The Official April MCAT 2015 Takers Thread

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emulsifier

emulsifier

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Hey guys,

I've seen some old threads (from 2012, or early 2014) on the MCAT2015.

I am wondering if we can bring resources together here, discussions for those who are planning on taking the new one in or after April.

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new prep material for 2015, and the chance to compare the different companies? I scoured the internet, obviously not much at the moment. But I know someone out there has started, just need to get this info out!

Edit:
Resources mentioned in this thread or elsewhere:

  • Free mini-test: AAMC MCAT 2015 12 sample questions and answer (3 x 4 sections)
  • Next Step guide here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/
  • TPR 2015 books: They seem to be the same as their previous books. Their bio book has a chapter on biochem.
  • Kaplan 2015 books: removed content that is not tested. Physics section is 400 pages (may be too much for the new MCAT). Very little practice. Whole book on biochem.
  • EK 9th edition books: reformatted the whole book. SDNer reviewer has said that even parts with same illustrations have whole new contents. Got rid of topics that won't be tested. May be too condensed though.
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@Pediateix I will be taking a total gap of three years by the time I matriculate. If that's what you need to do to get in, then do it. It's not a big deal and I'm really glad I've had the time away from undergrad. Maybe make the MCAT a priority for July or August and apply to a few DO schools this year as well as master's. If you have to reapply then at least you'll have the experience under your belt.
 
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@Pediateix, I highly suggest you take 2-3 days to do absolutely nothing medical school-related. There are a few issues you need to seriously address before you proceed:

1) Your low sGPA.

You know it's not good. I'm going to respectfully disagree with @rachiie01 and suggest that you forget about applying this cycle so that you can focus on improving your stats.

2) Your MCAT.

The next time you take it absolutely must be your last. Cancel June. Focus on applying to programs that will allow you to demonstrate your ability to succeed in challenging courses, or just do a DIY post-bacc program and take a bunch of higher level science courses.

3) Your mental health/general well-being

The number and frequency of self-deprecating comments you've made on this forum is concerning to me. I don't want to pry into your personal life, but it seems like right now your absolute, number one priority needs to be being kind to yourself, giving yourself a break, and thinking realistically about how much you can handle. You're trying to accomplish a lot right now while understandably under a large amount of stress, and it's clearly not yielding good results. When something isn't working, you try another method. And putting off the application for another year will allow you to spend more time improving your mental health, which I believe will be more beneficial to your application in the long-run.
 
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haha I literally just PM'ed OP almost the exact same thing.

I don't know enough about his/her situation to feel comfortable recommending a course of action. I think a 3.0 and a solid MCAT would be fine in a DO cycle with strong EC's and a large number of applications submitted. That said, if OP is consistently bombing science classes and doesn't have a confident plan in place for improving the MCAT, then retaking right now isn't going to do any good.

I did read back a few pages just now and notice the lack of confidence in posts (I remembered reading them before but didn't connect them to you as the poster). Let me put it this way: medical school is not a casual commitment lol. You need to be confident and comfortable with your decision to go, and rushing into an application process because you don't want to miss a cycle is not wise for anyone, regardless of your stats.
 
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Might I also throw out the idea of maybe considering PA school? At the last conference I was at, almost every doctor I spoke to said "DON'T DO MD, DO PA"

Might be worth considering.
 
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PA school is difficult to get into as well. I wouldn't look at PA school as a backup necessarily for someone who can't get into MD or DO.
 
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rachiie01 said:
PA school is difficult to get into as well. I wouldn't look at PA school as a backup necessarily for someone who can't get into MD or DO.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Pre-reqs are also different. A lot require physio and thousands (not hundreds, but thousands) of hours of direct patient contact.
 
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Hey guys, I am little confused about the percentile score vs percentage of the questions answered correctly. I guess I am confused about the raw percent scores versus the scaled percenile scores by AAMC, If I get 76% of the questions right, 45/59 for example, does that mean 76% percentile. How do the two relate? Thanks :)
 
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Liz1234 said:
Hey guys, I am little confused about the percentile score vs percentage of the questions answered correctly. I guess I am confused about the raw percent scores versus the scaled percenile scores by AAMC, If I get 76% of the questions right, 45/59 for example, does that mean 76% percentile. How do the two relate? Thanks :)
Click to expand...

No, 76% correct does not necessarily mean 76th percentile. No one really knows yet what percent correct equates to in terms of percentile, as the raw to scaled score conversion hasn't been published yet. Some sections are going to have a better curve than others, too. For example, I think you can get a lower percentage of questions correct on Bio/Biochem and Chem/Physics sections than CARS and Psych, but that was just my impression (I was scoring much higher on the practice materials in psych and CARS and those were my lowest sections, whereas my percentage correct for the two hard science sections was a bit lower but in the 85-100th percentile range on the actual MCAT).
 
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Liz1234 said:
Hey guys, I am little confused about the percentile score vs percentage of the questions answered correctly. I guess I am confused about the raw percent scores versus the scaled percenile scores by AAMC, If I get 76% of the questions right, 45/59 for example, does that mean 76% percentile. How do the two relate? Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Right now the only info April takers have is an estimate of their relative percentiles (where their score will put them compared to their peers who also took the exam). The MCAT has never, and as far as I know, will still NOT report your % correct when you get your score. The percentiles are so wide because the AAMC has very little data right now and needs to collect more to refine their percentile estimates (bridge to MCAT content: higher n, greater statistical power) to be more accurate.
 
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A week late but had finals last week.

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 69% - 84%
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 41% - 56%
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 85% - 100%
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 80% - 95%
MCAT Total Score 74% - 84%

Ugh... Don't know what happened in CARS :(. Not sure if I should retake it in June or July considering I have a low GPA(~3.15 with ~3.5 for last 1.5 years) or go with my score... for this application cycle. Grr... If only med schools combined section scores like SAT so I would not have to worry about the other sections! ha
 
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I am taking the exam on Friday :/, i was wondering how the percent scores on the practice test correspond to the percentile scores you have on the real exam. I have 68% correct in the ptractice test for CARS, I was a little concerned. Please comment, thanks :)
 
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Liz1234 said:
I am taking the exam on Friday :/, i was wondering how the percent scores on the practice test correspond to the percentile scores you have on the real exam. I have 68% correct in the ptractice test for CARS, I was a little concerned. Please comment, thanks :)
Click to expand...

There is no information on this at the current time. And even if there was, it changes exam to exam.

Wait, are you messing with us? You just asked this question like a few posts above and already received the answer.
 
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Hi April test-takers, I was wondering if I could get your quick thoughts on whether we should prepare for Physics topics not explicitly covered in the AAMC outline, specifically: Circular/Rotational Motion, Projectile Motion, Momentum/Impulse?
 
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I took the AAMC MCAT 2015 practice test and these were my % of questions answered correctly…am I in bad shape for my MCAT, which is very soon?

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 68% (40/59)
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 64% (34/53)
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 44% (26/59)
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 66% (39/59)
 
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on the AAMC practice test overall I got approximately 80% of the questions right a week before the April exam. My preliminary overall percentile was 77-87%. But other people have vastly different results so it all depends
 
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Very unsatisfied with my scores :(. I am retaking it in September again, with the whole summer to study. Is anyone else in my boat? Congrats to everyone else!!!
 
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stonyalltheway said:
I took the AAMC MCAT 2015 practice test and these were my % of questions answered correctly…am I in bad shape for my MCAT, which is very soon?

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 68% (40/59)
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 64% (34/53)
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 44% (26/59)
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 66% (39/59)
Click to expand...

I have the following, and I am taking the exam on Friday,

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 66%
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 68%
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 76%
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 84%
 
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Hey guys,

For those of you who took the free TPR test, what do you think of this question in Psych/Soc (#28):

"Based on the design of the study described in the passage, what limits the researchers’ ability to draw conclusions about the causal relationship between conception risk and race bias?
A) The sample contained only White participants.
B) Participants were not randomly assigned to a particular phase of their menstrual cycle.
C) The study looked only at race relations between Black and White individuals.
D) The study did not take into account non-oral contraceptives such as NuvaRing, Mirena, or IUDs."

The study in question was an observational study where researchers tried to see whether there was a correlation between implicit racial bias and "risk of conception" i.e. menstrual cycle stage. TPR says the answer is B because "random assignment of subjects to a group (in this case, phases of the menstrual cycle) is one of the many variables that should have been controlled for in order to determine a causal relationship between conception risk and race bias (choice B is correct)."

However I have a problem with this and I am not sure whether TPR just worded their answer in a confusing manner or is mixing up observational vs. experimental studies. I don't think answer B is a good choice (none of them are good choices) because this is not an experimental study -- it is an observational study, since there was no "treatment". The women were randomly selected, their particular menstrual stage was determined, and their implicit bias was measured. Based on my understanding of study designs (I've taken graduate level epi), this is an observational cross-sectional study (even though the bias is being actively measured) and while random selection is possible, random assignment is not. You can't "assign" a woman a menstrual stage, just as you couldn't "assign" someone to a particular age in a hypothetical study investigating the relationship between age and racial bias.

The inability to draw causal conclusions is an inherent problem with observational studies, so I guess TPR is trying to emphasize that without random assignment in an experimental setting, you can't infer causality. But I would think a better answer would then be "this is an observational study without the potential for random assignment" rather than saying that the researchers "should have randomly assigned" participants. You can only do the latter in an experimental study.

Right?? Sorry for the length!
 
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carpediem22 said:
Hey guys,

For those of you who took the free TPR test, what do you think of this question in Psych/Soc (#28):

"Based on the design of the study described in the passage, what limits the researchers’ ability to draw conclusions about the causal relationship between conception risk and race bias?
A) The sample contained only White participants.
B) Participants were not randomly assigned to a particular phase of their menstrual cycle.
C) The study looked only at race relations between Black and White individuals.
D) The study did not take into account non-oral contraceptives such as NuvaRing, Mirena, or IUDs."

The study in question was an observational study where researchers tried to see whether there was a correlation between implicit racial bias and "risk of conception" i.e. menstrual cycle stage. TPR says the answer is B because "random assignment of subjects to a group (in this case, phases of the menstrual cycle) is one of the many variables that should have been controlled for in order to determine a causal relationship between conception risk and race bias (choice B is correct)."

However I have a problem with this and I am not sure whether TPR just worded their answer in a confusing manner or is mixing up observational vs. experimental studies. I don't think answer B is a good choice (none of them are good choices) because this is not an experimental study -- it is an observational study, since there was no "treatment". They were randomly selected, their particular menstrual stage was determined, and their implicit bias was measured. Based on my understanding of study designs (I've taken graduate level epi), this is an observational cross-sectional study (even though the bias is being actively measured) and while random selection is possible, random assignment is not. You can't "assign" a woman a menstrual stage, just as you couldn't "assign" someone to a particular age in a hypothetical study investigating the relationship between age and racial bias.

The inability to draw causal conclusions is an inherent problem with observational studies, so I guess TPR is trying to emphasize that without random assignment in an experimental setting, you can't infer causality. But I would think a better answer would then be "this is an observational study without the potential for random assignment" rather than saying that the researchers "should have randomly assigned" participants. You can only do the latter in an experimental study.

Right?? Sorry for the length!
Click to expand...

This highlights one of my biggest issues with taking the MCAT: sometimes knowing your stuff is detrimental!

I completely agree with you, but I think you're right in that TPR just wanted to emphasize "that the inability to draw causal conclusions is an inherent problem with observational studies." It was a poorly-worded question in that regard.
 
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mcatjelly said:
This highlights one of my biggest issues with taking the MCAT: sometimes knowing your stuff is detrimental!

I completely agree with you, but I think you're right in that TPR just wanted to emphasize "that the inability to draw causal conclusions is an inherent problem with observational studies." It was a poorly-worded question in that regard.
Click to expand...

For real. However I think (hope?) the real MCAT will have less of this issue. The MCAT is written by people who "know their stuff" to the max; they can't afford to have slightly mis-worded questions. Who knows who writes the TPR tests...
 
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carpediem22 said:
For real. However I think (hope?) the real MCAT will have less of this issue. The MCAT is written by people who "know their stuff" to the max; they can't afford to have slightly mis-worded questions. Who knows who writes the TPR tests...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've mostly had this problem with non-AAMC material.
 
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Or when the answer key is blatantly wrong (says A but only takes B etc...)

Yep. No worries.
 
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springly said:
Hi guys, are any of you filling out amcas? I can't find the april mcat date under the standardized test section.....
Click to expand...
The option is not available. I'm assuming it's because the scores should be available before the schools receive our apps.
 
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Levrone said:
Did anyone get CARS #18 correct for the official guide? I feel the answer should be 'A.'
Click to expand...
I also chose answer "A". I don't think its a mistake as much as a horrible/unfair question. The reasoning they use in the explanation is very abstract and almost fabricated. It is explicitly stated in the passage, they can't expect anyone to come up with a different answer in a test setting.
 
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I hope they don't do that on the actual test. You literally have a better chance of getting that answer right if you guess vs if you actually read the passage
 
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Question, were any of the prep classes helpful? I'm getting mixed comments on it from april ppl.


Nazca said:
sat for the April exam. Here are my preliminary percentiles: Chem: 85-100% CARS: 78-93%: Bio: 85-100% Psych: 85-100% Total Score: 90-100% !!!

also posting my friends score:
Chem: 85-100%
CARS: 85-100%
Bio: 85-100%
Psych: 80-95%
Total Score: 90-100%
Click to expand...


Can you through your study method? Material used? Please and thank you.
 
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IKnowNothingSometimes said:
Question, were any of the prep classes helpful? I'm getting mixed comments on it from april ppl. Can you through your study method? Material used? Please and thank you.
Click to expand...

I got a similar score and used Kaplan review books and then the official AAMC material. To be honest, I don't think the company you use makes much of a difference... They're all pretty equivalent. Your best bet is using two different companies so you don't have any gaps in your knowledge. Using just Kaplan, I noticed a few gaps on psych/soc but it wasn't anything major
 
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I'm interested to know whether anybody here has taken either an old mcat (2014) or one of the old aamc FL exams? Did any of you find that you had MORE time on the physical sciences and biology sections? Clearly there is more time provided for these sections per question, but I'm wondering if they have made the passages longer or more time consuming to interpret data? I've always been crunched for time when taking this test, so any information would be helpful.
 
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I'm not sure what the verdict on this was, but are we thinking that our final percentiles will be determined by taking into account the percentiles of the May testers as well?
 
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I'm pretty sure I've run across an AAMC page that said our percentiles would not be determined using the data from May test takers. I'll try to find the source tho...

Edit: "The percentile ranks reported in the 2015 testing year will be based on the scores of examinees who test on April 17 and 18."- AAMC, Services

Edit Edit: But on the other hand, "The score scale will be set after the April 2015 and May 2015 administrations and will provide more data on the distribution of MCAT scores." MCAT FAQ

So as usual, who really knows.
 
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Hey April test-takers,

Did any of you take the EK FL exams and if so, would you mind posting how you did on those vs. your released April percentiles/AAMC sample exam?

I am a June test-taker and I want to gauge my progress. Any feedback would be great.

Thanks!! :)
 
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i took the april test but have to
for those of you who took the 2 mcgraw hill tests- did you like them?

does practice make perfect in MCAT?
 
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keepSwimmingNemo said:
i took the april test but have to retake in august because i didn't do well and I'm startin to study now. i took he old MCAT-used TBR. the new one in April-Used TPR and now I'm using kapln and mcgraw hill. i hope it works this time:/

for those of you who took the 2 mcgraw hill tests- did you like them?

does practice make perfect in MCAT? caus i heard you don't want to over study cause you might star to overanalyze the questions

My GPA is poor which is why I'm having a hard time with MCAt. whenever i go in i always say, ****, no way am i going to do well. or maybe its cause i don't take enough practice test
Click to expand...

A GPA is recoverable honestly. Post-bacc etc, upward trend can do wonders. A GPA between 3.0 and 3.5 can get in with a great MCAT score if they apply smartly.
 
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So I have a previous MCAT score and I took April 17ths new 2015 score. Everyone always says to apply early but, I am wondering whether to wait to apply until June 16th with my new score OR apply June 2nd...get transcripts verified...etc. I saw that the 1st initial application data transmission is not until July 1st.

source: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/178468/data/amcas_student_presentation.pptx
 
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MadisonMG said:
So I have a previous MCAT score and I took April 17ths new 2015 score. Everyone always says to apply early but, I am wondering whether to wait to apply until June 16th with my new score OR apply June 2nd...get transcripts verified...etc. I saw that the 1st initial application data transmission is not until July 1st.

source: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/178468/data/amcas_student_presentation.pptx
Click to expand...
what were your estimated percentiles that AAMC gave you?
 
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