09/13/08 MCAT Club

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BloodySurgeon I think you made an error in the dates, just change them to 9/13/08 and 9/12/08 and you're good to go.
 
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Does anyone know how the real mcat is compared to kaplan and examkrackers practices? Especially for the verbal section. THX!!
 
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It'll be pretty close in style, although some say EK and Kap are a bit harder or easier than the actual mcat.
 
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First Time posting, One Week to Go, Need Advice...

I am a sophomore, worked full time during summer at a research institute (NIH) ending 8-15-08. Since then I have studied full-time with EK books almost everyday for the 9-13-08 mcat.

I took AAMC 4-8 so far, moving from 33 to 37 in 3 weeks (ps 12-14, vr 11-12, bs 11-14). My verbal still can't break 12 and BS is not stable (swinging btw 11-14), I know my total study time and practice tests are probably not enough. I would appreciate it if I could get any advice to help me boost and stablize my VR and BS scores in my last 8 days....?

I wish to apply first tier MSTP 2010 and shoot for MCAT 39+.
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id be happy with that score, so either quit trollin or improve your comprehension skills.
 
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Anybody else taking this test or the 9/12 and applying this cycle? Think we have a shot with such a late test date?
 
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Man I'm getting really nervous.

I have one more practice test to go; AAMC 10.

My main concern is verbal. It always fluctuates. I just hope it oscillates on the high end a week from now.
 
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Schwann said:
what do you mean by "first tier MSTP"?
Click to expand...

It means a good Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD).



Last 7 Days to Go, Still on Content Review at my weak point and two more practice tests (AAMC 9,10).

Good luck for everyone on 9/13, the last test of 2008....!
 
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WW2010 said:
It means a good Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD).



Last 7 Days to Go, Still on Content Review at my weak point and two more practice tests (AAMC 9,10).

Good luck for everyone on 9/13, the last test of 2008....!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't content review too much for Bio. At least from my experience with the 9/6 exam.
 
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here I am gambling with it all! Am writing on the crazy 13th - and just started studying on Sep 1st... just realizing that I shouldn't have done that and should've started studying a while ago... physics is all jumbled - no time to review bio/orgo in detail... see what happens! :eek:
 
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Yep in 12 hours I will be awake having my breakfast which I usually do not have, and heading for the test centre...already getting nervous :eek:
 
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Good luck tomorrow guys. Coming out the other side is a glorious experience. Don't worry too much. All the hype about the real thing being way harder than the AAMC practice exams is just that, hype.
 
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It's the 13th already in Guam. This test was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be based on how I was doing in the practice tests I took. I didn't have time to finish the Bio section and ended up guessing on a few. Good luck to everyone.
 
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eagledriver said:
It's the 13th already in Guam. This test was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be based on how I was doing in the practice tests I took. I didn't have time to finish the Bio section and ended up guessing on a few. Good luck to everyone.
Click to expand...

Woaaaa. Wait, just wait. You ALREADY took it?!

Does this mean the test in Guam is totally different from what we take? I mean they can't just take it like 10 hours earlier and then give us the same exact test right here in America?
 
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BlueElmo said:
Woaaaa. Wait, just wait. You ALREADY took it?!

Does this mean the test in Guam is totally different from what we take? I mean they can't just take it like 10 hours earlier and then give us the same exact test right here in America?
Click to expand...

Well, yes, technically Guam is part of America. I'm guessing it's the exact same test. We're about 18 hours ahead over here.
 
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I just finished the Sept 13th exam. It was much easier than the Aug 26th one I wrote.

Comparing the 2:

PS:

Aug 26th - I ran out of time and had to guess 5 questions. Lots of calculations.

Sept 13th - I finished and had time to spare. Less calculations then the Aug 26th one. A little harder than the AAMC practice tests, but still not too bad.

Verbal:

Aug 26th - Not bad for me.

Sept 13th - Passages were a little longer, but pretty much the same. 1st passage w/Andy Warhol and artists tracing was the only one I had to spend extra time with the questions. Overall Aug 26 with easier in the verbal respect, but Sept 13th wasn't bad either.

Bs:

Aug 26th - Had 2 bio passages that were hell (see the aug 26th MCAT thread), one especially with all these acronyms, I couldn't make sense of it.

Sept 13th - No passages jumped out as unreasonable. 1 or 2, I had to read carefully, but I felt I understood all of them afterwards. About the same as an AAMC one

Lastly, I don't think I was much more prepared either. I honestly think the test was just easier on Sept 13th. I'd say it was overall only slightly harder than an AAMC. I'm happy with it.

(note:I posted a lot of this in the aug 26th thread, so sorry if you read this there and have to read it again)
 
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Finished my test too.

I did find the physical science section a breeze.

I don't agree with the verbal section being not bad. It was hard. the passages were long, the question stems were long and they had a lot of questions based on assumptions and inferences. The warhol passage did throw me off, took 10 minutes to rush the questions as opposed to more since I didn't want to spend so much time on a passage.

Writing prompts were interesting.

The biology section was ok..some passages had a lot of detail respect to pathways and research outcome. The discretes were actually crazy because most of them had at least a graph accompanied by 5 to 6 line questions..
 
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It is done for me today. It was a similiar test with AAMC Practice ones.

PS: a alot of very easy questions and some tricky ones. Tricky ones could differentiate test takers.

VB: normal.

WS: Comfortable with the prompts.

BS: A little bit surprise. More Mol-Bio Conceptional Based Passages, genetics, No Physiology ones, Less need memorization. Someones will fell difficult and but others might think confortable. I feel better than AAMCs.
 
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I was surprised by the bayesian statistics question in BS.

Other than that, it wasnt bad at all. I already know I got the mirror question wrong in PS though.
 
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BlackSails said:
I was surprised by the bayesian statistics question in BS.

Other than that, it wasnt bad at all. I already know I got the mirror question wrong in PS though.
Click to expand...


I don't have the Bayesian Stats one in BS. We might have more than one version.
 
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I also have a friend taking the same test with me today, she feels better than AAMCs. Is it this test today a slight different one with previous, so someone will fell easy or beneficial? Then the curve might be tough...
 
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PS: On par with AAMC.

VR: My gut is that it was on par with AAMC, but it was one of those situations where if you're 75% sure of an answer, on AAMC's you don't care, but then it freaks you out on the real thing.

BS: Felt pretty good about this one, definitely could tell a topic shift vs. AAMC.

Glad to be done with it (unless I bombed the VR).
 
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My impressions:

PS: Not much physics on here, and almost no electromagnetism. There was the small bit on the nanowire, but that didnt involve right hand rules or anything like that.

VR: Straightforward, didnt give us any bull**** postmodernism passages or anything like that.

Writing: I didnt like the prompts, but w/e.

BS: Mostly molecular (as others have noted). Not many "Which part of the brain is responsible for X" type questions.
 
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one must say - that was definitely interesting!

PS: was arite - except for that STUPID electromagnetism question that for no reason threw me off!

VR: prolly one of the hard ones ever - the passages were very long and the questions were very tricky. If I have to re-take the MCAT's, it will be because of this!

WS: pretty happy about that - I am sure almost everyone has a lot to say in their essays when it comes to practical topics like ones today!

BS: extremely easy and straight forward - to a point where I thought AAMC is trying to make up for a ****TY VR.
 
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BlackSails said:
My impressions:

PS: Not much physics on here, and almost no electromagnetism. There was the small bit [...] but that didnt involve right hand rules or anything like that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was hoping there would be zero electromagnetism. That passage kind of threw me off for a couple of minutes. Might have missed a question on that one. Hopefully just one. Other than that, PS was comparable to AAMC practice.

VR: At least the passages were not too confusing. Here, too, I think I will score similarly to that of practice AAMC.

Writing: Easy topics. I think I spewed enough BS to make a politician proud.

BS: Long passages with molecular biology, but still understandable. Actually, some of the discrete ones were kinda tricky and I had to take educated guesses on some of them.

The moment I get a good enough score, I will gleefully BURN these prep books!
 
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I thought PS and Bio were reasnable...

Verbal was a tad hard but not really harder than the AAMCs...

Overall, pretty similar to AAMC tests.... hopefully the curve will be the same or easier?
 
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sep 13 Physic was a joke I wrote on July 13 and it was hard, I got 12 though
verbal was too long and question was hard but passage content was easy

biology harder than AAMC and July 13
Writing easy


:mad:I need ur help guys,
something bad happened during my test today, During second break I was sitting in waiting area and I saw a women talking to her cell, I assumed we are able to talk during the break so I start dialing my home and since my primary language is not English I start talking in my own language, asking my dad if he can pick me up 2 hours later after the test, so the same women who was on the phone came up to me and told me that I cant talk to my cell, and She has to write "a report" regarding my behavior to AAMC, I freaked out , she told me that I speak in another language so I may cheat, I am like wut the hell I was talking to my dad, I am so sad, it is my second time writing this S(*^%, last time I got 12/12/8p do you think they cancel my score??????????? :mad::scared::idea::(:(
 
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physical: i thought it was tricky, and i was unsure for quite a few.....im really scared now though since everyone seems to think it was easy

verbal: reasonable

essay: reasonable

bio: harder than aamcs, especially that one passage with PCR.

overall... i think it was a little hard. i took the test on july 18 and i thought the bio was MUCH MUCH easier on the 18th. I thought physics was comparable, as was verbal.
 
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Yay the test is finally done!

PS - not too bad, on par with the AAMCs
VR - i thought this section was the worst, i thought it was pretty tough, a lot of "suppose that this happens..." type of questions, long passages. i agree that if i have to retake, it'll be because of verbal
WS - meh
BS - not bad either, on par/easier than the AAMCs

hopefully i do okay and don't jinx myself. we'll see in a month! this will be a long wait...
 
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Has anybody checked back on the uncertain questions after the test was over, and then got confirmation whether you missed it or got it correct?

Tip: Don't do it. I already confirmed 2 mistakes and 1 correct answer from the PS section... I am surprisingly cool with it, but it might be different on your case and your blood pressure might rise a bit. ;)
 
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Hmmm first post...
so:
Post test I am talking with some guys outside. We were comparing verbal passages and they mentioned one about hunter-gather ants, and all our other passages correlated, so I of course duly freaked out thinking I managed to skip a whole passage and a set of 6 questions. I could have sworn i made it to 40 questions, but you know how it goes. Anyway I flag down the next guy coming out of the center and grill him on the VR passages he had. No ants for him, so there were two versions, and my heartbeat resumes.

Anyways, some slight residual anxiety is still making me try to think of all the VR topics that were on my version of the test. If anyone can help me brainstorm and remember the last one, well that would be just awesome.
So far i can recall 6:

The infamous art and mirrors passage
Lawyers and litigation
Ecology and Indians
Stupid politics and voter apathy
Pesticides
and The origins of life

Aside from that, it was my first sitting and the devirginizing went alright. PS started out easy lulling me into wasting a lot of time and then boom 2 passages that sucked. BS was also okay. Not what I thought it would be. Not too much ochem or physio. Seemed like almost another VR section. Writing prompts were good. I was afraid they would be some questions about leaders and I would end up comparing and contrasting Abraham Lincoln and Hitler. Nope, instead some nice general topics.
 
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scoring in mid 30s on practice tests, but have no idea how sept 13 exam went....i left it with a very uneasy feeling that the verbal could have been very (<8) bad.

what was the Bayesian question again? don't recall it, but my memory be failing me at the moment.

some very tricky questions for sure on this test, and why are the verbal passages like on average 900 words instead of 600??

did anyone not notice the table that you had to scroll over for in one of the orgo passages? wasted a good 5-6 extra minutes on that passage with the esters on C7 and C9.

ugh, the long wait now :/
 
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Please do not discuss specific exam questions. If you do this, you will be put on post hold which means that you will not be able to post any more messages. Thank you everyone and good luck!
 
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eagledriver said:
did anyone not notice the table that you had to scroll over for in one of the orgo passages? wasted a good 5-6 extra minutes on that passage with the esters on C7 and C9.

ugh, the long wait now :/
Click to expand...

Yeah I was relieved when I finally noticed that there was more information in the table. I had a small panic attack when I first looked at it. The questions on that passage seemed easy enough once you figured that out.
 
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