*The Official May 6th, 2016 MCAT Thread*

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
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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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I feel like there's so much I don't know, but I think I'm going to call it here and spend a couple hours relaxing before turning in early. Best of luck to you all!


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somedudehere said:
ORM with a <3.5 uGPA.

Only things that will give me a shot are my SMP gpa (3.9) and hopefully 508+ which would be equivalent to a 30.

edit: also I got a 124 in cars which is equivalent to a 7. I was averaging closer to 126/127 though but I just got destroyed on some of those passages on test day. Hoping the same doesn't happen this time
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Shooting for MD?
 
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Actually slept really well last night. Caffeined up, ready to slay this beast! Good luck to us!
 
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Done! Thought cars was harder than the scored practice. C/P I was pleasantly surprised, but I studied that a lot since taking the scored practice. B/B as expected. P/S has always been and will continue to be my lowest.


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I AM SO GLAD TO BE DONE! I want to start off by saying there were multiple versions of the MCAT given out today so my experience will be different from others who took it today. I arrived at my testing center at 6:30ish, I was told to be there at 7 but of course I was early. After check-in and everything, I was able to start my exam at 7:30ish. I was prepared for the worst based off everyone's thoughts after the 4/23 test, so I was expecting passages like the SB. My exam was nothing like the SB at all. My exam reminded me more of the old MCAT rather than the new practice material.

C/P: definitely felt like old MCAT material with a sprinkling of AAs throughout. A lot of calculations specific to both physics and gen chem that I was not prepared for and it threw me off. I felt like I had to guess on quite a few questions, some stuff showed up that I didn't review enough. So I probably f'ed up this section since it was nothing like what I was expecting. I finished with ~20 minutes left and took my break with 6 minutes left over after reviewing marked questions bc I just didn't want to look at it anymore. This is always my worst section so it will likely be my lowest score.

CARS: Not bad. I only had one difficult passage that was towards the end luckily. I finished with ~30 minutes left so I was able to go back to this specific passage and read it about 5 more times through. Still didn't really understand wtf they were trying to say but oh well. I didn't have a lot of abstract passages which was nice. Hard to say how I did here.

B/B: DEFINITELY felt like old MCAT to me. It wasn't too bad from what I remember. Finished with about ~25 minutes left so I was able to review questions I marked. Had to make a few guesses but overall it felt ok. Nowhere near the difficulty of the SB. I am kind of blanking on this section but I know I felt decent about it. I don't remember any convoluted passages or experiments.

P/S: Harder than the unscored FL, easier than the SB. Probably on the same difficulty as the scored FL. I finished with 40 minutes left so I was able to go through everything twice. There were a few terms I never came across in Kaplan or KA, so I used common sense and my best judgement to choose an answer. I only remember one pretty difficult passage, but it was definitely doable.

Overall, I feel ok about it. I wish I didn't spend so much time memorizing pathways and enzymes and cofactors, but every test is different and I could have easily seen a lot of that stuff today. Bummed about C/P with all the calculations and specific questions/topics it addressed, but I'm just glad to be done. I hope everyone did well and gets the score they want! Everyone deserves a drink tonight. Congrats to everyone being done!
 
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Congrats on being finished! Pretty bizarre that the B/BC section felt like the old mcat, hoping to report the same good news come may 14th.
 
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RockMcat520 said:
@cjcarter Glad to hear that. Was there a lot of biochem in the B/BC section?
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It was all mixed together so it's hard to say. I think the way things were presented reflected the old MCAT more though.

EDIT: I think the B/B section reflected the Biology Q packs since they were passages from the old MCAT practice tests.
 
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lolol just got out. C/P was so much more easy than expected for me. I think it hit all my strengths more than my weaknesses (ie. physics, particularly voltages and electricity). CARS wasn't too bad. Honestly, it felt just like every other practice exam. B/B, I started off with a tough section but then as I progressed it got easier. P/S was kind of expected--definitely some terms I didn't know, but I think they tried to tell you which ones aren't the right answers. I think a good word of advice is that you should truly remember all of your amino acids inside and out. That will help you get those extra questions that will push you to getting the top scores. Although I can't tell you how well I did on it yet, I think it's safe to say that all the practice exams from prep companies are harder than the real deal, so don't stress too much if you don't do well on the practice exams!

I think one of the most important things to do to prepare for this exam is making sure you feel good throughout the whole test. During B/B, I got a small hit of sleepiness (which I think came from that sort of post lunch slump), so I think it contributed to me feeling a bit off when I was taking that section.
 
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Holy s**t. I'm so glad to be done with that. My CARS was insanely difficult, and that's been my best section. C/P was as expected; it's my worst section but it was definitely fair. I felt like my B/B was pretty tough as well; several passages that reminded me of the SB. I thought P/S was the easiest, which was welcome because I didn't sleep too well and my mind was definitely wandering by the last section. Can't tell if I broke 500 or got 510+, but I feel like it was fair overall.


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C/P: Felt hard, calculation heavy, physics heavy. (Finished with ~6 mins left)
CARS: Doable, surprisingly. (Finished with ~4 mins left)
B/B: Easiest of the 4 sections. (Finished with ~15 mins left)
P/S: So many terms I never heard of... hard. (Finished with ~2 mins left)

I honestly felt it was harder than any of the prep company exams or AAMC material... Might just be anxiety lol.
 
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Overall I was surprised by the amount of reading. I had CARS passages that would be like 6 full paragraphs+. Out of the 10+ FLs I took, none ever had more than 4-5 paragraphs.

Even C/P had a ridiculous amount of reading. I honestly felt like there was more Biochem in C/P then the B/B itself... which surprised me. B/B seemed almost entirely of Intro level Bio information.

Does anyone know if each section is given individually to students or are they given as whole exams? I.e. would people have the same sections but the not the exact same exam?

Additionally, although our proctors were pretty chill, it was disappointing that a malfunction prior to the exam occurred where nearly everybody didn't start till after 8am... which really sucks when they tell you to get there an hour ahead of time. I didn't start till 8:45AM, when I got there at 7:05AM. That screws with so much planning.
 
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RSBNKCBY said:
Overall I was surprised by the amount of reading. I had CARS passages that would be like 6 full paragraphs+. Out of the 10+ FLs I took, none ever had more than 4-5 paragraphs.

Even C/P had a ridiculous amount of reading. I honestly felt like there was more Biochem in C/P then the B/B itself... which surprised me. B/B seemed almost entirely of Intro level Bio information.

Does anyone know if each section is given individually to students or are they given as whole exams? I.e. would people have the same sections but the not the exact same exam?

Additionally, although our proctors were pretty chill, it was disappointing that a malfunction prior to the exam occurred where nearly everybody didn't start till after 8am... which really sucks when they tell you to get there an hour ahead of time. I didn't start till 8:45AM, when I got there at 7:05AM. That screws with so much planning.
Click to expand...

I think I had your version. I definitely did not have the crazy C/P section like other people. B/BC was hard for me. I had a very biology-based test overall, with a handful of physics and ochem, just as outlined in the guideline. I thought P/S wasn't even that crazy in terms, but I'm a bit mad because they asked the same question twice in two different passages using the same term I never studied.
 
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popopopop said:
I think I had your version. I definitely did not have the crazy C/P section like other people. B/BC was hard for me. I had a very biology-based test overall, with a handful of physics and ochem, just as outlined in the guideline. I thought P/S wasn't even that crazy in terms, but I'm a bit mad because they asked the same question twice in two different passages using the same term I never studied.
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I don't even know if I finished verbal it's a blur
 
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It won't be long until you all are posting your amazing results. Hard work pays off for the MCAT.
 
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Just remember how terrible everyone felt on the April forum and they all ended up doing way better than they thought. I'm so jealous you guys get to be done, two more weeks for me.
 
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Hi fam. I'm so tired. This exam was really challenging, but what was worse was being sleep deprived. I could not go to sleep until 1:30 AM and woke up at 6 AM. I am mentally exhausted. Anyways, here's my thoughts:

C/P - Hard. So hard. I'm really concerned you guys all thought it was easy/fair. I might have really messed this section up. I had 11 minutes to do 2 passages at the end. Thank the lord they were easy. There were so many calculations and unit conversions. A lot of specific details. Not at all like the Scored or Sample.

CARS - Harder than FL. A lot of literature/humanities passages here with a few questions where there really seemed like 2 good answers were there. Being sleep deprived did not help one bit. Finished with 20 minutes to spare.

B/B - Surprisingly okay. Some passages were challenging, others fairly easy. One seemed more like it belonged in P/S. 30 minutes to spare. There were one or two discretes I was unsure of.

P/S - Dang. What was this? I did well on the Scored & Sample, but thought this was challenging. One passage at the end was really difficult and I could not wrap my head around the answer choices. There were some theories/psych stuff I had never heard of.
 
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cjcarter said:
Yeah right you probably killed it like you have with all the practice exams!
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I hope so! Kind of hard to tell... I feel like I performed about the same as I did on the practice exams. Given that people seem to be scoring a bit higher on the real deal compared to their scored, I wouldn't be shocked if I pulled a 516-520. More realistically I put myself in the 513-517ish range.
 
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infinityavenue said:
Hi fam. I'm so tired. This exam was really challenging, but what was worse was being sleep deprived. I could not go to sleep until 1:30 AM and woke up at 6 AM. I am mentally exhausted. Anyways, here's my thoughts:

C/P - Hard. So hard. I'm really concerned you guys all thought it was easy/fair. I might have really messed this section up. I had 11 minutes to do 2 passages at the end. Thank the lord they were easy. There were so many calculations and unit conversions. A lot of specific details. Not at all like the Scored or Sample.

CARS - Harder than FL. A lot of literature/humanities passages here with a few questions where there really seemed like 2 good answers were there. Being sleep deprived did not help one bit. Finished with 20 minutes to spare.

B/B - Surprisingly okay. Some passages were challenging, others fairly easy. One seemed more like it belonged in P/S. 30 minutes to spare. There were one or two discretes I was unsure of.

P/S - Dang. What was this? I did well on the Scored & Sample, but thought this was challenging. One passage at the end was really difficult and I could not wrap my head around the answer choices. There were some theories/psych stuff I had never heard of.
Click to expand...

I doubt you had the same C/P.. I feel like I didn't do many calculations, but I think I've already blocked that section out, being the first section and all.

I agree with CARS though. The passages were much longer than any AAMC material.

The P/S is always a crap shoot for me.


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Wolfpack93 said:
Just remember how terrible everyone felt on the April forum and they all ended up doing way better than they thought. I'm so jealous you guys get to be done, two more weeks for me.
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Same I'm so done with studying, just want to take the test already.
 
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infinityavenue said:
Hi fam. I'm so tired. This exam was really challenging, but what was worse was being sleep deprived. I could not go to sleep until 1:30 AM and woke up at 6 AM. I am mentally exhausted. Anyways, here's my thoughts:

C/P - Hard. So hard. I'm really concerned you guys all thought it was easy/fair. I might have really messed this section up. I had 11 minutes to do 2 passages at the end. Thank the lord they were easy. There were so many calculations and unit conversions. A lot of specific details. Not at all like the Scored or Sample.

CARS - Harder than FL. A lot of literature/humanities passages here with a few questions where there really seemed like 2 good answers were there. Being sleep deprived did not help one bit. Finished with 20 minutes to spare.

B/B - Surprisingly okay. Some passages were challenging, others fairly easy. One seemed more like it belonged in P/S. 30 minutes to spare. There were one or two discretes I was unsure of.

P/S - Dang. What was this? I did well on the Scored & Sample, but thought this was challenging. One passage at the end was really difficult and I could not wrap my head around the answer choices. There were some theories/psych stuff I had never heard of.
Click to expand...
Sounds like we had the same C/P. I had lots of calculations and conversions. Ugh!


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definitely thought the P/S was brutal. Came here to see if other people thought that too
 
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somedudehere said:
ORM with a <3.5 uGPA.

Only things that will give me a shot are my SMP gpa (3.9) and hopefully 508+ which would be equivalent to a 30.

edit: also I got a 124 in cars which is equivalent to a 7. I was averaging closer to 126/127 though but I just got destroyed on some of those passages on test day. Hoping the same doesn't happen this time
Click to expand...
According to current percentile ranks on AAMC, a 123 in CARS = 37 percentile and for the old MCAT a 7 was 37 percentile. A new 124 = 49 percentile which is closer to the old 8 in VR.
 
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So I am of average intelligence but consider myself a hard worker. Since January I have put in more than 300 hours of prep plus the TPR online course. My thoughts are brief since I am pretty tired:

C/P: some questions were extraordinary easy others were quite difficult. I messed up on this section. More physics than I wanted. Probably a 123.....

CARS: On two separate occasions I thought to myself that wow this section is way too easy. Some art stuff. But most of it was very very very straightforward. Since I did so bad on the previous section perhaps my perspective or response is slightly biased.
Probably a 128......

B/B: easier than chem physics. Some hard stuff via confusing paragraphs. Never felt an immense feeling of wtf did I just read. A lot of it for me was between two choices. A lot. Very little amino acids to my disappointment.
Probably a 124.......

P/S: overall this was the easiest. More discrete questions that I thought were wtf. Guessed on more than I thought I would need to. Not as good a performance as my practice ones I would suspect. Finished with 5 minutes remaining. Very confusing questions though. More on understanding and comprehension than any content review.
Probably a 126.....

Overall: I would I think estimate a 502 which to be fair would not be unexpected but my scored was a 504 and my unscored was around a 507. None of my TPRs were above a 500 though.

I am applying DO and I objectively believe I could get some interviews at low tier to maybe mid tier schools. Would love to stay in FL though. Will have to seriously consider a retake. The worst feeling is that I could and should she done much much better, but there really is no point at this stage to wallow in angst or whatever. Gonna do my anki deck for one hour each day until June. Maybe review some bio concepts too.

I am not really depressed or anything just exhausted. Wish it went better though.
 
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RockMcat520 said:
from everyone's reaction so far, it seems like there are more than 2 versions of the exam. :D
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For sure. When I was walking to my seat after finishing B/B, I saw a girl on B/B that looked nothing like mine. It was super peripheral vision though.
 
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Finally... after a disastrous 4/23 exam I adjusted my mindset and this turned out much better.

C/P: Easy discretes. In terms of passages, fairly easy to start, got tougher during the middle and easy towards the end. Most are like SB passages (but longer) that just took forever to read and figures that take up whole screen, but I remember 1/2 passages that are just straight out of old MCAT at the start and at the end. It also seems like AAMC is trying to make the passages longer but many of the questions require just one key fact to be answered. Overall not bad, couple questions that I wasn't sure about towards the middle since I spent too much time at the start. More difficult than both scored and unscored.

CARS: Interesting passages, but LONG. I used to think that it was just the font but definitely the passages are getting longer. Otherwise the questions are pretty standard although I can never tell how I did after CARS. Overall fair, on par with scored FL

B/B: This was too easy after having experienced 4/23 B/B. Two tough passages at the start and rest were a breeze. On par with scored FL, (maybe) a little more difficult than unscored.

P/S: This was abit difficult, but I got really sleepy and my pacing was off, so that might be why. Easy to start, got more difficult as it went on. Passages were again LONG. One topic was extensively tested in 2 passages (why??). Some therapies that I have never heard of and would not have studied even if I take another year, but I guess that's just the nature of this section. Probably my worst section...

Overall: Fair. I think 514+ is safe, hoping for 520+
 
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I ran out of time, got stuck on some hard passage on the Science section, I would be extremely happy with a 128, though I have no reason to believe I would get it. I never understood Cars, Never had above a 126 for it, don't even know why. Rocked the Bio, I hope it carries my score. The psych. was the hardest I've ever had, didn't run out of time, can only hope I was thorough enough. If I get a 510 I'm set.
 
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I could not be happier/relieved that it's over and I don't have to critically think for the next few weeks.

My overall experience:
C/P: I always mark questions I want to go back to and think about more. I didn't have very many calculations to do but as I usually do, I ran out of time to go back and think about other questions more deeply. I finished this section feeling defeated and totally panicked that I was failing. Looking back on it and thinking about the questions deeper, I don't think it was as bad as I thought at the moment. I hope my score reflects that... But there was almost no physics whatsoever and it was concept heavy. Like I said minimal calculations. This is the section I fear the most to see how I did on June 7. Gives me the most anxiety that I totally bombed this.

CARS: WTF, each of my passages were so lengthy. Paragraphs on paragraphs. I struggled on a few questions on the more heavy content passages. Didn't linger on them with the hopes of going back and reading the passages more in detail to answer them and think about them more deeply, but again... ran out of time to do so to feel confident in every single one of my answers.

B/B: Overall pretty good. Not very much amino acids on it. Some passages were similar to the section bank in that they went through how different factors influenced the cell but it was manageable. I finished this section with about 7 minutes left to go back and focus on other questions I struggled with.

P/S: I always fly through this section. I confidently answered questions I knew and then marked ones I was hesitant on and wanted to think about more. I finished with about 20 minutes left and was able to go back and think about ones that there was unfamiliar terminology on (which was about 15-20 questions actually). I used Khan Academy and The Princeton Review primarily for my content review for this section. There were definitely terms on this section I had never even come across. I was able to use deductive reasoning to answer the questions though. There are a few I'm not sure about still but we will have to just wait and see.
 
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Mcatbot said:
Finally... after a disastrous 4/23 exam I adjusted my mindset and this turned out much better.

C/P: Easy discretes. In terms of passages, fairly easy to start, got tougher during the middle and easy towards the end. Most are like SB passages (but longer) that just took forever to read and figures that take up whole screen, but I remember 1/2 passages that are just straight out of old MCAT at the start and at the end. It also seems like AAMC is trying to make the passages longer but many of the questions require just one key fact to be answered. Overall not bad, couple questions that I wasn't sure about towards the middle since I spent too much time at the start. More difficult than both scored and unscored.

CARS: Interesting passages, but LONG. I used to think that it was just the font but definitely the passages are getting longer. Otherwise the questions are pretty standard although I can never tell how I did after CARS. Overall fair, on par with scored FL

B/B: This was too easy after having experienced 4/23 B/B. Two tough passages at the start and rest were a breeze. On par with scored FL, (maybe) a little more difficult than unscored.

P/S: This was abit difficult, but I got really sleepy and my pacing was off, so that might be why. Easy to start, got more difficult as it went on. Passages were again LONG. One topic was extensively tested in 2 passages (why??). Some therapies that I have never heard of and would not have studied even if I take another year, but I guess that's just the nature of this section. Probably my worst section...

Overall: Fair. I think 514+ is safe, hoping for 520+
Click to expand...

100% Had the same exam as you in terms of your descriptions of content related to my notes, crazy. I felt the P/S sections were remarkably easier in some passages and then far more difficult.
 
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For those of you who thought CARS was long, how much longer did it take you to read through the passages vs. score/unscored FL?
 
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