Hello fellow May 12ers! I didn't see a thread for our test day and considering we are 5 weeks away, I decided to make one! I hope everyone's preparation is going well!
So you really think 6 was harder than 11?? I did so bad on 11 (29). With 6 I got back to my usual 35.NO!!!!
In all seriousness, it would be good practice to do them as individual sets of passages. Maybe 2 passages at a time, but the exam was rough and if you don't want to risk your zen, I would take the simpler route. I could have bombed the exam and been scared as hell going into saturday because there's not much time to adjust. I don't want to see anybody going in without confidence, and in retrospect it was a risky decision on my part.
In my experience, I'd say the majority of the variance in difficulty level for each exam was 30% content depth, 70% time. If I had a lot of time on 6 I probably would have done a lot better (cough bio cough). We all know this stuff for the most part, if we all had 30 more minutes per section, we would all probably get the same score +/- random accidental mistakes... the time factor is what makes it hard I think.
I'd hate to see you get to the real thing and not know what to do because the pause option isn't there. Definitely simulate the real deal so that you feel comfortable Saturday!
Thanks! Okay, I think I know what you mean. I was thinking more on the lines of component velocity. Like light travels at 3x10^8 m/s but it was going toward earth at a 40 degree angle so it's component velocity would be less, vsinetheta. The difference between this situation and a situation where you would take into account the angle seems very similar. Tricky! Not sure if I can differentiate it if this kind of problem comes up again.
I didn't finish the BS on time. I think mainly because I took my time cause I didn't realize there was that last set of discretes since it printed on the back of the bubble sheet and I was using the bubble sheet. When I realized I had used up the 100 minutes. But it was very long and if I had to finish it in time I would've definitely had to rush and likely make more mistakes.
Yeah, I know! No pausing tomorrow!! Hopefully my score will still be in the 30s.
Am I invisible? Can no one see my comments? I'm feeling lonely and looney i think.
Are you guys gonna study on Friday?
I was having the same issue this week which is why I chose to do aamc 6... I was nervous I was losing my momentum and sharpness. Here's my advice since I was just in your shoes:
Whip out aamc 6. Break it up into chunks and do them with roughly the correct time (2 minutes/passage 1 minute per problem for sciences, 3 min/ passage + just under 60 seconds/question for verbal).
This should give you good practice with unfamiliar material,and it will feel more like TBR practice than a practice test that reflects a "score".
I think you would have to be pretty vague to be able to come up with a singular idea in physics, or in any subject for that matter.
I think it's better to come up with concepts, and start understanding a few concepts of physics, biology, etc.
It's really too late to be learning an entirely new concept right now, everything should just be coming together at this point.
Then spend these last couple days focusing on optics! I think you mentioned optics before too so that is an obvious area you can improve on. I haven't come across any aamc optics questions that were too hard yet, they all seem pretty simple like just know the formulas: 1/f = 1/s + 1/s' and m=h'/h=(-s'/s). Seriously if you don't feel you can really wrap your head around it then at least just understand these formulas and how to assign the +/- signs based on the type of lens or mirror and whether the image is real or inverted. For me this section seemed really hard to grasp in the beginning. I even skipped the whole chapter in my physics class during my postbac cause I found it so annoying and I knew with the structure of my final exam I could still get an A without knowing that particular chapter. Anyway, I learned it using TBR and it's not so bad. Come to think of it though I should probably make sure I didn't forget how to draw light rays...Yay! I'm not alone in the world
I think I meant a unifying idea, a foundation which ties every concept together. My frustration is that everything is coming together smashingly, except with physics. I haven't scored below a 12 on verbal ever... after I nailed down some orgo specifics, my BS is up there too... but PS, I vary from a 7 one day to a 10 the next and it seems to be random light refractions or something that is the difference maker. I don't know if that makes sense... maybe I'm just tired.
Then spend these last couple days focusing on optics! I think you mentioned optics before too so that is an obvious area you can improve on. I haven't come across any aamc optics questions that were too hard yet, they all seem pretty simple like just know the formulas: 1/f = 1/s + 1/s' and m=h'/h=(-s'/s). Seriously if you don't feel you can really wrap your head around it then at least just understand these formulas and how to assign the +/- signs based on the type of lens or mirror and whether the image is real or inverted. For me this section seemed really hard to grasp in the beginning. I even skipped the whole chapter in my physics class during my postbac cause I found it so annoying and I knew with the structure of my final exam I could still get an A without knowing that particular chapter. Anyway, I learned it using TBR and it's not so bad. Come to think of it though I should probably make sure I didn't forget how to draw light rays...
I'm very envious of your verbal skills that comes so easily! Just shows we all have our strengths and weaknesses! But let me tell you, improving on physics is easier than verbal! I feel extremely happy that somehow I have managed to improve verbal a little in the past couple days.
Hell no. I may already be done studying, because all my volunteer work is stacked at the end of the week and there is really no time left.Are you guys gonna study on Friday?
From what I hear a LOT of people consider it at the end. I think I probably will consider too. I mean it all depends on how we do on test day right? If I really truly felt I did terrible, I will void. It will be stupid not to if for some reason you're not on your game and you know you missed a lot of moderate difficulty questions. You know the curve won't help you any. It's different I think if you found some questions really difficult and hard to comprehend because many other test takers may also feel the same. There might be a nice curve in that case and you're better off sticking to your guns and submitting! Hopefully we all submit this saturday! GL all!!!!Sometimes I get stressed that I might accidentally click "void this exam" when I'm prompted at that screen.
Just thought I'd confess that and put it out in the open.
From what I hear a LOT of people consider it at the end. I think I probably will consider too. I mean it all depends on how we do on test day right? If I really truly felt I did terrible, I will void. It will be stupid not to if for some reason you're not on your game and you know you missed a lot of moderate difficulty questions. You know the curve won't help you any. It's different I think if you found some questions really difficult and hard to comprehend because many other test takers may also feel the same. There might be a nice curve in that case and you're better off sticking to your guns and submitting! Hopefully we all submit this saturday! GL all!!!!
Haha that's a lot of food! You have a great appetite, not to mention must eat really fast! I'm just bringing some granola bars. Some type of caffeine during the second break is a good idea! Didn't think about that, thanks!So, lets get a snack list going.
We get three breaks and our glucose levels need to be kept up so we can operate at our highest capacities. Here's what I'm thinking:
Break PS--->VR:
Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Nuts
Green Tea
Break VR---->WR:
Protein Bar
Apple
Break WR--->BS:
Caffiene Jolt - Whatever it may look like for you. Probably a "Neuro Sonic" for me.
A small bowl of a light chicken pasta - 200-300 calories worth.
As for breakfast... Tough.
I'm going to roll with 2 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 piece of toast and a breakfast smoothie. Coffee of course.
Idk about the caffeine. I drank redbull throughout a practice test and it was my worst result. I did granola bars, Gatorade, goldfish crackers on test day.
So, lets get a snack list going.
We get three breaks and our glucose levels need to be kept up so we can operate at our highest capacities. Here's what I'm thinking:
Break PS--->VR:
Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Nuts
Green Tea
Break VR---->WR:
Protein Bar
Apple
Break WR--->BS:
Caffiene Jolt - Whatever it may look like for you. Probably a "Neuro Sonic" for me.
A small bowl of a light chicken pasta - 200-300 calories worth.
As for breakfast... Tough.
I'm going to roll with 2 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 piece of toast and a breakfast smoothie. Coffee of course.
Here's what I've done for every practice exam and it seems to have worked so far:
Breakfast:
1 bowl of raisin bran crunch with about 1/2 banana sliced in. Enough water to not make me have to pee during the exam.
Break after VR before WS:
1 granola bar of any sort. Nature valley (green wrapper) was my 38 so I'll probably stick with that
The key is to go to the bathroom before you leave the house and then right before the test. Haha, it's funny because I am only halfway joking.
So, lets get a snack list going.
We get three breaks and our glucose levels need to be kept up so we can operate at our highest capacities. Here's what I'm thinking:
Break PS--->VR:
Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Nuts
Green Tea
Break VR---->WR:
Protein Bar
Apple
Break WR--->BS:
Caffiene Jolt - Whatever it may look like for you. Probably a "Neuro Sonic" for me.
A small bowl of a light chicken pasta - 200-300 calories worth.
As for breakfast... Tough.
I'm going to roll with 2 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 piece of toast and a breakfast smoothie. Coffee of course.
I like Kinestudent's food choices. I know for myself, when I'm doing heavy brain work, im constantly hungry, so lots of food is good (but not to the point of food-coma, of course). Feed brain, feed!!!
shoot ... so much food. haha I'm going with the classic as I've done with my SATs in high school - Bananas, granola bars, and water! Possibly a banana peanut-butter sandwich if I'm feeling adventurous
I wish i could put a big lipper in during the writing section, but think they would prob frown on that. Just gunna have to wait 5 hr's.
Hea i think i learned my leason last time i took the real mcat, def was brain dead by the time Bio roled around, and the mountain of trail mix I ate just prior wasn't digested in time due chymotrypisins and trypsin not acting fast enough. So i think simple carb's like granola and maybe an apple will give me the quick glucose surge to finish strong.
I'm quite confused at what you mean... trypsin and chymotrypsin are proteases. Trail mix should be mostly carbohydrates therefore it was you pancreatic amylases that were not acting in time...
Bring it on AAMC, bring it ON
Don't forget the peanuts.
I know I'll be so nervous on Saturday that I won't even feel hungry. If I try to eat, I'm likely going to just throw it up anyway.
I'm bringing a mountain dew and a protein bar to the test center. That will get me through 6 hours easily
Just a a friendly warning... if you have not been practicing AAMCs or other timed exams with caffeine, I urge you to be careful. Other people that did this on the real thing, for the most part, said they didn't like it and it made them feel jittery.
That includes coffee, energy drinks, tea and yes... soda
Yes! Took aamc 11 WITHOUT using the pause button and got a 36!! So glad I could do it, granted some of you said this PS was supposed to be easier. I'm still happy. Hopefully I can do this on test day! I even had some time left so to go over my marked questions!