June 15th Test Takers! What did you think?

[jade1013]

---

Members do not see this ad.

so what did everyone think about today's test? i thought bio was difficult, verbal was alright, and ps was a little heavy on the physics, which i don't like. i also thought it was harder than all the practice aamcs.

 

[medschool08]

So, I took the 8am test and I didn't think it was too hard until I started thinking about the physics and bio sections later on that day.

Physics was fairly OK except that it had only a few gen chem passages and most of passages were about pure physics. Verbal took forever to read but again the questions were understandable.

I honestly don't have a clue on how I did, but I just can't stop thinking about it. Just when you think you are done with MCAT, you have to wait for the nerve-wrecking results. And by the way, I will be on a vacation on July 18th when the scores come out, so I won't be able to see my scores till July 21st. Kinda sucks, but at least I will have something to take my mind off the results.

 

[mekol07]

Yes, you do need to show up early. I arrived at 1:00pm for a 1:30pm test, I didn't get started until about 1:40pm. They have to check everyone's ID, get your fingerprints, give you a locker, explain the rules, etc. My friend said to get their early as they let you start as you sign in, so I thought that a half hour would be good enough. Towards the end of the PS section, you start to hear people banging on their keyboards. I had to put on the headphones.

I was expecting the MCAT to be a lot worst. I actually was able to calm myself down pretty much before and during the whole test, although the week before my stomach was a mess and I was a nervous wreck. Compared to the practice tests that I took, both CBT and written, I was very happy with the exam. I have no idea what my score is and I'm just praying that I get what I'm aiming for. I don't want to retake it later this year, I want it to be over with.

My opinion of the MCAT on June 15th:

PS: Not bad, fairly straightforward.

VR: I didn't like this section, I felt most of the passages were difficult, hard to understand. A little bit worst then some of the practice ones.

WS: Awesome questions, made sense. Just have to know how to do the writing section, I used the TAS method.

BS: This was just OK. I wasn't upset or anything about it. It got me mad on some questions because they were really straightforward (the last page) but I learned that stuff over a year ago and forgot the answer. So I had to make an educated guess.


Now, we wait until July 18th! I don't know if I can look at my scores then. It might make me just as nervous as I was going into the exam. At least it's over, I feel so much better, less stressed. I can forget about it for a month without a problem!

 

[Tribeca]

I took the 8 am test. I also forgot to hit the "save" button on my first WS prompt. Another gal also forgot and asked the proctors. The proctors told her that it would be automatically saved. I hope so! Is this something we could call Thompson Prometric/AAMC with to double-check?

I thought the PS was fairly okay. There were two questions i didn't know how to figure out at all (the lightning and thunder discrete and the other one i forgot) so i just randomly guessed.

VR had loooong passages! the 2nd passage was tricky but all the others seemed fine.

BS - aah, i think this was harder than the AAMC practice ones. I didn't feel confident with the RNA editing passage and the nematode passage. Orgo was okay, the first passage threw me off a little at first. I hope I did okay on this section.

30 more days!!!!

 

[HristosKaran]

^^^^^

Thats the ricket's passage I was talking about...IT MADE NO SENSE!! I sat there and stared at that passage for 15 minutes before I even attempted the questions...The rest of the bio section was much easier though (except for a few tricky discretes.) It wasn't that I didn't understand the concepts of Electrophoresis (bio major), but the labeling they used was horrible..I'm hoping that was the "experimental passage" and won't be graded lol

 

[starlight04]

Blahhh, I've been avoiding SDN since 6/15 but time to face reality...

I slept 9 hrs the night before the test--more than i've slept for the past month-- and woke up feeling happy and confident. I walked into the test center, and started the test at around 1:25.

PS--this section for me was just ehh. I didn't think it was terrible, but got kind of caught up in a few questions. There was a LOT of calculation where you had to convert units and be good at mental math which took a lot of time. I was able to finish the test and go back to the calculations I had previously skipped and finished JUST in time. I usually have about 10 minutes to loook stuff over, but was not able to do that on this test. WATCH YOUR TIME.

VR--I honestly don't remember anything from this section. I don't remember it being overly terrible or overly easy. I was running out of time by the time I got to the bird passage, so I was freaking out. Otherwise though, I took an animal behavior class previously where I learned about bird song, so the material wasn't foreign to me, and I didnt' freak out as much.

WS--Whatever. I finished early on both essays, and just sat there and watched the timer tick down. I didnt want to end early b/c I wanted to have as much time as possible between sections.

BS--NORMALLY, this is where I shine. However, I think the fatigue of the test had finally set in at this point. I stalled a lot on the first goat passage (was really confused by it). Of course, after that was the STUPID CILIA PASSAGE. I stared at it for about 10 minutes, and was so frazzled afterwards that I just went on without answering about half the questions. That passage completely destroyed my confidence for the rest of the section. I feel like they tested all of my weaknesses...I was completely frazzled on the HNMR question b/c I couldnt even FIND the compound they wanted me to look at. I also screwed up in memorizing the IR #'s so i KNOW i missed that question (though it was super easy). Overall, I finished about 7 minutes early, and spent the rest of the time AGONIZING over the cilia transport passage. i got SO confused by all the stupid RANDOM names they assigned the proteins and couldn't get anything straight. I didn't have time to go back to any of the questions I marked, and really rushed through this section in general. I feel like I did horribly.....I completely ran down to the wire...

My practice scores were 34-39 on AAMC 3-9, with the bulk in the 35-36 range. Bio is normally my strongest section (~13) and I really think I would be lucky to get a 10 this time. I left the test wanting to climb the tallest building and jump.

Overall, I am really upset by how things turned out. I thought I was home free after the WS since Bio for me is usually a cakewalk, but one passage frazzled me out of all common sense.

Looks like a retake for me. I am going to sign up for either 7/24 or an early August test. *sigh*

I feel like NOTHING prepares you for the real MCAT. I felt like I was on my death bed the entire time. The walls are too white and sterile for comfort, my monitor was FLASHING which contributed to my ongoing headache, and the entire test center was just LOUD with the buzzing/humming of computers, which even the headphones didnt drown out. I think the fact that they staggered out start times made it worse, b/c people kept getting up and leaving while I was in the middle of a section, which was overall distracting.

Overall, I left the test feeling like I got run over by a truck. Score prediction: 30-32.

I had such high hopes for myself, especially after being so relaxed and confident before the test. Now, I literally have nightmares about the MCAT and can't get it out of my mind, despite the fact that I have been distracting myself with everything possible (shopping, alcohol, going out to eat, etc).

👎 Retake. sigh.🙁

 

[Phoenix.]

Blahhh, I've been avoiding SDN since 6/15 but time to face reality...

I slept 9 hrs the night before the test--more than i've slept for the past month-- and woke up feeling happy and confident. I walked into the test center, and started the test at around 1:25.

PS--this section for me was just ehh. I didn't think it was terrible, but got kind of caught up in a few questions. There was a LOT of calculation where you had to convert units and be good at mental math which took a lot of time. I was able to finish the test and go back to the calculations I had previously skipped and finished JUST in time. I usually have about 10 minutes to loook stuff over, but was not able to do that on this test. WATCH YOUR TIME.

VR--I honestly don't remember anything from this section. I don't remember it being overly terrible or overly easy. I was running out of time by the time I got to the bird passage, so I was freaking out. Otherwise though, I took an animal behavior class previously where I learned about bird song, so the material wasn't foreign to me, and I didnt' freak out as much.

WS--Whatever. I finished early on both essays, and just sat there and watched the timer tick down. I didnt want to end early b/c I wanted to have as much time as possible between sections.

BS--NORMALLY, this is where I shine. However, I think the fatigue of the test had finally set in at this point. I stalled a lot on the first goat passage (was really confused by it). Of course, after that was the STUPID CILIA PASSAGE. I stared at it for about 10 minutes, and was so frazzled afterwards that I just went on without answering about half the questions. That passage completely destroyed my confidence for the rest of the section. I feel like they tested all of my weaknesses...I was completely frazzled on the HNMR question b/c I couldnt even FIND the compound they wanted me to look at. I also screwed up in memorizing the IR #'s so i KNOW i missed that question (though it was super easy). Overall, I finished about 7 minutes early, and spent the rest of the time AGONIZING over the cilia transport passage. i got SO confused by all the stupid RANDOM names they assigned the proteins and couldn't get anything straight. I didn't have time to go back to any of the questions I marked, and really rushed through this section in general. I feel like I did horribly.....I completely ran down to the wire...

My practice scores were 34-39 on AAMC 3-9, with the bulk in the 35-36 range. Bio is normally my strongest section (~13) and I really think I would be lucky to get a 10 this time. I left the test wanting to climb the tallest building and jump.

Overall, I am really upset by how things turned out. I thought I was home free after the WS since Bio for me is usually a cakewalk, but one passage frazzled me out of all common sense.

Looks like a retake for me. I am going to sign up for either 7/24 or an early August test. *sigh*

I feel like NOTHING prepares you for the real MCAT. I felt like I was on my death bed the entire time. The walls are too white and sterile for comfort, my monitor was FLASHING which contributed to my ongoing headache, and the entire test center was just LOUD with the buzzing/humming of computers, which even the headphones didnt drown out. I think the fact that they staggered out start times made it worse, b/c people kept getting up and leaving while I was in the middle of a section, which was overall distracting.

Overall, I left the test feeling like I got run over by a truck. Score prediction: 30-32.

I had such high hopes for myself, especially after being so relaxed and confident before the test. Now, I literally have nightmares about the MCAT and can't get it out of my mind, despite the fact that I have been distracting myself with everything possible (shopping, alcohol, going out to eat, etc).

👎 Retake. sigh.🙁

Starlight: Don't stress it! You'll do fine. I think my test was similar to yours, but I was spared the cilia passage.

I felt good about VR and BS, but PS killed me. I signed up for the August 9th MCAT, and figure if I get at least a 9 on PS I'll just take my $100 refund and cancel it. If you're really worried, make the MCAT reservation, but with your practice scores, I think you'll be fine. Remember, there's a curve. It seems that everyone that had the cilia passage was destroyed by it. And you'll be curved with them, so don't fret. I've been waking up every morning realizing another simple PS calculation problem that I screwed up, because I should have left them until the end like you did, but I didn't, so I rushed through them and made careless errors. *shrug* We all had our demon MCAT to battle. They'll curve accordingly (I hope!). Good luck!

 

[starlight04]

Starlight: Don't stress it! You'll do fine. I think my test was similar to yours, but I was spared the cilia passage.

I felt good about VR and BS, but PS killed me. I signed up for the August 9th MCAT, and figure if I get at least a 9 on PS I'll just take my $100 refund and cancel it. If you're really worried, make the MCAT reservation, but with your practice scores, I think you'll be fine. Remember, there's a curve. It seems that everyone that had the cilia passage was destroyed by it. And you'll be curved with them, so don't fret. I've been waking up every morning realizing another simple PS calculation problem that I screwed up, because I should have left them until the end like you did, but I didn't, so I rushed through them and made careless errors. *shrug* We all had our demon MCAT to battle. They'll curve accordingly (I hope!). Good luck!

Aww you guys are so nice. 🙂 It's good to share this pain with after the torture is over. Overall though, I think even if the cilia passage was experimental or thrown out or whatever, I dont' think it would matter, because it was not so much the passage itself, but what it did to my mentality for the rest of the test. I was in a panic, knowing that I was running out of time and skipped a passage. I also spent about 20 min on the cilia passage in total, and didn't look over any of my other questions that I marked. Overall, I feel like I just got killlled in bio.

 

[ncb]

Does anyone know if there is an experimental passage in every section of the MCAT? If so I really hope the experimental was the Hubble Telescope passage.

 

[TrixR4Kids]

Aww you guys are so nice. 🙂 It's good to share this pain with after the torture is over. Overall though, I think even if the cilia passage was experimental or thrown out or whatever, I dont' think it would matter, because it was not so much the passage itself, but what it did to my mentality for the rest of the test. I was in a panic, knowing that I was running out of time and skipped a passage. I also spent about 20 min on the cilia passage in total, and didn't look over any of my other questions that I marked. Overall, I feel like I just got killlled in bio.

I had the same form as you and if this makes you feel better, I was performing on my practice tests in about the same range as you - never scored below a 33. And I felt like I got torn to bits by this MCAT....the goats passage was like "HUH?". LOL. My biggest problem was the PS...I jsut got so thrown off by all those minute calculatiosn with the wavelengths and all the little detailed discretes - oh and verbal was off the wall crazy.

But I really hope this makes you feel better because from what I gather, most people who had our form felt pretty rough about it. Just wait till the scores come back..you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Please do not discuss specific questions. Q has already posted a warning. Anyone else caught discussing will have to deal with the consequences. Multiple warnings have been issued! Thanks!

Mshheaddoc

 

[PT to MD]

In the middle of my BS section the power to all the computers went out and it took 10 min for them to reboot the sys. but everything was saved. Should I complain to AAMC and will I get anything out of it?

The air conditioning was out in our center that day (100 degrees here in Cali, probably 80+ in the center). I was a morning test, luckily, but the heat was still oppressive. Just such a bummer to have something like that happen when you've worked so hard to prepare and spent all this money.

Here's another question for everyone: The test with the 2 orgo sections first... did most of you get those answers right? I know my bio strengths have been carrying me on these tests, but I wasn't even confident with my bio stuff this time because the answers weren't as straightforward. Just wondering if those orgo questions were super easy for everyone else (they weren't for me.)

I feel like, from what I've read on this thread, the curve may be generous on this test. I'm really hoping. I agree with the post that mentions curling up in the fetal position if a retake is necessary. The thought of the five hours I spent sweating in that 80 degree room under pressure makes me sick.

Anyway, I'd love some feedback. Good luck to everyone!!!:🙂

 

[QofQuimica]

Q thanks for the kind words, I'm guessing you read my question in the mentors forum. Hoping for a good score, if so I have a chance to be as you so graciously put it "a star applicant". Best of luck to you Q ! 😎

Actually, I read your posts in the nontrad forum several months ago; you are definitely the kind of applicant who will stand out.

 

[fero]

I don't remember the cilia passage at all from the 1:30 test. I hope I didn't skip it :/ I had the goat one. Does everyone have the same passages?

 

[Phoenix.]

I don't remember the cilia passage at all from the 1:30 test. I hope I didn't skip it :/ I had the goat one. Does everyone have the same passages?

Oddly enough, it seems like for the VR and BS there was one passage that differed. For VR there seemed to be some people (like me) that got a robot passage, while others got one about humans and nature. All other six passages were identical. No idea if that means that those passages were "experimental," or if they just usually give almost identical exams with just a passage different per section.

For BS, some people got the cilia question (I didn't), while some got something else. Perhaps it's the goat (I thought they were sheep - eek) question (which I got too). You definitely didn't "miss" the cilia question (which I feared at first too when I was reading this thread).

To be honest, after hearing how rough that cilia passage was, I'm counting my lucky stars I didn't get it. How did you feel about the general difficulty level of the BS section on the afternoon MCAT? I thought it was pretty much all physiology for the bio, and thus not that bad. Orgo didn't seem as terrible as what I saw on some of the more recent practice CBTs, but perhaps I got more wrong than I thought. I was just very happy it wasn't like the BS section for the morning exam, which sounds like it had a lot more molecular bio and genetics, and was a lot harder.

For the record, after reading this forum for awhile, I've come to the conclusion that feeling good about how I did on VR and BS is a VERY bad sign. Usually people seem to do better on the sections they thought they bombed, and sometimes bomb the sections they thought were easy. Eeek.

 

[jochi1543]

For the record, after reading this forum for awhile, I've come to the conclusion that feeling good about how I did on VR and BS is a VERY bad sign. Usually people seem to do better on the sections they thought they bombed, and sometimes bomb the sections they thought were easy. Eeek.

Not necessarily...I thought my BS and VR were really hard, but PS was easy, and I got 12 on PS and 10 on BS and VR.

 

[Phoenix.]

Not necessarily...I thought my BS and VR were really hard, but PS was easy, and I got 12 on PS and 10 on BS and VR.

Thanks, jochi. I really need to stop analyzing how I think I did and just try to develop temporary amnesia until July 18th.

And congrats on your success. I'm downright envious of your peace of mind!

 

[Jimmy Paige]

Am I the only one randomly thinking of questions from the test all the time?? I hate it because I know the right answer now but I cant remember what I put...it kills me!!!

 

[Phoenix.]

Am I the only one randomly thinking of questions from the test all the time?? I hate it because I know the right answer now but I cant remember what I put...it kills me!!!

Worse than that is waking up every morning suddenly realizing what the correct answer is, and realizing that you put the wrong answer on the test. That's been happening to me every morning since the MCAT. I wish it would just stop. At this rate, I'll feel like I got a 3 in PS by the end of the week! When does this post-stress MCAT subconscious obsession end? Not until I've reviewed every damn question in my sleep??? I'm ready and willing to be over this thing, by apparently some part of my brain disagrees and refuses to move on. I'm sorry others are feeling the same, but it's nice to know I'm not the only MCAT-victim still thinking about the questions against my will.

 

[87138]

Just wanted to wish you guys all luck and hopefully you got the scores you wanted. I was in your exact situation almost a year ago (took the August 2006 MCAT, last paper-based) and thought I completely bombed the exam. I honestly thought I scored 5-7 points lower than my practice averages. Turned out I scored almost exactly what my mean practice test score was.

Am I the only one randomly thinking of questions from the test all the time?? I hate it because I know the right answer now but I cant remember what I put...it kills me!!!

I had to drive from Pittsburgh to Philly the day after the MCAT, and on the entire drive all I could think about was the questions I had answered that I thought were probably wrong.

 

[swifteagle43]

Worse than that is waking up every morning suddenly realizing what the correct answer is, and realizing that you put the wrong answer on the test. That's been happening to me every morning since the MCAT. I wish it would just stop. At this rate, I'll feel like I got a 3 in PS by the end of the week! When does this post-stress MCAT subconscious obsession end...

I know for a FACT that I got atleast 3 questions wrong....because when i got home it hit me like a ton of bricks....

 

[swifteagle43]

was one of the answers

 

[barto123]

PS- i dont recall specific questions, but it was generally not too difficult

VR- also not extremely difficult, passages were interesting, that last bird-call passage did not seem as bad as some people are making it out to be. only thing that was annoying was i could hear people slamming on their keyboards for their writing sections which distracted me a little, yeah the earphones couldnt even drown it out

BS- the sonic the hedgehog passage was killer. although sonic the hedgehog protein or transcription factor does actually exist, the passage was still extremely difficult.

 

[blah234]

Did anybody that had the cilia passage also have the rickets passage? Or were they different versions of the test?

 

[2ill2imitate]

Just when you feel like all the pressure,all the anxiety of the MCATs are going to die off after the test, you realize your future depends on the test you just took. You begin to rethink every question on the test, and you visualize the score report in your hand: PS-7 VR-5 BS-4.....dun dun dun

Here's my MCAT experience if anyone cares to know:

The night before the test, I was sweating bullets so I decide to watch part of the Spurs/Cavs NBA Finals game before I call it a night. So I'm laying down watching the game, and no lie, I have to pee like 8 times in a matter of like 30 minutes. I didn't even drink a lot of water or anything! So after that I turn off the TV and just lay down and try to think about something, anything non MCAT related. Fails Miserably. So around 12:30 I give up and shove a spoon of Nyquil down my throat and thank god I passed out in a matter of ten minutes.

Wake up and the urination continues....Just my luck
Eat some eggs for breakfast but feeling sick to my stomach so don't really eat a lunch (1:30 test) Packed a PB/J sandwich for the break though...

Anyway, driving to the MCAT, guess what....have to pee again, and all the traffic to the center isn't helping...

Get to the center and after taking care of my buisness, I try to calm myself down while waiting to be checked in. There were literally like 5 other MCATers at my center...small place.


ANYWAYYYYY, thank god my bladder was normal during the actual test, that little scare almost cost me 6 monthes of studying.....

 

[barto123]

i believe i had both the cilia/sonic the hedgehog passage and the rickets passage.

also does anyone recall having the teacher vs. student passage about molarity or something? that one was kinda confusing, no?

 

[2ill2imitate]

Haha as for the test itself:


PS-Not too bad, I felt like it was almost similar in difficulty to the AAMCs, although I felt this one was a lot more calculation intensive then most of the practice tests. I hope I got my average in PS, which was about a 9-10 on the practice tests. But who knows, I took a few educated guesses here and there and some calculations I didn't get to finish. Overall, I thought the section was fair.

VR-Surprisingly, I controlled my nervousness, and just pounded away passage by passage. Initially, the first 2 passages I think I had more trouble with because I was just like OMG VR, the timing, OMG...but once I got adjusted the rest of the passages weren't too bad, maybe because I really concentrated. I had about 10 minutes left when I was done surprisingly, so I checked over my work. I hated that stupid ass bird passage, and some of the questions on the robot one too!Overall, I have a good feeling about VR, but I know that usually indicates a lower score, so I'm worried maybe I fell for the infamous verbal traps. My Practice VR were all over the place, 7-11, with an average of about 9. I'm praying that my real MCAT falls towards the better half of my practice tests.



WS-I bull****ed them just like everyone else...next



BS-Biology is supposed to be my forte, but this test raped me all the way up into my transverse colon. WOW, the goat passage was ridiculous, and then so many stupid ass microbiology passages. I know all the biology concepts inside and out, but this test asked questions in the weirdest ways and it left you feeling like more than one answer could be right. That fact was rather frustrating because the AAMC's made it really easy to pick out the right answer. I took so many educated guesses in this section it's not even funny...I narrowed down a lot of them to 2 answer choices and then went with my gut. I HOPE, and I PRAY, that I did not bomb this section. As for Orgo, I SUCK at Orgo, but overall the Orgo on this test was pretty simple and straight forward. 85% of the test was complex Biology though, and thats why I'm freaking out.

Did anyone else think the BIOLOGY was ridiculous?? 😱

 

[HristosKaran]

^^^

I also felt like the BS was very ambiguous in its questions and answer choices...and some of the orgo got me a little, I had an orgo passage on different types of carbonyl groups, and it was a little...odd because the answer choices didn't seem to add up on a few, I almost felt that AAMC may have put up only wrong answer choices..

Was I the only one that DIDN'T get a great night sleep the night before? I went to bed 10+ hours before I had to get up for the test, and I probably slept for 3-4 hours of it. I didn't want to take anything to help me sleep because it usually leaves me very "foggy" the next day and I can't concentrate as well. With the adrenaline and all, I wasn't tired during the test, but about 2-3 hours after the test, I was about to pass out. That is until my friends started buying me shots

 

[student11884]

Did anyone else think the BIOLOGY was ridiculous?? 😱

Absolutely! The orgo--some of it was straight forward, but some of it wasn't at all! I'm sure people who took my version of the test know what I'm talking about. The goat passage and cilia passage freaked me out in general.

 

[swifteagle43]

If you're really worried, make the MCAT reservation, but with your practice scores, I think you'll be fine. Remember, there's a curve. It seems that everyone that had the cilia passage was destroyed by it.

i didn't think the cilia passage was that bad to be honest. As for the cilia passage, it wasnt that hard if u sat for a second and thought about things.

But I may have been using the wrong background information to judge stuff...

 

[153606]

I had the same form as you did, student but i can't recall the sonic the hedgehog passage. I sure hope i didn't skip one by accident....

Same here! I don't remember a sonic the hedgehog problem in my form, either. But everything else you mentioned was in my form. I'm sure (hope) we didn't skip it, since it should be highly unlikely that we would both skip that by mistake. At least I like to think so... Anyone else?

 

[swifteagle43]

Same here! I don't remember a sonic the hedgehog problem in my form, either. But everything else you mentioned was in my form. I'm sure (hope) we didn't skip it, since it should be highly unlikely that we would both skip that by mistake. At least I like to think so... Anyone else?

multiple versions of the exam....don't sweat it

 

[swifteagle43]

Absolutely! The orgo--some of it was straight forward, but some of it wasn't at all! I'm sure people who took my version of the test know what I'm talking about. The goat passage and cilia passage freaked me out in general.

HANDS DOWN THE HARDEST PASSAGE WAS THE CDCl3 ORGO PASSAGE!

 

[artaxerxes]

Sweat glands? goats? cilia? was this the 1:30pm test?

mine was nothing like these......did I even take the MCAT? (my piece of paper said I did)

Felt the science were pretty straight forward, 1 or 2 tricky questions each (something about mouse and angiotensin anyone?)
Verbal was a little harder, but I had been awake for 20+ hours at the time, which could have contributed to that.
WS was a mess, as expected.

btw, is the curve calculated on only the time section or the whole day? so are 8am and 1pm tests curved seperately?

 

[take the shot]

Overall, I didn't think this was the hardest MCAT I ever encountered (as compared to the online MCAT cbt tests), but still don't have a clue how I did. I am so glad to hear others say that they feel they could range anywhere from 6-15 per section! It baffles me that some people have said they aced bio. I have a degree in micro/chem minor and I did my best at deducing what they were getting at but still not sure it's what they wanted. No question, the black and white questions (eg/hormones and how they impact physiologically) are straight-forward, you either got them or you didn't. But when you have questions like Sonic Hedgehog/cilia or the goat questions I don't see how you could be sure you selected the answer which had the subtle connection that the MCAT writers were looking for. This was such a tough day intellectually/emotionally/physically and I really hope I don't have to repeat it in 1-2 mos.
I was fortunate to have a very quiet testing center with nice, sympathetic proctors. Even though I got there 45 minutes early I was still the last one of my group of 10; thus, I was also subjected to the loud typing during VR....I know, however, they also heard me loudly hitting the keys during their bio section! For me, that would have even been worse. I even almost missed the last question on the test which was Hardy-Weinberg since I was so worn out by the end and almost didn't get the cursor to the bottom...thank God!
Like everyone, I also wake up each morning ruminating about questions I think I missed. This is going to be a very long month but I will be sick to my stomach when I get to check my answers.

 

[mshheaddoc]

WARNING: GUYS!! SERIOUSLY!!!!

Again, another round of deletions have taken place. This is your final warning. If anyone else discusses any questions I am postholding for a week. We are monitoring this thread closely, please adhere to forum guidelines! Thanks!

 

[Upremed]

I took the 1:30 exam

i felt the PS physics was the toughest out of all of them the verbal and BS were both fine.

did anyone feel the same

 

[HristosKaran]

Did anyone else feel like they didn't really need the passages for a majority of the questions? I felt like this MCAT was all discretes with a passage question thrown in here and there...well except for that ricket's passage lol

I took the 1:30 exam

 

[swifteagle43]

Did anyone else feel like they didn't really need the passages for a majority of the questions? I felt like this MCAT was all discretes with a passage question thrown in here and there...well except for that ricket's passage lol

I took the 1:30 exam

agreed

 

[TrixR4Kids]

Did anyone else feel like they didn't really need the passages for a majority of the questions? I felt like this MCAT was all discretes with a passage question thrown in here and there...well except for that ricket's passage lol

I took the 1:30 exam

yeah, definitely with the PS...not so much the BS for me though...in fact, i felt like this CBT was kinda all passaged based versus the practice ones online that were more like you described.

 

[ACD]

First post.

Physical: Very heavy on the calculations. Not what I was expecting due to TPR sending out an email on the May admin. that specifically mentioned the lack of calculations. I am simply worried that I screwed up a unit conversion along the way. Some of the discretes were a tad absurd. I thought it was interesting that there was an Orgo passage in the Phys.

Verbal: V. weird. I usually finished with a few minutes to spare on my practices, but my friend told me the night before that there was 7 passages--I thought there were only 6. Thus I rushed through it and finished with 15 minutes to go. Went back and changed more than a few, especially the Plato and American economy. Intro to Philosophy came in crucially with Plato and Descartes showing up in the Verbal. Bird songs was almost a Bio passage. I think most of the answers were directly in the passage but who really knows?

Bio: Wow! While not as hard as the morning one (that sounded brutal) I thought the Bio was peculiar, not at all similar to AAMC practice passages. Once I saw the poor goats, I knew I was in the major leagues. SonicHH was awesome due to my having just finished molec cell bio. My teacher loved biosignaling, so I had already heard of the protein. That passage had everything you needed to know except one had really strange wording.

Overall: I thought it was vastly different than practice exams, but that may have due to the heat of the moment. Also, I highly recommend reading online websites (e.g. the New Yorker) because I was able to read much faster off my screen than off paper.

P.S. Make sure that the Check Incomplete button is not present on your review screen. I found a question I had accidentally skipped while going over my PS, and I then forgot to use that button so I may have skipped some. If the Check Incomplete button isn't there, it means you haven't skipped any. I figured this out during Verbal, and it nagged me the rest of the test.

 

[Ihateverbal]

I didnt take the MCAT, I took it a year ago but I was reading what you guys wrote...I was planning on taking the MCAT JUne 15 but was pulled off the waitlist at a school.

Sonic the Hedgehog (what a pleasant surprise) is a transcription factor protein involved in developmental biology stuff...from what I remember...

its very molecular bio/cell bio ish

I would have loved that passage if I took the MCAT. Darn!

 

[kstreet]

I didnt take the MCAT, I took it a year ago but I was reading what you guys wrote...I was planning on taking the MCAT JUne 15 but was pulled off the waitlist at a school.

Sonic the Hedgehog (what a pleasant surprise) is a transcription factor protein involved in developmental biology stuff...from what I remember...

its very molecular bio/cell bio ish

I would have loved that passage if I took the MCAT. Darn!

I studied the SHH signaling pathway in embryology as well. In the context of this passage, it was definitely worded in a somewhat confusing manner. I don't think you would've liked it.

 

[swifteagle43]

I studied the SHH signaling pathway in embryology as well. In the context of this passage, it was definitely worded in a somewhat confusing manner. I don't think you would've liked it.

its all in the passage- one way or the other...it is in there...takes longer for some who have not seen it but it is there.....

 

[swifteagle43]

Physical: Very heavy on the calculations. Not what I was expecting due to TPR sending out an email on the May admin. that specifically mentioned the lack of calculations. I am simply worried that I screwed up a unit conversion along the way. Some of the discretes were a tad absurd. I thought it was interesting that there was an Orgo passage in the Phys.

I agree on the Orgo passage. Was quite distracted/shocked by it, to be honest. Was not expecting it there and didn't like it to be there....

AS for the calculations, there are short cuts that you can pickup using the EK books. Unit conversion wasnt on it from what I remember(but i am foggy and probably got it wrong).

Verbal: V. weird. I usually finished with a few minutes to spare on my practices, but my friend told me the night before that there was 7 passages--I thought there were only 6. Thus I rushed through it and finished with 15 minutes to go. Went back and changed more than a few, especially the Plato and American economy. Intro to Philosophy came in crucially with Plato and Descartes showing up in the Verbal. Bird songs was almost a Bio passage. I think most of the answers were directly in the passage but who really knows?

I thought there were 7 passages too for some reason. Oh well. A better strategy is to pace using the # of questions in proportion. At the half way point you should aim to be done with more than 1/2 the questions.

As for previous knowledge, I hope you didn't bring in outside knowledge. I am sure you did well. I love philosophy as well and it was a difficult passage.

Bio: Wow! While not as hard as the morning one (that sounded brutal) I thought the Bio was peculiar, not at all similar to AAMC practice passages. Once I saw the poor goats, I knew I was in the major leagues. SonicHH was awesome due to my having just finished molec cell bio. My teacher loved biosignaling, so I had already heard of the protein. That passage had everything you needed to know except one had really strange wording.

I didn't get the goat passage but the cilia passage was brutal as well. Was sonic the cilia one? Anyway, I am glad you had a good basis. Some of the questions were weird, DEFINATELY! But if one used reason, it wasnt too hard...

Overall: I thought it was vastly different than practice exams, but that may have due to the heat of the moment. I hate all of you who score better than me. Also, I highly recommend reading online websites (e.g. the New Yorker) because I was able to read much faster off my screen than off paper.

P.S. Make sure that the Check Incomplete button is not present on your review screen. I found a question I had accidentally skipped while going over my PS, and I then forgot to use that button so I may have skipped some. If the Check Incomplete button isn't there, it means you haven't skipped any. I figured this out during Verbal, and it nagged me the rest of the test.

Hey, my biggest fear is that I left a question blank...that would suck...anyway- I would agree on the hating people that score higher than us comment too. As for reading speed, it also helps to read AP Newswire or BBC. - I hope you did well

 

[swifteagle43]

Just when you feel like all the pressure,all the anxiety of the MCATs are going to die off after the test, you realize your future depends on the test you just took. You begin to rethink every question on the test, and you visualize the score report in your hand: PS-7 VR-5 BS-4.....dun dun dun

Here's my MCAT experience if anyone cares to know:

The night before the test, I was sweating bullets so I decide to watch part of the Spurs/Cavs NBA Finals game before I call it a night. So I'm laying down watching the game, and no lie, I have to pee like 8 times in a matter of like 30 minutes. I didn't even drink a lot of water or anything! So after that I turn off the TV and just lay down and try to think about something, anything non MCAT related. Fails Miserably. So around 12:30 I give up and shove a spoon of Nyquil down my throat and thank god I passed out in a matter of ten minutes.

Wake up and the urination continues....Just my luck
Eat some eggs for breakfast but feeling sick to my stomach so don't really eat a lunch (1:30 test) Packed a PB/J sandwich for the break though...

Anyway, driving to the MCAT, guess what....have to pee again, and all the traffic to the center isn't helping...

Get to the center and after taking care of my buisness, I try to calm myself down while waiting to be checked in. There were literally like 5 other MCATers at my center...small place.


ANYWAYYYYY, thank god my bladder was normal during the actual test, that little scare almost cost me 6 monthes of studying.....

 

[swifteagle43]

there are 2 i know i got wrong on BS, and it's driving me crazy. not to say that i didn't get, more, i just know about those two. i felt like there was some really obscure material on there.

sigh.

Dude, you and me BOTH! I know I got 1 wrong on the Physical Science and 1 Wrong on the Biological Science. On verbal, i don't know how the swinging went- the bird passage was a mix for me. I was running out of time at the end...

 

[splashpea]

hi guys


are the 8am and 1 30pm test going to be curved seperately? i would assume so since we had diff forms and all...

thanks!

 

[saintsfan]

I posted this in the bbefore june 15 forum.

I felt as if the test was a complete opposite as to whatI had studied. I had done around 10 practice tests and was only missing 4-5 the entire section! One of my staff physicians told me if they did flip it as much as I said compared to how tests had been in the past, then they will allot a major curve. He said that happened on his oral boards and has happened on other tests. I am about to restudy for the September exam. ARGH!!!

I was also told to quit fussing aobut not making at least a 30 the first time. The other docs were telling me that was a rarity (that and if I make a 40 they will personally pay for my medical education)

 

[Phoenix.]

hi guys


are the 8am and 1 30pm test going to be curved seperately? i would assume so since we had diff forms and all...

thanks!

I'm sure they'll be curved differently. My only curiosity is what they do with those of us who had 6/7 passages per section in common. Do we just get curved with those who had all the same 7 passages we did? Or was that seventh passage that was different an "experimental?" I doubt a whole passage is experimental, but it does seem odd 6/7 passages would be the same.

 

[phizz]

I'm kinda confused...is the goat and the sweat gland passage one and the same?