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I figured I should start this thread/support system. Good luck studying!
Oh wait, just read the MCAT guidelines and apparently we're not suppose to speculate about which items were experimental.
Blargh.
I didn't even know there was such a thing. Man, I wish I knew about this yesterday. To think there is a possibility I spent way too much time on a passage that doesn't even count kinda sucks. Oh well, I guess it's probably better than it actually being graded.
Wait what does that quote mean, "not supposed to speculate about experimental items"? Can you give an example?
My friend once disclosed mcat details. I visit his grave often.
They forced him to retake. After the PS, he was a goner.
PS: Was a little harder than the AAMCs but mostly because it felt really different; calculation-heavy and more conceptual "how-does-this-work" questions. On the AAMC practice exams I always felt like I knew how to solve/approach every problem and then would end up getting questions wrong due to stupid mistakes or calculation errors. But with today's PS section there were a couple of questions that had me scratching my head.
VR: I literally have no clue what my score will be. The passages were on the most part easy reads (no esoteric philosophy/humanities passages) but the questions were more difficult and it was sometimes difficult to narrow down 2 answer choices even if I felt like I knew the answer to the question. So yea...I feel like I could end up with a 1 or a 15. lol
WR: Whatever
BS: Close to AAMC 10/11 EXCEPT that the discrete questions seemed more difficult in that they required knowledge of very minute details. The 1st orgo passage I had was also pretty difficult, IMO. I THINK I did well on this section, but again...I really just don't know.
The next 30 days will be painful to live through.
Does every test have an experimental passage and is there an experimental passage in each section? What do you guys think the experimental passages were on our exam?
Let the waiting begin. I'm quite certain AAMC has modeled score release delay to maximize the number of sign ups for retakes. More $$$ for them. Otherwise, they could give you instant scores for ps/vr/bs and just mail the essay score and percentiles, as the GRE does.
Waiting. No point ruining my month of May by studying again if there's still a possibility of doing alright! Just enjoy this month man.
I'm gonna play the waiting game. Not going to register for a new one right now. If I have to retake, I might just retake it with my bro taking it September. But that's kind of too late for applications this cycle. So I'm not really sure what I would do if I do have to retake. I'm just going to enjoy tomorrow first.
lol, dude, not only your avatar is misleading, but also the way you write in each post really really makes me think Folktale is a girl. Yesterday I spotted 2 Fillipina girls at the center, and I almost asked one of them if she was Folktale. I'm glad I didn't; otherwise I would be super embarrassedYea I'm a guy. What made you guys think I was a girl? Maybe it was my avatar? xD
Yep. There's one on each section. After finishing my PS section, I realized there had been one OMG passage in the middle. I think that may be the experimental one. I should have just saved it for last. Couldn't detect any experimental passage in my BS though cos all of them were just equally hard. If there's one, I hope it is the last one cos my brain stopped working when I did that passage.I didn't even know there was such a thing. Man, I wish I knew about this yesterday. To think there is a possibility I spent way too much time on a passage that doesn't even count kinda sucks. Oh well, I guess it's probably better than it actually being graded.
I learned about the experimental passage through others. I may have misread somewhere that experimental passage is on each section. You may be right. There may be one on the entire test, not a single section.Are u sure about the one on each section thing? Cuz I was under the impression that there was one on the test as a whole.
Also keep in mind that the experimental passage could have been an easy one not a hard one. They do it to judge wether the questions are too hard or too easy
Folks,
Let your bad airs out in the forum & re-group. You all are WINNERS in life as you are just a small portion of higher academic population in the world each and every month who dared to attack this MCAT beast.
This is not the end. Keep fighting!
Yeah see the fact you guys keep saying it was calculation intensive means I ****ed up. I just plugged whatever numbers I saw into equations I knew and that was it. I don't know what heavy calculations are you are talking about. ********.
I mean I remember one where there was a ridiculous amount of calculations but I used shortcuts presented and thought I did alright since the answers were very far apart. And you know what, I'm just going to stop talking about it until...when are the scores out? I still haven't even started writing my PS, I'm so burned...and I have to do the LIJ thing, read guidelines, ****.
I mean I remember one where there was a ridiculous amount of calculations but I used shortcuts presented and thought I did alright since the answers were very far apart. And you know what, I'm just going to stop talking about it until...when are the scores out? I still haven't even started writing my PS, I'm so burned...and I have to do the LIJ thing, read guidelines, ****.
Pfaction, you're a couple posts away from having a mental breakdown.
I took the MCAT yesterday too and haven't been about to stop thinking about it since. I am pretty disappointed. The PS was brutal, BRUTAL! What was that? And where was all the stuff that we have spent the past 4 months learning? The scope was very narrow. I didn't feel like I could apply what I knew to the random situations they presented on the few things they did test. About three passages in I sat there thinking, "I'm going to need to void, its over." Ultimately I didn't void, but am doubting my decision... I thought BR was supposed to be pretty good for the PS prep? Didn't help me. I was lost!
VR... the reading level of the passages was low, phew. But the length? I am in the boat that they were far longer than the practice material. Worst of all was the questions. Eliminate-Eliminate-Eliminate-Eliminate-Unelim-Unelim-Unelim-Unelim, start over. Don't feel good about it at all.
WS... whatever. I was so spent after being slaughtered in the morning, I didnt know what I was writing about. My final paragraphs were miserable.
BS. I actually felt this was a bit of much needed fresh air. I finished with 10 min time to spare to review my marked questions. I know I got some wrong in retrospect. But overall, I felt the last time I took it the bio was much, much worse.
In retrospect, I dont know what I would do to improve things if I could do it over. I didnt feel like any of the practice materials out there really hit on what the actual test feels like. There isnt all that much I could have done differently to prepare. Anyone else feel that way?
btw, does anyone know how they notified us about the scores?
uhh...just did this
then my reaction was this...
I did it too. Then died a little inside when I saw last years scores and realized that improvement was unlikely lol
uhh...just did this
then my reaction was this...
Just talked to a friend who took the mcat a few years ago. She had an asthma attack during PS and still got into medical school, and is now an EM resident. It could have been worse, we'll be ok.
People almost always score within their practice test range. AAMC has a system and it works. The unprepared get weeded out. Ill bet a 10 on bio translates to around 33-34 right on the real thing, btw. Not even trolling this time.
More and more I think I should have just voided. I'm really really hoping I just matched my last score. A decline in score would basically kill me for the next however many years.
I think scores remain valid for 3 years, but I don't think it matters because if you're a reapplicant, they'll have your AMCAS on file and can see how many times you've taken it.
How did you feel the difficulty of this test compared to the last one?