Damn, it's March: Kaplan Test 1

[Irene Adler]

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So. We are counting down T-minus 57 days to TEST DAY.
How is everyone doing?

I took the first full-length practice test today, which was not as exhausting as I thought, but both nerve-wracking and humiliating. There is SO MUCH that I don't know. The sacred rites of 'eeney, meeny, miney, moe' were invoked many times today.

I haven't had time to study, so I don't expect my test score to improve from the first diagnostic. Want to know how to psyche out a bunch of competitive, wigged out premeds? Walk out of the verbal portion half an hour early. 🙂 Of course, whether or not I did well on that section is open to debate.

Are we studying people? Do we have time? Do we have lives?

 

[Jugador75]

Dude - if you just took your first full length practice test the other day, you're behind the game. I've been studying some 300+ hours, since the beginning of last summer, and have taken five full lengths. I'd suggest you get your act together.

 

[Bostonienses]

Dear Jugador75,
As much as I would like to believe that your post only meant to motivate Irene (and whoever else has not taken a full length by now) I can't help but realise that it is just really annoying and useless. Irene's post was just asking a simple question, and in doing so providing a basis for people to share their studying experiences.
Perhaps some people DO have their act together. They just don't have the time because oh, I don't know, maybe they have families to take care of, full time jobs, other things that might be getting in the way.
So, Irene, I haven't taken a full length exam either. I wish I had more time to do all that, but I am swamped with classes and my phd project, so frequently I have to come into lab on weekends as well. Finding 8 consecutive free hours in my day to take a full length is impossible. I've been taking "section" exams, which will give me a ballpark as to how I am doing without taking up so much time. I have been studying for the MCAT since October, and I would suggest doing some practice problems as "homework". It's a great way to review, besides allowing you to get used to them.. Good Luck!

 

[Irene Adler]

Jugador75

If you will note, I was asking how OTHER folks were doing in their study process. I was not asking you to evaluate mine. If this is how you respond to simple, open, friendly questions meant to start a conversation, then I suggest you spend less time studying and more time working on your communication skills. Not that you asked.

Bostonienses

Thank you. I am taking night classes, I teach full-time, and I'm responsible for running a major event at my school in three weeks. It's all I can do to drag myself to the review classes twice a week. As soon as spring break hits, I'll be able to devote a little more energy to the MCAT. I still have to teach, but my evenings will be a little more free. Good Luck!

 

[Ramoray]

i think the guy was kiding adn being sarcastic

 

[basupran]

57 days...seems so close...don't worry about not taking a full length till now, I am in the same position.
I am submitting my letter of resignation tomorrow...I am soooooo depressed, feel weak everywhere....I actually enjoyed my job...I had asked for 3 weeks of leave without pay, or 2 weeks of vacation with 1 week of leave without pay, but they would not approve, as I was going to leave anyway if I got into med school...
I hope I made the right decision...I am sooooo down right now.....I hope I can one day get a job....I hope I am not a fudjkin ***** who thinks he can get into med school, but really can't....every single insecurity is coming out........I did what was in my heart, and ever since I layed my mind on medicine, I have loved it....as I have loved engineering....
I was reading the Kaplan book today, and there was this blurb about how soap works, and how bile salts are the same conceptually...so cool how it tied in, how things do the same thing differently, and how the body was able to do it...I know that it is a relatively simple concept, but it reinstated my love of medicine in a way....mech e is absolutely gorgeous, and I will never ever forget it...I wish I studied it in college....but to integrate mech e into medicine, basically simplicity into complexity, is the most beautiful thing in the world. The new Airbus A380 integrates 15,000 computer systems...amazing how such 'simple' computer systems can converge to create something so complex, yet still so simple compared to the human body. I wish you all the best of luck for the years to come. I am unsure that I made the right decision, but I made the one that was in my heart...

 

[MaggieD]

do you Kaplan takers know that you can access your test scores from the kaplan website usually a day or two after the test? I just took test 1 when Irene did and got my score report in a .pdf file.

Also, I was wondering if anyone had experience with how well the kaplan exams correlate to the real thing. I got a 26 on this last one - if I can improve by 6 or 7 points overall I'll be delighted. One thing I did notice was that the verbal seemed suspiciously easy - not that I'm some super genius, but it did seem much simpler than I expected.

 

[Amillion]

Ohh god, you guys are scaring me. I'm only in my second year of college and I'm already a nervous wreck. Today, I purchased my first Kaplan Study Guide for the Mcat. Though I have not taken Organic Chemistry YET!, do you think it's a wise decision that while taking inorganic chemistry and biology, that I can began reviewing those sections?

 

[Irene Adler]

maggie

thanks for the info about online grades. I got a 26 on Test 1 also. We must be psychically joined somehow. My physical and biological science grades each went up a few points from the diagnostic, but my verbal dropped 3 points. Still haven't figured that out.


How is everyone doing? We are down to 52 days to go!

 

[basupran]

What is going on here...I got the same score (26) on my Kaplan test 1, as did you guys, as did another kid in my class...are the tests rigged to give you a 26 or something??

 

[osar92]

hey guys, i just took the kaplan full length #1 this wkend
I got a 27, i was really happy becuase my verbal went up by three but i also found it to be quite a bit easier than the diagnostic. Was it just me or did u guys find the physical sciences to be really hard!!!!!! i think i was split 50 50 in terms of how many i got right and wrong! dont know, but it was a bit disheartening

 

[Irene Adler]

Anybody else getting 26?

I think the science sections were hard--I hope they're hard. I'd rather take hard versions of the MCAT now. Any success I had in those sections is due to luck and multiple-choice strategy.

I heard from the Kaplan office that the five full-lengths we take are NOT AAMC--they're Kaplan written. So I'm going to have to schedule three days in the test center to take the AAMC tests. Hopefully that will give me a better idea of how I'm doing.

 

[TeinVI]

i took the kaplan course last summer when i took the mcat, and from my experience, the kaplan test scores were more in correlation with my real mcat score than the aamc practice exams. i was hearing a lot about how the kaplan tests were so much harder than the real thing; well take that with a grain of salt b/c yes, the kaplan tests are harder, but not by much. but every mcat examinations are different; some may have harder phy but easier bio and vice versa.