have someone to report to because with diablo 3 around I am a mess. Good luck to all of you with everything you are doing.

kasho11: I'm also planning on studying for that long of a time (taking it in January, and I want to start prepping in the summer because I won't be able to do too intensive of studying while taking classes), and I was wondering how you kind of broke things up? I want to study effectively so that I don't forget all the things I learned in the first month when I go to take the MCAT. Any tips are much appreciated! Good luck btw

 

[LaurenMarie]

Hey everyone

So I started the SN2ed schedule a week ago (I modified it and took all break days out.. Bad idea, I know) and I'm already getting really discouraged. Reviewing content from EK bio then trying to do TBR passages is destroying me. Did anyone else experience this? Oh, and did your passage scores remain about the same all throughout content review? Or did you start to get better at reading/answering the passages in general?

 

[nabilesmail]

kasho11: I'm also planning on studying for that long of a time (taking it in January, and I want to start prepping in the summer because I won't be able to do too intensive of studying while taking classes), and I was wondering how you kind of broke things up? I want to study effectively so that I don't forget all the things I learned in the first month when I go to take the MCAT. Any tips are much appreciated! Good luck btw

I don't think you should do that long of a stretch IF you can't study a decent amount once school starts.

If you prep during summer hardcore, and then are only able to put in say 10 hrs/week I think you might forget more than you learn come January. I put in about 20-30 hrs/week during school. 3 hrs/day weekday and 5-8 hrs/day weekend. If you can do that, then it could be to your advantage to prep over summer+school

 

[ridethecliche]

Hey everyone

So I started the SN2ed schedule a week ago (I modified it and took all break days out.. Bad idea, I know) and I'm already getting really discouraged. Reviewing content from EK bio then trying to do TBR passages is destroying me. Did anyone else experience this? Oh, and did your passage scores remain about the same all throughout content review? Or did you start to get better at reading/answering the passages in general?

There are a reason that there are break days. You need them.

You should improve on passages when you do the different phases. The point, however, is to learn from your mistakes and improve on cbt's. If your test scores are increasing steadily, then keep doing what you're doing.

 

[kasho11]

Lol dude just give your CD to your parents or something haha

I think I might have to. I'm in the library now thank goodness, but I did wake up early and play for like 3 hours

You can do it! I know I'm so tempted to buy D3, and was plkanning on playing it over the summer with my friends. \But since I postponed, I don't think I'll buy it until the end of summer! I'm kind of glad, I'll also have 7 months of studying done by the time I take my MCAT. How is the kaplan 45 btw? I think I need to find more resources to do haha

Thanks man, I originally said if I hit my target score on a practice test I get to play D3 when it comes out. It may have been a bad idea. But honestly I was pretty burnt out from all the studying and I know all the material I'm just getting tripped up on some passage and reading errors still. I will let you know how Kaplan 45 is before I take the test and after, I ran through one of the passages and it seemed very intense. I think it will desensitize me to harder passages on the real thing so I can just focus and think about what they're asking. The shock value of AAMC 11 messed me up, but going back and looking at the questions and passages they were all pretty simple.

kasho11: I'm also planning on studying for that long of a time (taking it in January, and I want to start prepping in the summer because I won't be able to do too intensive of studying while taking classes), and I was wondering how you kind of broke things up? I want to study effectively so that I don't forget all the things I learned in the first month when I go to take the MCAT. Any tips are much appreciated! Good luck btw

I only studied for that long because I did little to no work in my pre-req courses and had to teach the material to myself. It was a struggle at first because most of it felt like new stuff or stuff that I recognized but didn't understand. I started by going through TPRH books, reading through them while taking detailed notes and going through the workbook rather haphazardly. I then started doing the Kaplan book series and online materials which took me about 2 months until I felt really comfortable with them. I then went back and thoroughly did every single question in TPRH science workbook. I also took a Kaplan practice test every week (1-9) and then started the AAMCs.

After my initial read through of TPRH I took the Kaplan diagnostic and got a 24. After working with Kaplan materials I took Kaplan FL #1 and got 30. I said to myself I really need to study and work harder at this point because it wasn't where I wanted to be and I knew Kaplan had a much more forgiving curve (although they had harder questions).

I'm actually scoring higher on the aamcs than on the Kaplan, but that is also probably because I used Kaplan during my content review. I've basically taken a full week off from studying but this was right after finals too so I think I needed it. Going over 8 feels pretty good, few reading mistakes that I will clean up for 10 on Saturday.

 

[tigerpremed]

I don't think you should do that long of a stretch IF you can't study a decent amount once school starts.

If you prep during summer hardcore, and then are only able to put in say 10 hrs/week I think you might forget more than you learn come January. I put in about 20-30 hrs/week during school. 3 hrs/day weekday and 5-8 hrs/day weekend. If you can do that, then it could be to your advantage to prep over summer+school

Gahh....finally someone says it's okay to prep for that long. All I've read is never study for 5+ months, but people do it all the time and do incredibly well. If there was a better option for me, I'd be doing it! I hope to be doing that amount of hours during the school year, and I just think starting now will help me out a lot once that time comes.

I only studied for that long because I did little to no work in my pre-req courses and had to teach the material to myself. It was a struggle at first because most of it felt like new stuff or stuff that I recognized but didn't understand. I started by going through TPRH books, reading through them while taking detailed notes and going through the workbook rather haphazardly. I then started doing the Kaplan book series and online materials which took me about 2 months until I felt really comfortable with them. I then went back and thoroughly did every single question in TPRH science workbook. I also took a Kaplan practice test every week (1-9) and then started the AAMCs.

After my initial read through of TPRH I took the Kaplan diagnostic and got a 24. After working with Kaplan materials I took Kaplan FL #1 and got 30. I said to myself I really need to study and work harder at this point because it wasn't where I wanted to be and I knew Kaplan had a much more forgiving curve (although they had harder questions).

I'm actually scoring higher on the aamcs than on the Kaplan, but that is also probably because I used Kaplan during my content review. I've basically taken a full week off from studying but this was right after finals too so I think I needed it. Going over 8 feels pretty good, few reading mistakes that I will clean up for 10 on Saturday.

thanks kasho! I have EK, TBR, and TPRH so I'm going to kind of play around for the next week or two to see how I like to study the subjects best, and then I'm going to hit the books hard! Do you remember how much the Kaplan FLs are?

 

[kasho11]

No I don't sorry. I did a course, which was worthless - but the online materials were good, included all the aamcs. People seem to really like EK, but personally I feel like seeing the material from multiple points of view is the best way to do it.

 

[kasho11]

AAMC 10 went pretty well, I finally broke 12 in bio, I actually got all the bio questions right and missed several o-chem. AAMC 9 today, I'm debating whether I should go to a public place like starbucks and deal with some minor distraction so I feel more comfortable with many other people around - or just take it in silence at home. Gotta work on Kaplan 45 at night and tomorrow. Sprint to the finish.

 

[nabilesmail]

Good Luck Kasho, remember to break the day before!

I'll be starting the SWB in a few days since I'm almost done with TBR Phase 3. I also bought all the GS tests so I would have extra cbt's to do. My plan

Finish TBR Phase 3 within the next week or so.

Finish TBR3 and TBR4 before they expire on May 31st.

Start TPRH SWB and finish within 3 weeks (15 passages a day, I think there are like 240 passages). I'm also going to take 1-2 GS tests every week until 2-3 weeks before my TEST (July 14th) in which I will take AAMC 8,9,10,11 and the Mcat survival Guide.

I'll also do the AAMC6R passages within the next few weeks.

I'm hoping the self assessment package will come out soon too.

By the time I'm done for my mcat I'll have done.

all of TBR
all of TPRH (including SWB, Verbal workbook, the 12 or so questions after each Bio chapter, and the 20 or so online Bio passages)
2/3 of all EK1001
all of EK1001 Bio
all of EK101 verbal
all the EK Bio 30 min exams
8 GS Tests
5 TBR tests
8 AAMC tests
AAMC survival guide


What more can I do!

By the way Kasho, how did you feel about forgetting content. I'm starting to feel rusty, as in I was better at certain topics in the beginning. For example I took physics 1 during fall semester, and started content review right after that and felt hella strong in it. Now, I feel like I still know it, but am not as much of a wiz in it and more complex problems phase me, and I take longer to solve them :/

 

[kasho11]

Thanks man, yeah I'm starting to worry about certain topics that I may have forgotten. There are 285 passages I think in TPRH. Because I took a practice test every week while also working on content I was weak on, I was able to keep everything pretty fresh because I was getting questions from every topic. But then there will be a discrete or a pseudo-discrete that I will have forgotten or not know. But there will always be some stuff you don't know.

It's relatively impossible to be a whiz at every subject. But if you know some stuff more thoroughly you can spend less time on those and use the extra time for the difficult ones. Your new test date is still a ways off, but taking all those practice tests and TPRH passages should keep everything fresh. I took much longer to finish the TPRH book than I planned - it can drive you into the ground if you work it too much too quickly.

Going to review AAMC 9 tonight, review the rest of the topics I have to cover. Tomorrow I'm going to finish Kaplan 45 and review it, plus review Kaplan notecards and TPR question packet, basically a packet form of notecards.

I'm not feeling bad, but I really don't feel like I can hit my target score on the test, just keep making "simple" mistakes.. maybe on test day I'll be extremely focused and won't make them, but who knows. Can't do anything but read carefully and critically.

 

[ridethecliche]

Positive thinking.

You will not make careless mistakes now or on test day.

Test day isn't some magical thing. The adrenaline is as good as it is bad. Dial it in when you practice so it's second nature when you test.

You have to balance practice passages and practice tests with doing too much and burning yourself out. Remember to give yourself time to chill out and relax.

 

[kasho11]

You're right, I was going to try and finish all 35 passages of Kaplan 45 but I think I'll be happy with about half that.

I did well on AAMC 9 but not quite where I wanted. I took it in Starbucks because a) the library was closed today and b) I wanted to take it in a pretty distracting environment so test day will feel very quiet. Pretty much all reading errors, one question I didn't know, rest I misinterpreted the question or missed stuff from the passage. Kaplan 45 tomorrow to get me into super mcat robot ready to destroy those impossible-seeming passages.

I know so much **** atm - I can't wait to memory dump after the mcat... although I need a job to make some extra cash so I'm gonna apply to Kaplan soon. Not to sound mean but it will feel good to (hopefully) be done with it and watch other kids suffer. MOSTLY kidding, I will enjoy helping kids tackle this beast of a test, but I won't feel too bad for them having to study for it.

 

[ridethecliche]

You're right, I was going to try and finish all 35 passages of Kaplan 45 but I think I'll be happy with about half that.

I did well on AAMC 9 but not quite where I wanted. I took it in Starbucks because a) the library was closed today and b) I wanted to take it in a pretty distracting environment so test day will feel very quiet. Pretty much all reading errors, one question I didn't know, rest I misinterpreted the question or missed stuff from the passage. Kaplan 45 tomorrow to get me into super mcat robot ready to destroy those impossible-seeming passages.

I know so much **** atm - I can't wait to memory dump after the mcat... although I need a job to make some extra cash so I'm gonna apply to Kaplan soon. Not to sound mean but it will feel good to (hopefully) be done with it and watch other kids suffer. MOSTLY kidding, I will enjoy helping kids tackle this beast of a test, but I won't feel too bad for them having to study for it.

A lot of the test is about question interpretation. Figure out where you're going wrong.

Knowing the right answer doesn't help if you can't figure out what the question is asking. The BS is getting crazy for that stuff. I was scratching my head a lot...

I agree with a thread on here that said you should diagram any cascades etc. I think that advice would have really helped me keep things straight. Reading the passage actively like that is a great idea. Try to practice that. I wish I had. Seriously.

 

[kasho11]

Somewhat disappointed so far with kaplan 45. The questions aren't that passage based, some are difficult, some are still pretty easy. About to do some of the verbal/bio passages and hoping for some difficult and scary looking passages.

 

[nabilesmail]

Ridethecliche, is it like that passage that the guy posted in the Bio topic. Like, very molecular Bio/Genetic cascade heavy. If so I think I'll read more abstracts and map them!

 

[breeniee]

So... I'm finally about to wrap up all my content review from TBR (with the exception of Biology) and HOLY S***! It's so much material! I have 3 chapters of Orgo left, 1 chapter of chem, and 1 chapter of physics left but I feel like I'm going through information overload and I'm not done. To top it off I haven't even opened up Bio since 6 months ago.

I thought I studied as best as I could in Physics, Chem, and Orgo but right now I feel as though there's too many things to remember. So many concepts, equations, and exceptions. Yes, I know a good amount of it through the practice I've done as I did my content review but after every new topic I learn, I forget a little of the topic before. It's come to the point where I feel like I only know/remember 50% of what I studied so far.

Did/do you guys feel the same way when you were almost done with your content review? If so, what did you guys do? Did you reread all your notes until you were sure you brushed up on everything before taking practice FLs? Or did you guys just start immediately taking FL's after your initial content review and review the topics that you got wrong instead?

I'm just feeling pretty overwhelmed right now and insecure about how much information I actually retained from all this so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kasho11]

I did an initial content review and then started taking Kaplan FLs while doing a second, more thorough content review. I only finished this secondary content review a few weeks ago so most things are still pretty fresh, though I didn't focus much on O-Chem and I just hope it doesn't bite me in the ass. I find most of the MCAT topics at least fairly interesting, really could care less about gringard and wittig and reactions like that.

I've taken 3 biochem classes so I'm just praying some metabolism or carbohydrate stuff shows up for the o-chem section.

 

[SaintJude]

Kasho11, you're still at it? Good luck. I took it earlier this month--one major advice I have is save your essay every 5 minutes.

Nabilesmail--yes, Kasho11 is right! Best thing I did was calm my mind. I wrote "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me" and it helped me a lot--find a strategy that will help you as well. You'll be happy to know VR was easiest I've seen than all other AAMCs, but only my score will confirm if that was indeed true.

 

[osprey099]

I did an initial content review and then started taking Kaplan FLs while doing a second, more thorough content review. I only finished this secondary content review a few weeks ago so most things are still pretty fresh, though I didn't focus much on O-Chem and I just hope it doesn't bite me in the ass. I find most of the MCAT topics at least fairly interesting, really could care less about gringard and wittig and reactions like that.

I've taken 3 biochem classes so I'm just praying some metabolism or carbohydrate stuff shows up for the o-chem section.

Man, I'm exactly the opposite. If only the MCAT BS had more orgo than bio, I would smile a lot more.

 

[kasho11]

Haha thanks Jude, I will remember to do that. Also I don't care what anyone says - I am going to cram some O-chem stuff that I don't know today. I know everything else solid but I'm going to go over some reactions and procedures that I haven't looked at in months. Other than that, I will relax.



Wow today doesn't feel real - I actually take the real mcat tomorrow? So weird...

I will definitely post my thoughts and feelings regarding the actual mcat tomorrow.

 

[nabilesmail]

Kasho I got d3! I hope I can balance the game with studying+volunteering+gf + gym! Lol

 

[kasho11]

Well I have a pretty addictive personality so I'm glad it came out near the end of my mcat studying, but you should be fine. I'm gonna try to balance it this summer with research, volunteering, studying, gym, applying for jobs, and trying to find a girlfriend lol. As long as you put your priorities in the right order The bro priority for that list would be gym->D3->GF->studying->volunteering

 

[MedPR]

wow ok. have to stop playing diablo 3... gonna blow the 7 months of studying. One week from tomorrow and I need to take 2 aamcs still. Gonna go over 8 tomorrow, work out a little, wean myself off d3 and do half of kaplan 45. Other half on Friday. I'll take 10 on Saturday, review sunday. aamc 9 on monday. review tuesday + go over all wrong answers on kaplan/aamc. Final run-through of notecards, kaplan quick sheets, topics, and mistakes also tuesday. Wednesday relax, no diablo 3 allowed, movie, exercise, etc.

Random use and disuse of grammar and punctuation in that paragraph. Too crazy to care right now... I'm at the point where I don't think I'll score as high as I wanted.. keep making some silly mistakes that I can't seem to get rid of. Verbal is random, practice scores from 11-15 so I'm just hoping to get lucky. PS I want to hit 14 on the real deal, I'll be ecstatic. BS I'll be super happy with at least a 13. I'm aiming for a 40 and I know it's kind of crazy and unnecessary, but it would make these past 7 months feel so worth it. As long as I stay around my aamc average I'll be happy, unless its more than 2 points lower in which case I'll retake.

Choked on aamc 11 and I refuse to let that happen on the real thing. Time for the sprint to the finish line, the last week of what seemed to be a never ending journey. I will hopefully be done with this thing after next week and will be able to relax until I apply in 2013. No one else understands exactly what the mcat is like and the work some people put in. This was my only support base from similar students and it has been a great source of stress relief.

Plan on reporting back every day about what I've done, gotta have someone to report to because with diablo 3 around I am a mess. Good luck to all of you with everything you are doing.

I'll PM you my address and pay for the shipping

My girlfriend knows all about my middle school/high school addiction to diablo, diablo2, and the expansion, so she wasn't happy when I told her that D3 was being released earlier this month. I've only played the starter pack though, since I don't want it to affect my ability to fill out secondaries and prepare for interviews. I'm the kind of person who can avoid something I really like/want, but once it's in my possession I'm screwed. That's why I don't have any junk food in my apartment because once I have it, it gets eaten within a day or two. Diablo is a lifetime of addiction though.. bad news!

The day I received my first acceptance is the day I buy D3 and gain 20 pounds.

 

[nabilesmail]

Hahaha Ihave an addictive personality too which is why I'm on student doc so much, was on collegeconfidential for college. etc but I think I've gotten better in terms of game addiction :]


And it will be well earned MedPr

 

[osprey099]

I never thought I would say this but I feel addicted to studying for the MCAT. I'm currently in my 3rd week studying and have been studying on average, 5-6 hours a day. I really do feel like a MCAT-a-holic lol

 

[ridethecliche]

I never thought I would say this but I feel addicted to studying for the MCAT. I'm currently in my 3rd week studying and have been studying on average, 5-6 hours a day. I really do feel like a MCAT-a-holic lol

Welcome to the club.

And no. This is not for recovery.

I suppose one should make an MCAT-Anonymous thread for that are recovering.

 

[kasho11]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


Ok - but seriously. ****. A bunch of questions I was unsure of, several questions that I switched at the last minute, for no real reason, probably wrong.


That honestly felt pretty easy overall, except for a bunch of questions that I really wasn't sure on. I OF COURSE get the ONE SINGLE MINI TOPIC in PS that I didn't want. I am pretty solid on EVERYTHING ELSE IN PS except this one little topic and I get a whole passage based off of it. Bah. The rest of PS felt pretty easy, nothing crazy, few questions I wasn't sure on. Had ~10 min left to work on hard problems. Verbal felt a bit tougher than usual, not much, several questions I was unsure of, not happy, went down to the wire and changed answer last second. BS made up for the PS topic by being mostly really easy. I got several passages I was used to, one passage that I swear I have seen directly from a practice test or book somewhere... an easy biochem passage, and all the ocher except for 1 discrete felt easy.


With that said, I was aiming for a 40. I feel like I could end up anywhere from 28-42. This might sound bad but if I get a 35 or below I will probably retake. That's just how I feel personally. My aamc average was around 38, dropped mostly by aamc 11. I am honestly kind of hoping for a 29 so I can retake... I don't feel that bad about the test, but I kind of wanted to void, we'll see. Thankfully I am not applying until next cycle so I can retake if I need to.

Anyways, done with it for now. Taking a much needed break from studying for a while, drinking and getting dinner with the family now, diablo 3 and fun stuff coming up. GL to all of you guys with your studying and girlfriends and diablo killing.

 

[nabilesmail]

Wow Great Job Kasho! I'm really rooting for you! Any advice?

What were your last AAMC scores if you don't mind me askinmg?

 

[kasho11]

Thanks me too haha. Knowing a bunch of random details on the topics can help, but high yield topics are high yield. The questions I was most unsure about were the passage based ones, because there wasn't always a clear answer, due to ambiguity in the answers. You need to be able to think carefully but you also have to shoot from the hip and just pick an answer and move on. Getting bogged down on any question will screw you over. I marked about 5-10 per section but I didn't end up having time to look at all of them.

But I'm really not sure how I did, I feel pretty bad now but I'm still hopeful for a good score. I got 39 on aamc 9, 38 on aamc 10, and like I said I choked on 11 and got a 33.




Oh also, definitely answer the discrete questions first. It can not only free up time for the passages, but it also lets you skip through the whole test and you can get a feel for all the passages. So on Bio I saved the hard passage for last.

 

[ridethecliche]

The bio was a mindf*ck right?