The Official September 18, 2014 MCAT Thread

[litokhmaikid]

Where the rest of my September 18th homies at ? I just started Sn2ed's 4 month schedule (customized with some extra Kaplan material).

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[abv78]

For BS, did everyone else have a passage on a specific disease involving a macromolecule?

 

[Agobio]

I did.

 

[Tonkahat]

In vague terms, what was the passage on expertise about? I am freaking out because I can only remember 5 passages clearly and I think the 6th one was on suffering. I know for sure that I didn't get a passage on noise/airplanes. I was running out of time and didn't get a chance to click the review button to make sure that I answered everything. I hope I didn't skip a passage!

i didn't get one on that either, so maybe it was experimental? i honestly think we are all paranoid, if you never missed a passage by accident on a practice test you shouldnt miss one on the real test by accident.

 

[Dr.Physician]

Was I the only person who didn't fully understand all the steps in the experiment? I'm usually pretty good a BS (14.5 AAMC FL average) but I didn't really understand the steps in the organic experiment. However, thankfully, I think you could get the answers without really knowing the reasoning behind every step in the experiment.

lol, i thought i was the only one who didn't understand the steps of that orgo passage. Was there one or two orgo passages? Cant seem to remember... anyway my best section turned into my worse. i guess that's what you get after puking all morning and getting 4 hours of sleep.

 

[Tonkahat]

BS w

lol, i thought i was the only one who didn't understand the steps of that orgo passage. Was there one or two orgo passages? Cant seem to remember... anyway my best section turned into my worse. i guess that's what you get after puking all morning and getting 4 hours of sleep.

i feel like there was only 1 ochem passage and then like a few ochem discretes, i remember rushing through the ochem passage because I was pressed for time ugh, the more i think about this test the more glad I am i registered for january.


Also, did you guys have the like ear muff/headphones meant to block out sound, never seen anything like it before and maybe i have a big head but they hurt me the whole time, but i didn't take them off because i figured the pain was better than hearing coughing/people gettingup/etc...

 

[mkapp]

BS w


i feel like there was only 1 ochem passage and then like a few ochem discretes, i remember rushing through the ochem passage because I was pressed for time ugh, the more i think about this test the more glad I am i registered for january.


Also, did you guys have the like ear muff/headphones meant to block out sound, never seen anything like it before and maybe i have a big head but they hurt me the whole time, but i didn't take them off because i figured the pain was better than hearing coughing/people gettingup/etc...

I honestly don't remember the ochem passage on the test--was there just one, at the very end of the exam?

Also, protip re: the earmuffs--you can bring your own earplugs (in a sealed container) to the testing site.

 

[justadream]

When you say "guessed", how many did you exactly guess (including ones that weren't random guesses)? I was also suffering time troubles on this verbal, and straight up guessed 5-6 questions on the last 3 passages while spending a good amount of time on the first four passages. I wouldn't even be surprised if I got more wrong from the fact that I was speeding through the easy questions on those 3 passages. lol

Probably around 12-15.

That's more than my usual (5-10).

 

[justadream]

BS w


i feel like there was only 1 ochem passage and then like a few ochem discretes, i remember rushing through the ochem passage because I was pressed for time ugh, the more i think about this test the more glad I am i registered for january.


Also, did you guys have the like ear muff/headphones meant to block out sound, never seen anything like it before and maybe i have a big head but they hurt me the whole time, but i didn't take them off because i figured the pain was better than hearing coughing/people gettingup/etc...

Lol pain would have been worse than hearing people coughing.

You should have used ear plugs instead.

 

[Dreamstoo]

Alright I took my 3 or so days off from doing nothing MCAT related. Going to study today (for my retake, I voided) from around 12-6 with breaks here and there. Then hit the gym probably. Probably will do one chapter of TBR gen chem and maybe TBR physics. I signed up for 1/15/15. Somehow got a great location near my university (20 min by subway)

 

[marilynmagnolia]

Can someone please take this forum down? I have been trolling since Thursday now. This is NOT helping me move on, just freaking me out even more. Y'all know pre-meds are neurotic creatures. Lol.
But seriously, wtf AAMC?! Making us wait an entire month is torture!!

 

[zzzetrigan]

The common passages in VR seem to be: traffic, Roosevelt, art, deep sea micro-organism, and suffering. If those are the only ones scored, it would suck, because I felt very confident about the noise regulation passage.

*sigh*
Pretty sure I know 1 or 2 I got wrong in the traffic passage.

Virtual bro-hug. I know what you mean. I re-did this specifically for the verbal and as time passes I felt I got destroyed on the verbal. Oh well, there's always January.

 

[qutbshah]

Just signed up for the Jan 15, 1:00 pm. Feel much better all of a sudden...Now the wait for the scores doesn't seem too bad

 

[justadream]

I wouldn't mind if all the VR passages were unscored lol.

 

[PsychoPass987]

I wouldn't mind if all the VR passages were unscored lol.

I second this. I'm worried I may get a 5-6 at this point. Has there ever been a generous curve for Verbal? I just feel that this section rarely, if at all, have a good curve...

 

[mr.karp]

This was my first time taking the Mcat, so will I be notified by email when the results are released?

 

[xBODOMx]

.

 

[metall17]

.

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

How many other people felt surprisingly well in the PS, and even Verbal section…. but then had one of these moments when you hit the first Bio passage?

Good feeling is gone!

 

[metall17]

Do you guys think the physical sciences section will have a harsh curve? Thought I did ok on it, but maybe I may be surprised with a lower score. How many do you think we can miss on that section to hit a 1o?

 

[TheMightyTexan]

This waiting game is really annoying

 

[TheMightyTexan]

I have talked to some friends that have taken other tests like the DAT or GRE and all, and they get there scores so fast..#jealousy. Is anyone else trying to decide whether or not to sign up again or wait until they see their scores? I feel like its definitely the safe thing to do to just sign up, but midway during the summer i ended up quitting work so i could focus on the test and kind of burned through my funds on food and gas so now i'm leery to drop another 275 or whatever it is and don't think i actually can at the moment unless i pawn something lol

 

[Dr.Physician]

How many other people felt surprisingly well in the PS, and even Verbal section…. but then had one of these moments when you hit the first Bio passage?View attachment 185726 Good feeling is gone!

Amen to that brother!!! Lets all join hands (via the internet) and pray for the most lenient curve for BS in the history of all MCAT tests every written.

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

Do you guys think the physical sciences section will have a harsh curve? Thought I did ok on it, but maybe I may be surprised with a lower score. How many do you think we can miss on that section to hit a 1o?

I am afraid the curve is not going to be that generous in the PS section since I think the majority do better with conceptual questions. So I am thinking you can only miss about 9 questions for this test and make a 10. What do you guys think? Maybe I'm just being all doom and gloom?

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

Amen to that brother!!! Lets all join hands (via the internet) and pray for the most lenient curve for BS in the history of all MCAT tests every written.

My prayers are fervent!!!

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

I have talked to some friends that have taken other tests like the DAT or GRE and all, and they get there scores so fast..#jealousy. Is anyone else trying to decide whether or not to sign up again or wait until they see their scores? I feel like its definitely the safe thing to do to just sign up, but midway during the summer i ended up quitting work so i could focus on the test and kind of burned through my funds on food and gas so now i'm leery to drop another 275 or whatever it is and don't think i actually can at the moment unless i pawn something lol

What were your practice tests like? How do you feel like you performed on this test? What score are you hoping for/ schools you want to apply to? What is the availability of seats for you in your area? There are currently no seats in my home city. It looks like I'll be driving a good distance at this point, that's more $$ for a hotel and gas. I wonder how many people have signed up that will drop once they get their test scored back? But then again there will be a flood of those needing to register after they get their scores. Quite a dilemma for those of us who have limited funds. Sadly, this test is only a drop in the bucket in the amount of $ and time we'll invest in this profession.

 

[justadream]

I expect normal (aka harsh) curves in every section.

I failed verbal but that was my own timing incompetency - not a difficult AAMC test.

Both sciences were definitely doable. I missed a few discretes but still...it was no harder than like AAMC 11.

 

[Aerus]

I expect normal (aka harsh) curves in every section.

I failed verbal but that was my own timing incompetency - not a difficult AAMC test.

Both sciences were definitely doable. I missed a few discretes but still...it was no harder than like AAMC 11.

Agreed. I haven't really met many people who thought the test was unfair or unusually hard. I thought it was very comparable to AAMC 11, with the biological sciences slightly more difficult.

I'm going to have convulsing nightmares leading up to October 21st.

 

[mkapp]

I expect normal (aka harsh) curves in every section.

I failed verbal but that was my own timing incompetency - not a difficult AAMC test.

Both sciences were definitely doable. I missed a few discretes but still...it was no harder than like AAMC 11.

I expect (/am hoping) that the curve for bio will be slightly more lenient than normal, given the difficulty of the section. However, it seems like the curves on the practice tests didn't vary dramatically--at most, at the upper end of the curve, the cutoffs varied by a point or two.

Someone in the Aug 21 thread said they got at least 8 questions wrong in bio and still got a 12. It's hard to know what that means, though, because half of those incorrect answers could have been on experimental questions.

 

[vik66]

Whatsup guys..finally posting after a nice weekend... fraternity toga party and college football game...to take my mind off. Now studying for neruscience, pharmacology and immunology tests next week. Figured now would be a good time to post haha

background : took august 2013 test, didnt take studying too seriously, made a 25 (8-10-7). Took the july 2014 test and studied HARD, made a very disappointing 25 (11-6-8..wtf verbal) again after AAMC average of 29/30.

PS: (circuit, measuring techniques, sand dune, copper zinc gold ox/reduction...) i thought it was comparable to july, pretty straightforward but i forgot some stuff due to not really studying for PS (hit verbal hard) before this test. Definitely had content gaps (dumb train question with forces and a couple others stumped me and i usually kill discretes). very conceptual

verbal (president, suffering, microorganism, fine art) : passage were easy, questions were very difficult. Felt better than my July test however.

Bio ( somatic cells hybrid, satiety factors, huntingdon diease....) : So i woke up with a fever, popped some tylenol and forgot about it till Bio, fever came back halfway through which put a small wrench in my thought process, but i thought it was easier than july test. thank god for minimal orgo

All i need is a freaking 28 for my BS/MD program (University of South Alabama ), already have gpa requirment...hopefully i get it this time. It is such an attainable score...

 

[MCATcanada2014]

Virtual bro-hug. I know what you mean. I re-did this specifically for the verbal and as time passes I felt I got destroyed on the verbal. Oh well, there's always January.

 

[Tonkahat]

In vague terms, what was the passage on expertise about? I am freaking out because I can only remember 5 passages clearly and I think the 6th one was on suffering. I know for sure that I didn't get a passage on noise/airplanes. I was running out of time and didn't get a chance to click the review button to make sure that I answered everything. I hope I didn't skip a passage!

oh shoot nvm i did get a passage on expertise, i remember it but for some reason i thought i'd seen it on one of the AAMC FL's, just shows how little we all actually remember

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

 

[metall17]

Are we there yet?

 

[metall17]

How many people are studying in case they need to retake. Trying to study, but my motivation is gone this past week. Hard to get back in that mindset.

 

[confuciastt]

How many people are studying in case they need to retake. Trying to study, but my motivation is gone this past week. Hard to get back in that mindset.

I'm studying again just in case I didn't break a 30

 

[donovank730]

barf

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

How many people are studying in case they need to retake. Trying to study, but my motivation is gone this past week. Hard to get back in that mindset.

i'm not doing an ounce of intentional studying right now. I am taking classes now that are content on the MCAT. But as far as formal studying- NO!!! If I get back my scores and I need to retake it my motivation can be fueled by their poor numbers to study again, but now- NO Kaplan! NO Audio Osmosis!! NO practice apps! NO full lengths!

 

[kaizoku2king]

How many other people felt surprisingly well in the PS, and even Verbal section…. but then had one of these moments when you hit the first Bio passage?View attachment 185726 Good feeling is gone!

My feelings exactly. The PS was very manageable I thought as was the VR. The first passage on traffic, however, definitely through me for a spin. That was probably the single toughest passage for me on the entire test. Other than that, I thought the VR was fair, and being a philosophy major myself it definitely helped having that background with some of the passages. Unlike the PS and VR, the BS was ridiculous and I am in consensus with the majority of people over its difficulty. I'll be praying for all of you good folks that October 21st leads to the beginning of a good start in your careers.

 

[justadream]

I didn't find BS to be hard at all but I'm hoping AAMC curve agrees with you guys on the difficulty. I know I missed at least 1-2 discretes already on it.

Verbal on the other hand....lol.

 

[gh89]

I didn't find BS to be hard at all but I'm hoping AAMC curve agrees with you guys on the difficulty. I know I missed at least 1-2 discretes already on it.

Verbal on the other hand....lol.

Pretty much exactly how I felt... I'm praying for a good verbal curve

 

[justadream]

I wish you could redistribute time on the test. Like if you finish with 20 mins to go on PS, you can use it later. I'd even be willing to pay a 75% time-switching tax (e.g., if you finished with 20 mins extra in PS and want to allocate that to Verbal, then you only get 5 mins extra).

 

[donovank730]

I can't be the only one here obsessively thinking about my grade

 

[Agobio]

I can't be the only one here obsessively thinking about my grade

Nope, lol. Definitely not.

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

I didn't find BS to be hard at all but I'm hoping AAMC curve agrees with you guys on the difficulty. I know I missed at least 1-2 discretes already on it.

Verbal on the other hand....lol.

Pretty much exactly how I felt... I'm praying for a good verbal curve

My thoughts exactly. I'm most worried about verbal. I thought BS was the easiest section

 

[orangetea]

How I feel before scores come out

 

[Aerus]

How I feel before scores come out

No way, Orangetea! You took this test too? :O

 

[orangetea]

No way, Orangetea! You took this test too? :O

yea after my nervous break down during 9/06.. which I seriously should have voided because it's going to come back horrible .. but oh well #icouldcareless

 

[Aerus]

yea after my nervous break down during 9/06.. which I seriously should have voided because it's going to come back horrible .. but oh well #icouldcareless

Well I'm honored to have taken the same test as the great and famous Orangetea!


Sent from The World Tree using SDN Mobile

 

[Blooms in Adversity]

My feelings exactly. The PS was very manageable I thought as was the VR. The first passage on traffic, however, definitely through me for a spin. That was probably the single toughest passage for me on the entire test. Other than that, I thought the VR was fair, and being a philosophy major myself it definitely helped having that background with some of the passages. Unlike the PS and VR, the BS was ridiculous and I am in consensus with the majority of people over its difficulty. I'll be praying for all of you good folks that October 21st leads to the beginning of a good start in your careers.

I think we found the verbal not so intimidating because we were humanities majors perhaps? ….But then again maybe when we get our scores back our tune may change as well.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I rescheduled for Jan. 13 and I'm having so much trouble focusing or having the willpower to study all over again. I guess this summer really took everything I had. I've only done about 2 TBR chapters over the past 2 weeks. I plan to do 1-2 TBR Chapters today and do relatively heavy content review. Took last night off and just did some school work and watched some TV. It's a shame that I really can't have the social life I was planning for this light fall senior term.