The Official September 18, 2014 MCAT Thread

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litokhmaikid

litokhmaikid

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Where the rest of my September 18th homies at :laugh:? I just started Sn2ed's 4 month schedule (customized with some extra Kaplan material).
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anisidi1985 said:
Day 54: BR Physics Chapter #10 + 1/3
Day 55: Break
Day 56: BR Gen Chem Chapter #10 + 1/3
Day 57: BR O-Chem Chapter #8 + 1/3
Day 58: Re-read chapters + EK 1001 + EK Bio In-class exam
Day 59: Complete second 1/3 of BR passages
Day 60: Break

There you go! I have taken 1 full length so far, and do the self assessments in between full length days as extra practice. Also - welcome to all the new people who just signed up! We're gonna kill this test.
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thanks so weird, this isn't under the 3 month calendar on --> http://www.studentdoctor.net/3-month-mcat-study-schedule/, but its on the forum.


Organized my schedule from now till the exam date to accommodate for the fact that i have classes first 2 weeks of september, also replaced Hat trick days with Self Assessments. just need to know how many break days i can have, and so forth. is anyone else dealing with classes with studying for the mcat? its not too bad because its the first 2 weeks of class, ill choose to fall behind in classes, but im hoping assignments/whatever don't slow me down, think i might just skip all my classes the week of the mcat if necessary.
 
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Tonkahat said:
thanks so weird, this isn't under the 3 month calendar on --> http://www.studentdoctor.net/3-month-mcat-study-schedule/, but its on the forum.


Organized my schedule from now till the exam date to accommodate for the fact that i have classes first 2 weeks of september, also replaced Hat trick days with Self Assessments. just need to know how many break days i can have, and so forth. is anyone else dealing with classes with studying for the mcat? its not too bad because its the first 2 weeks of class, ill choose to fall behind in classes, but im hoping assignments/whatever don't slow me down, think i might just skip all my classes the week of the mcat if necessary.
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Yeah I start school Sept. 2nd, also I took a course throughout the whole summer and I have my final for the summer course next week lol
 
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mr.karp said:
Yeah I start school Sept. 2nd, also I took a course throughout the whole summer and I have my final for the summer course next week lol
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jeez thats rough, the test is on a school day too, think im going to just go to labs and skip my classes that week..
 
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Yep! I am actually also working on my thesis (starting the second year of a full-time masters) and my supervisors want me to take French (live in Montreal and will be doing interviews with patients so need to become more fluent), and that starts in september as well. Literally have to submit 2 ethics proposals by Sept 17th. So a tiny bit stressed, but we will do it!
 
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Too many of these "official" September 18th threads... Less than a month to go!
 
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got into a 2 day slump, had the worst allergies couldn't keep my eyes open for 10minutes straight. back at it now! just finished content, my sleeping schedule is SOO messed up right now, im most productive 12am - 6am...i know. I was wondering if I should do a FL this time, if itd really matter not to do it at the time sdn recommends (time of your exam)
 
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Hey guys, I'm registered for this date, but am thinking of postponing to 10/21 or 11/07. I have been getting 33-35 on several TPRs and AAMC 4, but my verbal is still struggling around 7-8. Fortunately, though, my timing (something I had EXTREME problems with) is starting to click but it feels too late to actually hone my strategy, and I really don't want to just wing it. I have access to a LOT of practice verbal material from a friend and have a light semester schedule. Do you guys think I should postpone? If I do 2-3 verbal passages daily, 2 full verbal tests a week (and rigorously log most passages in a notebook), and 2 full lengths a week for the next couple months, could I bring it up to say 11 maybe 12? Thanks guys for the advice.
 
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The Brown Knight said:
Hey guys, I'm registered for this date, but am thinking of postponing to 10/21 or 11/07. I have been getting 33-35 on several TPRs and AAMC 4, but my verbal is still struggling around 7-8. Fortunately, though, my timing (something I had EXTREME problems with) is starting to click but it feels too late to actually hone my strategy, and I really don't want to just wing it. I have access to a LOT of practice verbal material from a friend and have a light semester schedule. Do you guys think I should postpone? If I do 2-3 verbal passages daily, 2 full verbal tests a week (and rigorously log most passages in a notebook), and 2 full lengths a week for the next couple months, could I bring it up to say 11 maybe 12? Thanks guys for the advice.
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Scores above 30 are always really good. And I honestly feel like 3 passages a day with a lot of review for the next month, would get you to 10. I was getting 6-7, and after a month 10-11, with skipping a few days at a time. I think getting to 10 is the easy part, getting past 10 is when it gets difficult. The fact that your PS and BS is so strong, I think your ready. How long have you studied for?
 
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Tonkahat said:
Scores above 30 are always really good. And I honestly feel like 3 passages a day with a lot of review for the next month, would get you to 10. I was getting 6-7, and after a month 10-11, with skipping a few days at a time. I think getting to 10 is the easy part, getting past 10 is when it gets difficult. The fact that your PS and BS is so strong, I think your ready. How long have you studied for?
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I'll be freaking ecstatic with a 10! I just don't feel that could happen in the next 20 days since although my timing is improving my accuracy is still pretty low. I have done 2 months full time and 1 month part time so far. Do you think I jeopardize forgetting the BS/PS content if I postpone? I honestly remember everything from May/June and from recent intro courses/electives. I was hopeless with verbal and was initially planning on winging it but then it started making some sense; maybe I can find some more sense with practice?
 
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Hey Guys! So my scores come out tomorrow from the July 24th test and I AM FREAKING OUT. Pray for me! hahahahaha
I'll come here once I know my score! Hope everyone's studying is going as planned
 
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DannySCR said:
Hey Guys! So my scores come out tomorrow from the July 24th test and I AM FREAKING OUT. Pray for me! hahahahaha
I'll come here once I know my score! Hope everyone's studying is going as planned
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Good luck man, hope its solid!
 
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DannySCR said:
Hey Guys! So my scores come out tomorrow from the July 24th test and I AM FREAKING OUT. Pray for me! hahahahaha
I'll come here once I know my score! Hope everyone's studying is going as planned
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Danny! I hope you're hanging in there pal! Positive thoughts! We are all rooting for you and hope you get what you worked so hard for!
 
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TheMightyTexan said:
Good luck man, hope its solid!
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Shewillcreate said:
Danny! I hope you're hanging in there pal! Positive thoughts! We are all rooting for you and hope you get what you worked so hard for!
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Thanks Guys!! Very Anxious but I'm hoping I'm gonna get a great score and be done with this exam! I'll post throughout the day!
 
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DannySCR said:
Thanks Guys!! Very Anxious but I'm hoping I'm gonna get a great score and be done with this exam! I'll post throughout the day!
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Sounds great! I hope I can pick your brain if it's well!! Haha you've been a great help, I'm sure everyone else will agree with me when I say that I appreciate it!
 
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Does anyone else have opinions on my situation? My sciences are fairly good, but my verbal in TPR practice tests has been around 7. I also missed a lot on AAMC4 verbal section, the only AAMC I have done so far. I really want to get a 10-11 for the verbal, so should I postpone by about a month to the 10/21 or 11/07? With the extra month I'd try to do consistent daily/weekly practice entirely for verbal (I have access to a LOT of practice from a friend) and do more FLs and some science review weekly.
Sorry for the repeated posts, but I need to make a wise decision soon.
 
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The Brown Knight said:
Does anyone else have opinions on my situation? My sciences are fairly good, but my verbal in TPR practice tests has been around 7. I also missed a lot on AAMC4 verbal section, the only AAMC I have done so far. I really want to get a 10-11 for the verbal, so should I postpone by about a month to the 10/21 or 11/07? With the extra month I'd try to do consistent daily/weekly practice entirely for verbal (I have access to a LOT of practice from a friend) and do more FLs and some science review weekly.
Sorry for the repeated posts, but I need to make a wise decision soon.
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Hi Brown knight,
Honestly if you think taking a month more to just focus on verbal will help get you to where you want to be, then go for it. However, I do think with intensive analysis, and a bit of mind grease, I think you can get that score up to a 10 by test day. I really suggest focusing on the TYPES of questions that you're missing, and examining if, in fact, they are constant mistakes. For example my last full length I took last week, I pulled a 9 on AAMC 7. After reviewing, I noticed that ALL of the questions I got wrong were inference questions! Right now, I'm trying to find a way to fix it. Why don't you implement your proposed verbal schedule NOW, instead of waiting a month to do so? Be smart about it, and really focus, I think it can be done!
 
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does anyone do like a massive broad review of everything before taking their first AAMC, i feel like its necessary because theres so much...dont know if its a waste of time or not?
 
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Tonkahat said:
does anyone do like a massive broad review of everything before taking their first AAMC, i feel like its necessary because theres so much...dont know if its a waste of time or not?
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I look over my wrong question workbook, and go over the questions and answer explanations of things I missed. I find that is helpful.
 
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Shewillcreate said:
Hi Brown knight,
Honestly if you think taking a month more to just focus on verbal will help get you to where you want to be, then go for it. However, I do think with intensive analysis, and a bit of mind grease, I think you can get that score up to a 10 by test day. I really suggest focusing on the TYPES of questions that you're missing, and examining if, in fact, they are constant mistakes. For example my last full length I took last week, I pulled a 9 on AAMC 7. After reviewing, I noticed that ALL of the questions I got wrong were inference questions! Right now, I'm trying to find a way to fix it. Why don't you implement your proposed verbal schedule NOW, instead of waiting a month to do so? Be smart about it, and really focus, I think it can be done!
Click to expand...

Hi,
So I did do a VERY thorough review of the AAMC 4 I took a few days ago. I found I would get most Q's right on a certain passage, but the next would be disastrous (3 wrong out of 5 or 6); this might be because I might not have understood the latter type passages very well, but I generally follow the "slow and careful" reading approach and don't have much trouble comprehending these passages and I STILL miss so many Q's. What's worse is that I STILL wouldn't be able to arrive at the right answer if I tried to answer it while reviewing the exam or even when I read AAMC's or Kaplan's explanations (btw Kaplan has their own explanations for AAMC FLs available for free online) for each question. This is why I feel the need to go through 300+ MORE practice verbal passages over an extra month to truly feel comfortable with this section. I just hope not to lose the science content base simultaneously.
 
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The Brown Knight said:
Hi,
So I did do a VERY thorough review of the AAMC 4 I took a few days ago. I found I would get most Q's right on a certain passage, but the next would be disastrous (3 wrong out of 5 or 6); this might be because I might not have understood the latter type passages very well, but I generally follow the "slow and careful" reading approach and don't have much trouble comprehending these passages and I STILL miss so many Q's. What's worse is that I STILL wouldn't be able to arrive at the right answer if I tried to answer it while reviewing the exam or even when I read AAMC's or Kaplan's explanations (btw Kaplan has their own explanations for AAMC FLs available for free online) for each question. This is why I feel the need to go through 300+ MORE practice verbal passages over an extra month to truly feel comfortable with this section. I just hope not to lose the science content base simultaneously.
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I find for me, I take 10-20 seconds after reading to construct a main idea in my head. It's not necessarily about understanding what you're reading but more grasping the main overarching concept - what is the main theme, what is the author trying to say, what is their viewpoint. Try a few passages and say outloud in 15 seconds what the main idea is, then answer the questions. See if your score improves.
 
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Hey everyone, so I rescheduled from the 9/6 date to the 9/18 date because I got really sick and couldn't study for about a week (much needed study break at least) and am just starting to study again. I am kinda done with my content review, but I want to go through it one more time to really get it down (usually the second time around I really remember things). I am using TBR for everything, except EK for BIO. My plans were to dedicate a day to each chapter (so 10 days) and memorize everything I need to know from each chapter and do practice problems, and then dedicate 2 days to each AAMC FL (I have enough for 4-5 tests).
So my question is should I do all my review of the content before starting to take the FLs?
Or should I do them together? So for example, take AAMC 5, next day review it and the day after go through all of chapter 1 and do the problems in TBR books? Then just continue that cycle.

Hope that makes sense. Advice is much appreciated!
 
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786doctor said:
Hey everyone, so I rescheduled from the 9/6 date to the 9/18 date because I got really sick and couldn't study for about a week (much needed study break at least) and am just starting to study again. I am kinda done with my content review, but I want to go through it one more time to really get it down (usually the second time around I really remember things). I am using TBR for everything, except EK for BIO. My plans were to dedicate a day to each chapter (so 10 days) and memorize everything I need to know from each chapter and do practice problems, and then dedicate 2 days to each AAMC FL (I have enough for 4-5 tests).
So my question is should I do all my review of the content before starting to take the FLs?
Or should I do them together? So for example, take AAMC 5, next day review it and the day after go through all of chapter 1 and do the problems in TBR books? Then just continue that cycle.

Hope that makes sense. Advice is much appreciated!
Click to expand...
I think you're setting yourself up to get burned out again! I would do full lengths and concentrate on practicing and then review your weaknesses as you figure them out. That'll be your review.
 
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mr.karp said:
Is that what you expected?
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Shewillcreate said:
Yay!! Congratulations Danny!! That is a rather dashing verbal score! That score is pretty much your AAMC average! No more grind for you ;-) Hehehe
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Aresus said:
Congrats! are you going to retake or are you keeping it?
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Thanks Guys!!!! I think the 30 is what I expected, but not how I got it. I was expecting it to be more balanced, with my PS being lower than the rest due to the difficulty! With this score I can get into a medical school, but I'm going to retake it in January in hopes that I can get my score up to something like a 35. Thanks for all your support guys! As always if you have any questions please let me know!
 
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The Brown Knight said:
Hi,
So I did do a VERY thorough review of the AAMC 4 I took a few days ago. I found I would get most Q's right on a certain passage, but the next would be disastrous (3 wrong out of 5 or 6); this might be because I might not have understood the latter type passages very well, but I generally follow the "slow and careful" reading approach and don't have much trouble comprehending these passages and I STILL miss so many Q's. What's worse is that I STILL wouldn't be able to arrive at the right answer if I tried to answer it while reviewing the exam or even when I read AAMC's or Kaplan's explanations (btw Kaplan has their own explanations for AAMC FLs available for free online) for each question. This is why I feel the need to go through 300+ MORE practice verbal passages over an extra month to truly feel comfortable with this section. I just hope not to lose the science content base simultaneously.
Click to expand...

How high are you scoring on verbal? I've plateaued at 11ish (well technically that would be a lie since I started there as well) and even when I understand some of the passages fairly well, there are some questions in which I would have never chosen the AAMC question (about 3-5 of these per test).

I started at around 11-12. I've done EK 101 and TPRH (and AAMC SA) and still at 11-12.
 
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justadream said:
How high are you scoring on verbal? I've plateaued at 11ish (well technically that would be a lie since I started there as well) and even when I understand some of the passages fairly well, there are some questions in which I would have never chosen the AAMC question (about 3-5 of these per test).

I started at around 11-12. I've done EK 101 and TPRH (and AAMC SA) and still at 11-12.
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That's a great VR average! I average around 7-8 currently, so I should be able to get it to about 11 with ample daily practice over the extra month, right? I'm not looking for 12+. I don't have HUGE content weaknesses, so I can keep practicing with that and hone down further on weaknesses. Also, is TBR bio worth it for the extra month? I haven't touched it, but I might have time to in the extra month.
 
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The Brown Knight said:
That's a great VR average! I average around 7-8 currently, so I should be able to get it to about 11 with ample daily practice over the extra month, right? I'm not looking for 12+. I don't have HUGE content weaknesses, so I can keep practicing with that and hone down further on weaknesses. Also, is TBR bio worth it for the extra month? I haven't touched it, but I might have time to in the extra month.
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I'd do it if you are done with TPRSW.

I'm on the final 3/3 for all the TBR sections. Some of the passages are just overkill (unless you are a genius). I average like 80% on TBR GC/Ochem/Physics and probably around 60-70% for TBR Bio (I don't really keep track because it's that demoralizing).

That being said, as with other TBR materials, you do learn a lot of detail about the topics.

IIRC, your AAMC science average is pretty high (like 13-14ish) so I think you'd be fine without TBR too. I'm mainly doing it for the sake of finishing SN2ed.

Let me know if you discover the secret to verbal. I basically gave up on it and am focusing 99% of my studying on the sciences.
 
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justadream said:
I'd do it if you are done with TPRSW.

I'm on the final 3/3 for all the TBR sections. Some of the passages are just overkill (unless you are a genius). I average like 80% on TBR GC/Ochem/Physics and probably around 60-70% for TBR Bio (I don't really keep track because it's that demoralizing).

That being said, as with other TBR materials, you do learn a lot of detail about the topics.

IIRC, your AAMC science average is pretty high (like 13-14ish) so I think you'd be fine without TBR too. I'm mainly doing it for the sake of finishing SN2ed.

Let me know if you discover the secret to verbal. I basically gave up on it and am focusing 99% of my studying on the sciences.
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I haven't done very well on the TBR Bio passages that I have tried, but did you do them after reading their chapters?
 
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Hello everyone! I'm signed up for this test date, I did my exam on the 15th of August, depending on how that goes I may not show up, or show up afraid for my life~
 
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The Brown Knight said:
I haven't done very well on the TBR Bio passages that I have tried, but did you do them after reading their chapters?
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I read probably about 5% of the pages.

I relied on TPR Bio for content.

I don't do well on them either but they're a lot harder than the AAMC FLs I've done so far (3,4,5).
 
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TBR Bio passages are soo demoralizing. Sometimes i'll do great and get 6-7/7 other times ill be struggling for a 4/7.

Has anyone worried about old content, like stuff reviewed in June, like Im very worried about not remembering details of some small things, especially for bio+physics, not relying on college info, because havent taken most prereq courses in years, how are people dealing with that, or is anyone finding it a problem. I'm doing self assesment for PS tmw, anyone done them yet
 
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Tonkahat said:
TBR Bio passages are soo demoralizing. Sometimes i'll do great and get 6-7/7 other times ill be struggling for a 4/7.

Has anyone worried about old content, like stuff reviewed in June, like Im very worried about not remembering details of some small things, especially for bio+physics, not relying on college info, because havent taken most prereq courses in years, how are people dealing with that, or is anyone finding it a problem. I'm doing self assesment for PS tmw, anyone done them yet
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Yea I feel the same way, I guess I'll just do my FL's to see where I stand
 
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Guys - I manage to do well in verbal, around same as @justadream (11ish) but the sciences are killing me. we have about 3 weeks to go, and i'm wondering if i should invest my time practicing problems in TPR science workbook or TBR. I have heard TPR has more of a range of difficulty levels (basic to super hard) whereas TBR is pretty moderate-hard. TPRSW might be good for solidifying basics? FYI all my sciences suck - getting 8/9's on all the practice tests i've taken so far.
 
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Oh man, I started studying in the summer aiming for this date, but I have yet to be able to register for it :(.

I took the test for the first time in April and got a 31. Ahhh, is there any valid hope for seats to open up?
 
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seats will definitely open up near the test date, a week before people should start dropping like flies.

anyone done self assesment, doing physics right now, and i don't know why i feel on edge, a lot of the passages seem to have information not at all related to questions, i dont know, so nervewracking hope im not like this on test day
 
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