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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[DrDreams]

Damn. Nailing it son.

 

[echoyjeff222]

Anyone else take AAMC 10 today? I went from 37 (12/12/13) on AAMC 9 to 33 (10/10/13) on that bad boy..PS kinda threw me for a loop today

Lolol, I went from a 38 on MCAT 10 (took that before 9) to a 34 on MCAT 9 ...

 

[justadream]

Anyone else take AAMC 10 today? I went from 37 (12/12/13) on AAMC 9 to 33 (10/10/13) on that bad boy..PS kinda threw me for a loop today

Took it yesterday. PS and VR had harsh curves so I wouldn't worry so much.

 

[echoyjeff222]

Off to take cbt 11 today ... last practice test for me, YAY!

Gotta say, I'm a bit nervous after seeing what everyone is posting in the previous sept threads for their mcat days..

 

[justadream]

@echoyjeff222

Let us know if it is really "harder". I did AAMC 10 yesterday and I didn't find it any harder than usual.

 

[organesha]

Took it yesterday. PS and VR had harsh curves so I wouldn't worry so much.

Yeah, just looked at the scale..pretty unforgiving for some reason

 

[echoyjeff222]

Alright, sounds good. So far out of all the tests, 9 was definitely the hardest for me, haha.

 

[echoyjeff222]

@echoyjeff222

Let us know if it is really "harder". I did AAMC 10 yesterday and I didn't find it any harder than usual.

did you say you used kaplan? I forgot. I'm running through some of the section tests right now and I find they're actually kinda helpful, although not really that hard compared to TBR.

 

[justadream]

@echoyjeff222

TPR and TBR. Never tried Kaplan.

 

[786doctor]

So I am taking AAMC 10 right now and got a 10 on PS and VR again. I am on my 10 minute break before BS (I know I shouldn't be online while taking the test but whatever). It's so frustrating. Are these exams getting "tougher" or am I just not making any progress? I got 10 across for AAMC 8 and 9 that I took late last week and early this week. Guess I need to do more intense post-exam reviewing...
I did get on the higher end of a 10 (one question from getting an 11) in PS. Don't know what to do guys.

Also, the curve on AAMC 10 seems to be harsher than the others. Got 9 wrong in PS and got a 10

 

[786doctor]

And got a 10 on BS as well. Raw score was 42/52, again one away from 11! WTH!!!! AHHHHHH. Just got to continue doing practice passages I guess. I am hoping I don't burn out, really starting to be over this thing, but gotta keep my head cool.

EDIT: Just looking back at it now, it was that stupid vole question (which I didn't know the meaning of) that kept me at 10. Hope that doesn't happen on the real thing lol!

 

[DrDreams]

I keep going back and looking at my exams. I realize the thing that keeps holding me back from scoring a 12 in PS and BIO is 1) over analysis of questions riddled with self doubt and 2) coming back to those and analyzing them again (because I marked them). VR is just a crapshoot.

Getting 10/11 in EK book, but 7-10 in AAMC. Everytime there is a stupid poet passage or an art passage. It takes me WAY off my game.

 

[justadream]

And got a 10 on BS as well. Raw score was 42/52, again one away from 11! WTH!!!! AHHHHHH. Just got to continue doing practice passages I guess. I am hoping I don't burn out, really starting to be over this thing, but gotta keep my head cool.

EDIT: Just looking back at it now, it was that stupid vole question (which I didn't know the meaning of) that kept me at 10. Hope that doesn't happen on the real thing lol!

Did you feel like AAMC 10 was tougher? I took it yesterday and I didn't really think so. The curve on PS and VR is definitely less forgiving. I still scored near my AAMC average though.

 

[786doctor]

Did you feel like AAMC 10 was tougher? I took it yesterday and I didn't really think so. The curve on PS and VR is definitely less forgiving. I still scored near my AAMC average though.

Not really, it's about the same as the other ones I've taken. I know a lot of people have been saying that the later ones are tougher, but I haven't noticed it, they're pretty consistent to me. I think what it really comes down to is what the passages are on, like if it targets your weaknesses you're screwed, otherwise you'll be fine.
My AAMC average is 30, only got a 31 once on AAMC 5 and the rest have been 30's. I have to go back and make sure I know all the basics, I'm missing a surprising large amount of "easy" questions that are hurting my scores (I only get around 5% of the "hard" ones wrong, doesn't make sense to me lol) so I'm hoping to really get all the basic equations and stuff memorized asap. Then I'll take AAMC 11 and see how I do. Hopefully its my best, I need the confidence boost lol.

 

[justadream]

Not really, it's about the same as the other ones I've taken. I know a lot of people have been saying that the later ones are tougher, but I haven't noticed it, they're pretty consistent to me. I think what it really comes down to is what the passages are on, like if it targets your weaknesses you're screwed, otherwise you'll be fine.
My AAMC average is 30, only got a 31 once on AAMC 5 and the rest have been 30's. I have to go back and make sure I know all the basics, I'm missing a surprising large amount of "easy" questions that are hurting my scores (I only get around 5% of the "hard" ones wrong, doesn't make sense to me lol) so I'm hoping to really get all the basic equations and stuff memorized asap. Then I'll take AAMC 11 and see how I do. Hopefully its my best, I need the confidence boost lol.

Lol I remember for AAMC 9 (I think) Verbal - which has like 13 or 15 "HARD" questions, I got 100% of the hard questions correct and then like 80% of the medium ones correct and then 50% of the "easy " ones correct.

 

[echoyjeff222]

@echoyjeff222

Let us know if it is really "harder". I did AAMC 10 yesterday and I didn't find it any harder than usual.

HOLY CRAP.

I just finished. Definitely felt MUCH harder than any other practice test I've taken. However, my verbal reasoning score magically went up again, LOL.

Some of the questions in the PS took a freaking crapload of time, and the BS was just ridiculous in terms of analysis / logic. It took soo freaking long. I was actually panicking during PS and hoping I wouldn't run out of time (same with BS) but it was like an emotional roller coaster ride -- there were some really easy giveaways to offset the really tough passages. Maybe it's just because it's the last practice test before the real thing, but there were way more nerves than the previous practice tests (I felt like I was doing the "real" thing ... how i'm going to feel like next thursday >.>)

Good news, though. Somehow I managed to get a 35. (12/11/12 breakdown). So, I dropped roughly one point in both the PS and BS but did better in VR, lol, which made up for it.


Relative to my other tests ... (in the order I took them) ...

3: 32: 11/10/11
4: 37: 12/10/15
5: 37: 14/10/13
7: 34: 13/9/12
8: 36: 13/10/13
10: 38: 13/11/14
9: 34: 13/9/12
11: 35: 12/11/12.

AVG: 35.38. YAY, 35 was my goal from the very beginning, so ... I will be just fine if I get this on the real thing, lol.

DONE WITH PRACTICE TESTS! YAY!!!

Oh, and just some advice concerning next week ... I felt absolutely horrible after finishing this test, but I managed to do alright ... so ... post-test feelings aren't always super accurate

 

[justadream]

HOLY CRAP.

I just finished. Definitely felt MUCH harder than any other practice test I've taken. However, my verbal reasoning score magically went up again, LOL.

Some of the questions in the PS took a freaking crapload of time, and the BS was just ridiculous in terms of analysis / logic. It took soo freaking long. I was actually panicking during PS and hoping I wouldn't run out of time (same with BS) but it was like an emotional roller coaster ride -- there were some really easy giveaways to offset the really tough passages. Maybe it's just because it's the last practice test before the real thing, but there were way more nerves than the previous practice tests (I felt like I was doing the "real" thing ... how i'm going to feel like next thursday >.>)

Good news, though. Somehow I managed to get a 35. (12/11/12 breakdown). So, I dropped roughly one point in both the PS and BS but did better in VR, lol, which made up for it.


Relative to my other tests ... (in the order I took them) ...

3: 32: 11/10/11
4: 37: 12/10/15
5: 37: 14/10/13
7: 34: 13/9/12
8: 36: 13/10/13
10: 38: 13/11/14
9: 34: 13/9/12
11: 35: 12/11/12.

AVG: 35.38. YAY, 35 was my goal from the very beginning, so ... I will be just fine if I get this on the real thing, lol.

DONE WITH PRACTICE TESTS! YAY!!!

Solid performance. You seem to be really consistent. If a few questions go your way on test day, you can be hitting 38+.

But since you say that AAMC 10 was the hardest practice test ever, I guess that means you thought it was harder than AAMC 11?

 

[echoyjeff222]

Solid performance. You seem to be really consistent. If a few questions go your way on test day, you can be hitting 38+.

But since you say that AAMC 10 was the hardest practice test ever, I guess that means you thought it was harder than AAMC 11?

Wait, I said that 10 was the hardest? Where? Lol.

I thought AAMC 10 was one of the easier ones! AAMC 9 was the hard one, but definitely not as hard as this one (overall). Verbal was still the hardest on 9.

 

[786doctor]

HOLY CRAP.

I just finished. Definitely felt MUCH harder than any other practice test I've taken. However, my verbal reasoning score magically went up again, LOL.

Some of the questions in the PS took a freaking crapload of time, and the BS was just ridiculous in terms of analysis / logic. It took soo freaking long. I was actually panicking during PS and hoping I wouldn't run out of time (same with BS) but it was like an emotional roller coaster ride -- there were some really easy giveaways to offset the really tough passages. Maybe it's just because it's the last practice test before the real thing, but there were way more nerves than the previous practice tests (I felt like I was doing the "real" thing ... how i'm going to feel like next thursday >.>)

Good news, though. Somehow I managed to get a 35. (12/11/12 breakdown). So, I dropped roughly one point in both the PS and BS but did better in VR, lol, which made up for it.


Relative to my other tests ... (in the order I took them) ...

3: 32: 11/10/11
4: 37: 12/10/15
5: 37: 14/10/13
7: 34: 13/9/12
8: 36: 13/10/13
10: 38: 13/11/14
9: 34: 13/9/12
11: 35: 12/11/12.

AVG: 35.38. YAY, 35 was my goal from the very beginning, so ... I will be just fine if I get this on the real thing, lol.

DONE WITH PRACTICE TESTS! YAY!!!

Dude you're killing it! Congrats on being done with practice tests. Just gotta get through AAMC 12 in a week lol.

I need to get my PS and BS scores above a 10. Verbal I feel like is too late to do anything about, it is what it is as this point I guess. Just hope I can convince myself to stay interested in the passages and stay focused.

 

[justadream]

Wait, I said that 10 was the hardest? Where? Lol.

I thought AAMC 10 was one of the easier ones! AAMC 9 was the hard one, but definitely not as hard as this one (overall). Verbal was still the hardest on 9.

Lol whoops. I thought you were talking about AAMC 10 - not 11.

Gonna take AAMC 11 tomorrow. Hopefully I don't get exposed too badly.

 

[tcon91]

Lol whoops. I thought you were talking about AAMC 10 - not 11.

Gonna take AAMC 11 tomorrow. Hopefully I don't get exposed too badly.

AAMC 11 ripped me a new one. Bio was more about the passages than my knowledge.

Anyway, good luck! Let us know how it went.

 

[echoyjeff222]

Anyone really hate those detail-oriented scientific passages (dinosaurs and the like?). Man, they are my worst enemy. So many boring details ...

 

[DrDreams]

It's always the poetry ones and the politics ones that get me. I am doing better though. Just not with poetry.

 

[Agobio]

^^ Same here - I typically do worse in the politics/law related passages

 

[echoyjeff222]

It's always the poetry ones and the politics ones that get me. I am doing better though. Just not with poetry.

I'm the exact opposite, haha. I like the humanities/arts type passages. I can get the overall "feel" pretty easily. On the other hand, scouring the entire dinosaur passage for one little detail is not my forte.

 

[justadream]

AAMC 11 ripped me a new one. Bio was more about the passages than my knowledge.

Anyway, good luck! Let us know how it went.

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

 

[DrDreams]

You guys are makin me nervous.... I take it on Tuesday. Taking 9 in 5 minutes.

 

[organesha]

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

Damn. What was so difficult about it? Probing weak areas or just different passage style? Or both?

 

[justadream]

Damn. What was so difficult about it? Probing weak areas or just different passage style? Or both?

Only glanced through my errors.

Verbal I didn't do too well in (as usual).

Got slightly below average for PS (this is like a 1 question difference - not really significant). Finished with ~8 minutes left (usually at 15).

BS I got my lowest score ever. Most of my mistakes were from relatively easy questions. Two of the passages really sucked my time. I usually finish with 15-20 minutes left. Finished here with like 3 and rushed some questions. The "experimental" passages are a time killer.

 

[TheMightyTexan]

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

Its definitely the most different. I changed my approach during the test and was able to manage. I tanked verbal on that one though for some reason. And i totally agree about the current mcat..yikes

 

[DrDreams]

IM on break between PS and VR, and I absolutely hate 9. Its everything I dislike. Optics and waves...

Also I wanted to add, that before the next MCAT I'm going to do about 20 problems, because I need to get into it prior to starting rather than 15 minutes into it My brain turns on.

 

[metall17]

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

Yeah took this one yesterday. Physical my score went down 2 points. Reviewing it was not so much harder, it was just longer and some of the questions were presented in a weird manner. Also made errors on calculations because I was rushing. Bio seemed harder and questions more convoluted. At times thought I would run out of time and then catch up with other passages. The infamous bio passage in this one had me scratching my head. I have one more test AAMC 10 I am finishing up on Sunday, hopefully I will bounce back and gain some momentum. Glad I did AAMC 11 yesterday as others have recommended, so that I am not blindsided by certain questions on the real one. I also notice that I over thought some answers that were just easy in retrospect, thinking that somehow I was tricked and ended up making a simple question harder, ugh I need to stop doing that ish. Tuesday and Wednesday I just plan on relaxing because at this point in studying I am so burnt out. I notice last couple of tests scores dropped some because of burn out. Never thought it was a real thing until now lol. Good luck guys!

 

[tcon91]

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

Friend of mine just took her mcat today and said it there were a couple passages that were even worse than that Ebola passage. That doesn't make me feel too good. On the other hand, there was no organic whats ever today.

 

[tcon91]

Damn. What was so difficult about it? Probing weak areas or just different passage style? Or both?

Different style of bio questions. I suggest taking this test maybe 3 weeks out just because it was such an eye opener. Physical section was more or less what it normally is. Verbal was a pain in the a$$. Bio section suckered punched me in the face. Scored 2 pts lower in that section. I think I could have done better if I new how to manage my time better. I saved number ten for last so maybe I can change the way I approach certain questions.

 

[metall17]

Friend of mine just took her mcat today and said it there were a couple passages that were even worse than that Ebola passage. That doesn't make me feel too good. On the other hand, there was no organic whats ever today.

Maybe that means our test date will have more ochem. Better start popping open that examkrackers ochem review book, ahhhhhhh. lol

 

[echoyjeff222]

@echoyjeff222

Just finished AAMC 11.

Omg....by far the hardest AAMC FL and it's not even close at all.

Scored ~4 points below my AAMC FL average (that's about 2.5 standard deviations)!

Spent too much time on some passages in PS and BS and choked on easy/giveaway questions.

Considering that the real test is harder than AAMC 11...................

Yeah, seems like everyone has the same problems with timing on that test >.> Was that your last practice test before the real thing?

Here's to hoping there's more ochem on the real thing. I just took a whole year's worth of ochem, so ... PLEASE AAMC!

 

[tcon91]

Yeah, seems like everyone has the same problems with timing on that test >.> Was that your last practice test before the real thing?

Here's to hoping there's more ochem on the real thing. I just took a whole year's worth of ochem, so ... PLEASE AAMC!

LOL lets not. I'm okay with little to none o chem. ......Although I'll take an ochem passage over an Ebolaesque one.

 

[echoyjeff222]

LOL lets not. I'm okay with little to none o chem. ......Although I'll take an ochem passage over an Ebolaesque one.

Hehe, we shall see!

I'm putting off reviewing bio from AAMC 11 ... I'm beginning to feel lazy now that there's only a week left till the real thing, hahaha.

 

[organesha]

Different style of bio questions. I suggest taking this test maybe 3 weeks out just because it was such an eye opener. Physical section was more or less what it normally is. Verbal was a pain in the a$$. Bio section suckered punched me in the face. Scored 2 pts lower in that section. I think I could have done better if I new how to manage my time better. I saved number ten for last so maybe I can change the way I approach certain questions.

Good thing I'm taking it four days before the real deal, then . Have any of you guys been using the Official Guide to the MCAT from AAMC? I've been doing some of the passages out of it recently. I wouldn't say they're more or less difficult than the FLs I've taken per se, but the style is definitely distinct...I'm thinking (hoping) more along the lines of the current iteration of the test.

 

[echoyjeff222]

I am planning to do the bio, phys, and gen chem sections this week. I did the ochem and verbal back a month or two ago and yes, they are different! I thought they were from more recent tests ...

 

[tcon91]

Good thing I'm taking it four days before the real deal, then . Have any of you guys been using the Official Guide to the MCAT from AAMC? I've been doing some of the passages out of it recently. I wouldn't say they're more or less difficult than the FLs I've taken per se, but the style is definitely distinct...I'm thinking (hoping) more along the lines of the current iteration of the test.

Good thing you reminded me. I have it. I only used it for verbal. Gotta break that bad boy out again asap!

 

[echoyjeff222]

TBR is starting to annoy me. Half of their answers seem to be "D," forcing you to go through all the hard work of trying out the other answers >.>

 

[DrDreams]

How bad would it be, if I took the MCAT without taking 11 and took 10 on Tuesday instead?

 

[echoyjeff222]

Well you'd probably go into the MCAT a bit more confident but a bit more ignorant I guess it depends on your outlook, haha. Ignorance is bliss? (Don't know why I used that smiley)

 

[tcon91]

^ I agree.
11 will prob hurt your confidence a little (or not, but generally it does). It was a good learning experience for me. I also haven't taken ten yet so I don't what that test is like.

 

[FireRedYoshi]

How bad would it be, if I took the MCAT without taking 11 and took 10 on Tuesday instead?

Hey,
I thought both 10 and 11 are considered to be good representative of the MCAT (I have written twice). If you only plan on doing 10, perhaps you would like to review only the biological sciences section of 11 if you still have time, it'd be good for learning and interpreting experimental passages.

 

[justadream]

Yeah, seems like everyone has the same problems with timing on that test >.> Was that your last practice test before the real thing?

Here's to hoping there's more ochem on the real thing. I just took a whole year's worth of ochem, so ... PLEASE AAMC!

Yep, that was my last practice test.

AAMC 11 has destroyed my confidence. Ignorance is bliss. lol

That being said, Ebola passage wasn't THAT bad. If I had the option of 7 Ebola-like passages instead of the VR section, I'd take Ebola anyday, everyday, without a second thought.

 

[F#&$#^&&@theMCAT]

Hey all I'm a 9-12 test taker (took it today). Don't feel good at all about it. Expect heavy experimental passages like the Ebola one (even harder). If you got through the Ebola one just fine you'll be okay. There were also a lot of detailed facts for the discrete. No way to study for those it's either you know it or u don't.

VR had the same types of questions id say but the passages were a lot a lot longer and dense.

PS was around the same as the Aamc exams just a bit more challenging.

Good luck to you guys you guys are going to do great believe in yourself and your halfway there!!!

 

[DrDreams]

YAY! I got a 30 on 9. BUT i think its an unbalanced score.

11/7/12 how would that look to DO schools?

Thank the lord i have a good upward trend. I got a 23 on 4. Never take the MCAT when you wake up late, and don't have a good breakfast.

But I will admit, I had to take an emergency bathroom break at 12 minutes left for VR. I thought I did better in VR, but the last 2 passages ate my face. They were artsy.
out of the 19 questions I missed on verbal, I went back and changed 10 from the correct answer to the wrong answer... *face slap* my wife told me not to do that.

ALSO DMAE was making me jittery.

 

[DrDreams]

Hey,
I thought both 10 and 11 are considered to be good representative of the MCAT (I have written twice). If you only plan on doing 10, perhaps you would like to review only the biological sciences section of 11 if you still have time, it'd be good for learning and interpreting experimental passages.

Thanks FireRedYoshi,

I struggle with self confidence the most. I know more than I think I know... but if 11 is going to destroy me, I'm not sure what to do.