The Official 04/13/2012 MCAT Thread

[jevo]

It's about time we had an official thread, seeing how our mcat is less than a month away.

I'm getting ready for my first practice test on Saturday or Sunday. How is everyone else coming along?

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[jlescher]

BR CBT 3 = (13-15) / (11-12) / 8 REALLY!!!??? I'm just going to laugh off that bio score and move the hell on.

 

[psychkub]

BR CBT 3 = (13-15) / (11-12) / 8 REALLY!!!??? I'm just going to laugh off that bio score and move the hell on.

That's anomalous given your AAMC performances. I'd also pay no attention to it.

...

On a different note, I've been consistently getting 9s on EK101 Verbal, but today I was one question away from a 10. I hate it when you're only one question away from a higher score.

 

[hkm]

I hate it when you're only one question away from a higher score.

SERIOUSLY. took a test the other day... one question away from higher score on each section. sooo frustrating

 

[bajastapler]

At this point all we can do is stay positive

 

[jlescher]

Took another BR bio section last night and got a 9. They are extremely orgo heavy, the first one and 3 passages + discrete Qs and the second had 2 + discrete Qs. They are good practice but I don't think they are like AAMC at all. Much harder and require a great deal of background knowledge. One of the discrete questions required knowing 4 interactions between hormones and phase initiations of the menstrual cycle. What is initiated by high levels of progesterone and the relative levels of LH and FSH at that time?

 

[jlescher]

I have also bee working on the EK 101 VR book and my scores are all over the place three 9s, one 10, one 11 and a 12 so far (not in that order, I wish they were).

 

[whoami90]

hey guys, new to the thread and also taking it on the 13th

i've done a round of content review and have been taken 3 AAMCs in the last couple weeks
AAMC #7: 10/14/10 (34)
AAMC #8: 10/10/11 (31)
AAMC #5: 10/12/10 (32)

at this point, do you guys think i should squeeze in some more content review? or just do a ton of passages (I have BR/EK)

i'd be happy with a score in the low 30s but i would love to get to mid 30s.

good luck with your studying!!

 

[brandonh4]

hey guys, new to the thread and also taking it on the 13th

i've done a round of content review and have been taken 3 AAMCs in the last couple weeks
AAMC #7: 10/14/10 (34)
AAMC #8: 10/10/11 (31)
AAMC #5: 10/12/10 (32)

at this point, do you guys think i should squeeze in some more content review? or just do a ton of passages (I have BR/EK)

i'd be happy with a score in the low 30s but i would love to get to mid 30s.

good luck with your studying!!

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. Average like 33.5 over 4 AAMC's. At this point, going to work on doing some of the phase 3's for BR and content review of the stuff I don't know.

 

[jlescher]

Just got done with AAMC 10 = 36! 12/11/13 Ready as I'll ever be. I just want to get this thing over with.

 

[jlescher]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. Average like 33.5 over 4 AAMC's. At this point, going to work on doing some of the phase 3's for BR and content review of the stuff I don't know.

Do passages and review the content that is relevant to what you get wrong. I have done all but one of the AAMC tests and there are consistent concepts they test on EVERY exam. Know those. I haven't taken the real thing yet but I can imagine there are certain concepts they like to test given the consistency of the practice exams.

I am also noticing that I get a considerable number of questions correct not because I know the right answer, but because I know what makes the others wrong. I think this is happening due to the overall volume of questions I have done. I did all of my content review in parallel with tests and questions and it seems to be working well. We will see on test day if I'm right.

 

[pfaction]

Just got done with AAMC 10 = 36! 12/11/13 Ready as I'll ever be. I just want to get this thing over with.

Ridiculously delicious; good luck. If I may ask you, what methods are you using, how have you been scoring so far?

 

[jlescher]

Ridiculously delicious; good luck. If I may ask you, what methods are you using, how have you been scoring so far?

I posted my AAMC scores for 3-7 on the first page of this thread and I gave a summery of my study habits about 2 posts above yours. I have done a ton of questions and passages. All EK content books (30 min tests) + their free CBT, 2 kaplans + their online quizzes and a few tests, 2 BR CBTs, and the AAMCs. I am about half way through the EK VR book and it seems to help. Mostly to help me read faster and make decisions quicker. Initially I was getting 29s, after I got through all the content I was getting around 33s and after some EK VR and BR CBTS I just got the 36.

 

[jlescher]

Sorry EK wasn't a CBT, it was a paper test.

 

[Realistic]

Do passages and review the content that is relevant to what you get wrong. I have done all but one of the AAMC tests and there are consistent concepts they test on EVERY exam. Know those. I haven't taken the real thing yet but I can imagine there are certain concepts they like to test given the consistency of the practice exams.

I am also noticing that I get a considerable number of questions correct not because I know the right answer, but because I know what makes the others wrong. I think this is happening due to the overall volume of questions I have done. I did all of my content review in parallel with tests and questions and it seems to be working well. We will see on test day if I'm right.

Congratulations! You sound ready!

I ended up pushing my MCAT back to May, so I hope to be where you are in about a month. Great work!

 

[jevo]

Unfortunately I'm jumping ship the the July 6th crew bros. I wanted to take it in June, but no spots available . I'm pushing it back so that my score is good enough for Harvard.../bertstare

Good luck on the test guys. And hopefully you guys only have to take it once.

 

[jlescher]

Thanks for the encouraging words, good luck with your test.

 

[psychkub]

AAMC3 PS9 VR8 BS10 - 27
AAMC4 PS12 VR7 BS13 - 32
AAMC5 PS12 VR9 BS12 - 33
AAMC6 PS9 VR8 BS12 - 29
AAMC7 PS9 VR8 BS10 - 27
AAMC8 PS12 VR8 BS11 - 31

This is a nice change of pace given I scored below 30 on AAMC6 and 7.

Verbal is going to be the death of me. Nothing I'm doing is helping. I have 8 more EK101 exams left. Here's hoping something clicks between now and then.

 

[Doctre]

Progress so far:
01/01 Princeton Review practice test 1 7/7/9 23
02/12 Princeton Review practice test 2 5/9/7 21
03/03 AAMC 8 12/11/11 34
03/22 Princeton Review practice test 3 11/9/10 30
03/26 AAMC 7 11/10/12 33
03/30 AAMC 9 12/11/12 35
04/03 AAMC 5 11/10/13 34
04/04 AAMC 4 12/11/12 35
04/06 AAMC 11 Last practice test before the real thing.
04/13 The real thing.

Started out with minimum content review since I though I could get by with just doing discretes and passages. BIG MISTAKE on my part. My test taking skills got better by working the questions, but I lacked the basic MCAT science knowledge to do well, so I went back to the books and studied the with the EK books for content review. The scores have gone up tremendously in a couple weeks, but I can't seem to make them budge anymore. The questions I am missing are about 50% dumb error due to fatique and 50% due to not understanding certain concepts.

What do you guys suggest that I do for the upcoming week? More content review? More passages? do nothing?

 

[virtuoso735]

Just finished AAMC #10. PS felt around the same difficulty as 11, but verbal, and BS was definitely easier on AAMC 10. I got a 35 (11 PS, 12 V, 12 BS). If I can get that on my actual test, I would be beyond ecstatic!

Is it just me, or is the curve on the verbal for CBT 10 ridiculous? The section felt easy, but how can missing 3 questions out of 40 get you only get you a 12?!

 

[Melomare17]

Just finished AAMC #10. PS felt around the same difficulty as 11, but verbal, and BS was definitely easier on AAMC 10. I got a 35 (11 PS, 12 V, 12 BS). If I can get that on my actual test, I would be beyond ecstatic!

Is it just me, or is the curve on the verbal for CBT 10 ridiculous? The section felt easy, but how can missing 3 questions out of 40 get you only get you a 12?!

good job! yea LOL the VR curves are pretty steep, even on the real thing

 

[pfaction]

Just finished AAMC #10. PS felt around the same difficulty as 11, but verbal, and BS was definitely easier on AAMC 10. I got a 35 (11 PS, 12 V, 12 BS). If I can get that on my actual test, I would be beyond ecstatic!

Ridiculously awesome, man. I wish you get it too!

 

[virtuoso735]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Our studying is going to pay off, I just know it!

 

[COTA2Phys]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Our studying is going to pay off, I just know it!

 

[whoami90]

AAMC #7: 10/14/10 (34)
AAMC #8: 10/10/11 (31)
AAMC #5: 10/12/10 (32)

and now today..
AAMC#10: 12/10/11 (33)

nice change in PS after a few days of intense chem review... but wtf is going on with my verbal scores?
really want to make it to mid 30s.. 6 days to go! good luck everyone!

 

[larynlove]

my score went up i'm so happy about that with the mcat a week away.
but today i went through the questions and saw there were 5 questions in the PS that I knew but idk what happened that i got them wrong! and 7 in the biology that i knew, also. that would have shot my score up 4 more points!!!! stupid mistakes!!!

so in this last week, what should i do? review, take practice tests to eliminate these little mistakes? what are you guys planning on this last week?

 

[psychkub]

so in this last week, what should i do? review, take practice tests to eliminate these little mistakes? what are you guys planning on this last week?

Congrats on the score increase. I still have AAMC10 and 11 to take. I just took AAMC9 yesterday. I plan on taking those in two day intervals, so take one one day and review it the next day. In between, I plan on going over all of the previous AAMCs I've taken and paying special attention to things I missed, which most likely indicate weaknesses of mine. I also plan on doing a crapload of verbal passages from EK, because my verbal needs to improve like as of two weeks ago!

As I mentioned, I took AAMC9 yesterday. I graded it today, aaaaaaand:

PS12 VR11 BS13 - 36!!!!!

That's my highest score yet! I'm baffled at the verbal, especially since I ran out of time and guessed on a couple of the questions on the last passage. I guess it was luck. Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic. I've never gotten anything that high. I hope I can keep the momentum for AAMC10 and 11 and the real thing.

 

[psychkub]

AAMC #7: 10/14/10 (34)
AAMC #8: 10/10/11 (31)
AAMC #5: 10/12/10 (32)

and now today..
AAMC#10: 12/10/11 (33)

nice change in PS after a few days of intense chem review... but wtf is going on with my verbal scores?
really want to make it to mid 30s.. 6 days to go! good luck everyone!

I hear ya, my verbal is all over the place too, I've learned to just not fight it and just go with the flow, since it will boil down to luck. There will be passages that you can easily read, and others where you'll read a paragraph and have no clue what you just read. All your verbals are still great, I would't stress. You're doing great

 

[virtuoso735]

Why is this thread so slow? Are there just fewer people taking it on 4/13?

 

[Melomare17]

Why is this thread so slow? Are there just fewer people taking it on 4/13?

looks like it on here but not sure why lol. i think many want to take it the last date possible in order to get scores back in time before applying as soon as application cycle opens in june--end of april you'll find out by end of may/first few days of june latest so that's probably why.

 

[Melomare17]

also anyone taking it this Friday want to join on skype group to go over any concepts/questions live (without having to post and waiting til someone answers?) PM me

 

[larynlove]

i'm 2 points away from my goal. what's the best approach so I can make my goal by friday? please i would like optimistic responses

 

[psychkub]

Just got my score for AAMC10

PS12 VR10 BS13

I was one question away from a higher score in both PS and BS. I screamed at the computer, lol.

larynlove, I would just go over the problems you've gotten incorrect on previous MCATs, they're obviously weak areas, so what better way to improve your chances of getting extra points then to strengthen your weaknesses? At least, that's what I've been doing and my scores have gone up 2 or 3 points in a matter of days.

Either way, good luck!

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

Just finished AAMC 6 and my score tanked. So far:

AAMC3 PS9 VR8 BS10
AAMC4 PS12 VR7 BS13
AAMC5 PS12 VR9 BS12
AAMC6 PS9 VR8 BS12

My confidence is shot. I need to do some major PS review and address the problem quick.

I think these are pretty good scores, if I was receiving these scores I would be ecstatic!

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

You guys all are ready and will do great!

Anyone else receiving scores in their mid 20's? I feel like I am not prepared at all. Do well on BS, but suck on VR and PS regardless of doing TONS of practice passages and probs.

 

[pfaction]

Just got my score for AAMC10

PS12 VR10 BS13

I was one question away from a higher score in both PS and BS. I screamed at the computer, lol.

I hate that feeling. I adjusted my score for 3 wrong and I got 2 points higher. IN PS! I was like, what the hell, 3 wrong is 2 full points?!

 

[psychkub]

You guys all are ready and will do great!

Anyone else receiving scores in their mid 20's? I feel like I am not prepared at all. Do well on BS, but suck on VR and PS regardless of doing TONS of practice passages and probs.

I was in your situation once. I took the MCAT about a years ago. Going into it, the highest score I got on a KAPLAN FL was a 28. I realized that I just was not ready to take the test. but at that point, it was too late to switch test dates. I knew, taking it once and doing well would look better than taking it twice, so I made the decision to take the test and void my score, and that's what I did.

I don't regret that decision, and it gave me a better perspective of what the atmosphere is like at the testing center and how the entire test is administered, so that now, I know what to expect. Yeah, I lost out on $240, but I am more prepared now than I was then and it gave me the invaluable experience of taking an actual MCAT.

I'm not saying that that is what you should do, but maybe consider it an option.

 

[blackcadillacs]

Ahhh I'm so frustrated by my AAMCs!

I got a 34 yesterday on #10; I took #11 today and got a 30! And I keep getting 9's on my PS primarily because of stupid mistakes - I don't know how to avoid this. Someone above mentioned practice and time, but there's only so much of that you can do with 4 days left...

 

[Melomare17]

Ahhh I'm so frustrated by my AAMCs!

I got a 34 yesterday on #10; I took #11 today and got a 30! And I keep getting 9's on my PS primarily because of stupid mistakes - I don't know how to avoid this. Someone above mentioned practice and time, but there's only so much of that you can do with 4 days left...

are the mistakes calculations or concepts? calculations--do more practice next 4 days. concepts--do more content next 4 days

 

[psychkub]

Ahhh I'm so frustrated by my AAMCs!

I got a 34 yesterday on #10; I took #11 today and got a 30! And I keep getting 9's on my PS primarily because of stupid mistakes - I don't know how to avoid this. Someone above mentioned practice and time, but there's only so much of that you can do with 4 days left...

I'll echo Melomare17, I was one of the people that posted about the mistakes, and I've been doing a ton of practice since then, and my stupid mistakes ratio has decreased tremendously. It seems pointless, but it works.

One of the things I used to do was skip steps or not write equations out on my paper as I solved a problem. This was mainly to save time, but I realized that this was the source of my problem. By skipping steps, I'd make stupid mistakes like not square velocity, or not move a decimal point. Now, I write everything down. For example if I'm doing a kinematics problem, I'll write down the kinematics equation that pertains to that problem and go from there. You might think this is time-consuming, but I've actually been finishing PS with 5-6 minutes to spare, which never used to happen.

Also, you should have given yourself more time in between tests. I normally give myself a day off after a test to regroup. I took AAMC10 yesterday, and today, I'm just doing content review and verbal practice, and will be taking AAMC11 tomorrow.

GOod luck!

 

[virtuoso735]

Ugh...I just did AAMC #9 and my score went down to a 32 (from 35 on #10)! I got 11 PS, 11 V, and 10 BS.

I also felt kind of strange while doing this test, like I wasn't as motivated or something. I just feel kind of burnt out now I guess. And it didn't help that the first PS passage was on a topic I felt that I could have done well on if only I had reviewed it more carefully! It was easy, but I forgot one of the equations and that totally threw me off for the entire PS section. Could have gotten a 12 on it if I had remembered the equation.

The verbal felt a lot more challenging on #9 than on #10. And the BS was a little weird in parts on #9. Bleh. I guess I'll just have to learn from my mistakes.

 

[virtuoso735]

Three days left!

 

[Melomare17]

you all ready??

im PUMPEDD!!!

 

[Valerie2481]

SO not ready...but too late now. Already planning on retaking in June.

 

[jlescher]

Just finished AAMC 11. Felt pretty bad about it and got a

10/13/10 = 33

BS was hard kind of hard. PS was stupid mistakes. Let's hope verbal is that good friday. Would love a 33 with a good verbal. Time to relax, good luck to all on Friday.

 

[whoami90]

as ready as i'll ever be.. i thought about taking it on 4/28, and i wish i had the extra two weeks now. the more i think about it though, i would have studied less intensely if i had extra time. so really, now is as good as anytime

besides, got a 36 on aamc 11 (10/12/14), so if i get anything near that on friday i'll be happy!

good luck everyone!

 

[psychkub]

I just got MURDERED by AAMC11. My score dropped about 5 points from my overall test average. I don't know what happened. I haven't reviewed my answers yet but I'm just going to attribute it to having a "bad" day. I'm not going to let it get me down; just going to use it, and learn from my mistakes and attack the real thing this Friday.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Class1P]

Took AAMC11 (13,11,12) on Sunday and feel super confident now about the test, That is my highest score yet.


so far I have a 32,33,35,33,and 36 under my belt on practice tests
I am averaging about a 34 so hopefully I get that on the real deal.

Don't let up everybody! Content review like mad to keep your brains sharp until Friday!

Good luck, You will all make wonderful Docs.

 

[psychkub]

http://doctorcatmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/joleneschafer.jpg
LOL!

 

[larynlove]

SO not ready...but too late now. Already planning on retaking in June.

don't worry. i'm feeling the same way.

 

[COTA2Phys]

don't worry. i'm feeling the same way.

Me too. Although, hopefully we won't have to retake.