January 2008 MCAT Central

[DrJD]

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Hey all! Anyone start studying now for the January 2008 test? Seems weird that its only 6 months away... What are all of you doing to study?

Best of luck!

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Just took another TPR practice test today. My verbal went down drastically but my PS and BS are stagnant. It might be because english is not my first language but I dont wanna use that as an excuse. I just want a 9 on the real one.


AAMC #3 ------ 12 PS, 9 VR, 11 BS (32)
AAMC #4 ------ 13 PS, 9 VR, 10 BS (32)
TPR #1 -------- 10 PS, 9 VR, 12 BS (31)
TPR #2 -------- 10 PS, 6 VR, 11 BS (27) !!!!!
TPR #3 -------- 13 PS, 8 VR, 12 BS (33)
TPR #4 -------- 13 PS, 6 VR, 12 BS (31)

For those of you who took the online TPR practice exam that came with the classroom prep class, do you guys find TPR verbal to be harder than practice AAMC or the real MCAT? Gosh I hate verbal!

Agreed! God I hate Verbal too. Sadly though, English is my first language and you will probably score better than me on the real deal.

 

[bozz]

haha omg the ionization one. holy crap. that one was hard. i made lucky guesses though. got them right. the one question i missed was the one about the oil droplets and water covering the thingy.

you serious about the verbal thing? i was majorly bummed out from the verbal.

the sad thing is.. i got all the medium questions right on verbal, and most of the missed questions were labeled easy. >.< i also realized i need to start double checking and reading more carefully.

how are you on timing?

My timings fine in general... on 10 though, the first passage took up 9 - 10 minutes of my time... now, that normally doesn't happen.. I'm done by 7.5 minutes with almost all passages... but yeah... in the end I still finished with 2 mins remaining. But, I wasn't able to refer back to the passage as much as I wanted to since I wasted too much time on the first passage.

Why is an alpha particle charged? I thought it was just a neutral helium atom

 

[streetlight]

Why is an alpha particle charged? I thought it was just a neutral helium atom... from that one passage..

I believe an alpha particle is a helium nucleus; therefore the electrons aren't present. it's just two protons and two neutrons. therefore positive charge. correct me if i'm wrong, and if i am, shame on me. i'm minoring in nuclear engineering :/

 

[bozz]

I believe an alpha particle is a helium nucleus; therefore the electrons aren't present. it's just two protons and two neutrons. therefore positive charge. correct me if i'm wrong, and if i am, shame on me. i'm minoring in nuclear engineering :/

o crap... that makes perfect sense... thanks 👍
I think you're right.... you learn something new every day =)

 

[da8s0859q]

Agreed! God I hate Verbal too. Sadly though, English is my first language and you will probably score better than me on the real deal.

I love verbal. Verbal is where I'm gonna make up points I lose in PS and BS.

o crap... that makes perfect sense... thanks 👍
I think you're right.... you learn something new every day =)

Yeah, he's right. &#945;-particles = He²+, or 4/2He.

ß-particles = electrons or positrons, and gamma rays = photons.

 

[xylitol]

My timings fine in general... on 10 though, the first passage took up 9 - 10 minutes of my time... now, that normally doesn't happen.. I'm done by 7.5 minutes with almost all passages... but yeah... in the end I still finished with 2 mins remaining. But, I wasn't able to refer back to the passage as much as I wanted to since I wasted too much time on the first passage.

Why is an alpha particle charged? I thought it was just a neutral helium atom

I finished with 7 min left on verbal. i didnt think the first passage was too bad.. the last one was ugly though. i hate verbal!! >.<

i'm sort of scared for the real thing. what score are you aiming for? and what study materials did you use/are using?

 

[bozz]

I finished with 7 min left on verbal. i didnt think the first passage was too bad.. the last one was ugly though. i hate verbal!! >.<

i'm sort of scared for the real thing. what score are you aiming for? and what study materials did you use/are using?

I'm a retaker... I'm aiming for 36+ .. that's what I'd love to get ideally
I'm using kaplan, ek, and berkeley review <--- great chem books... helped me a ton on PS

 

[teh1337]

I love verbal. Verbal is where I'm gonna make up points I lose in PS and BS.

Yeah same here, I have always had a knack for verbal and humanities in general I feel like I have gotten to the point where I am not really missing science questions due to lack of knowledge or studying but due to stupid mistakes or bad test taking. What are you scoring on bs, and ps?

 

[da8s0859q]

Yeah same here, I have always had a knack for verbal and humanities in general I feel like I have gotten to the point where I am not really missing science questions due to lack of knowledge or studying but due to stupid mistakes or bad test taking. What are you scoring on bs, and ps?

I took #10 as a baseline a couple months ago and did piss-poor due largely to stupid mistakes, so like 8 PS / 7 BS. 11 on verbal with a few stupid mistakes (i.e., answering things clearly wrong based on the passage), so 26 overall.

Did the PS from #3 a week ago; haven't finished and scored the test but am sure it's up a point or two between me being a Kaplan ***** and paying attention to what I'm doing / how I feel about the questions.

BS, we'll see shortly 🙂

 

[da8s0859q]

Take that back. PS was an 8 -- again -- courtesy of me being a *******.

BS, however, was +3 to 10.

Skipped verbal because I'm a bad, bad boy.

 

[DocWalken]

AAMC 4:

Ps:12, Vr:10, Bs:14 (36)

pretty siked...still feel like I'm guessing a lot for verbal and usually don't have any time to do anything but mark random answers for the last passage....oh well, as long as I can pull out a 10 I guess it'll be okay. still practicing though

 

[DrJD]

I'm about to take AAMC 10... alright! Hopefully it isn't so hard that it will demoralize me! Keep up the good work!

 

[BassPlease]

I'm starting to get really nervous... wrapping up all of EK 1001 Gen Chem and Phys between today and tomorrow... then its super intense full length AAMCs nearly every day til test day.

I'm just so nervous, and this is my re-take. I'm just horrified that I will go down (9PS 10VR 10BS 8/9) and have to deal with this awful exam another time. I know I need to keep my cool or else the anxiety will get the best of me... but its getting tougher and tougher for me each day.

Thank goodness the Pats won last night.

Just a little vent. Glad things seem to be going well for everyone!

-BP

 

[streetlight]

haha i've been doing more football watching than studying these last two days. bassplease - probably happy the colts are out now hm?
p.s. i'm sure you'll be jealous that tom brady lives across the street from my frat 🙂

 

[BassPlease]

haha i've been doing more football watching than studying these last two days. bassplease - probably happy the colts are out now hm?
p.s. i'm sure you'll be jealous that tom brady lives across the street from my frat 🙂

To be honest, I'd rather have the Pats play the Colts seeing as we already beat them once this season, and lost to them in the Championship last season.

Have you ever got a glimpse of Mr. Brady himself?

-BP

 

[DrJD]

Just got a 33 on AAMC 10... not bad, made some stupid mistakes, so should only go up from here... Feeling not terrible! Is it true that 10 is generally considered to be the hardest of the more recent old AAMC tests?

 

[ahmedqman]

Just got a 33 on AAMC 10... not bad, made some stupid mistakes, so should only go up from here... Feeling not terrible! Is it true that 10 is generally considered to be the hardest of the more recent old AAMC tests?

I heard that 8 was, but the curve on 10s verbal was especially difficult I hear. I hear different people saying different things, so I guess it depends on what you're good at.

 

[DocWalken]

You can see the score conversions if you click on the tab that says "How is the exam scored" on your test report thing...they all look more or less the same to me.

 

[Scean]

I felt as if aamc 9 was harder than 10, but i was also having quite the off day when I took 9. All I have left is 8, so I suppose no confidence boost will come before test day.....maybe i'll retake 3.....

 

[streetlight]

who's celebrating like crazy the night your mcats are done? what town? seriously if a few of us are in the same town taking the mcats, we should have an SDN january postmcat party

 

[Scean]

Oh yes, Athens GA,

It's my gf's sorori-***** formal, so ill be in a tux stumbling around athens finest drinking institutions.

 

[DocWalken]

Definitely going to be partying it up in College Park, MD

 

[prakdiddy20]

I just hit a 32 on AAMC #9 🙁. I'm dissappointed with VR. I got a 13 on PS, 12 on BS, and a freeking 7 in VR. 7. Argh! I'm just going to re-take all the AAMC VR and finish the EK and pray to whatever thing I can. I think it's just me losing focus and confidence on that section. I will be taking 10 this Saturday, hopefully everything turns out well. Back to snowy Boston .. . . 😱

 

[BloodySurgeon]

I just hit a 32 on AAMC #9 🙁. I'm dissappointed with VR. I got a 13 on PS, 12 on BS, and a freeking 7 in VR. 7. Argh! I'm just going to re-take all the AAMC VR and finish the EK and pray to whatever thing I can. I think it's just me losing focus and confidence on that section. I will be taking 10 this Saturday, hopefully everything turns out well. Back to snowy Boston .. . . 😱

I know how u feel, got the exact same score on AAMC 7. 🙁

Random Question: How many of you are practicing with the writing section?

 

[streetlight]

Test...............PS......VR.....BS.....TOTAL
Kaplan FL 01....9........11.....8.......28
Kaplan FL 02....11......10.....13......34
Kaplan FL 03....12......15......9.......36
Kaplan FL 04....13......10.....13......36
Kaplan FL 06....12......13.....14.......39
AAMC 06.........13......12.....10.......35
AAMC 07.........10......11......12......33
AAMC 08.........13......8........11......32
AAMC 04.........13......10......11......34
Kaplan FL 05....12......11......15......38
Kaplan FL 08....13......14......12......39
Kaplan FL 07....14......11......15......40

once again, kaplan inflation to the rescue:
PS(14): 12 wrong; VR(11): 9 wrong; BS(15): 3 wrong

compare to kaplan FL 08...
PS(13): 12 wrong; VR(14): 9 wrong; BS(12): 16 wrong

ok so I got the same exact number wrong in PS and VR for FL 08, but went UP a point in PS and DOWN three points in VR...anyone else think that's weird?

seriously this is really annoying...i'm gonna take an AAMC tomorrow to get things calibrated right...

 

[DocWalken]

I was planning on doing some practicing for writing, but nothing major. Will probably write a few essays in my practice FLs just cause I don't want any suprises/things I'm not used to on test day (which is in UNDER two weeks!).

 

[DocWalken]

This is the only thread that matters on SDN right now...

 

[IronMan2009]

12 days till we separate the men and women from the girls and boys.

 

[robocop1998]

Just finished TPR #5. My VR score went up but my BS score went down. But I am pretty satisfied nonetheless.

AAMC #3 ------ 12 PS, 9 VR, 11 BS (32)
AAMC #4 ------ 13 PS, 9 VR, 10 BS (32)
TPR #1 -------- 10 PS, 9 VR, 12 BS (31)
TPR #2 -------- 10 PS, 6 VR, 11 BS (27) !!!!!
TPR #3 -------- 13 PS, 8 VR, 12 BS (33)
TPR #4 -------- 13 PS, 6 VR, 12 BS (31)
TPR #5 -------- 12 PS, 9 VR, 10 BS (31)

I'm gonna take AAMC #5 later tonight and see how it goes.

 

[BassPlease]

Hang in there, guys!

Any tips for learning optics? I am having *such* a hard time working through it... it is the last section in EK 1001 Phys and I just am too burnt out to deal with it. I know that there were about 4 discrete questions regarding light and optics when I wrote in August, so it is something that I really need to get straightened out.

Thoughts?

-BP

 

[shippudenfan]

Hang in there, guys!

Any tips for learning optics? I am having *such* a hard time working through it... it is the last section in EK 1001 Phys and I just am too burnt out to deal with it. I know that there were about 4 discrete questions regarding light and optics when I wrote in August, so it is something that I really need to get straightened out.

Thoughts?

-BP

I don't know if this was suggested before or it seems obvious, but I usually make a table: one for mirrors and one for lenses. It lists whether the image is real, focal point is positive, magnification info, etc. Then I do one diagram for the converging lens, one for the diverging (lens are harder for me for some reason).

Post the table and diagrams above your desk and make a point of using them to do practice questions. You should have no problem with optics after this...I didn't.

Have fun!

 

[mikeyworm]

PS VR BS
KFL 1- 8 8 9 (25)
KFL 2- 9 10 9 (28)
KFL 3- 11 9 13 (33) (I had to quit VR after only 5 passages to go help my fiance after she ran out of gas!
KFL 4- 12 12 11 (35)
KFL 6- 8 10 8 (taken before KFL 1 as a 2nd diagnostic)

AAMC3-11 11 11 (33)
AAMC4-11 12 9 (32) (on this one the BS was totally messed up and had the wrong passages for the last 3 question sets)
AAMC5-12 11 11 (34)

AAMC 6-12 11 10 (33)
KFL 7 - 10 13 12 (35)

AAMC 7 - 11 14 10 (35).

KFL 8 - 12 15 10 (37). I missed 6!!!! VR questions and still got a 15. missed 2 on AAMC 7 and got a 14....hmmmm.

Now I am nervous. I used to do a lot better on BS and my scores are decreasing here. Scares me.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Has anyone taken TPR diag #8? I took the PS section and got so discouraged that I closed it during the exam. This is the first time I ever did this in my entire life. Has anyone else felt the same about this practice test or was I just have a bad day?

 

[kitsune maison]

hey bloody --- some of TPR psgs/tests r so aggravatingly hard. or like they put stuff that ive never bothered to look over (like filling in orbitals). i was pulling my hair out on that test. and got the entire psg - 1 wrong. hilarious!

dont get discouraged, it can only add more to ur knowledge when u go over the qtns. cuz what matters is the real mcat ull be taking soon, right?

i am un peu burnt out as i am only doing tests and going over them.

can neone give me a slice of motivation?

 

[xylitol]

quick question, do you guys know on test day, like if the next section starts immediately after the break ends, or if there's a "Next" screen like on the practice ones?

 

[da8s0859q]

Oh yes, Athens GA,

It's my gf's sorori-***** formal, so ill be in a tux stumbling around athens finest drinking institutions.

I will be using that in this final semester of mine.

Xylitol, my chewing gum friend: no idea.

 

[streetlight]

ok so i'm reviewing kaplan fl 07 and have a question about PS #37; can anyone who has taken this explain this to me? i keep getting the opposite answer. i'm not sure if i'm going insane or kaplan made a mistake...

 

[kitsune maison]

xylitol --- i heard from my friend who took it three times that after the break ends, there is a next button type thing and apparently it doesn't start the timer until u press that lovely box. in other words, u can take a longer break than 10 minutes... not sure if they've changed it or not, but i mean u can take an extra minute or two, pourquoi pas, in front of the computer, at least!

 

[ahmedqman]

Kaplan's curve is bullcrap. 60% on PS correct on FL4 = 11?

THE HELL?

I missed 7 on BS and got a 15? THE HELL?

Does anyone think that Kaplan's PS is ridiculously tough. I often struggle to finish, wow.

 

[bozz]

All I know is... I would probably trust your PS SCORE

but absolutely do NOT rely on your BS score at all... too many people get 14s and 15s on it

 

[ahmedqman]

Actually, I think I could have gotten a 15 on this BS section without the curve. Made like 5 dumb errors of the 7 I missed. I'm traditionally good at passage-based BS.

I know everything for PS... but sometimes I can't just fully understand what's going on in the passage. I can only see it after the fact.

I need to score above a 30 on January 25th...

 

[robocop1998]

So I just finished AAMC #5. I cant believe I pulled a 36, especially with a 10 on VR.

AAMC #3 ------ 12 PS, 9 VR, 11 BS (32)
AAMC #4 ------ 13 PS, 9 VR, 10 BS (32)
AAMC #5 ------ 13 PS, 10 VR, 13 BS (36)
TPR #1 -------- 10 PS, 9 VR, 12 BS (31)
TPR #2 -------- 10 PS, 6 VR, 11 BS (27) !!!!!
TPR #3 -------- 13 PS, 8 VR, 12 BS (33)
TPR #4 -------- 13 PS, 6 VR, 12 BS (31)
TPR #5 -------- 12 PS, 9 VR, 10 BS (31)

I really hope I can keep this up. I'm gonna do some more TPR exams tomorrow.

 

[DrJD]

11 days!

I'm actually starting to get a little nervous! How all you doing?

 

[ahmedqman]

11 days!

I'm actually starting to get a little nervous! How all you doing?

Starting to lose confidence reading old MCAT threads even though my practice score range is 31-35. Reading about all these posters getting 27s when their averages are 32 is scaring me to death...

My Verbal is stuck at a 9, so I need to score 11s on the sciences, which doesn't happen too often on the real deal I hear...

 

[hung]

quick question, do you guys know on test day, like if the next section starts immediately after the break ends, or if there's a "Next" screen like on the practice ones?

what about when the time left prompts up? i noticed during the practice if u don't press anything the time stops. does that happen for the real too?

 

[kitsune maison]

i feel so lazy!
and i cant sleep at night for an hour or so, maybe im nervous.

i need freud.

 

[skijumpbump]

I noticed this time glitch as well, when it gives you a "45 minutes left" warning or "5 minutes left" warning time does not advance until you press OK. If it is like this on the real MCAT it basically means you can read the entire passage you are on, write down what you want to click for your on your scrap paper, then press "OK" on the warning fill in your answers all while not using up anytime of the test. This basically gives you a time free passage, or 2 if you do it at the 45 and 5 minute warnings. Does anyone know if this is the case in the real MCAT. I actually took am retaking but I cant remeber if this happened.

 

[DocWalken]

I have no idea whether it does or does not on the real thing, but for safety sake I would assume it does not.

Also, <10 days for us Jan 25th-ers ! Yes!!! Cannot wait to get this thing over and done with!

Here's to not posting in the MCAT board again unless it's in the 30+ advice thread!

(that's a lie I'm sure all of us will post several times immediately after we get home..anyways..here's to wishful thinking!)

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Have any of you taken AAMC 1 and 2? I don't understand... I got nearly 90% correct and was on time for the verbal section for these tests but I got a 7 on AAMC 7 and a 6 on a Princeton Review Online Diag (latest 2 tests ive taken). 😡

 

[robocop1998]

hey i am just wondering how are you guys studying for the writing section? i have been so focusing on the science and verbal sections that I almost forgot there is a writing section as well. Help is needed on how to prepare for it.