BERKELEY REVIEW scores/discussion

[capn jazz]

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Just like the EK Verbal 101 thread, this is a thread to talk about how you're doing with the TBR passages. I don't know how people are generally going through these, but I'm doing Phase I and II after reading the chapter, and saving Phase III for after I finish all content review.

I'm currently working on Gen Chem.

Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

So far I LOVE the book. I hated Gen Chem and I'm enjoying reading this and I really feel like it's helping me grasp the topics. Hopefully future chapters will continue this trend...

Now it's up to you guys! Keep this thread alive!

 

[TwinsFan]

QuantumFlame, I would definitely be interested in hearing how you attack/process the passages and your perceptions surrounding the verbal section.

I am doing AAMC 3 tomorrow and am estimating VR to be in the 10-11 range based on my prior work, but I would really like to move to 12+ to give myself a decent shot at 40+ come test time.

 

[QuantumFlame]

QuantumFlame, I would definitely be interested in hearing how you attack/process the passages and your perceptions surrounding the verbal section.

I am doing AAMC 3 tomorrow and am estimating VR to be in the 10-11 range based on my prior work, but I would really like to move to 12+ to give myself a decent shot at 40+ come test time.

Hi TwinsFan,

so I've recieved several PM from people over in the 8/10/12 thread asking a similar question, so I'll copy my answer from one of those responses here. My trend in EK101 and TPRH Verbal workbook are in this thread, and about halfway through (midst a string of 10s in EK101, which was frustrating to say the least...) I made the following realization...

I noticed that on the questions I missed, I usually narrowed down my choices to two possibilities, the right answer and another one. Invariably, I'd pick the wrong answer choice. Furthermore, when I went to review, I couldn't satisfactorily explain to myself why I chose that particular answer. This led me to try the following: I don't pick an answer until I can defend it, and I don't eliminate answer choices until I can explain exactly WHY I am eliminating it. So for a generic question stem and corresponding answer choices, my mental dialogue and reasoning (in parenthesis) are as follows:

...Question Stem...
A) Answer 1 (This can't be the answer, because it goes against the authors argument ABC --> eliminated)
B) Answer 2 (this can't be the answer, because it is too extreme an answer --> eliminated
C) Answer 3 (ok, this looks good, and is substantiated by passage information XYZ) --> choose as answer
D) Answer 4 (this can't be the answer, because it is outside the scope of the passage) --> eliminated)

the key here for me is that I have concrete reasons for choosing every answer. I literally "talk" to myself and have an internal monologue in which I very explicitly state why I am eliminating and why I am retaining any given answer choice. This helps me avoid the fatal "gut" answer choice as well as bringing in extraneous outside information.

All this being said...there is an inherent ambiguity in the verbal reasoning section. After a while, you get a "sense" for common traps. My point is that just because I defend my answers, doesn't mean it follows like a geometrical proof. There is a level of interpretation. However, in my (albeit limited) experience, it is possible to have a clear reasoning for an answer, mixed in with a little bit of test-taking skills and "gut" feeling.

Also, state of mind for me is very important. So before I take a full length I take a walk around the neighborhood, remind myself why I am taking the MCAT, and really enter a focused mood. I tell myself that it is unacceptable to miss even a single question. During the verbal section, before starting and between passages I close my eyes, take a deep breath, remind myself that perfection is the goal and repeat a little mantra I came up with to keep me focused (DYA, Attack, Logic) which reminds me to defend my answer, to assume an attitude of attack and to substantiate my choices with clear logic. This helps me stay engaged and focused.

 

[sglec]

Hey guys about to start the Organic Chemistry for TBR and I'm trying to come up with a schedule. You think 2 sections a week with the practice exams is too much? Thanks in advance!🙂

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 7-24
Took AAMC 3. Felt really good when I finished, had about 20 min left for review on the PS and BS, and with 20 min entering passage 6 on the VR I took my time on the last 2 passages, finished with 1-2 min left. My focus was way higher than a typical day of practice passages and so were distractions. I took it at the local library and someone even started talking to me in the middle of it, people were loud on cell phones, there was a tour conducted, highly distracting. I will adjust for the next exam.

I was surprised at the simplicity of some of the Qs and waaaay over thought them, also mismarked a bubble. But overall I got a good feel for pacing and style of the AAMCs. I hope to use this info to improve on the next one and look forward to the newer trend away from physiology (missed 4 physio Qs). The verbal felt more straightforward than normal, but I was also very focused (today I also had extra focus and got all Qs right in the 3 passages for the first time!). Maybe I have a VR upward trend on the way 😀?

On my chapter review days I'm doing the last 1/3 of BR Physics, only the toughest looking 2/4 passages for Chem and O Chem for chapters that I'm strong in (all 4 for the weaker ones), TPRH Bio with a focus on the advanced passages (at least 1 per 4 passage group) and a couple TPRH passages per chapter on a weakness for more electricity, magnetism, optics, etc. practice. Doing 3 passages/day of TPRH verbal. I am also using the JCo videos to supplement my weak areas and watching about 1/2 hour per study day worth, they are pretty decent but a tad expensive.

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3
Physics
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14
5: 75%-11, 81%-12
6: 89%-13, 90%-13
7: 96%-14, 86%-13
8: 57%-8, 76%-11
9: 71%-10, 67%-10
10: 86%-13, 67%-10
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 Passages - 83%

O Chem
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11
5: 78%-12, 92%-14
6: 69%-10, 72%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13
8: 78%-12, 84%-13

Chem
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12
4: 78%-12, 83%-12
5: 86%-13, 79%-12
6: 81%-12, 91%-13
7: 93%-14, 83%-12
8: 89%-13, 97%-14
9: 75%-11, 96%-14
10: 76%-11, 84%-13

Bio (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 4 regular Passages - 79%
TPRH Bio: 2 advanced Passages - 56%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 57 passages - 77% (10) - most recent 6 passages 86% (11)
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[QuantumFlame]

Update 7-24
Took AAMC 3. Felt really good when I finished, had about 20 min left for review on the PS and BS, and with 20 min entering passage 6 on the VR I took my time on the last 2 passages, finished with 1-2 min left. My focus was way higher than a typical day of practice passages and so were distractions. I took it at the local library and someone even started talking to me in the middle of it, people were loud on cell phones, there was a tour conducted, highly distracting. I will adjust for the next exam.

I was surprised at the simplicity of some of the Qs and waaaay over thought them, also mismarked a bubble. But overall I got a good feel for pacing and style of the AAMCs. I hope to use this info to improve on the next one and look forward to the newer trend away from physiology (missed 4 physio Qs). The verbal felt more straightforward than normal, but I was also very focused (today I also had extra focus and got all Qs right in the 3 passages for the first time!). Maybe I have a VR upward trend on the way 😀?

On my chapter review days I'm doing the last 1/3 of BR Physics, only the toughest looking 2/4 passages for Chem and O Chem for chapters that I'm strong in (all 4 for the weaker ones), TPRH Bio with a focus on the advanced passages (at least 1 per 4 passage group) and a couple TPRH passages per chapter on a weakness for more electricity, magnetism, optics, etc. practice. Doing 3 passages/day of TPRH verbal. I am also using the JCo videos to supplement my weak areas and watching about 1/2 hour per study day worth, they are pretty decent but a tad expensive.

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37

Awesome first FL TwinsFan! Now that you've gotten used to the style of questions and the format of the test, I can easily see you topping 40+

I completely agree with your FL assessment. The AAMC difficulty was less intense than BR, and I also feel like my concentration during a practice test is much better than during content review. I feel like BR really prepared me well for the full-lengths.

I've been focusing on the FL, and have stopped doing the last 1/3rds for this week, as I've been a bit burnt out and needing the rest. Going to rev it up for the next two weeks though.

My Plan for the next two weeks

Week 1: Catch up with last 1/3
Week 2: Brush up on weak areas with EK 1001, reading the corresponding chapters etc.

End of Week 2: Take MCAT 😱


AAMC3 - 12PS, 12VR, 11BS - 35
AAMC4 - 13PS, 13VR, 14BS - 40
AAMC5 - 13PS, 15VR, 13BS - 41
AAMC7 - 14PS, 15VR, 12BS - 41

AAMC8 - 14PS, 14VR, 14BS - 42

 

[osprey099]

AAMC3 - 12PS, 12VR, 11BS - 35
AAMC4 - 13PS, 13VR, 14BS - 40
AAMC5 - 13PS, 15VR, 13BS - 41
AAMC7 - 14PS, 15VR, 12BS - 41

AAMC8 - 14PS, 14VR, 14BS - 42

omg..I'm so jealous lol tell me your hacks 😛

I've posted in this thread like maybe a month ago but too lazy to post breakdown of scores. I finished all of TBR and my scores on average have been:
(Note: I do all of the corresponding passages after each chapter right away)

Gen Chem: 12
Physics: 12
Orgo: 11
Bio: 9
EK101 Verbal: 10

AAMC 3: 35 (12PS, 11V, 12BS)

In addition to TBR, I've done passages from EK1001 Bio, EK mini-mcats, and kaplan 45. I'm going to start doing TPRHL Verbal and Science passages (definitely not going to finish them all) tomorrow. MCAT is on 9/1.

 

[chrisharimlee]

Awesome first FL TwinsFan! Now that you've gotten used to the style of questions and the format of the test, I can easily see you topping 40+

I completely agree with your FL assessment. The AAMC difficulty was less intense than BR, and I also feel like my concentration during a practice test is much better than during content review. I feel like BR really prepared me well for the full-lengths.

I've been focusing on the FL, and have stopped doing the last 1/3rds for this week, as I've been a bit burnt out and needing the rest. Going to rev it up for the next two weeks though.

My Plan for the next two weeks

Week 1: Catch up with last 1/3
Week 2: Brush up on weak areas with EK 1001, reading the corresponding chapters etc.

End of Week 2: Take MCAT 😱


AAMC3 - 12PS, 12VR, 11BS - 35
AAMC4 - 13PS, 13VR, 14BS - 40
AAMC5 - 13PS, 15VR, 13BS - 41
AAMC7 - 14PS, 15VR, 12BS - 41

AAMC8 - 14PS, 14VR, 14BS - 42

WOW I hope you get a 45! Goodness gracious what a beast. I was getting discouraged comparing my TBR results to yours, but little did i know who i was comparing my scores to

 

[Temperature101]

Awesome first FL TwinsFan! Now that you've gotten used to the style of questions and the format of the test, I can easily see you topping 40+

I completely agree with your FL assessment. The AAMC difficulty was less intense than BR, and I also feel like my concentration during a practice test is much better than during content review. I feel like BR really prepared me well for the full-lengths.

I've been focusing on the FL, and have stopped doing the last 1/3rds for this week, as I've been a bit burnt out and needing the rest. Going to rev it up for the next two weeks though.

My Plan for the next two weeks

Week 1: Catch up with last 1/3
Week 2: Brush up on weak areas with EK 1001, reading the corresponding chapters etc.

End of Week 2: Take MCAT 😱


AAMC3 - 12PS, 12VR, 11BS - 35
AAMC4 - 13PS, 13VR, 14BS - 40
AAMC5 - 13PS, 15VR, 13BS - 41
AAMC7 - 14PS, 15VR, 12BS - 41

AAMC8 - 14PS, 14VR, 14BS - 42

This is crazy...How can someone get even 14 let alone 15 on VR?

 

[chillaxbro]

Just got my MCAT score back recently

Used only TBR for studying

Got a 35

TBR is awesome

Don't get discouraged when getting low grades on TBR, it is much harder than the real thing. I was freaking out because I was getting maybe 60% average on all the TBR review passages but I did pretty good on the real test.

 

[Kalemrain]

They are taking so long to get here gahhhh!! I want to start posting some scores already!!!! I guess I'll read the instructions in the books on how to tackle the learning and passages and such. Instead of asking here, tips would be nice tho.

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 7-27
Took AAMC 4. Felt good when I finished, had 17 min left for review on the PS, 13 min for BS, and with 19 min entering passage 6 on the VR I took my time on the last 2 passages. I minimized distractions for this exam and felt pretty calm, maybe a bit too calm sometimes and my mind wandered occasionally. Overall I felt a bit slow and muddy from studying 6 days/wk for 2 months, but I wasn't battling nerves/distractions/unfamiliarity.

Verbal felt a bit tough to focus on because I was psyched out by the previous days passages which I bombed from lack of focus. It will probably be my biggest barrier to a 40+. I was 1 question away from a 15 in both BS (missed 2 physio Qs, 1 genetics Q) and PS (missed 1 electronics Q). There was a definite feel to the MCAT that I'm getting used to, a lot of qualitative evaluations and logic type problems, and when it's between two answers it is always the simple explanation (except verbal?). Hopefully I can get a 40+ on the next FL 😀

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14
5: 75%-11, 81%-12
6: 89%-13, 90%-13
7: 96%-14, 86%-13
8: 57%-8, 76%-11
9: 71%-10, 67%-10
10: 86%-13, 67%-10TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 Passages - 83%

O Chem
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11
5: 78%-12, 92%-14
6: 69%-10, 72%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13
8: 78%-12, 84%-13

Chem
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12
5: 86%-13, 79%-12
6: 81%-12, 91%-13
7: 93%-14, 83%-12
8: 89%-13, 97%-14
9: 75%-11, 96%-14
10: 76%-11, 84%-13

Bio (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 6 regular Passages - 82%
TPRH Bio: 4 advanced Passages - 75% (big improvement here!)

Verbal
TPRH: overall 59 passages - 76% (10)
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[Temperature101]

me too. I got a 34 and used mostly tbr. My tbr passage scores were not impressive or consistent. Some sections i'd get 75% and others 50%. I remember that equilibrium section in gchem was excruciating.

.
...................

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 8-3
Took AAMC 5 yesterday after taking several days off. Felt pretty unsure and over-analyzed the crap out of the test. Ended up missing 5 to over thinking, 3 because I changed my answers and and 3 more because I misread them. Very shaky on verbal with no confidence. I choked. It was too much time off. I felt pretty crappy, but see mostly where I went wrong. I didn't approach the test with the correct mindset and got too caught up in the details, even though my timing was solid. There was also one passage that was tough in Bio (didn't truly understand it).

I'm glad it happened now, and not on test day, as I hone my last few weeks. I have a different appreciation for the difficulty of getting a 40; I need to understand all passages well, be very confident, and be in a good rhythm prior to the test. This minor setback has made me hungry again, it is time to execute.

Good Luck to everyone else working towards test day!

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13
7: 96%-14, 86%-13
8: 57%-8, 76%-11
9: 71%-10, 67%-10
10: 86%-13, 67%-10
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 5 passages - 83%

O Chem
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13
8: 78%-12, 84%-13

Chem
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12
6: 81%-12, 91%-13
7: 93%-14, 83%-12
8: 89%-13, 97%-14
9: 75%-11, 96%-14
10: 76%-11, 84%-13

Bio (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 6 regular Passages - 82%
TPRH Bio: 4 advanced Passages - 75%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 66 passages - 76% (10); TPRH1 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[annabelle17]

Me too. I got a 34 and used mostly TBR. My TBR passage scores were not impressive or consistent. Some sections I'd get 75% and others 50%. I remember that equilibrium section in GChem was excruciating.

This is so good to hear! I was wondering why my review passage scores were so low and came here to determine how I could increase my bio score. - I still do need some advice on how to increase that Bio score 😉
Thanks!

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 8-6
Took AAMC 7 yesterday. Felt decent overall, but I got a bit flustered at the end of VR (scored 1/5 on the last passage), there was a qualitative Q in PS that seemed highly debatable and one Q in BS that I didn't understand. Most of the science Qs I missed either involve not understanding the question or it is some VR-type question. I was able to approach all the Qs as simple ones and only "over-thought" a 2 of them. I went a bit slower and more methodical to catch mistakes. Finished PS w 15 min, VR with 2 min, and BS with 11 min left over (I used the extra time to review).

I noticed a step away from memorization based physio on this test and it had a couple of tougher Bio passages. It is a bit frustrating to see more VR-type Qs on the test since they appear to be my biggest weakness. Still highly motivated, but getting a 40+ rests highly on VR, not only because you realistically need a 12+ (and 14+ in both sciences) but because those last 1-3 questions in the sciences are speculative VR-type Qs.

Good Luck to everyone else working towards test day!

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13
8: 57%-8, 76%-11
9: 71%-10, 67%-10
10: 86%-13, 67%-10
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%

O Chem
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13
8: 78%-12, 84%-13

Chem
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12, 69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13
7: 93%-14, 83%-12
8: 89%-13, 97%-14
9: 75%-11, 96%-14
10: 76%-11, 84%-13

Bio (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 10 reg passages - 82% / 7 adv passages - 80%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 72 passages - 77% (10); TPRH1 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[icooley]

Update: Been on vacation, traveling, moving to new apartment, etc and I've gotten a bit behind. My mind has felt kinda "lazy" as I've gone through some Phase II sections recently so I need to pick it up. I take the test 8/17.

Format:
chapter: Phase I, Phase II, Phase III
* = I took more than 1min/question on average for the section (I like to keep an eye on time though BR recommends against it for Phase I)

General Chemistry
1: 85%, 80%, 92%
2: 81%, 79%, 93%
3: 79%, 79%
4: 91%, 89%
5: 80%, 90%
6: 93%, 90%
7: 86%, 81%
8: 84%, 89%
9: 94%, 96%
10: 92%*, 94%

Organic Chemistry
1: 86%, 90%
2: 89%, 81%
3: 93%, 71%
4: 82%, 88%
5: 85%*, 85%
6: 89%, 68%
7: 93%, 90%
8: 90%, 83%

Physics
1: 88%, 90%
2: 80%, 88%
3: 88%, 81%
4: 92%, 83%
5: 92%, 92%
6: 88%, 77%
7: 92%, 88%
8: 84%, 87%
9: 84%, 88%
10: 76%*, 81%*

Biology
1: 76%, 71%
2: 76%, 82%*
3: 79%, 81%
4: 74%, 91%
5: 84%, 74%
6: 88%, 88%
7: 91%, 73%*
8: 55%*, 79%
9: 85%, 94%*
10: 91%, 79%*

AAMC 3: 36 (12 PS, 11 VR, 13 BS)
AAMC 4: 39 (13 PS, 12 VR, 14 BS)

 

[rawkfist]

Those scores look amazing icooley, maybe give up going straight through the books and just take practices tests and look at your weaknesses?

I will be on here soon, updating with my hopeful stellar scores 🙄

 

[icooley]

Those scores look amazing icooley, maybe give up going straight through the books and just take practices tests and look at your weaknesses?

I will be on here soon, updating with my hopeful stellar scores 🙄

Thanks. I decided to stick with TBR practice instead of trying to do a few tests because wanted to get another run through all of the material after having some time off and getting out of my groove as a result of vacation and life stuff. I may take another practice before test day.

Good luck with your studying. The passages are definitely doable if you put in the work.

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 8-13
AAMC 9 went well. A bit rushed on verbal and mainly missed the verbal type PS Qs. Tried to pick the simplest answers based on ideal cases but some of the answers were the technically correct non ideal case (unlike previous AAMCs). Pretty frustrating. BS was a lot better on this one, only missed 3 Qs. I like the thinking type Qs vs the random physio trivia.

AAMC 8 was sluggish. I never got into the grove and lost confidence. Then was destroyed on most VR type science Qs. Attitude and mindset are the biggest thing on this test for me.

Still looking for that 40+ but I keep working on the VR type science Qs. I'm hoping I can find a pattern to whether they want the most technical/exception type answer or the simplest one as I have a tendency to heavily over-think the Qs. The BR prep with their trick Qs and my extensive PS background lend themselves to this. I seem to find ambiguity in many of the AAMC questions and just haven't put together a fantastic test yet.

AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 8- 12PS, 10VR, 12BS - 34
AAMC 9- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13, 81%-12
8: 57%-8, 76%-11, 81%-12
9: 71%-10, 67%-10
10: 86%-13, 67%-10
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%
TPRH Physics: Harmonic Motion, 4 reg passages - 96%

O Chem (82%)
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13, 77%-11 (2 passages)
8: 78%-12, 84%-13, 79%-12

Chem
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12,69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13, 81%-12 (2 passages)
7: 93%-14, 83%-12, 100%-15 (2 passages)
8: 89%-13, 97%-14
9: 75%-11, 96%-14
10: 76%-11, 84%-13

Bio (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 15 reg passages - 84% / 10 adv passages - 79%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 84 passages - 78% (10); TPRH1 78%-10, TPRH2 83%-11, TPRH3 88%-12
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[icooley]

Update: Took AAMC11 and did the biology diagnostics at the end of the books. I am happy with those performances today. Tomorrow and Thursday will likely just be some light review and a little verbal practice. Friday is game day.

Format:
chapter: Phase I, Phase II, Phase III
* = I took more than 1min/question on average for the section (I like to keep an eye on time though BR recommends against it for Phase I)

General Chemistry
1: 85%, 80%, 92%
2: 81%, 79%, 93%
3: 79%, 79%
4: 91%, 89%
5: 80%, 90%
6: 93%, 90%
7: 86%, 81%
8: 84%, 89%
9: 94%, 96%
10: 92%*, 94%

Organic Chemistry
1: 86%, 90%
2: 89%, 81%
3: 93%, 71%
4: 82%, 88%
5: 85%*, 85%
6: 89%, 68%
7: 93%, 90%
8: 90%, 83%

Physics
1: 88%, 90%
2: 80%, 88%
3: 88%, 81%
4: 92%, 83%
5: 92%, 92%
6: 88%, 77%
7: 92%, 88%
8: 84%, 87%
9: 84%, 88%
10: 76%*, 81%*

Biology
1: 76%, 71%
2: 76%, 82%*
3: 79%, 81%
4: 74%, 91%
5: 84%, 74%
6: 88%, 88%
7: 91%, 73%*
8: 55%*, 79%
9: 85%, 94%*
10: 91%, 79%*
Physiology Diagnostic: 94%
Molecular Bio Diagnostic: 92%

AAMC 3: 36 (12 PS, 11 VR, 13 BS)
AAMC 4: 39 (13 PS, 12 VR, 14 BS)
AAMC 11: 40 (14PS, 13VR, 13 BS)

 

[icooley]

The difference between a high 30 (like a 38) and a 40 is as much luck as anything. Getting a test with a more generous curve or knowing one random fact that is tested could be the difference. Be confident and get good sleep before your exam. You're going to do great!

I missed your post earlier. Thanks for the advice and kind words!

 

[argama]

I noticed I score higher on TBR vs AAMC in general, is that a good or bad thing? I mean the way the TBR tests are designed, I just like it better b/c it's more a "use ur brain and analysis skillz" whereas w/AAMC I felt it was like "lol you don't know that concept really well? Well there goes the next 6 questions"

I could be wrong on all of this of course. My aamc self-assessment have been mid to low 70s although looking back, most of my mistakes were because I interpreted the answer and/or question wrong.

Scores: PS/VR/BS

AAMC3 26 8/9/9
AAMC4 27 9/8/10
AAMC5 28 10/8/10
AAMC7 27 9/8/10
AAMC8 28 10/8/10
TBR1 33 12/11/10
TBR2 32 10/9/13
TBR3 26 9/8/9
TBR4 30 11/9/10
TBR5 30 10/10/10
TBR6 34 11/10/13
TBR7 34-36 (Not sure) 11-12/11-12/12

For TBR7 For PS I was 4 points from entering the 13 range and for VR I was 3 points from the 13 range. Based on my practice passages and EK101 passages and self-assessment package these numbers look too high....so I am unsure if I am really ready or just being lucky with TBR6 and TBR7 scores.

So is this good? My test is on 23rd but I might void if I don't feel ready by then (take + void). THen I would take it in Jan. Is this a good idea?? 🙁

EDIT: I took TBR 1-3 BEFORE AAMC 7&8. Sorry for the chronological messup

 

[TwinsFan]

Update 8-21
AAMC 10 went pretty well. Hosed the last verbal passage otherwise I was 33/34 on the other 6 passages. AAMC 11 was good, only 1 Q away in each category from a 14. A few overthought Qs but solid overall. I only had ~10 min on both sciences left over for review. Hopefully 10 and 11 are representative, my goal is 40+ and I'm very close.

Finished up my last passages today. (may do a couple VR tomorrow to stay "in the groove") I feel pretty much ready, but would like the test to be over. My FL performance has been largely dictated by attitude and feel. If I'm focused and confident on Thurs a top notch score is within reach.

Hopefully this log can be useful for future studiers to compare and gauge from for scoring/timeline/resource type etc. I will post my score once it is received with post game impressions/analysis as well.

AAMC FL avg = 36.8
AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 8- 12PS, 10VR, 12BS - 34
AAMC 9- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 10- 14PS, 11VR, 13BS - 38
AAMC 11- 13PS, 13VR, 13BS - 39

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics (avg BR 81%, TPRH 84%)
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13, 81%-12
8: 57%-8, 76%-11, 81%-12
9: 71%-10, 67%-10, 86%-13
10: 86%-13, 67%-10, 81%-12
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%
TPRH Physics: Harmonic Motion, 7 reg passages - 89% / 1 adv passage - 100%

O Chem (avg 82%)
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13, 77%-11 (2 passages)
8: 78%-12, 84%-13, 79%-12

Chem (avg 84%)
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12,69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13, 81%-12 (2 passages)
7: 93%-14, 83%-12, 100%-15 (2 passages)
8: 89%-13, 97%-14, 93%-14 (2 passages)
9: 75%-11, 96%-14, 75%-11 (2 passages)
10: 76%-11, 84%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)

Bio (avg BR 74%, TPRH 82%) (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 22 reg passages - 82% / 13 adv passages - 81%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 87 passages - 78% (10); TPRH1 78%-10, TPRH2 83%-11, TPRH3 88%-12, TPRH4 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

WOW!!! There are some amazing scores here! Congrats to you all. For anyone else reading this who is getting more in the 60%-70% range, you're doing well enougnh to get in double digits. The most important thing no matter what you're scoring is thoroughly reviewing each homework set afterwards and figuring out how you'd correct any mistakes you made.

 

[QuantumFlame]

ACTUAL MCAT: 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39Q

I can't believe this process is actually over for me! Below, you will find the stats for my BR, EK101 and TPRH Verbal Workbook scores as well as practice test results. I really hope they are helpful in terms of correlating BR passage performance with practice tests and the actual MCAT.

One note on passages...i did not complete the last 1/3. I focused more on resting and doing well on the practice tests.

Its been great having all those who posted here to lend support through this long process, and for those still going through it or who will start soon...best of luck! 👍

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

AAMC3 - 12PS, 12VR, 11BS - 35
AAMC4 - 13PS, 13VR, 14BS - 40
AAMC5 - 13PS, 15VR, 13BS - 41
AAMC7 - 14PS, 15VR, 12BS - 41
AAMC 8 - 14PS, 14VR, 14BS - 42
AAMC 9 - 14PS, 13VR, 14BS - 41
AAMC10 - 14PS, 13VR, 15BS - 42
AAMC11 - 13PS, 11VR, 14BS - 38


Physics
1: 63% - 9, 67% - 10, 71% - 11
2: 82% - 13, 88% - 13, 81% - 13
3: 67% - 10, 82% - 13, 47% - 7
4: 71% - 11, 83% - 13, 63% - 9
5: 81% - 13, 80% - 12
6: 76% - 12, 78% - 12
7: 64% - 9, 74% - 11
8: 64% - 9, 80% - 12
9: 71% - 11, 86% - 1
310: 52% - 7, 77% - 12

Gen Chem
1: 61% - 9, 71% - 10, 71% - 10
2: 80% - 12, 88% - 13, 96% - 14
3: 89% - 13, 86% - 13, 76% - 11
4: 78% - 12, 88% - 13, 83% - 12
5: 83% - 12, 82% - 12
6: 71% - 10, 80% - 12
7: 83% - 12; 81% - 12
8: 82% - 12; 82% - 12
7: 83% - 12, 81% - 12
8: 82% - 12, 82% - 12
9: 89% - 13, 90% - 13
10: 85% - 13, 71% - 10

O Chem
1: 82% - 12, 86% - 13, 81% - 12
2: 80% - 12, 79% - 11, 68% - 9
3: 87% - 13, 93% - 13, 87% - 13
4: 85% - 12, 83% - 12, 74% - 11
5: 91% - 13 ,87% - 13
6: 91% - 13, 91% - 13
7: 97% - 14, 89% - 13
8: 85% - 12, 88% - 13


Bio
1: 75% - 12, 71% - 11, 74% - 11
2: 86% - 13, 70% - 11, 58% - 8
3: 69% - 10, 73% - 11, 72% - 11
4: 65% - 10, 93% - 14, 97% - 14
5: 75% - 12, 84% - 13
6: 76% - 12, 82% - 13
7: 97% - 14, 65% - 10
8: 67% - 10, 73% - 11
9: 67% - 10, 64% - 9

Verbal
*all scores based on EK 101 score conversion chart*
EK 101: 8, 10, 12, 11, 10, 10, 11, 13, 12
TPRH: 36 passages, 81% = 11

TPRH Practice Test 1: 77% = 10
TPRH Practice Test 2: 82% = 11
TPRH Practice Test 3: 100% - 15 😱

 

[icooley]

The results are in!

I am a little disappointed by my verbal score but I consider that section a bit of a crapshoot anyway. I am, of course, very happy with my science scores. Thanks to those who made helpful and encouraging posts in this thread, I hope my practice data is of some use to those who will take future MCATs.

Real deal: 40 P (14 PS, 11 VR, 15 BS)

Update: Took AAMC11 and did the biology diagnostics at the end of the books. I am happy with those performances today. Tomorrow and Thursday will likely just be some light review and a little verbal practice. Friday is game day.

Format:
chapter: Phase I, Phase II, Phase III
* = I took more than 1min/question on average for the section (I like to keep an eye on time though BR recommends against it for Phase I)

General Chemistry
1: 85%, 80%, 92%
2: 81%, 79%, 93%
3: 79%, 79%
4: 91%, 89%
5: 80%, 90%
6: 93%, 90%
7: 86%, 81%
8: 84%, 89%
9: 94%, 96%
10: 92%*, 94%

Organic Chemistry
1: 86%, 90%
2: 89%, 81%
3: 93%, 71%
4: 82%, 88%
5: 85%*, 85%
6: 89%, 68%
7: 93%, 90%
8: 90%, 83%

Physics
1: 88%, 90%
2: 80%, 88%
3: 88%, 81%
4: 92%, 83%
5: 92%, 92%
6: 88%, 77%
7: 92%, 88%
8: 84%, 87%
9: 84%, 88%
10: 76%*, 81%*

Biology
1: 76%, 71%
2: 76%, 82%*
3: 79%, 81%
4: 74%, 91%
5: 84%, 74%
6: 88%, 88%
7: 91%, 73%*
8: 55%*, 79%
9: 85%, 94%*
10: 91%, 79%*
Physiology Diagnostic: 94%
Molecular Bio Diagnostic: 92%

AAMC 3: 36 (12 PS, 11 VR, 13 BS)
AAMC 4: 39 (13 PS, 12 VR, 14 BS)
AAMC 11: 40 (14PS, 13VR, 13 BS)

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The results are in!

I am a little disappointed by my verbal score but I consider that section a bit of a crapshoot anyway. I am, of course, very happy with my science scores. Thanks to those who made helpful and encouraging posts in this thread, I hope my practice data is of some use to those who will take future MCATs.

Real deal: 40 P (14 PS, 11 VR, 15 BS)

CONGRATULATIONS! You know you're ina great place when an 11 in VR is disappointing.

 

[argama]

well I did terrible on my MCAT 27S 9/7/11, around 4ish pts off my average.

That was lower than any of my practice tests (except for 3 and 7 because I did those when I wasn't done w/content review).

Although TBR was great review, I feel like the curves on the practice tests were too nice....I was scoring like 32-35 on those tests. AAMC i was scoring like 30-32.

 

[SWhitney]

Actual MCAT: 14PS, 11VR, 14BS = 39P

I don't have all my TBR test results with me right now, but I used TBR books only for all my science review. I didn't even do the AAMC practice tests. I have to say TBR books are really great.

 

[TwinsFan]

FINAL UPDATE: 9/26
The test was a bit different than the practice AAMCs but not tremendously so. The PS was much harder than any of them, the BS was on par with AAMC 10/11 with a few more obscure discretes. The VR felt most like AAMC 11, a bit different than the early AAMCs. I had a tendency to over think questions based on my experience with the practice FLs and this is what I think happened on test day.

Overall I'm happy to be done with the MCAT and get a solid score. I under performed a bit, but it goes to show why to shoot above the score you think you need. There are no guarantees on this exam and my own experience is a realistic representation of the process with all of its ups and downs.

Hopefully this log can be useful for future studiers to compare and gauge from for scoring/timeline/resource type etc.

ACTUAL- 12PS, 11VR, 11BS - 34

(AAMC FL avg = 36.8)
AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 8- 12PS, 10VR, 12BS - 34
AAMC 9- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 10- 14PS, 11VR, 13BS - 38
AAMC 11- 13PS, 13VR, 13BS - 39

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics (avg BR 81%, TPRH 84%)
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13, 81%-12
8: 57%-8, 76%-11, 81%-12
9: 71%-10, 67%-10, 86%-13
10: 86%-13, 67%-10, 81%-12
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%
TPRH Physics: Harmonic Motion, 7 reg passages - 89% / 1 adv passage - 100%

O Chem (avg 82%)
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13, 77%-11 (2 passages)
8: 78%-12, 84%-13,79%-12

Chem (avg 84%)
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12,69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13, 81%-12 (2 passages)
7: 93%-14, 83%-12, 100%-15 (2 passages)
8: 89%-13, 97%-14, 93%-14 (2 passages)
9: 75%-11, 96%-14, 75%-11 (2 passages)
10: 76%-11, 84%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)

Bio (avg BR 74%, TPRH 82%) (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 22 reg passages - 82% / 13 adv passages - 81%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 87 passages - 78% (10); TPRH1 78%-10, TPRH2 83%-11, TPRH3 88%-12, TPRH4 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

 

[Testosterone]

Hey TwinsFan,

Sorry to hear that you didn't meet your averages. I've been following your results closely and your update kinda has me worried for my score next week because my preparation and AAMC averages were very similar to yours. In retrospect, was there anything that you might have been able to pinpoint to explain the drop?

 

[TwinsFan]

From my practice tests I had a tendency to over think Qs and on the actual test I knew quite a bit about many topics in the PS and BS. I believe I probably fell back on this background knowledge a bit too much and used it to answer about "exception" cases and tried to be technically correct instead of going with the more common obvious answer. I felt decent leaving and scored on the lower end of what I would have guessed, but not way off.

I suppose the trouble of scoring high in sections is that a couple of questions in a section can really make or break your scores. My test was perceived as a super tough PS and an easier BS. This probably made for a super steep scale in BS and I had several discretes and a couple passage Qs I was unsure of. Obviously I missed nearly all of these. The PS is tough to tell as I know of 1-2 I missed and I was comfortable with most of the topics but my background knowledge may have led me to the wrong answers.

Overall, I would say it was simply a case of chance and maybe being a bit too familiar with several random passage topics. The thing to remember is that simply going wrong on a few more of the questions you are unsure of will decimate scores that are 90+ percentile, and counting on a super high MCAT score isn't wise regardless of your practice scores.

SDN posters are highly self selected. Most are telling about their amazing scores or how they got super lucky and scored way above their average. However, you see much less of the average test takers results. The people scoring under their average because the real deal usually throws people off, or those with modest averages to begin with getting decimated by the exam. All of the info I have posted is 100% accurate and probably a reasonable expectation for what many test takers will face, a below average performance on test day. This is why it is so important to prepare diligently, because even with a few points knocked off you can still get a great score.

Good luck , and try to use the real world (not SDN) as your gauge when you get your score. There a 27+ is solid for DO, a 30+ is solid for MD, and a 33+ is in reach of nearly any school.

 

[Testosterone]

Happy to offer another TBR testimonial. My breakdown was a 14 PS 10VR 14 BS. I opted to do all of the problem sets for the TBR science books a month before my test instead of extra non-AAMC practice tests and it made all the difference. Thanks!

 

[nabilesmail]

FINAL UPDATE: 9/26
The test was a bit different than the practice AAMCs but not tremendously so. The PS was much harder than any of them, the BS was on par with AAMC 10/11 with a few more obscure discretes. The VR felt most like AAMC 11, a bit different than the early AAMCs. I had a tendency to over think questions based on my experience with the practice FLs and this is what I think happened on test day.

Overall I'm happy to be done with the MCAT and get a solid score. I under performed a bit, but it goes to show why to shoot above the score you think you need. There are no guarantees on this exam and my own experience is a realistic representation of the process with all of its ups and downs.

Hopefully this log can be useful for future studiers to compare and gauge from for scoring/timeline/resource type etc.

ACTUAL- 12PS, 11VR, 11BS - 34

(AAMC FL avg = 36.8)
AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 8- 12PS, 10VR, 12BS - 34
AAMC 9- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 10- 14PS, 11VR, 13BS - 38
AAMC 11- 13PS, 13VR, 13BS - 39

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics (avg BR 81%, TPRH 84%)
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13, 81%-12
8: 57%-8, 76%-11, 81%-12
9: 71%-10, 67%-10, 86%-13
10: 86%-13, 67%-10, 81%-12
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%
TPRH Physics: Harmonic Motion, 7 reg passages - 89% / 1 adv passage - 100%

O Chem (avg 82%)
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13, 77%-11 (2 passages)
8: 78%-12, 84%-13,79%-12

Chem (avg 84%)
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12,69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13, 81%-12 (2 passages)
7: 93%-14, 83%-12, 100%-15 (2 passages)
8: 89%-13, 97%-14, 93%-14 (2 passages)
9: 75%-11, 96%-14, 75%-11 (2 passages)
10: 76%-11, 84%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)

Bio (avg BR 74%, TPRH 82%) (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 22 reg passages - 82% / 13 adv passages - 81%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 87 passages - 78% (10); TPRH1 78%-10, TPRH2 83%-11, TPRH3 88%-12, TPRH4 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

Hey Twins! I had similar scores to you in everything and also got a 34 on my MCAT, I was devastated as well but theres nothing I can do now.

For everone wondering, I posted my TBR scores, 20 FL scores, AAMC everything, and every statistics in my 30+ POST

 

[nabilesmail]

Decided to post it here to help people out

MCAT: 34N 13-9-12

Time Spent: Started late December and prepared for MAY 31st test, I postponed until July 14th 1 week before the test because I was getting about 33-35 on AAMC and wanted higher. I was also in school full time from December until May.

So: December - July = 7 months total: 500 hours

Material used: I did the SN2ed schedule without the hat trick. I gave myself 5 months to do the 4 month schedule and was hoping to add more FL which I didn't get much of a chance to do so I postponed to add more.

TBR Phase Scores: (sorry pasting from excel)


General Chemistry PHASES SCALED
phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
chapter 1 9 11 14

chapter 2 14 13 14

chapter 3 14 8 13

chapter 4 14 13 14

chapter 5 13 14 10


chapter 6 11 12 12

chapter 7 12 13 12

chapter 8 13 11 13

chapter 9 13 14 13
chapter 10 13 14 12

Organic Chemistry Phases Scaled
phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
chapter 1 10 9 11
chapter 2 8 13 12
chapter 3 12 12 12
CHAPTER 4 10 11 9
chapter 5 11 14 14
chapter 6 13 12 12
chapter 7 12 11 12
chapter 8 14 13


Phases Scaled
Physics 1 2 3
chapter 1 13 13 13
chapter 2 10 13 11

chapter 3 5 12 12
chapter 4 11 8 12
chapter 5 8 14 10
chapter6 13 12 12
chapter 7 14 13 15
CHAPTER 8 12 10 10
chapter 9 8 12 (1 from 13) 12
chapter 10 13 13 7

EK 30 min Exam, TBR Bio %, and EK1001 Bio %


lecture 1 - 14 TBR 1-57% 2- 62% 3-72%
Ek1001-71% -10
Lecture 2- 10 tbr 1-? 2- 73% (12) 3-70%
Ek1001-80% -11
Lecture 3- 12 TBR-1-65% 2-? 3-?
Ek1001- 73% -10

Lecture 4-9 TBR 1-56% 2-56% 3-65%
EK1001-81%-11
Lecture 5- 12 TBR -1 69% 2-84% YAYY 3-75%
ek1001-82%-11
lecture 6 9-10 TBR-1-62% 2-65% 3-72%
EK 1001-81%-11

Lecture -7 -? TBR 1- 73% 2-67% 3-73%
EK 1001- 72%
Lecture-8 -11 TBR-1 -86% (1 passage lol) 2-86% 3-
EK 1001- 68%

lecture 9- 12 EK1001-75%

(As you can see I sucked at TBR Bio %/ EK1001 % and was ok on 30 min. I did far better on TBR for chem/physics/o-chem so don't get worried.

VERBAL: Pretty much sucked throughout, I did all of ek101, 1/2 tprh and 1/2 tbr, I then paid 900$ for a tutoring session but I guess that didn't help much either. YOU NEED TO WORK ON COMPREHENSION, strategies won't work if your problem is you cannot understand the passage well enough. Start reading early if your not an avid reader. Focus on reading every word when you read a novel and try and picture EVERYTHING, that way you will be trained to do so when you do MCAT passages.

I took 20+ FL's, here are the scores for both as well as the dates. Keep in mind my TEST date was for July 14th. I also included my self-assessment scores. I was really bummed when I got back my 34N considering I had been doing MUCH better on my last AAMC's and self assessments. I recommend doing as MANY FL as possible. When I started doing FL's, I made tons of careless mistakes, like really stupid mistakes and I didn't stop making careless mistakes until like my 16th FL. I liked the GS a lot, though they could be really tough. For TBR fl, I didn't take my scores with any diagnostic value because there were multiple score charts out there and they said different scaled scores for different amount of questions correct. 1 scale said I got a 35, another a 32.

Type # P- V- B - Date
AAMC 3 - 12 - 9 - 12 - 4/13/2012 - 33
TBR 1 - 11 - 12 - 11 - 4/18/2012 - 34
AAMC 4 - 12 - 12 - 11 - 4/21/2012 -35
AAMC 5 - 13 - 8 - 12 - 4/25/2012 -33
TBR 2 - 12 - 9 - 12 - 5/5/2012 - 33
AAMC 7 - 11 - 6 - 10 - 5/15/2012 - 27
TBR 5 - 12 - X - 12 - 5/20ish/2012 - 24 PS/BS
TBR 4 - 11 - x - 12 - 5/29/2012 - 23 PS/BS
TBR 3 - 12 - 6 - 10 - 6/1/2012 - 22 PS/BS
GS 2 - 10 - X - 13 - 6/5/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 3 - 14 - X - 12 - 6/11/2012 - 26 PS/BS
GS 1 - 11 - X - 12 - 6/14/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 4 -12 - X - 11 - 6/16/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 5 - 11- X - 12 - 6/19/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 6 - 14 -x - 13 - 6/21/2012 - 27 PS/BS
AAMC 8 - 11- 8 - 13 - 6/23/2012 - 32
GS 8 - 10- X - 11 - 6/26/2012 - 21 PS/BS
GS 9 - 10 -X -10 - 6/28/2012 - 20 PS/BS
AAMC 9 -14 -10 -13 -6/30/2012 Finally my hard work is being paid off!!! - 37
AAMC Self-Assessment Bio/Physics/Chemistry/OCHEM ( completed these within 4-5 days of eachother) 87%- 86%-94%-93% 7-2-2012
GS 10- 10 - X - 12 - 7/3/2012 - 22 PS/BS
AAMC10-14-8-15 7/7/2012 - 37
AAMC11-14-10-14 7/12/2012 - 38

Towards my last month of studying, I started doing the TPRH SWB. I got about 80-90% correct in each subject.

Overall I used, TBR, EK1001, TPRH SWB, TPRH VWB, EK101 Verbal, GS exams, TBR exams,

I hated the ek1001 series, especially for physics and chem. WAY TOO HARD! I averaged 50-70% in those.

I also used ek audio osmosis while driving 300 miles/week for the first couple of months

I recommend everyone to do AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, do everything you can. Even though I didn't score as well on my MCAT, I was scoring next to perfect sciences on my last AAMC's. Spend the time you need to do well. Sorry this is poorly written, super busy applying to med school haha!

 

[PhysioG318]

Decided to post it here to help people out

MCAT: 34N 13-9-12

Time Spent: Started late December and prepared for MAY 31st test, I postponed until July 14th 1 week before the test because I was getting about 33-35 on AAMC and wanted higher. I was also in school full time from December until May.

So: December - July = 7 months total: 500 hours

Material used: I did the SN2ed schedule without the hat trick. I gave myself 5 months to do the 4 month schedule and was hoping to add more FL which I didn't get much of a chance to do so I postponed to add more.

TBR Phase Scores: (sorry pasting from excel)


General Chemistry PHASES SCALED
phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
chapter 1 9 11 14

chapter 2 14 13 14

chapter 3 14 8 13

chapter 4 14 13 14

chapter 5 13 14 10


chapter 6 11 12 12

chapter 7 12 13 12

chapter 8 13 11 13

chapter 9 13 14 13
chapter 10 13 14 12

Organic Chemistry Phases Scaled
phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
chapter 1 10 9 11
chapter 2 8 13 12
chapter 3 12 12 12
CHAPTER 4 10 11 9
chapter 5 11 14 14
chapter 6 13 12 12
chapter 7 12 11 12
chapter 8 14 13


Phases Scaled
Physics 1 2 3
chapter 1 13 13 13
chapter 2 10 13 11

chapter 3 5 12 12
chapter 4 11 8 12
chapter 5 8 14 10
chapter6 13 12 12
chapter 7 14 13 15
CHAPTER 8 12 10 10
chapter 9 8 12 (1 from 13) 12
chapter 10 13 13 7

EK 30 min Exam, TBR Bio %, and EK1001 Bio %


lecture 1 - 14 TBR 1-57% 2- 62% 3-72%
Ek1001-71% -10
Lecture 2- 10 tbr 1-? 2- 73% (12) 3-70%
Ek1001-80% -11
Lecture 3- 12 TBR-1-65% 2-? 3-?
Ek1001- 73% -10

Lecture 4-9 TBR 1-56% 2-56% 3-65%
EK1001-81%-11
Lecture 5- 12 TBR -1 69% 2-84% YAYY 3-75%
ek1001-82%-11
lecture 6 9-10 TBR-1-62% 2-65% 3-72%
EK 1001-81%-11

Lecture -7 -? TBR 1- 73% 2-67% 3-73%
EK 1001- 72%
Lecture-8 -11 TBR-1 -86% (1 passage lol) 2-86% 3-
EK 1001- 68%

lecture 9- 12 EK1001-75%

(As you can see I sucked at TBR Bio %/ EK1001 % and was ok on 30 min. I did far better on TBR for chem/physics/o-chem so don't get worried.

VERBAL: Pretty much sucked throughout, I did all of ek101, 1/2 tprh and 1/2 tbr, I then paid 900$ for a tutoring session but I guess that didn't help much either. YOU NEED TO WORK ON COMPREHENSION, strategies won't work if your problem is you cannot understand the passage well enough. Start reading early if your not an avid reader. Focus on reading every word when you read a novel and try and picture EVERYTHING, that way you will be trained to do so when you do MCAT passages.

I took 20+ FL's, here are the scores for both as well as the dates. Keep in mind my TEST date was for July 14th. I also included my self-assessment scores. I was really bummed when I got back my 34N considering I had been doing MUCH better on my last AAMC's and self assessments. I recommend doing as MANY FL as possible. When I started doing FL's, I made tons of careless mistakes, like really stupid mistakes and I didn't stop making careless mistakes until like my 16th FL. I liked the GS a lot, though they could be really tough. For TBR fl, I didn't take my scores with any diagnostic value because there were multiple score charts out there and they said different scaled scores for different amount of questions correct. 1 scale said I got a 35, another a 32.

Type # P- V- B - Date
AAMC 3 - 12 - 9 - 12 - 4/13/2012 - 33
TBR 1 - 11 - 12 - 11 - 4/18/2012 - 34
AAMC 4 - 12 - 12 - 11 - 4/21/2012 -35
AAMC 5 - 13 - 8 - 12 - 4/25/2012 -33
TBR 2 - 12 - 9 - 12 - 5/5/2012 - 33
AAMC 7 - 11 - 6 - 10 - 5/15/2012 - 27
TBR 5 - 12 - X - 12 - 5/20ish/2012 - 24 PS/BS
TBR 4 - 11 - x - 12 - 5/29/2012 - 23 PS/BS
TBR 3 - 12 - 6 - 10 - 6/1/2012 - 22 PS/BS
GS 2 - 10 - X - 13 - 6/5/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 3 - 14 - X - 12 - 6/11/2012 - 26 PS/BS
GS 1 - 11 - X - 12 - 6/14/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 4 -12 - X - 11 - 6/16/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 5 - 11- X - 12 - 6/19/2012 - 23 PS/BS
GS 6 - 14 -x - 13 - 6/21/2012 - 27 PS/BS
AAMC 8 - 11- 8 - 13 - 6/23/2012 - 32
GS 8 - 10- X - 11 - 6/26/2012 - 21 PS/BS
GS 9 - 10 -X -10 - 6/28/2012 - 20 PS/BS
AAMC 9 -14 -10 -13 -6/30/2012 Finally my hard work is being paid off!!! - 37
AAMC Self-Assessment Bio/Physics/Chemistry/OCHEM ( completed these within 4-5 days of eachother) 87%- 86%-94%-93% 7-2-2012
GS 10- 10 - X - 12 - 7/3/2012 - 22 PS/BS
AAMC10-14-8-15 7/7/2012 - 37
AAMC11-14-10-14 7/12/2012 - 38

Towards my last month of studying, I started doing the TPRH SWB. I got about 80-90% correct in each subject.

Overall I used, TBR, EK1001, TPRH SWB, TPRH VWB, EK101 Verbal, GS exams, TBR exams,

I hated the ek1001 series, especially for physics and chem. WAY TOO HARD! I averaged 50-70% in those.

I also used ek audio osmosis while driving 300 miles/week for the first couple of months

I recommend everyone to do AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, do everything you can. Even though I didn't score as well on my MCAT, I was scoring next to perfect sciences on my last AAMC's. Spend the time you need to do well. Sorry this is poorly written, super busy applying to med school haha!

I think your score is AWESOME!🙂 I recently ordered all my material for the 4month variation of the MCAT study schedule. I am waiting on the BR books to arrive I have everything else. My question is how did you study for verbal or shall I ask what strategy did you use. I am a retake from the Aug17 exam and I am planning on testing in either April or March to apply for the next cycle. Any advice would be helpful because verbal is my weak spot. You did pretty well on Practice verbal and made around your average in verbal for the real thing. I would just like to know the strategy you used.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I think your score is AWESOME!🙂 I recently ordered all my material for the 4month variation of the MCAT study schedule. I am waiting on the BR books to arrive I have everything else. My question is how did you study for verbal or shall I ask what strategy did you use. I am a retake from the Aug17 exam and I am planning on testing in either April or March to apply for the next cycle. Any advice would be helpful because verbal is my weak spot. You did pretty well on Practice verbal and made around your average in verbal for the real thing. I would just like to know the strategy you used.

Don't try to read so fast that you sacrifice comprehension. If you struggle with timing, then get faster at working through the questions and answers. The more you recognize question and answer types, the faster you will go. Don't look for easy tricks; if they were out there, someone would have marketed them in the last 22 years. Verbal Reasoning requires paying attention, reading actively, and thinking about the undrerlying ideologies being presented. It's not about absorbing facts, which was a big mistake I made at first. Practice and effort will pay off. Practice alone, without putting out the effort, doesn't do that much.

 

[AntonFreeman]

BerkReviewTeach, are your current books different from 2011? i am thinking about taking the test again, and i have used books from 2011 before.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

BerkReviewTeach, are your current books different from 2011? i am thinking about taking the test again, and i have used books from 2011 before.

You'll be fine. The O chem has changed the most, but about 60% of the passages are the same and the text is about 90% the same. The other books are essentially the same, with some updated drawings and general chem has two passages that changed in chapter 2.

 

[Temperature101]

TBR
Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3


Oganic Chemistry:
1: 81%-12

Physics:
1: 62%-9

General Chemistry:
1: 78%-12

Biology:
6: 69%-10

 

[Temperature101]

TBR
Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3


Oganic Chemistry:
1: 81%-12

Physics:
1: 62%-9
2: 71%~11

General Chemistry:
1: 78%-12

Biology:
6: 69%-10

 

[Benedictus123]

Wow, you guys are pretty quantitative and very....frank.

I dunno, I find no matter what the topic I get about 70-80% of the questions right. So I guess I'm heading towards a 30ish. Who knows?

 

[JLeBling]

FINAL UPDATE: 9/26
The test was a bit different than the practice AAMCs but not tremendously so. The PS was much harder than any of them, the BS was on par with AAMC 10/11 with a few more obscure discretes. The VR felt most like AAMC 11, a bit different than the early AAMCs. I had a tendency to over think questions based on my experience with the practice FLs and this is what I think happened on test day.

Overall I'm happy to be done with the MCAT and get a solid score. I under performed a bit, but it goes to show why to shoot above the score you think you need. There are no guarantees on this exam and my own experience is a realistic representation of the process with all of its ups and downs.

Hopefully this log can be useful for future studiers to compare and gauge from for scoring/timeline/resource type etc.

ACTUAL- 12PS, 11VR, 11BS - 34

(AAMC FL avg = 36.8)
AAMC 3- 13PS, 12VR, 12BS - 37
AAMC 4- 14PS, 11VR, 14BS - 39
AAMC 5- 13PS, 9VR, 11BS - 33
AAMC 7- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 8- 12PS, 10VR, 12BS - 34
AAMC 9- 13PS, 11VR, 13BS - 37
AAMC 10- 14PS, 11VR, 13BS - 38
AAMC 11- 13PS, 13VR, 13BS - 39

Format:
chapter: 1st 1/3, 2nd 1/3, last 1/3

Physics (avg BR 81%, TPRH 84%)
1: 79%-12, 90%-13, 90%-13
2: 79%-12, 90%-13, 86%-13
3: 71%-10, 90%-13, 81%-12
4: 68%-10, 95%-14, 91%-13
5: 75%-11, 81%-12, 67%-10
6: 89%-13, 90%-13, 100%-15
7: 96%-14, 86%-13, 81%-12
8: 57%-8, 76%-11, 81%-12
9: 71%-10, 67%-10, 86%-13
10: 86%-13, 67%-10, 81%-12
TPRH Physics: Electricity + Magnetism, 8 reg passages - 83%
TPRH Physics: Optics + Waves, 7 reg passages - 79% / 1 adv passage - 71%
TPRH Physics: Harmonic Motion, 7 reg passages - 89% / 1 adv passage - 100%

O Chem (avg 82%)
1: 83%-12, 87%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
2: 84%-13, 89%-13, 93%-14 (2 passages)
3: 93%-14, 91%-13, 79%-12 (2 passages)
4: 90%-13, 72%-11, 77%-12 (2 passages)
5: 78%-12, 92%-14, 85%-13 (2 passages)
6: 69%-10, 72%-11, 76%-11
7: 78%-12, 90%-13, 77%-11 (2 passages)
8: 78%-12, 84%-13,79%-12

Chem (avg 84%)
1: 79%-12, 87%-13, 73%-11 (2 passages)
2: 83%-12, 88%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)
3: 92%-14, 83%-12, 65%-10
4: 78%-12, 83%-12, 93%-14 (2 passages)
5: 86%-13, 79%-12,69%-10 (2 passages)
6: 81%-12, 91%-13, 81%-12 (2 passages)
7: 93%-14, 83%-12, 100%-15 (2 passages)
8: 89%-13, 97%-14, 93%-14 (2 passages)
9: 75%-11, 96%-14, 75%-11 (2 passages)
10: 76%-11, 84%-13, 92%-14 (2 passages)

Bio (avg BR 74%, TPRH 82%) (TPRH for content, scale from 2nd BR Bio book)
TPRH1 (BR 6+7): 61%-9, 68%-10
TPRH2 (BR 9+10): 81%-13, 79%-12
TPRH3 (BR 6+8): 67%-10, 94%-14
TPRH4 (BR 6+8+10): 73%-11, 74%-11
TPRH5 (BR 9+10) 68%-10, 86%-13
TPRH6 (BR 1+5): 56%-8, 65%-10
TPRH7 (BR 2+5): 78%-12, 76%-11
TPRH8 (BR 3+7): 84%-13, 75%-11
TPRH9+10 (BR 1+2+3+5): 74%-11, 75%-11
TPRH11 (BR 4): 69%-10,73%-11
TPRH Bio: 22 reg passages - 82% / 13 adv passages - 81%

Verbal
TPRH: overall 87 passages - 78% (10); TPRH1 78%-10, TPRH2 83%-11, TPRH3 88%-12, TPRH4 78%-10
EK: overall 101 passages - 75% (10)
EK1 75%-10, EK2 63%-7, EK3 70%-9, EK4 80%-10, EK5 85%-11, EK6 85%-11, EK7 78%-10, EK8 83%-11, EK9 85%-11, EK10 83%-11, EK11 73%-9, EK12 73%-9, EK13 65%-8, EK14 75%-10
AAMC Self Assessment: 76% (avg difficulty 64%)

AAMC MCAT Guide - 2009 / AAMC Self Assessment
Physics: 82% (avg difficulty 56%) / Physics: 88% (avg difficulty 54%)
O Chem: 74% (avg difficulty 58%) / O Chem: 93% (avg difficulty 61%)
Chem: 89% (avg difficulty 61%) / Chem: 94% (avg difficulty 66%)
Bio: 81% (avg difficulty 64%) / Bio: 88% (avg difficulty 66%)

Holy mother of pearl...

That's good

 

[Shams al Deen]

Wow, you guys are pretty quantitative and very....frank.

I dunno, I find no matter what the topic I get about 70-80% of the questions right. So I guess I'm heading towards a 30ish. Who knows?

I'm doing about the same, like 70-80% consistently with genchem closer to 80 and physics closer to 70. I've been reading thru some of this thread and it looks like some guys were getting in that range and then got a mid-30s score on the real thing. So maybe we got some hope.

What I gather is that the BR questions are harder than the real thing, but the scale is easier. For example an 84% is a 13 with BR, but you'd need over 90% on aamc test to get a 13. So we should probably be paying more attention to the scaled BR score rather than the pretty mediocre percentages that we're scoring. Like an 80% on those BR passages is actually a 12, I'll take that.

 

[Temperature101]

Wow, you guys are pretty quantitative and very....frank.

I dunno, I find no matter what the topic I get about 70-80% of the questions right. So I guess I'm heading towards a 30ish. Who knows?

Getting 70%+ in any topic in BR is good. 80%+ is great

 

[cuculici1]

Getting 70%+ in any topic in BR is good. 80%+ is great

Yeah I feel like anything 80%+ on TBR is really impressive. QuantumFlame and TwinsFan absolutely destroyed TBR and it showed on their practice tests/real MCAT. The rest of us civilians just take our 75% scores and move on haha.

Btw does anyone else find TPRH bio difficult? I usually get around the same percentage correct as in TBR in other subjects. Maybe it's because I'm using EK for content review, but just thought I'd mention that.

 

[drspacheman]

Just took BR FL#1: 27 (7/10/10)

Got a lot of work to do, especially since the first test is supposed to be really easy.

I hate PS so much!!! 😡

 

[Mtrader]

Just took BR FL#1: 27 (7/10/10)

Got a lot of work to do, especially since the first test is supposed to be really easy.

I hate PS so much!!! 😡

ive been getting similar scores on FL. What were your review passage scores like? My later chapters have been in the 70s and 80s but i really bombed some of the earlier chapters. My average scores is about a 63 but there are some big outliers 45% on equlribum !!!!! i was sick though.

 

[Temperature101]

Yeah I feel like anything 80%+ on TBR is really impressive. QuantumFlame and TwinsFan absolutely destroyed TBR and it showed on their practice tests/real MCAT. The rest of us civilians just take our 75% scores and move on haha.

Btw does anyone else find TPRH bio difficult? I usually get around the same percentage correct as in TBR in other subjects. Maybe it's because I'm using EK for content review, but just thought I'd mention that.

I think TPRH bio is somewhat difficult; however, their passages are much closer to the actua test.

 

[drspacheman]

ive been getting similar scores on FL. What were your review passage scores like? My later chapters have been in the 70s and 80s but i really bombed some of the earlier chapters. My average scores is about a 63 but there are some big outliers 45% on equlribum !!!!! i was sick though.

Yeah same, my later chapter scores are in the 70-80s for the most part, and my earlier stuff was 50-60%, I think I even got 0% on one passage haha.

But I've just started to complete the last 1/3 of the earlier chapters and I seem to be doing better than I did the first time around - staying in that 70-80 range.

Equilibrium sucked!!!!!