09/12/09 MCAT Club

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Fudge

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Hey, just officially signed up for this beast. It's early but I figured this thread could provide some moral support to keep me on track with studying:) I have not done a couple of the pre-requisites, so slow and steady works for me. Looking forward to hearing from the rest of you!

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so i just did a diagnostic test (aamc 3) and i got a 22. (ps 9, vr 10, bs 5). I haven't taken organic chem, just flipped through the first few chapters of the text and the genetics just scared me. I guess I know where to focus on now. Is this the average diagnostic score? A little bummed out cause I've heard aamc 3 is the easiest.
 
I'm in!

I haven't even started prep yet - am I in trouble?

oh well, vacation first. gotta play hard so I can study hard, right? :D
 
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so i just did a diagnostic test (aamc 3) and i got a 22. (ps 9, vr 10, bs 5). I haven't taken organic chem, just flipped through the first few chapters of the text and the genetics just scared me. I guess I know where to focus on now. Is this the average diagnostic score? A little bummed out cause I've heard aamc 3 is the easiest.

That's not too bad, particularly because your VR is quite good. If you had some O-chem background your BS would be considerably higher, but there is no reason you can't get that up by September. At least get your stereochemistry, spectroscopy, and carbonyl reactions down as these are emphasized in many of the AAMCs. Your PS looks good for just starting out. AAMC 3 is not a pushover; none of them are.
 
That's not too bad, particularly because your VR is quite good. If you had some O-chem background your BS would be considerably higher, but there is no reason you can't get that up by September. At least get your stereochemistry, spectroscopy, and carbonyl reactions down as these are emphasized in many of the AAMCs. Your PS looks good for just starting out. AAMC 3 is not a pushover; none of them are.

Thank you for the encouragement:) I'm working on my BS. I hate organic chemistry with a passion but it's gotta be done.
study smart everyone..
 
Hey everyone! I'm in the 9/12 club too. Just kicked off my Kaplan course along with studying routine. I did the little diagnostic thing they give the first day and got 7 (bio) 7 (physics) and 11 (verbal). So... I got a ways to go on the science.

I haven't taken gen chem for 3-4 years, haven't taken second semester of ochem, and took 2 semesters of physics for engineers (out of a 3 semester series). So... after relearning gen chem, figuring out Ochem and learning waves and optics I hope I can get up to at least a 30!

We'll all do great! :)
 
Hey does anyone know when these test dates usually start filling up? Is it necessary to register asap?

The sooner the better. I looked at taking it the 4th and one of the three test centers around me was already booked up for that one. I feel like if you do in the net month you should be fine... don't really know though.
 
I'm torn between taking the MCAT on 9/12 and waiting to take it in January. How's everyone's progress? Seeing where you guys are at might help me judge if I can do it on the 12th.
 
raab32, i'm on the same boat... really don't feel prepared for the september date but i'm taking the summer kaplan course and they recommend you take the test right after the course. where are you guys in your studying? still doing content review, but not far along as i would've hoped. as for the winter test dates, i just don't want to forget stuff once school starts. any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
raab32, i'm on the same boat... really don't feel prepared for the september date but i'm taking the summer kaplan course and they recommend you take the test right after the course. where are you guys in your studying? still doing content review, but not far along as i would've hoped. as for the winter test dates, i just don't want to forget stuff once school starts. any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I studied a bit last winter break, but I forgot everything I did. I've been doing a lot of content review for the past couple weeks, hitting the topics I know I'm weak on. I don't know though, I feel like if we can get content review/practice problems done for the most part by the first week of August, then we can hammer home a lot of practice tests during the month of August and we should be alright. I think we have till 8/29 to reschedule, so that gives us August to decide where we're at.
 
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Practice scores

GS-3 BS: 10 (38/52)
AAMC 4 CBT: 10,10,10 Under timed conditions (Sat, at noon, went thru writing sections as well)

This is my third time taking it. In the past I have seen all Gold Standard 1-10 and AAMC 1-10 But it has been a while though the passages look familiar I don't have the answers memorized, hahaha.

Sept 07 11,8,9
Jan 08 10,6,8

Going to review GS first then tackle weak areas (Wikipedia mostly)
 
Just finished another Mock CBT this Saturday (started at noon, and did the writing as well).

AAMC 3 CBT: 10 PS 12 VR 13 BS

I have changed my verbal strategy from the first 2 times i have taken it. Now I just read the questions first thoroughly and when i read the passage it helps a lot and keeps me from falling 'asleep'.


I have taken this exam before of course since I am retaking. But mostly from 2007-beginning of 2008.

I have GS CBTs to take for the next few weeks since it will be expensive to keep buying the AAMC CBTs. (each one is 35 and i have already purchased AAMC CBT 4.) I'll do these under mock timed as well. Hopefully will be worthy practice.

In the end I'll have money to purchase about 1-2 AAMC before test date. (maybe AAMC 9 and 10.)
 
I'm taking the 9/12 MCAT as well, I feel confident in my abilities, but the practice tests are a complete opposite! Seriously! I'm still motivated though. Good luck to all!
 
This thread needs a bump! It's been a while.

I am only 1/2 done with content review, a bit worried since I'm behind schedule. From now to the 12th is gonna have to be crunch time if I wanna get through all the AAMC FLs!

Everybody else -- how's your study schedule going? Are you ahead or behind??

Edit: I'm not sure why this thread hasn't seen as much love as the other August and September dates. Maybe not many people are taking the test on the last date?
 
Hi everyone!!! I am new here, and I am also studying for the September 12 MCAT. So far I finished the content review for physics and chemistry only. For verbal I am only doing practice problems, and as for biology and organic chemistry I plan to finish them by next week. Then I will start the practice tests which should take me three and a half weeks. I think I am on my study schedule but I am wondering if you all plan to take only the AAMC FLs? :)
 
In terms of practice tests I'm gonna focus on the AAMC FLs, but I have some other practice material/tests that I'm going to do on offdays, just to do a lot of different things and try to keep up my fluency in all of the subjects.
 
Count me in,

3rd time writing,

31R and 32S the first two times but 9 and 10 in bio respectively.

Up here in Ontario.... one of my best chances at acceptance requires an 11 in bio, or at least has for the last 2 years so....

The other schools I'm applying to will take my best attempt... so not much to lose....

Best of luck everyone.
 
Hi Supafield, I thought your previous scores are good and Good luck with taking the exam!!! :D Where are you in terms of your review, and how are you preparing for the exam this time?
 
Hi Supafield, I thought your previous scores are good and Good luck with taking the exam!!! :D Where are you in terms of your review, and how are you preparing for the exam this time?

the Ontario and Canadian med school application system is a strange beast. Depending on what region you are from in a certain province you may have different requirements on an MCAT score to be truly competitive.

I also have a weak cGPA.... however I have done 2 undergraduate degrees and have a 3.9 on the 2nd undergrad. There are a few schools that will look only at my last few years of GPA but they tend to have the strictest and highest MCAT cutoffs..... So I'm stuck rewriting what otherwise would be a great score most places.

My prep has changed dramatically for this run at the MCAT, both times before I took roughly 2.5 months and crawled through content review before really cracking down on problem work and writing 4-5 AAMC practice tests each time.

I was happy with my 32S up until a couple weeks ago, but then my fiancee landed a good full time job in the city we're currently in which puts extra importance on getting the cutoffs to get an interview at the school here.

Only figuring this out in late July and then heading to Europe directly after.... it's left me to prepare in roughly 1 month and 10 days..... So I've really sped up the content review portion and will have completed PS review in 10 days (PS has always been far and away my stronger science).... I will take longer with BS and Orgo as I need an 11 in the section and out of content review will have roughly 12-15 days to devote to problem work and writing AAMC 6 and 9 which are the only two I didn't write last July and therefore the only two I don't remember well.

So it's quite condensed and not nearly the same as what I did to get the 31 and 32 however, with both of those tests, when I took my first AAMC practice tests I received 30 and 32 respectively. So almost a month prior to writing the real thing I've been able to write nearly equal scores on practices.

I'm also in the unique position where if I get a 12 M on this MCAT, I can still use my 32S at most of the schools I'm applying to.... which is a lot less pressure on test day, which may provide me more benefit than anything else I could do as attempt 1 and 2 involved a stressful day one way or another. (A Biology Section designed by Satan in 2006, and a 2 hour start delay on the morning of July 18th 2008 that made catching my 6 p.m. flight to Stockholm later that day a big question mark.) Haha I really feel if I went into this test 75% as prepared but without the stress that I needlessly put on myself for the last attempt I'll do the same if not better and fingers crossed for that 11 in bio.

So there's my long convoluted explanation to your simple straight forward question.

Best of luck.
 
Aargghhh physics :(

reverse-gun.jpg
 
Whats up everyone? Got mine on the 12th too, haven't taken any aamc tests yet but my scores on the Kaplan tests seem to be jumping kind of weird, I've only taken 4 tests total though. How have your guys' scores been?
 
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Hey Rogi, I'm on the same boat as you. I've only taken 3 Kaplan FLs, and my scores turned out to be 18, 24, 19, in that order.

Should I just focus on AAMC FLs between now and test day? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks :)
 
Hey sorry for the late response. I haven't been checking the forum. Did you take the kaplan tests in order and your score fell on the third? That's weird because mine really sky rocketed on that one and I think it was a fluke because its fallen since. My last four scores are 29, 37(on that 3rd full length), 33, and 31...so I'm basically all over the place =\. My diagnostic was a 23 though. I can't really give you any advice with the aamc tests since I've been kind of avoiding them lol. I've just been doing the Kaplan full lengths and Qbank questions. I think I'll look at an AAMC test this week w/o the timer just to see what the questions are like, how is your experience with them so far? Good luck!
 
registered monday for the beast...took it 8/21 and feel pretty good but wanted to get one more in before the end of the year just in case and since i have already studied figured what the heck :)

although the closest test site i could find was 2 1/2 hrs away from my house....roadtrip anyone??? :laugh:
i am thinking i will probably go up friday night and stay the night to avoid having to deal with the stress of a long road trip on saturday morning
 
i feel your pain...try nova's physics if you can get your hand on it...awesome!!

also there is a book by barron at b&n called physics made easy that rocks!!

Yeah I have Nova Physics! Working through the problems takes me a long time, but by the time I get to the passages I feel like I usually have gotten enough practice. It's just really hard for me to work through the problems.. but thankfully I only have one chapter in the book left (finishing it tomorrow) woot!
 
Yeah I have Nova Physics! Working through the problems takes me a long time, but by the time I get to the passages I feel like I usually have gotten enough practice. It's just really hard for me to work through the problems.. but thankfully I only have one chapter in the book left (finishing it tomorrow) woot!


yay for you!!

also the examkrackers 1001 questions have been a great help for me for speed.

i joke all the time that the nova physics finally got some of these concepts through my thick i don't let any physics in skull :)
 
My story...

Took kaplan class and online. Did everything Kaplan offered including all Kaplan test, online required work, Qbank questions, and a few AAMC test but rarely studied VR.

Highest practice test 28

Actual score 9/3/08 25P (9PS, 6VR, 10BS)

So I decide to go the examkrackers route (Books plus 101 VR passages)
Test are as follows ordered by date taken (started tests June 1st)

AAMC 3 29 (PS9, VR9, BS 11)
AAMC 10 28 (PS12, VR6, BS10)
AAMC 9 28 (PS11, VR7, BS10)
AAMC 5 31 (PS10, VR10, BS11)
AAMC 6 32 (PS10, VR10, BS12)
AAMC 8 29 (PS10, VR8, BS11)
AAMC 7 33 (PS11, VR10, BS12)

AAMC min- 28
AAMC max- 33
AAMC Avg- 30.5

Real Deal (6/18/09 PM) - 26M (8PS, 8VR, 10BS)

Feelings... I got a 12 on the PS portion on AAMC test 10 which is said to be the most representative. (AVG PS was about an 10.43). I couldn't believe how much harder the actual PS questions were. I knew the material, I just didn't under stand the relations to the passages. Got an 8 on the real deal.

Verbal... Didn't feel horrible but didn't feel great. Got an 8... AVG VR was about a 8.57.

BS was absolutely dreadful but did about what I expected. I killed a few physiology passages but was stuck on 2 micro bio/laboratory questions involving complex viruses and stuff. Got a 10. (Avg was an 11)

All n all the examkracker system was the best study material for me.. Did kaplan the year before and never scored higher than a 28 on a practice test.
Felt like the test short changed me so I am retaking it with about 1.5 months of studying (started 7/28/09).

Doing the examkracker review again, bought the 1001 passages (except organic) and like them so far (tons of material), and downloaded audio osmosis (examkracker 12 cds) from some website. It's not very complex and not funny but it does explain many hard to understand qualitative things. I'm also working full time in a research lab so it's hard to get studying in but I'm making due. Will finish reviewing by tomorrow and have no clue which practice tests I will take. I guess I will retake the AAMC tests but I've taken almost all of them so I will already know the answers. Sorry this reply it's so long but I enjoy seeing how other people are doing (especially the misery of others with the MCAT to make me feel like I'm not the only one) so I felt like y'all (i hail from Alabama) might wanna know how others have been doing.

Taking it sept 12th with y'all so good luck to every one, and if you have any good tips, share them with us.

Roll Tide!
 
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I admire your tenacity!! Sounds like you have been working really hard at this for quite some time. I was wondering if you have test anxiety? What do you believe is the primary reason for the deviation bt your practice tests and the real deal? This is something that i have always wondered about? Good luck on the 12th :)
 
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I admire your tenacity!! Sounds like you have been working really hard at this for quite some time. I was wondering if you have test anxiety? What do you believe is the primary reason for the deviation bt your practice tests and the real deal? This is something that i have always wondered about? Good luck on the 12th :)

Thanks unDRdog. I don't believe that I have test anxiety. I mean, I feel nervous but not any more nervous than when I take the practice test. For the first test I believe I did bad for a number of reasons. I took it at 8 AM and even though I woke up at 5Am, I was groggy until the Bio section and when I took bio, the computer froze and I lost a whole section that I had read and highlighted and had to read again! haha. The most recent test I believe was a fluke. While the verbal reasoning was at its normal difficulty, the PS and BS were much harder than any AAMC test and harder than the MCAT I had taken last year. So I donno. I think some MCAT tests are, in fact, much harder than others. Plus it depends what passages you get. If I get a lot passages on subjects I find more difficult than of coarse I will do worse. Writing section is complete ****! I actually practiced by writing responses to like 8 different prompts and got a score 2 letters less than I got when I didn't even practice it.
 
Hi guys, I'm new :)

I was doing very well on the KAPLAN FLS with scores 30-34, but when I started taking AAMC I got a 29 (10 PS, 10 BS, 9 VR) and a 27 (9 PS, 10 BS, 8 VR). I'm planning on taking 3 more tests by the 12th.

What are your guys' opinions: should I take the test or wait until January? I've only been studying since mid-June and my PS content could some more reviewing.

My verbal is suffering the most - I can't finish in time NO MATTER WHAT. Anybody have any tips for that?

Thanks!
 
Hi guys, I'm new :)

I was doing very well on the KAPLAN FLS with scores 30-34, but when I started taking AAMC I got a 29 (10 PS, 10 BS, 9 VR) and a 27 (9 PS, 10 BS, 8 VR). I'm planning on taking 3 more tests by the 12th.

What are your guys' opinions: should I take the test or wait until January? I've only been studying since mid-June and my PS content could some more reviewing.

My verbal is suffering the most - I can't finish in time NO MATTER WHAT. Anybody have any tips for that?

Thanks!

If you don't feel ready, then don't rush things! I don't think taking the test is necessarily out of the question currently, but it's important to put a good foot forward on the MCAT. Do whatever you need to to get your score to your desired range!
 
I'm signed up for 9/12 and I'm most likely taking it as I've been doing well on my Kaplan FLs... but just to make sure, what is the process of changing a test date like? How would I go about switching to January if need be?
 
I'm signed up for 9/12 and I'm most likely taking it as I've been doing well on my Kaplan FLs... but just to make sure, what is the process of changing a test date like? How would I go about switching to January if need be?

just be careful with the KAPLAN FLS. Although I think they're very representative of the type questions you will see, their scaled scores a bit inflated. My score went down ~5 point when I switched to taking AAMC (which are more indicative or actual score). :/
 
Working full time, delayed MCAT to this date hahah. I was initially supposed to write May 02 2009 but now I'm stuck on Sept 12 (absolute last day for Canadian application cycle - applying without knowing score). I did AAMC 10 today and have 12P 9V and 13B (34 composite). Hopefully this will hold me over for 2 weeks. I need 10 in all categories, missed 10 on verbal by a point...
I'll agree, this **** is all about practice. I think I was getting high 90s all the way up to April (where I stopped), then the TBR practice on chem and physics and TPR workbook Bio launched me up over 30...I haven't covered organic a la TBR yet...that will make or break my BS score on test day. I did AAMC 9 two weeks ago with 11P 10V and 9 BS...Always short changed somewhere, but never with PS thankfully. I love PS.
 
just be careful with the KAPLAN FLS. Although I think they're very representative of the type questions you will see, their scaled scores a bit inflated. My score went down ~5 point when I switched to taking AAMC (which are more indicative or actual score). :/


wait why do so many people say that AAMC are "more indicative" of actual score? it's a combination of both kaplan and AAMC that is seen in the actual score, is what i'm assuming from people who have actually taken the test.
 
wait why do so many people say that AAMC are "more indicative" of actual score? it's a combination of both kaplan and AAMC that is seen in the actual score, is what i'm assuming from people who have actually taken the test.


Well I've been reading all over this site -- that AAMC is more reliable in predicting actual score. That would make sense since it is the AAMC administers the real deal and the AAMC practice tests are actual MCAT tests that were administered in the past.

There is also a consensus that KAPLAN's tests are slightly harder, content/question wise but they overcompensate by inflated the score. For instance, I got about 80-83% in BS and KAPLAN scales that to a 14, but in actuality, that's about a 10-11!
 
Working full time, delayed MCAT to this date hahah. I was initially supposed to write May 02 2009 but now I'm stuck on Sept 12 (absolute last day for Canadian application cycle - applying without knowing score). I did AAMC 10 today and have 12P 9V and 13B (34 composite). Hopefully this will hold me over for 2 weeks. I need 10 in all categories, missed 10 on verbal by a point...
I'll agree, this **** is all about practice. I think I was getting high 90s all the way up to April (where I stopped), then the TBR practice on chem and physics and TPR workbook Bio launched me up over 30...I haven't covered organic a la TBR yet...that will make or break my BS score on test day. I did AAMC 9 two weeks ago with 11P 10V and 9 BS...Always short changed somewhere, but never with PS thankfully. I love PS.

Can we be friends? Because I HATE PS. haha.
 
I was always strong in chemistry (nothing lower than 4.0 other than organic). Physics I'm ok (3.7s). However, this was 4 years ago. I think with the PS section, they test really basic concepts but apply them in really really weird situations like AAMC 10 and the particle proportion tubes. I highly recommend TBR. I think doing the practice passages in there really prepared me for anything the MCAT can throw at me. My mistakes are usually stupid mistakes or that I didn't understand what the question was asking. I finish with 20 minutes to spare...AAMC 10 BS I had 45 minutes to spare...it was really easy for some reason, BS I usually do badly (9-10 range)...Maybe it's morale, maybe its the way TBR trained my brain to think when approaching a problem. I think my score went up this time because I wrote everything out on a piece of paper so that I made sure I didn't have any stupid errors. Dimensional analysis is pretty important too when you get into a tight spot. Just don't be intimidated, once you know the basic concepts involved, the passages crumble like Jericho and you can make short work of them. Confidence is key.

Oh yeah, thorough post-test analysis is key as well and patching up holes in knowledge. AAMC 10 taught me to beef up my optics and ion solubility.
 
wait why do so many people say that AAMC are "more indicative" of actual score? it's a combination of both kaplan and AAMC that is seen in the actual score, is what i'm assuming from people who have actually taken the test.

I've taken it twice... the AAMC's have been right on... sometimes the passages look a little different but the same skills are being tested and the practice scores tend to hold up more or less.
 
Yeah...About that, 25 to 35 minutes (I finished when there was a 4 in front of my time remaining) I was really shocked myself when I saw that I finished in less than half the time allotted. The discretes were pretty easy, after reading the question I pretty much had the answer...AAMC 10 BS section was atypically easy though...Like my organic definitely isn't up to standard but the organic was basically a general chem overlap this time and simple 1 step reactions...If they put up oxygen containing compounds or reactions with ****ed up molecules I'll be toast. With bio or organic, you either know it or you don't so it was mostly bang-bang-bang when I was going through it. With physics you have to do calculations or dimensional analysis so you're liable to make errors. I go super cautious, this time around I don't think I had that much time to spare. The PS on AAMC 10 was a bit harder than usual. I think it was just all the practice I've had...but I've been on this board for a really long time and just kept delaying until the absolute last day for Canadian admissions (Sept 12). If you **** around with the material for that many months you're bound to just internalize stuff, especially for bio. Oh yeah, I was a 3.9/4.0 grade bio student back in the day. Organic will make or break this section for me. In Canada, you'll need at least an 11 to be safe, 10 in PS/BS and R in writing. I live in the worst province for med.

The main point is just practice man...I think it was basically all my verbal practice, for verbal, the only way you can survive is reading a passage and understand their meaning and what they're getting at. I found that it really translated into the BS section with the graphs and the relationships between what's being said and the concepts I've learned. I also did a few TPR hyperlearning workbook bio practice...those were EXTREMELY helpful, moreso than the EK 1001, because it emphasized critical thinking and problem solving moreso than EK that emphasized fact memorization. TBR for physical sciences because it gets really detailed per topic and you have to understand everything to do them, the MCAT was very basic vs. TBR so the MCAT felt like jokes for some of the questions. I'm just amazed how much I improved. I had a 20 on my diagnostic (8P/6V/6B) AAMC 5 in late February. But again, my performance is pretty dismal considering how long I've had this on my plate - 6 months but unfocussed due to job + coursework.

Oh yeah, I workout a lot too, so I had EK Audio Osmosis pumping through me. Same on the commute to work...You can imagine how sick I am of this stuff and just want to get it over...and to make sure I didn't waste the better part of my year studying useless sciences for a lottery (5-15% chance of winning in Canada), I'm writing the DAT as well in November. I can't afford to go overseas or South of the border for med =/...
 
Convention: Test Date PS VR BS (CS)

AAMC 5 diagnostic: Feb 02 2009 (dislexic I always thought 20 but that was my score LOL) - 8 / 6 / 6 (20)
AAMC 4: March 21 2009 - 10 / 6 / 9 (25) [Used EK - pretty pissy]
AAMC 7: April 09 2009 - 10 / 9 / 10 (29) [I fudged the scores to check stats real score 27?)
AAMC 8: April 16 - 10 / 7 / 10 (27) [HARD!]

I got my TBR stuff finally went through physics and just stopped studying MCAT for coursework for dental pre-reqs and for job interviews (I work for health admin analytics). In August I took up TBR chem.

AAMC 6: Aug 15 2009 - 11 / 10 / 9 (30) (organic slaughter - got near perfect on biology and pretty much failed the organic section)

Between these tests I just practiced physics and bio passages. I did readings of organic but never passages.

AAMC 10: Aug 29 2009 - 12 / 9 / 13 (Best MCAT ever!) - all because organic was made easy not because my bio got that much better

So I might attempt 8 today and see how this goes. Probably not well given the difficulty, and I hope my memory doesn't kick in from 4 months ago. I will do 9 next week and probably 3 sometime before the test for a confidence/morale boost. I want to leave the last week empty or just doing essays I NEED an R at least.

You know what I noticed, the first few tests with high 20s I didn't do much practicing but just content review on EK. Towards the end part I've done nothing but light content review and TONS of passages. It's the practice passages that will put you above 30 and passages from proper sources (TPR hyperlearning workbook bio, TBR for CHEM/PHYS/Organic), EK 101 for Verbal...Although on EK 101 I get 10/11 consistently...maybe it's just that I don't feel that much pressure or that they're pleasant to read. EK lacks in natural science and true humanities passages...
 
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