*The Official May 14, 2016 MCAT Thread*

[Doctor_Faith07]

Hi guys! I haven't seen an "official" thread for this test date so I decided to create one. I will be taking the exam on this date. Good luck!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BeMD13]

I definitely didn't feel as confident as I did with the scored exam. I don't think I did *bad* but there were definitely a several questions that semesters of school and months of MCAT review didn't prepare me for.

:

I don't feel like studying any more content would've helped on today's exam. More AAMC material would've helped though! Did anyone else think the behavioral science section was especially bad? It was so much easier on all my practice FLs

 

[BelieveMeChile]

I don't feel like studying any more content would've helped on today's exam. More AAMC material would've helped though! Did anyone else think the behavioral science section was especially bad? It was so much easier on all my practice FLs

Mine felt fairly easy. which can either be a good sign or a terrible sign. I managed to finish that with an hour left over.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[le Gud]

P/C was a bit challenging. P/S was mainly sociology, I would say 60-75%. CARS had interesting passages, although I had a times difficulties getting the authors point. Now the wait game....

 

[ATM92]

Did anyone else feel like they guessed a lot in C/P. I felt so devastated after this section for some reason even though a lot of people are saying it wan't too awful. I ran out of time in CARS, the passages were just too long! B/B and P/S were eh. Overall, I was going to void, but I recently got accepted to a SMP so I said eff it and scored.

 

[BelieveMeChile]

Did anyone else feel like they guessed a lot in C/P. I felt so devastated after this section for some reason even though a lot of people are saying it wan't too awful. I ran out of time in CARS, the passages were just too long! B/B and P/S were eh. Overall, I was going to void, but I recently got accepted to a SMP so I said eff it and scored.

Yes I guess a lot on chemistry. I find myself getting so pissed off that all of the stuff that I was focusing on because I knew I was weak on it didn't even show up. And all the stuff that I felt I knew pretty well but didn't study very hard was all over the place. Having never seen those kinds of topics in the context of the MCAT I don't think I did very well recalling them.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Manzielf]

C/P - was a beast. Definitely hurt my morale for the next section.
CARS - Not awful, not easy
B/B - Probably the easiest section. A few hard questions. Not awful.
P/S - Not too bad. A lot of sociology.

 

[ATM92]

Yes I guess a lot on chemistry. I find myself getting so pissed off that all of the stuff that I was focusing on because I knew I was weak on it didn't even show up. And all the stuff that I felt I knew pretty well but didn't study very hard was all over the place. Having never seen those kinds of topics in the context of the MCAT I don't think I did very well recalling them.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

That's exactly how I felt! I just hope it goes well for all of us. How many questions you you think you roughly guessed on?

 

[BelieveMeChile]

That's exactly how I felt! I just hope it goes well for all of us. How many questions you you think you roughly guessed on?

Haha I don't even know. Too many, I'd say. Although I feel like that's par for the course when it comes to MCAT full lengths for me


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[JKlay7]

Im not jokin when i say i guessed on roughly 20% of the questions in each section. Im very worried


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[blainera]

Would you guys say the real questions are comparable or easier than the Section Bank? I am doing it right now and it is killing me.

 

[JKlay7]

I thought the test was easier but just different... Ugh idk how to explain. I should have done better. Im just gonna drink and take my mind off it and panic tomorrow instead, cheers.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[pseud0]

a lot of the concepts and terms emphasized on the psych/soc section were not emphasized nearly as much in the section bank or the AAMC practice tests, which kind of annoyed me.

C/P felt fair
Bio felt half similar to the section bank in hardness and half like the AAMC test, so average
the verbal was definitely quite a bit harder than the official scored test.

 

[le Gud]

Come on y'all.... Chill out and go celebrate. At least we're done with this beast.

 

[BeMD13]

Would you guys say the real questions are comparable or easier than the Section Bank? I am doing it right now and it is killing me.

Live and breathe that section bank. It is terrible but I focused on kaplan crap for months and the real thing is NOTHING like kaplan. It's so much more like the section bank... Not at that constant level of difficulty but there are a lot of passages like that.

 

[blainera]

Live and breathe that section bank. It is terrible but I focused on kaplan crap for months and the real thing is NOTHING like kaplan. It's so much more like the section bank... Not at that constant level of difficulty but there are a lot of passages like that.

Thanks. I will do that. I spent forever on the Kaplan crap too. Congrats on being done!

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

My advice for anyone taking this exam is to work through every problem the AAMC offers! It was the advice that was given to me and I believe it helped tremendously.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[sshidid]

C/P: was fair, more calculation heavy than expected, but not too much data analysis. Basic number crunching could help you with 30-40% of the exam imo.
CARS: some of the easiest passages I've come across, all were very interesting and easy to understand, even the art passages were easy to understand! don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, the questions were tricky, but some were verbatim, i'm actually surprised at this.
B/B: a lot of gimme questions, again, not as much data analysis as I assumed. some of the standalones were based on things I had reviewed, but wouldn't think they asked. I think the best advice I can give is to just understand big picture stuff, but to also be cognizant of the little details. I think that's what will really differentiate the 125s from the 127s from the 129s....
P/S: hardest section by far and it has been the section I've been consistently scoring highest in.... uggh. BORING. Personally, I feel like this section can be conquered by a very solid grasp of background topics than big pic analysis. with this said, it had some of the least straightforward questions I came across. To those preparing for a future exam: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE this section. I still think test makers are trying to gauge what kind of questions work or not and how much data analysis to incorporate, which is why I often find myself questioning how much of the passage I really need to read. with this said, there are some very easy standalone questions coupled with some debatable questions.

All in all, I think it was a fair test. I thought Next Step provided me with the best preparation, outside of AAMC materials.

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

C/P: was fair, more calculation heavy than expected, but not too much data analysis. Basic number crunching could help you with 30-40% of the exam imo.
CARS: some of the easiest passages I've come across, all were very interesting and easy to understand, even the art passages were easy to understand! don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, the questions were tricky, but some were verbatim, i'm actually surprised at this.
B/B: a lot of gimme questions, again, not as much data analysis as I assumed. some of the standalones were based on things I had reviewed, but wouldn't think they asked. I think the best advice I can give is to just understand big picture stuff, but to also be cognizant of the little details. I think that's what will really differentiate the 125s from the 127s from the 129s....
P/S: hardest section by far and it has been the section I've been consistently scoring highest in.... uggh. BORING. Personally, I feel like this section can be conquered by a very solid grasp of background topics than big pic analysis. with this said, it had some of the least straightforward questions I came across. To those preparing for a future exam: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE this section. I still think test makers are trying to gauge what kind of questions work or not and how much data analysis to incorporate, which is why I often find myself questioning how much of the passage I really need to read. with this said, there are some very easy standalone questions coupled with some debatable questions.

All in all, I think it was a fair test. I thought Next Step provided me with the best preparation, outside of AAMC materials.

Really good advice!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[beagles17]

C/P: was fair, more calculation heavy than expected, but not too much data analysis. Basic number crunching could help you with 30-40% of the exam imo.
CARS: some of the easiest passages I've come across, all were very interesting and easy to understand, even the art passages were easy to understand! don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, the questions were tricky, but some were verbatim, i'm actually surprised at this.
B/B: a lot of gimme questions, again, not as much data analysis as I assumed. some of the standalones were based on things I had reviewed, but wouldn't think they asked. I think the best advice I can give is to just understand big picture stuff, but to also be cognizant of the little details. I think that's what will really differentiate the 125s from the 127s from the 129s....
P/S: hardest section by far and it has been the section I've been consistently scoring highest in.... uggh. BORING. Personally, I feel like this section can be conquered by a very solid grasp of background topics than big pic analysis. with this said, it had some of the least straightforward questions I came across. To those preparing for a future exam: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE this section. I still think test makers are trying to gauge what kind of questions work or not and how much data analysis to incorporate, which is why I often find myself questioning how much of the passage I really need to read. with this said, there are some very easy standalone questions coupled with some debatable questions.

All in all, I think it was a fair test. I thought Next Step provided me with the best preparation, outside of AAMC materials.

I'm glad you thought the P/S section was hard too! The passages were very different from practice ones.

 

[sshidid]

I'm glad you thought the P/S section was hard too! The passages were very different from practice ones.

yea, i usually finish with some solid time left over to just reflect haha. I was doing so good in the beginning and then I think I lost it in the middle and it all went downhill from there. there was just one passage i just couldn't get, kept reading it over and was like whaaaaaaaa honestly, was never this brain dead on a psych passage before, but i guess there's a first time for everything!

 

[Two Sides]

Wtf was that? C/p was a disaster!

 

[BeMD13]

yea, i usually finish with some solid time left over to just reflect haha. I was doing so good in the beginning and then I think I lost it in the middle and it all went downhill from there. there was just one passage i just couldn't get, kept reading it over and was like whaaaaaaaa honestly, was never this brain dead on a psych passage before, but i guess there's a first time for everything!

I did 7 FLs and always had at least 20-30 minutes left for that section. Not today! It was like the AAMC took all the lowest yield material off their list and plopped it in that one section.

 

[Spitphire]

Wtf was that? C/p was a disaster!

Yep. I'm hoping my guessing game was on point today because I had zero confidence in my answer choices lol.

 

[Two Sides]

I thought cars was okish, b/b was relatively hard, and p/s surprisingly ok/goodish. C/p, though, was on a different terrestrial realm. I was no biwinning this exam.

 

[djg_med]

How on earth did some of you guys finish Psych/Soc with 1 HOUR left? Did you decide not to read most of the passages? Because i couldve sworn a lot of the questions required a look at the passages themselves.

 

[BelieveMeChile]

How on earth did some of you guys finish Psych/Soc with 1 HOUR left? Did you decide not to read most of the passages? Because i couldve sworn a lot of the questions required a look at the passages themselves.

I'm a fast reader and I make my decisions quick!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[djg_med]

I'm a fast reader and I make my decisions quick!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Ok...
That's unheard of. I've heard of people have 20 min left or even 30...but an entire HOUR left after having gone through 59 questions?!!
So you feel like you got a 128?

 

[Spitphire]

I'm a fast reader and I make my decisions quick!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

That's insane! haha You literally answered a question every 30 seconds

 

[BelieveMeChile]

Ok...
That's unheard of. I've heard of people have 20 min left or even 30...but an entire HOUR left after having gone through 59 questions?!!
So you feel like you got a 128?

I did the same thing for the scored and unscored and most next step exams and I don't do any better or worse than most people. I just don't waste time. I read the passage, read the questions and all the answers. I don't know why I'm fast about it but I typically decide on what the answer is pretty quick. I seriously have no idea why I finished with an hour left. I even went over all the questions again and walked out with 50 minutes left on the clock.

When I go over my practice tests I don't make a lot of "stupid" reading comprehension mistakes. Of course I make a few just like everyone else, but it's not an exorbitant amount

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

For the first time ever, I read every passage in Psych/Soc. I finished with about 10 mins left. Normally, I have about 20 mins left over when I skim through the passage but I took my time and read every thing! I feel pretty good about this section but you just never know!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[fursty13]

I can't tell y'all how reassuring it is to see others had difficulty with C/P, LOL.

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

I can't tell y'all how reassuring it is to see others had difficulty with C/P, LOL.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[djg_med]

What are y'all's majors? I'm curious to know.
Do you feel the courses you were required to take for your major prepared you well for the MCAT?

 

[BelieveMeChile]

I can't tell y'all how reassuring it is to see others had difficulty with C/P, LOL.

My god for real. I guessed on quite a few of those questions. I'm so pissed because calculations should be easy points


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

What are y'all's majors? I'm curious to know.
Do you feel the courses you were required to take for your major prepared you well for the MCAT?

Chem


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[djg_med]

Chem


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

ah ok, Biochem over here!

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

ah ok, Biochem over here!

You should be fine! Lol!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[BelieveMeChile]

Now y'all are getting me nervous about finishing early


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Two Sides]

What are y'all's majors? I'm curious to know.
Do you feel the courses you were required to take for your major prepared you well for the MCAT?

Nothing quite prepares you for the mcat. A combo of the prereqs, practice fls, and aamc materials will help you out. It's more like 40% courses, 40% practice, 10% strategies, and 10% luck.

 

[djg_med]

Now y'all are getting me nervous about finishing early


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

No you shouldn't feel nervous if you feel like you did well on that section.
I was just surprised because I felt like I needed more time to comprehend the last passage and do the independent questions - I'm not a fast reader myself.

 

[djg_med]

Nothing quite prepares you for the mcat. A combo of the prereqs, practice fls, and aamc materials will help you out. It's more like 40% courses, 40% practice, 10% strategies, and 10% luck.

Yeah that's true.
The one thing i hate about the MCAT though is having to wait an entire month for your results. Ahh it's torture.

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

Now y'all are getting me nervous about finishing early


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I'm sure you did well. It just takes me longer. Lol!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

Nothing's worse than realizing you missed a SUPER easy question. I'm so pissed at myself.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[BelieveMeChile]

I'm sure you did well. It just takes me longer. Lol!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Haha I hope so. Most of the terms I knew. Some of them I had JUST studied this past week. I don't know what's wrong with me haha.

Also my major is Exercise Science


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[BeMD13]

What are y'all's majors? I'm curious to know.
Do you feel the courses you were required to take for your major prepared you well for the MCAT?

Haha! Psych major with a MA in it too and I STILL thought the P/S section was awful... b/c none of the major concepts of psych were even on it! I was banking on extra points there! So pissed!

 

[mellie0]

I'm jumping to the discussion! We can all frantically wait for June 14th together.

You guys are now making me nervous, haha. I felt that C/P was on the easier side. And I don't feel like I had to do that many calculations. Maybe I just got it all wrong. And CARS was absolutely terrible. So terrible. I spaced out in the middle of a few passages. It was bad. And I'll agree on B/B being on the easier side. P/S didn't feel too bad, but this is where I did most of my guesses!

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN FAM!

PS. Quoting @djg_med because could not agree more... this is pure torture.

Yeah that's true.
The one thing i hate about the MCAT though is having to wait an entire month for your results. Ahh it's torture.

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

I'm jumping to the discussion! We can all frantically wait for June 14th together.

You guys are now making me nervous, haha. I felt that C/P was on the easier side. And I don't feel like I had to do that many calculations. Maybe I just got it all wrong. And CARS was absolutely terrible. So terrible. I spaced out in the middle of a few passages. It was bad. And I'll agree on B/B being on the easier side. P/S didn't feel too bad, but this is where I did most of my guesses!

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN FAM!

I believe we had the same exam! Lol.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[mellie0]

I believe we had the same exam! Lol.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

You and I in particular, because you share my same impressions of the exam?

 

[ATM92]

Do you guys/gals know how exactly this exam is scored? Its really confusing because if the curve is predetermined before each exam, why does it take a month for the scores to come out? Also, if a lot of people don't do well in C/P, would there be another curve to take this into account? I really can't stop thinking about C/P and how much I guessed on it.

 

[Doctor_Faith07]

You and I in particular, because you share my same impressions of the exam?

Yes. Most have felt C/P was harder and CARS was easier. I felt like C/P was easier and CARS was harder. B/B and P/S were "doable".


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app