Hey Op,
I kind of know how you feel--I also felt my first MCAT test day was about the worst day ever. I was actually sick but decided to stick it out (I felt kind of OK at the beginning...). I had a really tough time focusing and by the time I got to the biological sciences section, I felt awful. I could hardly focus such that I had a terrible time answering questions with passages. To make things worse I took a 10-minute break with the clock running during bio! And lastly, I definitely guessed on a number of the bio questions because I had such a hard time focusing and remembering the passages.
So... I definitely felt I bombed the test--esp. bio. I was pretty depressed for the rest of the day. So I immediately signed up for the next MCAT, two weeks later, without even waiting for my scores. (FYI, knowing what I knew at the time, I should have voided my scores, but I kind of felt proud of myself for finishing and opted not to--not too bright on my part!
My second MCAT sitting I felt great, and I actually really enjoyed the test
🙂
The werid part is two weeks after that, I got my scores from the first test, expecting something in mid-upper 20's at best, since highest practice test score had been a 33. But when I checked my scores, sure enough, I had a 33! My "bomb" in bio was a 10.
I kind of paniced when I saw this because I figured my second MCAT score couldn't be that much higher than my practice tests. Amazingly, I was wrong, and my score went up quite a bit (along with my self-confidence, and honestly, my ego for at least a day!).
If you are
absolutely positive you could have done a few points better (at least two, maybe three) then sure, go for it! But a 34 is a wonderful score! Had I known I had a 33 on my first test, there's a very good chance I would have stuck with it. But, my dream school's average was a 31, so the 33 was competetive.
I would imagine you would be competetive as you are at the UC's (though UCSF is always tough--I didn't even make it to the secondary), depending on your EC's.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do!
thanks guys for your responses!
The thing is, I literally thought it was the worst day ever when I took the exam.
It was unbelievable even to myself how much I got distracted by the typing sound of other people. I always try to relax and take things slowly because when I don't try to do so consciously, I get more nervous and hasty.
So, I ended up being in my verbal section when everyone else around me started typing on that day.
I used my earmuffs but it was no use.
It is so weird because the typing sound is incredibly annoying for me.
I literally thought I totally blew my verbal.
Has anyone felt the same way?
Don't you guys think it's so annoying to the point where you wanna punch the guys typing around you? That's how I felt.
I think, at least, if you have ever tried to read while others sitting right by type like they are crazy, you would understand.
