The Official May 8, 2014 MCAT thread

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southpawcannon

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Yep, that just happened. And no, I'm not studying tonight. Are you cray cray? Just watching college football and opening my box from Berkeley Review that finally arrived. Prep commences tomorrow!

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I think the book's explanation kind of clicked with me. Acceleration will always be 'g' on 'm' so the acceleration must also be 'g' on 'M'. Therefore the tension in the wire connected to 'M' will be F=M*a=M*g. Apparently the string is considered to be continuous from M to m. Since the tension closest to M will never exceed M*g=0.1*10=1 N, this is the maximum tension.

My confusion is how does 'm' come into play. It seems that no matter how high or low the mass 'm', tension will always be constant and equal to Mg.

Now consider m=0.001 Kg. If M=0.1 Kg and tension is equal to 1 N, 'm' is supposed to magically fly upwards cause the tension is greater than its weight producing a net force upwards.

Someone tell me where in this story I made a mistake!?
 
I think where you're getting confused is thinking that the tension is always constant. The question is asking about the MAX tension where the acceleration of mass M is a max of g or 10. (10*.1)= 1 N (because T= ma) but that's the maximum tension and acceleration. If mass m is smaller, there will be a different tension and thus different acceleration for mass M. If the hanging mass is way way way smaller than the mass on the table the acceleration will essentially be zero even on a frictionless table. (a=m2/(m1+m2)) with m1 >>> m2). Someone correct me if I'm wrong but that's how I understand it.
 
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If the mass M is constant and acceleration is always 'g' (at least to my understanding), how could tension which equals F, where F=Mg, ever be less than the Maximum tension (i.e. 1 N)??
 
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If the mass M is constant and acceleration is always 'g' (at least to my understanding), how could tension which equals F, where F=Mg, ever be less than the Maximum tension (i.e. 1 N)??

Tension is not equal to Mg it's equal to Ma. Tension is equal to Mg when the acceleration is at its maximum or 10. The free body diagram for the system shows that for the mass on the table it's F=T=m1*a and for the block that's hanging off it's m2*g - T = m2*a. For the mass on the table the force downward Mg is balanced out by the normal force because it's on the table and so they cancel out. 'g' is only present in the free body diagram for the hanging mass.
 
Tension is not equal to Mg it's equal to Ma. Tension is equal to Mg when the acceleration is at its maximum or 10. The free body diagram for the system shows that for the mass on the table it's F=T=m1*a and for the block that's hanging off it's m2*g - T = m2*a.
Thanks so much for the reply doc. I was thinking that if the hanging mass was less than the mass on the table then there won't be any movement or acceleration. Mathematically, no matter how small the hanging mass is, the table mass will accelerate. However, the acceleration can be so small that it may be considered negligible.

One question though, can the tension ever be exactly equal to hanging mass * acceleration? Cause if T=m2*g that means that the hanging mass doesn't accelerate but the table mass does (even if by a tiny amount) because it has a single horizontal force acting, namely tension, and that will cause an acceleration. So is it right that the tension can never equal m2*g in this case?
 
I'm not 100% sure about that but I don't think it can because since it's a frictionless table then there must be some type of acceleration for both the hanging mass and the mass on the table no matter how small as there is no friction force to prevent the motion of the mass on the table. Also because the two blocks are attached by the same string which has the same tension throughout it, the acceleration of both masses will be equal. Again not sure about this and if it's wrong someone please step in and correct me!
 
Just finished up with AAMC 8 and got a score of 34 (11/12/11) same score and split at AAMC 7 although 8 felt like it was much harder. Maybe that was just because I started at like 430 while I started 7 at 1.
 
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Just finished up with AAMC 8 and got a score of 34 (11/12/11) same score and split at AAMC 7 although 8 felt like it was much harder. Maybe that was just because I started at like 430 while I started 7 at 1.

Good progress! I got a 32 on AAMC 8 (10/13/9). A lot of dumb mistakes in BS. When are you taking 9?
 
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Lol 12 and 13 on VR? What are you guys? Haha lots of respect for you guys.

Any tips for AAMC Vr?
 
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Lol 12 and 13 on VR? What are you guys? Haha lots of respect for you guys.

Any tips for AAMC Vr?

I've always been strong in English, so that might be it to some extent. This is gonna sound crazy, but I actually find a lot of the passages really interesting which helps me pay attention. Even the ones I don't, I approach with an excited "wow, this is the coolest thing I've ever read" mentality. It's hard at first but it makes the process less annoying and it kinda turns into a game. Ymmv, but this works for me.

Another thing I like doing is pretending I'm grading the passage. This also helps with attention to detail. You should also be asking yourself, after every paragraph or so, "What is the author saying here? What is their overall argument? What is the point of this?" These help with questions later on either explicitly or by process of elimination.
 
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Hey everyone! I am re-taking, but it's home stretch for us now!
Here's my plan: (using a modified version of SN2d's plan)
I read each BR chapter (EK for bio) and did 1/3 of the passages (the ones that were really hard, i stopped and didn't finish, I'll explain later), after that I reviewed my notes the same week. I recently finished my content review and am doing my SA's because I began studying back in October, I am re-taking so I am limited to the number of FL's (this is why I didn't finish the difficult passages).

Once I do the SA's, I will review and fix my weak areas by doing the 1/3 1001 for that topic. Once I have gotten a better grasp and more experience in those topics, I will take the corresponding BR passages that relate to my troubled topics and make my own FL section out of it, consisting of 8-10passages. After I feel confident in those troubled areas, I will take AAMC 9/10/11, review by doing the same thing as I did previously with my troubled areas.

For VR my issue is getting tired, so I have been doing VR passages right before I take a break, which forces me to do those passages while tired.

The last week will be just flash-cards, I may go over a chapter or two in the physical sciences subjects using EK & try to do any questions/passages etc I can get my hands on. I noticed I am least efficient, the day AFTER I take a day off, so I may take a day off earlier in the week and on the 7th just review early in the morning.

What do you guys think? I don't know if what I actually wrote makes sense, I'm on 3 hours of sleep.. (side note: get more sleep lol)

Good-luck to you all!
 
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Hey everyone! I am re-taking, but it's home stretch for us now!
Here's my plan: (using a modified version of SN2d's plan)
I read each BR chapter (EK for bio) and did 1/3 of the passages (the ones that were really hard, i stopped and didn't finish, I'll explain later), after that I reviewed my notes the same week. I recently finished my content review and am doing my SA's because I began studying back in October, I am re-taking so I am limited to the number of FL's (this is why I didn't finish the difficult passages).

Once I do the SA's, I will review and fix my weak areas by doing the 1/3 1001 for that topic. Once I have gotten a better grasp and more experience in those topics, I will take the corresponding BR passages that relate to my troubled topics and make my own FL section out of it, consisting of 8-10passages. After I feel confident in those troubled areas, I will take AAMC 9/10/11, review by doing the same thing as I did previously with my troubled areas.

For VR my issue is getting tired, so I have been doing VR passages right before I take a break, which forces me to do those passages while tired.

The last week will be just flash-cards, I may go over a chapter or two in the physical sciences subjects using EK & try to do any questions/passages etc I can get my hands on. I noticed I am least efficient, the day AFTER I take a day off, so I may take a day off earlier in the week and on the 7th just review early in the morning.

What do you guys think? I don't know if what I actually wrote makes sense, I'm on 3 hours of sleep.. (side note: get more sleep lol)

Good-luck to you all!

Sounds ambitious! I'm also retaking and am struggling to not let my grades in my classes drop too much. Recently I've been essentially completely neglecting them to focus on MCAT stuff
 
I've always been strong in English, so that might be it to some extent. This is gonna sound crazy, but I actually find a lot of the passages really interesting which helps me pay attention. Even the ones I don't, I approach with an excited "wow, this is the coolest thing I've ever read" mentality. It's hard at first but it makes the process less annoying and it kinda turns into a game. Ymmv, but this works for me.

Another thing I like doing is pretending I'm grading the passage. This also helps with attention to detail. You should also be asking yourself, after every paragraph or so, "What is the author saying here? What is their overall argument? What is the point of this?" These help with questions later on either explicitly or by process of elimination.

Thank you very much!

One question that I always like to ask verbal gods like you, how do you guys read the passage? Do you read every paragraph with the same speed? Do you read every word? I dunno if I should

(1) read slowly and actively, every word, and try to understand it and commit to memory --- RARELY refer back to the passage
(2) read faster, still actively, but ofcourse comprehension goes down, trying to remember WHERE in the passage things have been mentioned, then read the questions and MOST OFTEN refer back tot he passage that I feel like addresses the question.

What do you think? (I'm an ESL students, if that helps)


EDIT:

In other words, how often do you refer back to the passage, and does your reading speed changes as you go through one passage?
 
Good profess! I got a 32 on AAMC 8 (10/13/9). A lot of dumb mistakes in BS. When are you taking 9?

Thanks nice verbal score! Yeah as I looked over my errors and the scale I realized if I had gotten one less question wrong on VR and BS I would have increased a point in each of them bumping me up to a 36! Ahhh was so tired when I was taking the test which couldn't have helped! I'll be taking 9 this weekend probably on saturday at 1!
 
Thank you very much!

One question that I always like to ask verbal gods like you, how do you guys read the passage? Do you read every paragraph with the same speed? Do you read every word? I dunno if I should

(1) read slowly and actively, every word, and try to understand it and commit to memory --- RARELY refer back to the passage
(2) read faster, still actively, but ofcourse comprehension goes down, trying to remember WHERE in the passage things have been mentioned, then read the questions and MOST OFTEN refer back tot he passage that I feel like addresses the question.

What do you think? (I'm an ESL students, if that helps)


EDIT:

In other words, how often do you refer back to the passage, and does your reading speed changes as you go through one passage?
I do read every word (unless it's a particularly dense philosophy passage or something similar to that), but instead of trying to remember the details, I just try to focus on the core questions I mentioned above. Primarily, "what's the gist of this section?" Most of the questions won't ask for specific recall of information, and if they do, it doesn't take terribly long to retrieve it from the passage. Have you done EK's verbal workbook? Not the 101 passages (although this is excellent), but their actual teaching workbook?
 
Thank you very much!

One question that I always like to ask verbal gods like you, how do you guys read the passage? Do you read every paragraph with the same speed? Do you read every word? I dunno if I should

(1) read slowly and actively, every word, and try to understand it and commit to memory --- RARELY refer back to the passage
(2) read faster, still actively, but ofcourse comprehension goes down, trying to remember WHERE in the passage things have been mentioned, then read the questions and MOST OFTEN refer back tot he passage that I feel like addresses the question.

What do you think? (I'm an ESL students, if that helps)


EDIT:

In other words, how often do you refer back to the passage, and does your reading speed changes as you go through one passage?

For me personally I read the passage and if I feel like any main points or clues about how the author feels has been said in a paragraph, I'll write it down on my piece of paper ex: Diff types of education. prefers x over y. notes like that. While I'm reading if there are any specific details that stand out to me I'll highlight it so I can find it easier incase a question asks about it. Similarly if there is a paragraph with a lot of details or reasons I'll write something down like 'reasons for x or info about y' The only thing I'm actively keeping in my head is the author's tone/ argument.
 
I do read every word (unless it's a particularly dense philosophy passage or something similar to that), but instead of trying to remember the details, I just try to focus on the core questions I mentioned above. Primarily, "what's the gist of this section?" Most of the questions won't ask for specific recall of information, and if they do, it doesn't take terribly long to retrieve it from the passage. Have you done EK's verbal workbook? Not the 101 passages (although this is excellent), but their actual teaching workbook?

No I haven't done the EK teaching book, is it any good? thanks man
For me personally I read the passage and if I feel like any main points or clues about how the author feels has been said in a paragraph, I'll write it down on my piece of paper ex: Diff types of education. prefers x over y. notes like that. While I'm reading if there are any specific details that stand out to me I'll highlight it so I can find it easier incase a question asks about it. Similarly if there is a paragraph with a lot of details or reasons I'll write something down like 'reasons for x or info about y' The only thing I'm actively keeping in my head is the author's tone/ argument.

so you write it down on the actual AAMC FLs too? And you end up with a 12? wow you are a genius tho, I tried doing that but it takes a lot of time, how do you manage your time?

thanks!
 
How did you take them? all at once, etc..etc..I'll be doing them this week so anyone doing the same,would be nice to keep in touch...
All at once (with periodic 10 minute breaks) which I don't recommend. There are ~130 questions, and by question ~75 or so I was annoyed, bored, fidgety, and stopped reading as carefully. I made several dumb mistakes by reading a word incorrectly or not fully reading the question. I got 76% overall, but I think it would have been ~80-85%% if I had split it up (less errors in second half). With the remaining ones, I've been doing ~15-20 questions/day per section (except for VR where I'm reading 3 passages).
 
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I'm starting the SAs tomorrow and I was thinking of doing ~ 10 passages / day from the sciences + 3-4 passages from verbal. I believe this would take me around 6-7 days to finish them. Then I would spend 1-2 days reviewing and taking AAMC 4 right afterwards (end of April) and then take 2 AAMCs / week + Add in Kaplan FLs and passages for practice, until my exam time (May 31st) (unless I notice that I am not scoring high enough and just post pone the test)

What do you guys think? any opinions would be very very very much appreciate it.
 
No I haven't done the EK teaching book, is it any good? thanks man


so you write it down on the actual AAMC FLs too? And you end up with a 12? wow you are a genius tho, I tried doing that but it takes a lot of time, how do you manage your time?

thanks!

It's usually a very quick note and in the worst handwriting possible and heavily abbreviated. Usually nothing over 4 words so it doesn't take up too much of my time at all. I do also read somewhat fast so that probably helps me a bit in time management. I usually end the section with like 10-15 minutes left and then use that time to go over the passages/ questions that I had more trouble with.
 
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It's usually a very quick note and in the worst handwriting possible and heavily abbreviated. Usually nothing over 4 words so it doesn't take up too much of my time at all. I do also read somewhat fast so that probably helps me a bit in time management. I usually end the section with like 10-15 minutes left and then use that time to go over the passages/ questions that I had more trouble with.

Wow respect ! You are a genius
 
Wow respect ! You are a genius

Definitely not! Just been studying hard for a lot on months now! Still having trouble applying what I know on the PS and BS sections.. looking over old tests and kicking myself for these mistakes. Brain doesn't seem to work as well when there's a clock ticking
 
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Going to be reviewing over my notes while in lab until I get home and then work on some more BR passages and a relaxed look through my notes again for bio and gchem before taking the rest of today off and then taking AAMC 9 tomorrow! I'll post results here once I finish up with 9!
 
Going to be reviewing over my notes while in lab until I get home and then work on some more BR passages and a relaxed look through my notes again for bio and gchem before taking the rest of today off and then taking AAMC 9 tomorrow! I'll post results here once I finish up with 9!
I'll be doing 9 tomorrow as well!
 
Sounds ambitious! I'm also retaking and am struggling to not let my grades in my classes drop too much. Recently I've been essentially completely neglecting them to focus on MCAT stuff
Thank you! but the way I see it is, anyone who has gotten this far into their studies is considered ambitious lol, we are all on the same boat. But I am also taking classes, I stopped going to lectures, I prefer to teach myself. That method helped me go from a B/C student to an A/B student & it's much more efficient. But hang in there, home-stretch now!
 
Thank you! but the way I see it is, anyone who has gotten this far into their studies is considered ambitious lol, we are all on the same boat. But I am also taking classes, I stopped going to lectures, I prefer to teach myself. That method helped me go from a B/C student to an A/B student & it's much more efficient. But hang in there, home-stretch now!
The irony, right?
 
The irony, right?
Yes! But it makes sense that way, I am taking Physics 2 at the moment, but I studied Physics 2 during my MCAT prep. I noticed some profs are very broad when explaining concepts, students get lost. But teaching yourself forces you to understand concepts in regards to your own your own views.

The hardest thing during this prep is starting everyday lol. Here I am trying to focus, but my mind is on standby!
 
Oh man just finished up with AAMC 9 and got a score of 39 (14/12/13)! Felt much more alert during the test although during verbal I felt a bit slow.. Definitely think it was that this test was on the topics that I am much more comfortable with though but still, feeling pretty good after that.
 
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Oh man just finished up with AAMC 9 and got a score of 39 (14/12/13)! Felt much more alert during the test although during verbal I felt a bit slow.. Definitely think it was that this test was on the topics that I am much more comfortable with though but still, feeling pretty good after that.

Kick ass score man! Any tips for physical science. The highest I've gotten is a 13 on practice, but I'm usually running out of time


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Kick ass score man! Any tips for physical science. The highest I've gotten is a 13 on practice, but I'm usually running out of time


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I honestly think I just got lucky with the test in that it gave me the topics that I am much more familiar and comfortable with. I usually score in the 11-12 range. The way I go about it is usually just to skim the passage really fast and gloss over the tables and see what's going on/ any trends and then go to the questions. Usually have to end up going back to the passage and reading parts of it again but there are some passages where I can just answer most of the questions without even having read the passage so that helps save on a lot of time
 
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I honestly think I just got lucky with the test in that it gave me the topics that I am much more familiar and comfortable with. I usually score in the 11-12 range. The way I go about it is usually just to skim the passage really fast and gloss over the tables and see what's going on/ any trends and then go to the questions. Usually have to end up going back to the passage and reading parts of it again but there are some passages where I can just answer most of the questions without even having read the passage so that helps save on a lot of time

Thanks. I usually always read the passage first but I'm actually realizing sometimes I don't have to and other times the answer is in the passage.


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I honestly think I just got lucky with the test in that it gave me the topics that I am much more familiar and comfortable with. I usually score in the 11-12 range. The way I go about it is usually just to skim the passage really fast and gloss over the tables and see what's going on/ any trends and then go to the questions. Usually have to end up going back to the passage and reading parts of it again but there are some passages where I can just answer most of the questions without even having read the passage so that helps save on a lot of time
Dang--that's awesome! I unfortunately got a 28 (7/11/10). Optics and EM stuff has never been a strong point for me, so I'm definitely gonna hit those hard. I also made several dumb mistakes on Gen Chem stuff. Trying to not be discouraged by this one though!
 
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Anyone else been stalking the 4/24 and other exam dates? The past two exams have apparently been "okay" difficulty wise, so now I'm worried ours is gonna be incredibly difficult out of nowhere.
 
Doesn't matter if it's hard as hell. I think it will balance itself out with the scale. I just hope they keep the Ochem limited


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I bet there will be something to do with mothers on one of the sections. Like a verbal passage or passage on reproduction and development or something. I am retaking, and they like to throw on quirky things like that.
 
Has anyone taken AAMC 11 yet? I got my lowest score in this one. It's really discouraging considering this is probably the closest to the real thing...
 
May 8ther right here. Only 1 week left to study. My practice test scores have been shockingly good but I think it is because I'm studying for the second time (studied around this time last year) and although I don't remember any of the questions, maybe its a subconcious thing in my head. This applies to the AAMC Full Lenghts only, I never took Kaplans or Self Assesmets before (although my high scores on Kaplan are also not getting me too hyped cause their curve is RIDICULOUS)

Anyways here's my progress (in relatively chronological order):
AAMC #3: 14/11/14 (Total: 39)
Kaplan FL #2: 14/13/12 (Total: 39)
AAMC #4: 14/12/13 (Total: 39)
Kaplan FL #3: 13/13/14 (Total: 40)
AAMC #5: 12/11/13 (Total: 36)
Self Assessments:
Chem: 90%
Orgo: 90%
Chem: 89%
Bio: 86%
Verbal: 80%

My goal is a 34. I know my average is much higher but last time my actual score was MUCH lower than my average so I'm not about to get my hopes too high and set myself up for disappointment lmao.

Will spend this last week finishing up the last 5 AAMCs + maybe do some Berkeleys or additional Kaplans + review notes.
 
May 8ther right here. Only 1 week left to study. My practice test scores have been shockingly good but I think it is because I'm studying for the second time (studied around this time last year) and although I don't remember any of the questions, maybe its a subconcious thing in my head. This applies to the AAMC Full Lenghts only, I never took Kaplans or Self Assesmets before (although my high scores on Kaplan are also not getting me too hyped cause their curve is RIDICULOUS)

Anyways here's my progress (in relatively chronological order):
AAMC #3: 14/11/14 (Total: 39)
Kaplan FL #2: 14/13/12 (Total: 39)
AAMC #4: 14/12/13 (Total: 39)
Kaplan FL #3: 13/13/14 (Total: 40)
AAMC #5: 12/11/13 (Total: 36)
Self Assessments:
Chem: 90%
Orgo: 90%
Chem: 89%
Bio: 86%
Verbal: 80%

My goal is a 34. I know my average is much higher but last time my actual score was MUCH lower than my average so I'm not about to get my hopes too high and set myself up for disappointment lmao.

Will spend this last week finishing up the last 5 AAMCs + maybe do some Berkeleys or additional Kaplans + review notes.


I'm a retaker also. When I took the real thing last year, my score was lower than my average. When I'm taking the AAMC full lengths this time around, my scores are only 1-3 points higher than last year's...

May I ask how you studied differently this time around?
 
So this time around I spent a lot less time on content review and literally tried to do every single passage in all the Berkeleys and the entire Princeton Review Hyperlearning book (great book). I also wanted to do like a million Full Lengths before the actual test but because of procrastination, I'll be doing just the AAMCs + all Self Assessments + 2 Kaplans + 2 Berkeleys (which is still more than what the average test takes does I think so im not killing myself over it)
 
What are some good things to do for the last week before DDay? I am doing practice exams.

I have one more practice test I'll take Sunday or Monday. And then I'm just going to review all the AAMCs I've taken and just light review the last couple days.
Honestly I may not even look at any MCAT stuff Wednesday but we'll see.
Thursday morning I'll do a few verbal passages or something to get my brain going before I go to the test site.
 
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