The Official 2015 New MCAT Motivation/Support Group Thread

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
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This thread is for those who are taking the new MCAT this year, who need a break from their usual study or need to come in here for a hug.

We are all going to make it! :)
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I haven't logged into this site in a while, so I'm not up to date on what people are using as resources for the exam.

For those who haven't taken Sociology or Psychology (I took Psychology long enough ago to forget most of the concepts), what are you going to do about this section?

Does the new "verbal" section seem particularly different from the older one?
 
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Dr.TonySoprano said:
I haven't logged into this site in a while, so I'm not up to date on what people are using as resources for the exam.

For those who haven't taken Sociology or Psychology (I took Psychology long enough ago to forget most of the concepts), what are you going to do about this section?

Does the new "verbal" section seem particularly different from the older one?
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The new verbal (CARS) isn't significantly different from the older VR. In fact, examines will have more time on the CARS section per passage than they did for VR. Also, epidemiology and public health passages will show up and STEM passages are being discontinued from 2015 CARS.
 
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In my opinion, the new exam is way better than the old one. More time. More questions. It means you have a better chance of scoring high if you actually prepare well. This exam requires 3-4 months of dedicated study time. If you're working or going to school, chances are, you will not do as well as you possibly could. It doesn't mean you can't do well- just not as well. The studying should be a review of every premed course you already took. If you are not strong in a subject, you'll need more time to study. However, do not feel compelled to take psychology, sociology, or biochemistry. The AAMC does not require any of these courses. Will taking them help? Yes and no. Yes, because you will be familiar with the material you review when you study for the MCAT. No because you might know too much and it could hurt you since the MCAT is all about keeping things simple and sticking to the fundamental ideas.

Don't forget the importance of doing a lot of problems and reviewing them well. Also, make sure you do timed exams very early on in your studying. Don't leave practice exams till the last two weeks- this is not a university exam where you can just cram and practice all old exams you collected from prior years in two nights.

The CARS section is not as scary as you think. It can be conquered by having the right perspective. Keep cool when you're studying. Don't get upset when you're getting questions wrong and don't get happy when you get questions right. Detaching your emotions from this exam is the hardest part of the game.

There is so much pressure to do well from your peers, friends, parents, and even yourself that it can really get to you. Don't tell yourself you'll score high and don't tell yourself you'll score low. You don't know how you're going to score until you actually get your score back! "Did you hear Jimmy got a 524, how the hell did he do it!?" or "My neighbor's girlfriend got a 480, she must be dumb." These kinds of premed thought processes are not healthy and absolutely not accurate. It's not healthy because you're going to have to prove to everyone and yourself that you are "smart" because you did well on this exam. I have tutored students who want to get a high MCAT score simply because of the boost in ego than to actually get into a prestigious school.

There were people in my med school that had great MCAT scores but when it came to step 1, they didn't do so well. Your MCAT score is not a good indicator of how smart you are or how good of a doctor you can be one day. I work with a doctor in the hospital that got a 27 on her MCAT and every patient of hers I talk to thinks she's the greatest physician ever. And she truly is so talented, smart and passionate about her job. The MCAT is purely a tool used by the medical school's admissions committee to determine your academic ability. However, just because you do not score well on this specific exam does not mean you do not have the academic ability they seek. Every part of your application matters equally and the MCAT is just one part of it.

Your job is to understand each question and answer choice. Keep yourself in good shape by going to the gym or running. Eat healthy and sleep at a regular time. Don't forget the importance of taking a break once in a while and socializing. There is nothing better than communicating with people and getting in sunlight to improve your mood.

Treat this exam as an opportunity to grow on a personal and academic level. I learned so much about myself and what I was capable of doing. But I didn't realize this until I finished studying. If you don't get emotional and you study the right way, you will miss this exam (weird, I know). But don't worry, USMLE 1 is right around the corner, and everything you learn in terms of how to study for the MCAT will help you with that beast as well.
 
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Anybody have any tips on how I can study for Psychology and Sociology?

I'm a poor college student who can't afford MCAT study books. I try to google everything and it's taking me a long time and some Psy and Soc books don't have most topics or don't go into as much.

Please hold me.
 
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I slept all Saturday because I was burned out from work, time to get back to studying.
 
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I'm going to take the May beastie, I think. I'm in classes now, but thankfully three of the four are basic biochem, psych, and sociology. Studying for my MCAT while getting credit, aw yiss.

Anyway. Has anyone found a good source for practice passages aside from Khan Academy? I have the older Berkeley Review books for Bio, Ochem, Physics, and Gchem, but I need some for the other three subjects.
 
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I'm using my own schedule because I have a weird schedule due to work and volunteering. I'm using google (time consuming but can't afford books right now). I have some old material.
 
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PreMade said:
I'm using my own schedule because I have a weird schedule due to work and volunteering. I'm using google (time consuming but can't afford books right now). I have some old material.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, I am taking two classes + labs and work full time, so I am definitely freaking out about getting in enough time. I have been hitting as many practice passages as I can, taking notes and annotating topics I need to cover more in depth, and it is helping. I do also have the on-demand kaplan course, which so far has some interesting tips on how to work through problems efficiently. I was at the bookstore today and found the Kaplan 528 book, it was $45 retail, but had a ton of stuff to use to study, you could probably find it cheaper online, but it would be a useful resource to pick up. I am also doing some skype studying with other people and would be happy to include more people if they'd like. Just PM me if you're interested.
 
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PreMade said:
Anybody have any tips on how I can study for Psychology and Sociology?

I'm a poor college student who can't afford MCAT study books. I try to google everything and it's taking me a long time and some Psy and Soc books don't have most topics or don't go into as much.

Please hold me.
Click to expand...
Kahn academy! They have a playlist for all science subjects of the new MCAT, made in collaboration with the AAMC and covering all of the topics on the outline. They also have practice passages, I don't think they are exactly representative of MCAT questions but they are good at making sure you have the concepts down.

I understand the financial limitations, I myself have some. But I was able to find the princeton review "complete MCAT" book on amazon for about 50 bucks. It covers all of the subjects on the new outline and has questions and then passages if you register it online. It also comes with some full length practice tests.

These two sources make up the meat of my study plan and its all for about 100 bucks (because I also bought an old TPRH verbal workbook for practice) but I think it is more than enough to give anyone what they need to score well.
 
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I thought I heard somewhere on here that they are toning down physics on the new test. Anyone think this is true?
 
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cetrav said:
I thought I heard somewhere on here that they are toning down physics on the new test. Anyone think this is true?
Click to expand...

Seems likely, considering there is less physics content on the exam. Probably would benefit you to look at the AAMC content guide.
 
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Dr.TonySoprano said:
Will any of you not have taken sociology for the MCAT?
Click to expand...

I'm taking sociology my senior year for med schools that have changed their requirements, but I am not taking it for this MCAT.

I've gone over the behavioral sciences from Kaplan and they only have a few chapters dedicated to sociology and it's basically just demographics and stuff I learned in AP government from high school. I think doing a bunch of passages through Khan academy will be enough! Most of it is common sense stuff with some terms.

As for psychology, it's not difficult so much as it will be tedious memorizing all that terminology and the notable contributors names! I find that part kind of annoying.

I started content review in January using the Kaplan review set as well as doing a few passages from Khan academy once a week in different areas. I'll finish my content review by this week and then after that it will be just doing questions and FL's! My goal is to aim for about a 510.

It is kind of difficult to fit in studying because I do take notes for each chapter so reading, taking notes and doing the questions takes at least an hour. It's especially hard because I'm taking physics 2 so I'm struggling with physics the most and I have to dedicate a lot of time to my physio class. And then of course there's still meetings, research, shadowing and volunteering.

Thankfully I get out at the end of April so I will have every day of May to just dedicate 8-10 hours of nothing but MCAT studying. Hopefully by then I will be prepared enough to obtain my goal!
 
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Just spent an hour doing absolutely unproductive emailing when I could have been studying for my MCAT, and now I have something to go to after. :(:(:(

[rant over]

My plan is to finish Kaplan content review March + first week April, take AAMC practice test the week after, all while doing practice passages in-between content review. Does this sound like realistic plan? As soon as I'm doing with content review I'm basically going to just go straight for passages.

Also, I finally got my Examkrackers books--yaaaaah....
 
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Dandine said:
Just spent an hour doing absolutely unproductive emailing when I could have been studying for my MCAT, and now I have something to go to after. :(:(:(

[rant over]

My plan is to finish Kaplan content review March + first week April, take AAMC practice test the week after, all while doing practice passages in-between content review. Does this sound like realistic plan? As soon as I'm doing with content review I'm basically going to just go straight for passages.

Also, I finally got my Examkrackers books--yaaaaah....
Click to expand...
where are you getting the practice passages from?
 
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Dandine said:
AAMC online and guidebook, also Examkrackers, and other practice books
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Ah yeah

For me, I have TBR passages and TPR's old and new science workbook. So hopefully + their FL's and that one aamc FL will prepare me enough.

I want to get this exam right this time
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
Ah yeah

For me, I have TBR passages and TPR's old and new science workbook. So hopefully + their FL's and that one aamc FL will prepare me enough.

I want to get this exam right this time
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I'm with you. I felt like I got this content down last year, but screwed up with the strategy, critical thinking. and timing.
 
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What's up folks....planning for a July date once they come out..prepping using Kaplan's 2015 set..supplemented with NextStep Psych/Soc Content and Practice books...since I never took a Soc course. Lets make it happen! On a side note...this will be my 3rd time...really need to focus on the science sections...9/11/8 was my last exam score :/
 
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I have no clue what books to buy.. My mom is insisting I take the Kaplan course so I'll have those, but how many sets do I really need? Is the material that different from book to book?
 
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do we need to memorize the structure and properties (aromatic, basic, hydrophobic, etc..) for all of the amino acids? I think we have to, but somebody please tell me we don't need to!!
 
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I believe you do..but it shouldn't be too bad! As long as you memorize the structure..you can deduce it's properties. Try youtubing "fastest way to memorize amino acids"...I remember it worked pretty well for me!
 
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Kochanie said:
I have no clue what books to buy.. My mom is insisting I take the Kaplan course so I'll have those, but how many sets do I really need? Is the material that different from book to book?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say the material is different per se..but the focus is. Whereas EK is a skim content review, NextStep focuses on practice passages. Kaplan is in the middle..providing pretty good content review with minimal practice. Personally, I'm reviewing content with Kaplan..and practicing with all the resources Kaplan offers (practice questions, practice exams, etc) plus NextStep. That way, I'll be preparing for the content of the MCAT along with the feel of it.
 
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BestICanBe_doc said:
I'm with you. I felt like I got this content down last year, but screwed up with the strategy, critical thinking. and timing.
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My life. I realized a lot about myself in the past year. And that I was stubborn about the process.

Here's how I plan to do it this time

Chad's videos for PS and Orgo
Khan for BS and Psyc/Soc

As you can see, it's all videos and that's mostly cause I have read through the TBR chapters (albeit almost 1 year ago). I will use TBR's passages, the TPRSW, and the new TPRSW for passages. I'll take a FL every 2 weeks or so and I'm blessed to have access to TPR's online exams for that and that 1 AAMC exam which I'll take last.

If this doesn't get me a good score, I don't know what I will do.
 
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Ulgarmoose said:
Seems likely, considering there is less physics content on the exam. Probably would benefit you to look at the AAMC content guide.
Click to expand...

realba11 said:
And by significantly he means dropping from about 13 on the old to 11 questions in total over two sections lol
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O Chem used to be approximately 25% of the old BS section. Now O Chem is only 5% of Biological and Biochemical section and 15% of the Chemical and Physical section. Physics used to be 50% of the old PS section and is now only 25% of the Chemical and Physical section. So the actual # of total O Chem questions on the MCAT hasn't really changed, from 13 to about 12. The percentage of O Chem questions has decreased but the number of Q's are about the same, since now they are asking more Q's. Physics on the other hand has taken a bigger drop.
 
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GTWreck1991 said:
I believe you do..but it shouldn't be too bad! As long as you memorize the structure..you can deduce it's properties. Try youtubing "fastest way to memorize amino acids"...I remember it worked pretty well for me!
Click to expand...

You go to GT! Looking for a study partner bruh? I'm studying for the end of July test :D
 
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