The Official May 31, 2014 MCAT Thread

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k12123

k12123

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Not sure if there's a thread on this but I couldn't find one. If there is, please let me know! Anyway, I took the TBR course from September(ish?)-December and was going to take the exam on January but wasn't ready enough go forward. Anyway I will be starting SN2's 3 month plan either today or tomorrow using the TBR books as well as EKs with TBR, TPR, and AAMC FLs. So who's with me??
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Does anyone know if different tests had different passages on the verbal section? After the exam my friend said that a certain passage was killer, and I don't remember reading that passage at all (I'm positive I didn't). I'm worried I skipped the passage because I didn't have much time to review my answers, but I've never skipped a passage before and it's not like I had a lot of time when I finished the last passage, so I'm not sure. I've heard sometimes they have one passage that changes on verbal, but I don't know how true that is...?
 
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Jochor92 said:
Does anyone know if different tests had different passages on the verbal section? After the exam my friend said that a certain passage was killer, and I don't remember reading that passage at all (I'm positive I didn't). I'm worried I skipped the passage because I didn't have much time to review my answers, but I've never skipped a passage before and it's not like I had a lot of time when I finished the last passage, so I'm not sure. I've heard sometimes they have one passage that changes on verbal, but I don't know how true that is...?
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:/ maybe you guys got different experimental questions or something
 
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Just to join the choir of woes... I personally thought Verbal was pretty standard- easier passages with some vague questions, I don't think I felt as bummed about the PS as most others did, the BS on the other hand exploited just about every gap in my knowledge possible. I easily missed 4 or 5 discreets, some of them super straighforward-- kind of a bummer seeing as the curve doesn't sound like it's going to be too helpful for that section. Let the weeks of obsessing and fretting begin!
 
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TresselforPresident said:
I got an answer but one of the components was inverse to what the answer choices had listed. And I tried it again and again and couldn't figure out what I did wrong. I might ponder it more tomorrow if I feel particularly masochistic
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I had like 8 minutes left after reviewing my other marked questions and spent it all rechecking this question 3 times. The right answer was not there.
 
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DrSpocktopus said:
I had like 8 minutes left after reviewing my other marked questions and spent it all rechecking this question 3 times. The right answer was not there.
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I am assuming this was from the PS section. If so, I had a similar experience with this question. Kind of unfortunate that we put this much time and effort into a question that probably will not count due to an error.
 
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SethL said:
I am assuming this was from the PS section. If so, I had a similar experience with this question. Kind of unfortunate that we put this much time and effort into a question that probably will not count due to an error.
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Or the correct answer isn't there with the intention of getting you stuck on the problem...

I was out of of other things I wanted to go over again, so I don't feel like I wasted time, but it did kind of frazzle me. How could the right answer just not be on the test?
 
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desdes said:
I signed up to retake I left feeling totally lost
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I'm glad I'm not alone here. You guys, I'm just so depressed. I can't retake it so this was my only shot this year. That PS section blew my mind. I know everyone is saying that they feel like they "bombed" it, but do you guys have an estimate of a score you feel like you got? I just feel like to many SDNers, bombing is a 9 haha. I feel like I was in the 6/7 range :(
 
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DrSpocktopus said:
Or the correct answer isn't there with the intention of getting you stuck on the problem...

I was out of of other things I wanted to go over again, so I don't feel like I wasted time, but it did kind of frazzle me. How could the right answer just not be on the test?
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I have no idea what question you guys are talking about...probably yet another question I straight up guessed on
 
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stressingout said:
I'm glad I'm not alone here. You guys, I'm just so depressed. I can't retake it so this was my only shot this year. That PS section blew my mind. I know everyone is saying that they feel like they "bombed" it, but do you guys have an estimate of a score you feel like you got? I just feel like to many SDNers, bombing is a 9 haha. I feel like I was in the 6/7 range :(
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I was pretty sad walking out I am trying not to think about it but it is pretty hard I am hoping you did good
 
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stressingout said:
I'm glad I'm not alone here. You guys, I'm just so depressed. I can't retake it so this was my only shot this year. That PS section blew my mind. I know everyone is saying that they feel like they "bombed" it, but do you guys have an estimate of a score you feel like you got? I just feel like to many SDNers, bombing is a 9 haha. I feel like I was in the 6/7 range :(
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You're definitely not alone. This was my one shot too. I can retake but it just means my application I put in is basically null at this point which is really stressing me out. I don't have an estimate and definitely don't want to because that PS section makes me feel like I got a 6/7 too and at best I feel like I got an 8 in Verbal. Bio I don't even know. Verbal wasn't hard but the answer choices were really vague in my opinion and I kept going back to figure out which one was "more right"

I'm still agitated from the exam and it's been 5 days :/
 
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Uniqueusername814 said:
You're definitely not alone. This was my one shot too. I can retake but it just means my application I put in is basically null at this point which is really stressing me out. I don't have an estimate and definitely don't want to because that PS section makes me feel like I got a 6/7 too and at best I feel like I got an 8 in Verbal. Bio I don't even know. Verbal wasn't hard but the answer choices were really vague in my opinion and I kept going back to figure out which one was "more right"

I'm still agitated from the exam and it's been 5 days :/
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I'm hoping for a nice curve since everyone seems like they struggled. I know how you feel about verbal; it's always been a weakness of mine.
 
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desdes said:
I was pretty sad walking out I am trying not to think about it but it is pretty hard I am hoping you did good
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I keep trying to distract myself, but it's not working! It's good to know that we're all in this together though :)
 
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DrSpocktopus said:
I had like 8 minutes left after reviewing my other marked questions and spent it all rechecking this question 3 times. The right answer was not there.
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Dude I had 20 minutes left and I literally spent it all on this question. Thank God someone else agrees. Too bad its too late for an official MCAT challenge...

I'm just wondering if there was a simple substitution in my final answer that would have yielded one of the answer choices. The AP Physics exam is notorious for doing that, but I ended up "freezing" and not being able to reason through it. Guess we'll see
 
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stressingout said:
I keep trying to distract myself, but it's not working! It's good to know that we're all in this together though :)
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Agreed, it's just not possible to stop thinking about the exam. But what I keep reminding myself is that after every practice test I never thought: "Well that was easy." I just had the instant confirmation of not doing as poorly as I thought I had when I saw the score.

I am sure none of us did as poorly as we expect, we are just a lot more conscious of our errors this time and don't have the instant confirmation of seeing our scores right away.
 
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Did anyone else feel kind of numb throughout the Verbal section? I honestly don't know how to feel about it, it could have went really well or really badly, which is pretty scary.
 
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SethL said:
Agreed, it's just not possible to stop thinking about the exam. But what I keep reminding myself is that after every practice test I never thought: "Well that was easy." I just had the instant confirmation of not doing as poorly as I thought I had when I saw the score.

I am sure none of us did as poorly as we expect, we are just a lot more conscious of our errors this time and don't have the instant confirmation of seeing our scores right away.
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Don't know for sure which question you guys are talking about exactly but I had a problem with a question I think you may be talking about. My calculations simply weren't adding up but that may be due to that I came into the test sleep deprived. In any case, would the answer be relevant to the fact that it takes light 8.5 minutes to reach earth from the sun?
 
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DenTony11235 said:
Don't know for sure which question you guys are talking about exactly but I had a problem with a question I think you may be talking about. My calculations simply weren't adding up but that may be due to that I came into the test sleep deprived. In any case, would the answer be relevant to the fact that it takes light 8.5 minutes to reach earth from the sun?
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Yes :)
 
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UABme said:
Did anyone else feel kind of numb throughout the Verbal section? I honestly don't know how to feel about it, it could have went really well or really badly, which is pretty scary.
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I definitely thought the verbal section was the most difficult for me. For some reason the questions and answers were just not clicking with me this time. I feel like I wasn't sure about any of my answers. Am just hoping for the best at this point.
 
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dbouz said:
I definitely thought the verbal section was the most difficult for me. For some reason the questions and answers were just not clicking with me this time. I feel like I wasn't sure about any of my answers. Am just hoping for the best at this point.
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Exact same with me... I naturally suck at verbal and i found the verbal on this one to be extremely difficult and convoluted... I can end up anywhere between 5 and 8 depending on how many of my guesses turn out to be correct.... I should have voided it to be honest
 
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what about the PS makes it so strangely difficult... I have been seeing this on other test date forums as well.. is that it's too calculation heavy? Topics that werent necessarily covered on the topic list? Or just questions that involve heavy thinking?

p.s. I am sure you all did as well if not better than your averages.. post test feelings are always wrong.. my first MCAT I thought I killed BS and literally failed PS- by that I mean get a 3 or 4 and the EXACT opposite occurred. Hang in there!
 
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UABme said:
Did anyone else feel kind of numb throughout the Verbal section? I honestly don't know how to feel about it, it could have went really well or really badly, which is pretty scary.
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I feel the exact same way! It really could go either way for me.
 
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orangetea said:
what about the PS makes it so strangely difficult... I have been seeing this on other test date forums as well.. is that it's too calculation heavy? Topics that werent necessarily covered on the topic list? Or just questions that involve heavy thinking?

p.s. I am sure you all did as well if not better than your averages.. post test feelings are always wrong.. my first MCAT I thought I killed BS and literally failed PS- by that I mean get a 3 or 4 and the EXACT opposite occurred. Hang in there!
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I don't even know it was just seemed different for me. I consistently scored 10+ on my PS AAMC exams, but this one wasn't as straightforward as those PS sections. I feel like the questions were more passage based and sometimes I found it hard to find the concept they were trying to test. I feel like it was more in line with the PS AAMC self-assessment package instead of the actual AAMC practice tests. Anyone else felt this way?
 
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stressingout said:
I don't even know it was just seemed different for me. I consistently scored 10+ on my PS AAMC exams, but this one wasn't as straightforward as those PS sections. I feel like the questions were more passage based and sometimes I found it hard to find the concept they were trying to test. I feel like it was more in line with the PS AAMC self-assessment package instead of the actual AAMC practice tests. Anyone else felt this way?
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This is what I experienced in the May 22 test. The Physics Self Assessment has the difficult passages I definitely felt were up to par with what I saw on my exam.
 
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stressingout said:
I don't even know it was just seemed different for me. I consistently scored 10+ on my PS AAMC exams, but this one wasn't as straightforward as those PS sections. I feel like the questions were more passage based and sometimes I found it hard to find the concept they were trying to test. I feel like it was more in line with the PS AAMC self-assessment package instead of the actual AAMC practice tests. Anyone else felt this way?
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thanks! I was considering buying the self assessment package.. but obviously monetary constraints are a huge factor.. isnt it just questions from AAMC 6.. since they took that out of the test bank?
 
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orangetea said:
thanks! I was considering buying the self assessment package.. but obviously monetary constraints are a huge factor.. isnt it just questions from AAMC 6.. since they took that out of the test bank?
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I'm not sure if AAMC 6 questions are included in it, but that's not all it is. There's TONS of passages that are great for practice. I definitely think it's a good investment.
 
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stressingout said:
I'm not sure if AAMC 6 questions are included in it, but that's not all it is. There's TONS of passages that are great for practice. I definitely think it's a good investment.
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Oh okay is it something I can break up.. like 3 passages a day or do I need to complete it in one sitting?
 
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orangetea said:
Oh okay is it something I can break up.. like 3 passages a day or do I need to complete it in one sitting?
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You can take your own pace completely. There are like 20 passages per PS, VR and bio section, and like 10 for orgo. It's tough to complete any of these sections in one sitting.
 
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DenTony11235 said:
Yea that one killed me. I think the right answer was there, my calculations were just not leading me to it for some reason. Did anyone get the right answer through calculation?
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I ended up guessing on that one and 2others in that single passage ...
 
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DenTony11235 said:
I remember another that I guessed on in that passage. That definitely wasn't the topic I expected myself to rely on guesses for.
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True.. i also had to partial guess on question #1 (hint: had to use ln) lol i have to retake because of VR anyways so lol
 
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DenTony11235 said:
Yea that one killed me. I think the right answer was there, my calculations were just not leading me to it for some reason. Did anyone get the right answer through calculation?
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That's the right passage for sure, but the question we're talking about didn't have a numerical answer.

All the other questions on that passage I feel like I got right. (I'm a chemistry major and have consistently scored 13+ on PS on practice tests, so I feel like I can trust myself there.)
 
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I keep remembering questions that I wasn't sure about. Anyone remember the one that had 2 graphs, and several plots overlayed on each other? At first I was applying the graph from the first to the second, because the first graph had this weird U shape and the other did not - then i decided I was overthinking it, and I just went off the second graph. Now I'm not so sure...
 
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TresselforPresident said:
I keep remembering questions that I wasn't sure about. Anyone remember the one that had 2 graphs, and something about % trapped with several plots overlayed on each other? At first I was applying the graph from the first to the second, because the first graph had this weird U shape and the other did not - then i decided I was overthinking it, and I just went off the second graph. Now I'm not so sure...
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Was this in PS? I only remember one passage from Bio, 2 passages from PS, and 1 from verbal (avocado)
 
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stressingout said:
I'm hoping for a nice curve since everyone seems like they struggled. I know how you feel about verbal; it's always been a weakness of mine.
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I'm hoping that I fared better than I felt on the PS (~6/ 7), but I'm not sure that the curve will be very helpful. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty about the MCAT curve, and AAMC doesn't even directly answer the question about how their 'standardization' is really established. Check out AAMC's response here and see if it clears things up for you: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85436/preparing_understandingscores.html

VR performance is difficult to gauge. It's my best topic and nine times out of ten, I'd score in the 9 - 13 range (AAMC, Kaplan, EK), but once in a while, it'd flop with a ~7. I agree with others' posts about the reading not being so bad as the question stems/ answer choices were really rather ambiguous. I studied voraciously for 9 months in preparation for this thing and I'm not sure how much it paid off, or what approach I should take if a retake is necessary. STRESS!

Speaking of stress, the first couple days post-test were the worst for me too, but it's best to just try to keep our minds off the 'what-ifs' and do our best to enjoy the weather and finally being able to make up for lost time with friends and family.
 
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anderson930 said:
Speaking of stress, the first couple days post-test were the worst for me too, but it's best to just try to keep our minds off the 'what-ifs' and do our best to enjoy the weather and finally being able to make up for lost time with friends and family.
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I agree :)
 
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TresselforPresident said:
I keep remembering questions that I wasn't sure about. Anyone remember the one that had 2 graphs, and something about % trapped with several plots overlayed on each other? At first I was applying the graph from the first to the second, because the first graph had this weird U shape and the other did not - then i decided I was overthinking it, and I just went off the second graph. Now I'm not so sure...
Click to expand...

Now that I think about it, I know what you're talking about. It was in PS. I was unsure about this too but I also went off the second graph.
 
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DenTony11235 said:
Yea that one killed me. I think the right answer was there, my calculations were just not leading me to it for some reason. Did anyone get the right answer through calculation?
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I worked out my calculations three times and got the same answer every time. However, the answer was not close to the factoid "it takes 8.5 minutes for sunlight to get to the earth." But we'll see! I could have calculated it wrong like anyone else.
 
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rugger4 said:
I worked out my calculations three times and got the same answer every time. However, the answer was not close to the factoid "it takes 8.5 minutes for sunlight to get to the earth." But we'll see! I could have calculated it wrong like anyone else.
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Neither were my calculations and my final choice. But a fact is indisputable.
 
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TresselforPresident said:
I keep remembering questions that I wasn't sure about. Anyone remember the one that had 2 graphs, and something about % trapped with several plots overlayed on each other? At first I was applying the graph from the first to the second, because the first graph had this weird U shape and the other did not - then i decided I was overthinking it, and I just went off the second graph. Now I'm not so sure...
Click to expand...

I literally have no recollection of this passage... looks like I picked a bad time to blackout.
 
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A summary of the events of May 31:

-Started MCAT
-Blacked out
-Woke up on the moon covered in avacado
 
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DenTony11235 said:
Neither were my calculations and my final choice. But a fact is indisputable.
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I don't remember being shocked by the answer to this question, so I must have put the answer we all know. Are you sure you used the right distance and got the right units out at the end? I don't remember exactly what the data they gave were, but I don't think they'd use incorrect info.
stressingout said:
Now that I think about it, I know what you're talking about. It was in PS. I was unsure about this too but I also went off the second graph.
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That part was hard. I think they intentionally obfuscated what information the graphs were presenting. I think both got used for different questions, but I've now taken 3 exams since the MCAT, so who knows how accurate my recall still is.
 
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DrSpocktopus said:
I don't remember being shocked by the answer to this question, so I must have put the answer we all know. Are you sure you used the right distance and got the right units out at the end? I don't remember exactly what the data they gave were, but I don't think they'd use incorrect info.
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Yes, if you used the correct units I'm pretty sure the answer was very straight forward.
 
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