The Official August 7, 2014 MCAT Thread

[Thoroughbred_Med]

107 days out! Who all is signed up to obliterate the MCAT August 7th?

I know it's a bit early but I searched and could not find another August 7th, 2014 MCAT thread! I am hoping that we can keep each other motivated this summer while studying...

I am starting a slightly modified SN2ed schedule May 7th.... slightly modified due to my incredible weakness with physics. I am not taking physics 2 before the MCAT and therefore will be self-teaching it.

Looking forward to hearing from some of y'all!

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[CanadianMedHopeful]

They must give completely different exams at the same time I had the 2 pm test with maybe one or two calculation questions in PS for the entire test with the most boring verbal topics imaginable but did have this outrageous bio passage everyone is talking about.

 

[doctorswagnyc]

is it possible to get 7 or 8 wrong in PS and still end up with a 12 or 13... I felt like 8 am was too much discrete and maybe should have voided

 

[drrao88]

AHHH. I keep thinking about some answers I got right and others I definitely got wrong wtf! I just want my score now

BS had some tricky questions that I'm def glad I marked and came back to change my answers

 

[Advocate]

Took 8am test...

Overall, I thought it was harder than the AAMC practices, which was unsurprising...PS was especially challenging. VR I thought was reasonable, and bio a little tricky here and there. Anyways, I'm not sure at all what to expect from the test, and I'm guessing it's pretty much futile for me to predict the score

Anyways, I hadn't heard as much about the 8am test, so I just wanted to place my opinion. I'm just trying to figure out if I stumbled on questions that were genuinely difficult for most takers and if a generous curve is plausible.

 

[Notepad]

Thinking about questions is making me crazy. I'm not actively trying to remember them either they're just haunting me.

 

[PrinceMD]

I took the 8/7 test. I took a total of 7 practice tests (3 Kaplan, 4 AAMC). Here are the results in the order I took them. (Also, took MCAT in 8/2013 and got a 23, PS-8, VR-6, BS-9). Trying to be realistic, my goal for this exam was at least a 30, improving each section by 2-3.

Kaplan #1 - 29, PS-11, VR-8, BS-10
AAMC #8 - 31, PS-12, VR-8, BS-11
Kaplan #2 - 32, PS-13, VR-10, BS-9
AAMC #9 - 27, PS-9, VR-8, BS-10
Kaplan #3 - 32, PS-11, VR-7, BS-14
AAMC #11 - 29, PS-11, VR-9, BS-9
AAMC #10 - 29, PS-12, VR-7, BS-10

How did u prepare over the last year to get from a 23 to averaging over 30s in practice tests?

 

[Shipley231]

I just had a dream that I was able to view what I got wrong on biology..... it was like all red.

Couldn't see my score though.

It's going to be a long 5 weeks.

 

[clairephillips]

I kinda

Took 8am test...

Overall, I thought it was harder than the AAMC practices, which was unsurprising...PS was especially challenging. VR I thought was reasonable, and bio a little tricky here and there. Anyways, I'm not sure at all what to expect from the test, and I'm guessing it's pretty much futile for me to predict the score

Anyways, I hadn't heard as much about the 8am test, so I just wanted to place my opinion. I'm just trying to figure out if I stumbled on questions that were genuinely difficult for most takers and if a generous curve is plausible.

8 AM test. I kinda felt that every section was difficult, but fair, like I said earlier. PS was really conceptual and hard and there were a few i had to completely blind guess on. Verbal was verbal except that FIRST passage, and somewhat the second. It smoothed out after that. Bio discretes were things I didn't know wayyy too often, but the passages seemed fine. All in all, I'm expecting to be very close to a 30, which is a point lower than my average. We shall see.

 

[user12]

Crazy adventure indeed! I think verbal was ok, and I mean I had 20seconds left for the last question and it's certainly my weakest section in deed. PS was very biased towards some physics concepts! The light of a candle? Seriously! These guys couldn't come up with better questions! Bio is my strongest but that 1passage was insane! And guess what? It has the most questions !grrrrrr don't know what these people be smoking when they write the test. Still hoping for my 30+ though coz definitely don't want to retake it!again ! Praying for a big fat curve

the light of a candle?? did you take the 2 pm test?

 

[jenniferrae]

I just had a dream that I was able to view what I got wrong on biology..... it was like all red.

Couldn't see my score though.

It's going to be a long 5 weeks.

I had a dream I got my score back and I got 6/9/8 and I woke up in a cold sweat. WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG??

 

[Medix450]

I had a dream I got my score back and I got 6/9/8 and I woke up in a cold sweat. WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG??

They want to break us down slowly even after the exam

 

[ihateups]

PS: PS is usually my best section. But this test!! AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I sat in my bed thinking of all the questions I got wrong and omg....... It was especially upsetting because I could have gotten those right. Only if I wasn't panicking or in a hurry, they were very answerable. Efffffff. Ugh all the questions I know for sure I got wrong plus the all the ones I got wrong, I can't even...The GChem passage was hard. I wasn't sure which numbers to use to calculate.

VR: I thought it was doable and all the passages were understandable. But who knows maybe I misunderstood all the passages.

BS: I thought it was okay except that one random passage that was very difficult to understand. The discrete questions were hard and some passage questions were hard as well but overall easier than PS for sure.

 

[premedpostmom]

My impressions...
I took 13 full length MCATs over the course of 2.5 months. I also took a prep course because I haven't taken Physics 2 or physio so I knew I would need some help. I also bought coursesaver and re-watched Chad's videos a few times, particularly the Physics ones since that was my weakness. Studied my ass off all summer and was averaging 29-30 at the end. I feel that no test I took in my prep was a good representation of what went down yesterday. PS was horrible. I guessed on a good number of them. My G. Chem is very strong but the copper passage was horribly confusing and if you couldn't predict the product you were screwed for a few of the questions. What is worse is that there was BARELY any G. Chem, for me that was a death sentence. Verbal passages were too long. I had one skip passage as usual but the passages were taking too long to read so I had less time to really tackle the questions fairly. BS was hard too, discrete questions were tough. My superpower is Ochem but there was only one passage on mine. I am also strong in genetics, there was only like 2 questions on genetics. I'm predicting that I did as bad or worse than the diagnostic I took back in May. I feel like I just wasted my entire summer and precious time with my kiddo. Serious post-test blues over here.

 

[whip]

2pm exam

PS: seemed so polar.. some questions were way too easy and some were impossible. It definitely felt like a test designed to funnel scores into a specific desired range. I did all the discrete questions first which were very easy and it gave me confidence to work up to the passage based questions. I actually slowed down because I had so many that were too easy. almost no calculations, and it was like others have said... had an overall focus of about 2 concepts in physics. 1 hard gen chem passage as others have mentioned, but I knew my time was spent better on other questions. (wish I could say that I did that for bio). I felt good about it and estimate 9-11 in this section.

VR: first passage was very difficult with lots of questions, ran out of time for the passage and guessed on the last three question on the first passage. I expected to make up for it on passages I could understand and had a fair chance at. These passages took me much longer to read and understand. This section didn't resonate very well with me. I'm assuming a 7-8 score for this.

BS: WORST. my strategy is the same as PS, did all the discrete questions first to warm up to the passages (plus they are usually the easy questions for me--- not in this case). My biggest frustration is that I thought that if I could understand that really hard passage, I would be able to answer the questions.... NOPE. I wasted all my time on it, couldn't make sense of it, guessed on all the questions, and I wouldn't be surprised if I got them all wrong. I didn't have time to really look at the ochem passage, marked all c and reviewed about 2 of them. I am really not looking forward to seeing this score. I am expecting an 8-9 on this section but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find it lower than that.

I will pee my pants with joy if I score 28-29, but I assume that I probably scored 22-23 range--- who knows... maybe I scored a 3 in bio and got a 17 overall. I felt so terrible after the test I told my wife that I was going to start looking for a new career path. I'm feeling a little better after reading about everyone else had similar experiences

 

[user12]

My impressions...
I took 13 full length MCATs over the course of 2.5 months. I also took a prep course because I haven't taken Physics 2 or physio so I knew I would need some help. I also bought coursesaver and re-watched Chad's videos a few times, particularly the Physics ones since that was my weakness. Studied my ass off all summer and was averaging 29-30 at the end. I feel that no test I took in my prep was a good representation of what went down yesterday. PS was horrible. I guessed on a good number of them. My G. Chem is very strong but the copper passage was horribly confusing and if you couldn't predict the product you were screwed for a few of the questions. What is worse is that there was BARELY any G. Chem, for me that was a death sentence. Verbal passages were too long. I had one skip passage as usual but the passages were taking too long to read so I had less time to really tackle the questions fairly. BS was hard too, discrete questions were tough. My superpower is Ochem but there was only one passage on mine. I am also strong in genetics, there was only like 2 questions on genetics. I'm predicting that I did as bad or worse than the diagnostic I took back in May. I feel like I just wasted my entire summer and precious time with my kiddo. Serious post-test blues over here.

that copper passage sucked. id actually be willing to say that was the hardest science section on the test. the bio one was sort of like the ebola passage... like if you just read it and stared at it long enough, eventually you could figure out what was going on. but the copper one was just stupid.

 

[pontelones]

Took the 2 pm test. Spent most of my last few days leading up to the exam looking over Bio concepts that I felt I was weak in and did not spend a lot of time reviewing PS. aaaaand what a mistake I felt that was!! Totally regret not reviewing simple Physics concepts before taking the exam.

PS: I am usually very consistent with my practice test scores on this section. Scoring either 9-11 never higher or lower. I felt like the PS section on this test was very hard. Nothing like any of the practice tests I have taken. I felt pressed for time towards the end and was forced to guess on more questions that I would've liked to. Spent too much of my time on the difficult gchem passage. I felt that most of the physics passages/questions were very one topic-heavy. Overall this section was like WTF.

Verbal: Usually my best section. As others have mentioned I felt like the passages were longer than usual but again, could be due to the screen and font size. I have never scored below a 10 on verbal but am ready for anything after having my mind f***** in the PS section. Felt good on this section but who knows.

BS: I tend to struggle with bio content (all topics besides Physiology) and my scores of 9-11 depend on answering the passage-related questions correctly (versus recall questions), but what in the hell was that one passage about? Just throw a bunch of numbers and letters at me with some convoluted mechanisms and expect me to answer poorly written questions on it. No thanks. That was the hardest bio passage I have ever encountered. Wasted way too much time trying to figure it out. The other passages were okay, and the discrete or free standing questions seemed alright.

Overall I felt the test was harder than most practice tests I've taken. I feel better now after reading that I am not the only one who felt this way. I would be peeing-in-my-pants excited with a score of 28 or higher at this point.

 

[currentlypremed]

The copper one was hit or miss. Not understanding the reaction means you automatically miss like 3 questions. I don't know why they asked it.. I looked it up afterwards online and I got the non calculation question right but the calculation question I think I missed.
The one bio passage that was crazy on the BS was BS. I took cell bio and presented a project about the pathway and I was still confused by the passage. It was convoluted and time consuming. I am lucky that I did the free standing questions first and started the test backwards!

 

[gmail12]

The PS wasn't too bad all I can say is if you went through the BR books you should have been pretty familiar with some of the experimental paradigms used in the passages mainly for Physics. However, WTF was that copper ****.......Also easily the worst /most boring verbal passages.

 

[jenniferrae]

I feel like I did worse and worse every hour that goes by. Luckily I'm off on a survival mission this weekend in the middle of the wilderness... maybe I can forget about this f-ing test for a few days!

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[iforget2]

AAMC needs to get rid of AAMC 3, 4, and 5 and put in new practice exams like 12, 13, 14. Something like that would be much helpful than retired exams that are irrelevant to the current test.

Yea.. Even AAMC 3 and AAMC 7 were noticeably different.

 

[user12]

AAMC needs to get rid of AAMC 3, 4, and 5 and put in new practice exams like 12, 13, 14. Something like that would be much helpful than retired exams that are irrelevant to the current test.

they definitely should. but they probably figure since the test is changing they wont even bother

 

[Shipley231]

they definitely should. but they probably figure since the test is changing they wont even bother

Even worse, with the new practice exams they administer they will probably just recycle old PS and BS questions, including those from AAMC 3 etc

 

[user12]

Even worse, with the new practice exams they administer they will probably just recycle old PS and BS questions, including those from AAMC 3 etc

yeah. like, I feel that in terms if the DISCRETE questions... they have gotten harder over the years, but really not too out of hand. even yesterday, i honestly didnt think there was 1 unfair discrete... but believe me my july 24 test had a few. but the passages... particularly bio, there should be more of an emphasis of the ebola-esque type passages and questions that follow. like the test is so heavily biased toward molecular/micro bio and genetics right now, the practice exams should reflect that.

 

[Flakey22]

Crazy adventure indeed! I think verbal was ok, and I mean I had 20seconds left for the last question and it's certainly my weakest section in deed. PS was very biased towards some physics concepts! The light of a candle? Seriously! These guys couldn't come up with better questions! Bio is my strongest but that 1passage was insane! And guess what? It has the most questions !grrrrrr don't know what these people be smoking when they write the test. Still hoping for my 30+ though coz definitely don't want to retake it!again ! Praying for a big fat curve

Haha, my same thoughts exactly for the PS bias. I felt like three passages had the same concept tested. "Why does this look familiar...oh, because it's been on TWO PASSAGES." Or my fried-brain is just creating biased memories. I've already decided to study and re-take in September. I know I can do a lot better. But first, three seasons of Game of Thrones to go through.

 

[elizabeth99]

I took the 2pm test yesterday and all I can say is WOW. After studying for months and doing numerous practice tests I thought I would feel more confident after the test was done, but I keep thinking of all of the easier questions that I missed because I second guessed myself. I'm hoping for at least a 29 or 30, but at this point I think I might need a miracle!

 

[futureMDhere]

How did u prepare over the last year to get from a 23 to averaging over 30s in practice tests?

Last year I basically just prepared on my own. This time I took a Kaplan course over the last couple of months. I believe with more practice I could have improved more, but working 50 hrs/week and other responsibilities have limited that. I feel like I have a good understanding of all concepts, but tough passages really kill me.

I am thinking of scheduling another test and just practice passages over the next month while I am waiting on results.

 

[futureMDhere]

My impressions...
I took 13 full length MCATs over the course of 2.5 months. I also took a prep course because I haven't taken Physics 2 or physio so I knew I would need some help. I also bought coursesaver and re-watched Chad's videos a few times, particularly the Physics ones since that was my weakness. Studied my ass off all summer and was averaging 29-30 at the end. I feel that no test I took in my prep was a good representation of what went down yesterday. PS was horrible. I guessed on a good number of them. My G. Chem is very strong but the copper passage was horribly confusing and if you couldn't predict the product you were screwed for a few of the questions. What is worse is that there was BARELY any G. Chem, for me that was a death sentence. Verbal passages were too long. I had one skip passage as usual but the passages were taking too long to read so I had less time to really tackle the questions fairly. BS was hard too, discrete questions were tough. My superpower is Ochem but there was only one passage on mine. I am also strong in genetics, there was only like 2 questions on genetics. I'm predicting that I did as bad or worse than the diagnostic I took back in May. I feel like I just wasted my entire summer and precious time with my kiddo. Serious post-test blues over here.

It sounds like we had the same exam. I feel you on the PS and the Chem passage. I also know how the post-test blues are. I am just trying to be optimistic at this point. The good news is that apparently we are not alone in thinking the PS was crazy hard. Just maybe the grading scale will be generous! What really scares me is the verbal as I didn't feel too disgusted after it.

 

[911 Turbo]

lol I almost signed up for the Aug 7 test date... luckily I ended up going with the Aug 27 test date. you guys have any last minute tips for me?

 

[Dreamstoo]

This forum is so depressing, I'm so sorry to hear you guys got really tough MCAT exams. Taking the exam September 6, 2014 and have been so nervous after reading all of this the past two nights

 

[Advocate]

It sounds like 2pm really had it rough, sorry guys. If it's any consolation though, the high difficulty seems to be pretty unanimous, so a positive curve is probably more likely .

8am on the other hand...I'm still uncertain how difficult or easy it was for most of the takers. Could anyone else offer their thoughts on the morning test?

 

[MarkovnikovRules]

Fellow 2pm survivor here... So does anyone know how the test will be scored? It's not curved, but it is scaled... Are they using the information from THIS test alone (using each others scores to find the average) or is AAMC using the running average to score us?

 

[clairephillips]

Yeah, I'm surprised were haven't heard from very many. Maybe most took the 2pm test?

 

[Notepad]

Some of the 8am-ers thought the PS was similarly difficult and conceptual to the 2pm-ers. But it certainly seems like the 2pm test was taken by most on here...weird.

 

[moop]

Fellow 2pm survivor here... So does anyone know how the test will be scored? It's not curved, but it is scaled... Are they using the information from THIS test alone (using each others scores to find the average) or is AAMC using the running average to score us?

Don't be lazy; do a search, this topic has been beaten to death on SDN

 

[CanadianMedHopeful]

Fellow 2pm survivor here... So does anyone know how the test will be scored? It's not curved, but it is scaled... Are they using the information from THIS test alone (using each others scores to find the average) or is AAMC using the running average to score us?

According to the AAMC Guide to the MCAT 3rd Edition, the scale is previously established before anyone writes but I'm confused too it seems like not everyone had the same exam for 2PM some had a lot of calculations in PS, I had almost none. Some people only had one orgo passage, I had two. I usually love verbal and I despised the one on my exam. It sounds like each exam each person writes varies a little across forms. Also, since some questions in each section are not scored it is difficult to guess how their scale is different from that of the practice exams.

 

[user12]

According to the AAMC Guide to the MCAT 3rd Edition, the scale is previously established before anyone writes but I'm confused too it seems like not everyone had the same exam for 2PM some had a lot of calculations in PS, I had almost none. Some people only had one orgo passage, I had two. I usually love verbal and I despised the one on my exam. It sounds like each exam each person writes varies a little across forms. Also, since some questions in each section are not scored it is difficult to guess how their scale is different from that of the practice exams.

im surprised that they STILL have questions on the main exam that aren't scored or are "experimental." you'd think by now theyd have figured out what questions are good and which ones arent

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

Would you guys say these real MCATs were more like Kaplan over AAMC practice tests in terms of difficulty?

 

[user12]

Would you guys say these real MCATs were more like Kaplan over AAMC practice tests in terms of difficulty?

definitely not like Kaplan because Kaplan likes to put all sorts of crazy calculations with horrible numbers. but Kaplan is good practice. and sure as hell not like gold standard, ive posted in other threads to stay away from them if you want something similar to the real thing. I would say the real thing is slightly more difficult than the aamcs. like I would say 85% of the questions are on the same level, but those other 15% really are the ones that make it difficult.

 

[doctorswagnyc]

The more I think about the more mistakes I rememeber making on ps. I am going to have to retake

 

[taco152]

Same here. I'm trying not to think about it.
Once we get the results back, what options do we have to retake before the new MCAT?

 

[user12]

I think they extended the number of dates this year. I believe it's being offered in September, October (normally not offered) and early january

 

[taco152]

The early January will still be current style?

 

[catnipchips]

The early January will still be current style?

yahs

 

[taco152]

thank goodness I still got that one.
Is everyone here, more or less, applying next cycle?
Gotta work on my personal statement now. Any good threads?

 

[user12]

thank goodness I still got that one.
Is everyone here, more or less, applying next cycle?
Gotta work on my personal statement now. Any good threads?

im applying this cycle. I applied last cycle, got 4 interviews, 1 rejection and 3 waitlists. just got notified this week that im officially not accepted from two of the waitlists... the last rejection should be this week.

 

[CanadianMedHopeful]

im applying this cycle. I applied last cycle, got 4 interviews, 1 rejection and 3 waitlists. just got notified this week that im officially not accepted from two of the waitlists... the last rejection should be this week.

How'd you do on your last MCAT if you don't mind me asking?

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[Notepad]

thank goodness I still got that one.
Is everyone here, more or less, applying next cycle?
Gotta work on my personal statement now. Any good threads?

I'm applying this cycle. Probably going to register for the 9/12 exam soon. Bah...

 

[Midnight Schemes]

Its over guys. Forgot to put in my .02 regarding the test, not that it matters much. First 5 minutes of the PS I thought I needed a defibrillator because my heartbeat was so irregular. I was about to have a nervous breakdown and finally calmed myself down.

That being said, PS was similar to AAMC 11, albeit a little harder. Between the difficulty and my initial freakout I think I got a 9 or 10. Then again, I thought AAMC 11's PS was really hard and got an 11. Finished with 5 minutes to spare.

Verbal? Completely average. Think I got a 10, because that's what I've been scoring on the practice. But then again, you never know with verbal. Finished with 10 full minutes to spare.

BS was very difficult, AAMC 11 was really representative. I think I scored a 10. Finished with 10-15 minutes I think.

So 9/10-10-10. 29 or 30. Hopefully I'm overestimating the test and underestimating my ability.