April 2002 vs August 2002

personally I thought the Aug MCAT was much more difficult than the April one. I was much more prepared this time but the test seemed so much more challenging. I went in thinking I was going to kick some MCAT ass.....and I left very frustrated. I had form DG by the way.

 

i felt april was MUCH harder.... but maybes that because i studied alot more for august

 

Well, glad we got that clarified

 

OK, I have the final answer. August was much harder.

But, if you asked my real opinion I don't think that there was much of a difference overall when you consider all of the forms.

I know how the first poster feels. I went into the April MCAT feeling moderately confident (and promptly got a 23S) so I purchased more materials (Examcrakers + Audio Osmosis). For me, the Audio Osmosis was a big help. I finally felt that I could remember the basic stuff that I studied more than 10 years ago. In short, I felt pretty confident.

Of course, reality rained down on me like a stack of O-chem books in the guise of form AG.

Apparently, in retrospect, what I needed was a PhD in Molecular Biology, Optical Physics and Physical Chemistry.

 

I found August much, much harder.

But maybe that's because I didn't take the April one.....

 

I felt so much more prepared for this august exam. I was seriously thinking I would kick some butt as compared to the april one. Instead I came out feeling the same way. I can kind of get a sense when I dont do that well. I struggle to do many questions and dont finish entire sections. I think this aug test was more challenging than aprils

 

I was done with physical sciences in April [form BM] when the proctor called 45 minutes [I got a 10 in PS]. I got done with only about 15 minutes left in August [form AG].

Luckily, I had taken physics and molecular biology this past spring and finished P-Chem about a month before the August MCAT.

All in all it seemed manageable but I ended up not releasing my scores to AMCAS at the test and will only after seeing if I beat how I did in April [31 N]. Peace.

 

apparently an MD in cardiology and medical genetics would have also been quite helpful

 

Before I take the next MCAT, I'm going to get my PhD in:

NuclearcardiomolecularradiologicalShakespeariangenetics

Then, I'll get that 35 I keep dreaming of.

 

I thought the august mcat was easier then aprils....but it definately wasnt EASY. I studied way more for this one since I didnt have any classes to worry about!

 

Difficulty lies on the form you recieve; furthermore, different people have different strengths in different topics.

 

HAHA, THIS MADE ME AND MY FRIEND LAUGH FOR A WHILE....HAHA

NERO

 

I second this. I was in a very similar situation.
However, I agree that the form you gou and how it compared to your weaknesses/strengths matters a lot (luck factor, I guess).
I had form CH, which barely had any organic clap: ) and PS was basically all about optics, magnetism and electrostatics clap: ).
In other words, it worked out for me, but probably wouldn't have for someone else.

 

Question- Does each of the forms receive its own scaled score or are all raw scores thrown together?

 

Yep, you are only scored against the people who had the same form as you.

 

Is it just me or are a few questions from the mcat are coming back and haunting you? I just realized that I got one question wrong in the PS section, plus it was an easy question. Arggh!

 

Yea, I pretty much had the same thoughts in the days following the MCAT, but I pretty much have gotten to the point of not caring anymore.

 

In April there were 4 rooms w/ @ 20 people in each (~ 80) @ my test site. But last week, there was ONLY ONE room w/ 14 people! Did anyone else see a drastic drop in the # of peeps taking mcat this time?

The atmosphere and vibe I got from the people in my room was also much more laid-back.

 

i think there were actually more people taking the mcat in aguust than april..............they were so filled in us, that they started sending people to london to take the mcat..............so i definitely think there was a drastic rise compared to april

nero

 

I'm sorry bro (or sis) but unless your 31N had a weird distribution, then you retaking the test wasn't really necessary (and a real waste of time imho)...No hard feelings and I hope you did better this time around.

As far as the MCAT goes, I took the August 2001 MCAT and August 2002 MCAT and I personally thought the Physical was about the same in both administrations, but the Bio was definitely harder in the 2002 exam, than in the 2001 exam, hope that curve helps us. By the way I had form AG.