January 2012 MCAT...Is it too early for this Thread

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Sailor Senshi Dermystify

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Is anyone taking the MCAT in January 2012? I know it's pretty early but I just wanted to know whose down with me :).

Hopefully, I will have time to come back to the States during my vacation break to take this exam. I will probably start some light studying in August :D

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(That will be the last time I reference a direct or inverse relationship, ever)

Ha! I was thinking that as I read it.

I took the MCAT last year too and feel the same way you did. I was much more prepared this year and feel even worse walking out. We'll see...:xf:
 
Physics = first passage was a verbal at a first glance ... overall it was NOT easy but at the same time NOT very hard. Its nothing like AAMC 11. I am not happy about it. Felt like I was short on time ..considering I finished my AAMC 11 PS 10mins before

Verbal = 5 easy passages ... 2 hard passages ... but verbal is a crapshoot ... you never know. you can walk out happily and you might be ****ed.

BS = Oh God ... Oh God .. every answer choice could be correct ... so ambiguous at times ... I don't know

After I walked out, my mind was numb. I have mixed feelings ...

A week off and then studying again for this beast.
 
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Physics = first passage was a verbal at a first glance ... overall it was NOT easy but at the same time NOT very hard. Its nothing like AAMC 11. I am not happy about it. Felt like I was short on time ..considering I finished my AAMC 11 PS 10mins before

Verbal = 5 easy passages ... 2 hard passages ... but verbal is a crapshoot ... you never know. you can walk out happily and you might be ****ed.

BS = Oh God ... Oh God .. every answer choice could be correct ... so ambiguous at times ... I don't know

After I walked out, my mind was numb. I have mixed feelings ...

A week off and then studying again for this beast.

My thoughts exactly on the BS. Also, I can't even imagine starting to study again in a week. If I don't do well enough to warrant applying this year, I might have to call it a day.
 
Any opinions on which test prep material best reflects this "weirdness" and "ambiguity" that seems to be common recently on real mcat?
 
Any opinions on which test prep material best reflects this "weirdness" and "ambiguity" that seems to be common recently on real mcat?

close to AAMC practice test but also at the same time are NOT like AAMC ... its weird

Also, I was hapy about writing section ... didnt practice a bit .. but my fav topic:thumbup: But no one cares about this section ..

All in all .... I am done for a while

and yea ,,, go with TBR
 
The last time I took the MCAT I voided and it literally had things I'd never heard about in organic chemistry. I think it was an experimental passage. When I got home I looked it up but still don't know what the hell it was. They're going to throw crap at you that you've never heard of just to confuse you.
 
Does AAMC generate the scale after they see how people have done, or is it solely based their own determination of test difficulty?
 
I am freaking out right now. :scared:

I knew I shouldn't be here the day before the exam. :laugh: Stupid confirmation thing. That's the only reason why I'm here right now. Is that a joke or what?? :confused:
 
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Does AAMC generate the scale after they see how people have done, or is it solely based their own determination of test difficulty?

yea I am curious about it too. From what I have heard, scale is predetermined but taking BS section today ... if the scale is like AAMC 11 scale .... then I would be ****edd
 
Does AAMC generate the scale after they see how people have done, or is it solely based their own determination of test difficulty?

The scale is predetermined, based on the questions that you had. How other people did on the real should be irrelevant. Data from new experimental questions (if there were any) is gathered and used to determine how difficult they are but these questions are not part of your score.
 
The second one. They have their own weird way of scaling it...

I was afraid of that. With the reactions people seem to be having, I was hoping for a generous curve...though I guess if this many people think it sucked so bad AAMC probably took that into account.
 
I was afraid of that. With the reactions people seem to be having, I was hoping for a generous curve...though I guess if this many people think it sucked so bad AAMC probably took that into account.

you may still get a very generous curve honestly. I did on mine, refer to my post in the thread i made..
 
I am freaking out right now. :scared:

I knew I shouldn't be here the day before the exam. :laugh: Stupid confirmation thing. That's the only reason why I'm here right now. Is that a joke or what?? :confused:

Yeah, you really shouldn't be in here reading about how poorly people think they did. It's going to make you freak out, which won't help anyone on the test. Go do something fun. To be fair, I think it's pretty common for people to feel bad coming out of the test, but a sizable portion of people end up scoring close to their
AAMC average. It also could be the fact that no one is going to come into this thread and talk about how wicked easy the test was.

edit: I did not have to confirm. Just show up with an ID.
 
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Well, here's a post that no one who took the test today is going to like, but hopefully someone reading this who is taking the test tomorrow (who shouldn't be on SDN right now :)) will take some of this advice and will do well.

I don't think today's test was much worse that any AAMC practice test. Granted, there were some parts that I struggled on, but we all do the same on our practice tests. The problem is, test anxiety causes a lot of people to flub an exam because we freak out.

This was my second time taking the MCAT, so my anxiety levels were both up and down for two main reasons. First, they were down because I've already taken the exam, got rocked, and now have studied in a better manner, so my confidence was up. My anxiety level was up because this was my second time, and I'm almost 30 years old. I do not want to take the exam again, more due to the time commitment of studying than the money. As well as I don't want to start medical school in my mid-30's. I needed to do well.

Here are some pointers that hopefully someone can relate to, and will help them do better on the exam tomorrow.

First.... Calm the F down! Freaking out will do you no good. This also means that you need to take it EASY on caffeine. If you're the person who needs 5 cups of coffee and two energy drinks to get started in the morning, drink only the minimum that you need in order to not get a headache. When you're in the exam, one cup of coffee ends up feeling like 10, you can't focus, and your heart it pounding out of your chest. I'm not a big caffeine person (anywhere from zero to two caffeinated drinks per day), and the first time I took the exam, I had half a cup of coffee and a coke that morning. I was freaking the heck out during the test! You don't need stimulation to stay awake when you're in the exam. Believe me. This time I drank no caffeine for two days prior, and no caffeine the morning of, and my heart was still pounding out of my chest when I first sat down.

Here's how to calm down when you're taking the exam. But here's the kicker, if you're over caffeinated/stimulated on anything else, this likely wont work.

Breathe. Take every opportunity you can to take a deep breath and slow down your heart rate. Before you start taking the exam, you have the tutorial, which they give you way too much time to accomplish. Don't skip the tutorial, but don't give it too much effort. Take your time through the tutorial before you begin. Using the tutorial gets your eyes used to the font size (because it was different than the font on my home computer), lets you realize how well your chair is adjusted, and where your paper and pencils are. Using the tutorial also gives you time to calm down. If you skip it, and immediately start, you're starting the test in a state of high anxiety.

When you get to the end of the tutorial, STOP. Breathe. Calm yourself down. Get your heart rate down to a level that you feel good about, then begin.

Starting with your pulse up and adrenaline flowing is detrimental. You get tunnel vision, and lose sight of concepts (or exceptions to known concepts) that are presented in the passages. You end up having to reread areas that shouldn't be that difficult to comprehend. This is especially important with VR and BS, since the passages are meant to confuse you. Verbal is my weak point, so I make sure that I take 5-10 seconds between passages to calm down, and clear my head of how frustrating the previous passage was. That means I wasted about 60 seconds during VR, but it was worth it.

Get back to your chair with two minutes left in each break. Give yourself that time to regroup, refocus and calm down. The last passage is behind you. You will never know which questions you got right or wrong. It's done. Focus on what's coming up.

Second pointer... Muscle memory, when to use it, and when not to. We all know that the test is designed to rush you or make you feel as though you can't complete it, so we don't take the time to stop and think when we have a question that we're SURE we know the answer to, direct from our memory bank. There's a problem with this. The passages in the MCAT are full of situational evidence, and potentially contradictory statements to what we have stored in our head. Slowing yourself down will help with these situations. Slowing yourself down is completely counter-intuitive, but it could save you many wrong answers. Even if the question is completely straightforward (here I'm thinking more Gen Chem and Physics), there may be a lot of new information to you in the passage. Write down equations (even if you know it in your head), and look to see how they relate to the passage. I know I saved myself a few wrong answers by doing this today. The passages in BS are also full of new information to lead you in the right direction, whereas what you have stored in your head may be correct in MOST senses, it may not be correct as it relates to the passage.

Lastly... Let bygones be bygones. Remember that psycho crazy ex-girlfriend/boyfriend that you dumped three months after you knew it wasn't going to work out? Remember how much time you spent kicking yourself for not leaving that piece of trash sooner? The MCAT is full of those situations, in the form of questions. A question may irritate you to no end, but you still spend 5 minutes on it, for one point. If you can't figure it our after 60-90 seconds, you've spent too long on it. Give it your best guess, mark it, and move on. There are a lot more easy questions on the test that ridiculously hard ones, so if you spend too long on a question that you're never going to feel confident about, you've robbed yourself of time on others. Even worse, you may run out of time, and miss out of 5+ easy points that you could have had in the bank, because you spent too long with your psycho ex... errr, I mean spend too long on that annoying question.

That being said... Good Luck! Calm down, focus, know when to pull the trigger on a question, know when to refer back to the passage, and let bygones be bygones.
 
^ I am one of those people taking the test tomorrow who shouldn't be on SDN right now. Awesome advice :thumbup:
 
Well, here's a post that no one who took the test today is going to like, but hopefully someone reading this who is taking the test tomorrow (who shouldn't be on SDN right now :)) will take some of this advice and will do well.

I don't think today's test was much worse that any AAMC practice test. Granted, there were some parts that I struggled on, but we all do the same on our practice tests. The problem is, test anxiety causes a lot of people to flub an exam because we freak out.

This was my second time taking the MCAT, so my anxiety levels were both up and down for two main reasons. First, they were down because I've already taken the exam, got rocked, and now have studied in a better manner, so my confidence was up. My anxiety level was up because this was my second time, and I'm almost 30 years old. I do not want to take the exam again, more due to the time commitment of studying than the money. As well as I don't want to start medical school in my mid-30's. I needed to do well.

Here are some pointers that hopefully someone can relate to, and will help them do better on the exam tomorrow.

First.... Calm the F down! Freaking out will do you no good. This also means that you need to take it EASY on caffeine. If you're the person who needs 5 cups of coffee and two energy drinks to get started in the morning, drink only the minimum that you need in order to not get a headache. When you're in the exam, one cup of coffee ends up feeling like 10, you can't focus, and your heart it pounding out of your chest. I'm not a big caffeine person (anywhere from zero to two caffeinated drinks per day), and the first time I took the exam, I had half a cup of coffee and a coke that morning. I was freaking the heck out during the test! You don't need stimulation to stay awake when you're in the exam. Believe me. This time I drank no caffeine for two days prior, and no caffeine the morning of, and my heart was still pounding out of my chest when I first sat down.

Here's how to calm down when you're taking the exam. But here's the kicker, if you're over caffeinated/stimulated on anything else, this likely wont work.

Breathe. Take every opportunity you can to take a deep breath and slow down your heart rate. Before you start taking the exam, you have the tutorial, which they give you way too much time to accomplish. Don't skip the tutorial, but don't give it too much effort. Take your time through the tutorial before you begin. Using the tutorial gets your eyes used to the font size (because it was different than the font on my home computer), lets you realize how well your chair is adjusted, and where your paper and pencils are. Using the tutorial also gives you time to calm down. If you skip it, and immediately start, you're starting the test in a state of high anxiety.

When you get to the end of the tutorial, STOP. Breathe. Calm yourself down. Get your heart rate down to a level that you feel good about, then begin.

Starting with your pulse up and adrenaline flowing is detrimental. You get tunnel vision, and lose sight of concepts (or exceptions to known concepts) that are presented in the passages. You end up having to reread areas that shouldn't be that difficult to comprehend. This is especially important with VR and BS, since the passages are meant to confuse you. Verbal is my weak point, so I make sure that I take 5-10 seconds between passages to calm down, and clear my head of how frustrating the previous passage was. That means I wasted about 60 seconds during VR, but it was worth it.

Get back to your chair with two minutes left in each break. Give yourself that time to regroup, refocus and calm down. The last passage is behind you. You will never know which questions you got right or wrong. It's done. Focus on what's coming up.

Second pointer... Muscle memory, when to use it, and when not to. We all know that the test is designed to rush you or make you feel as though you can't complete it, so we don't take the time to stop and think when we have a question that we're SURE we know the answer to, direct from our memory bank. There's a problem with this. The passages in the MCAT are full of situational evidence, and potentially contradictory statements to what we have stored in our head. Slowing yourself down will help with these situations. Slowing yourself down is completely counter-intuitive, but it could save you many wrong answers. Even if the question is completely straightforward (here I'm thinking more Gen Chem and Physics), there may be a lot of new information to you in the passage. Write down equations (even if you know it in your head), and look to see how they relate to the passage. I know I saved myself a few wrong answers by doing this today. The passages in BS are also full of new information to lead you in the right direction, whereas what you have stored in your head may be correct in MOST senses, it may not be correct as it relates to the passage.

Lastly... Let bygones be bygones. Remember that psycho crazy ex-girlfriend/boyfriend that you dumped three months after you knew it wasn't going to work out? Remember how much time you spent kicking yourself for not leaving that piece of trash sooner? The MCAT is full of those situations, in the form of questions. A question may irritate you to no end, but you still spend 5 minutes on it, for one point. If you can't figure it our after 60-90 seconds, you've spent too long on it. Give it your best guess, mark it, and move on. There are a lot more easy questions on the test that ridiculously hard ones, so if you spend too long on a question that you're never going to feel confident about, you've robbed yourself of time on others. Even worse, you may run out of time, and miss out of 5+ easy points that you could have had in the bank, because you spent too long with your psycho ex... errr, I mean spend too long on that annoying question.

That being said... Good Luck! Calm down, focus, know when to pull the trigger on a question, know when to refer back to the passage, and let bygones be bygones.

This is SO true. As a retaker I second this advice x 100. He is so right about know when to pull the trigger, ESPECIALLY in verbal. You simply can't get bogged down and you must always have a mental clock. If you feel that you did not understand something, DO NOT RE-READ it several times hoping that the second or third read through will somehow make you get the answer.

Goodluck everyone.
 
BS = Oh God ... Oh God .. every answer choice could be correct ... so ambiguous at times ... I don't know

This is my first time, but I swore I took a practice test. It didn't feel like the real thing.

My brain cells went under apoptosis -_- The bio section left me really uneasy. hmph. I thought it was abnormally harder than the other AAMC exams. I underestimated the ochem portion. I was like, "ohhhhhhhhh I rocked this!!....in class, but now completely forgot." lol

PS-I feel like it has tough, but fair. I could have polished my physics more.

Verbal- A few tough/tricky passages, but it's the MCAT lol

Overall, I feel like I just got hit by a truck, and now I'm at home watching the Disney Channel.

They say if your dreams don't scare you, then they aren't big enough. I feel like crying, but if worst comes to worst I use this score to start my app, and retake it at the end of the summer. hmph.. I feel like ****, and a rockstar at the same time. Tequila IV STAT!
 
You are not alone my friend. Just spoke to someone who took it at 8 am and they told me that it was awful. Im taking it tomorrow at 1pm.

Before going to sleep I plan in reading the chapter review of Bio and Ochem since those are my stronger areas. He also mentioned to write down all the equations of physics before starting. Any tips?
 
You are not alone my friend. Just spoke to someone who took it at 8 am and they told me that it was awful. Im taking it tomorrow at 1pm.

Before going to sleep I plan in reading the chapter review of Bio and Ochem since those are my stronger areas. He also mentioned to write down all the equations of physics before starting. Any tips?

Tips...hmmm..I can't give you academic tips since it's basically a final of the last four years of your life. If you don't know it today, you won't know it tomorrow.

Tips that I used:
1. Go to sleep... EARLY. I went to Walgreens, and used a sleep aid. I felt like I was hit with an elephant tranquilizer. This forced me to stop studying, since I couldn't put my material down.
2. Since I had tons of sleep I woke up super early, and made a breakfast like it was 1999. I overdosed on coffee, since caffeine makes me focus on passages better, or that could be totally in my head; either way it worked.
3. I blasted music ALL the way there. Thank the stars I was early because I got lost like twice.
4. I ran around the parking lot like I was a track star. It helped me focus since I thought more about catching my breath than getting my p=mv.
5. I brought TONS of snacks like I was a walking farmers market.
6. I took EVERY break that they gave me. During my breaks I stretched like I was an Olympic gymnast, and I forced myself to use the restroom on EVERY break. I'd rather walk down the hall than think, "ohhhhh crap...I have to pee I have to pee I have to peeee...oh B...I have to pee I have to peeeeeeee ohhh I'll pick A"
7. GET OFF OF FORUMS! They consume your life!
8. Good luck!
 
Physics = first passage was a verbal at a first glance ... overall it was NOT easy but at the same time NOT very hard. Its nothing like AAMC 11. I am not happy about it. Felt like I was short on time ..considering I finished my AAMC 11 PS 10mins before

Verbal = 5 easy passages ... 2 hard passages ... but verbal is a crapshoot ... you never know. you can walk out happily and you might be ****ed.

BS = Oh God ... Oh God .. every answer choice could be correct ... so ambiguous at times ... I don't know

After I walked out, my mind was numb. I have mixed feelings ..

Can't agree more. This test was HARD. My PS average in the AAMCs was a 13 and I'll be happy if break a 10 in this test. But then again, there might be a more generous curve as someone above mentioned.

BS was ridiculous. I got completely screwed by orgo and bio wasn't any better.
 
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Thank God I'm not the only one who feels this way! My two friends took it with me, and we left like WTF WAS THAT?! lol
 
One thing I would like to say to all those who are taking it tomorrow - BREATH - get your heart rate down. I know its really hard to do but do it. The less you freak out, the better you are gonna perform.

Also, avail your 10min break. Don't just keep on doing the sections. There is a reason why they gave you this break. I saw a girl in my center and she took the 5 hr test straight w/o breaks. Don't do it.

In the morning when you wake up, don't review anything. Get your reviewing done today. However, I would recommend reading some verbal passages in the morning before the test calmly but don't grade them. If you do bad then it would gonna mess with your confidence and it won't help. I just read few verbal passages in the morning to get in the reading flow. I felt it helped. Also, if you are not so good with verbal, do the easy passages (those you understand, like natural sciences or the ones that doesn't have big words) first ... it will take few seconds to figure out which one is easy or not.

Get 8 hr sleep, have a light breakfast (don't stuff yourself).

Get to the testing center before ... I was there at 7:15 and they allowed me to start the test at 7:30am ... If you start early, it means you will do verbal section earlier than others (those who start at 8:00am) and no one would be typing essays during your verbal section. I can't imagine doing verbal section when everyone else is typing ....

Don't drink energy drink too much. Water is the way to go. Just take a sip of Redbull after PS and writing sections followed by water.

A day before, you cannot review everything ofcourse but you should review all the important stuff that is being frequently tested. I would def review: Bio: Endocrine System, Genetics, review circulation formulas and their applications like cardiac output etc, Krebs cycle etc, Immune system Orgo: SN1, SN2, E1 E2, HNMR, Infra red nmr, Sterochem, Oxidation Reduction etc .... you know main stuff they frequently test.

Also, if you feel intimidated by a passage, try to answer those questions you can and move on. Dont get stuck with one questions. You can always come back to it. And get the ***** thoughts of voiding, out of your mind (unless you missed entire PS/BS passages) during the test. Give your best shot and in the end when you are done with your exam, then you would automatically have a feeling how you did and then decide to void or not. Don't think of voiding while doing the test because this prevents you from performing at best.

Don't bring any notes/flashcards/quick sheet with you to the testing center so that you can review in those 10mins before check in. Its just plain stupid and would only make you nervous. I saw people doing it but I wouldn't recommend it. Its more important to remain calm then to review few pesky formulas that wont even come up (or would be given in the passage).

Make sure you go to the bathroom in all your 10mins break even if you are not feeling it. I know it sounds silly but you don't want that feeling in your stomach half way during the test. It would greatly divide your attention and may cause embarrassment at times.

And girls, don't wear make up please. There was a girl and she was crying after PS and all her eyeliner was ****ed up ... she looked terrible lol

Good Luck
 
Yeah, I took all my breaks as well, I got the impression I was the only person in my test center doing so. I think the lady got tired of wanding me with the metal detector. W/e, it's always good to get some water and clear your head before the next round.
 
Yeah I peed every break I had. The girl thought I had bladder problems. But I didnt want to be the idiot that had to pee during the bio section..doing the bio section on a full bladder would not have been fun, lol.

Dont bother reviewing before the test either, waste of time.

Go into knowning you are in for some crazy passages, and know that you have the basics down and thats all the questions are really asking.
 
Those who prepared with combo materials but relying mostly on TBR practice and less on EK (101 stuff)...how do you feel they prepared you to solve these questions? Can you break it down by sections?
along the same lines...is TBR orgo overkill?
 
Those who prepared with combo materials but relying mostly on TBR practice and less on EK (101 stuff)...how do you feel they prepared you to solve these questions? Can you break it down by sections?
along the same lines...is TBR orgo overkill?

Sure, first pay me 1500 dollars. (Cheaper than a Kaplan class)

I'm being dead serious. You want me to do that I will but what you're asking is laughable for free.
 
Sure, first pay me 1500 dollars. (Cheaper than a Kaplan class)

I'm being dead serious. You want me to do that I will but what you're asking is laughable for free.

...?...i dont get it, pay you to get an opinion? I would not pay 1500 an MCAT test writer for their opinion...I think you misinterpreted what i asked...
 
...?...i dont get it, pay you to get an opinion? I would not pay 1500 an MCAT test writer for their opinion...I think you misinterpreted what i asked...

I know what you're saying you want us to break each section down. Places like Kaplan/TPR get paid thousands of dollars to do things like that.

Are you serious bro? You want someone to break down 38 sections?

Seriously, I'll do it if you pay me but what you're asking is laughable. This place is to help out. Not be your personal tutor.
 
maybe i didn't phrase my question correctly.
1-For all those who relied on TBR and EK (to a lesser extent), did you feel well prepared for your test after using their prep content/passages?
2- In general, which set of material you think yielded the best prep per section.

My own intuition tells me ek for VR, BS TBR and EK and PS TBR and TPR passages. Now, having said that, what is your opinion, that is, if its free.
 
maybe i didn't phrase my question correctly.
1-For all those who relied on TBR and EK (to a lesser extent), did you feel well prepared for your test after using their prep content/passages?
2- In general, which set of material you think yielded the best prep per section.

My own intuition tells me ek for VR, BS TBR and EK and PS TBR and TPR passages. Now, having said that, what is your opinion, that is, if its free.

Now that sounds much more reasonable.


I'll tell you after I get my MCat score back. I would tell you tomorrow..... But if I did absolutely terrible I shouldn't be giving out advice to anyone.
 
Now that sounds much more reasonable.


I'll tell you after I get my MCat score back. I would tell you tomorrow..... But if I did absolutely terrible I shouldn't be giving out advice to anyone.

thanks and good luck!
 
reading these last few comments brings me back painful memory of the past'

SOON it will be over guys hang on tight!
 
I thought the physical sciences on the 1/27 was quite hard. I ran out of time :( and biological sciences was good, but there were a couple of ambiguous questions. After the PS, i wanted to sit right there and cry. Oh gosh, it was terrible, but I took the break, went out and consoled myself and said, lets do better on the next one and it worked. I hope the PS has a generous curve.
 
im with the majority of you. i thought it was very difficult. verbal wasnt so bad maybe 2 passages i had difficult with. however the ps and bs where im strong in. i was like wth. i had no problems with practic tests 9,10,11 but this one...wow. i too wanted to cry after ps. i taught the whole times during verbal and bs i want to void which probably hurt me. but i didnt because i have my application completed and didnt want to waste the 1000$ ive already spent on them. i dont know if that was a wise choice to not void. Who knows...ill find out in 30days...
 
I FELT LIKE I WAS BEING PUNK'D WHEN I WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM.

I thought the PS and BS were really difficult and I was averaging 11-13 in the AAMCs. I'll be lucky if i get 7's!! Ready to quit.
 
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