The Official September 4, 2014 MCAT Thread

[Asiandoodle]

Anyone taking on september 4th?

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[BrothaX]

Yes the curve is predetermined but if they are giving you a bunch of easy passages it's gonna take a higher raw score to the reach the same scaled score. I though PS was challenging cause it was so conceptual. BS was sorta straightforward which is the most worrying thing for me. And VR had zero challenging passages IMO (compared to previous ammc and TPR exams). I am worried that the curve will suck for both bio and vr.

 

[BrothaX]

I don't remember if it was here or in reddit but yeah everyone sorta was saying they thought it was an easy administration. I personally know it could have been harder but Like I've said before: the fact that a lot of passages were straight forward is worrying more than anything.

 

[omegaz]

I can't believe neurotic premeds here are complaining because they thought the exam was easy.

 

[dannyboy71086]

I don't remember if it was here or in reddit but yeah everyone sorta was saying they thought it was an easy administration. I personally know it could have been harder but Like I've said before: the fact that a lot of passages were straight forward is worrying more than anything.

Hmm, saw nothing on Reddit......

 

[BrothaX]

I can't believe neurotic premeds here are complaining because they thought the exam was easy.

If you got anything out of my post you should've understood that I would have preferred to have felt ****ty afterwards than than to feel like it was manageable. Each person has their own indicators as to what has led to success on exams in the past. Don't get all b&@&$y cause you felt a certain way after getting out of your test.

This is an open forum no one asked you to subscribe.

 

[hv92]

Well...

That escalated quickly...

 

[PKU]

Hey let's not attack each other.

Some thought the test was okay, others thought it was hard.

Everyone's different, let's respect that.

 

[omegaz]

If you got anything out of my post you should've understood that I would have preferred to have felt ****ty afterwards than than to feel like it was manageable. Each person has their own indicators as to what has lead to success on exams in the past. Don't get all b&@&$y cause you felt a certain way after getting out of your test.

This is an open forum no one asked you to subscribe.

I'm just saying if you found the exam to be easy then great! You should be celebrating instead of complaining. If you complain that the exam was too easy how would that make others who found the exam to be hard feel? This an open forum and we're all anonymous, but please try to be more considerate of others. You're going to be a doctor after all.

 

[dannyboy71086]

I'm just saying if you found the exam to be easy then great! You should be celebrating instead of complaining. If you complain that the exam was too easy how would that make others who found the exam to be hard feel? This an open forum and we're all anonymous, but please try to be more considerate of others. You're going to be a doctor after all.

I feel what you're saying but I think BrothaX is trying to say that an easier test means a harder scale...so it takes more correct answers to get a better score. I don't think he's intending to put anyone down...

 

[omegaz]

I feel what you're saying but I think BrothaX is trying to say that an easier test means a harder scale...so it takes more correct answers to get a better score. I don't think he's intending to put anyone down...

Like most MCAT, some thought this one was hard some thought it was easy. AAMC won't have a harder scale just because he thought it was easy for him.

 

[Sir T]

So, what did people do to celebrate finishing your MCAT?

 

[dannyboy71086]

So, what did people do to celebrate finishing your MCAT?

Went on SDN, lol

 

[BrothaX]

Like most MCAT, some thought this one was hard some thought it was easy. AAMC won't have a harder scale just because he thought it was easy for him.

So, what did people do to celebrate finishing your MCAT?

Yeah sorry omegaz if you took it the wrong way but I am just worried that its gonna be tough to get a high score.

Also I want to clarify that I didn't think it was easy. I though it was on par with previous AAMC material. I think their material is always challenging. However, when they give a harder real mcat section I feel they scale it nicer.

As for what I did for fun, I've just chilled with friends and tried to go out more. However the semester is picking up so I think my free time will be less looking forward.

Have you guys been able to stop thinking about it?

I tried to not come on SDN at first but then I realized that I like being able to talk to you guys about it and still keep it real. When I talk to other people they are always just like 'I'm sure you did well' and then I can't talk about the details cause they just don't get the struggle.

 

[dannyboy71086]

Yeah sorry omegaz if you took it the wrong way but I am just worried that its gonna be tough to get a high score.

Also I want to clarify that I didn't think it was easy. I though it was on par with previous AAMC material. I think their material is always challenging. However, when they give a harder real mcat section I feel they scale it nicer.

As for what I did for fun, I've just chilled with friends and tried to go out more. However the semester is picking up so I think my free time will be less looking forward.

Have you guys been able to stop thinking about it?

I tried to not come on SDN at first but then I realized that I like being able to talk to you guys about it and still keep it real. When I talk to other people they are always just like 'I'm sure you did well' and then I can't talk about the details cause they just don't get the struggle.

I agree...it's really nice to be able to talk about this. I don't really have the opportunity to talk about this with other folks given that I'm non-trad, graduated in 2008 and then 2010 with my masters, worked for a few years, finished up some pre-reqs, then left a career this past Feb. Wish I was back in school! Would definitely make it easier to get this off my mind.

 

[likewhat]

Hi everyone! I am a long time lurker on sdn (since freshman year) and now I'm a senior. This was my second time taking the exam. So I'm really hoping that my hand was guided to all the correct answers necessary for a good score. I really tried my best and tried to fix my mistakes. Hopefully, my efforts pay off this time. Good luck to everyone who took the test on the 4th. I hope we all get into the schools we want whether we are applying this cycle or next. by the way, who is applying this cycle? If yes, what are our chances of getting accepted this late into the cycle?

 

[dannyboy71086]

Hi everyone! I am a long time lurker on sdn (since freshman year) and now I'm a senior. This was my second time taking the exam. So I'm really hoping that my hand was guided to all the correct answers necessary for a good score. I really tried my best and tried to fix my mistakes. Hopefully, my efforts pay off this time. Good luck to everyone who took the test on the 4th. I hope we all get into the schools we want whether we are applying this cycle or next. by the way, who is applying this cycle? If yes, what are our chances of getting accepted this late into the cycle?

Good luck! What did you think about this test compared to your first one? On par with AMCAS practice tests? Timing?

As far as the cycle, I applied to 3 schools in late July for the sole reason of getting my app verified. Reason being is that most posts I have read say that submitting an app for verification in September is a bad idea...I think a med school consultant posted it was "the kiss of death". HOWEVER, I do know one person that submitted an app very late and got into a SUNY school; she had very good MCAT scores.

So I guess it all depends on how strong of an applicant you are! Good luck!

 

[dannyboy71086]

Good luck! What did you think about this test compared to your first one? On par with AMCAS practice tests? Timing?

As far as the cycle, I applied to 3 schools in late July for the sole reason of getting my app verified. Reason being is that most posts I have read say that submitting an app for verification in September is a bad idea...I think a med school consultant posted it was "the kiss of death". HOWEVER, I do know one person that submitted an app very late and got into a SUNY school; she had very good MCAT scores.

So I guess it all depends on how strong of an applicant you are! Good luck!

Also, here is a great document from the AAMC on "Using MCAT Data in Medical Student Selection"

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/267622/data/mcatstudentselectionguide.pdf

 

[likewhat]

Good luck! What did you think about this test compared to your first one? On par with AMCAS practice tests? Timing?

As far as the cycle, I applied to 3 schools in late July for the sole reason of getting my app verified. Reason being is that most posts I have read say that submitting an app for verification in September is a bad idea...I think a med school consultant posted it was "the kiss of death". HOWEVER, I do know one person that submitted an app very late and got into a SUNY school; she had very good MCAT scores.

So I guess it all depends on how strong of an applicant you are! Good luck!

I actually got verified in june and applied to a couple of schools as well. Thank goodness we both avoided the kiss of death! I guess we should just hope for an awesome score, and hopefully we will get in. Thanks for the advice.

 

[likewhat]

Good luck! What did you think about this test compared to your first one? On par with AMCAS practice tests? Timing?

As far as the cycle, I applied to 3 schools in late July for the sole reason of getting my app verified. Reason being is that most posts I have read say that submitting an app for verification in September is a bad idea...I think a med school consultant posted it was "the kiss of death". HOWEVER, I do know one person that submitted an app very late and got into a SUNY school; she had very good MCAT scores.

So I guess it all depends on how strong of an applicant you are! Good luck!

i never answered the first part of your question. After completing the first one, I couldn't really recall most of the information. But sitting in the second time, I remembered a lot more as I walked out of the building. I felt more confident the second time as well. The first one seemed to have more abstract passages and ideas that completely threw me off guard but as I was studying for the second time, I realized the AMCAS practice exams also contained some pretty abstract ideas but I never focused too much on them and just went with my gut feelings. I should have done that during my first Test Day. Oh well. I learned my lesson and applied my knowledge the second time.

The first time, I scored 4 points below my AMCAS practice exams. Hopefully this time, I'll score on par or above.

 

[likewhat]

Just from my personal experience (and from friends and family members) taking the MCAT twice, usually the MCAT is curved such that the PS section is highly curved (my brother and I got over 11 while guessing at least on 12+ questions), the BS section is not curved much and the verbal section usually curves down or not by much (that's why much individuals with 35+ MCAT scores usually never break 12 on the verbal section).

When you say "guess," do you mean randomly selecting an answer? Or are you referring you eliminated the obviously wrong choices or going with your gut?

 

[kakashi1]

I think it is assigned randomly but that is an interesting thought..

This is going to be the longest wait ever... I haven't gone a day without thinking about the test.

I just wanted to talk about this for a minute, i took the exam on sept 4th as well. Bio and VR was very easy. PS was so so. However, this is my second time taking it..i took it in april. In april, i got the psychology trial.....when i got my score...VR was the highest score I got. This time, I thought VR was really really good ..and guess what? I got psychology again in the trial section. Coincidence? What did you get?

 

[BrothaX]

I just wanted to talk about this for a minute, i took the exam on sept 4th as well. Bio and VR was very easy. PS was so so. However, this is my second time taking it..i took it in april. In april, i got the psychology trial.....when i got my score...VR was the highest score I got. This time, I thought VR was really really good ..and guess what? I got psychology again in the trial section. Coincidence? What did you get?

I also got the psychology trial section. It was a lot of theories, anatomy of the brain, and critical extrapolation from the passage.

Now, are you insinuating that depending on what section you do well on they assign your trial section??? I never got above an 11 on any of my AAMC practice exams in VR, i usually did better in PS and BS, with BS being my strongest section. However, i did feel as though the VR passages were manageable compared to the TPR practice passages i was doing the days before the mcat.

But if they do assign your trial section accordingly, doesnt that mean they litteraly generate your score the second you choose to have it scored?? I know that people that void can't take the trial section.. Maybe your onto something @kakashi1

 

[swiftaspirations]

I just wanted to talk about this for a minute, i took the exam on sept 4th as well. Bio and VR was very easy. PS was so so. However, this is my second time taking it..i took it in april. In april, i got the psychology trial.....when i got my score...VR was the highest score I got. This time, I thought VR was really really good ..and guess what? I got psychology again in the trial section. Coincidence? What did you get?

Wow that is actually incredibly insightful. That would definitely provide them with a much better predictive value. If a person is good at PS and bio on this mcat but they bomb the biochem trial section there might be something wrong.

 

[likewhat]

I just wanted to talk about this for a minute, i took the exam on sept 4th as well. Bio and VR was very easy. PS was so so. However, this is my second time taking it..i took it in april. In april, i got the psychology trial.....when i got my score...VR was the highest score I got. This time, I thought VR was really really good ..and guess what? I got psychology again in the trial section. Coincidence? What did you get?

My hypothesis is that they base which trial section you get based on which classes you have taken. I have taken biochem and got the biochem trial section both times I took the MCAT. But then again, my bio score was the highest the first time I took it.

 

[BrothaX]

My hypothesis is that they base which trial section you get based on which classes you have taken. I have taken biochem and got the biochem trial section both times I took the MCAT. But then again, my bio score was the highest the first time I took it.

I just asked a friend who took the august 15th test and he got the psych/sociology section even though bio was his highest score. So they have to base it off something else (maybe classes) or it just is actually random.

 

[dannyboy71086]

Anyone get the $30 Amazon card yet?

 

[dannyboy71086]

I also got the psychology trial section. It was a lot of theories, anatomy of the brain, and critical extrapolation from the passage.

Now, are you insinuating that depending on what section you do well on they assign your trial section??? I never got above an 11 on any of my AAMC practice exams in VR, i usually did better in PS and BS, with BS being my strongest section. However, i did feel as though the VR passages were manageable compared to the TPR practice passages i was doing the days before the mcat.

But if they do assign your trial section accordingly, doesnt that mean they litteraly generate your score the second you choose to have it scored?? I know that people that void can't take the trial section.. Maybe your onto something @kakashi1

Re the score generation hypothesis of your post (although per below it seems to be random). I have read that this is true. Your score is already determined for the most part, the month that follows is essentially a minor adjustment to scores and re-grades.

 

[BrothaX]

Anyone get the $30 Amazon card yet?

I believe we get them the 25th when we get our trial score back.

 

[kayate]

anyone know when we get the amazon gift card???

 

[kelminak]

anyone know when we get the amazon gift card???

Now!!! I just got mine in my email!

 

[Sir T]

Woo! The best part of taking the MCAT, the $30. My oh my what am I going to buy with all this money?!

 

[polyeraser]

long time lurker...

Post-exam feelings (right after):
AAMC average of 39
PS: definitely harder than AAMC, but a lot of questions were reasonable and found in passage. There was like 2 passages on a single topic though...Some figures were outlandish. I have no idea how this will be. Hoping for a lenient curve.
VR: probably the hardest section...Not sure how people found this easy. The passages were easy to read except one of them, but the questions were absurdly more vague than AAMC that I had to guess on 4-5 questions with 50/50 and just went with intuition... Usually I score 11-14 on AAMC with average of 12, but this could be a sub-10. I do agree with the much longer passages. And during the test, I realized that they have a citation for the passage source at the bottom. One of the passages was written by an UNDERGRAD. How awkward would it be to see something you or your friend wrote on the verbal section?
BS: easier than AAMC in some ways. There were a lot of physiology and passage questions without prior knowledge. Some of the answers felt uncomfortable, because they were exceptions to what you would expect. I definitely got 1 discrete wrong. Orgo was really easy too that you could answer questions without reading the passage and just from the diagram. The curve will be bad for this...I am expecting anywhere from 11-14.

Now I feel like I got a 27...(10, 7, 10)

Trial: Guessed randomly on biochem in 10 min for a 50%, top quarter. Can't complain since I got my gift card. I feel really bad for the 2015 people...Really hope I don't have to take the new one.

 

[Asiandoodle]

long time lurker...

Post-exam feelings (right after):
AAMC average of 39
PS: definitely harder than AAMC, but a lot of questions were reasonable and found in passage. There was like 2 passages on a single topic though...Some figures were outlandish. I have no idea how this will be. Hoping for a lenient curve.
VR: probably the hardest section...Not sure how people found this easy. The passages were easy to read except one of them, but the questions were absurdly more vague than AAMC that I had to guess on 4-5 questions with 50/50 and just went with intuition... Usually I score 11-14 on AAMC with average of 12, but this could be a sub-10. I do agree with the much longer passages. And during the test, I realized that they have a citation for the passage source at the bottom. One of the passages was written by an UNDERGRAD. How awkward would it be to see something you or your friend wrote on the verbal section?
BS: easier than AAMC in some ways. There were a lot of physiology and passage questions without prior knowledge. Some of the answers felt uncomfortable, because they were exceptions to what you would expect. I definitely got 1 discrete wrong. Orgo was really easy too that you could answer questions without reading the passage and just from the diagram. The curve will be bad for this...I am expecting anywhere from 11-14.

Now I feel like I got a 27...(10, 7, 10)

Trial: Guessed randomly on biochem in 10 min for a 50%, top quarter. Can't complain since I got my gift card. I feel really bad for the 2015 people...Really hope I don't have to take the new one.

Nice! I had biochem as well and I got 50% and top quarter as well lol.

And I defiitely agree with your impression of BS and PS

 

[rican18]

$30 gift card hello! By my dear god I did absolutely awful on the trial section. I know there's no correlation but what a total mood killer. I guess I now have $30 to buy something!

 

[BrothaX]

Lol i feel like i should buy something that will last a while cause then i can feel like i at least got something out this whole experience..

Do you guys know if differentiate between anything higher than top quarter? Like do they tell people that they made it top 10% or 15%?

Also @polyeraser has me worried now lol .. but at this point i really cant remember anything about the test so I'm just hoping that the +/- 2 from the AAMC average holds true

 

[kelminak]

long time lurker...

Post-exam feelings (right after):
AAMC average of 39
PS: definitely harder than AAMC, but a lot of questions were reasonable and found in passage. There was like 2 passages on a single topic though...Some figures were outlandish. I have no idea how this will be. Hoping for a lenient curve.
VR: probably the hardest section...Not sure how people found this easy. The passages were easy to read except one of them, but the questions were absurdly more vague than AAMC that I had to guess on 4-5 questions with 50/50 and just went with intuition... Usually I score 11-14 on AAMC with average of 12, but this could be a sub-10. I do agree with the much longer passages. And during the test, I realized that they have a citation for the passage source at the bottom. One of the passages was written by an UNDERGRAD. How awkward would it be to see something you or your friend wrote on the verbal section?
BS: easier than AAMC in some ways. There were a lot of physiology and passage questions without prior knowledge. Some of the answers felt uncomfortable, because they were exceptions to what you would expect. I definitely got 1 discrete wrong. Orgo was really easy too that you could answer questions without reading the passage and just from the diagram. The curve will be bad for this...I am expecting anywhere from 11-14.

Now I feel like I got a 27...(10, 7, 10)

Trial: Guessed randomly on biochem in 10 min for a 50%, top quarter. Can't complain since I got my gift card. I feel really bad for the 2015 people...Really hope I don't have to take the new one.

I would give yourself a better chance than that. If you really had an AAMC average of 39, it is SUPER RARE for someone to tank 10 points. A couple points from your average each time is much more time in either direction, so I'm going to bank on you at least getting over a 35.

Lol i feel like i should buy something that will last a while cause then i can feel like i at least got something out this whole experience..

Do you guys know if differentiate between anything higher than top quarter? Like do they tell people that they made it top 10% or 15%?

Also @polyeraser has me worried now lol .. but at this point i really cant remember anything about the test so I'm just hoping that the +/- 2 from the AAMC average holds true

Top quarter? Lmao I only got top half but I wasn't really trying at that point since I just wanted to take the money and run.

 

[PKU]

Are the emails sent to everyone roughly the same time?

I didn't get the trial section score or my code.

 

[kelminak]

Are the emails sent to everyone roughly the same time?

I didn't get the trial section score or my code.

Everyone else seems to have got theirs at this point... are you checking the right email? Spam folder? Honestly, I wouldn't fret if you haven't received the email yet. They could easily be doing it in chunks.

 

[PKU]

Everyone else seems to have got theirs at this point... are you checking the right email? Spam folder? Honestly, I wouldn't fret if you haven't received the email yet. They could easily be doing it in chunks.

Yeah checked spam as well. Hopefully it's in chunks, or maybe I scored so bad on the trial that their doubting if I'm a premed.

 

[rican18]

Yeah checked spam as well. Hopefully it's in chunks, or maybe I scored so bad on the trial that their doubting if I'm a premed.

Highly doubt you did worse than me and I got an email. I've heard people having trouble with getting the email. Wait it out a bit or email AAMC to figure it out

 

[PKU]

Anyone else not get the email yet?

 

[bararaboi]

Never got it yet.

 

[QueenJames]

Haven't received it yet. What state y'all in? I'm on the West coast. Maybe it's a regional thing

 

[bararaboi]

I'm on the East Coast.

 

[likewhat]

East coast and received at 9:42am

 

[kakashi1]

ummmm...so its def 9:08 pm on the east code and i aint receive shizzle! I want my gift card dam it!

 

[kakashi1]

Yeah checked spam as well. Hopefully it's in chunks, or maybe I scored so bad on the trial that their doubting if I'm a premed.

I havent received mine either and its making me nervous. I just received an email from St. Georges University tho, stating I was accepted based on my crappy MCAT score in april. Silver lining maybe? I would have rathered the gift card email!

 

[markymark71990]

I also got the psychology trial section. It was a lot of theories, anatomy of the brain, and critical extrapolation from the passage.

Now, are you insinuating that depending on what section you do well on they assign your trial section??? I never got above an 11 on any of my AAMC practice exams in VR, i usually did better in PS and BS, with BS being my strongest section. However, i did feel as though the VR passages were manageable compared to the TPR practice passages i was doing the days before the mcat.

But if they do assign your trial section accordingly, doesnt that mean they litteraly generate your score the second you choose to have it scored?? I know that people that void can't take the trial section.. Maybe your onto something @kakashi1

haha damn well i hope so cause the first time i took MCAT i got 11 in PS 10 BS and 7 in VR and got mostly biochem and some sociology/psychology.. this time i got all psych... i always thought it was based upon what classes you said you have taken when you registered but idk....

 

[QueenJames]

Anybody else get gift card yet? I've been checking my inbox and junk e-mail and lemme tell ya... It's getting really annoying seeing these "INCREASE YOUR PENIS SIZE!" and messages from some chick named Adriana telling me she likes drinking and having fun and wants to meet me and keeps referring to me as a "sexy beast".

COME ON AAMC!

 

[likewhat]

Little over a week left...