Anyone targeting 15s on ps and bs?

[pslee]

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I am looking forward to get 15s on both sections. 15 on verbal seems highly improbable for me. I just want to see if there is anyone on the same boat so that I could discuss some ideas. I read EK books few times, have done their 1001 problems(still doing some of them), but after I took AAMC PS section, I felt there is a limit that all EK books have; it is not designed to get 15 on both sections. Even though I think I didn't master all EK materials, I think they ARE short of getting 15s. I will be finishing up ALL EK materials by the mid of June, which makes me plenty of time to do more studying later on. But I have few questions that I would want to ask; to get 15s, what do I have to do? Which book should I use? Is it just the experience that I need more? Maybe I know the answer to my question but I definitely need more advice than my own thoughts. PLEASE don't be offended by this thread. I am just one of those pathetic perfectionists. 👎

 

[Kimka83]

I ended up with a 15 on BS, but I certainly didn't study with that as a "goal". Honestly, just study hard. If you are shooting for a 15, you pretty much just have to get lucky with the questions that you get on your form on test day.

 

[SpinEcho13]

It's pretty difficult to repeatedly score above 13 on a given section. At that point the curve gets so tight that 1-2 questions per point make all the difference. It's not impossible if you really know your ****, but don't 100% count on it.

 

[pslee]

I ended up with a 15 on BS, but I certainly didn't study with that as a "goal". Honestly, just study hard. If you are shooting for a 15, you pretty much just have to get lucky with the questions that you get on your form on test day.

thanks. Yes, being lucky is one important factor.

 

[Dr.Andrews]

Defintely luck is an important factor. I am studying Physical Chemistry in my undergrad, and I took AAMC 5R last week as my first diagnostic.

I got 14 on Physical Sciences, just missed 2 questions in specific gravity, which were stupid because I just forget buoyancy and **** like that from first year.

However, I didn't have any questions on circuits or anything like that, which I completely forget. So, the questions you get DEFINITELY can effect your score, and being lucky helps alot....

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Defintely luck is an important factor. I am studying Physical Chemistry in my undergrad, and I took AAMC 5R last week as my first diagnostic.

I got 14 on Physical Sciences, just missed 2 questions in specific gravity, which were stupid because I just forget buoyancy and **** like that from first year.

However, I didn't have any questions on circuits or anything like that, which I completely forget. So, the questions you get DEFINITELY can effect your score, and being lucky helps alot....

Yeah, I did well on the AAMC 5R, but when the April 2006 real MCAT came along, there were lots of circuit-type physics questions that threw me. Luck is definately part of being successful on the MCAT.

 

[Nutmeg]

I hope you realize that a 15 is a score only acheived by 1 or maybe 2 people in 1000 (depending on the administration). Getting that in either is a great feat, but both.... that's a really insanely high goal. The problem with that is you're going to end up disappointed with a great score for no other reason than it not being a perfect score, and that's just silly. If your goal is getting into a great med school, then set your sights on getting into a great med school. The number won't do anything for you, and there's a hell of a lot more that you can do to improve your odds of getting into med school than just aiming for perfection on a test.

 

[Schaden Freud]

I am looking forward to get 15s on both sections. 15 on verbal seems highly improbable for me. I just want to see if there is anyone on the same boat so that I could discuss some ideas. I read EK books few times, have done their 1001 problems(still doing some of them), but after I took AAMC PS section, I felt there is a limit that all EK books have; it is not designed to get 15 on both sections. Even though I think I didn't master all EK materials, I think they ARE short of getting 15s. I will be finishing up ALL EK materials by the mid of June, which makes me plenty of time to do more studying later on. But I have few questions that I would want to ask; to get 15s, what do I have to do? Which book should I use? Is it just the experience that I need more? Maybe I know the answer to my question but I definitely need more advice than my own thoughts. PLEASE don't be offended by this thread. I am just one of those pathetic perfectionists. 👎

Have you ever taken a full length practice test to justify these obscenely high goals?

 

[seadizzle]

I was scoring 14 or 15 on the physical sciences in my practice tests.

I ended up with a 14, is really a crapshoot on the day of the exam because it's really one or two questions. I thought my PS was pretty easy, the times I got 15 on practice was when I thought the PS section was more difficult, so the curve was bigger and allowed for one or two stupid mistakes.

Getting a 15 is not feasible for most people. You may have earned straight As in your premed courses and still be in the 12 or 13 range for a section. And if you end up with triple 12s you are set for medical school! For my 14 in PS I didn't study for that section harder, I consider myself good at physics, so it just happened naturally.

I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[QofQuimica]

I hope you realize that a 15 is a score only acheived by 1 or maybe 2 people in 1000 (depending on the administration). Getting that in either is a great feat, but both.... that's a really insanely high goal. The problem with that is you're going to end up disappointed with a great score for no other reason than it not being a perfect score, and that's just silly. If your goal is getting into a great med school, then set your sights on getting into a great med school. The number won't do anything for you, and there's a hell of a lot more that you can do to improve your odds of getting into med school than just aiming for perfection on a test.

Excellent advice, and I agree. OP, there is no reason to set a goal like that for yourself that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even worse, is completely and utterly UNNECESSARY in terms of getting you into med school. It's so hard to score two 15s that it is quite possible that NO ONE will manage to accomplish it in your entire test administration. The people here with 40+ MCAT scores generally only scored one 15 at most, myself included. And even if you do manage it, you won't accomplish anything except to stroke your own ego. The AAMC does not show up at your door if you score the highest on the MCAT for your test administration with a parade and balloons. You don't get to go on the evening news. It does not make you any more qualified for med school than someone who "only" scored 14s or 13s on their science sections. And if you're wasting time on a quixotic quest for MCAT perfection instead of working on the soft aspects of your app (ECs, essays, LORs, etc.), you may find your brilliant self left out in the cold. I had several medical schools brag to me about how they rejected high-stat applicants with nothing else to offer. I hope you will reconsider your score goal and put it in the proper perspective and context, because what you are doing is truly foolish. The MCAT is a means to get into medical school, not an end in itself.

 

[UMP]

taking a few practice sections myself the BS and PS sections might as well be graded 13-15, since the curve is so tight at the top there... like everyone else had said there are always going to be questions on there at least 3-5 of them that you are not 100% sure on because they are more or less from left field, and depending on how well you guess on those makes the difference between a 13 and 15... but have fun shooting for that score (I'm shooting for that myself) a 13 on both sections I'd be happy with and anything over that is just gravy... I just need to stabilize by VR score in that range 🙂

 

[Beau Geste]

Excellent advice, and I agree. OP, there is no reason to set a goal like that for yourself that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even worse, is completely and utterly UNNECESSARY in terms of getting you into med school. It's so hard to score two 15s that it is quite possible that NO ONE will manage to accomplish it in your entire test administration. The people here with 40+ MCAT scores generally only scored one 15 at most, myself included. And even if you do manage it, you won't accomplish anything except to stroke your own ego. The AAMC does not show up at your door if you score the highest on the MCAT for your test administration with a parade and balloons. You don't get to go on the evening news. It does not make you any more qualified for med school than someone who "only" scored 14s or 13s on their science sections. And if you're wasting time on a quixotic quest for MCAT perfection instead of working on the soft aspects of your app (ECs, essays, LORs, etc.), you may find your brilliant self left out in the cold. I had several medical schools brag to me about how they rejected high-stat applicants with nothing else to offer. I hope you will reconsider your score goal and put it in the proper perspective and context, because what you are doing is truly foolish. The MCAT is a means to get into medical school, not an end in itself.

Q, you dashed my dreams of a publisher's clearing house-type celebration from the AAMC!

I'll be more than happy with a 30.

 

[Anastasis]

Could I get some of what the OP was smoking?

Thanks


(I'll be happy with a 30 too!)

 

[QofQuimica]

Q, you dashed my dreams of a publisher's clearing house-type celebration from the AAMC!

I'll be more than happy with a 30.

heh, sorry, megboo, but I can tell you from experience that there is no AAMC prize patrol. 😛 Maybe they should start one.

If you want to go to Pritzker, you should probably aim for a little bit higher of a score. Not that 30 is a bad score, but it's below their average.

 

[Beau Geste]

If you want to go to Pritzker, you should probably aim for a little bit higher of a score. Not that 30 is a bad score, but it's below their average.

It would be nice to get >30, but since Pritzker is not my first choice overall, I wouldn't cry over a 30. Although, if I did get accepted to Pritzker (with the theoretical 45 - yeah right!) I would have a tough decision to make!

🙂

 

[girlsporty]

It would be nice to get >30, but since Pritzker is not my first choice overall, I wouldn't cry over a 30. Although, if I did get accepted to Pritzker (with the theoretical 45 - yeah right!) I would have a tough decision to make!

🙂

I heard that Kaplan has a "45 club." Anyone else hear this? I think it means you get a nice letter and maybe a pin or something. 😛

 

[Noeljan]

hey there
I see no reason you cannot set high goals like this. Usually when my goal is the highest score possible I come a lot closer to it than other people who were aiming to pass. Good luck to you, although you are competition😉

 

[pslee]

thanks for all your replies. Apparently i didn't get straight forward advices, but it has been a great help.

 

[Anastasis]

thanks for all your replies. Apparently i didn't get straight forward advices, but it has been a great help.

I'm not picking on you, I've seen several people on SDN do this:
Why do you attempt to pluralize advice by adding "s"? The correct way would be "straight forward advice" even if more than one person replied. I take it English is not your first language? I just figure you aren't because it's the over generalization of grammatical rules that you see with non-native speakers and children in the early stages of learning a language.

 

[pslee]

I'm not picking on you, I've seen several people on SDN do this:
Why do you attempt to pluralize advice by adding "s"? The correct way would be "straight forward advice" even if more than one person replied. I take it English is not your first language? I just figure you aren't because it's the over generalization of grammatical rules that you see with non-native speakers and children in the early stages of learning a language.

lol. you got that right. Is it that necessary? neway, thanks for pinpointing it out.

 

[beary]

Excellent advice, and I agree. OP, there is no reason to set a goal like that for yourself that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even worse, is completely and utterly UNNECESSARY in terms of getting you into med school.

I 100% agree with this. Couldn't have said it better myself. 👍

 

[UMP]

as much as I respect Q and everything she has done for SDN... why shoot for the throat when you can shoot for the head ? (it's obviously what you did)

 

[Nutmeg]

as much as I respect Q and everything she has done for SDN... why shoot for the throat when you can shoot for the head ? (it's obviously what you did)

Because it's a silly place to aim. A high MCAT score and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee; it's just a number. No, I don't have any 15s personally (one 14 and a T) but my high score was absolutely useless to me because the rest of my application was so weak. If your goal is to be some smart-ass on SDN's MCAT forums, then by all means, aim for the 15. If you want to get into med school, then I'd suggest keeping your eye on the prize and stop thinking that the MCAT will do anything for you in its own right.

 

[pslee]

Because it's a silly place to aim. A high MCAT score and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee; it's just a number. No, I don't have any 15s personally (one 14 and a T) but my high score was absolutely useless to me because the rest of my application was so weak. If your goal is to be some smart-ass on SDN's MCAT forums, then by all means, aim for the 15. If you want to get into med school, then I'd suggest keeping your eye on the prize and stop thinking that the MCAT will do anything for you in its own right.

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

 

[Nutmeg]

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

Okay, fine, I'm a ***** for suggesting you should set your goal as getting into med school. Who needs med school when you have a high MCAT score, right? Rock on with your bad-ass self.

Jesus, you can lead a horse to the library, but you can't make him think.

 

[Schaden Freud]

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

Momma always said, "Gunner is as gunner does..."

 

[UMP]

Because it's a silly place to aim. A high MCAT score and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee; it's just a number. No, I don't have any 15s personally (one 14 and a T) but my high score was absolutely useless to me because the rest of my application was so weak. If your goal is to be some smart-ass on SDN's MCAT forums, then by all means, aim for the 15. If you want to get into med school, then I'd suggest keeping your eye on the prize and stop thinking that the MCAT will do anything for you in its own right.

well, I am one of those people who have a weak application and is hoping to get it pulled up by the MCAT score... what else can you do?

 

[Beau Geste]

well, I am one of those people who have a weak application and is hoping to get it pulled up by the MCAT score... what else can you do?

Pull up your application!

GPA is the hardest to change, but not the only thing on an application.

Not everything has to be about medicine when it comes to jobs and ECs:

Do some volunteering (doesn't HAVE to be medical!).

Get a job (doesn't HAVE to be medical)

Do something for fun (Join a club, take scuba lessons, whatever)

Shadow a doctor (this should be medical!)

 

[Beau Geste]

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

What happens if, while you shoot for 15's, you only get 9's and 10's?

You can study like you want 15's - there's nothing wrong with that. But, after you take the test, don't set your expectations too high or you'll get crushed. Especially if you want a 15 in every section, becuase it's not going to happen.

 

[Noeljan]

I still think the higher you aim for, the higher you end up.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

Okay, fine, I'm a ***** for suggesting you should set your goal as getting into med school. Who needs med school when you have a high MCAT score, right? Rock on with your bad-ass self.

Jesus, you can lead a horse to the library, but you can't make him think.

I agree. I think it's pretty stupid to come here saying "i'm looking foward to getting 15's" it's just a ridiculous statement, and it only makes people feel bad. It's ok to think that and be confident, but come on, how many people do u expect to come on here and say oh yea me too! yay lets go 15! 😉

 

[gyute007]

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

 

[dbhvt]

Excellent advice, and I agree. OP, there is no reason to set a goal like that for yourself that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even worse, is completely and utterly UNNECESSARY in terms of getting you into med school. It's so hard to score two 15s that it is quite possible that NO ONE will manage to accomplish it in your entire test administration. The people here with 40+ MCAT scores generally only scored one 15 at most, myself included. And even if you do manage it, you won't accomplish anything except to stroke your own ego. The AAMC does not show up at your door if you score the highest on the MCAT for your test administration with a parade and balloons. You don't get to go on the evening news. It does not make you any more qualified for med school than someone who "only" scored 14s or 13s on their science sections. And if you're wasting time on a quixotic quest for MCAT perfection instead of working on the soft aspects of your app (ECs, essays, LORs, etc.), you may find your brilliant self left out in the cold. I had several medical schools brag to me about how they rejected high-stat applicants with nothing else to offer. I hope you will reconsider your score goal and put it in the proper perspective and context, because what you are doing is truly foolish. The MCAT is a means to get into medical school, not an end in itself.

Sorry, Q, but I have to disagree here. With the caveat that this is different for different people.

While it would be bad to focus on getting a perfect MCAT score all the way through undergrad, once you're in the lead up to the test, aiming for perfection can be a very helpful way to acheive the razor sharp focus you need in order to stay on target.

And for me, the attitude that something is only a means to an end always results in reduced benefit and reduced performance. I really beleive there is an inherent benefit to almost everything that is worth doing, even if it might be seen as hoop jumping. Studying my ass off for the MCAT really consolidated the material I learned during my prerequisites, and also made me feel great about my ability to acheive something extraordinary if I worked my ordinary self with a sense of purpose. Even if I didn't need all those MCAT points to get into Columbia, I'm still glad I worked for them and got them.

As for luck, pointing to luck as the source of acheivment is another great way to reduce benefit, performance and demoralize yourself. I might sound like an ass, but there was nothing lucky about my performance, and I'd assert there wasn't anything lucky about Q or Kimka's either.

 

[Schaden Freud]

Sorry, Q, but I have to disagree here. With the caveat that this is different for different people.

While it would be bad to focus on getting a perfect MCAT score all the way through undergrad, once you're in the lead up to the test, aiming for perfection can be a very helpful way to acheive the razor sharp focus you need in order to stay on target.

And for me, the attitude that something is only a means to an end always results in reduced benefit and reduced performance. I really beleive there is an inherent benefit to almost everything that is worth doing, even if it might be seen as hoop jumping. Studying my ass off for the MCAT really consolidated the material I learned during my prerequisites, and also made me feel great about my ability to acheive something extraordinary if I worked my ordinary self with a sense of purpose. Even if I didn't need all those MCAT points to get into Columbia, I'm still glad I worked for them and got them.

As for luck, pointing to luck as the source of acheivment is another great way to reduce benefit, performance and demoralize yourself. I might sound like an ass, but there was nothing lucky about my performance, and I'd assert there wasn't anything lucky about Q or Kimka's either.

I before E, except after C.
-MCAT Subforum English Language Police

 

[QofQuimica]

as much as I respect Q and everything she has done for SDN... why shoot for the throat when you can shoot for the head ? (it's obviously what you did)

I've already said this, but it obviously bears repeating: The MCAT is not an end in and of itself; it is a MEANS to an end. The end is getting into medical school. Not only is the MCAT merely a means to an end, it is only ONE component of probably ten or twelve that are necessary to make you a super competitive applicant for medical school. You guys already know this. You need good grades and a good MCAT, yes, but also quality clinical experience, volunteering for causes that matter to you, well-written essays for your AMCAS and secondaries, strong LORs, and good interviewing skills. Other things that are largely outside of your control, like your age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, geographical location/state of residence, and your fit with the school's mission also come into play. Do you guys understand what Nutmeg and I are trying to tell you? No score on the MCAT, not even a perfect 45, will guarantee you an acceptance, or even an interview, at ANY medical school in the entire country.

Look, we all admire people who accomplish great things. This is a society of hero worship. But again, some of you need to get your feet on the ground and your priorities straight here. As we say in the South, keep your eyes on the prize. If you're a pre-med, the real goal here is getting into medical school and becoming a physician, not showing off how well you can do on the MCAT. Keep reminding yourself of the real goal, often.

In answer to your question, UMP, no, I was not aiming for fifteens at all. My target score on the MCAT was a 40, which was one point higher than my practice test average. The main reason why I wanted the 40 was because I felt like I needed a really high MCAT to offset my 0.00 UG GPA. (Seriously, that's how AMCAS calculated it.) To my mind, having some academic shortcoming (low GPA, or none in my case) to overcome is a valid reason to kill yourself trying to do extremely well on the MCAT so that the med schools will take you seriously. But I would have been fine with it if I had "only" scored a 37, which was my lowest practice test score. The truth is that I was actually pretty shocked when I wound up scoring higher than 40....

 

[QofQuimica]

Sorry, Q, but I have to disagree here. With the caveat that this is different for different people.

While it would be bad to focus on getting a perfect MCAT score all the way through undergrad, once you're in the lead up to the test, aiming for perfection can be a very helpful way to acheive the razor sharp focus you need in order to stay on target.

And for me, the attitude that something is only a means to an end always results in reduced benefit and reduced performance. I really beleive there is an inherent benefit to almost everything that is worth doing, even if it might be seen as hoop jumping. Studying my ass off for the MCAT really consolidated the material I learned during my prerequisites, and also made me feel great about my ability to acheive something extraordinary if I worked my ordinary self with a sense of purpose. Even if I didn't need all those MCAT points to get into Columbia, I'm still glad I worked for them and got them.

As for luck, pointing to luck as the source of acheivment is another great way to reduce benefit, performance and demoralize yourself. I might sound like an ass, but there was nothing lucky about my performance, and I'd assert there wasn't anything lucky about Q or Kimka's either.

You're certainly welcome to disagree, but for the record, I think you are misunderstanding/misinterpreting my point and therefore arguing against a straw man (woman?). I didn't say that one should not strive to do as well as one can on the MCAT. Rather, like Nutmeg, I said that the goal of taking the MCAT is to get into medical school. There is no other good reason to take that infernal test that I can come up with.

Now, up to a point, doing better on the MCAT will help you achieve that goal. We can all agree that someone with a 25 will be more successful at gaining entrance to med school than someone with a 20, someone with a 30 will be more successful than someone with a 25, and someone with a 35 will be more successful still, all else being equal. What I do NOT agree with is the assertion that someone with a 40 is going to be way more successful on average than someone with a 35. There is a point of diminishing returns for MCAT scores. Once you are in, say, the top 5% of all test-takers (roughly a 35+), continuing to score even higher and higher on the test is not going to strengthen your app as much as working on the soft factors that I was mentioning earlier.

Now, if you want to motivate yourself by aiming for a high score, fantastic. I did the same thing. But I aimed for a realistic high score (40) based on my practice test results (ranging from 37-41 on six tests), and I did it so that I could get into medical school, not on some quixotic quest for "perfection." It's great for my ego that I scored even higher, but it's not anywhere near as important to me as getting into med school was.

I agree with you that luck is not such a big component to scoring well, though there is some aspect of luck because we don't all get the same test forms. But I'd say that the most important factor to scoring well is practice, not luck or even intelligence.

 

[oxeye]

wow. You got me wrong there. Why would you want to go for a 13 or 14, if there is a better score? Isn't it a natural tendency to desire for a perfect score? And I am not trying to be a smart-ass vaunting about targetting 15. We just have different principles.

Here's my feeling on this - 15's are extremely rare. While I think it is a natural tendency to want a perfect score, a 15 on any section of the MCAT is different from shooting for a 100% on your O. Chem midterms (which was always my goal).

Just don't be disappointed if, or more likely *when*, you don't get 15's on both sections. Such a high aspirations can be admirable, but it also needs to be realistic.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

You're certainly welcome to disagree, but for the record, I think you are misunderstanding/misinterpreting my point and therefore arguing against a straw man (woman?). I didn't say that one should not strive to do as well as one can on the MCAT. Rather, like Nutmeg, I said that the goal of taking the MCAT is to get into medical school. There is no other good reason to take that infernal test that I can come up with.

Now, up to a point, doing better on the MCAT will help you achieve that goal. We can all agree that someone with a 25 will be more successful at gaining entrance to med school than someone with a 20, someone with a 30 will be more successful than someone with a 25, and someone with a 35 will be more successful still, all else being equal. What I do NOT agree with is the assertion that someone with a 40 is going to be way more successful on average than someone with a 35. There is a point of diminishing returns for MCAT scores. Once you are in, say, the top 5% of all test-takers (roughly a 35+), continuing to score even higher and higher on the test is not going to strengthen your app as much as working on the soft factors that I was mentioning earlier.

Now, if you want to motivate yourself by aiming for a high score, fantastic. I did the same thing. But I aimed for a realistic high score (40) based on my practice test results (ranging from 37-41 on six tests), and I did it so that I could get into medical school, not on some quixotic quest for "perfection." It's great for my ego that I scored even higher, but it's not anywhere near as important to me as getting into med school was.

I agree with you that luck is not such a big component to scoring well, though there is some aspect of luck because we don't all get the same test forms. But I'd say that the most important factor to scoring well is practice, not luck or even intelligence.

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE, especially about the diminishing returns. Did anyone ever bother to realize that HARVARD'S MCAT average is a 35.....not a 45? And guess what, HARVARD takes as low at 7's in verbal and ps (according to the 2006-2007 MSAR) and 8's in bs. I totally agree with your point that people are missing the goal here. Sure you want aim high on the MCAT, your an idiot if you don't try to do your best. But 15's in all the sections? There simply is no point to that.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

Just another point. One thing that really bothered me about Kaplan, for those of you who took it or are planning on taking it, is that first day when they tell you to write down your target score, and then tell you that everyone should write down a 45. I'm not sure if everyone's Kaplan did this, but mine did and I think it was really stupid. Yes I get the point, aim high, reach for the sky, blah blah... but some poor kids were getting their diagnostics back in the teens, and freaking Kaplan is telling them to aim for a 45. So what do they do, totally FREAK OUT and think that they are failures......

 

[suckermc]

oh jeeze, guys. you know, i think my buddies are right, .....i am going to get off the sdn tip untill august. 15s? 45s? dang. anyone else feeling like they've been punched in the nuts?


to the op: just read the crazy stickies on top of the forum. ask those cats cuz the've done it.


i guess ill go cry into my stem cells. wtf guys. seriously.

 

[pslee]

this thread is becoming totally useless. I want to apologize for putting it up. No hard feelings! 🙂

 

[Anastasis]

this thread is becoming totally useless. I want to apologize for putting it up. No hard feelings! 🙂

Hey - I just want to say this: I think it's great you're that driven for excellence. Hopefully you'll tranfer that to being driven to bring your patients excellent care. I think all Q was trying to say is don't get lost in the details and keep your mind on trying to get into medical school and become an excellent doctor.

Good luck on slaying the beast!!

 

[jbrice1639]

Excellent advice, and I agree. OP, there is no reason to set a goal like that for yourself that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even worse, is completely and utterly UNNECESSARY in terms of getting you into med school. It's so hard to score two 15s that it is quite possible that NO ONE will manage to accomplish it in your entire test administration. The people here with 40+ MCAT scores generally only scored one 15 at most, myself included. And even if you do manage it, you won't accomplish anything except to stroke your own ego. The AAMC does not show up at your door if you score the highest on the MCAT for your test administration with a parade and balloons. You don't get to go on the evening news. It does not make you any more qualified for med school than someone who "only" scored 14s or 13s on their science sections. And if you're wasting time on a quixotic quest for MCAT perfection instead of working on the soft aspects of your app (ECs, essays, LORs, etc.), you may find your brilliant self left out in the cold. I had several medical schools brag to me about how they rejected high-stat applicants with nothing else to offer. I hope you will reconsider your score goal and put it in the proper perspective and context, because what you are doing is truly foolish. The MCAT is a means to get into medical school, not an end in itself.

QofQuimica said quixotic quest...say that 5 times fast

 

[QofQuimica]

QofQuimica said quixotic quest...say that 5 times fast

I said I wasn't going to post in this ridiculous thread any more, but I had to let you know that I appreciate your alliteration. Say "QofQuimica appreciates your alliteration" five times fast. 😀

 

[Nutmeg]

well, I am one of those people who have a weak application and is hoping to get it pulled up by the MCAT score... what else can you do?

Yeah, well that's why I make the comment. I was, too. End result? A high MCAT score and a weak application.

Do the things suggested, above all, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE. The MCAT score is just a small portion of the overall, and there's a point of diminishing returns where effort invested in the MCAT would better serve you invested in something else.