Mcat miracles?,

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Its probably more likely for a person averaging 37's to get a 42, compared to a person averaging 25's and getting a 30.
 
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I got a 30 before studying (in un-timed conditions and a list of formulas, so take that with a huge grain of salt), studied for about a little over a month, scored between 31 and 33 on every official practice test (literally took them all) during this time, and ended up scoring a 37...with my highest section being the one I thought I bombed. Keep a clear head and don't freak out, adrenaline and common sense can take over and up your score 🙂
 
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Oh my god the bio... I wasted sooooo much time on one really hard passage that I got the 5 minute warning while I was reading the before last passage. Luckily I answered that passage's questions and the next page of discretes in about 4 minutes, but I must have bombed. I usually have minutes left over to go over my marked questions. In a weird way I kind of hope the really hard passage wasn't experimental, so that I didn't end up wasting time answering unscored questions at the expense of properly answering scored ones at the end.

Six more days...
 
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i know. im totally thinking about that bio and im realizing how little i actually i understood from those passages and TABLES. Yea i took my best guess, but those "best guesses" were close to flat out guesses :/.
 
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MLM37235 said:
I got a 30 before studying (in un-timed conditions and a list of formulas, so take that with a huge grain of salt), studied for about a little over a month, scored between 31 and 33 on every official practice test (literally took them all) during this time, and ended up scoring a 37...with my highest section being the one I thought I bombed. Keep a clear head and don't freak out, adrenaline and common sense can take over and up your score 🙂
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Why did you think you bombed that section in particular? Did you blindly guess a lot? On like 7+ questions?
 
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It was just really tough to make sense of the bio passages. Did I blindly guess as in just literally picked random asnwers? No i didnt do that, but it sure felt like it considering i wasnt able to make much sense out of the passages/tables
 
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Hopefuldoc22 said:
Do any of those exist? Has anyone scored +5 on actual comPared to practice? This thread will be the only thing keeping me sane until scores are released on the 18th
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My AAMC practice tests (took all but one) had a range from 30-36 with a mean of 33.5. Median of 32 or 33. 37 on the real thing.
 
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serenade said:
I feel like practice tests aren't all that good at predicting much anything anymore.
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AGREE!

My practice range was 33-39, with an average of 35. I ended up getting a 30. And no, it was not because of anxiety. The test is very different from the practice exams.
 
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Based on some posts I've read on here, and from knowing a few others who have taken it, MCAT miracles definitely do exist.

It's actually funny you asked this because I wondered the same thing immediately my Aug 16th MCAT. I'm sure this sounds pathetic and I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but a day or two after my test, I frantically searched a bunch of previous test date threads, looking for posts from those who scored well above their practice test averages; I copied and pasted like 40 of those posts into a word document to be able to refer back to whenever I started insisting to myself that I did poorly and guessed on so much, blah, blah. I know others' experiences have no relevance or indication of how my results will turnout, but it was uplifting to see that quite a few people wound up scoring much, much higher than expected.
 
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sdz7424 said:
Based on some posts I've read on here, and from knowing a few others who have taken it, MCAT miracles definitely do exist.

It's actually funny you asked this because I wondered the same thing immediately my Aug 16th MCAT. I'm sure this sounds pathetic and I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but a day or two after my test, I frantically searched a bunch of previous test date threads, looking for posts from those who scored well above their practice test averages; I copied and pasted like 40 of those posts into a word document to be able to refer back to whenever I started insisting to myself that I did poorly and guessed on so much, blah, blah. I know others' experiences have no relevance or indication of how my results will turnout, but it was uplifting to see that quite a few people wound up scoring much, much higher than expected.
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Haha don't be embarassed! You definitely have more initiative than me - instead of making a document to refer back to I just spend countless hours lurking about, trying to find those exact posts. I think so far I've only read of one person feeling confident after 8/16. So at least we're all in the same boat, and it's not just you and me feeling like we "guessed on so much, blah, blah". :laugh:
 
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yes that was very encouraging. ive been trying not too think about it, but tthe thought of getting my score back in less than a week has made me hop on student doc even more.

btw my friend who was scoring in the 22-23 range, got a 28 on the actual. somehow he went from a 4-5 consistent verbal to a 9 on it. he now has 2 interviews at MD schools.
 
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TheBrownGuy said:
Why did you think you bombed that section in particular? Did you blindly guess a lot? On like 7+ questions?
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Yea - it was Bio/Orgo, which is normally my strongest section, but opened up with a passage that completely threw me. I freaked out, wasted time, forgot crucial equations for another of the other remaining sections, and blindly guessed on 5-7 questions. At one point I made myself close my eyes and count to 30...haha obviously not great advice, but I guess support for (1) not letting a "bad" section throw off your game for the rest and (2) having a little faith in yourself.
 
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MLM37235 said:
Yea - it was Bio/Orgo, which is normally my strongest section, but opened up with a passage that completely threw me. I freaked out, wasted time, forgot crucial equations for another of the other remaining sections, and blindly guessed on 5-7 questions. At one point I made myself close my eyes and count to 30...haha obviously not great advice, but I guess support for (1) not letting a "bad" section throw off your game for the rest and (2) having a little faith in yourself.
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Lol. That gives me some hope! Something similar happened to me with bio. I had to guess on 7 questions of an ochem passage.
 
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bubblysauce said:
My AAMC avg was probably ~28 and I got a 33 on the real thing.
The avgs were low because I was getting 6s constantly on the VR. My sciences were always between 10-12. I literally gave up on VR a few weeks before the test and didn't even practice it because I thought I had no chance. I got a 9 on the real thing.

I don't want to instill false hope, but I don't believe in practice score predicting actual scores. Maybe it's just me, but I have always done bad on practice tests for everything I am tested on, and usually do better on the real thing. Hopefully, you have the same success as me, and that your wait will be a bit more eased 🙂
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I was just like you except I got a 6 on the VR real thing, just like practice at the time. Sorry to be the downer haha, but false hope can also make the day scores come out an even more terrible day than anticipated. Here I am hoping I got lucky on my 3rd attempt at the real VR now.

OP, Just stay busy. Go out. Friends/significant others will keep you distracted.
 
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never scored under 30 on any practice test, average was 32


lets just say I did a lot worse on the real thing... 🙁 felt fine walking out too
 
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miringains said:
never scored under 30 on any practice test, average was 32


lets just say I did a lot worse on the real thing... 🙁 felt fine walking out too
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What? That's pretty different from everything you said in the 8/10 thread. Back then you claimed your average was 29, that a 32 was the second highest score you ever got, that you barely pulled 30 on some tests, and that you were expecting a score between 25-30. Then you made a thread on here talking about how nervous you were about your score shortly after the test, which is hardly what most people would consider "feeling fine".

I don't mean to be a ****, but I'm very confused as to why you made such a discouraging post, apparently none of which is true (except maybe the fact that you scored less than 30), in what is supposed to be an encouraging thread.
 
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You don't need a miracle. Have faith in God, and know that no matter what happens you don't have to give up hope of becoming a physician and you can always retake if you do bad. Sometimes in life today's disaster turns out to be tomorrow's blessing in disguise. Have faith in God and the process.
 
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OCDOCDOCD said:
What? That's pretty different from everything you said in the 8/10 thread. Back then you claimed your average was 29, that a 32 was the second highest score you ever got, that you barely pulled 30 on some tests, and that you were expecting a score between 25-30. Then you made a thread on here talking about how nervous you were about your score shortly after the test, which is hardly what most people would consider "feeling fine".

I don't mean to be a ****, but I'm very confused as to why you made such a discouraging post, apparently none of which is true (except maybe the fact that you scored less than 30), in what is supposed to be an encouraging thread.
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Oh snap.
 
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OCDOCDOCD said:
What? That's pretty different from everything you said in the 8/10 thread. Back then you claimed your average was 29, that a 32 was the second highest score you ever got, that you barely pulled 30 on some tests, and that you were expecting a score between 25-30. Then you made a thread on here talking about how nervous you were about your score shortly after the test, which is hardly what most people would consider "feeling fine".

I don't mean to be a ****, but I'm very confused as to why you made such a discouraging post, apparently none of which is true (except maybe the fact that you scored less than 30), in what is supposed to be an encouraging thread.
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HAHAH! No response man?!?!?

I GOTTA hear this.
 
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My experience:

-I took the July 27th test and got a 12 in BS, 12 PS, and 10 in VR.

-I don't think my scores are extraordinary but I do think they are strong. While I am no miracle, I am not textbook and will say that I wasn't not expecting to get a score that high and would have been just as thrilled with a 30. I read my MCAT prep books on occasion while on the bus and during free time at home. I was never religious about it and would sometimes go weeks and even went a whole month without studying. But on a few days I would study for 3-5 hours in a row instead of doing my homework. I only started studying in January. I read Berkeley and EK review books and did MCAT question of the day. I did a ton of content review and re-reviewed areas I felt were my weaknesses but I never followed a schedule of review. I was more consistent in the weeks before my test, but not so much so.

-All the practice I had was in those review books and within 4 FL AAMC tests. While I did score those tests, they ranged from 29-37, with no clear trend, and I took them all between March and April. I never took a practice exam in a timed setting under real test conditions, I just read and did the sections one right after the other and used as much time as I needed. I never took another AAMC practice test between April and my MCAT in July.

-The only verbal practice I did outside of the four FLs was 3 passages from EK 101 passages. I did not do any of those NYT or Economist article strategies I have heard suggested. I will say that, going in, I knew verbal was going to be my biggest challenge ( I am NOT an english/humanities person). But I wasn't hard on myself for not practicing verbal because I honestly did not believe I could have changed it.

-I never practiced the writing even once. I didn't even know what to expect, I never even looked at the description of the writing section on the AAMC's Guide to the MCAT. I never took a writing course in college and in high school almost failed my IB extended essay. I got an S on writing.

I honestly think so much of MCAT is mental and somewhat random. I think the biggest thing I did to help my score was RELAX and NOT freak out on test day. I arrived very homeostatic. I (tried) to get a full nights sleep (only managed 6 hours.. yes a *little* nervous still) the night before and I took all my breaks during the exam and ate something and used the bathroom each break. I indulged in the noise cancelling headphones and tried to focus as much as I could

I also tried to make the test an adventure. I signed up to take the test in a city 3 hours away (live in Seattle, tested in Portland) and took a train in the night before and stayed in a hotel in town JUST to take the test. I didn't know anyone at the center and had never even been to that part of the town in my life before. I tried to make this test standout in my memory and wanted to associate it with as much novelty as possible... Why? Because I told myself I never wanted to take it again. It was now or never... I had to do my absolute best.

One remark I want to make is that I did feel quite confident about the test. I did not want to void and actually felt pretty normal coming out of the test ( not exhausted or like i was hit by a train or anything). I never looked up answers to questions between the test and score release and tried to think of it as little as possible until the score release day. Therefore, I feel that my confidence after the test correlated with my score (i was not one of those people who thought I bombed yet pulled over a 32).

LOOKING BACK... I only regret not practicing verbal.. lol. The crazy thing is that I felt very confident about that section on test day... and I remember during my practice tests some of the passages I saw were so boring and I just had no idea what to choose for the questions and I got 8's and 9's on the section.

Overall, I think I lucked out on the test... i thought it was doable and was not crazy... only some of the Bio was crazy but it was all organic and I didn't study organic that much. But I also felt confident in my performance capability that I would get at least a 28 or 29 even though i didn't study as much as I wanted to. Because you are never ready... there is a point of diminished returns when it comes to studying and there is only so much that will be on the test and what that will be is purely random and the difference between a 32, 33, 34 won't matter because it would be months between each test and it will only delay your application.

I think miracles are very possible but they are not very probable. You are going to score what you are going to score based on your performance and how much review you have had up to that day. But if you don't know the tricks you will fall for them everytime. I honestly believe preperation and review is best for learning the tricks and questions that come up regularly. But really... so much of it is random... one of the bio discretes I had was about a neurotransmitter which I had randomly read about the morning of the test (yes, i reviewed the morning of the test even though I told myself I wouldnt... and so I read only 3-4 pages and lo and behold there was a discrete with a question about what I read on those pages). The curve fixes and adjusts some of this although it may not be to your satisfaction.
 
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newmember1 said:
You don't need a miracle. Have faith in God, and know that no matter what happens you don't have to give up hope of becoming a physician and you can always retake if you do bad. Sometimes in life today's disaster turns out to be tomorrow's blessing in disguise. Have faith in God and the process.
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^^^ I absolutely agree with this. No matter how each of our scores turn out, remember this is just a test and do NOT allow it to stand between you and your future aspirations. We each have put in years of hard work and determination to get to where we are today, and we're on the home stretch; this is the final obstacle we have to overcome (until boards, of course). I believe all of the posters on this thread have what it takes to overcome this feat, so never give up whether it requires you to take this test only once or four times. In the end, all that matters is that you're doing what you love and are passionate about. Have faith and remember: If there's a will, there's a way.
 
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<--- Miracle.

Studied from June to Aug 17th test - 2.5 months or so.

Kaplan Diagnostic: 18
Kaplan Practice Test 1: 23
Kaplan 2: 25
AAMC 3: 28
AAMC 11: 27
Kaplan 3: 28
AAMC 10: 28
AAMC 9: 29
Kaplan 4: 29

Average = 27.125 (without diagnostic)

Test Day Leaving, Expected A 27. 12/10/5
Worst month of waiting of my life.

Actual: 32 10/11/11 - come test day, I guess instincts just kick in if you've put in the time. I think a lot of it was luck and the hours of praying I did after the test haha.

But again, I NEVER scored above a 29 on my practice tests (the last one I was going to when they kicked me out of the library). And my average was a 27. But don't give up, it can happen. I would've been ECSTATIC with a 30 coming out. But thank god, someone's looking out for me.

Good luck my friends.
 
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Why do you think you felt like you got a 5 out of BS because you blindly guessed? You ended up getting an 11. It's funny because usually, I have a decent sense of how I did after the exam and thats a pretty big range.

I'm not feeling good about the 1/26 verbal. I felt rushed on the last 2/3 passages and had to do a fair amount of guess work. I feel like crying. Btw this is a retake for me. I would be so happy if I managed to get an 8 on verbal.
 
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Have there been any miracles when you had to guess a lot and still end up with a 30+? Or if you felt positive that you failed and had to re-take and then were pleasantly surprised? This post-MCAT period is going to eat me alive, since I did a good amout of guessing (more than I'm comfortable with) on the real thing this past Sat...just praying that I got lucky this second time around.
 
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studentdoctor08 said:
Have there been any miracles when you had to guess a lot and still end up with a 30+? Or if you felt positive that you failed and had to re-take and then were pleasantly surprised? This post-MCAT period is going to eat me alive, since I did a good amout of guessing (more than I'm comfortable with) on the real thing this past Sat...just praying that I got lucky this second time around.
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Plus a million. My exact feelings. Honestly it comes down to verbal for me. I think PS and BS I pulled off decent scores :xf:

I'd like to know this as well.
 
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studentdoctor08 said:
Have there been any miracles when you had to guess a lot and still end up with a 30+? Or if you felt positive that you failed and had to re-take and then were pleasantly surprised? This post-MCAT period is going to eat me alive, since I did a good amout of guessing (more than I'm comfortable with) on the real thing this past Sat...just praying that I got lucky this second time around.
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Well, why were you guessing? What is 'a lot'? Was it because you ran out of time? Facts that you didn't remember? A really rough passage? There was one passage on my bio section that I had to guess on like 4 questions and I still did about as well as I was hoping. Sometimes passages are really confusing and there's nothing you can do but hope that the practice you've put in and the knowledge that you have is sufficient to allow you to make good decisions with it.
 
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