EK Passages

[Ad2b]

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Good gravy. I do not remember the real deal being THIS hard

Anti-Donkey antigens???

 

[Ad2b]

Okay EK 101 passages, I see your anti-donkey antigens and am raising you hypermethylated lipid rafts... take that you beast (50-70% on passage questions, nailing all the discretes at 100%)

 

[Tollats]

are these from the new EK books?

 

[Lawpy]

EK passages were harder than the Section Bank so they could be good practice. I wouldn't bother trying to make score predictions from it or get disappointed from getting questions wrong. They are really hard.

 

[Ad2b]

are these from the new EK books?

Yes. They are pretty difficult much like section bank questions only with more descriptive answer explanations given (and why the wrong choices were wrong)

@Lawper - thank you - using only for making sure I know which topics I have to review again and/or add to note cards; however, nailing the discretes is a confidence boost at least 😀

 

[Tollats]

Yes. They are pretty difficult much like section bank questions only with more descriptive answer explanations given (and why the wrong choices were wrong)

@Lawper - thank you - using only for making sure I know which topics I have to review again and/or add to note cards; however, nailing the discretes is a confidence boost at least 😀

I'm a few years removed from the MCAT but I discovered these later on in my studying. absolutely keep doing them!! they were so helpful in getting the data/graph based questions down.

 

[Ad2b]

absolutely keep doing them!! they were so helpful in getting the data/graph based questions down.

Thank you - they are KICKING my butt... but when I get one right? I feel like high-fiving myself; more than 1? I'm opening champagne 🙂

 

[Ad2b]

Finding the EK 101 Chem (bio, bio 2) passages are fun but the explanations are akin to bad Picasso passages in CARS.

Answer: B

Insert rambling explanation "and that is why answer choice D is the best..." 😵 I kid you not

OR the passages with choices A-B being word for word C-D

Other than that, my comfort level is rising with graphs, tables, charts, interpretations, knowledge... but damn, they are hard!

 

[Shotapp]

Finding the EK 101 Chem (bio, bio 2) passages are fun but the explanations are akin to bad Picasso passages in CARS.

Answer: B

Insert rambling explanation "and that is why answer choice D is the best..." 😵 I kid you not

OR the passages with choices A-B being word for word C-D

Other than that, my comfort level is rising with graphs, tables, charts, interpretations, knowledge... but damn, they are hard!

I got a few questions.
How are the EK 101 passage books for Chemistry and physics besides the typos and the occasional wrong answer listed on the answer key?
What Full lengths do you intend on using?
How many passages do you do out of the EK 101 books a day?

Thank you and happy studying not 🙂

 

[Ad2b]

It is a love/hate relationship with the EK 101 passages books.

Love:

• that weird research is thrown at me (much of it from PLoS or Nature or ...) and then the questions are mostly "normal" but always at least 1-2 zingers... that make me think. It forces me to think about why something is occurring applying what I know vs. just regurgitating information
• that it quickly points out my weak areas; for me, it's not enough to understand the Gabriel and Strecker or the basics of Sn1 or Sn2 or etc; I simply had to know more; knowing the ochem was largely a part of my CP section 2 years ago, I was hoping... but yesterday, I spent the greater part of my Saturday going through the ochem section of the 1001 Chemistry sections for both orgo and carboxylic acids
• that I'm getting used to reading stuff I do not understand, nor should, but can get to the questions and see something like, "cell polarization would be most impacted by..." and think "AHA!"
• that it's integrated - almost every passage, if not every, has been incorporating information, research from other areas tested on the MCAT; it's nice to get a feel for how that could happen on the real test

HATE:

• that the typos and wrong errors are there; my undergrad was in English technical writing and was the assistant editor on some industrial magazine back in the late 80's early 90's (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich); to pay $400 for a set of books that have some glaring, stupid, copy-editor-should-have-caught mistakes, makes me a little nutty (ier )
• that it's SO DAMN HARD ... they are hard but my hope is that when I do the only AAMC product I've never seen (FL3) is that I'll have a pretty good idea of where I stand

Currently, am trying to do between 10 - 15 passages a day - mixed between biology, biochem, chem, and physics; it probably takes a full day to do this. Why?

1. Read the passage, look at questions
2. Answer questions
3. Review answers for questions
4. Anything I get wrong or guessed on, I immediately write up a notecard for it, or if I already have one, I add to it; or pull it out of my 2500+ card deck for further review (hi there Na+/K+ ATPase pump)
5. Next passage
6. After 2- 3 passages, I generally take a break because the dogs are licking, drinking, wagging tails, leaning on me, banging on the bells to go out, cat jumps in my lap or today, lawn crew came
7. And so it goes for the day

I finally moved out of my dark office at home to the living room where the FL sun beams in all day long... of course, that made for interesting changes too 🙂

Let me know if I can help - my son says I'm going to crush this thing. I say, "I'm gonna crush something!!"

 

[Shotapp]

I'm about to begin my MCAT studying and I have been tweaking my personalized schedule for the longest. It's been 8+ years since I have revisited the pre-requisites so I'm going to have to do a crap TON of practice problems with content. My weaknesses are everything so I'm going to make sure that I prepare with everything I got before I sit for this exam. Interpreting graphs, charts, and tables are not my forte so I will definitely take a crack at the EK 101 books so that I can get comfortable at data interpretation.
You're doing some serious grinding. You're definitely on your way to beating this exam. Ah, those good old note cards. I like making physical cards as well, but I'm thinking of using Anki instead. I don't want to carry a big stack of cards around and I'm kind of OCD when I make physical cards (I make sure my writing is very neat and stuff so they take a while to make). But I might still make some note cards because the very act of writing helps me retain whatever information I'm trying to learn.

 

[Ad2b]

I'm about to begin my MCAT studying and I have been tweaking my personalized schedule for the longest. It's been 8+ years since I have revisited the pre-requisites so I'm going to have to do a crap TON of practice problems with content. My weaknesses are everything so I'm going to make sure that I prepare with everything I got before I sit for this exam. Interpreting graphs, charts, and tables are not my forte so I will definitely take a crack at the EK 101 books so that I can get comfortable at data interpretation.

You're doing some serious grinding. You're definitely on your way to beating this exam. Ah, those good old note cards. I like making physical cards as well, but I'm thinking of using Anki instead.

I tried Anki but am a little OCD about formulas and couldn't figure out the programming to make the delta sign, etc. So, I gave up and kept on with the notecards. Like you said, it helps to have written the words down versus type - I hardly remember much of what I type (snicker) but what I physically write down? purposefully? that seems to stick pretty well

BTW, what I take with me are cardboard stock sheets with any particulars I think I need to constantly review (physics formulas, SI units, etc.); the notecards stay home; also, I have them divided into "absolutely know" and the "meh" piles. Every once in awhile, I throw them together to see if the one pile gets bigger - that's my hope.

I felt I had to grind out the content like I did. My hand masseuse is appreciative of that

Before, my thinking must have been more reliant on recent coursework rather than pound the details for the MCAT. FOR ME, I think having the knowledge of those details is helping because when I see something "odd" like lacZ, I don't go down the bunny hole wondering "why don't I know that" or "why haven't I seen that before" ...

When are you sitting? This is truly my last time. I gave up a great contract in NYC to stay home and study (yes, it's also 90 here). I gave up hockey games (GO BOLTS!!!) and will not see a playoff game unless we get to ECF... hockey = life for me but MCAT = future so, the latter became my focus.

Therefore, my books will be sold/given away when done.

 

[Shotapp]

I plan to take on this beast August 2nd. This is going to be my first crack at this exam and I need to get it right on my first try. If my aamc fls are not where they need to be, then I'm just going to take it/void to gain the experience of taking this exam.

 

[Ad2b]

I plan to take on this beast August 2nd. This is going to be my first crack at this exam and I need to get it right on my first try. If my aamc fls are not where they need to be, then I'm just going to take it/void to gain the experience of taking this exam.

Don't give into the hype that you often read on here and reddit. It is a very doable test. Not impossible, not horrifically put together; there ARE some very dense passages in all sections, there are some really difficult passages in all sections just know that not all 40ish passages are 100% brutal.

Also, I found that often if the passages were hard as heck, the questions were 4/7 quasi-discretes, 2 maybe more difficult and the last one - well, those words should not be uttered on a supposed family forum 🙂

I bombed the exam 2 years ago for multiple reasons and even then, while having nothing to eat, not a drink in sight (I take a medication that requires hydration), not studied in 2 weeks, having basically ... well, yolo'd the exam after Irma hit ... still did well enough to get admitted according to stats that I'm seeing now from those medical schools (I would NEVER have thought of applying with that score)

The test might have changed a bit in the last 2 years - will be finding out soon. My accommodations were officially extended yesterday.

Game on!

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

So true Ad2b! This test is completely doable no matter how much some people may say otherwise. You have to be consistent in your studies and put your time in. My real test actual felt like a break from all of the studying. You got this Shotapp!