EK 1001 Progresses

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How are you guys doing on the EK 1001's? I've done around 400 problems on the OChem 1001 and 100 problems for physics, and I must say I am quite burned out. I haven't even touched the gen. chem or the bio.

It takes me around 3 hours to do and review 100 problems. I am planning on knocking these books out in the next two weeks before school starts again. I would review like everyone else, but I am not a very focused person... so I have to do the actual problems in order to learn the material.

Anyway, I just wanted to get feedback from people who are in similar situations- grinding through the EK's and all. :thumbup:
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Hey dude, i'm doing the EK1001 too... but I always get distracted while trying to do a whole chapter

Let's post our progresses so I could have some motivation ... I hope to get alot done by Jan 7th (start of school)

Bio: did 2 chapters
Physics: 3 chapters
G-chem: in the process of 2nd chapter (getting distracted, as you can see)
O-chem: none yet
 
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Dang that's a lot dude... how long have you been doing those? How long do you spend on each chapter? And when are you taking the test? I started like last week, and I am planning on taking the test on April 19th. My progress so far is:

Bio: None
Physics: ~1 Chapter (~90% correct)
G-chem: None
O-chem: ~2 Chapters (~90% correct. Loooooong Chapters. I think each chapter has like 250 problems.)

I gotta start hitting Bio and Gen. Chem. I am weak on Bio, so I really need work on that. Anyway, nice to know I have people to get through the process with :)
 
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To add to the neuroticism, what % of the questions are you getting right for each section???

Back to G. Chem.... :)
 
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hey all i'm in the same boat.

gen chem is hittin me hard tho (damn freshman year didn't really learn it well)
 
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Out of curiosity did you guys also get the 7th ed. EK MCAT books? I'm going to get the EK 1001's for sure but I'm debating whether or not I should get the MCAT books as well-- and thoughts/opinions on them?
 
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I got the 7th edition MCAT lectures. They're great for reviewing material, and since I really have a bad background in the material, I started reviewing the material from the books.
 
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flyingesquino said:
Out of curiosity did you guys also get the 7th ed. EK MCAT books? I'm going to get the EK 1001's for sure but I'm debating whether or not I should get the MCAT books as well-- and thoughts/opinions on them?
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No hijacking please :)

Otherwise, please post your progresses:thumbup:
 
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Update:

Bio: None
Physics: 1 Chapter (~90% correct)
G-chem: 1 Chapter (88%)
O-chem: ~2 Chapters (~90%)

So basically, I got one chapter of Gen Chem done last night (~150 questions). It sounds like a lot, but it's just the beginning... so the material is pretty straightforward. I should be doing these problems faster, but doing all these problems can be really grueling. Anyone else on the same boat??
 
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I'm working the chem, physics, and bio books as well. It is time consuming no doubt. I have gotten faster at just working some of the problems in my head and even beng able to reduce the answer choices to two. I tend to work more problems if I am getting them wrong. If I'm doing well, I start skipping around to pick up the pace. It's the problems I get wrong that help the most.
 
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Alright! Other folks to motivate me.. damn, these books are taking a long time :p

Ochem- my fav ones of the bunch.. these are actually somewhat fun to go through. I've done the first 2 chapters mostly (~500 problems)... about 90% accuracy. Will wait until organic II next semester before going through the rest.

Physics- 2nd fav, have done ~150 problems, about same accuracy as o-chem ~90%. I think these problems are the most straightforward of all the subjects.

Chemistry- Oh Dear God. Let's see.. I've done ~200 problems, but my accuracy is like 50%! Granted, I started with thermo stuff (since we were studying it in physics I, bizarrely enough), and the whole internal energy thing was just so tricky the way EK writes about it. Then I tackled ch. 2 with gases, kinetics, equilibrium... it is just soooo insanely boring and I'm getting so many of these wrong.

Is it just me? Which one is most difficult for you guys? I guess it may be because I took gen chem ages ago... but I remember not really liking it much back when I took it either :laugh:. I did alright... but o-chem just makes so much more sense and requires more reasoning instead of memorization.

Anyway, keep the updates coming guys! It helps to have some motivation to keep going... ideally, I'd like to do them all.
 
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unsung said:
Alright! Other folks to motivate me.. damn, these books are taking a long time :p

Ochem- my fav ones of the bunch.. these are actually somewhat fun to go through. I've done the first 2 chapters mostly (~500 problems)... about 90% accuracy. Will wait until organic II next semester before going through the rest.

Physics- 2nd fav, have done ~150 problems, about same accuracy as o-chem ~90%. I think these problems are the most straightforward of all the subjects.

Chemistry- Oh Dear God. Let's see.. I've done ~200 problems, but my accuracy is like 50%! Granted, I started with thermo stuff (since we were studying it in physics I, bizarrely enough), and the whole internal energy thing was just so tricky the way EK writes about it. Then I tackled ch. 2 with gases, kinetics, equilibrium... it is just soooo insanely boring and I'm getting so many of these wrong.

Is it just me? Which one is most difficult for you guys? I guess it may be because I took gen chem ages ago... but I remember not really liking it much back when I took it either :laugh:. I did alright... but o-chem just makes so much more sense and requires more reasoning instead of memorization.

Anyway, keep the updates coming guys! It helps to have some motivation to keep going... ideally, I'd like to do them all.
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Wow, you are a beast. I had to lay off EK 1001's today, because I am just so pissed off from studying for the MCAT all the time. I will have to pick up the pace tomorrow.

As for the orders, I couldn't agree with you more. I really enjoy doing the OChem, and it's the easiest of the bunch. Physics is also pretty straightforward and not too terribly difficult. As for the G. Chem, I only did the first chapter, and it was alright. Still getting around ~90% on it, but I imagine it will get harder with thermo and gases.

Overall, I think you are doing fine. When are you taking the MCAT?
 
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tdjn said:
Wow, you are a beast. I had to lay off EK 1001's today, because I am just so pissed off from studying for the MCAT all the time. I will have to pick up the pace tomorrow.

As for the orders, I couldn't agree with you more. I really enjoy doing the OChem, and it's the easiest of the bunch. Physics is also pretty straightforward and not too terribly difficult. As for the G. Chem, I only did the first chapter, and it was alright. Still getting around ~90% on it, but I imagine it will get harder with thermo and gases.

Overall, I think you are doing fine. When are you taking the MCAT?
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Alright, another day another day of EK :sleep:.

I'm taking it (now don't laugh) either in June or July... y'all are going to think I'm crazy for starting to study so "early". But in truth, I don't know whether I'll have any time to actually full-time study for this beast... it's back to school soon, and then there's work. So... I'm hoping to murder as much of this EK stuff as I can stand before all that :hardy:

Time to tackle rest of chapter 2!
 
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Hi there,

I am taking the Jan MCAT. I have started the Ek 1001 series.
I have completed about 500 questions for physics and gchem. I bought the books online and my books were copy righted at 2003. I was just wondering if you guys knew if the book is outdated. My physics EK1001 was published 2003 and my gchem was published was 2005. My bio EK1001 was out 2005 and verbal 101 was out 2005. Do you guys know if they updated the books or is it just the same thing?
The physics EK1001 doesn't have a chapter for thermo which is kind of weird for me.(granted they have a thermo section in gchem 1001.)

It would be great if you guys can let me know if I should get new books or just stick with the older editions.
 
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I tried doing the 1001 problems but got burned so I just did every other problem or every 3rd. After awhile, I just started only practicing my weak spots.

The best 1001 books are the verbal and biology books. You should make sure that you go through these two.
 
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ratherberocking said:
I got the 7th edition MCAT lectures. They're great for reviewing material, and since I really have a bad background in the material, I started reviewing the material from the books.
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Is this the one in the "comprehensive package", or something to that effect, from the EK Web site? I think I just bought this, too, but it hasn't arrived yet.
 
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TonEBP said:
Hi there,

I am taking the Jan MCAT. I have started the Ek 1001 series.
I have completed about 500 questions for physics and gchem. I bought the books online and my books were copy righted at 2003. I was just wondering if you guys knew if the book is outdated. My physics EK1001 was published 2003 and my gchem was published was 2005. My bio EK1001 was out 2005 and verbal 101 was out 2005. Do you guys know if they updated the books or is it just the same thing?
The physics EK1001 doesn't have a chapter for thermo which is kind of weird for me.(granted they have a thermo section in gchem 1001.)

It would be great if you guys can let me know if I should get new books or just stick with the older editions.
Click to expand...

I think older editions are fine... it'd probably be too late anyways to buy the new ones and do them all over again. But I am sure the only difference between the two are minor spelling errors and such... that's what I've been hearing from other people on SDN.

theunremarkable said:
I tried doing the 1001 problems but got burned so I just did every other problem or every 3rd. After awhile, I just started only practicing my weak spots.

The best 1001 books are the verbal and biology books. You should make sure that you go through these two.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice :) It looks like everything turned out well for you! Congrats :thumbup:
 
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I finished the whole EK 1001 Biology book with an exception to the Cellular Respiration. I found that the EK 1001 Bio is relatively easy compared to the AAMC tests; however people on the board think the opposite. I can do a whole section, and miss may 10 - 15 questions. Remember, each chapter has around 100 questions.

However, with the AAMC, in a whole Bio/Orgo section, I may get 10 - 15 right. Just doesn't make sense.
 
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Ok, so I am busily doing all the problems from EK1001. And I just realized that my orgo 1001 book is printed wrong. For some reason I have duplicate pages from 30-60 and I am missing the whole pages between 61-93!!!
I bought the book through ebay so when I called EK they told me that I have to go through my buyer and go through the replacement process.
I am taking the mcat in January and I have a feeling that this whole process is going to take forever.
Anyone have any advice?? I don't feel like buying the whole book again....

I wonder if someone can make the copies of those pages and mail it to me and I can pay them whatever it costs...
I shouldn't freak out but for some reason I am just pissed and a bit lost on what to do.
Let me know if you guys have any good idea.
 
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Jonari said:
I finished the whole EK 1001 Biology book with an exception to the Cellular Respiration. I found that the EK 1001 Bio is relatively easy compared to the AAMC tests; however people on the board think the opposite. I can do a whole section, and miss may 10 - 15 questions. Remember, each chapter has around 100 questions.

However, with the AAMC, in a whole Bio/Orgo section, I may get 10 - 15 right. Just doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

I am sure you get more than 10-15 right on the AAMC Bio section...

TonEBP said:
Ok, so I am busily doing all the problems from EK1001. And I just realized that my orgo 1001 book is printed wrong. For some reason I have duplicate pages from 30-60 and I am missing the whole pages between 61-93!!!
I bought the book through ebay so when I called EK they told me that I have to go through my buyer and go through the replacement process.
I am taking the mcat in January and I have a feeling that this whole process is going to take forever.
Anyone have any advice?? I don't feel like buying the whole book again....

I wonder if someone can make the copies of those pages and mail it to me and I can pay them whatever it costs...
I shouldn't freak out but for some reason I am just pissed and a bit lost on what to do.
Let me know if you guys have any good idea.
Click to expand...

You should just buy the book again. It will be a lot faster and save you time. The book itself is only 20-30bucks.
 
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-bump-

How are you guys doing? Slugging through this stuff is getting tough :p
Worked on physics past wk or so, finished ch. 3 & ch. 5 (fluid mech stuff). Still trying to troubleshoot some questions I got wrong but can't figure out how... that's what's taking the longest in this whole process.
 
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wow I haven't really touched EK's for good 2-3 weeks. I just started school.. and it's been rough. I will have to start on Bio EK 1001 tomorrow... However, I have done 3 Chapters of Verbal, and I realized that I need to improve my timing... bah
 
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Wow, it's exactly been a month. Anyway, I've been mostly working on Bio and VR so far, and my progress thus far:

Bio: 4-5 Chapters. ~500 questions (Getting around ~70% correct. I find these to be extremely detail oriented and generally difficult. I still need to really work on the Bio... Planning on cracking the Kaplan/TBR after I am done with EK)

Verbal: 9 Chapters ~540 questions (~70-80% Correct). Getting 9's-10's on these things. I am planning on doing the Kaplan sectional tests afterwards... it's very hard to improve on these things = /

Still same progress on the p. sciences:

Physics: ~1 Chapter (~90% correct)
G-chem: ~1 Chapter?
O-chem: ~2 Chapters (~90% correct. Loooooong Chapters. I think each chapter has like 250 problems.)

I held off doing the physical sciences because I do relatively well on them on practice tests.

Anyway, I am hoping to get the EK Bio and VR done this coming week. I am starting to get stressed out, because I am currently taking two tough classes... and my grades are suffering, because I've spent most of my time studying for the MCAT. It's not going to get any better, because I still have all of Kaplan to cover and TBR G. Chem. and Bio.

Is anyone else feeling me?
 
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unsung said:
-bump-

How are you guys doing? Slugging through this stuff is getting tough :p
Worked on physics past wk or so, finished ch. 3 & ch. 5 (fluid mech stuff). Still trying to troubleshoot some questions I got wrong but can't figure out how... that's what's taking the longest in this whole process.
Click to expand...

I agree. Doing the problems takes maybe couple of hours. Going over the answers and trying to understand them thorougly takes three times longer. :oops:
 
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Just started this week- Doing the regular books then 1001 as extra... so I have done Lecture 1- Biology and Lecture 1- Gen chem
 
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Just a question...are the EK 1001 series questions based on passages or just free standing questions? I wanted to know before i purchase the books. Thanks guys!
 
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This seems insanely instense. Is making it through the 1001 books a great way to study? Seems like one could do alot of other random study for the amount of time it takes for these.
 
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im doing horribly on these questions, i dont know how you guys do it, and EK does a real crappy job of explaining the answers.
 
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I am doing pretty poorly on the bio and verbal. I get around anywhere from 60-80% on these. Anyway, I've had to stop doing these past few days, because I have tests coming up. :(

And yes, they do take a tremendous amount of time (eg. It takes me a whole day to do and go over one chapter/lecture for bio 1001) but they really help you drill the important concepts into your head. I don't know about you guys, but I am not really a reader... I have to actually do the problems, go over the answers, and repeat this process maybe 1-2 times before I finally get it down. This is how I made it through all my classes in college. Just stick with the method that you like the best. I wish I could read the material once and get it, but that's unfortunately not the case.

Otherwise, I have done the following on my EKs so far:

EK Bio 1001: 5 chapters (~600 questions). 4 more to go. A bit grueling.
EK Verbal 101: 9 chapters. 2 more to go.

Best luck to you all :luck:
 
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MLT2MT2DO said:
This seems insanely instense. Is making it through the 1001 books a great way to study? Seems like one could do alot of other random study for the amount of time it takes for these.
Click to expand...

You know how I think of it? Doing 1001Qs is like "stretching" or "lifting weights", etc., while practicing actual passages it's like actually playing practice games (like in tennis or something). Both are important/necessary, but for me personally, I really like to feel like I'm in "great shape"/have a good foundation going into the passages.

I find that doing a lot of little Qs makes me faster when it comes time to actual passages... so I have to think less, and I whiz through them faster. I think being really strong on the basic concepts (1001Qs will drill these into your head) is helping to raise my "maximum" score/what I can achieve... there's really no way around it. Whereas doing practice tests or doing practice passages, it's really more about learning how to take the test better/react under pressure, etc. there's an extent to which this can help raise my score, but I think really making that breakthrough in score increases comes from honing the basics. JMO.
 
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tdjn said:
I am doing pretty poorly on the bio and verbal. I get around anywhere from 60-80% on these. Anyway, I've had to stop doing these past few days, because I have tests coming up. :(

And yes, they do take a tremendous amount of time (eg. It takes me a whole day to do and go over one chapter/lecture for bio 1001) but they really help you drill the important concepts into your head. I don't know about you guys, but I am not really a reader... I have to actually do the problems, go over the answers, and repeat this process maybe 1-2 times before I finally get it down. This is how I made it through all my classes in college. Just stick with the method that you like the best. I wish I could read the material once and get it, but that's unfortunately not the case.

Otherwise, I have done the following on my EKs so far:

EK Bio 1001: 5 chapters (~600 questions). 4 more to go. A bit grueling.
EK Verbal 101: 9 chapters. 2 more to go.

Best luck to you all :luck:
Click to expand...

Wow, way to go. I've been slacking soooo much on EK. Bio I think I've done like 3 passages so far total.. :laugh: But school's just been so busy. Good thing is, once this semester's over, I'll have basically covered all the material for physics & o-chem in class.. so doing the probs should go quickly. It's just gen chem & bio that worries me.. have my work cut out there!

I'm with you on the reading thing though. Some of my classmates study for tests entirely by re-reading their textbook. I could never do that... maybe I'm just a passive reader or something.. but I just tune out so easily if the material's not interesting. So, EK's really helpful 'cuz it's so concise and 1001Qs really forces me to learn the material.
 
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Man, the first 1001 Bio passage I did I finished in like 4 mins with 100% accuracy--I was thinking the questions were "too easy". But, after doing a few more passages, I personally find them to be pretty hard and time consuming!! They remind me more of VR than BS :lol:

Overall, I'm averaging about 80% on these. But the if I throw out that one perfect performance from, I'm at about 74%. So, percentage-wise I'm not "too off", but I find these passages much more detail oriented, and much more time consuming than the passages from AAMC 3.
 
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i have no trouble getting motivated to do the bio section, im almost done with the bio book, but im on page 35 of physics, 38 of ochem, 42 of g chem. i hate doing the physics and gen chem.
 
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ORTHO4ME said:
i have no trouble getting motivated to do the bio section, im almost done with the bio book, but im on page 35 of physics, 38 of ochem, 42 of g chem. i hate doing the physics and gen chem.
Click to expand...
i cant motivate myself to do the bio! i dont mind the PS or ochem parts though. wanna switch places?
 
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Just did EOO question on Ochem 1001 up to #500. Considering I haven't reviewed Ochem for beans (that means minimally) I'm not feeling to shabby with an 86%. I was also pretty happy that I rarely get "tricked", most of what I got wrong was stuff I was just really rusty on, or never studied before.
 
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Im doing the Gen Chem lecture book, the orgo lecture book, and the phys1001 book.

Gen Chem sucks the most, by far. So much of it is counter-intuitive. The material and questions are taxing.

Orgo isnt too bad. It seems more reasonable and lends itself better to visual thinking.

Physics is well, physics. :)
 
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I realized that I hadn't done any of the EK Review/Lecture Material before I started doing the 1001/101's (which I am pretty much halfway done with), so I started going over the review material. So far, it took me 1-2 weeks to read most of G. Chem, Physics, and O. Chem and do the review questions. I still have to do the 30 min lecture exams on all of those, but I imagine that won't take too long- maybe 10 hrs ? :(

Bruce, you are right. A lot of the G. Chem is counter intuitive, but you will just have to stick it out.

Alright, time to get through this junk. Then onto TBR/TPR and practice tests. Gl all :luck:
 
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DUUUUUDDDDDDEEEEE, I am officially drained....... 2 chapters a day sucks and I really don't feel that it is helping. I stopped on ch 8....which is dumb I know I'm almost done but still man, I can not look at another small passage that doesn't even look like an mcat passage and some of the questions (more than half) are freaken discreets....seriously, I can answer some of the questions w/o the passage. Also, it's soooo poorly written that the solutions in the back tell you what is right, but the very explanation points at a different answer from the one proposed by them...

okay I'm done, it really is a good book tho for review:luck:.....I just wanted to get that off my chest....Gl alll:luck: how are you guys doing on the AAMCs and what is your basic strategy for the passage....I think I'm develping a very bad one, that works...lol.
 
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I'm getting burnt on 1001 as well, and I'm only about 3 chapters into each one. I'm one chapter into G-chem because it drives me insane. I was thinking of starting a strictly EK 1001 Q & A thread so maybe we can help each other on some questions each of us finds difficult. Would you guys use it?
 
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msw27 said:
I'm getting burnt on 1001 as well, and I'm only about 3 chapters into each one. I'm one chapter into G-chem because it drives me insane. I was thinking of starting a strictly EK 1001 Q & A thread so maybe we can help each other on some questions each of us finds difficult. Would you guys use it?
Click to expand...

Oh that would be awesome. :thumbup:

I'm almost done w/ the physics book, but kinda stuck on some of the E&M stuff as well as the optics stuff. I hate optics :scared: G-chem... let's not even go there. Slowest. Progress. Ever. But yeah, that's a great idea.
 
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LOL. The misery associated with MCAT. Sometimes I refer to it as MCRAP to humor myself. Or you can turn a benzene ring into a peace sign, and refer to that as a 'mercedes benzene.' Okay, I'm getting off topic, but these little idiosyncrasies keep me ticking on my MCAT journey. I'm making a thread right now, so everyone go and post questions! Hopefully the moderators will feel bad for us and help too...haha
 
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