The Official July 12, 2014 MCAT Thread

[HinduHammer]

2.5 months away, let's get started. Time to study and motivate each other!!

Me so far: Taking Kaplan online. 23 diagnostic (8,12,3). Applying for class entering Fall 2015.

My studying so far has been minimal, though I am halfway through the kaplan online course. I was planning to take June 5 but decided to push it back. After my final exams next week, I will be studying mostly full-time from May 12-July 12. My biggest weakness is bio content and timing - I cannot read the passages fast enough.

What are your stories/plans/goals??

Let's do this!!!

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[Laurenxxxx]

Wicked productive, actually. Without the stress of studying, I worked a boat-load of OT hours.

Seriously. I've never been so into my job than I was this past week.

 

[GolfUSA]

Yup, I've had to work 6 Scribe shifts, and it's been a good way to keep the mind off of things. Pretty exhausting though.

 

[member1717]

i feel like the only one who thought verbal was difficult...

Nope I am bad at reading sections no matter what anyonelse says

 

[member1717]

Man, I walked out of that test feeling horrible. I know I missed simple concepts and I almost wanted to hit the void button. How are you guys coping with the waiting stress?

I dont know how people walk out confident when every question really is an EDUCATED guess... nothing concrete so I agree with you but at the end of the day its just an exam. Been through this now for the third time and im not stressing the same because I have been through it and because I know this isnt an end to all ends... haha

 

[member1717]

My range was 31-36 on my practice AAMCs, but my mean score was probably a 33. None of the practice exams (at all) served as a representation of the 7/12/14 MCAT.

From what I can tell, PS was the most controversial section on this particular exam — which means the curve should be strongest in that department.

Rescheduled for a retake on July 24th.

Wish me luck.

Yah the exams are not representative of the real exams... I said that the first time I took the test and the second and yah I think the PS was definitely not easy. I expect a decent curve. GOODLUCK! Just stay calm... be more focused on keeping your mind clear and calm before focusing on remembering a bunch of random information. I promise it helps. And practice the math and timing of course.

 

[xprodigy92]

Nervous for my score. I had to guess on ~3 questions from each section. I also felt that biological sciences was pretty tough.

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

 

[docbsb2015]

21 days……………………………..

 

[KonsieRav]

Yah the exams are not representative of the real exams... I said that the first time I took the test and the second and yah I think the PS was definitely not easy. I expect a decent curve. GOODLUCK! Just stay calm... be more focused on keeping your mind clear and calm before focusing on remembering a bunch of random information. I promise it helps. And practice the math and timing of course.

Thank you, friend!

 

[Iridescent]

This waiting is going to drive me crazy. I have myself thinking about the exam for hours on end, rethinking the lowest, highest, and most probable score.

 

[GTWreck1991]

This waiting is going to drive me crazy. I have myself thinking about the exam for hours on end, rethinking the lowest, highest, and most probable score.

dont worry...everyone is in the same boat. haha...i myself thought worst case scenarios last night...but it wont matter anyway. well find out soon enough.

 

[Ginred]

Had my first post-MCAT bad dream last night. I was told I had to retake it because the computers weren't working right and I'd have to wait another month. Are we there yet?

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

Had my first post-MCAT bad dream last night. I was told I had to retake it because the computers weren't working right and I'd have to wait another month. Are we there yet?

About half way there my friend, half way there...

 

[docbsb2015]

Coming from a guy who took it for the third time… the time is absolutely CRAWLINGGGGGGG by while the first two seemed like I blinked and it was 30 days

 

[stonyalltheway]

12 more days

 

[ZDMaestro]

The time is going by fairly quickly for me... I've been so busy. :-(

 

[madrid1117]

At least I'm not the only one playing out worst case MCAT scenarios in my head

 

[GolfUSA]

Couldn't sleep last night for a couple hours thinking about the PS section... I can only remember 3 passages and the rest is completely blank... Ugh. I have no idea at this point.

 

[ZDMaestro]

Just relax everyone!!!
It will be precisely what it's going to be, and no amount of worry is going to change anything! It won't change anything even just a little bit... Take it from a guy that had to B, B, B, B the last 6-8 questions on the VR.
Smile and get on when your lives for now. ;-)

 

[Ginred]

I'll be at work until the evening of August 12, and my wife wants me to wait until I get home so I can check the score with her... I can see it now: I am going to be so anxious driving home, but when I walk in the door I won't want to go near the computer because I'm too nervous!

 

[GolfUSA]

I'll be at work until the evening of August 12, and my wife wants me to wait until I get home so I can check the score with her... I can see it now: I am going to be so anxious driving home, but when I walk in the door I won't want to go near the computer because I'm too nervous!

My girlfriend offered to check my score for me first because I am so nervous to see it. I have to work a night shift at the hospital right afterwards, so it will either be a breeze or the worst night ever.

 

[GTWreck1991]

I'm assuming the tentative score released date of Aug. 12 is the actual score release date?

 

[Ginred]

That's what I'm guessing, though I'm not in possession of any documents stating that this is definitively so

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

I'm assuming the tentative score released date of Aug. 12 is the actual score release date?

Yes, almost always.

 

[moti234]

For those applying this cycle, are any of you verified on AMCAS yet? I've been pre-writing secondaries but now I'm worried I won't be complete with everything until early September. What is anyone else's game plan?

p.s. 10 days to go!!

 

[Ginred]

I'm assuming the tentative score released date of Aug. 12 is the actual score release date?

For those wondering about when we'll get our trial section score (with giftcard!) and our actual score, I just stumbled across this gem:

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/reserving/355164/scorereleaseschedule.html

 

[kewlboy88]

I'm having flashbacks of the MCAT now….and I keep re-running the day with what I can remember. I am seriously scared beyond belief to find out our scores this month.

PS: The 1st passage was definitely tough, but the rest of the section I can't remember probably because I didn't think the questions were truly terrifying (unlike that first passage lol). All I remember was that I had about 5-6 minutes left after I finished, so I went back to the first passage and realized how to solve the quantitative-based questions! This scared the crap out of me because I began to wonder how many other mistakes I made in PS that I didn't get to change. UGH!

Verbal: I wasn't sure whether I was tired during the first passage or just not able to understand the passage. The first passage was the hardest. But I quickly pulled it together and I found the passages to become easier to read. I agree with everyone that as the section went on, the passages seemed to be easier. I really hated how they put the hardest passage first! But this section was definitely the most straightforward of the three.

BS: From what I remember, the first half of the section wasn't too bad. But as it went on, the passages become more dense, the questions became more convoluted, and it just became a complete **** show after that. Similar to my PS, I realized how to solve the really odd discrete on the last page (everybody who took the test probably knows which question I'm talking about) like with the 5 minutes I had remaining and changed my old answer choice to the new one. I then went to check some of my other work and changed a few more answers. It ALWAYS scares me when I have to change answers when I'm reviewing because it makes me wonder how many other mistakes I got wrong that needed to be changed! This section was convoluted and makes me hate this test even more.


I spent all of last night thinking about the MCAT and trying to re-run through my head. The night before, I didn't get much sleep and felt a little nauseous throughout the test. I know that worrying isn't' going to change my score…but whenever people tell me to "stop worrying" I feel like it's easier said than done.

 

[kewlboy88]

Also, I did the trial section and got the biochemistry test. All I have to say is: Good luck to those of you that need to take the new MCAT. I can't imagine having to learn all that material (including sociology and psychology!) on top of what we already have to know. When people say it becomes harder and harder each subsequent year to get into medical school, I am in complete agreement. The new MCAT is good evidence that getting into medical school will become harder than past years.

 

[Ginred]

My girlfriend offered to check my score for me first because I am so nervous to see it. I have to work a night shift at the hospital right afterwards, so it will either be a breeze or the worst night ever.

I'm predicting that your shift is going to be a breeze! Here's to your high score

 

[traveler101]

BS: From what I remember, the first half of the section wasn't too bad. But as it went on, the passages become more dense, the questions became more convoluted, and it just became a complete **** show after that. Similar to my PS, I realized how to solve the really odd discrete on the last page (everybody who took the test probably knows which question I'm talking about) like with the 5 minutes I had remaining and changed my old answer choice to the new one. I then went to check some of my other work and changed a few more answers. It ALWAYS scares me when I have to change answers when I'm reviewing because it makes me wonder how many other mistakes I got wrong that needed to be changed! This section was convoluted and makes me hate this test even more.

Is it just me or do some of you guys not remember that last Bio discrete...or some of the other questions? A lot of it seems like a blur now...

 

[Psychonergic]

Is it just me or do some of you guys not remember that last Bio discrete...or some of the other questions? A lot of it seems like a blur now...

Repressed memories from the traumatic testing experiences - yet another topic we'll likely need to know for the new MCAT.

 

[GTWreck1991]

Honestly..I don't remember the BS section at all. What I do remember is that there are 8 days until I have to reevaluate my application...I can't imagine taking this test again..but if necessary...I will study for a month and take it again in September...here's to hoping we don't need to!

 

[traveler101]

A little late in joining the convo but my general post-exam feelings were:

PS: I felt like this section was like some AAMCs but more calculation heavy. There were a few discrete questions that took awhile to figure out (and some that required mostly an educated guess).

VR: overall probably the most straightforward section...as far as I can remember the last passage was the easiest to figure out but there was one passage in the middle that felt harder than the rest. It looks like most people found this section easier so idk about the curve...we will see.

BS: this was the toughest section for me because I felt like the passages were dense (complex). I think the first passages took more time than the last. The questions were a bit more involved and required more critical thinking than most AAMCs (I thought it was harder than AAMc 11). The amount of organic was a little surprising but organic is not my strongest suit so I guess I was kind of pleasantly surprised there.

Here is hoping for amazing curves on everything (Wouldn't that be nice ?!)

 

[edm2009]

I know a lot of people always say that the test is a blur when they try to remember it and for the most part it was a blur for me. But I could pick out about 5 questions that I remember from the PS and after thinking them over am pretty sure I picked the wrong answer. But I hope I'm just remembering incorrectly!

My feelings for each section are:

PS: Definitely thought this was the hardest, but then again this has always been my lowest score on practice tests. I was consistently getting 9-10 on practice exams and would be really pleased if I could break into double digits for the real thing. This is the section I am most worried about though because of what I mentioned above!

VR: Like others have said this was pretty straightforward. Really not sure how to feel though since I thought it was about the same (or maybe a little easier) than many of the practice tests.

BS: Was caught off guard with some of the passages. Way more critical thinking than the practice tests, but I didn't think the discrete questions were too bad. I remember the last passage relating to some of the work I do with my current job as a biologist, and walking out was thinking I'm glad I had some background knowledge or else that would have been a lot harder to understand!

Overall I would be extremely surprised and happy to break into the 30s- especially with my worries about PS. My practice tests were right around there but I thought the real thing was a lot harder and needless to say I've been stressing out for the past two weeks!

 

[beatlemaniac]

Wow, I'm impressed that any of you can remember any details about the test at all. Completely gone for me at this point; just waiting to see what my results are!

Right after the test I managed to look up a few things I was uncertain about, and I got all those things right...but of course, there were lots more that I couldn't remember!

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

I'm so bloody nervous. Week one was the worst, week two and three was OK, I didn't really think about it, but this week is starting to feel pretty bad again.

 

[dnrs]

We are next to get our scores guys!

 

[mjohn7wy]

Hey all , just reading everyone's post from the July 2nd date, officially super nervous:!!!! What is it now 7 days, good luck to all, can't believe were next

 

[docbsb2015]

i think waiting is worse than studying

 

[madrid1117]

am I the only one that guessed through 80% of the trial section?

 

[traveler101]

Does anyone feel like their anxiousness has intensified over the last 24 hours? but trial sections come back tomorrow!

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

am I the only one that guessed through 80% of the trial section?

More like 90% lol

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

Got my trial results. 56%, top quarter apparently lol

 

[dnrs]

You answered 63% of questions correctly on the Trial Section which puts you in the top quarter as compared to others who received the same Trial Section questions as you.

 

[GolfUSA]

I got 56% as well, but I honestly stopped reading carefully after the first couple passages... My brain just didn't want any part of that madness! Glad I did it now though, at least I got the gift card.

 

[Ginred]

You answered 63% of questions correctly on the Trial Section which puts you in the top quarter as compared to others who received the same Trial Section questions as you.

Same score- if you get a high score next Tuesday then let's be same score twins again, deal?

 

[bus]

56% on the trial (social sciences/psychology). Top quarter somehow...

If only the real curve was this generous...

 

[kibblesNbits]

When did you submit AMCAS? It usually takes a few weeks to get verified.

This is from yesterday morning on AMCAS page:


AMCAS is currently processing applications that reached "Ready for Review" status on July 8, 2014. Check the Details link on the application Main Menu to check your Ready for Review date. Allow up to 6 weeks for processing.


So if you submitted recently then you might be right about waiting until September. it is good that you are pre-writing the secondaries. Definitely get those in ASAP

I submitted my application on Aug 1st, and the AMCAS review was finished the following Monday, Aug 4th!!

eta: I should add that I applied early decision, so I don't know if that had a factor in how quickly my application was reviewed.

 

[Ginred]

Got most of my secondaries in now- this MCAT score release is the last thing I'm waiting on!

 

[Ginred]

Same here. It's a good feeling to have them in relatively early in the cycle.

Agreed!