The Official July 2, 2014 MCAT Thread

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
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johnnytest

johnnytest

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Anyone else taking it this July 2nd?!
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I found PS fairly difficult, especially with a start like that. However, I can be very challenged in PS sometimes if the wrong questions get asked, my AAMC practice score for PS were like from as low as 9 to as high as 12. I got 10 in PS on the last MCAT I took in May and I think this one was a bit more difficult. However, I'm feeling a lot better about the results this time because I managed my time much better and actually had time to do all the freebies. Whenever a long calculation/equation manipulation presented itself, if I couldn't do it within 30 seconds, I just eliminate 2 answers right away and guessed between the last 2. The later half of PS was fairly straight forward and I actually had time in the end review my earlier guesses. Think I ended up marking 8 or 9 questions as not 100% sure. Seriously hope I got 11 this time.

Verbal was long. It was very hard to read through those long winded passages in 30 degrees+ but I thought the questions was very clear about what they want you to find. I guess the key here for me was again I finished on time (10 minutes to spend on passage 7 versus the last time where I arrived on passage 7 with 4:30 left) and didn't miss any freebies. On side note, I actually really really enjoyed most of the passages.

Not sure about bio. I've never gotten less than a 12 on practice and has scored highest 14. The questions today was easy but I'm starting to get the creeps. It can't be that simple..?! I took my sorry-ass time in the beginning because I've never ran out of time for BS and still finished with like 15 minutes remaining. Reviewed marked and reviewed unmarked. :/ I'm pretty confident about all but 2 or 3 of the answers but if the curve is non-exist, 3 wrong answer is alotttt.
 
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okay, I'm a bit better now so heres how it went:

PS: Wow... I usually finish with 30-40 minutes left, idk if it was the pressure or something, I had like ten minutes left and didn't even really get to check over all of my mark questions.
VR: To me, it was just the quininsennstal VR, hopefully got a 10, we'll see though.
BS: There were some curve balls on the test, got through it but was surprised at some of the questions. all in all think I did my best here.
Predicted score : 34-35. really, I'm just hoping I got a 10 on VR, 12 on PS and a 12-13 on BS.
 
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pharmolu said:
okay, I'm a bit better now so heres how it went:

PS: Wow... I usually finish with 30-40 minutes left, idk if it was the pressure or something, I had like ten minutes left and didn't even really get to check over all of my mark questions.
VR: To me, it was just the quininsennstal VR, hopefully got a 10, we'll see though.
BS: There were some curve balls on the test, got through it but was surprised at some of the questions. all in all think I did my best here.
Predicted score : 34-35. really, I'm just hoping I got a 10 on VR, 12 on PS and a 12-13 on BS.
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Sounds like you did pretty well then! You usually finish PS with 30-40 minutes though? Damn.

By the way guys: a member with 0 posts messaged me wanting to talk about the questions. Now, I don't know if AAMC is really that tricky, but I'd still be careful and keep everything confidential no matter what.
 
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feels good to have finally slept lol. was kind of in this tired, dream-like state yesterday after the test. there were times I doubted I'd ever actually man up and take the beast, felt strange to actually do it. truly hoping I never have to go through it again.
 
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DoctorLacrosse said:
feels good to have finally slept lol. was kind of in this tired, dream-like state yesterday after the test. there were times I doubted I'd ever actually man up and take the beast, felt strange to actually do it. truly hoping I never have to go through it again.
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You and I both, you and I both!
 
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DoctorLacrosse said:
feels good to have finally slept lol. was kind of in this tired, dream-like state yesterday after the test. there were times I doubted I'd ever actually man up and take the beast, felt strange to actually do it. truly hoping I never have to go through it again.
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I couldn't sleep after the exam. I was in this state of nothingness. feel like I didn't have the energy to move or think. Didn't do any of the stuff I planned to do after my MCAT. couldn't sleep either until like 6 AM. So I was awake for like 23 hours straight yesterday.
 
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Simon_Riley said:
I couldn't sleep after the exam. I was in this state of nothingness. feel like I didn't have the energy to move or think. Didn't do any of the stuff I planned to do after my MCAT. couldn't sleep either until like 6 AM. So I was awake for like 23 hours straight yesterday.
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I couldn't sleep either. ....and the month wait begins!
 
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Hey there, first time on SDN :D I didn't get any sleep the night before and I barely studied this summer...lost all motivation and actually ended up enjoying my summer for once. at the expense of mcat and med of course. I did mcat last year and voided it so I just wanted to do it to have a score.

PS: The first passage threw me off but sadly, it was more of the simple variable answer questions that ruined me. I ended up having to blindly guess about 12 questions in the last minute because I was running out of time and often had no clue what I was doing (Prediction: 6-8)

VR: Normally this is my worst but despite longer passages, I enjoyed them thoroughly and one of the passages was literally on the topic that I wrote an essay about in a psych class this year :) verbal is usually bad but I felt surprisingly comfortable after it. Does that mean I did well? Nope! I score from 8-10s on the AAMCs in verbal even when I think they go well. (Prediction: 10-11)

BS: Just awful. I was a physical sciences major and now a psych major so I don't have a bio background other than physiology and intro bio. Two passages just ruined my life! One of them I had no clue what it was about cause I didn't even bother to study that section of BS, assuming that it is so small that they wouldnt make a whole passage out of it. The second one I didnt find easy was because it was more time-constraint than anything. Normally things like genetics or any cell related stuff is bad. I usually use PS to boost my poor verbals and moderate BS, but I think it went complete reversal on this exam. (Prediction: 8-9)

Overall prediction: 24-28 :( I am never good at predicting and am hard on myself, but I blindly guessed soooo much and had no idea of the concepts in some passages that I may actually think I got this bad. I had a 30-31 avg on my AAMCs but I wasn't in the zone. Time to rewrite and actually study!
 
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Hi Guys,
First time posting here.... I agree with most of you.. PS is not my strong point but i felt that it was very tough, unlike any of the AAMC practice tests. Hope the curve helps. VR passages were definitely long but easier than I have expected. BS was straightforward as well.

Best of luck to everyone,
 
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Grrrrr. I missed an easy question in organic that I happened to remember while in class today.

I would know for sure that I got a 30+ if that PS section wasn't so hard. My prediction is anywhere from 27-36 (lol). The uncertainty is starting to get at me..
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
Grrrrr. I missed an easy question in organic that I happened to remember while in class today.

I would know for sure that I got a 30+ if that PS section wasn't so hard. My prediction is anywhere from 27-36 (lol). The uncertainty is starting to get at me..
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dude literally me. I'm trying so hard to get my mind off of yesterday.
What class are you taking?
 
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suchbrio said:
dude literally me. I'm trying so hard to get my mind off of yesterday.
What class are you taking?
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I'm taking Intro Accounting, a human services class on relationships, and Abnormal Psychology. Just need some extra credit hours ^^
 
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I don't even know what to do right now. I have so much time on my hands. I'm not used to this. It feels weird.

SLEEEEEEEEEP.
 
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lol I agree with you guys. feel like my score can be anything from 24-32. no point worrying at this point though. just try to enjoy life for a change! that's what I'm doing and good lord it's lovely.
 
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Hey Everyone,

So happy I found this thread! I searched about a month ago and couldn't find a thread specific for our test date. Anyways, I'm equally as happy to hear that everyone had similar feelings as myself on yesterday's exam.

PS: First passage threw me too! I stared at it and almost froze, but just pushed through. Still used up too much time on it though, so I was rushed on the last passage. PS is also my weakest section (range of 6-9), but in the end yesterday felt like one of my better performances. I used only 3 or 4 formulas, which is probably still a lot because I often refer to formulas for understanding proportions, relationships, etc.

VR: Usually my strongest section (8 or 9), VR had actually dropped a bit with my practice exams. However, I think it will be my highest score from yesterday. The long passages did not bother me and I too found the subject matter interesting, which probably helped a great deal along with the straightforward questions.

BS: I am hesistant to say it was easy, but it could have certainly been a lot worse. Two of the passages were indeed challenging and about 7 of the questions in the section could have been worded more clearly, I believe. I usually have 10 to 12 minutes remaining to review my answers, but not yesterday.

I am satisfied that I was able to answer every question. So...we shall see. Wishing us all the best!!! :)
 
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Agreed about relaxing! I think we should all take a break from SDN....keep our mind off things for a bit.
 
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Yes I agree we should try to relax and enjoy summer, since there is not much we can do now. It kinda sucks we have to wait such a long time for our scores :wtf:
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
The 30-35 days is pretty excessive, isn't it? Oh well.
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Yes definitely! Just out of curiosity does anyone know why it takes so long? I mean if the test is on computers shouldn't they have the grades immediately after you finish the exam?
 
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Lopweb22 said:
Yes definitely! Just out of curiosity does anyone know why it takes so long? I mean if the test is on computers shouldn't they have the grades immediately after you finish the exam?
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It is graded immediately. Apparently they just take a month to make sure everything went well (read: to make sure that no one cheated)
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
It is graded immediately. Apparently they just take a month to make sure everything went well (read: to make sure that no one cheated)
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I can't help but feel like there's something that goes on with grading during the month (maybe some statistical analysis or something). no other reason makes much sense to me. it's a conspiracy haha
 
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DoctorLacrosse said:
that's how it should be!! or at least be honest with us about why it takes a month. I don't buy it
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I believe it has to do with curving. I think for the DAT, those problems are used in the past so they compile it together, which is why they also get a percentile score along with it. The only way to get a percentile would be if similar exam was given. Also, they have strictly discrete problems, no passages. So that makes a big difference.

As for the MCAT, we have passages and that is a game changer. Everything relates to the passage and each passage is completely different. So I think during the 30 days what they do is they compile all the data and see where people were hurt a lot. I can imagine that the PS section will be curved, so even if you get 5 less questions right than a regular AAMC practice, you might still get the same score.

It takes a while to compile all the answers and create the score distribution, so I assume that is why.
 
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Alucard6 said:
I believe it has to do with curving. I think for the DAT, those problems are used in the past so they compile it together, which is why they also get a percentile score along with it. The only way to get a percentile would be if similar exam was given. Also, they have strictly discrete problems, no passages. So that makes a big difference.

As for the MCAT, we have passages and that is a game changer. Everything relates to the passage and each passage is completely different. So I think during the 30 days what they do is they compile all the data and see where people were hurt a lot. I can imagine that the PS section will be curved, so even if you get 5 less questions right than a regular AAMC practice, you might still get the same score.

It takes a while to compile all the answers and create the score distribution, so I assume that is why.
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The scale distribution is already made in advance, how we individually scored on the exam has no effect on a curve system.
 
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Alucard6 said:
Really? So if a section was much harder than expected then it is possible for nobody to score above a 10?
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Yup. From my understanding, every section already has a predetermined scale based upon how students have historically done on the same questions from previous exams.
 
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Yup. From my understanding, every section already has a predetermined scale based upon how students have historically done on the same questions from previous exams.
Click to expand...

I think it more or less evens itself out because if almost everyone thought a PS section of a particular MCAT was really difficult then it's very likely that the previous test takers who had those questions as experimentals thought it was also really difficult.

Good luck guys! Sorry to ask this since you just finished your test and likely don't want to discuss it that much, but do you have any quick tips for approaching the PS section? It seems like it throws everyone off and looks nothing like you've seen in practice...
 
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sharkbyte said:
I think it more or less evens itself out because if almost everyone thought a PS section of a particular MCAT was really difficult then it's very likely that the previous test takers who had those questions as experimentals thought it was also really difficult.

Good luck guys! Sorry to ask this since you just finished your test and likely don't want to discuss it that much, but do you have any quick tips for approaching the PS section? It seems like it throws everyone off and looks nothing like you've seen in practice...
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That's very likely true, just letting him know that the exam isn't scaled based on how we perform on test day!

Unm.. Know everything! Focus on conceptual learning and understanding formula manipulation to a T. That's really all I can tell you :c
 
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Unm.. Know everything! Focus on conceptual learning and understanding formula manipulation to a T. That's really all I can tell you :c
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Thanks! These darn test writers, making it as miserable as possible for all of us haha... I guess that's what's necessary to make it through
 
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sharkbyte said:
I think it more or less evens itself out because if almost everyone thought a PS section of a particular MCAT was really difficult then it's very likely that the previous test takers who had those questions as experimentals thought it was also really difficult.

Good luck guys! Sorry to ask this since you just finished your test and likely don't want to discuss it that much, but do you have any quick tips for approaching the PS section? It seems like it throws everyone off and looks nothing like you've seen in practice...
Click to expand...

Focus on really interconnecting ideas. Physics and Chemistry can go together easily (as seen in P-Chem) so if you have time, you want to try to connect ideas together.

Also, when going over practice passages, think of similar scenarios. For example, lets say you are doing an inclined plane question and the plane is 30 degrees. Ask yourself, what would happen if it was 45 degrees? What if it was 15 degrees? It is always good to think of similar scenarios and see if you are right about that, since it shows a solid understanding of the concept.
 
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sharkbyte said:
Thanks! These darn test writers, making it as miserable as possible for all of us haha... I guess that's what's necessary to make it through
Click to expand...

Also, just a quick word of advice based on my experience. I took the July 2nd mcat and, given the tough PS section we had, the most important thing to remember is not to get too hung up on an especially tough passage. I did and found myself frazzled and rushing to complete the rest of the section (actually, and I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but by letting the first passage get to me, I kind of feel like I missed easier questions later on and answered others way too quickly). Anyways, confidence is key and yes, make sure you know everything. The test may hit mostly strengths or mostly weaknesses (my PS section did the latter for me).

I'm hoping the scale conversion for PS is extremely lenient. I find myself not too worried about the other sections but had to guess on like 5 questions on PS and made some stupid mistakes, which didn't happen on any practice exam. :shrug:
 
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DoctorStrange said:
Also, just a quick word of advice based on my experience. I took the July 2nd mcat and, given the tough PS section we had, the most important thing to remember is not to get too hung up on an especially tough passage. I did and found myself frazzled and rushing to complete the rest of the section (actually, and I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but by letting the first passage get to me, I kind of feel like I missed easier questions later on and answered others way too quickly). Anyways, confidence is key and yes, make sure you know everything. The test may hit mostly strengths or mostly weaknesses (my PS section did the latter for me).

I'm hoping the scale conversion for PS is extremely lenient. I find myself not too worried about the other sections but had to guess on like 5 questions on PS and made some stupid mistakes, which didn't happen on any practice exam. :shrug:
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I feel like I guessed on 10+ questions on the PS section, lol.
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
I feel like I guessed on 10+ questions on the PS section, lol.
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Based on people's expectations vs. actual scores in previous mcat threads, I'm thinking PS scores will be a decently pleasant surprise and BS will suck because of the grading curves. aka why I'm so worried for that damn section
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
I feel like I guessed on 10+ questions on the PS section, lol.
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Lol I may have been as high, that whole section was a blur


DoctorLacrosse said:
Based on people's expectations vs. actual scores in previous mcat threads, I'm thinking PS scores will be a decently pleasant surprise and BS will suck because of the grading curves. aka why I'm so worried for that damn section
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Sounds about right. My friend took a May mcat and he said his PS section was also ridiculous, ended up with an 11 on the section. No sense in worrying though, I gotta enjoy this freedom lol
 
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DoctorLacrosse said:
Based on people's expectations vs. actual scores in previous mcat threads, I'm thinking PS scores will be a decently pleasant surprise and BS will suck because of the grading curves. aka why I'm so worried for that damn section
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I REALLY hope you're right, that would make me so happy lol
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
Completely agree. I honestly have no clue how I did... definitely my worst section by far.
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It seems that in the last few rounds PS contains more and more obscure and incomprehensible passages and questions. VR and BS although challenging were in line with my expectation.

Trial biochem section: Many specific, in depth questions requiring analysis of experimental data. My feeling is that after 2015 only the biochem majors with lots of research experience will do well in this section.
 
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Well, the fact that mostly everyone found PS extremely challenging is a good sign. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Ugh. xD
 
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Yo guys, philosoraptor here.

Regarding the verbal reasoning section: how does AAMC know what the author would be most likely to agree with? Do they contact the author? What if the author is deceased? How do they know that they have 100% undeniably interpreted the exact intentions of the author if they don't contact the author? Are we truly being tested on opinions? Is this fair?

Thinking about the VR section is starting to get at me, even though I think I did fairly well on it. xD
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
Yo guys, philosoraptor here.

Regarding the verbal reasoning section: how does AAMC know what the author would be most likely to agree with? Do they contact the author? What if the author is deceased? How do they know that they have 100% undeniably interpreted the exact intentions of the author if they don't contact the author? Are we truly being tested on opinions? Is this fair?

Thinking about the VR section is starting to get at me, even though I think I did fairly well on it. xD
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In most cases, from what I saw of the AAMC practices, is that the answer tends to be pretty clear. If you had all the time in the world and dissected the passages, I think 95% of people would come to the same conclusion. The other answers tend to have one small thing that is totally incorrect, so that is what you tend to look for. I think that is why POE works so well for verbal, you mark off 3 that you know are wrong and go with the one remaining.
 
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DoctorStrange said:
Also, just a quick word of advice based on my experience. I took the July 2nd mcat and, given the tough PS section we had, the most important thing to remember is not to get too hung up on an especially tough passage. I did and found myself frazzled and rushing to complete the rest of the section (actually, and I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but by letting the first passage get to me, I kind of feel like I missed easier questions later on and answered others way too quickly). Anyways, confidence is key and yes, make sure you know everything. The test may hit mostly strengths or mostly weaknesses (my PS section did the latter for me).

I'm hoping the scale conversion for PS is extremely lenient. I find myself not too worried about the other sections but had to guess on like 5 questions on PS and made some stupid mistakes, which didn't happen on any practice exam. :shrug:
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Im like in your exact situation lol
 
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lNVlNClBLE said:
Sounds like you did pretty well then! You usually finish PS with 30-40 minutes though? Damn.

By the way guys: a member with 0 posts messaged me wanting to talk about the questions. Now, I don't know if AAMC is really that tricky, but I'd still be careful and keep everything confidential no matter what.
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yea, I blew though PS sections on my practice exams, at the expense of checking my work :/ I planned to actually check over every problem, but for some reason I went incredibly slowly on the real thing.

Is anyone applying this year? how are secondaries going?
 
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