May 2014 MCATers United
Started by TheAnonymous
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no we have around 11 in canada, and 4-5 in the province that I live in .. I'm only competitive for 2 of those lol
it's a different story here in Canada man, 20x more competitive because of the small number of schools
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lol funny thing is that I'm not eligible for most of the schools in the U.S. too ...
Why arent you eligible?
some schools require US residency, undergrad done in the US, at least one-year done in the US, some only accept a few canadians every year, financial, etc.....
Oh... I didn't know that
I know some schools are loosing too much money in training an international student to become doctor and have that student goes back to his/her country. They cant tax you, the govt subsidizes the cost of training physicians, so they are tighten it down a bit. Case western dental school used to accept more Canadian students more than what they do now. Some State's schools only accept in-state residents for the same reason.
I guess that's why I need a high MCAT score man
You can do it. I looked at the Bio of TBR and I am about to cry....so much so much so much ****z lol
I think TBR bio is big waste man. Stick with TPR or EK....
+1... EK bio gives all you need to know except for molecular genetics that you can supplement with TPR.
I'm in the same boat as TheAnonymous ,,, I'm an international student but I have done my undergrad and now doing my masters in the U.S. ,,, I'm not Canadian though, I'm Saudi ,,, have a full scholarship, so my financial issue is covered but the residency is the one that is not allowing me to apply to as many school as possible ,,,, I know there are around 40 schools in the U.S. that I'm eligible to apply to ,,, & I'm willing to apply to all of them! & it will be so depressing if I haven't gotten to any of them!
Well I know for sure that I won't get in at more than half of them, just try my chances ,,, as the list includes all fancy schools such as Harvard, BU, Hopkins, Stanford, Yale, Corneille ... you name it!!!
I guess Harvard will fight to have me LOL
I need at least 34 on my MCAT to prevent being cut off ,, as according to MSAR, the lowest cut off for MCAT scores is 27 (from the 40 schools list) and the highest is 34!!!
Well I know for sure that I won't get in at more than half of them, just try my chances ,,, as the list includes all fancy schools such as Harvard, BU, Hopkins, Stanford, Yale, Corneille ... you name it!!!
I guess Harvard will fight to have me LOL
I need at least 34 on my MCAT to prevent being cut off ,, as according to MSAR, the lowest cut off for MCAT scores is 27 (from the 40 schools list) and the highest is 34!!!
How far are you with content review?
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it sounds crazy, believe it or not. I'm only doing Orgo right now, finished TBR Chapter 6. I will finish Orgo content in a few days (3?) and then spend another 3 days to review my notes and do ~200-300 questions from EK1001. I will then move to GChem and Physics. I think my weakest section (after verbal) is organic so hopefully I can go through Physics/GChem/Bio faster but nevertheless I don't have a strong science background either. I think I'm behind?
How about you?
I took a break last week... I am half way thru GChem/Physic/Bio. I am doing 2-3 VR passages/day. I will do Orgo at the end--a month before test date.
nice !! I hope I had started a little bit sooner...
Are you following SN2ED? TBR everything?
Not following SN2ED? Using EK/TPR for bio content review and I will do some TBR bio passages and EK/TBR for GChem and Physics... If you have to postpone because you are not reaching your target score, please do! There is little chance for someone to magically get a higher score than their average practice.
that's true. When are you going to start taking FLs?
I will start in March with Kaplans, and take AAMCs in April and then judge
I should finish content review by the end of February, and do a ton of practice questions/passages until mid April. I will use the last 6 weeks to do TBR 1-6 FLs and AAMC 8,9 and 11... I already used the other AAMC tests.
That sounds like a plan! I might join you on that because I also expect (though I'm lagging behind) to finish content review by end of February (but might eventually take me until mid March). I might also end up buying TBRs.
You are taking it on the 31st right? I'm currently registered for the 8th but from what I can see, I'm pretty behind so I might just end up pushing it back to 31st (currently there are no spots available)
Why buy tbr? lol. The chapters are almost identical and they are expensive mate!
Agree that they are pretty expensive.... I haven't started Gchem/Physic/Bio yet, I might end up buying some practice tests (TBR is better than GS, GS is cheaper) just to improve my score.. but will see how it goes.
Gold standard? I have the book. Hahahaha pretty useless.
I cant find a spot for May 31st close where I live... I might sign up for June when the window is open (Feb 11th)... Since I am applying only DO, it won't be too late even if I take it in June. The DO cycle is longer.
Yeah their books are aweful, it's just that they sell 10 FLs for 100$ or something, pretty cheap to practice timing and etc..
Oh I see --
I wish I started my prep a little bit earlier 🙁 can't write it any later than the 31st
Hey TheAnonymous ,, are you registered in a Kaplan's course? but you are not using their books?? how can you just buy their full length tests?
I wish I could compare my books with TBR & TPR & EK! ,,, is there a major difference? I have a science background (bio major, chem minor) but I didn't take physics seriously in school ,, I had a crazy professor that made the class super easy, almost everyone got an A without knowing how to solve any single physics problem! I took the test back in June 2012 & scored horribly but I didn't study or even take FL before the test & I thought attending Kaplan's classes was enough without doing any readings from my books ,,,, so this is the first time that I read my Kaplan books & they have some useless crap but you finally get to the point that you need to know! So, I'm not sure if I should buy other books or stick with Kaplan's books!
I wish I could compare my books with TBR & TPR & EK! ,,, is there a major difference? I have a science background (bio major, chem minor) but I didn't take physics seriously in school ,, I had a crazy professor that made the class super easy, almost everyone got an A without knowing how to solve any single physics problem! I took the test back in June 2012 & scored horribly but I didn't study or even take FL before the test & I thought attending Kaplan's classes was enough without doing any readings from my books ,,,, so this is the first time that I read my Kaplan books & they have some useless crap but you finally get to the point that you need to know! So, I'm not sure if I should buy other books or stick with Kaplan's books!
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Yes. I'm registered in the Kaplan course but I'm not really using it (I got it for free)
I believe Kaplan is underrated in here. Most SDN users say Kaplan is not as good as the other companies but the point is that Kaplan SUCKS for self-study. So if you have their books and you are reading it, they are not as good as TBR and TPR ! However, Kaplan is the best company when it comes to their online courses (IMO). The way their online courses are structured is just amazing. There are pre-lecture quizzes, post-lecture quizzes, lecture notes, review notes, thousands of questions, etc.....
For FLs, PM me and I will direct you to the right place, but in my opinion Kaplan books, if to be used to self-study, are not as good as Berkeley and Princeton.
10 Gold Standard FLs for only $100! If so, I will buy them instead of TBR...
That's the point ! They are much much cheaper than TBR... be aware that their VR sections are extremely poor so ONLY use them for the sciences
ok... You have Kaplan PDF... I am looking some online resource... I think I will buy Kaplan Qbank... My worst mistake the first time was not using online material except the AAMC FLs and AAMC VR-SA.. I have to get more use to do practice questions/passages online.
If it's been less than 3 months since you have finished their course, they allow you to retake it for free
Never took any prep course.... I had friend who gave me some Kaplan VR PDF and I did not think they were representative of the AAMC VR....
I see ,,, I contacted them to activate my account again and give me access to their online material but still didn't get a reply from them yet!
I'll PM for the FLs now 🙂
Did you call or email because i literally called them like 3 days ago to use my higher score guaranteed retake and they immediately activated it for me again. I think calling is better.
Sorry for the late reply I been under the weather the last couple days, I am TBR books...thinking about doing a prep course but I read so many reviews about it didn't help. Going to try to study harder and focus more because I know I can do this!!! Thanks for the encouragment and I love this thread ;-)
I'm glad that I created this thread, you guys are all awesome!
Hey guys. Just registered for May 17th here! Haven't started studying yet... will start studying asap. I've also only taken the first quarter of ochem and bio. I may be crazy. Planning on just sticking to EK books and AAMC FLs. I have the complete study package (book for each subject) + Verbal 101 + 1001 for Bio/Ochem/Gchem/physics. We'll see how this goes. Let the madness begin!
Hello there!
Are you taking any classes right now? Or anything besides this?
Let's do this ! 👍
I've been very busy practicing the art of being a hobo since I graduated at the end of the year. 😉 Nothing other than some volunteering. I'm almost excited to start studying... I'm sure I'll quickly change my mind.
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How's studying everyone? Let's keep this thread alive...
I'm hoping to be finished with Orgo chapter 7 tonight... unfortunately I won't be able to study for the next 3 days (other commitments+work+research)
I'm hoping to be finished with Orgo chapter 7 tonight... unfortunately I won't be able to study for the next 3 days (other commitments+work+research)
Chapter 2 and 3 were the easiest ones for me... but then again, I suck at Orgo.
My initial plan was to start Physics/Gchem/Bio all together in 7 days but I think I might just do one subject / time.
Physics is next !
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