The Official June 2015 MCAT Thread

[Abraxas305]

So we can talk about all things MCAT 2015.
Just registered too!

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[mikil100]

Do we get notified each time our transcript is received? One of my schools sent my transcript in but I'm waiting on two others still...

 

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

^Yes, you get a "Transcript Receipt Notification" for each transcript AMCAS receives.

 

[spate93]

Do you guys realize we don't get our scores until the 21st so we have no way to take the July test if we wanted to? Also I am applying this cycle. How should I play this once I get my preliminaries, I could be in the 60-80th percentile, but could end up with 60, help

 

[jd989898]

Do you guys realize we don't get our scores until the 21st so we have no way to take the July test if we wanted to? Also I am applying this cycle. How should I play this once I get my preliminaries, I could be in the 60-80th percentile, but could end up with 60, help

Based on the data we have, it's possible to figure out your score in a fairly narrow window from the percentiles. You certainly won't be guessing between 60th percentile and 80th percentile overall.

 

[Mr. Beefy Lion]

Once your app is verified they will automatically send it out to all schools you listed (assuming youre verified after july 1st).

Thats something i wasnt expecting. If you want to wait on them automatically sending your primary app to schools, just dont list them on your app and then add them later, after you see your score. I wish i had done that instead of paying $900 when i submitted my primary for verification

I did not jnow that. Thanks for the heads up. So to be clear, I can submit for verification without schools listed, then after July 6th I can add schools that they will automatically send it to once verified?

 

[timsk]

That's my understanding. I believe you do have to select at least one initial school when you first submit for verification. But then after you are verified you can add schools and it will be sent to them automatically, no extra verification needed.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Do you guys realize we don't get our scores until the 21st so we have no way to take the July test if we wanted to? Also I am applying this cycle. How should I play this once I get my preliminaries, I could be in the 60-80th percentile, but could end up with 60, help

From April/May posts, it seemed to be given in a range of about 10%ile points (e.g. 82 - 92), with most of them ending up around the middle of that range. I know some people were upset because they ended up outside that estimate, but more often than not I think it was fairly accurate. And then some people got 85-100 percentile, which obviously is a wider range, and I think most of them were around 88-92/93 . Again, I'm generalizing here

 

[timsk]

When you receive your initial percentiles, for each section you will be given a range of 15 percentage points. Then you will also get a estimated percentage range for your overall score, and this is a range of 10 percentage points (more accurate because they have more data for the total score versus the individual sections).

There is a thread out there that shows what folks' estimated percentiles were and how that mapped onto their ultimate score. An interesting pattern that's developed is that everyone who reported getting an estimated range of 85-100 on the individual sections scored 129 or above.

 

[jd989898]

Yeah long story short– the preliminary percentiles are a cluster ****. Don't try to make sense of them, just look at the superficial basic patterns and you can see which values confer to which score ranges. If still unsure, PM me your percentiles and I can give you your range.

 

[spate93]

From April/May posts, it seemed to be given in a range of about 10%ile points (e.g. 82 - 92), with most of them ending up around the middle of that range. I know some people were upset because they ended up outside that estimate, but more often than not I think it was fairly accurate. And then some people got 85-100 percentile, which obviously is a wider range, and I think most of them were around 88-92/93 . Again, I'm generalizing here

Thanks I did not know that, but now with that being said what if one were to get 60(something)- 70(something), I don't mind anything 70 and up but what if end up in the 60s for my percentile? By that time it will be too late to take the July test.

 

[House101]

Since this is the only thing on my mind I thought I'd weigh in my thoughts:

First, the actual test was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. My prep involved casually reading through TPR books, followed by a month of doing practice problems/tests while emphasizing weak areas. My general thoughts following the test are that a comfortable understanding of the content will prepare you for either an "easy" or "hard" test. Taking the test on the 19th, I think I got lucky with an easier exam, but perhaps a more difficult one would have helped me to stay more focused throughout. For future test takers, my advice is to start with strict content review the semester before you take the exam (perhaps while taking physiology/biochem/physics courses concurrently), then with about 1-2 months dive into getting used to the MCAT and how it likes to ask its questions. This was definitely the hump I had to get over, with my FL scores increasing from 493 (TPR demo)-->496(TPR #1)-->502(TRP #2). I agree with others that the test companies have much more difficult exams, but they were still very helpful with making sure you can answer questions on all types of content. (Just for comparison, I used the scoring equivalency found on another thread here to predict a score of 512 on the AAMC FL)

Having said that, the most helpful aspects of my review were AAMC material. Namely, I recommend getting all the old practice tests and timing yourself to get an idea of where you sit. The MCAT format is still the same and I saw pretty much every concept in my actual test in one of the practices. They are essentially the question packs too (seriously, same passages and discretes) so I wouldn't waste my money on those.

Thoughts on a couple sections:

CARS: Maybe it was the font size (and awful screen resolution), but these felt much longer than the AAMC FL (pretty similar to TPR). However, since I practiced with old material and timed myself with that format, I was prepared to handle the length. The actual content was straight forward, but some of the questions were just downright strange. Old exams really helped with my timing and knowing how long I could linger on certain questions.

Psych: I'm a psych major, so I'm probably biased when I say this was really easy. Having said that, I felt TPR had the information for most of what I saw and the rest was just reading comprehension. I will say that you should really understand the difference between terms that seem like they mean the same thing. Be able to use the context of the passage to discern which fits better for the specific question. A common theme throughout was being able to use process of elimination to remove obviously wrong answer and then actually think about the differences between the remaining choices.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Thanks I did not know that, but now with that being said what if one were to get 60(something)- 70(something), I don't mind anything 70 and up but what if end up in the 60s for my percentile? By that time it will be too late to take the July test.

Yeah that is a tough call. I've heard differing opinions on timing, in that some say that August is for sure too late for an MCAT since your score will go out in September. And then other people say that SDN is not indicative of the "real world" of med school app timing and that August is acceptable. Late for sure, but not a death sentence. I guess at that point, assuming July is out, you would either take August MCAT, hopefully kill it, and then apply. If you're late, then you won't get in. But on the flip side, if you don't take the August MCAT because you think it's too late, you have to wait till next year anyway. You also wanna make sure your brush up the areas that felt weak on the first test before re-taking though. So if August gives you enough time for that, then I say go for it.

Also, 60 - 70 seems to be about a 27-28, which is good for DO, if you're open to that route. And their app cycle runs later so you wouldn't be late at all for them.

 

[jd989898]

"The prelim % rank range reports will be avail by July 6." - AAMC MCAT twitter


"by July 6"

So technically it could be before July 6? I'm being too optimistic.....

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

"The prelim % rank range reports will be avail by July 6." - AAMC MCAT twitter


"by July 6"

So technically it could be before July 6? I'm being too optimistic.....

Where is this tweet? I don't see it

 

[jd989898]

Where is this tweet? I don't see it

you have to go under the "Tweets and replies" tab. It was in response to someone else so it doesn't show up on their main page, I guess. Twitter is stupid. Why can't they just have a Facebook or something?

 

[striker55]

I just did a Kaplan CARS section and I seem to get around 75-80% correct, what would this translate to on the AAMC practise test if you had experience doing both? I just want to know where I stand about 3 weeks away (but I haven't done any AAMC material- I plan to start all that in a couple of days) thanks

 

[Mr. Beefy Lion]

"The prelim % rank range reports will be avail by July 6." - AAMC MCAT twitter


"by July 6"

So technically it could be before July 6? I'm being too optimistic.....

I was thinking the same thing. Either way....13 days out max. Ughhhhh

 

[spikesolo]

ugh someone flip the calendars in the AAMC offices to july 6.. then lets all tweet them for our scores !!!!!!!!!!!

speaking of which i still have horror dreams about that psych section.

 

[delods0]

I have been having consistent nightmares. Every time it's a different section. Lol

 

[stressingout]

Getting extremely anxious...I feel like I'm the only one that thinks I completely bombed the psyc section..like not 125 bombed but like 122 bombed :/

I felt like I marked 80% of the questions...

 

[timsk]

If it's any consolation i am a psych major who 4.0d every psych class and i thought the psych section was the one i did the worst on. I was looking forward to doing strongly on it and walking away from the mcat feeling really confident. Instead i was left rather frustrated.

 

[jd989898]

I've been extremely anxious because I feel like the test wasn't as involved as a lot of people report. e.g. some people said there were "tons of calculations" in c/p but I honestly don't remember writing down more than 2 calculations. I felt like most problems were unusually easy and I only spent like 10 seconds on a lot of them, which is making me very paranoid that I may have just missed the "tricks" or "hard parts" of all the questions. I know that probably sounds stupid, but I'm really worried.

 

[Moon Dog]

I've been extremely anxious because I feel like the test wasn't as involved as a lot of people report. e.g. some people said there were "tons of calculations" in c/p but I honestly don't remember writing down more than 2 calculations. I felt like most problems were unusually easy and I only spent like 10 seconds on a lot of them, which is making me very paranoid that I may have just missed the "tricks" or "hard parts" of all the questions. I know that probably sounds stupid, but I'm really worried.

Don't sweat it too much - I took on the 20th as well and feel the same way about this section. I only remember 3ish calculations too.

 

[timsk]

if anything, doesn't that mean it's a more favorable score? If you did better than 80% of the test takers on the proposed scale in the guide then you would have gotten a 507. But now if you get an 80% that means you get a 509. Higher score for same percentile should make us happy, right?

But i think, at least for this cycle, admission committees are going to focus more on percentiles than summary scores anyways. That's what the guide encouraged them to do as they get adjusted to what this new scale means. And percentiles are essential when trying to compare an applicant with the new mcat to an applicant with the old mcat.

 

[premedprep22]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here, but I've been "lurking" for quite a while.

I took the exam on 6/19 and walked out feeling kind of numb, lol. Everyone was asking me how it went afterwards and I couldn't answer that question for them because I couldn't tell if it went well or poorly because I felt like each section had a mix of super easy and super hard questions. But now whenever I think about the exam, topics keep coming up in my head that I either forgot at the time or did not know altogether and it's really freaking me out... does anyone else have this feeling? I definitely felt like the C/P section was the hardest for me, but it has been historically my weakest section. Bio was probably best for me... but then again I really don't know.

Let go and let god?

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here, but I've been "lurking" for quite a while.

I took the exam on 6/19 and walked out feeling kind of numb, lol. Everyone was asking me how it went afterwards and I couldn't answer that question for them because I couldn't tell if it went well or poorly because I felt like each section had a mix of super easy and super hard questions. But now whenever I think about the exam, topics keep coming up in my head that I either forgot at the time or did not know altogether and it's really freaking me out... does anyone else have this feeling? I definitely felt like the C/P section was the hardest for me, but it has been historically my weakest section. Bio was probably best for me... but then again I really don't know.

Let go and let god?

All day everyday

 

[Sir.SavaLottaLife]

I only can come up with 8 activities, is that bad?

 

[BryanBeid]

Yeah, definitely not going to med school with 8 activities.

 

[Sir.SavaLottaLife]

Yeah, definitely not going to med school with 8 activities.

I mean I have clinical work experience, ongoing biochemistry research and volunteering but after that I feel like I'm nitpicking

 

[workoutmaniac]

For those of you who have taken both the old and new MCAT, how different are the Physical sciences and biological sciences? I know there is a huge emphasis on biochem, but other than that, how are they different? Thanks!

 

[piii]

Whelp, app submitted. Spent about 14 hours each of the last three days on my personal statement and finishing the app. Off to Electric Forest now!

 

[Moon Dog]

For those of you who have taken both the old and new MCAT, how different are the Physical sciences and biological sciences? I know there is a huge emphasis on biochem, but other than that, how are they different? Thanks!

I took the MCAT in June of 2013 and 2015; I think what others as well as AAMC have said is pretty accurate. Passages seemed to be longer and more detailed, specifically in the biological sciences section. You're far more likely to be pegged with detailed experiments descriptions adapted from real literature - if I remember correctly this was the majority of the Bio section.

Whelp, app submitted. Spent about 14 hours each of the last three days on my personal statement and finishing the app. Off to Electric Forest now!

Awww yeee

 

[akolb3]

hi, I am a July MCAT test taker! I see that some of you are completing/sending out your applications before your MCAT scores come back. How is this possible? I thought that you have to have an MCAT score in order for your application to be considered complete? Also, can you get verified before your scores come back? My advisor said that you have to wait. Please help I am so worried that my application will not be done until September because of a late July MCAT.

 

[MD.Hopeful]

hi, I am a July MCAT test taker! I see that some of you are completing/sending out your applications before your MCAT scores come back. How is this possible? I thought that you have to have an MCAT score in order for your application to be considered complete? Also, can you get verified before your scores come back? My advisor said that you have to wait. Please help I am so worried that my application will not be done until September because of a late July MCAT.

You can definitely submit your application without an MCAT. It can be reviewed by AAMC without having MCAT scores, however it's true that schools will not consider your application complete until the scores are sent in.

It's still beneficial to send it in before you get your scores back, since it takes a while for your application to be reviewed by AAMC, and you can still fill out secondary applications for most schools (most of them dont require an MCAT score to send you it).

Plus you can always add schools later on depending how your scores are!

Anyway, my two cents.

 

[littlebear92]

I've been extremely anxious because I feel like the test wasn't as involved as a lot of people report. e.g. some people said there were "tons of calculations" in c/p but I honestly don't remember writing down more than 2 calculations. I felt like most problems were unusually easy and I only spent like 10 seconds on a lot of them, which is making me very paranoid that I may have just missed the "tricks" or "hard parts" of all the questions. I know that probably sounds stupid, but I'm really worried.

I took it on June 19th, and I'm pretty sure there were only 2-3 calculations total lol

 

[piii]

hi, I am a July MCAT test taker! I see that some of you are completing/sending out your applications before your MCAT scores come back. How is this possible? I thought that you have to have an MCAT score in order for your application to be considered complete? Also, can you get verified before your scores come back? My advisor said that you have to wait. Please help I am so worried that my application will not be done until September because of a late July MCAT.

Wow your advisor stinks. It's imperative that you submit your app before your test. Can take up to 6 weeks to verify everything. Send your transcripts in now and start working on the app.

 

[littlebear92]

hi, I am a July MCAT test taker! I see that some of you are completing/sending out your applications before your MCAT scores come back. How is this possible? I thought that you have to have an MCAT score in order for your application to be considered complete? Also, can you get verified before your scores come back? My advisor said that you have to wait. Please help I am so worried that my application will not be done until September because of a late July MCAT.

What MD.Hopeful said.

P.s. In my experiences, undergrad advisors..including me pre-med advisors make up stuff if they don't know the answer to your question. It is best to do research on the AAMC website or here on SDN!

 

[akolb3]

You can definitely submit your application without an MCAT. It can be reviewed by AAMC without having MCAT scores, however it's true that schools will not consider your application complete until the scores are sent in.

It's still beneficial to send it in before you get your scores back, since it takes a while for your application to be reviewed by AAMC, and you can still fill out secondary applications for most schools (most of them dont require an MCAT score to send you it).

Plus you can always add schools later on depending how your scores are!

Anyway, my two cents.

Thanks so much! That's what I figured. Another thing is that my Pre-med committee will not write a letter for me until I have an MCAT score. Should I just opt out of the committee letter and submit my LORs myself? I am 1 year out of undergrad now, but I am afraid of it being a red flag.

 

[littlebear92]

I don't exactly know how pre-med committee letters work, but I feel like getting them from professors who really liked you would be a better idea. Do you just send them all your info and they write a letter for you?

I personally chose to ask my genetics teacher, physiology teacher, and my research PI.

 

[littlebear92]

It's important that they actually know you well. Who you are, how you are, etc. And I think professors are better at gauging that. And make sure to follow AAMCAS core competencies guideline when drafting a letter for your professor, or let them know about it before they write their own letter.

 

[chillout547]

Does anyone know where I can find the thread that had a chart of April/May scores and percentiles along with the scores they got on practice materials?

 

[timsk]

Thanks so much! That's what I figured. Another thing is that my Pre-med committee will not write a letter for me until I have an MCAT score. Should I just opt out of the committee letter and submit my LORs myself? I am 1 year out of undergrad now, but I am afraid of it being a red flag.

The one thing i'd be careful of is that a lot of programs say that if your undergrad school has a pre-med committee, or if they provide a letter of evaluation packet, that you need to utilize that service. Most programs say they will only accept individual letters if your school does not have a committee or provide packets. So definitely be mindful of that as you're deciding which route to go; you don't want the admissions committee to think you're disregarding their guidelines! Some of the secondary application prompts i've seen ask you to explain why you sent individual letters if that's the route you go. My undergrad doesn't do either, which means i am sending in individual letters which i am happy about given the concerns you all raised.

I'm not sure the logic behind requiring committee letters or packets, but you may want to call up some individual programs and ask them about it.

 

[DoctorHill]

Any of you guys have nextstep FLs that you don't need anymore? Please let me know.

 

[thedroidd]

Does anyone know where I can find the thread that had a chart of April/May scores and percentiles along with the scores they got on practice materials?

See here

 

[NovaPreMed23]

Two questions regarding the application.
My school has a committee. Do I just fill out the committee option in terms of getting my letters of recommendation to the schools or do I have to fill out the career center thing as well? The people writing my committee letter have my letters so I want to say it's the first option and not the latter but just want to make sure.
Secondly when getting my app verified, I've seen on here you can put one school down and then add others after it becomes verified. What's the benefit to that? Are you saving money? Isn't it better to get all the schools on there and then it get verified? Sorry for all the questions!

 

[timsk]

I'm not sure about your first question, but in terms of the second one...Since this is the June MCAT board, the vast majority of us just took our MCAT and will not get our scores back until our application has already been sent out to schools (assuming you've submitted it already and it's been verified). One of the primary criteria in determining what schools to apply to are our mcat scores (to state the obvious). Therefore some people may want to only apply to one school when they submit their application so that they can have their mcat scores first, before deciding what other schools to apply to. Probably less relevant for people with really strong applications and that are confident they scored well on their mcat!

 

[Favour517]

I'm not sure about your first question, but in terms of the second one...Since this is the June MCAT board, the vast majority of us just took our MCAT and will not get our scores back until our application has already been sent out to schools (assuming you've submitted it already and it's been verified). One of the primary criteria in determining what schools to apply to are our mcat scores (to state the obvious). Therefore some people may want to only apply to one school when they submit their application so that they can have their mcat scores first, before deciding what other schools to apply to. Probably less relevant for people with really strong applications and that are confident they scored well on their mcat!

really, so i dont have to put in all my schools first, Also will resubmitting delay the verification process. 2nd) i have a 3.79 gpa. can i still apply to schools that have mean 3.85 average like northwestern, U pitt, Emory etc. If i have a good mcat score. thanks.

 

[Mr. Beefy Lion]

How long did it take everyone to enter their work and activities? Also did you use resume style or not?

 

[piii]

How long did it take everyone to enter their work and activities? Also did you use resume style or not?

It took me a few days to get it all in, then another day to revise and edit. Then I proof read once or twice more.

I did it resume style but with stubject verb, so I had more flexibility to elaborate. Full sentence bullet points. For the more memorable summaries, I wrote in paragraph form.

 

[Caffein3]

Harvard has a pretty good document on how to enter stuff: