The Official August 7, 2014 MCAT Thread

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Thoroughbred_Med

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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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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.
positive vibes man. Good Luck
 
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It was one of the answer choices for a question. I'm sure if you heard the context of it again, you'd remember.

maybe we had a different 2 pm test. i only remember pretty much 1 question with light. and there was no candle involved.
 
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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?
Thank you based god for asking the same question I'm wandering

Any tips or study switch ups from the Aug 7th experience?
 
Thank you based god for asking the same question I'm wandering

Any tips or study switch ups from the Aug 7th experience?

For PS- don't disregard the seemingly insignificant stuff, some of the stuff I reviewed the night before ended up being on the test. If you get a calculation heavy or conceptual heavy exam is completely random so prepare for both.
VR- I'm not sure I prepared pretty thoroughly (lots of aamc practices, princeton hyper learning verbal work book)for this and my verbal was insane, just do your best on your test and hope for a nice curve if you get an outrageous section.
Bio-practice the experimental passages in 11 and 10 aamc practice, ochem on mine wasn't bad but on others was pretty tough from what I heard.
Good luck!
 
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Chad's videos, and his quizzes for everything but bio, helped immensely. Take the time to go through those.
Is it worth buying at this point I've had some rough streaks with studying. think it'll be good for getting back on track but would it be worth paying the money right now?
 
For PS- don't disregard the seemingly insignificant stuff, some of the stuff I reviewed the night before ended up being on the test. If you get a calculation heavy or conceptual heavy exam is completely random so prepare for both.
VR- I'm not sure I prepared pretty thoroughly (lots of aamc practices, princeton hyper learning verbal work book)for this and my verbal was insane, just do your best on your test and hope for a nice curve if you get an outrageous section.
Bio-practice the experimental passages in 11 and 10 aamc practice, ochem on mine wasn't bad but on others was pretty tough from what I heard.
Good luck!
of the resources u used to study, which did u think helped prepare you most for the test?
 
of the resources u used to study, which did u think helped prepare you most for the test?

Definitely Berkeley Review for physical scis and maybe the first bio book too I skipped the metabolism stuff in the second book as it went too much in detail for the time I had left. I did some passages from the TPRHL workbook too and that was helpful. Definitely leave the AAMC practice tests until the end and don't waste the later ones (9,10 and especially 11) as they are probably most representative of the current exam. Take the time to do at least some of the BR passage questions they're tough but worth it it's hard to do them all though unless you have an insane amount of time before your exam. I used kaplan the first time I wrote and hated them but the review pages they give are somewhat useful if you exclude the stuff not tested on the actual exam anymore that they still include for some reason--(aromatics, alkene and alkyne rxns).
 
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Definitely Berkeley Review for physical scis and maybe the first bio book too I skipped the metabolism stuff in the second book as it went too much in detail for the time I had left. I did some passages from the TPRHL workbook too and that was helpful. Definitely leave the AAMC practice tests until the end and don't waste the later ones (9,10 and especially 11) as they are probably most representative of the current exam. Take the time to do at least some of the BR passage questions they're tough but worth it it's hard to do them all though unless you have an insane amount of time before your exam. I used kaplan the first time I wrote and hated them but the review pages they give are somewhat useful if you exclude the stuff not tested on the actual exam anymore that they still include for some reason--(aromatics, alkene and alkyne rxns).

ill second that, BR is very solid. you should still know a little about aromatic stuff though I think, and as far as alkanes/alkenes go, I would know them in so far as how they might relate to other concepts. like for example, unsaturated fatty acids. when you add like Br2 or Cl2 to fatty acids, the most unsaturated one will show the greatest color change. another thing I highly recommend you do is get ahold of all the OLDER aamc tests- the long ones. they actually contain passages and questions not seen from other exams or self assessments. if you have trouble finding them, message me and ill hook you up
 
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Usually a lurker, rarely on here, and never post and probably won't again except for a follow up, but wanted to give some thoughts on Thursday's 2pm exam if it helps anyone taking it in the near future.

Overall: It wasn't harder or easier than expected, just different. Like if I could put the difficulty rating of all the questions on a standard bell curve, I think the mean/median would stay the same, but it would have a higher standard deviation, i.e. the questions were more variable. There was one totally WTF question on each science section that I could only make my best educated guess. I've never encountered that much wtf on any practice exams. Of course there's always those questions that you either know it or you don't and you just have to make a best guess and hope you get lucky, but usually there is 4-5 on each science section, however I felt there was 6-7 this time, which was unnerving.

As for my practice exams:
AAMC range: 32-39 (in order taken starting about a month before the exam day)
5: 36 (12/11/13)
7: 32 (11/9/12)
11: 34 (11/11/12)
10: 34 (12/10/12)
9: 39 (15/10/14)
8: 37 (14/10/13)
Average: 35.3 (12.5/10.1/12.7)
Prediction:
Conservative: 33 (12/9/12)
Lucky: 37 (13/11/13)

AAMC 3 and 4, I took over a year ago for really no reason, which was a waste/stupid. Just wanted to see what the exam was like. For 3, I got a 28 (10/7/11) and for 4, I got a 30 (10/7/13). Idk why my PS jumped so high on AAMC 9 and 8. I think that's when I changed my strategy to go back and check my work since I usually have 10 minutes left in the sciences. Pretty stable for a 10 in verbal, which I was really happy about. Was shooting for a 9. I will die if I get an 11.

Test Day Breakdown:
PS: Not sure if it was either more conceptual or more calculations than the AAMC FLs as others mentioned, but I do remember by the end of the time, my scratch paper had more formulas/stuff written down than usual. idk if it was more calculations per se, but more testing the relationships of variables in formulas. I like to write the formulas down to visualize easier if a test question hints at a concept that uses a formula. I guess there was more questions involving formulas/relationships. PS section is just about as strong as my BS section. But I couldn't calm down/get my heart rate down for the first 30 minutes, which could have had a deleterious effect on thinking clearly. Breathing in for ~6 seconds, holding for 6, and out for 6 is a trick I'd do on my nervous system to slow my heart rate down. My brother went to military academy and taught me that trick to calm down. It works lol. But I was just waayyy too nervous at the start of the test.

VS: My weakest section. For the AAMC FLs, I always barely finished with enough time (like 30 seconds). But this time, I had 3 minutes to spare, which NEVER happens. I did not notice the word length was higher as other people mentioned. I'm pretty sure I had the same test as everyone else though, because all the questions/passages others hinted at, I definitely had. I usually do the passages in a different order. I skip to the passages where I read the first two or three sentences, understand the general topic, AND I think is interesting. Then I move onto the ones that are less interesting. And finally the last one or two passages I hold on for dear life. I write down #1-7 on the scratch paper and cross out the passage numbers I did to keep track. I also write down the time I should be at after every passage: 51, 42, 33, 24, 15, and 6 min (I allow 9 min per passage and leave 6 minutes for the hardest passage that I know I wouldn't do better on even if I had 15 minutes -- based on previous practice experience). I'm usually on time for every passage on every practice exam I took. However, for the actual exam, I varied and was at around 54, 45, 33, 25, 17, 10, and finished with 3 minutes to spare. This was weird because I'm usually invariable when it comes to timing, despite the fact it is my weakest section and I almost have a heart attack every time I come to the verbal section. Like every minute is a struggle and I feel like I'm being dragged by my feet against my will to take this horrible section, but it didn't feel that bad for the actual test. I thought the passages were interesting for the most part. So glad that there wasn't any of those philosophy passages (like with Confucius or Greek philosophy with weird Greek names that I can never remember where it is in the passage if a question refers to that person). I usually score around a 10 on practice exams which I'm fine with, but because the actual exam felt nothing like the practice exams, I have no friken clue what I'll get. I hope the fact that I had a lot of time to spare means I did well, but I know myself, and when things are off, it's not good, even if I felt good about it.

BS: Yeah, that one passage people mentioned, holy crap. Also, I felt like for one or two questions, if I didn't take biochem before, I would've been screwed. I seriously wouldn't have known the information off the top of my head without taking the class. So that was a curve-ball that I'm glad I hit. For PS and BS, I finished with 10-13 minutes to spare. So I go back and check my work. I'm glad I did because I found mistakes in each section. That probably saved me 2 whole points because I'm always on a borderline for the sciences. I never check my work for verbal because I don't have time and usually my gut is better at answering verbal questions.

As for preparing for the exam, I tried to follow the Sn2ed calendar. Never did, with work and summer classes (going into my fourth year undergrad now at UF). Had a friend that had all the Berkeley Review books, TPRH verbal workbook, and all EK 1001 for me to use. Tried to follow the 4 month calendar with all this nice material, but found it just did not suit my learning style I developed in undergrad. So I ended up reading all the BR chapters/EK bio chapters, making sure I understand thoroughly everything. All derivations of formulas, all concepts and connections, and all test taking strategies. Just tried to learn good, genuine, basic science concepts of everything. That helped me out the best. In hindsight, I think I really grew as a scientist/critical thinker through studying the MCAT.

I tried to do some of the BR passages, but didn't bother after a while becuase it was too much with work.. Tried to do the EK 1001, and got 20% through each book, but stopped. I found that just reviewing the BR chapters constantly and doing the AAMC FL exams helped me the most. It took me at first a whole day (or more) to get through reading one BR chapter, but eventually I got so efficient, I could go through a whole science in one day (10 chapters for chem, 10 for phys, 8 for orgo, 9 for EK bio). I probably went through reading the PS sciences 5 times and the BS sciences 3 times over. For the verbal, I tried to do 3 practice TPRH workbook passages per day, but that didn't work out. I like to do things in chunks and focus on one thing. So after reading the science passages twice, I felt it was time to focus on the TPRH workbook. I usually did groups of seven passages and timed myself for an hour. Was doing really badly and was expecting an 8, but averaged a solid 10 on the practice AAMC FL. So whatever. That's fine with me. I hope the way I studied pays off in the end. That's just my learning style. Didn't have time to go through the practice questions because of work and school commitments, but made sure I did all the AAMC FLs diligently and honestly. We'll see in a month D-:

Good Luck to anyone reading this who is taking it soon :)
 
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The more time that goes by since Thursday, the more certain I am that I bombed.... I'm thinking like sub-20 kind of bombing... not looking forward to going through this again...
 
Hey everyone, I very rarely post on here but I do enjoy reading the forums a lot. I took the 2pm test and I agree with everyone, it was a pretty big pain in the a**.

I thought the PS focused way too much on two or three concepts and that copper passage others have mentioned was also annoying. I think what made the PS so difficult was how poorly or ambiguously worded some of the questions were. I really have no idea where I stand with PS section to be honest. I feel like I could have missed anywhere from 8-12 questions because I blindly guessed on like 4-5 of them due to time constraints and just didn't understand another 4-5 questions. I averaged around an 11 for PS on the AAMC so I'm hoping I squeezed it out on the real deal.

Verbal is a coin toss. I felt like the passages were not too difficult to comprehend and the questions (albeit a handful of funky ones as usual) were also pretty fair, but again, I am speaking from ignorance at this point. I stayed focused and even found some of the passage topics interesting and that's all you can really ask for, ya know? I didn't feel like it was any longer then the AAMC tests like some have mentioned. I think this theory stems from the fact that the font size is larger so you end up scrolling a bit more than you are used to for the AAMC exams. However, if you don't let this sidetrack you then you realize you are spending the same amount of time reading then you normally would on VR. I ended up with 3 minutes left and went back over a couple of the funky questions and changed one answer...hopefully not to an incorrect one haha! I'll be happy with a 10 for sure.

For BS I agree with everyone on that one passage, I was able to decipher enough of it to answer the questions, but it was SO TIME CONSUMING! I marked the questions and came back to them. I even reread the passage 2 times, but I still probably missed 2-3 from that passage alone. The two organic chemistry passages were all-in-all alright, but there were a couple of questions from those passages that I had to guess on because I didn't have time to draw out and test a full mechanism. My BS scores for AAMC practice tests were 10-12 depending on the scale, but I'd be satisfied with a 10 due to that rough passage.

Overall what I found most frustrating was the amount of questions I had to blindly guess on. I left the testing center feeling like a failure after the exam and it isn't until tonight that I have finally calmed down enough to type out this post. Guys this was straight up a TOUGH exam so don't get too discouraged until the grades come back. I've done extensive reading on these forums and have learned two facts that help put my mind at ease: 1) For tougher MCATs the scale is more lenient and 2) They still use experimental questions that don't actually count towards your score, so my best guess is those soul raping questions from that one passage may be thrown out. No matter what happens we all put our fears aside, went in there, and gave it hell. If I do in fact have to retake it I'm gonna chalk this up as a learning experience and CRUSH it the second time around!!
 
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I took the 8am test, and near the end of the physical science section the testing center (In strongsville ohio if anyone is interested) had a server glitch causing everyone's test to freeze and unfreeze a few times before eventually freezing entirely. They had to pull us all out of the testing room and make us wait about half an hour before they got it resolved. They told us that they would send some sort of report on the glitch along with our test scores, but the woman working there couldn't tell me who actually got the report or if it actually meant anything. I don't think the glitch affected me too much, I was at the point where I was just finishing up the ones I wasn't sure on and had to guess, but I definitely had to hurry due to the time it cost me and literally answered the last few questions with single digit seconds to spare.
 
Is it worth buying at this point I've had some rough streaks with studying. think it'll be good for getting back on track but would it be worth paying the money right now?
Sorry for taking so long to get back o you, but i really wanted to consider your question. My answer, ultimately, is that it depends on your needs. I'd highly recommend taking AAMC 4 and seeing exactly where you are. Is there content knowledge you're lacking? If so, try Chad's videos 1 week free trial and work on filling the gaps. If not, and your weakness is passages, hit TBR or TPRH Science Workbook and do the passages for your worst area. Your job is to find the thing you do the worst and do it better. For me, it was content, as I am a decade out from content knowledge. For you, it might be something else. Good luck!
 
I took the 8am test, and near the end of the physical science section the testing center (In strongsville ohio if anyone is interested) had a server glitch causing everyone's test to freeze and unfreeze a few times before eventually freezing entirely. They had to pull us all out of the testing room and make us wait about half an hour before they got it resolved. They told us that they would send some sort of report on the glitch along with our test scores, but the woman working there couldn't tell me who actually got the report or if it actually meant anything. I don't think the glitch affected me too much, I was at the point where I was just finishing up the ones I wasn't sure on and had to guess, but I definitely had to hurry due to the time it cost me and literally answered the last few questions with single digit seconds to spare.
I think that would have thrown me immensely. Wow. So glad it still went okay for you!
 
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retook for 2nd time on aug 7 at 8 AM, had a 30 first time (low in verbal) on may 31st earlier this year.

-Used TBR for PS, used EK for bio and verbal, and did extra verbal with TPRH

-did TBR CBT 1-5, kaplan 1-4, and all the aamcs plus the self assessment packages. Avg range around 33-37

I found that the 8 am test was different, rather than difficult. I felt this way because of the variety of material I used to practice test taking, and that this variety was what really prepared me for this test. I didn't feel the same level of 'WTF' as others. Unless I had a completely different test, which I doubt b/c I got some of the question references that people posted.

PS: My first test on may 31st, was a real WTF ... this section on that test really threw me off, and negatively primed me psychologically for the next two sections. After this test, I was determined to not let this happen again. I decided to use a variety of materials to help me 'mimic' the MCAT's unpredictability. I had heard that the kaplan FL tests were very calculation heavy (which I was not used to as I studied with TBR books) this really helped me with timing when it came to calculation questions. In contrast, TBR CBTs are heavily concept oriented which really goes far in preparing you with conceptual 'holes' in learning. I felt that seeing these two styles of questions exposed me well, so the PS section I experienced a few days ago didn't feel difficult. I did feel however, that this section was on the extreme end of concepts... meaning those who prepared using TBR CBTs likely felt this was a tad easier than those who solely studied using Kaplan/AAMCs. I did have to make a generous number of educated guesses, but I felt this was a normal amount with most of the practice tests I've done. I also felt that they tested the same concepts repeatedly.

VR: Verbal has always been a good section for me, and the low score I received during the first test I blamed completely on my lack of preparedness to a potential hard PS section and the nerves that would accompany it. I felt that this verbal was tougher than average, in terms of staying attentive. I wish I could say that the passages were 'boring', but calling them that would be a complement. Throughout the entire section I had to mentally repeat to myself that this was the real MCAT and to stay damned focused. However, once the passage was read, I felt the questions were at the same difficulty as EK101 verbal. Also, I still remember most of the passages which didn't happen when I wrote the firs test. I'll take this as a sign that this time time this section went a lot better.

BS: 2 orgo passages is all I have to say. I'm doing my masters in bio so the BS section is relatively a lot easier than the other two sections for me. But thank God I exposed myself to a variety of testing material, because I felt that some of the far-biochem stuff that TBR CBTs threw at me really helped.

Trial: I had psychology - I felt that this section was a mix of verbal & prior psych knowledge. However even with a neruosci background I felt that I could answer 40% of the questions without guessing ... I'm not too afraid of this section for those who are going to write it next year

Overall I'd say that this test was manageable... However, sadly... most people don't study with 3 different types of testing material to get prepared. Which is extremely unfortunate because this whole scenario turns into a giant money-grab :(
 
Kakaonkaka, well described. I had a really similar impression, especially that the test was doable, but also had prepped with material from a variety of sources. I feel like I would have been pretty psyched out from reading so many accounts here of how impossibly hard it is, so I ignored SDN... Practiced hundreds of problems from each subject area, watched dozens of hours of videos, practiced hundreds more problems.

Test day? Maybe a little different, but not impossibly different. It really does boil down to practice. Once you've done 600-800 problems in each subject area, there just aren't that many more novel ways to ask a question.

Also, re:VR. I hear a lot of students struggling with finishing on time on this test. My 2 cents, but I really can't speak positively enough about learning to read quickly. I dont mean skimming through with no comprehension, but truly reading quickly. For college i used to have to read between 500-1,000 pages a week, and for MCAT i amped up the varied-topic reading (ie 5 philosophy articles, 5 polisci opeds, 5 psych/sci, 3 miscleaneous, all 600-1200 words, always under 2-3.5 minutes each). It really is a skill like riding a bike! If you work it, it will come, but only through repetition. For me this meant scoring 12-14 on each practice VR section, with about 10 minutes left. (Hopefully the same for this test!). Most of the psych/phil/engl majors I know who went premed after having similar reading requirements always notched in the double digits in VR, so there seems to be something there.
 
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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?

Similar to the 2PM it seems... ABSOL-F-ING-UTELY KILLER PS, run-o-the-mill verbal, and difficult BS. My AAMC average was ~39, I'll be shocked and awed if I get above 35.
 
LOL who else is already thinking about studying for the potential retake? (raises hand)
I unfortunately start school in 2 weeks so for the sake of mental health I'm gonna wait to see my score before I start stressing again :(
 
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I unfortunately start school in 2 weeks so for the sake of mental health I'm gonna wait to see my score before I start stressing again :(
I'm with nvas. Work had already restarted with inservice and orientation. I will retake if I have to, of course, but I'll wait to see what I got first.
 
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I would have been happier if PS and BS were a level of difficulty higher and they toned verbal down a little bit. there was not one passage in verbal where I read it and I was like "ahh yeah, I see what this guys talkin about." it was always like "wtf did I just read?"
 
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You guys... I'm just really hoping we all come out around our averages. :( Everyone I've talked to who has taken the exam has been saying "Trust your average! Trust your average!" because apparently it all comes out okay... but the real thing just felt so so so much worse I have a hard time believing it.
 
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You guys... I'm just really hoping we all come out around our averages. :( Everyone I've talked to who has taken the exam has been saying "Trust your average! Trust your average!" because apparently it all comes out okay... but the real thing just felt so so so much worse I have a hard time believing it.

Soo many days left!!!! >.<
 
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You guys... I'm just really hoping we all come out around our averages. :( Everyone I've talked to who has taken the exam has been saying "Trust your average! Trust your average!" because apparently it all comes out okay... but the real thing just felt so so so much worse I have a hard time believing it.

Seriously... how freaking happy would I be if I got my average >.> Apparently 95% of people score between +/- 2 of their AAMC average. At this point, I'm really hoping I'm not the 5% that scored -2.
 
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Seriously... how freaking happy would I be if I got my average >.> Apparently 95% of people score between +/- 2 of their AAMC average. At this point, I'm really hoping I'm not the 5% that scored -2.
I would settle for - 3, a 28. Perfectly respectable if the breakdown is ok and i didn't get destroyed. I can get in somewhere with that with stellar ecs, Texas residency, and a 3.84 GPA.
 
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I would settle for anything 28 or higher at this point. That's how badly I believe this test screwed me over. I'm postponing life for the next month and just indulging in Netflix and ice cream. FML.
 
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I'm averaging 36 on the AAMCs and would settle for anything 28 or higher at this point. That's how badly I believe this test screwed me over. I'm postponing life for the next month and just indulging in Netflix and ice cream. FML.
If you are scoring an average of 36, I highly doubt you have less than a 33.
 
I'm averaging 36 on the AAMCs and would settle for anything 28 or higher at this point. That's how badly I believe this test screwed me over. I'm postponing life for the next month and just indulging in Netflix and ice cream. FML.
I was doing the same thing, add in mountain dew. I'm running dry on Netflix to watch though.
 
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I was doing the same thing, add in mountain dew. I'm running dry on Netflix to watch though.

just finished the 1st season of orange is the new black. it's OK. im not going to say it's groundbreaking. it's OK. like, I've seen better. I cant say I really care about the characters all that much. I also watched fargo, which was better. that billy bob thornton guy is the man.
 
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I'd love to take a look at PS. That might light a fire under my butt to look at some material between now and then ;)

@jenniferrae how about you just give me your look and I'll look at two of my subscores :) lol. July 12th had some tough outcomes yesterday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be pleasantly surprised come the 9th of September.
 
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