The Official 04/28/2012 MCAT

[HoltMD]

I figured I should start this thread/support system. Good luck studying!

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[LONeil]

Tim McGraw - Kill Myself

Lol. For serious? Not a country fan myself.

 

[pfaction]

What's your guys pump up music for MCAT practice?

Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" is keeping me going at the moment.

Dissection - Unhallowed


And thanks, man. I'm on Test IV of EK, so I'm feeling pretty bad. I got 6 weeks left, I'm trying to pace myself at 3 passages per day, but I feel like taking a test straight through would be better.

 

[typicalindian]

What's your guys pump up music for MCAT practice?

Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" is keeping me going at the moment.

I don't let myself listen to pump up music because if I do then I'll just keep hearing the song in my head whenever I try to focus on work.

Also, I was doing some thermochemistry passages, and I was doing REALLY good (like only 4 wrong out of 4 passages) until the very last passage...where I got 5/9 wrong and effectively killed my self esteem...

 

[fas376]

Lol. For serious? Not a country fan myself.

Haha I was joking. Just implying that all this studying makes me want to shoot myself.

 

[LONeil]

Haha I was joking. Just implying that all this studying makes me want to shoot myself.

So I figured. Didn't want to offend, though. To be honest, I really only listen when I'm re-reading physical science notes or doing discretes.

 

[MrNeuro]

My sleeping schedule is super messed up. How goes everything for everyone??

 

[fas376]

My sleeping schedule is super messed up. How goes everything for everyone??

Tell me about it. I ended up sleeping from 2 pm to 11 pm today, ha. I'm a little behind schedule. Looks like I'll be taking my first AAMC test on the 1st

 

[MrNeuro]

Tell me about it. I ended up sleeping from 2 pm to 11 pm today, ha. I'm a little behind schedule. Looks like I'll be taking my first AAMC test on the 1st

lol only light of day i'd seen the last 4-5 days was between the hours of 6 and 11 am....im going crraaaaaayyyzy...and all this junk food I'm eating isn't helping

getting my first AAMC practice test score is gonna be the most stressful of this whole studying process

 

[Lazybum2014]

Sadly I'm gonna have to take a break from studying cuz I got a cold. Great timing :/

 

[kryptonian]

My sleeping schedule is super messed up. How goes everything for everyone??

The past week was quite unproductive for me cos I have been very sick. My study schedule has been completely messed up now

 

[kaylasdf123]

How does one eliminate careless errors? HOW?!

 

[mzblue]

See why you make those careless errors and pay extra attention. One of the careless errors i make is either skipping a keyword such as not or least or whatever and i've learned to read the stem carefully to know what exactly what i'm looking for. If doing math in your head causes you to make careless errors, take the time to write everything down on a scrap paper.

 

[typicalindian]

productive yet annoying day...

did 8 orgo passages - got an 80%
did EK test 7 - got a 9 (1 question away from a 10)
did 7 passages from TPR science workbook[passage #2-#8] bio and got wrecked!!!!!! I got 60% total
all my passages were timed of course and I didn't run out of time on anything, even though I was left with a couple seconds on the bio passages. Is it normal to score so low on TPR science workbook bio? This was my first time using it so I'm not sure...at any rate doing that poorly isn't acceptable at all no matter what the book. I'll be reviewing the passages for bio tomorrow because I'm really tired right now.

(copy and pasted from the twitter thread so I could maybe get some feed back from you guys as well)

 

[pfaction]

sup TI,

I usually score 5-6/7 and sometimes 7/7 on the Bio passages. Occasionally I'll get a 4, but that's usually on genetics/reproductory. I can't stand those subjects. The first 6 chapters are harder than the last half. Time yourself at 8 mins and you'll do fine, they're more memory than passage based. GJ on EK.

TPR O-Chem and G-Chem and Physics, I usually get 4-5/7, occasionally 6. They're MUCH harder IMO

 

[typicalindian]

sup TI,

I usually score 5-6/7 and sometimes 7/7 on the Bio passages. Occasionally I'll get a 4, but that's usually on genetics/reproductory. I can't stand those subjects. The first 6 chapters are harder than the last half. Time yourself at 8 mins and you'll do fine, they're more memory than passage based. GJ on EK.

yeah all these passages were about cellular metabolism and involved a ton of mechanisms and stuff. at least I'll be able to review and learn them I guess lol but its damn offputting getting that many wrong. but what do you mean "chapters?" the book doesn't have chapters

 

[pfaction]

TPR book has chapters, which correspond with the passages you are doing.
Ch2: Glycolysis
Ch3: DNA/RNA/protein
Ch4: Prok/Vir
Ch5: Euk+mitosis
Ch6: Genetics

If you're using EK to do TPR bio, you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[typicalindian]

TPR book has chapters, which correspond with the passages you are doing.
Ch2: Glycolysis
Ch3: DNA/RNA/protein
Ch4: Prok/Vir
Ch5: Euk+mitosis
Ch6: Genetics

If you're using EK to do TPR bio, you're gonna have a bad time.

Nah I used TPR bio for content but I didn't realize the science workbook corresponded to them...good to know haha. I wish they could have taken the time to give us some sort of reference to the order of passages though, rather than just putting a block of 90 passages.

 

[pfaction]

Nah I used TPR bio for content but I didn't realize the science workbook corresponded to them...good to know haha. I wish they could have taken the time to give us some sort of reference to the order of passages though, rather than just putting a block of 90 passages.

You're supposed to skip every other one and do "rounds", if you get my drift. I'll post the actual dividings later, but for now, every time you see "advanced passage", the next one is a new chapter. For the entire workbook.
1-6
7-12
13-22
23-29
30-36
37-46
47-64
65-69
70-80
81-87

 

[typicalindian]

You're supposed to skip every other one and do "rounds", if you get my drift. I'll post the actual dividings later, but for now, every time you see "advanced passage", the next one is a new chapter. For the entire workbook.
1-6
7-12
13-22
23-29
30-36
37-46
47-64
65-69
70-80
81-87

Wow I did not know this! I got the TPR bio book from amazon and the science workbook was lent to me by a friend. Thanks for that information that helps alot. The specifics would be great if you could post them when you get a chance

So by "rounds" you mean like...for chapter 2 which is passages 1-6, round 1 would be: passages 1,3,5 then round 2 would be 2,4,6? Like that?

 

[fas376]

Wow I did not know this! I got the TPR bio book from amazon and the science workbook was lent to me by a friend. Thanks for that information that helps alot. The specifics would be great if you could post them when you get a chance

So by "rounds" you mean like...for chapter 2 which is passages 1-6, round 1 would be: passages 1,3,5 then round 2 would be 2,4,6? Like that?

Am I the only one on here doing TBR bio passages...now I feel as if I should have gotten the workbook...

 

[pfaction]

Wow I did not know this! I got the TPR bio book from amazon and the science workbook was lent to me by a friend. Thanks for that information that helps alot. The specifics would be great if you could post them when you get a chance

So by "rounds" you mean like...for chapter 2 which is passages 1-6, round 1 would be: passages 1,3,5 then round 2 would be 2,4,6? Like that?

Pretty much, yeah, like SN2's schedule. You do yourself no justice, and actually disservice, by doing all the passages in a row. What happens in two weeks when you have three chapters of O-Chem, Physics, G-Chem in addition to your head? How will you gauge how well you remember stop codon sequences, how to read DNA sequences, etc?

Note to self: re-learn stop codons and how to read DNA sequences...

 

[typicalindian]

Very true...I just did the "every other passage" for chapter 4 and still got rocked...20/31 including the "advanced passage" 17/24 without the advanced passage. These experiments are crazy :x

 

[Doctoor]

I started SN2's 3 month study program. I have already taken the MCAT twice before, and both times I scored under 20.

I just took my first FL today, and I was disappointed by a score of 16 on AAMC #3.

I don't get it, I did everything in the program. I went to the library every day from about 9am till 5pm to sometimes 8pm at night, ever single day. Did verbal every day (skipped it once because I forgot the EK book at home once). Went through every EK 1001 question, went through all of the TPR books, and I even snuck in a review session on days that I finished earlier than usual.

What do you guys suggest I do? the 28th is barely over a month from now

 

[pfaction]

Very true...I just did the "every other passage" for chapter 4 and still got rocked...20/31 including the "advanced passage" 17/24 without the advanced passage. These experiments are crazy :x

Sounds like my verbal bro, I just did a TPR thing and got an 8. So close to a 9. I'm really hoping for 9's. I got a 9 on my EK test today.

 

[fas376]

I started SN2's 3 month study program. I have already taken the MCAT twice before, and both times I scored under 20.

I just took my first FL today, and I was disappointed by a score of 16 on AAMC #3.

I don't get it, I did everything in the program. I went to the library every day from about 9am till 5pm to sometimes 8pm at night, ever single day. Did verbal every day (skipped it once because I forgot the EK book at home once). Went through every EK 1001 question, went through all of the TPR books, and I even snuck in a review session on days that I finished earlier than usual.

What do you guys suggest I do? the 28th is barely over a month from now

If you're getting a 16, that means you probably don't know the content well. Why don't you review the content and make sure you have it down cold before attempting AAMC exams? It might help. Keep your head up man.

 

[pfaction]

UGA, UAA, UAG = stop codons
AUG = methionine
JFYI for anyone, because it appeared in a free standing TPR question. I was like ...what.

 

[unperturbed]

I just took my first FL today, and I was disappointed by a score of 16 on AAMC #3.

What do you guys suggest I do? the 28th is barely over a month from now

A score of 16 doesn't give too much confidence, but if you've taken MCAT before and you followed the three months plan so far, I'd say it's too early to judge your ability. In other words, you DO NOT need to change your MCAT date yet. It is POSSIBLE to ace MCAT on 28th.

And here's my realistic mix of +/- comments.

First, if you scored under 20 in the past, and even after re-studying "your method" and scored 16 on AAMC#3, there MUST be something wrong in your studying strategy.

Trust me, MCAT is not rocket science. This really is just Concent + Application. You might have done lots of content, but lack in "applying" the concepts.

I have encountered OAT, DAT and PCATs before; I taught science contents to those students studying those exams. Whenever i looked at those tests, their science section is "content" and THATS IT. MCAT is different. it is Content + APPLICATION. Are you applying your knowledge well? Are you focusing on passages where you can essentially find 80%+ answers? You need to be strict about yourself when analyzing every section. If you scored 16, what was the score distribution? (Phy, Ver, Bio)

Here's my opinion on each section of MCAT.

Phy - Just stick to concepts.Phy Sci is not hard. Once you can draw and teach each concepts (not memorizing but understanding) and do enough practice of questions, this is probably the easiest to section to get 10+. Stick to TBR books

Ver- Keep doing passages. As many review books say, a 15 scorer student feels like **** every his/her section test. This is not Black and white test. In fact, many students who scored 10+ on verbal didn't get 9+ or 10+ points until 2 weeks before Exam. Just keep pushing it. Think MCAT way. Understand WHY MCAT says their answer is right.

Bio - This section is proabbly the section many students underestimate. I myself underestimated this section as well. I thought I knew all the details and concepts. In fact, I did. The problem was, however, my knowledge level was 95% and not 100%. For example, I knew intestinal gland released Maltase, Sucrase and some enterokinase and dipeptidate, when it was actually Maltase, Sucrase, Lactase, Enterokinase, Dipeptidase AND aminopeptidase. MCAT requires 100% content, not 98% or 99%.

Are you identifying your weakness on every single quesiton/topic you review? And are you improving/strengthening that area. This may sound simple, but really hard to 100% execute, and this is proabbly the reason why people study 4+ months on MCAT. The sooner you find your weakness the faster your score will go up.

Finally, There's two reasons why I say this is still CERTAINLY POSSIBLE to ace on 28th.

1. You have plenty of time.
If you have been following the 3 month plan, that means you can still commit FULL TIME study until 28th exam. This is Good!
I read somewhere that if you were to exclude all break days of that 3 month plan, there's exactly 80 days. And if you look at daily schedule, it's about 6 hour study/day plan. (One chapter a day, 1 FL and spend next 2 days reviewing it).

We roughly have 38 days. That is 40 days. Take twice the daily amount of 3 month plan and do it. This means you study about 10 hours a day. Study 4~5 hours morning, eat lunch and take 1~2 hour break. Study another 4~5 hours during evening.
Do 1 FL and review that FL THAT DAY. Of course having a break of 1~2 day reviewing exam is good but we don't have time for that.
Do FL in the morning, review FL for a good 4~5 hours. This should be sufficient.
Tough schedule? Hell yea, but you can do this for 40 days and get it done, never look back at MCAT again.
Commitment and Persistency and Consistency!

2. If you were to start again, you will 100% get exhausted from another cycle of new plan and study.
A new schedule will certainly put you in a safety boundary, but the problem is you will be exhausted to "RESTART" the whole process again. You are halfway there, now finish it. It's better to "suffer" the rest 40 days, push hard like 10+ hours a day of study and GET IT DONE.

Remember, This is a fair game. Everyone gets the same amount of hours until the April 28th exam. In fact, it is about 900 hours until the exam date. Spend a good half that time (450 hours) and FULLY COMMIT to MCAT using the main study cycle of (Test + Find weakness + Fix weakness).
You still have plenty of time to start really focusing and shaping your scores. Go do it!

 

[typicalindian]

Just did passages for chapter 4 TPR bio an got an 87% finally something went right

 

[Doctoor]

unperturbed :') wow I REALLY needed to read what you said. Thanks a lot.

By the way, I had P6, B6, V4

(My last official exam was this past August, and I got a P7, B3, V7 WQ)

I'm going to keep your comment bookmarked so I can read it tomorrow morning before I start reviewing this FL that I just took, except I'm going to try to review the entire exam and re-read whatever subject/topic I am weakest in according to today's FL.

 

[pfaction]

Just did passages for chapter 4 TPR bio an got an 87% finally something went right

You were supposed to be my partner in misery.

YOU NEVER LOVED ME.

 

[fas376]

unperturbed :') wow I REALLY needed to read what you said. Thanks a lot.

By the way, I had P6, B6, V4

(My last official exam was this past August, and I got a P7, B3, V7 WQ)

I'm going to keep your comment bookmarked so I can read it tomorrow morning before I start reviewing this FL that I just took, except I'm going to try to review the entire exam and re-read whatever subject/topic I am weakest in according to today's FL.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it's just a test. Let's be real. If you get a 15, or 20, or whatever you're afraid of, what's the worst that will happen? Your journey to med school may be delayed, but who cares, really? You've made it this far. A year or so won't hurt.

I'm not saying slack off and put it off, but if you realize that it's really not as stressful as people make it out to be, it might calm your nerves

 

[typicalindian]

You were supposed to be my partner in misery.

YOU NEVER LOVED ME.

and so I come to join you again...Just did my first 3 passages from TPR verbal and got DESTROYED. passage 1: 2/7 passage 2: 5/8 passage 3: 4/7

I need to figure out what the fu** I did wrong and figure it out quick... /depressed mode

I just dont understand how I went from getting 10's in EK to this nonsense

 

[folktale]

Hello guys. Joined this site a couple of years ago. Was planning on taking it July of 2010, but delayed it til now. I'll be taking this exam come the 28th of April as well. Hello there.

 

[fas376]

Hello guys. Joined this site a couple of years ago. Was planning on taking it July of 2010, but delayed it til now. I'll be taking this exam come the 28th of April as well. Hello there.

Welcome to the club! Only complaining and whining allowed. Nobody likes an over achiever.

 

[folktale]

Welcome to the club! Only complaining and whining allowed. Nobody likes an over achiever.

Oh don't worry. I'm actually really stressed about this exam as well. It feels like there's so much to learn, and not all of them sticks to my brain.

The sections I'm mostly having troubles with are the last sections on the second TBR book for Gen Chem. I'm pretty confident with bio, and most of orgo, but GC is really the hardest section for me. VR is like up and down for me. I get 7/7 for passages that are easy (meaning those that have mostly one-sentence explanations in the answers explanation), but the harder ones I usually get 3/7 or 4/7. I'm using the TBR VR book.

I mostly used TBR for content review. Supplementing with EK 1001.

 

[typicalindian]

Oh don't worry. I'm actually really stressed about this exam as well. It feels like there's so much to learn, and not all of them sticks to my brain.

The sections I'm mostly having troubles with are the last sections on the second TBR book for Gen Chem. I'm pretty confident with bio, and most of orgo, but GC is really the hardest section for me. VR is like up and down for me. I get 7/7 for passages that are easy (meaning those that have mostly one-sentence explanations in the answers explanation), but the harder ones I usually get 3/7 or 4/7. I'm using the TBR VR book.

I mostly used TBR for content review. Supplementing with EK 1001.

welcome! Feel free to complain to your hearts content, you can tell that I love complaining

 

[Doctoor]

I've been reviewing the AAMC FL #3 and especially on the physical portion I've been getting things wrong because I misunderstood the questions or misread them. This should improve by doing more FLs right?

 

[fas376]

I've been reviewing the AAMC FL #3 and especially on the physical portion I've been getting things wrong because I misunderstood the questions or misread them. This should improve by doing more FLs right?

yup

 

[pfaction]

Just got a 1/7 on a passage. FEELS HORRIBLE, MAN.

I don't understand torque or rotations or anything

 

[fas376]

Just got a 1/7 on a passage. FEELS HORRIBLE, MAN.

I don't understand torque or rotations or anything

TBR? And what kind of rotation are you having trouble with? There's been a lot of debate on angular acceleration since many people claim it's not on the MCAT. If that's what you're having trouble with, I would skip it for now and make sure you've got everything else down.

 

[pfaction]

TBR? And what kind of rotation are you having trouble with? There's been a lot of debate on angular acceleration since many people claim it's not on the MCAT. If that's what you're having trouble with, I would skip it for now and make sure you've got everything else down.

TPR. It dealt with centripedal acceleration, torque, tension, gravity. I messed up on a calculation so that's definitely on me, but the rest--didn't understand WTF was going on.

 

[fas376]

TPR. It dealt with centripedal acceleration, torque, tension, gravity. I messed up on a calculation so that's definitely on me, but the rest--didn't understand WTF was going on.

That's how I feel about magnetism right now

 

[MrNeuro]

TPR. It dealt with centripedal acceleration, torque, tension, gravity. I messed up on a calculation so that's definitely on me, but the rest--didn't understand WTF was going on.

Yeahhhh I read torque and an instant chill went up my spine. I HATE TORQUE. HAAAATEEE IT.


ps I hate torque.

 

[unperturbed]

You can try 500 more questions and you will fail the same way.
It will never improve your score.
Funny thing is We know that so well but we keep pushing it, hoping it will somehow give us better understanding.

Seriously, put down the pencils, go watch youtube lecture, go watch animated videos to fully understand the system, go find old lecture notes, go watch high school lectures that easily explain the topics.

You want to fix them now, Not when theres 2 weeks left until Exam. That period you should be tackling questions. Now we ace EVERY SINGLE SUBJECT.

I say this from my own experience. I "BS"ed those stuff too for ~1yr, because i felt like I read enough and did enough questions... but in fact I had about 60% understanding of those topics. This could have been fixed in a seriously focused 1~2 day review, but I BSed for 1 yr. The faster we address our weakness, the faster the score goes up.

By the way, took my first AAMC #3. got 29 (Phy 12, Ver 8, Bio 9). Got a long way to go...
Phy, I was just lucky, I know I am not at that level yet. have a long review to do
Verbal I wasn't expecting a 15 in Verbal, but I finished EK verbal and was expecting at least a 9 or 10. My weakness in verbal is that I always see this decreasing trend. First 3~4 passages I ace them, but the rest 3~4 passages I always bomb. I gotta work on pacing my time and focus.
Bio I was disappointed. I thought I finished my review. But again, I still find my weak topics to re-study...

Let's keep pushing guys...fkuc this BS...burn these mofoo books after the exam day...

 

[pfaction]

1/7 on verbal just now: 17%. OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?

I'm jumping around everywhere. 17, 29, 83...I gave myself extra time on the 86....

 

[fas376]

1/7 on verbal just now: 17%. OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?

I'm jumping around everywhere. 17, 29, 83...I gave myself extra time on the 86....

TPR hyperlearning verbal? I'm sure it was just a fluke. What have you been averaging? I've been averaging 4-5/7 per passage. My verbal is weak. Need to improve that to 6/7 in the next 5 weeks. We still have time time bro, don't worry.

 

[typicalindian]

TPR hyperlearning verbal? I'm sure it was just a fluke. What have you been averaging? I've been averaging 4-5/7 per passage. My verbal is weak. Need to improve that to 6/7 in the next 5 weeks. We still have time time bro, don't worry.

this is where I'm stuck, how do we IMPROVE verbal? I don't want to level off, and the explanations don't make me go "OH OK NOW I CAN TOTALLY DO BETTER NEXT TIME", they just make me go:

 

[pfaction]

Yeah, TPRH hyper; I'm averaging 4-6/7 on a passage. I just finished EK6 and got a 27, should have been a 29. I completely misread a question as "which is TRUE" instead of "which is FALSE", smacked myself for that. Misinterpreted one question, okay, and the last passage got 2 wrong. I need to re-read the passage parts instead of answering straight. So, 27 = 8. Back to where I was. Was hoping for 9...one question away from a 9.

So, I'm taking an AAMC this Saturday...should I be worried, esp about verbal? I'm getting anywhere from 14%-86% on my TPRH passages, about to take freestandings as well. Scores:
Jan 6/5/10 (only finished 1/4 material)
Feb 7/7/11 (finished half material, getting hang of it)
March: 9/7/11 (finished material, no idea what happened)
And my last score doesn't count, because the scaling was off: 10/9/15. I got 2 wrong on bio so it should have auto 13. Also, I had no idea what is going on in PS, guessed on 2 passages, etc.

 

[fas376]

to pfaction and typicalindian: if there's one thing I can tell you guys, it's to relax. you guys sound like you're in the 8-9 range. keep in mind we have over a month, and the difference between an 8 and a 10 is just a few questions. be confident you can improve. it seems like you guys are letting your nerves get the best of you!

i used to freak out while doing verbal. once i got my nerves under control, i went from scoring 5-6s on verbal to scoring 9s. obviously a 9 isn't a great score, but i'm just trying to show you how much attitude can make a difference. be confident!

 

[folktale]

To be honest, for the past couple of weeks, I've been stressing so much about this upcoming MCAT. I decided to pause for a minute and look at everything that's happening. This then made me realize that stressing so much about it is not going to help a bit, so I just took most of today off, but did five passages off Electrochemistry and got 22/33. For the ones I missed, I realized how stupid the mistakes were. The time constraint really does have a big impact. But other than that, I've been missing 2-3 per passage on average, out of 6 or 7 questions per passage.

I know it's stressful, but don't stress out too much. We're all going to be taking our first practice test soon right? I hope the passages on the AAMC FLs are at least a bit easier than the practice passages in BR. But I really think the BR passages are great to put us in that right mindset.

EDIT: Also on VR, I've been trying out different techniques. I tried using the mapping technique but I threw it out of the window since to be honest, writing down a short phrase summary for each paragraph will take time and also it breaks my reading train of thought. It's basically a distraction. The other technique was looking at the questions first, but then this is also a distraction. Once I know what the questions are, I'd be thinking about it while reading the passage and so I wouldn't be able to concentrate as well. The best technique for me is just read the whole passage through carefully once, even if it takes me a little more than 2.5 minutes b/c I'd know the gist of the passage, and by the time I reach the questions, I'd know where to look for the answers if I have to look for them. For the inference type, I'd just think about what I just read and apply it to the question. This technique is the most effective one for me.