*The Official May 6th, 2016 MCAT Thread*

[DannySCR]

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to see who's with me in fighting this beast on May 6th. This could be a great place to help each other out, be it through study tips, mnemonics, or simply relieving stress. Nice to meet you all!

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[infinityavenue]

How in depth do you read the psych passages? I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like background knowledge can help me answer 80% of the questions and the other 20%, I Just glide over the table/figure the question is referring to. I've felt this to be true for both AAMC's question backs and NS FLs that I've taken.

I read them and make sure I understand it experimentally. The fact that it's in "English" not science-speak makes it way easier though. I finish ridiculously quickly (like in 40-50 minutes), while I generally find timing for the other sections more challenging. I thought the Section Bank for Psych was tough though and definitely required a thorough understanding of the experiments.

I'm so nervous guys. So so so nervous.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

Why would you say lens dipoter is not high yield? Serious question.

although this Is a new mcat it wasn't considered super high yield and most things we see will be more so biochemical and the only way lens can be applied is with an eye model and that is pretty simplistic but I guess I misspoke that's just not something I would focus majorly on

 

[Wolfpack93]

How in depth do you read the psych passages? I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like background knowledge can help me answer 80% of the questions and the other 20%, I Just glide over the table/figure the question is referring to. I've felt this to be true for both AAMC's question backs and NS FLs that I've taken.

Agreed. I've been finishing P/S with like 20 minutes left over because of this

 

[Ricekrispie]

I just finished reviewing my FL from today and my laptop was acting really slow and buggy. I shut it off and now it won't boot up. Guess it's the end of the line for me, y'all...


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[google MD]

I am counting down the minutes until Friday night when I will be celebrating with a bottle of wine (or 2)

 

[apuri3]

.

 

[infinityavenue]

To watch Game of Thrones or study orgo...that tis the question.

Do you guys have a lot to do this week? I took the entire week off work so I could mentally prepare and review last-minute.

 

[Doctor_Strange]

To watch Game of Thrones or study orgo...that tis the question.

Do you guys have a lot to do this week? I took the entire week off work so I could mentally prepare and review last-minute.

GoT. Great episode.

 

[somedudehere]

Can't wait for this test to be over.

Then onto finals.

Then onto applications.

Then onto secondaries.

>>>General adaptation syndrome<<<

Who's with me?!

 

[keepSwimmingNemo]

NS CARS suck. their science sections are good practice, but i really think their CARS section is way too convoluted and full of trick answers. i would not stress too much about their CARS if i were you. practice with AAMC CARS

i just did the first few passages and I'm getting most of them right. i suck AT CARS. i went back to AAMC and I'm missing half the questions. i don't like NS CARS. but what else am i supposed to practice with

 

[cjcarter]

Taking the unscored in an hour. Why am I nervous?


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[Doctor_Strange]

Taking the unscored in an hour. Why am I nervous?


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Because you're human!

 

[Doctor_Strange]

I am a mixture of nervous/excited to take the MCAT already--nervous because it's finally here, but excited to see how much my prep has paid off. Although in the back of my mind I have this feeling that literally the entire test will be on my weaker concepts, even though I know there is no point in thinking like that. Whatever happens happens.

 

[Gurby]

The last practice test..... AAMC Scored today. Get some!

 

[somedudehere]

That C/P in the scored FL had so much orgo! FML!

 

[Gurby]

That C/P in the scored FL had so much orgo! FML!

Yes but it was pretty much all first semester orgo, so I could do it! I looked at that passage and was like... Ah jeez, maybe skip this and come back... Then I looked closer and was like aww yiss I got this.

I was losing focus during the CARS but I think overall it wasn't too too bad. Definitely some tough questions but I bet I did well. Lunch break now before tackling Bio...

So glad I'll only have to go through this pain one more time. And when I take the real test I'll be so caffeined up it will be easy to focus.

 

[700003]

That C/P in the scored FL had so much orgo! FML!

Yes but it was pretty much all first semester orgo, so I could do it! I looked at that passage and was like... Ah jeez, maybe skip this and come back... Then I looked closer and was like aww yiss I got this.

I was losing focus during the CARS but I think overall it wasn't too too bad. Definitely some tough questions but I bet I did well. Lunch break now before tackling Bio...

So glad I'll only have to go through this pain one more time. And when I take the real test I'll be so caffeined up it will be easy to focus.

Was it all mechanism-based organic? Or more like bonding, Sn1, Sn2, acidity/basicity stuff? Also, how much organic was in the unscored AAMC FL?

I also don't like organic it's def my weak point, and I haven't been studying it very well. Hoping my test will be light on orgo!

 

[yeezuswest]

Hey guys, April tester here. All I can say at this point is don't necessarily bank on the test being light on the stuff you're weak on. There's a chance it might be, in which case you're very lucky, but it could also be heavy on those weak areas. My best advice would be to really focus on those weak areas now while you can and at least get them down to a manageable level so that mentally you feel completely ready for the test. I know it sounds crazy 4 days out, but I remember taking the time on the Monday before my test just going over my weakest areas and it really gave me a good psychological boost, and I think there are other April testers who can attest to this. Don't bank on getting lucky!

 

[cjcarter]

Just finished the unscored. Finished with ~30 min left in each section so I probably should have slowed down. I bombed B/B, I thought it was super hard.

C/P 71%, CARS 77%, B/B 56% fml!!!, P/S 81%.

Not sure what to do with B/B at this point. Did way better on the OG in this section. Oh well! Will review tomorrow or later on today to see wtf I did wrong.


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[cwillman044]

That C/P in the scored FL had so much orgo! FML!

ya that was rough, all my weakest c/p concepts seemed to pop up on that. CARS felt pretty easy I think but who knows.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

The equilibrium
BaCrO4(s)

Ba2+(aq) + CrO42–(aq)

exists in a saturated aqueous solution of BaCrO4. Dissolution of Na2CrO4 in a saturated aqueous BaCrO4 solution would


Am I wrong I though it would not change EQUILBRIUM but in order to adjust to maintain equilibrium the reaction would shift left for a little bit bt ultimately equilibrium would remain unchanged?? Am I missing something because equilibrium only changes with temperature not when you add things ( what my Kaplan book seems to suggest). Guess I am getting tripped up by wording.

 

[Doctor_Strange]

Yes but it was pretty much all first semester orgo, so I could do it! I looked at that passage and was like... Ah jeez, maybe skip this and come back... Then I looked closer and was like aww yiss I got this.

I was losing focus during the CARS but I think overall it wasn't too too bad. Definitely some tough questions but I bet I did well. Lunch break now before tackling Bio...

So glad I'll only have to go through this pain one more time. And when I take the real test I'll be so caffeined up it will be easy to focus.

Hey guys, April tester here. All I can say at this point is don't necessarily bank on the test being light on the stuff you're weak on. There's a chance it might be, in which case you're very lucky, but it could also be heavy on those weak areas. My best advice would be to really focus on those weak areas now while you can and at least get them down to a manageable level so that mentally you feel completely ready for the test. I know it sounds crazy 4 days out, but I remember taking the time on the Monday before my test just going over my weakest areas and it really gave me a good psychological boost, and I think there are other April testers who can attest to this. Don't bank on getting lucky!

For my weak point is physics, but since it is not even that high yield I think Im gonna focus on my second weak point orgo. I agree with you though. But it seems like physics is generally not heavy anymore on the C/P

 

[Doctor_Strange]

Yes but it was pretty much all first semester orgo, so I could do it! I looked at that passage and was like... Ah jeez, maybe skip this and come back... Then I looked closer and was like aww yiss I got this.

I was losing focus during the CARS but I think overall it wasn't too too bad. Definitely some tough questions but I bet I did well. Lunch break now before tackling Bio...

So glad I'll only have to go through this pain one more time. And when I take the real test I'll be so caffeined up it will be easy to focus.

How many cups you planning on drinking? I drink once day in the morning, may plan on bringing a starbucks frappucino for lunch--Im just worried about irritating my stomach too much lol

 

[Mcatbot]

question on the scored
Solution


Mark
The equilibrium
BaCrO4(s)

Ba2+(aq) + CrO42–(aq)

exists in a saturated aqueous solution of BaCrO4. Dissolution of Na2CrO4 in a saturated aqueous BaCrO4 solution would


Am I wrong I though it would not change EQUILBRIUM but in order to adjust to maintain equilibrium the reaction would shift left for a little bit bt ultimately equilibrium would remain unchanged?? Am I missing something because equilibrium only changes with temperature not when you add things ( what my Kaplan book seems to suggest). Guess I am getting tripped up by wording.

There's a difference between equilibrium constant (i.e. Ksp) and equilibrium position. Here it's talking about equilibrium position. Use Le Chatelier you can see that more solid precipitate out of solution.

 

[Doctor_Strange]

question on the scored
Solution


Mark
The equilibrium
BaCrO4(s)

Ba2+(aq) + CrO42–(aq)

exists in a saturated aqueous solution of BaCrO4. Dissolution of Na2CrO4 in a saturated aqueous BaCrO4 solution would


Am I wrong I though it would not change EQUILBRIUM but in order to adjust to maintain equilibrium the reaction would shift left for a little bit bt ultimately equilibrium would remain unchanged?? Am I missing something because equilibrium only changes with temperature not when you add things ( what my Kaplan book seems to suggest). Guess I am getting tripped up by wording.

There's a difference between equilibrium constant (i.e. Ksp) and equilibrium position. Here it's talking about equilibrium position. Use Le Chatelier you can see that more solid precipitate out of solution.

They way I articulate it--which could be wrong--is that the Ksp for that solution has a constant. But when you add a common ion, suddenly the constant has been perturbed and thus your mindset must be "what must happen in order for the changed Ksp to return to its rightful constant position?" and that's where using Le Chat can guide you. The common ion thus weakens or more accurately simply shifts the equilibrium to the left more so now than before..

 

[infinityavenue]

Was it all mechanism-based organic? Or more like bonding, Sn1, Sn2, acidity/basicity stuff? Also, how much organic was in the unscored AAMC FL?

I also don't like organic it's def my weak point, and I haven't been studying it very well. Hoping my test will be light on orgo!

Mostly basic stuff, but you had to know a reaction I think to answer a question correctly.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

There's a difference between equilibrium constant (i.e. Ksp) and equilibrium position. Here it's talking about equilibrium position. Use Le Chatelier you can see that more solid precipitate out of solution.

I mean you're right bc that's what AAMC says. But LeChatliers principle is what way the reaction will react in order to get the system back to equilibrium...

 

[Gurby]

How many cups you planning on drinking? I drink once day in the morning, may plan on bringing a starbucks frappucino for lunch--Im just worried about irritating my stomach too much lol

No cups, my bladder is too wimpy for that... I use caffeine pills! My routine for practice tests has been 100mg before starting and 100mg during lunch break. On Friday I'll probably do 100mg right when I wake up to help diurese and get bowels moving... Another 100 or 200 right before first section. We'll see how I'm feeling after that - I want to be wired but definitely don't want to overdo it either.

 

[sloppypapi]

How many cups you planning on drinking? I drink once day in the morning, may plan on bringing a starbucks frappucino for lunch--Im just worried about irritating my stomach too much lol

lol same. TMI but I'm genuinely worried that I'll suddenly need to take a dump in the middle of B/B if I'm not careful with my coffee during lunch.

 

[Doctor_Strange]

lol same. TMI but I'm genuinely worried that I'll suddenly need to take a dump in the middle of B/B if I'm not careful with my coffee during lunch.

Nah bro, totally feel ya lol

 

[lostnconfused]

Just finished the unscored. Finished with ~30 min left in each section so I probably should have slowed down. I bombed B/B, I thought it was super hard.

C/P 71%, CARS 77%, B/B 56% fml!!!, P/S 81%.

Not sure what to do with B/B at this point. Did way better on the OG in this section. Oh well! Will review tomorrow or later on today to see wtf I did wrong.


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How do you finish with ~30 minutes left in each section??

 

[Gurby]

516 129/130/130/127 on the scored. Great score but I'm a little disheartened, really gunning for that 520! There were a lot of terms I didn't know in the P/S section which is inexcusable really at this point. I also feel like I got lucky on the C/P, and no doubt the real deal will be much harder...

 

[lostnconfused]

On my break for the FL and.... UUUGGGGHH.... my reaction to the FL CARS.

 

[lostnconfused]

516 129/130/130/127 on the scored. Great score but I'm a little disheartened, really gunning for that 520! There were a lot of terms I didn't know in the P/S section which is inexcusable really at this point. I also feel like I got lucky on the C/P, and no doubt the real deal will be much harder...

Dude that's an awesome score! And the C/P oddly was way more similar to the old MCAT style than I had expected.

 

[Wolfpack93]

516 129/130/130/127 on the scored. Great score but I'm a little disheartened, really gunning for that 520! There were a lot of terms I didn't know in the P/S section which is inexcusable really at this point. I also feel like I got lucky on the C/P, and no doubt the real deal will be much harder...

How'd you do on the unscored?

 

[Gurby]

How'd you do on the unscored?

86%/92%/86%/86%

 

[Pinocytosis]

86%/92%/86%/86%

Congratulations on the scores, man! Took the Scored today - 512. I got a 125 in CARS which really hurt. But hey, it didn't "subtract" from average. I think most of this week will be devoted for SB and FL review in addition to several CARS passages a day. I doubt I can improve CARS that much in one week.

question on the scored
Solution


Mark
The equilibrium
BaCrO4(s)

Ba2+(aq) + CrO42–(aq)

exists in a saturated aqueous solution of BaCrO4. Dissolution of Na2CrO4 in a saturated aqueous BaCrO4 solution would


Am I wrong I though it would not change EQUILBRIUM but in order to adjust to maintain equilibrium the reaction would shift left for a little bit bt ultimately equilibrium would remain unchanged?? Am I missing something because equilibrium only changes with temperature not when you add things ( what my Kaplan book seems to suggest). Guess I am getting tripped up by wording.

Just to let you know (in case you want to edit it), if you click the '?' in your post, it brings you to YOUR AAMC Scored FL results (total score, score breakdown, etc.)

 

[infinityavenue]

516 129/130/130/127 on the scored. Great score but I'm a little disheartened, really gunning for that 520! There were a lot of terms I didn't know in the P/S section which is inexcusable really at this point. I also feel like I got lucky on the C/P, and no doubt the real deal will be much harder...

Ahh awesome job! But now I'm slightly concerned my score is a fluke, since you've been doing WAYYY better than me on NS FLs. Also, I think PS is the easiest to raise your score up, so you got this!

 

[cwillman044]

509 on the scored with 127, 128, 128, 126. Honestly super happy with how it turned out. Psych was some tough **** though, lots of terms I've never seen before!

 

[Pinocytosis]

Ahh awesome job! But now I'm slightly concerned my score is a fluke, since you've been doing WAYYY better than me on NS FLs. Also, I think PS is the easiest to raise your score up, so you got this!

May I ask how you've been doing on NS exams? NS1-4 510/508/508/508

509 on the scored with 127, 128, 128, 126. Honestly super happy with how it turned out. Psych was some tough **** though, lots of terms I've never seen before!

Congrats on the score!

 

[infinityavenue]

May I ask how you've been doing on NS exams? NS1-4 510/508/508/508

I did NS FL 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Got 507s and 508s w/ 126s in C/P & 126/127s in B/B.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

Congratulations on the scores, man! Took the Scored today - 512. I got a 125 in CARS which really hurt. But hey, it didn't "subtract" from average. I think most of this week will be devoted for SB and FL review in addition to several CARS passages a day. I doubt I can improve CARS that much in one week.




Just to let you know (in case you want to edit it), if you click the '?' in your post, it brings you to YOUR AAMC Scored FL results (total score, score breakdown, etc.)

lol thanks

 

[JKlay7]

Jeez, I was happy with my 506 but seeing all of you guys crushing the scored has me pretty worried that I'm not where I should be at this point.

 

[Gurby]

Ahh awesome job! But now I'm slightly concerned my score is a fluke, since you've been doing WAYYY better than me on NS FLs. Also, I think PS is the easiest to raise your score up, so you got this!

True, PS is definitely the easiest to improve... Just gotta review and memorize! I still have to finish the SB's and official flashcards so I'll be keeping busy the next few days.

And I'm so annoyed at the feedback people are giving in the April MCAT thread. It sounds like the Unscored and Scored AAMC tests are not representative of the current state of the MCAT. Maybe the practice scores will correlate well with real scores, but Friday is going to be really painful if it turns out that 80% raw score = 130 on the real test, when 90% raw score = 130 on the practice. It will be really important to not get discouraged if we run into a wall of tough questions.

Jeez, I was happy with my 506 but seeing all of you guys crushing the scored has me pretty worried that I'm not where I should be at this point.

What is your target score? If you're aiming for a 520 on the real deal, you might be in trouble. If you're aiming for something more reasonable you might be on track.

 

[Hopeful_vet]

509 on the scored with 127, 128, 128, 126. Honestly super happy with how it turned out. Psych was some tough **** though, lots of terms I've never seen before!

Almost identical to my score. Took it two weeks ago and have been hitting CP and PS pretty hard. Hope to raise each of those a couple and hit that 90%!


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[rraidermd]

Just took my AAMC scored today.....
I scored a 502. Should i just not take it this friday? My CARS plummeted down to 124.
My aamc unscored was 73/81/64/78.
Not sure if I flopped bc I'm that bad or if it's bc I was trying to cram the question packs and section banks last week I was admittedly having a bad headache during my test today (i only got 4-5 hours of sleep each night from wednesday to saturday).
HELP any feedback or advice on what i should do would be helpful

 

[Ricekrispie]

It sounds like the Unscored and Scored AAMC tests are not representative of the current state of the MCAT. Maybe the practice scores will correlate well with real scores, but Friday is going to be really painful if it turns out that 80% raw score = 130 on the real test, when 90% raw score = 130 on the practice. It will be really important to not get discouraged if we run into a wall of tough questions.

Where did you hear that 80% = 130?

 

[JKlay7]

What is your target score? If you're aiming for a 520 on the real deal, you might be in trouble. If you're aiming for something more reasonable you might be on track.

Yea true, I'm aiming for 508 honestly. I think that will be good enough to get in somewhere.

 

[Gurby]

Where did you hear that 80% = 130?

I was just giving an example. If the real MCAT is significantly harder than the practice tests (which it sounds like it is, from April test taker feedback), the raw percentage -> percentile conversion will be different. That means it will feel really different when you're actually taking the test. If you're used to getting 90% of questions right, and all of a sudden you're getting 70% right on the real thing, it's going to feel terrible. But just because it feels bad, doesn't mean you'll get a bad score. This effect is why people have walked out of the test feeling like they did poorly only to end up getting a 40 or something.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

Yea true, I'm aiming for 508 honestly. I think that will be good enough to get in somewhere.

same here-- same score on scored full length hoping for 508