*The Official May 6th, 2016 MCAT Thread*

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DannySCR

DannySCR

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
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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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Arsenalfcfan1 said:
It is your score against others that determines your percentile rank. Missing 20 or so can go both ways if
Eg if 50 percent of the other examinee score 39/59 that means you and those people would fall somewhere around the 50th percentile. Let's say you edge them a bit and score 49/59 And your buddy scores 50/59 assuming both scores are the top two highest scores you and your buddy both fall in the 99th percentile. The scaled score in most test books give you a general of where your score is likely to fall based on the number of correct answers but like I said if the highest score in the exam received is a 50/59 the scale for everyone that took that exam would be dependent on that one score. This is just my guess on how it works
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That makes more sense. I guess I should nto freak out as much right now, I took a Biology diagnostic from Princeton Review and scored 50% and sorta freaked out. This content review is quite the marathon!
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
That makes more sense. I guess I should nto freak out as much right now, I took a Biology diagnostic from Princeton Review and scored 50% and sorta freaked out. This content review is quite the marathon!
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Just work on it and take notes of what you got wrong. I have a separate note book just for missed questions and everyday I look at it just to remind me why I failed that particular question. It's been helpful so I guess you can try that as well and don't be discouraged :)
 
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I've been having such a hard time getting focused....
 
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Hey guys,
I'll be also taking my MCAT on May 6th and I was wondering if it would be too late to submit my application to medical schools. Are you guys going to submit your application either before or after you receive your scores? Thanks!!!!!!
 
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Holy ****. I just randomly used my email for this and i had NO IDEA that I signed up for this site 10 years ago. LMAO. Just read my only other post here when I was a youngling. Oh man so many memories. I guess I am an OG here. Anyways. Good luck everyone. This test is truly taking every single thing I have.
 
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SikhWitIT said:
Holy ****. I just randomly used my email for this and i had NO IDEA that I signed up for this site 10 years ago. LMAO. Just read my only other post here when I was a youngling. Oh man so many memories. I guess I am an OG here. Anyways. Good luck everyone. This test is truly taking every single thing I have.
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Thats crazy lmao
 
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Any of you guys have a good way of really getting focused and getting work done?

I play some video games and I know for a fact that they are distracting me, but i'm unable to stop playing and get my .... together hahaha
 
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DannySCR said:
Any of you guys have a good way of really getting focused and getting work done?

I play some video games and I know for a fact that they are distracting me, but i'm unable to stop playing and get my .... together hahaha
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I haven't played video games since December I miss fallout 4 . Well I study during my three day work shift and the days I am off I head to the library
 
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Scores for the May 6 MCAT are supposed to be released on June 7... Is that the first day to submit AMCAS applications this year? I'm thinking of pushing my date back from April 1, but there are no seats for the April 23 MCAT.
 
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enchantediris said:
Scores for the May 6 MCAT are supposed to be released on June 7... Is that the first day to submit AMCAS applications this year? I'm thinking of pushing my date back from April 1, but there are no seats for the April 23 MCAT.
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They are yet to release the information. But it's usually either the first week or second week of June either way we should be fine
 
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DannySCR said:
Any of you guys have a good way of really getting focused and getting work done?

I play some video games and I know for a fact that they are distracting me, but i'm unable to stop playing and get my .... together hahaha
Click to expand...
I've been studying on campus for about 3 hours every day. If I'm at home I just end up playing on my phone or computer. It helps to feel like I went somewhere for a purpose. I've got to figure out how to get more hours in though. I've only been covering 1-2 chapters each time and there are so many :(
 
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Has everyone finished content review ? I have a week left and I feel like im already behind. From everything ive read, practice is the key. I want to take my diagnostic already and get started on practice but this content is like a mount Everest of information. Just seems never ending.
 
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SikhWitIT said:
Has everyone finished content review ? I have a week left and I feel like im already behind. From everything ive read, practice is the key. I want to take my diagnostic already and get started on practice but this content is like a mount Everest of information. Just seems never ending.
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Nope I don't finish content review until the end of this month I am taking detailed notes and watching videos at the same time as well
 
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Hey everyone! I'm on the May 6th train, too, and the content review is kicking my butt. Currently, I'm taking one biochemistry class and studying through Kaplan's online course. Feel like I'm already falling really behind though. Is anyone else here using Kaplan's course and/or books?
 
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Ooh, who do I contact about this study group? I think I might need it more as support and motivation than anything else.

This will be my second time taking the MCAT. I foolishly took it back in 2014 when I was unprepared because I didn't want to take the new 2015 version.... and welp, look at me now. I'm about 75% through content review, but I started months ago and have been taking it slow, since I also work full-time. As glad as I am to not cram like I did last time, I think giving myself so much time has made me too lax in my schedule. I've gone many days without even looking through my books or flashcards because in my mind I'm thinking I have sooo many months to do it. So yeah, I've got to cut that out and take advantage of next few months before the test. I'm hoping to be done with content review before the end of February so I can focus a lot more on practice passages and full-length.

I'm using EK primarily and supplementing with Kaplan and Princeton.
 
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sloppypapi said:
Ooh, who do I contact about this study group? I think I might need it more as support and motivation than anything else.

This will be my second time taking the MCAT. I foolishly took it back in 2014 when I was unprepared because I didn't want to take the new 2015 version.... and welp, look at me now. I'm about 75% through content review, but I started months ago and have been taking it slow, since I also work full-time. As glad as I am to not cram like I did last time, I think giving myself so much time has made me too lax in my schedule. I've gone many days without even looking through my books or flashcards because in my mind I'm thinking I have sooo many months to do it. So yeah, I've got to cut that out and take advantage of next few months before the test. I'm hoping to be done with content review before the end of February so I can focus a lot more on practice passages and full-length.

I'm using EK primarily and supplementing with Kaplan and Princeton.
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I'm not too sure we've actually made one yet!
 
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BeMD13 said:
I've been studying on campus for about 3 hours every day. If I'm at home I just end up playing on my phone or computer. It helps to feel like I went somewhere for a purpose. I've got to figure out how to get more hours in though. I've only been covering 1-2 chapters each time and there are so many :(
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Yea, I need to put myself in a position where I can successfully focus. I'm struggling really hard with that
 
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I think the hardest part of this whole ordeal is asking yourself "did I do enough for the day". Most of the time the answer is no even though you might have done a lot. Just need to be consistent. Im almost done with content review guys and I can see the light towards the tunnel of countless practice passages and exams. This is going to be fun.
 
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I'm taking a biochemistry course online through UNE right now, and have only 3 weeks left for it. Of course I procrastinated, so have a LOT of material to finish in the next few weeks. But it's really taking away from the MCAT material I'm supposed to have covered this month. *sigh* Thankfully, all of this biochem is on the MCAT though. Silver lining, perhaps?
 
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Hey gang, I have a couple of thoughts and questions. Your insights are appreciated!

I just took a Princeton review full length exam. Scored a 499. I started studying beginning of January about 3 to 4 hrs 5 or 6 days a week. I'm gonna pick up steam starting this week.

My question is I am going to review my exam tomorrow. I don't know if I should literally write down the answers to what I missed and like make flashcards for those or just simply identify the concept of the question I missed and then go to that chapter in my Princeton review books and take some notes. What have you guys been doing? I'm aiming for DO school only and think I need around a 503 to feel like I have a shot (cg 3.4, sg 3.3).

On another note has anyone been using anki. I have and I am not 100% persuaded that it is the most ideal way to go about studying...
 
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SikhWitIT said:
I think the hardest part of this whole ordeal is asking yourself "did I do enough for the day". Most of the time the answer is no even though you might have done a lot. Just need to be consistent. Im almost done with content review guys and I can see the light towards the tunnel of countless practice passages and exams. This is going to be fun.
Click to expand...

I feel you. I get in about 4 or 5 hrs a day and always at might I'm like I could have done more!
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
Hey gang, I have a couple of thoughts and questions. Your insights are appreciated!

I just took a Princeton review full length exam. Scored a 499. I started studying beginning of January about 3 to 4 hrs 5 or 6 days a week. I'm gonna pick up steam starting this week.

My question is I am going to review my exam tomorrow. I don't know if I should literally write down the answers to what I missed and like make flashcards for those or just simply identify the concept of the question I missed and then go to that chapter in my Princeton review books and take some notes. What have you guys been doing? I'm aiming for DO school only and think I need around a 503 to feel like I have a shot (cg 3.4, sg 3.3).

On another note has anyone been using anki. I have and I am not 100% persuaded that it is the most ideal way to go about studying...
Click to expand...
The bold part is how I planned to do it. How long do you plan to review each FL? I was thinking maybe a week, but maybe that's too much.
 
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Spitphire said:
The bold part is how I planned to do it. How long do you plan to review each FL? I was thinking maybe a week, but maybe that's too much.
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Holy crap lol. I was thinking a day or two at the most (meaning 7 or 8 hrs worth). I'm in an online Princeton review course So I have reading due daily. But my initial reaction is that 1 week is a lot. However I did my full length without completing my content review. Princeton does both simultaneously. But no I dont know what is the most ideal approach. I will do what you bolded. It makes more sense.
 
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Spitphire said:
The bold part is how I planned to do it. How long do you plan to review each FL? I was thinking maybe a week, but maybe that's too much.
Click to expand...

I will also say for what it's worth, the instructor said take your first practice exam within the early portion of your studying. You should not be as concerned about your score since the purpose is to get a feeling of how the test is and the endurance needed. I approached the day like test day. Woke up at 630am. Had breakfast and coffee, packed a lunch, went to my uni and took the exam. Wore earplugs and tried to mirror test conditions. I'll say that it is not bad at all. Those 6.5 hrs fly by really!
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
Hey gang, I have a couple of thoughts and questions. Your insights are appreciated!

I just took a Princeton review full length exam. Scored a 499. I started studying beginning of January about 3 to 4 hrs 5 or 6 days a week. I'm gonna pick up steam starting this week.

My question is I am going to review my exam tomorrow. I don't know if I should literally write down the answers to what I missed and like make flashcards for those or just simply identify the concept of the question I missed and then go to that chapter in my Princeton review books and take some notes. What have you guys been doing? I'm aiming for DO school only and think I need around a 503 to feel like I have a shot (cg 3.4, sg 3.3).

On another note has anyone been using anki. I have and I am not 100% persuaded that it is the most ideal way to go about studying...
Click to expand...
Honestly, I didnt do any diagnostic before start studying. I get it how people mention thats its a sorta of a base line but I feel like there is no point of it since you didnt finish content review. I would wrote down the questions I missed, and the explaination. Look up the concept more in depth (watch vid, etc..) I have so many anki cards, the only problem is the app is $24 and you have to keep reviewing on your laptop and its time consuming. I feel like you should aim higher in MCAT even for DO schools.
 
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Malek Ayoub said:
Honestly, I didnt do any diagnostic before start studying. I get it how people mention thats its a sorta of a base line but I feel like there is no point of it since you didnt finish content review. I would wrote down the questions I missed, and the explaination. Look up the concept more in depth (watch vid, etc..) I have so many anki cards, the only problem is the app is $24 and you have to keep reviewing on your laptop and its time consuming. I feel like you should aim higher in MCAT even for DO schools.
Click to expand...

Taking a baseline diagnostic was helpful for me if only to see that my studying was actually impacting my practice test scores! I was feeling discouraged at my pace of content review before taking my most recent practice test, and I was very excited to see that I had improved 3 points in biology (which I'm finally almost done with). Otherwise, I think it's easy to despair over how much information there really is to learn.
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
Holy crap lol. I was thinking a day or two at the most (meaning 7 or 8 hrs worth). I'm in an online Princeton review course So I have reading due daily. But my initial reaction is that 1 week is a lot. However I did my full length without completing my content review. Princeton does both simultaneously. But no I dont know what is the most ideal approach. I will do what you bolded. It makes more sense.
Click to expand...
Yea maybe i'm overestimating how long it will take me to go over questions. How many FL's do you plan to do? Right now I only have 6 and i'm not sure if that will be enough. (3 kap, 1 NS, aamc sample exam, and aamc FL1)
 
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Spitphire said:
Yea maybe i'm overestimating how long it will take me to go over questions. How many FL's do you plan to do? Right now I only have 6 and i'm not sure if that will be enough. (3 kap, 1 NS, aamc sample exam, and aamc FL1)
Click to expand...

I don't know really. I think I'm aiming for 6 or 7. I have more than enough for sure. I didn't actually get to review it today but I will either tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm gonna do WHT the above poster recommend and write down the answers to my missed questions but map them to bigger concepts. I think it should take 5 hrs at most. I'll update to let ya know!
 
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enchantediris said:
Taking a baseline diagnostic was helpful for me if only to see that my studying was actually impacting my practice test scores! I was feeling discouraged at my pace of content review before taking my most recent practice test, and I was very excited to see that I had improved 3 points in biology (which I'm finally almost done with). Otherwise, I think it's easy to despair over how much information there really is to learn.
Click to expand...

I think my content review for bio is just enabling me to remember a lot of stuff peripherallly but when it came down to the practice exam I thought a lot of the questions were analytical in nature. There for sure around 15 questions that were freestanding or a freestanding disguised as a passage.

How do u generally approach the bio passages? Do u read it throughly before attacking the questions. I previewed the questions first. If I saw a lot of passage heavy qs then I'd read it more carefully otherwise I wouldn't...
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
I think my content review for bio is just enabling me to remember a lot of stuff peripherallly but when it came down to the practice exam I thought a lot of the questions were analytical in nature. There for sure around 15 questions that were freestanding or a freestanding disguised as a passage.

How do u generally approach the bio passages? Do u read it throughly before attacking the questions. I previewed the questions first. If I saw a lot of passage heavy qs then I'd read it more carefully otherwise I wouldn't...
Click to expand...

I read all of the passages before I look at the questions. I know that some people read questions first, or don't really read the passage at all, but that makes me nervous haha
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
Hey gang, I have a couple of thoughts and questions. Your insights are appreciated!

I just took a Princeton review full length exam. Scored a 499. I started studying beginning of January about 3 to 4 hrs 5 or 6 days a week. I'm gonna pick up steam starting this week.

My question is I am going to review my exam tomorrow. I don't know if I should literally write down the answers to what I missed and like make flashcards for those or just simply identify the concept of the question I missed and then go to that chapter in my Princeton review books and take some notes. What have you guys been doing? I'm aiming for DO school only and think I need around a 503 to feel like I have a shot (cg 3.4, sg 3.3).

On another note has anyone been using anki. I have and I am not 100% persuaded that it is the most ideal way to go about studying...
Click to expand...

I can only elaborate on the use of Anki and would highly recommend it if flash have worked for you in the past!
 
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Coltuna said:
I can only elaborate on the use of Anki and would highly recommend it if flash have worked for you in the past!
Click to expand...

Truth be told, I always thought that the effort of making flash cards, even via Anki, was time being wasted instead of simply studying the material. But many people swear by Anki, so I am giving it a try until mid March, and if I have not seen a jump from 499 then I may drop it. it has helped with psych i can say so far.
 
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I would recommended the Barron MCAT flash card it is very well detailed sometimes I feel like I'm reading the text book all over again.
 
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Hey everyone! Another May 6th MCAT taker here. I'm looking for a study buddy (or 2) just to help keep each other on track and to push each other through this journey.

I'm a bit late to the party and just started serious content review this week. :bag: I'm using a modified/personalize version of @Next Step Tutor 's "Breaking Down the MCAT" study schedule.

Please PM me if you're interested. I'm desperate!!! :cat:
 
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Oh by the way guys if you are looking for a great CARS book, i suggest getting the testing solutions 30 day guide. I am currently on day 11 and so far i think this is the best CARS guide out there.
 
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I've been having trouble trying to buy online AAMC material, like the FL and question packs. My credit card keeps getting declined, even though I know for sure I have enough money and the right info. This also happened back when I tried to register for the MCAT, and for that I had to use one of my parent's credit cards. Should I call my bank about it?

EDIT: Nvm, it's resolved.
 
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Meowgical said:
Hey everyone! Another May 6th MCAT taker here. I'm looking for a study buddy (or 2) just to help keep each other on track and to push each other through this journey.

I'm a bit late to the party and just started serious content review this week. :bag: I'm using a modified/personalize version of @Next Step Tutor 's "Breaking Down the MCAT" study schedule.

Please PM me if you're interested. I'm desperate!!! :cat:.
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omg are you me? lol I'm super down to help eachother out! how you wanna do this?
 
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Are you both still looking for a 3rd? I'd love to be part of a study group!
DannySCR said:
omg are you me? lol I'm super down to help eachother out! how you wanna do this?.
Click to expand...


Meowgical said:
Hey everyone! Another May 6th MCAT taker here. I'm looking for a study buddy (or 2) just to help keep each other on track and to push each other through this journey.

I'm a bit late to the party and just started serious content review this week. :bag: I'm using a modified/personalize version of @Next Step Tutor 's "Breaking Down the MCAT" study schedule.

Please PM me if you're interested. I'm desperate!!! :cat:.
Click to expand...
 
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