The Official May 22, 2015 MCAT Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

fenderboi930

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
I think many of you will agree that today is a great day to officially prepare for the May 22nd MCAT!!!

I was against the April 2015 MCAT because a typical 3 month schedule doesn't seem to work for
students and/or working test takers. With a little over 4 months of preparation we can go in with confidence!
It's all new and really scary--so let's kick MCAT butt together!!

I was also wondering, wouldn't many professional MCAT test takers and tutors want to take the MCAT 2015 as soon
as possible (April MCAT) so they can better they're material or teaching? Wouldn't that just destroy the curve?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Don't get the site shutdown! Common! No specifics! On the other hand, just because it was asked today, does not mean it will be asked again. All this accomplishes is getting the forum shut down
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Hello All,

I was one of those who had problems with a "satellite" testing center experiment Bull so I just wanted to paint a picture of what I have acquired as far as what happened today for tech issues. In talking with a Prometric tech and AAMC staff, of course they each blamed one another for the testing issue, but AAMC took on a MCAT 2015 policy of less actual testing days (no Sept, OCT, NOV, DEC exams), but more seats/date. Prometric claimed that they were not able to offer that many seats and the wonderful concept of satellite testing centers were conceived. I never got booted but had a legitimate 15-20 seconds of loading for every question on Bio/Biochem, and about 8-10 seconds of loading/question on CARS. Normally I finish with about 15 min extra on Bio and 5 on CARS so I was able to complete each section (barely, guessed on last CARS question) but was pretty pissed and nervous knowing that I physically couldn't answer and load the question fast enough to finish, not even being able to consider marking anything. I rose a pretty big stink to the testing lady, refusing to void my score if it meant I couldn't test again till say mid or late July. I received an email about 4:30 P.M that June 2nd!!! will be a retest day for those who had problems, and the scores will come out on June 30th, so as not to hurt our Apps. If you had legit tech issues contact AAMC, and tell them, you CAN void your score even if you didn't in the exam and had tech issues.

did you call or email?
 
Did anyone solve bio questions without actually reading the passages...b/c I did. Like 4 of 5 questions in first or second passages I didn't even look at the passages b/c similar to physics it was common sense.

If my scores from today were lower than my April I'm going to **** a brick


omgawd...you took it twice already. How easy was it to get a seat in May? b/c I am thinking about taking it in June b/c I KNOW now I can tear this **** apart.
 
Members don't see this ad :)


THANK GAWD i wasn't crazy, the earlier passages were easier I feel like. I was half way through at like 1h05 mark..then the second after a discrete section slowed down b/c the complex experiements where I HAD to read some of the passages but still finished with 10-15 minutes to review.

Don't get the site shutdown! Common! No specifics! On the other hand, just because it was asked today, does not mean it will be asked again. All this accomplishes is getting the forum shut down

Should I edit or am I getting too specific?
 
THANK GAWD i wasn't crazy, the earlier passages were easier I feel like. I was half way through at like 1h05 mark..then the second after a discrete section slowed down b/c the complex experiements where I HAD to read some of the passages but still finished with 10-15 minutes to review.



Should I edit or am I getting too specific?


Delete your huge post...it's way too specific (take this from someone who was put on probation after the April test for simply agreeing with someone who gave even less information than you did)
 
Delete your huge post...it's way too specific (take this from someone who was put on probation after the April test for simply agreeing with someone who gave even less information than you did)


thanks i'll edit it down. hmm. I just listed topics no specific questions. I guess they're super anal, it's like saying hormones are going to be on it....b/c that's on aamc's liste of topics.
 
THANK GAWD i wasn't crazy, the earlier passages were easier I feel like. I was half way through at like 1h05 mark..then the second after a discrete section slowed down b/c the complex experiements where I HAD to read some of the passages but still finished with 10-15 minutes to review.



Should I edit or am I getting too specific?
Yeah the long post is way too detailed. Otherwise you are fine :)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
thanks i'll edit it down. hmm. I just listed topics no specific questions. I guess they're super anal, it's like saying hormones are going to be on it....b/c that's on aamc's liste of topics.
Can't list topics either mate. They are incredibly picky. Besides like i said above, it really does not help anyone. Just because it was not asked this time around, it does not mean it won't be asked in july or august. Save yourself the trouble.
The reality about the mcat is that you need to know everything (impossible of course) because everything is fair game
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My experience...

Chem/Phys:
This has been and will always be my weakest section. I can do science, I can do math, but please don't combine the two. Keeping that in mind, this section was by far the most difficult for me. I made the mistake of lingering too long in the beginning and then having the section end right as I landed on my last discrete that would have been an easy point for me. :( I think I ended up with 1-2 unfinished, which was really upsetting, but it is what it is. There was more physics than I expected. Less than on the old exam, but you will be doing a serious disservice to your score if you blow off studying physics just because there's less on this test. And just about all calculations I had to do (less than 5 IIRC) relied on one having memorized the equations. They're equations you would expect to memorize anyway, but my point is: study your goddamn physics!!! And of course there was a ****-ton of biochemistry. You need to know how enzymes work and you ABSOLUTELY need to know your amino acids (and, ahem, their codes). Very little orgo, but just enough that again, you really can't blow it off.

Comparison to practice material: harder than the AAMC stuff, but I'm naturally bad at physics and chemistry anyway so take that with a grain of salt. On the other hand, it was thankfully way easier than EK's Chem/Phys!

CARS: I usually dominate CARS and I don't think today was any different. There was one passage that was harder than anything I've ever seen from AAMC, but other than that I flew through it.

Comparison to practice material: Other than the EK FLs, the only other passages I used for this section were from AAMC. I really think the question packs are invaluable. Other companies are good for the practice, but only AAMC's passages are like the real thing.

Bio/Biochem: And here we see biochem once again taking center stage. The new MCAT has a love affair with amino acids; I almost laughed in the middle of the exam. You want to know what makes **** happen in your body. The how is not as important as the what, if ya know what I mean. This section also involved a greater amount of data interpretation than the Chem/Phys section, but there were also instances where I felt like reading the passage was a waste of time. Oh, and study yo lab methods!

Comparison to practice material: very similar to AAMC stuff and a little easier than EK. TBR's passages were good for this section, whereas they weren't quite as helpful for the Chem/Phys (but still worth doing).

Psych/Socio: I maybe spent 5 days studying for this section, to be honest. There were a few terms that were unfamiliar to me, but in most cases could be chosen or eliminated through process of elimination. You absolutely need to prepare for this section through practice passages because simply knowing definitions is not going to get you a good score. I thought TPR's passages were good, maybe a little better than EK's for this. Until we get a good idea of how this section works, you just have to be prepared to encounter terms you've never seen before. Like CARS, this is a section where process of elimination skills are really important. But it's my favorite section!

Comparison to practice material: perhaps a little more difficult than what AAMC has provided, and on par with EK.

Overall: I was most surprised at the breadth of content this exam covered. Almost every topic was addressed in some way. More often than not, any difficulties I had with a question stemmed from my own lack of preparation vs. not having seen the material before. This test isn't a monster, you just need to know your stuff. :)


this post made me so happy, sounds like your schedule served you well!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Is anyone going to take advantage of the June 2nd retest? I'm debating going through those 6 hours again. That lag messed up two of my sections
 
done and done...urgh, so over AAMC. They are anal without being helpful. Anyway, how'd you think you did?
Messed it up big time in the first section. Second time physics has made it its bi***. The cars was long man. Bio was pretty straight forward but i studied my heart out for it. Psych i have no clue. I kept finding new terms. I couldnt tell if they were stuff AAMC made up to trick us or if they are real and i was more screwd than i thought. Hopefully i got 505+, hby?

I am with you 100%. AAMC really hurts us with that single, chocolate cake of a practice test
 
I Called AAMC to Confirm June 2nd date, but I let Prometric know I had problems during the exam three times, so I was sent the email on retest, prior to calling.

its too late to call (westcoast) and im trying to fill out the pdf regarding test center concerns but it won't let me save it so i can upload it. well, it does let me save but when i open the pdf, its blank. any suggestions?
 
I ran out of time in Chem this never happened in my practice. Ahhhhh!!!
Haha same. This was my best section during practice but on the actual exam I found myself scrambling to answer like 8 questions with 3 minutes left lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
`
Messed it up big time in the first section. Second time physics has made it its bi***. The cars was long man. Bio was pretty straight forward but i studied my heart out for it. Psych i have no clue. I kept finding new terms. I couldnt tell if they were stuff AAMC made up to trick us or if they are real and i was more screwd than i thought. Hopefully i got 505+, hby?

I am with you 100%. AAMC really hurts us with that single, chocolate cake of a practice test

I am retaking it after reading some of the comments, I feel like an idiot for not studying a certain way but it's in hindsight and that's always 20/20.....with proper ciliary muscles. How did you study the second time around that differed that you think helped?
 
No one is answering me
I was asked if I wanted to void or not. Clicked score my exam.

Then my program crashed when I went to do the survey.

Then, after failing to gain the attention of the proctor through vigorously waving both of my arms 10 feet from her, I had her come over and restart my program. Logged in again and did the survey.

Obviously I mentioned that their systems were bad. And I wasn't even one of the people that got screwed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
So was there an additional screen after I hit submit my exam to be scored page?

yes, with the survey. i actually tried to check out after i submitted for my score to be sent and the proctor told me there was a survey so i had to go back and do it lol and bring back the pencils/scratch paper
 
its too late to call (westcoast) and im trying to fill out the pdf regarding test center concerns but it won't let me save it so i can upload it. well, it does let me save but when i open the pdf, its blank. any suggestions?
Have a drink and relax, you have till Wednesday at 11:59 P.M. to make submission of complaint. AAMC got enough of my effort today.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
`


I am retaking it after reading some of the comments, I feel like an idiot for not studying a certain way but it's in hindsight and that's always 20/20.....with proper ciliary muscles. How did you study the second time around that differed that you think helped?
Well here is the thing, i took the old one, not the new one, but if i had to study again for this one i would highly recommend to practice you heart out. I deemphasized physics too much towards the end and that came back to bite me since some stuff was not as fresh. Also make sure you follow the official guide from aamc. Kaplan wa missing a lot of terms in their behavioral sciences book, which i only found out about 2 days before the exam.
There is no way to study for cars but to practice. Bio loves its random, stand alone, facts. It is a doable exam. I just wish there was another practice exam available (Kaplan and TPR missed the mark horribly with their exams)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
yes, with the survey. i actually tried to check out after i submitted for my score to be sent and the proctor told me there was a survey so i had to go back and do it lol and bring back the pencils/scratch paper
lol I did the exact same thing!
 
Well here is the thing, i took the old one, not the new one, but if i had to study again for this one i would highly recommend to practice you heart out. I deemphasized physics too much towards the end and that came back to bite me since some stuff was not as fresh. Also make sure you follow the official guide from aamc. Kaplan wa missing a lot of terms in their behavioral sciences book, which i only found out about 2 days before the exam.
There is no way to study for cars but to practice. Bio loves its random, stand alone, facts. It is a doable exam. I just wish there was another practice exam available (Kaplan and TPR missed the mark horribly with their exams)


I'm pretty solid on bio and most of biochem...like AA it took me half of an hour to rememorize everything again. Thanks for the tip about psychology, i'm opening a book and reading psy. papers now and then I'm going to list what kind of experiment it is :'( .....i h8 you so much aamc.

Cars I realize I was going wayy to quickly, so giving myself 10 minutes per passages did help a lot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'm pretty solid on bio and most of biochem...like AA it took me half of an hour to rememorize everything again. Thanks for the tip about psychology, i'm opening a book and reading psy. papers now and then I'm going to list what kind of experiment it is :'( .....i h8 you so much aamc.

Cars I realize I was going wayy to quickly, so giving myself 10 minutes per passages did help a lot.
For the AAs, make sure you know hydrophobic/hydrophilic, their side chain Pka and charges at physiological pH. This is the key to be able to do well in the popular single amino acid questions (thankfully my biochem class spent a lot of time on this
 
For the AAs, make sure you know hydrophobic/hydrophilic, their side chain Pka and charges at physiological pH. This is the key to be able to do well in the popular single amino acid questions (thankfully my biochem class spent a lot of time on this


yup sooo glad my biochem teach made ups memorize everythingggggggg.
:boom:
 
If you clicked submit, you will NOT be able to reschedule for free. You will have to pay $300 whether you had computer issues or not.

The email from AAMC actually states that if you elected to have your exam scored, ignore the email. I just wanted to clarify this.

The AAMC has received reports that your testing center experienced some technical issues during the MCAT exam administration today, May 22.

If you elected to have your exam scored and wish to have those scores reported,you do not need to take further action.

If you were affected by today’s issues, you can schedule a new exam date without fee, or you may request a full refund. With either of these options, your scores for May 22 will be voided.
 
Not putting blame on them or trying to make excuses because the AAMC did release a guide of what was all on the exam, but man, Kaplan was baaaaaaad prep for this exam.
 
Not putting blame on them or trying to make excuses because the AAMC did release a guide of what was all on the exam, but man, Kaplan was baaaaaaad at prepping me for this exam.

It gave you basics, but DO NOT use them to prep you in the style of the way mcat asks questions. I will stay this for sure, that is what got me in psychology HOW they asked the questions. I say practice by reading psy based articles (That actually goes into specifics about experiments so NOT your CNN science article about a new psychology finding)

Then ask WHAT type of research methodically is being used in the article.

edit: I will say some of the content is lacking, not a lot but FILL in the holes by looking at AAMC's guides, they're free and listed for you.
 
It gave you basics, but DO NOT use them to prep you in the style of the way mcat asks questions. I will stay this for sure, that is what got me in psychology HOW they asked the questions. I say practice by reading psy based articles (That actually goes into specifics about experiments so NOT your CNN science article about a new psychology finding)

Then ask WHAT type of research methodically is being used in the article.

edit: I will say some of the content is lacking, not a lot but FILL in the holes by looking at AAMC's guides, they're free and listed for you.
I didn't necessarily have any difficulties with how they asked questions, more that Kaplan didn't cover a lot of topics in psych and other topics, and how they changed the structure of their classes was not a good move on their part.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I didn't necessarily have any difficulties with how they asked questions, more that Kaplan didn't cover a lot of topics in psych and other topics, and how they changed the structure of their classes was not a good move on their part.

I only used their books...or just one psy specifically. So their classes wasn't that great? I always wondered if I should've paid the money and if it would've helped.

Anyway, with that I am out, goodbye and helloo JUNE THREAD! :3
 
If you clicked submit, you will NOT be able to reschedule for free. You will have to pay $300 whether you had computer issues or not.

The email from AAMC actually states that if you elected to have your exam scored, ignore the email. I just wanted to clarify this.

The AAMC has received reports that your testing center experienced some technical issues during the MCAT exam administration today, May 22.

If you elected to have your exam scored and wish to have those scores reported,you do not need to take further action.

If you were affected by today’s issues, you can schedule a new exam date without fee, or you may request a full refund. With either of these options, your scores for May 22 will be voided.

Success16,
The email states "If you elected to have your exam scored AND wish to have those scores reported, You do not need to take further action. If you were affected by todays issues, you can schedule a new exam date WITHOUT FEE, or you may request a refund. "

Bottom line is, I take that as I will most definitely not be paying another $300

Now I didn't hit "submit" but I didn't hit void (I let time expire, defaulting to scoring the exam, my thinking was that they can't force me to void an exam in 4 minutes, without knowing if I will be able to get another seat in 2015, for the application cycle, when its their tech problems.)
 
For you future MCAT takers, PremedHQ.com goes through every single point listed in the AAMC outline except for Chemistry. SUPER useful for Psychology/Sociology... I've actually ditched my EK and old TPR books in favor of this website because it cuts out most of the frivolous BS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
hey I had the lag issue and it really sucked. I wasn't keeping track of time, and although the clock kept ticking while it lagged, I feel like the section still lasted longer than it was supposed to. did anyone else with this issue feel the same or keep track of the time? thanks!
 
Last edited:
After taking this test, is it wise to memorize all the intermediates of the metabolic pathways or not really necessary?
 
After taking this test, is it wise to memorize all the intermediates of the metabolic pathways or not really necessary?

Normally for any other section, I would tell you to not bother with intense memorization of small details. For biochem though... definitely! Maybe even the enzymes too...
 
I only used their books...or just one psy specifically. So their classes wasn't that great? I always wondered if I should've paid the money and if it would've helped.

Anyway, with that I am out, goodbye and helloo JUNE THREAD! :3
Nooo, class was TERRIBLE. It used to be content based with a little strategy, but now with so much content they switched to all strategy. And I feel like besdies CARS, I didn't need any strategy help, plus their CARS approach was really bad.
 
Success16,
The email states "If you elected to have your exam scored AND wish to have those scores reported, You do not need to take further action. If you were affected by todays issues, you can schedule a new exam date WITHOUT FEE, or you may request a refund. "

Bottom line is, I take that as I will most definitely not be paying another $300

Now I didn't hit "submit" but I didn't hit void (I let time expire, defaulting to scoring the exam, my thinking was that they can't force me to void an exam in 4 minutes, without knowing if I will be able to get another seat in 2015, for the application cycle, when its their tech problems.)

Exactly, if you didn't hit submit or void then you are fine. You will be able to reschedule for free, at least that's what I got from the email and what my proctors told me.
 
Top