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Thoughts on each section? What topics was your mcat centered on? Wish you studied more? Etc. Just curious..
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unfortunately, topic sharing isn't allowed. be careful folks
edit: with that said, I'm also curious as to whether or not this years exams match the practice exams in difficulty
edit: with that said, I'm also curious as to whether or not this years exams match the practice exams in difficulty
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Technically you arent allowed to post specific questions regarding the mcat but you can say that your mcat was heavy towards molecular bio or physiology. Thats what I mean by that. Stuff like that.
Edit- Im also curious about what you guys think it's like in terms of relative difficulty compared to AAMC practice tests.
Edit- Im also curious about what you guys think it's like in terms of relative difficulty compared to AAMC practice tests.
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I think I got railed by the BS.
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I dont know about SDNs rules but AAMC doesn't allow topic discussion
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Well theres tons of people that say "my mcat was almost pure genetics" and blah blah. I really don't think theres much the AAMC could do if someone said that. They aren't waiting with sniper rifles to kill you if you speak of the test...unless youve been seeing a red dot lately.
But I remember my first test, i had the same reaction of how hard I thought it was.
Was the bio almost pure critical thinking?
Edit- FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT THINK YOU GOT OWNED BY THE BS SECTION...you may be really surprised. My first mcat that I did without really studying, I only answered the first 26 and those 26 were educated gusses at best. The last 26 I christmas treed. And somehow I still got a 6, lol. You guys may surprise yourselves.
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They can do whatever they want. You've agreed not to discuss it, and they've warned you multiple times. If they decide you've broken those rules they can and will void your exam and may prosecute you. Is it likely? No. Is it worth the risk? Also a resounding no.
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It is highly unlikely and tbh I hope they would void my last exam cause that would be awesome, haha. Disclose any information you want within sdn policy, I dont care.
I think the general consensus so far though is that AAMC practice test babies you a bit, once you get to the real thing you see a lot of stuff you havent encountered before.
I think the general consensus so far though is that AAMC practice test babies you a bit, once you get to the real thing you see a lot of stuff you havent encountered before.
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I took all the Practice MCATs and the MCAT in early september.
I have NEVER NOT finished a BS section EVER.... Always finished with 5 minutes left and usually score an 11 or 12 but todays Exam... I had 5 mins for the last passage and I had to guess on 2-3 (educated guesses, not blatant). I thought the BS was much harder than any BS section I have taken, only because of the length of the passages and the complexity of the questions. I thought the questions took ALOT more brainpower this time around instead of quickly just blatant answers. There were quite a number of bio questions that seemed like more than one answer could technically be correct. I feel like there was also more outside required info than what I remember from Princeton... did TPR skip something or did they add something new to the required bio knowledge?
Organic chem wasn't difficult per se, however the questions were very time consuming, not sure if I am allowed to post specific questions or topics but, the closest I can say is the orgo questions on all the online/past exams asked about one thing, the one today would ask for 3 things one question...
Verbal passages seemed like a half a paragraph longer. Passages weren't totally difficult to understand, but the answer choices seemed pretty tricky to me. This is always my worst subject.
PS, there was no time for this one for me. I had to finish with estimated guesses on 2 that required extreme calculations. I think another one actually required a constant but I can't remember.
Writing was the easiest part lol
I have NEVER NOT finished a BS section EVER.... Always finished with 5 minutes left and usually score an 11 or 12 but todays Exam... I had 5 mins for the last passage and I had to guess on 2-3 (educated guesses, not blatant). I thought the BS was much harder than any BS section I have taken, only because of the length of the passages and the complexity of the questions. I thought the questions took ALOT more brainpower this time around instead of quickly just blatant answers. There were quite a number of bio questions that seemed like more than one answer could technically be correct. I feel like there was also more outside required info than what I remember from Princeton... did TPR skip something or did they add something new to the required bio knowledge?
Organic chem wasn't difficult per se, however the questions were very time consuming, not sure if I am allowed to post specific questions or topics but, the closest I can say is the orgo questions on all the online/past exams asked about one thing, the one today would ask for 3 things one question...
Verbal passages seemed like a half a paragraph longer. Passages weren't totally difficult to understand, but the answer choices seemed pretty tricky to me. This is always my worst subject.
PS, there was no time for this one for me. I had to finish with estimated guesses on 2 that required extreme calculations. I think another one actually required a constant but I can't remember.
Writing was the easiest part lol
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**** yes... I got raped...
Voided instantly
Nothing like the practice
This gets me so determined to beat the **** out of this test next time... Omg MCAT...this is WAR!
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ouch, which section raped you and why? Lack of content knowledge or what?
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I generally get 10-11 on BS... I marked 20 questions this time...unusually get half of marked wrong... Plus 5 from the ones I thought I knew...
PS I generally do ok.. 9-10 score... This time again I marked like 20 questions... Passages felt much much more challenging...NOTHING like the practice.
VR this reflected most closely to the practice.... No surprises...
OVERALL I felt like a guinea pig...
Question on exp passages... Is there suppose to be one in every section? Or is it ranGen?
PS I generally do ok.. 9-10 score... This time again I marked like 20 questions... Passages felt much much more challenging...NOTHING like the practice.
VR this reflected most closely to the practice.... No surprises...
OVERALL I felt like a guinea pig...
Question on exp passages... Is there suppose to be one in every section? Or is it ranGen?
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normally there is random exp passages, the mcat likes these. What practice passages did you use?
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Ochem/Physics are my weaker subjects and Gen Bio and Chem/Verbal my stronger ones.
I would say the curve is going to be high for Verbal because a majority of the passages seemed pretty easy. This and the Writing was the most on-par with the AAMC tests, in my opinion.
I thought the Gen Bio questions were strange and although the passages seemed clear, the answers seemed deliberately vague. I don't know if it was just me, but I spent a lot more time looking at the data to try to eliminate choices than usual. Had to formulate my own theories about what was happening.
I thought the Ochem questions were straightforward, but the passages were *really* long and you didn't really have to read them. More mechanisms/subsections than I have EVER encountered on any test, which was really annoying.
I thought the Physics was the trickiest section. Based on the AAMCs, my strategy was to understand concept/formula was being tested because I thought most of the questions would be tailored to that idea, but NOT so this time. Maybe I approached the passage wrong, but even when I thought the passage was about a certain topic, the questions almost always threw me off because they were most specific than I anticipated.
TL;DR - most vague: Gen Bio. most stamina-requiring: Ochem. most sob-inducing: Physics. most straightforward: Gen Chem, Verbal, Writing.
Note: I scored 30-35 range on all the practice tests and thought I had a "sense" of what questions might be like. But I was horribly taken off-guard.
Sigh, all you smart mofos who voided, I envy you.
I would say the curve is going to be high for Verbal because a majority of the passages seemed pretty easy. This and the Writing was the most on-par with the AAMC tests, in my opinion.
I thought the Gen Bio questions were strange and although the passages seemed clear, the answers seemed deliberately vague. I don't know if it was just me, but I spent a lot more time looking at the data to try to eliminate choices than usual. Had to formulate my own theories about what was happening.
I thought the Ochem questions were straightforward, but the passages were *really* long and you didn't really have to read them. More mechanisms/subsections than I have EVER encountered on any test, which was really annoying.
I thought the Physics was the trickiest section. Based on the AAMCs, my strategy was to understand concept/formula was being tested because I thought most of the questions would be tailored to that idea, but NOT so this time. Maybe I approached the passage wrong, but even when I thought the passage was about a certain topic, the questions almost always threw me off because they were most specific than I anticipated.
TL;DR - most vague: Gen Bio. most stamina-requiring: Ochem. most sob-inducing: Physics. most straightforward: Gen Chem, Verbal, Writing.
Note: I scored 30-35 range on all the practice tests and thought I had a "sense" of what questions might be like. But I was horribly taken off-guard.
Sigh, all you smart mofos who voided, I envy you.
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would you guys mind replying back in a few weeks with your actual scores? I would like to see how your initial first impression correlates since i've read/heard that it feels much worse than it turns out.
much appreciated
much appreciated
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I plan on posting my score in the Jan 27th thread as well as SN2ed's schedule thread.
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I just have one question, which I think is permitted and does not talk about any specific content or anything in relation to the test.
Regarding PS, would you guys say that you had to rely on specific knowledge pertaining to certain formulas for problems (not only pug and chug, but for general questions also that do not involve calculations) or could the majority of the questions be answered based on information presented in the passage.
I have the formula sheet from my TPR class with all the physic, gen chem formulas but the first time I took the mcat i didnt really need to refer to knowledge regarding the equations. However, I have read on this site that some tests that are more calculation heavy require specific knowledge regarding a lot of those formulas as opposed to material/equations presented in the paragraph.... did you guys think that was the case? I really don't think I am violating any of the terms for the exam by asking this because I am not asking about any specifics, just whether you felt like you had to recall a lot of the formulas from that particular section.
Regarding PS, would you guys say that you had to rely on specific knowledge pertaining to certain formulas for problems (not only pug and chug, but for general questions also that do not involve calculations) or could the majority of the questions be answered based on information presented in the passage.
I have the formula sheet from my TPR class with all the physic, gen chem formulas but the first time I took the mcat i didnt really need to refer to knowledge regarding the equations. However, I have read on this site that some tests that are more calculation heavy require specific knowledge regarding a lot of those formulas as opposed to material/equations presented in the paragraph.... did you guys think that was the case? I really don't think I am violating any of the terms for the exam by asking this because I am not asking about any specifics, just whether you felt like you had to recall a lot of the formulas from that particular section.
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There was probably a mix of both, pertaining to your first question. There were some where the passage would mix a couple different main topics. Seemed very integrative. There were a couple long calculations that I guestimated, marked, and moved on due to time in case I had time to come back and legitimately try to derive a way to the answer but I didn't have time to do that. I would know the equations on the TPR sheet for sure. Knowing equations seemed like a Must for some questions. So I will go with "both" as an answer to both your questions.
To the other user who asked what i used to study, I used TPR. They were good for sciences on every practice exam, I felt there was tricky integrative stuff on Bio passages today that seemed way harder than any practice passages.
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Sorry for double post.
Verbal in the sense of trying to understand the situations given in paragraph forms. I felt BS was very time consuming today.
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I'm taking it tomorrow and I was feeling confident until I read this thread. If they really ramped up the difficulty, wouldn't they add some type of curve to make up for this, or is getting into med schools becoming increasingly difficult?
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Continue feeling confident because...
A. You dont know these people, they could have inadequately prepared for all you know.
B. If your test is hard chances are theres a fair curve
C. If you know the basics you should be able to get a lot of questions.
Know that you will get some insane passages that are convuluted and ridiculous but you can apply the basics to solve them.
GOOD LUCK!
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With all of the practice books on the market, which would you say most closely resembled today's exam for each section? I know that BR changed their physics books, but would you say those books are on par with the difficulty of today's exam or was it just different and no book really can mirror the MCAT. I also get the impression it was more difficult than prior AAMCs?
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Honestly I think you're wasting your time thinking like this. The MCAT comes down to applying fundamentals, which most of the books can teach you. Anything beyond that is outside your control. I'd just make sure you've put in the time to learn all of the concepts and taken the AAMC practice tests. No practice test available is going to effectively mirror the real thing, and I think that aspect of change is part of the point. Taking the MCAT is not about being in your comfort zone.
Note, I don't mean to sound harsh, that's just the opinion of one among many who studied and took the test today.
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man it was hard...AAMC plays with us by makin easy practice tests and then come up with hard exam on test day.......i am screwed up..was averaging around 32 on practice but i dont think i will even make it 25..feel bad
I took it today and just got home. Mixed feelings. 
PS raped me. Hope to get a 6 (jajajajajajaja)
VS passages are getting longer, im awful in this section and the first 2 where horrible! but the others were duable. hope I get a 7
BS was easier than PS because most of the topics I took last semester and they are fresh in my mind. Although there was 4 q's that got me second guessing. I hope i get a 9
WS easy breezy
I didnt study much, I only need a 22 to get where i want here in PR.
PS raped me. Hope to get a 6 (jajajajajajaja)
VS passages are getting longer, im awful in this section and the first 2 where horrible! but the others were duable. hope I get a 7
BS was easier than PS because most of the topics I took last semester and they are fresh in my mind. Although there was 4 q's that got me second guessing. I hope i get a 9
WS easy breezy
I didnt study much, I only need a 22 to get where i want here in PR.
Just came back...
OMg seriously
PS sooo much calculation half way through I almost forgot how to add.... but definitely do able
VR OMG really i hate you VR. I had to guess on the last two passages. Urggg I hope that whole section gets scaled to like a 15 lol
The whole time I was wishing I could press pause like on the practice exams lol
BS only one orgo but the discrete def got me. I think this was more passage based, reminded me of AAMC 8 a little.
Overall i just hope everyone did well. Come on we deserve this, we study hard to get our goal... its right there in front us... class of 2016.
Good Luck.
OMg seriously
PS sooo much calculation half way through I almost forgot how to add.... but definitely do able
VR OMG really i hate you VR. I had to guess on the last two passages. Urggg I hope that whole section gets scaled to like a 15 lol
The whole time I was wishing I could press pause like on the practice exams lol
BS only one orgo but the discrete def got me. I think this was more passage based, reminded me of AAMC 8 a little.
Overall i just hope everyone did well. Come on we deserve this, we study hard to get our goal... its right there in front us... class of 2016.
Good Luck.
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I took today. PS was rough, but I always think PS is rough. I thought verbal and BS weren't awful. VR was a lot longer, but not hard. BS Format was a lot like AAMC 11.
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Just took it today. I thought the PS was ridicoulous. Much more calculation heavy than I thought it would be, but that seemed to be the general consensus amongst people who I wrote with that they thought PS was difficult, so hopefully a nice curve. VR questions I thought were clear, but longer passages made it a little tougher. Overall not back breaking. The BS in my opinion was very simliar to 8 and 11. I am hoping I i did relatively well because the passages were within the scope of courses I recently took and played to my strengths, but we will see. Hopefully everyone did well, but all in all I dont think it was anything ridicoulously different than what AAMC presents in their practices, just more based on passage work than previous exams.
Hope everyone rocked it today!
Hope everyone rocked it today!
I ran out of time on PS and had to guess the last 2 passages... FML. Damn long passages and heavy calculations.
VR also had a lot of long passages, and I had to kinda guess on the last one.
BS was once again had huge passages and more passage related answers. Many of the answers were very vague and tough to eliminate answers with.
idk what to do with my life right now
VR also had a lot of long passages, and I had to kinda guess on the last one.
BS was once again had huge passages and more passage related answers. Many of the answers were very vague and tough to eliminate answers with.
idk what to do with my life right now
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I honestly did not think the test was THAT hard at all. PS I finished exactly on time and if you knew the formulas and had an idea what they meant, you'd find yourself in a good spot.
Verbal I finished with about 5 minutes left. Passages were longer, but I found this to be advantageous since it allowed me to gather a better understanding of what authors were trying to say.
The BS might have been the trickiest and thankfully wasn't too organic heavy. Ended up having 7 minutes left to check my answers. I was expecting it to be a lot harder, which actually kind of helped me study harder. All in all, I feel pretty good. Hardest part is going to be waiting 30 days to get the results.
I studied by taking the aamc practice tests. I'd recommend it to get timing down and get used to the format they provide (highlighting, crossing out answers, etc). I felt it was pretty accurate to the actual test, except for the longer verbal sections.
Verbal I finished with about 5 minutes left. Passages were longer, but I found this to be advantageous since it allowed me to gather a better understanding of what authors were trying to say.
The BS might have been the trickiest and thankfully wasn't too organic heavy. Ended up having 7 minutes left to check my answers. I was expecting it to be a lot harder, which actually kind of helped me study harder. All in all, I feel pretty good. Hardest part is going to be waiting 30 days to get the results.
I studied by taking the aamc practice tests. I'd recommend it to get timing down and get used to the format they provide (highlighting, crossing out answers, etc). I felt it was pretty accurate to the actual test, except for the longer verbal sections.
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Just got back home....
Oh my god....That is horrible!
All sections are harder than the one I took last time.
PS, I think there's not much calculation, but more about understanding what is being asked, and use equations to solve problem. And plus, a lot of vague answers to eliminate even you know what they are asking....I think I probably will be very lucky to have 9 this time.
Verbal, much longer than practice, though seems easier, but I stressed out again....run out of time, and I think I was screwed.....again...No matter how I practice, seeing new and totally unexpected, and long passages always stress me out, and then comes the questions part, where the questions or answer choices are long themselves, and then the answers are so vague....Just hope for the best, although I know I am not going to get a good score on this one...><
BS, a lot more focus on passage, analyzing and application of presented information than straight memorization. Answers like everyone else said, is vague. Some easy passage, some hard ones, only one O-chem passage. I run out of time because of a couple passages, where I was trying to figure out what is presented. Very similar to AAMC11. I feel like getting 8-9 this time.
I feel like crap now....I feel like no matter how hard, how much I study, there's always going to be surprise in the exam. Then it comes timing, remain calm, think clearly and fast under stress, to solve some unseen, or surprising problems...Those early AAMC practice tests are nothing like this compare to the real thing....and let along those prep companies' practice test....totally different.
ARRRR.....feel like to study again....but at the same time feel like doing nothing....!!
Oh my god....That is horrible!
All sections are harder than the one I took last time.
PS, I think there's not much calculation, but more about understanding what is being asked, and use equations to solve problem. And plus, a lot of vague answers to eliminate even you know what they are asking....I think I probably will be very lucky to have 9 this time.
Verbal, much longer than practice, though seems easier, but I stressed out again....run out of time, and I think I was screwed.....again...No matter how I practice, seeing new and totally unexpected, and long passages always stress me out, and then comes the questions part, where the questions or answer choices are long themselves, and then the answers are so vague....Just hope for the best, although I know I am not going to get a good score on this one...><
BS, a lot more focus on passage, analyzing and application of presented information than straight memorization. Answers like everyone else said, is vague. Some easy passage, some hard ones, only one O-chem passage. I run out of time because of a couple passages, where I was trying to figure out what is presented. Very similar to AAMC11. I feel like getting 8-9 this time.
I feel like crap now....I feel like no matter how hard, how much I study, there's always going to be surprise in the exam. Then it comes timing, remain calm, think clearly and fast under stress, to solve some unseen, or surprising problems...Those early AAMC practice tests are nothing like this compare to the real thing....and let along those prep companies' practice test....totally different.
ARRRR.....feel like to study again....but at the same time feel like doing nothing....!!
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What were your AAMC scores
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Yes, definitely! I took the test on Janaury 27 and I felt like I barely had to use any equations. When I took the mcat for the first time in July, it seemed like every other freakin problem required me to have memorized an equation, and it was really heavy in kinematics. I did pretty badly in ps the first time, so this time I freaked out and memorized as many equations as possible. Didn't really need any of them. To answer your question more concisely I think it depends on your version of the exam. I would say know all the stuff your prep course tells you to memorize (kinematics, electrostatics, etc). Also memorize the sin and cos values... I wish I had for my july exam lol
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Did you get the feeling that there were questions in bs that you've never seen before?
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