June 15th

[swifteagle43]

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Oh my god....it is comming!

RUN!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[starlight04]

ahh my first SDN post! Taking June 15th as well...oh boy.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't start seriously studying until about a week and a half ago after finals. I half-heartedly took the kaplan class (did some of the reading, none of the hw, did 2 FL's...) and just didn't have time to take it seriously b/c of classes and such.

Anyway, I took a Kaplan FL yesterday and AAMC 3 today....yeah....

If AAMC 3 is the easiest one, then I'm going to have to really step up my game in the next 2 weeks. I didn't find the PS to be any easier than Kaplans...and I didn't do as well as Kaplans, etc etc.

The countdown is on. We are the next batch of kids taking the MCAT now that 5/31 is over! Good luck!

 

[Phoenix.]

I'm celebrating right now. I FINALLY got my PS score to move up from an 8. NEVER thought it would happen. Here's my practice scores to date:

P/B/VR
7 8 11 26 3R 1/25
8 10 12 30 4 2/12
8 11 9 28 5 3/06
8 9 10 27 7 5/12
10 9 11 30 6 5/31

The odd thing is that I studied 50 hours of PS in one week before taking MCAT 7, and only got an 8 in PS. Since then I've ONLY studied biology, and oddly my PS just went up to a 10 and BS didn't budge from a 9. I guess whatever I concentrate on doesn't improve! Either my brain needs time to process, or this is just the sheer luck of what topics they test. Can't believe I only got one wrong of the Chem problems. On my last test on 5/12 I barely got any Chem problems right!!!

Guess it's back to studying fluids, waves, electromag, optics and genetics. Hrm. Oh, and for those of you who are feeling very confident about VR (like me), it might be a good idea to time yourself per passage. I got a little lax and actually spent too much time leisurely re-reading two passages on MCAT 6 and (for the first time) ran out of time on the last passage! Of course, it was a natural science passage, which I've always gotten 100% right, but this time I got two wrong on it because I had to guess. Wouldn't want that to happen on the real thing, so from now on I'll make sure my practice passages are only 8 minutes a piece (I haven't been timing myself at all while practicing).

Next week I'll take MCAT 8, then 10, and finish with 9. I'm doing 8 and 10 first since I heard they were the harder of the last three, and I'd like the last practice MCAT test I take not to be too discouraging right before the real thing.

Based on the responses from the test today, I wish I'd taken it today! I'd kill for a test with not as many PS calculations and only a little orgo. Argh. I fear that may mean trouble for us next!

Luck to the rest of you who are fighting to break a 30 on a practice MCAT!

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

ahh my first SDN post! Taking June 15th as well...oh boy.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't start seriously studying until about a week and a half ago after finals. I half-heartedly took the kaplan class (did some of the reading, none of the hw, did 2 FL's...) and just didn't have time to take it seriously b/c of classes and such.

Anyway, I took a Kaplan FL yesterday and AAMC 3 today....yeah....

If AAMC 3 is the easiest one, then I'm going to have to really step up my game in the next 2 weeks. I didn't find the PS to be any easier than Kaplans...and I didn't do as well as Kaplans, etc etc.

The countdown is on. We are the next batch of kids taking the MCAT now that 5/31 is over! Good luck!

i didn't do too good on aamc 3 either, but i did a lot better on aamc 8, i'm going out of order

also the kaplan ones- KFL2 was really hard, and then i improved A LOT on KFL 3... so i dunno!

I wish someone could like post which were the hardest/easiest for kaplan and aamc also.... or is it somewhere already...

 

[AWhitehair]

i didn't do too good on aamc 3 either, but i did a lot better on aamc 8, i'm going out of order

also the kaplan ones- KFL2 was really hard, and then i improved A LOT on KFL 3... so i dunno!

I wish someone could like post which were the hardest/easiest for kaplan and aamc also.... or is it somewhere already...

I am not sure if someone has posted one for the CBT's, but if you do a search you will find it for the old AAMC exams which contain the same info.

 

[starlight04]

we're such a lifeless bunch for being the next batch of MCATers!

Blahh, I already feel burnt out. I tried doing AAMC 4 today, but just gave up after PS, b/c I couldn't concentrate. I watched TV instead...

What are all of your study plans for the next 2 weeks? I'm going to take as many FL's as possible and hope for the best. Scores so far:

Kaplan Diag (Late Jan): 10PS(?? fluke)/8VR/8BS = 26
Kaplan FL 1 (Late Feb): 8PS/10VR/11BS = 29
Kaplan FL 2 (Mid March): 10PS/8VR/12BS = 30

-----2 month huge break where i did nothing except content review here or there----

then i did about a week and a half of hardcore content review after finals and these full lengths:

Kaplan FL 3 (tuesday): 12PS/11VR/13BS = 36
AAMC 3 (yesterday): 10PS/12VR/13BS = 35
AAMC 4 (today): 11PS (and then I stopped...)


I'm really worried b/c AAMC 3 is supposed to be the easiest, and I didn't find it all that easy. After reviewing my test, I notice about 1/2 of the questions i miss are stupid mistakes or not reading the passage carefully. Really annoying, but a problem of mine since the SAT days. Too bad a few stupid mistakes are the difference between a 9 and a 12.

Plan for next two weeks:
AAMC 4-10 and 2 more Kaplan FL's. I usually take them around noon, go to the gym, eat dinner, and come back at night and review.

I don't know whether I should still do content review. I notice most of the questions I miss aren't content related (just not making connections between concepts, etc), but I'm afraid if I stop, I'll end up forgetting important stuff for the test.

I'm kind of nervous now that 5/31 came back and reported the disaster.... I wish I started really cracking down on studying earlier. Now I just have to hope I don't burn out. 😱

 

[Renae24]

Hey everyone. I'm scheduled for the June 15 as well.... this has probably been asked to death but I need some advice!

I have taken practice tests 3-7 and am stuck on ~25. I'm freaking out. I have studied but my score is just not improving. Do you guys suggest that I should reschedule? I don't know if it is possible to score at least 3 points higher on the real thing... thanks in advance

 

[quintessence]

What is your PS/VS/BS breakdown, and what exactly are you struggling with...concepts or how to answer the mcat-type questions?

 

[Renae24]

On the practice tests I have taken so far....
PS: 7-9
BS: 8-9
VR: 6-9

When I review the questions I know the concept the majority of the time, just did not think to approach the problem in that way. What to do? I really want to apply this year and early to give me the best chance, but don't want to take it if I'm not going to score at LEAST a 27!! 😕

 

[eddie13231]

Hey everyone. I'm scheduled for the June 15 as well.... this has probably been asked to death but I need some advice!

I have taken practice tests 3-7 and am stuck on ~25. I'm freaking out. I have studied but my score is just not improving. Do you guys suggest that I should reschedule? I don't know if it is possible to score at least 3 points higher on the real thing... thanks in advance

I would just focus on material if you are fine with the test format. Taking 5 practice tests will determine whether you need more practice extracting info from passages.

Are you analyzing which questions you are missing? If you don't understand a concept, force yourself to study it. This may even require breaking out the old physics book and doing some problems! Its quality over quanity I believe. You can take 20 tests but in the end its about focusing on your weaknesses and making them your strengths!

 

[eltor07]

Yea gotta love EK! I think it's the best MCAT prep out there to be honest. The Kaplan and EK practice exams are a complete waste of time. Kaplan's tests don't reflect the actual MCAT at all in terms of difficulty or content. EK exams have too many mistakes. PR exams are ok as diagnostics before you start studying. As I said before, the only practice exams that are really worth your time are the AAMC exams.

I'm getting the 101 Verbal passages from EK on monday because I'm not liking the kaplan ones. What do you mean by mistakes?

 

[quintessence]

I'm getting the 101 Verbal passages from EK on monday because I'm not liking the kaplan ones. What do you mean by mistakes?

Have you done the free AAMC3 online - it gives you a diagnostic report that breaks your strengths and weaknesses down, topic by topic. See which areas you are weak in, and work on those for each section. Another thing that might help is if you actually sit down with one of the practice tests, and work through it like an open book exam. This way you can figure out whether you are having problems with the material or just the test format.

It may also be that you are having difficulty applying what you know to the passages on the tests. Spend a day and go back through the tests that you have already done, and see if you are just making test-taking mistakes - you may find that there is a pattern to the type of questions that you are missing. Then, the only way to improve your score is to do more practice exams, so that you can work on interpreting the passages and questions more efficiently.

I've studied from EK, Kaplan and PR and I find that EK is the best test prep by far. It explains the concepts to you, as you need to know them for the MCAT and explicitly states what you do and don't need to focus on, in the text. 101 verbal passages is the best verbal review, and if you are finding that you are conceptually weak for PS or BS then get the 1001 questions in topic X series. For the June 15th test, I've been going through both the Kaplan and the EK prep books for Physics, GChem and Bio, to make sure I don't miss out on anything. EK alone is sufficient for O-Chem.

 

[quintessence]

I just realized that you said above that you have worked through exams 3-7. From my experience, CBT 7 - 10 are a much better reflection than the earlier tests of what your score will be like during the real exam.

 

[swifteagle43]

my verbal is fluctuating between an 8 and a 11

 

[jade1013]

i find that it's really helping to review kaplan books for organic and bio and exam krackers for physics and chem. i don't know what i should be doing at this point though. should i be reviewing more material over again? or should i be doing practice passages?

 

[RollSkins]

Well I took AAMC 7 today and I have to say I was a little disappointed. My score dropped 3 points from AAMC 6 (10PS 11VR 12BS). My overall score was a 33 and the breakdown was 10PS 9VR 11 BS. The worst part was that my verbal dropped 2 points. I really think that it was mostly because I was distracted and not really paying that much attention to the passages. I haven't scored below a 10 in verbal on any of the practice tests. So hopefully thats all it was. I did think that the passages were a little harder than the others though. On a good note though my PS stayed at a 10. I was really struggling to break a 10 and so I am pretty happy that it stayed there. Overall I think I could have done at least one or two points better I just wasn't as focused as I normally am. Well at least thats my justificaiton.

Well anyway only a week of hard studying left for all of us June 15ers. Whats your schedule for next week? Heres mine

Sunday: go over AAMC 7 and review weak areas. Focus on studying those areas.
Monday: AAMC 8, review it in the evening and then study those.
Tuesday: Review weak areas
Wednesday: AAMC 9
Thursday: Review weak areas
Friday: AAMC 10 (I might take it on sunday though)

Most of my reviewing will be G-Chem and O-chem and some physics in the EK books and problems in the 1001 books. I feaking hate electric circuts and ELECTROMAGENTISIM. Hopefully I am right about my drop in verbal score just being a lack of concentration if not I will do some from the 101 passages.

 

[RollSkins]

Oops I forgot to ask in my previous post. What do you think is the last day to take a practice test before the real thing? I was thinking either Sunday or Monday.

 

[Jatt]

I am taking practice test right now and I have to be honest, it's got me a little discouraged. I got a 26 on my Kaplan diagnostic and since have scored a 33 on KP-FL #6 and a 32 on AAMC #5, but recently I have taken KP-FL #1(27) and AAMC #4(29) and for some reason my scores dropped( I have taken 7 practice tests total all between 27-33). With the MCAT 2 weeks away I feel like I should be hitting my stride but instead I am going the other direction. My PS has been consistently lower than the others so I have been focusing on it for the last week or so only to see my scores in VR and BS drop from consistent 11+ to 9-10's.

I guess I'm just not sure what to do at this point with 14 days to go I wonder if I should just commit to keeping my strong scores strong and just accept that my PS will be my lowest score. Any insights?

here are my breakdowns

PS/VR/BS

Kaplan FL's

D - 7/10/9 - 26

#1 - 7/9/11 - 27

#6 - 9/13/11 - 33

AAMC

#3 - 7/10/10 - 27

#4 - 9/11/9 - 29

#5 - 8/11/12 - 31

#7 - 9/10/10 - 29

 

[starlight04]

i find that it's really helping to review kaplan books for organic and bio and exam krackers for physics and chem. i don't know what i should be doing at this point though. should i be reviewing more material over again? or should i be doing practice passages?

Thats really funny, because I have the exact OPPOSITE preferences. I looooove EK for Bio & Orgo, because they don't give all the extraneous and unnecessary information of Kaplan that is just a waste and pain to memorize. However, the EK Chem & Physics books are pretty much gibberish to me. I can only really understand them after reading through the Kaplan stuff once + I did all of Nova Physics. I feel like it just doesn't flow well and their info is just so random.


I'm facing the same thing with burnout. I tried taking a FL a day, and today (being the 3rd day), i just couldn't handle it anymore. I think I will have to change my strategy to finishing AAMC 4R, then only doing 7-10.

Ahhhh, I'm getting so nervous. I really dont' know if I can handle studying for and retaking this test again. *crosses fingers*

P.S. I think it's more important now to keep doing practice passages. As you do them, you will have an idea of what your weaknesses are, and then take some time to review those things. Don't bother to try going through all your books again though at this point.

 

[quintessence]

I still have to do AAMC4-10...I'm starting tommorow and doing one every other day or so, which means I will be doing the last practice test the Wednesday before the real thing :S I'm starting to get worried...

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

I still have to do AAMC4-10...I'm starting tommorow and doing one every other day or so, which means I will be doing the last practice test the Wednesday before the real thing :S I'm starting to get worried...

DUDE, me too!! Let's do them together, kay??? 😍

What time are you waking up/ starting ? I think I will try to get up... well it's 1am now.. so like 11am-ish.... then I'll shower and change and put on make-up (I can't go out without it), and then maybe go to the library or something hopefully it's open, and I'll start the test at like 1pm earliest. Good luck!! I think i'll probably go out of order and do like test 7.

 

[quintessence]

LOL I was going to do almost the exact same thing....finish reviewing bio tonight and tommorow morning and then start test 7 by 1 or 2pm...good luck to you too! I'll let you know how it went😛

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

Dude I was reviewing bio tonight OMG OMG WERE LIEK TWINSS!!!
Well, I stopped reviewing when Seinfeld started.... yeah I really suck.

 

[quintessence]

hahaha you have no idea HOW much better that makes me feel...I thought the rest of you were done reviewing ages ago!

 

[SaLeeNS7TT]

I'll be joining in the fun as well this coming MCAT. Guess we should all prepare for the worst judging from the last 2 MCATs. ESP the May 31st one lol! Kinda makes me wonder about practice tests but what more is there to practice with!??

 

[eddie13231]

I am taking practice test right now and I have to be honest, it's got me a little discouraged. I got a 26 on my Kaplan diagnostic and since have scored a 33 on KP-FL #6 and a 32 on AAMC #5, but recently I have taken KP-FL #1(27) and AAMC #4(29) and for some reason my scores dropped( I have taken 7 practice tests total all between 27-33). With the MCAT 2 weeks away I feel like I should be hitting my stride but instead I am going the other direction. My PS has been consistently lower than the others so I have been focusing on it for the last week or so only to see my scores in VR and BS drop from consistent 11+ to 9-10's.

I guess I'm just not sure what to do at this point with 14 days to go I wonder if I should just commit to keeping my strong scores strong and just accept that my PS will be my lowest score. Any insights?

here are my breakdowns

PS/VR/BS

Kaplan FL's

D - 7/10/9 - 26

#1 - 7/9/11 - 27

#6 - 9/13/11 - 33

AAMC

#3 - 7/10/10 - 27

#4 - 9/11/9 - 29

#5 - 8/11/12 - 31

#7 - 9/10/10 - 29

For some reason I did really crappy on AAMC 7 PS. I was averaging an 11 before I took it and got a 9 on the CBT-7 PS even though I was only 1 question from a 10. It was the earthquake passage that screwed me up (I missed all of them) because I had never encountered a PS passage like that (I thought it was almost a VR-like passage). It threw me off totally and because I got distracted with that passage it made me screw up an easy discrete question.

As for everyone else freaking out because of the May 31st test, don't. It is well known that everyone feels like they bombed the real thing because it is always harder than practice tests. Then people come back and are like "Wow I got a 35 I can't believe it I thought I bombed it". Just make sure you are really just confident on test day and don't let the pressure get to you.

I saw a quote on here the other day I really liked and use in my own studying. "Treat the practice exams like the real thing, and the real thing like a practice exam."

 

[Tribeca]

DUDE, me too!! Let's do them together, kay??? 😍

What time are you waking up/ starting ? I think I will try to get up... well it's 1am now.. so like 11am-ish.... then I'll shower and change and put on make-up (I can't go out without it), and then maybe go to the library or something hopefully it's open, and I'll start the test at like 1pm earliest. Good luck!! I think i'll probably go out of order and do like test 7.

Oooh, ooh, count me in! I just finished reviewing bio and finishing up on chem today. I'll be doing what's left of AAMC 3 on Sunday (I did PS on Memorial day then paused it to spend time with family from out of town) then doing AAMC 4-10 this Monday til Wed before the exam. Are you guys still planning on doing a practice test everyday?

I'm also planning on doing the test starting 1:30 pm since I have class that ends at 12:50 pm and I work from 7:30 - 11:30 am. The problem is, I'm registered for the 8 am exam because they ran out of 1:30 pm slots. 😳

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

hahaha you have no idea HOW much better that makes me feel...I thought the rest of you were done reviewing ages ago!

Oooh, ooh, count me in! I just finished reviewing bio and finishing up on chem today. I'll be doing what's left of AAMC 3 on Sunday (I did PS on Memorial day then paused it to spend time with family from out of town) then doing AAMC 4-10 this Monday til Wed before the exam. Are you guys still planning on doing a practice test everyday?

I'm also planning on doing the test starting 1:30 pm since I have class that ends at 12:50 pm and I work from 7:30 - 11:30 am. The problem is, I'm registered for the 8 am exam because they ran out of 1:30 pm slots. 😳

Awesome!! Just checking in, I do it in sections also tribeca so I just did PS of AAMC 6- (doing them in random order) is it just me or was AAMC6 PS really easy?? One whole section about periodic table? HELLO??

By the way, I realized that I forgot to finish Orgo reading, I thought I was done with content review, but I still have like 75% of Orgo left to do, and maybe 25% of Bio left to go over.

 

[quintessence]

just finished AAMC7:

PS - 10 :'(
VR - 12
BS - 12
Total - 34

My PS score is down 3 points from AAMC3 (lol although that's supposed to be the easy one so I guess it kinda makes sense...)

I'm worried because for PS and BS, the majority (like 75%) of the questions that I am getting wrong are the discretes...which are supposed to be the easy marks....don't know what to do.

 

[quintessence]

oh and I still have 50% of bio left *sigh* but will be doing AAMC5 on Monday

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

just finished AAMC7:

PS - 10 :'(
VR - 12
BS - 12
Total - 34

My PS score is down 3 points from AAMC3 (lol although that's supposed to be the easy one so I guess it kinda makes sense...)

I'm worried because for PS and BS, the majority (like 75%) of the questions that I am getting wrong are the discretes...which are supposed to be the easy marks....don't know what to do.

Um. Whoa. I consider a 10 to be great.
AAMC6:
PS-10
VR-11
BS-HAHAHAHAH

I stopped taking the bio section after i got like 12 questions wrong in a row. so let's give an estimate of 7.

 

[Jatt]

Just finished AAMC 7 also

PS-9
VR-11
BS-10

30 isn't bad but it sure isn't where I expected to be 2 weeks out, but I promised myself I wouldn't get too worked up about it, 2 weeks is a lot of time to fill in gaps so thats what I will be doing. Anyone else surprised with a lack of progress? Got a 26 on my diagnostic and however many weeks later I am only 4 points higher? Damn. Anyways just for fun does anyone have an inspiring story of a big jump from practice tests to the real thing? My friend said she never broke 32 on a practice test and got a 35 on the real thing.

Time to start sprinting to the finish line!

 

[eltor07]

I saw in another thread someone talking about experimental questions? WTF is that? They just put some questions on there and are not graded?

 

[starlight04]

Anyways just for fun does anyone have an inspiring story of a big jump from practice tests to the real thing? My friend said she never broke 32 on a practice test and got a 35 on the real thing.

Time to start sprinting to the finish line!

One of my friends never even hit 35 on a practice test, got a sub-30 score on an AAMC the week of the test, freaked, and stopped studying. She ended up pulling a 40+ score on the actual thing. Inspiring, but she is also brilliant.


I just took AAMC 4R--Found it to be extremely hard, esp. compared to 3R.

PS: 11 (i took this untimed though on accident, so i dont know how accurate my score is)
VR: 11 (1 Q away from 12...grrr)
BS: 13 (i found this section extremely hard, esp. orgo...)
Overall: 35

I'm happy with my stable scores, since the last 3 have been 36, 35, and 35. However, I dont know how realistic this is, as I tend to take the test in sections with big breaks in between and skip writing.

I'm getting so frustrated at my stupid mistakes. If I could just stop making so many, each of my section scores could increase by 1....👎

 

[Phoenix.]

Just finished AAMC 7 also

PS-9
VR-11
BS-10

30 isn't bad but it sure isn't where I expected to be 2 weeks out, but I promised myself I wouldn't get too worked up about it, 2 weeks is a lot of time to fill in gaps so thats what I will be doing. Anyone else surprised with a lack of progress? Got a 26 on my diagnostic and however many weeks later I am only 4 points higher? Damn. Anyways just for fun does anyone have an inspiring story of a big jump from practice tests to the real thing? My friend said she never broke 32 on a practice test and got a 35 on the real thing.

Time to start sprinting to the finish line!

Jatt: Funny - I got a 26 on my diagnostic too (in January) and just took AAMC 6 two days ago and got a 30 as well (PS-10 VR-11 BS-9) (I took AAMC 6 a couple of weeks ago and didn't do so hot: PS-8 VR-10 BS-9). I also hoped I'd have broken 30 at this point (have only hit 30 on AAMC 4 and 6), but so long as my score ends up a 30 on the real thing I'll count myself lucky.

The only practice tests I have left are 8, 9 & 10, and I'm crossing my fingers that I get a 30 or above on them so I'm not too dispirited when June 15th comes. Meanwhile I'm finishing up EK Physics chapters on electromag and optics today, and then all I have left to review is EK Orgo chapter 3 tomorrow. Then I'll probably focus on my weaknesses (fluids & waves, acid/base, electrochem, etc.) and practice genetics and molecular biology since those seem to be frequently tested. And of course a couple of EK VR 101 passages a day, as well as trying to finish up the EK Bio 1001 questions.

 

[SoupWithAFork]

My score is hovering around the same place (+/- 3), and I've taken like 5 practice tests so far (Kaplan and AAMC), and it's so annoying because one or two questions can affect your score so much! ARGH!

Is anyone else annoyed by this?

And... how much weight do point differences make after a 35 or 36? (to med schools, that is?) Because when you're scoring that high, it seems your score can be affected so greatly by so few questions. It's weird to think if someone just guesses correctly on, say, 2 questions that you got wrong, they could get a point or two above you.

well, good luck everyone!

 

[quintessence]

Yea, it still shocks me how so much of our future will be decided by this exam, especially considering that there is such a huge element of luck associated with the topics that they decide to focus on :S

 

[Jatt]

One of my friends never even hit 35 on a practice test, got a sub-30 score on an AAMC the week of the test, freaked, and stopped studying. She ended up pulling a 40+ score on the actual thing. Inspiring, but she is also brilliant.

Well I like to think I'm brilliant too! 🙄

It's funny though I have considered halting my studies too, mainly because ever since I kicked things into high gear(the last 2 weeks) my scores have been steadily dropping. I honestly don't feel burnt out but maybe my brain does need a break. Anyways, having people to talk to that are in the same boat sure does help, thanks everyone!

Oh yeah, I have AAMC 6, 9, and 10 any thoughts on the best way to tackle them? I also have a ton of Kaplan FL's left if need be.

 

[eddie13231]

Well I like to think I'm brilliant too! 🙄

It's funny though I have considered halting my studies too, mainly because ever since I kicked things into high gear(the last 2 weeks) my scores have been steadily dropping. I honestly don't feel burnt out but maybe my brain does need a break. Anyways, having people to talk to that are in the same boat sure does help, thanks everyone!

Oh yeah, I have AAMC 6, 9, and 10 any thoughts on the best way to tackle them? I also have a ton of Kaplan FL's left if need be.

I feel the same way. I have studied so freakin much the last two weeks that I feel like if I don't know something on the test its because I just don't get it!

I found that taking an exam every two days at the time of the real MCAT helps get my brain in testing mode. Speaking of which...I should probably go to sleep soon because I want to wake up on 7 hours and take CBT-8!

Oh and for an inspiring story...my kaplan teacher never got above a 30 on Kaplan practice tests (paper exam) and got a 36 on the real deal. It can happen!

 

[quintessence]

Well I like to think I'm brilliant too! 🙄

It's funny though I have considered halting my studies too, mainly because ever since I kicked things into high gear(the last 2 weeks) my scores have been steadily dropping. I honestly don't feel burnt out but maybe my brain does need a break. Anyways, having people to talk to that are in the same boat sure does help, thanks everyone!

Oh yeah, I have AAMC 6, 9, and 10 any thoughts on the best way to tackle them? I also have a ton of Kaplan FL's left if need be.

Do the AAMC exams...the kaplan FL's aren't at all reflective of the actual exam and will just screw with your mind so close to the real thing.

 

[starlight04]

so (assuming there are spots left...) I plan on signing up for an August retake immediately after the 6/15 test regardless of how it goes, because I'd hate to be in the situation of sending out my primaries, finding out I got some terrible score, and not having the opportunity to retake. My GPA isn't good enough to cushion a bad MCAT score...

With < 2 weeks to go, I'm still way far behind on the Kaplan stuff. I don't know if I can realistically finish all of their *required* stuff before test day. With that said, I'd like to be able to get the Kaplan online stuff back for the retake. However, if I dont finish the stuff, I technically don't qualify for the "Higher Score Guarantee" right?? What am I supposed to do....? Bahhh.

Going through all of Kaplan Physics review notes today. Maybe taking another AAMC section or two tonight... I'm so not ready for this.

 

[Team Zissou]

for kaplan just go through and randomly select answers for ur hw assignments.. this way u can still qualify for the higher score guaranteed.. i know they tell you that they will know if you did what i just told you to do but in the end they still have to give u the guarantee.. i was supposed to take the may 31 mcat (thank god i didnt) but i postponed until july 13 (since the june 15 was full).. i randomly filled in answers and they still gave me the guarantee. good luck studyin.👍

 

[corbis11]

Any of you have any hunches as to what will be heavily tested over? I've got a feeling that there will be a hormone topic, some type of optics, and an embryology topic (which I don't want)

 

[SaLeeNS7TT]

so (assuming there are spots left...) I plan on signing up for an August retake immediately after the 6/15 test regardless of how it goes, because I'd hate to be in the situation of sending out my primaries, finding out I got some terrible score, and not having the opportunity to retake. My GPA isn't good enough to cushion a bad MCAT score...

With < 2 weeks to go, I'm still way far behind on the Kaplan stuff. I don't know if I can realistically finish all of their *required* stuff before test day. With that said, I'd like to be able to get the Kaplan online stuff back for the retake. However, if I dont finish the stuff, I technically don't qualify for the "Higher Score Guarantee" right?? What am I supposed to do....? Bahhh.

Going through all of Kaplan Physics review notes today. Maybe taking another AAMC section or two tonight... I'm so not ready for this.

I took the kaplan course from jan to may and honestly if I was in your shoes I would try to push back the test date. The material with kaplan is a LOT but I found it very helpful. Learning the material is one task in itself. By now, IMHO, you should have it all reviewed and now applying it to the practice tests and the question structure of the mcat (linking information). During the last month I matriculated into doing aamc tests (on the kaplan syllabus) over kaplan's. I've also found out what works best for me during tests, esp those strategies that completely contradict kaplans method. Just find out what works for you, every company has it's own method.

I'm currently taking aamc practice tests every other day until a couple days before the 15th. I guess the best advice that has really boosted my score is read the questions CAREFULLY and make sure you can support the answer you pick (within time limits of course).

 

[swifteagle43]

AAMC 4 CBT

PS 12
VR 8 - WTF
Bio 9 - WTF

.....

 

[Jatt]

Do the AAMC exams...the kaplan FL's aren't at all reflective of the actual exam and will just screw with your mind so close to the real thing.

Thanks for the tip. Just wondering what makes you feel that the Kaplan FL's are so far from the real thing? I will say having taking 3 of them my scores have been all over the map when compared to the AAMC tests(which I suppose is an indication in and of itself) but part of me needs that 33 on Kaplan FL #6 to be legit 😳

Then again my other Kaplan tests might as well be flushed down the drain, anyways thanks for the advice, I think that is probably the best course of action although I do need to finish the KP's for the high score gurantee( which is far less important than an actual high score).

 

[free_radical]

All of the practice MCATs have been updated to CBT's, i.e. less questions etc.

I have all the old R's on file, and I'm using them to practice from.

How different are they? Am I harming myself by only studying from the R's, which are longer, on the assumption thatb they're even more taxing than the real thing?

I've actually only taken 3R, and I did good on it, but from what I hear over here, that's the easiest of the lot.

So- CBT vs. R?

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

I saw in another thread someone talking about experimental questions? WTF is that? They just put some questions on there and are not graded?

yeah, I posted that, that is tres lame man. 👎 It's from the AAMC website so it's not BS.

Jatt: Funny - I got a 26 on my diagnostic too (in January) and just took AAMC 6 two days ago and got a 30 as well (PS-10 VR-11 BS-9) (I took AAMC 6 a couple of weeks ago and didn't do so hot: PS-8 VR-10 BS-9). I also hoped I'd have broken 30 at this point (have only hit 30 on AAMC 4 and 6), but so long as my score ends up a 30 on the real thing I'll count myself lucky.

The only practice tests I have left are 8, 9 & 10, and I'm crossing my fingers that I get a 30 or above on them so I'm not too dispirited when June 15th comes. Meanwhile I'm finishing up EK Physics chapters on electromag and optics today, and then all I have left to review is EK Orgo chapter 3 tomorrow. Then I'll probably focus on my weaknesses (fluids & waves, acid/base, electrochem, etc.) and practice genetics and molecular biology since those seem to be frequently tested. And of course a couple of EK VR 101 passages a day, as well as trying to finish up the EK Bio 1001 questions.

Think you have a typo there??

AAMC 6- 10,11, n/a
Update! Studying helps, BS=10.

For AAMC 8, It wasn't too bad, but I struggled and got 10,10,10

Dude what the hell i need >30.

 

[starlight04]

I took the kaplan course from jan to may and honestly if I was in your shoes I would try to push back the test date. The material with kaplan is a LOT but I found it very helpful. Learning the material is one task in itself. By now, IMHO, you should have it all reviewed and now applying it to the practice tests and the question structure of the mcat (linking information). During the last month I matriculated into doing aamc tests (on the kaplan syllabus) over kaplan's. I've also found out what works best for me during tests, esp those strategies that completely contradict kaplans method. Just find out what works for you, every company has it's own method.

I guess for me, I've done most of my review through the EK prep books (tend to like them better overall...) but have done all the Kaplan reading at least once, and I'm going over them again (quickly) to see if they offer any further insight. I'm fairly confident on my knowledge of content, and I've taken Kaplan FL 1-3, AAMC 3 & 4, and my scores have been pretty stable ~35 on my last 3 tests. I've done a lot of the Kaplan material online, but not all of it, and I think it's best at this point to concentrate on AAMC stuff. This means that I dont really want to take the time to do Kaplan FL 4-5, and the rest of the required section quizzes and whatnot. However, if I were to retake, I think using the Kaplan material as further means of practice would be extremely valuable, especially since it cost me $2000...

I find Kaplan overall to have been extremely helpful--I had a good teacher, the review books were good to supplement EK, all the review problems, Kaplan & AAMC FL's, etc.


P.S. I wasted all of last night watching the Cavs vs. Pistons game and just wasted the last hour watching the Democratic debate. Why can't I motivate myself????🙁

 

[AWhitehair]

I guess for me, I've done most of my review through the EK prep books (tend to like them better overall...) but have done all the Kaplan reading at least once, and I'm going over them again (quickly) to see if they offer any further insight. I'm fairly confident on my knowledge of content, and I've taken Kaplan FL 1-3, AAMC 3 & 4, and my scores have been pretty stable ~35 on my last 3 tests. I've done a lot of the Kaplan material online, but not all of it, and I think it's best at this point to concentrate on AAMC stuff. This means that I dont really want to take the time to do Kaplan FL 4-5, and the rest of the required section quizzes and whatnot. However, if I were to retake, I think using the Kaplan material as further means of practice would be extremely valuable, especially since it cost me $2000...

I find Kaplan overall to have been extremely helpful--I had a good teacher, the review books were good to supplement EK, all the review problems, Kaplan & AAMC FL's, etc.


P.S. I wasted all of last night watching the Cavs vs. Pistons game and just wasted the last hour watching the Democratic debate. Why can't I motivate myself????🙁

Don't worry...I caved and went out last night until 6AM...couldn't get over my hang over to do my PT today. Looks like I will be studying my arse off all week.

 

[Phoenix.]

Good catch, Beatrixkiddo. I meant to say that I took AAMC 6 a few days ago and got a 30 (PS-10 VR-11 BS-9), and took AAMC 7 a couple of weeks ago and got a 27 (PS-8 VR-10 BS-9). Personally, I think that the PS section on 7 was simply harder than 6.

I've heard AAMC 8 is the hardest of the bunch, so I'm REALLY anxious to see if I can manage to get a 9 or 10 on PS on it. VR I'm not as worried about. But I can't figure out why my BS scores have started to drop since I've been studying BS more. A couple of months ago I was getting 10s and 11s on BS. Now, two 9s in a row. Boggling. Makes me wonder if I should stop studying BS.

Anyway, I'm going to try to do 8 this Tuesday, then 10 on Friday and the final AAMC 9 the Monday before the real thing. I'm doing them out of order because I've heard 8 and 10 are harder than 9, and I'd like to go into the MCAT with some confidence left....