MCAT Thread

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This was definitely a difficult test, the curve will be favorable. PS was tougher than what I practiced, VR wasn't too bad actually, and BS was BS, nothing insane, nothing else to say.

But people don't complain about it please, just be happy it's over, for today at least.

I just need to share with people my difficulty getting to the testing center earlier on. I took the test in Brooklyn, and straight up the testing center itself was fantastic, but of course the damn MTA is doing construction on the downtown line that I needed to take to get to the site, so that interrupted my Kanye West and Jay Z hype playlist, but whatever, got there in time. But of course something had to go wrong, anyone else had something go wrong like that? Hopefully something you can laugh about now, but it's always interesting to hear others' experiences.
 
This test makes me want to cry. The PS section was very different from any practice test I took (I took all AAMC). They also hit me with some of my weakest physics subjects. I don't know about the Verbal. I never actually know how I'm going to do on Verbal, but I can recall 2 or three questions that I know for sure I got wrong, especially on that last passage. BS was okay for me and there were one or two questions I definitely did not know the answer to.

I look forward to the next thirty days of vacation until I have to open my review books again. Oh and that $30 dollar gift card 🙂
 
One thing positive I can say about the test is that I know what everyone talks about.
When I see through people's posts on other dates, I'm always curious about what do they mean. Now I know what the real test is like.
 
My 2 cents for VR scale. First, passages were easy to read but some questions were still of the same difficulty as AAMC practices. Let me know if you disagree. Second, AAMC VR scales are already tough in my opinion. I would not expect today's scale to be much different from the practice scales.

P.S. that is how I would like to think and relief myself lol
 
Took the 1 pm test

PS - Ridiculously Easy
VR- Ridiculously Easy
BS - Tough, but nothing unexpected.

It was the first time taking the test for me and I panicked bc I knew it was real, definitely dropping my score below my AAMC average, could have easily had a 37+ if I had my mind right.
 
Took the 1 pm test

PS - Ridiculously Easy
VR- Ridiculously Easy
BS - Tough, but nothing unexpected.

It was the first time taking the test for me and I panicked bc I knew it was real, definitely dropping my score below my AAMC average, could have easily had a 37+ if I had my mind right.

What was your aamc cbt avg?
 
First time posting but im a long time creeper! Took my MCAT today and my thoughts.....WTF JUST HAPPENED?! PS freaked me out during the first passage! After that, I went and did all of the discretes which weren't bad and built my confidence with doing the other passages. My only trouble was that I took too long on the first passage which put me behind the count and I ended up having to guess on an entire passage. Overall, I am guessing I got a 10 or 11. Next we have verbal...this was actually the easiest of the three sections and questions were not convoluted. I also found the passages interesting with the exception of one. I'm guessing anywhere between 10-13 because sometimes with verbal, you just don't know. Biological sciences....what the s**t? Seriously, this is usually my strongest section and I feel like I got slapped across the face...multiple times. I felt like my content knowledge didnt help much and most of it had to be derived from the passage or you had to know it from other classes. Also, diagrams of a certain organ was unclear to me and could have been a lot better....these test writers need to work on their illustrations. Anyways, this whole section was a giant mind***k and clearly I'm not happy. I also had to guess on an entire passage because I ran out of time. These passages were much longer than the practice ones. I can't even guess what I got on this but I'm praying for a killer scaled score. Uhhh I'm so angry because I feel like BS was nothing like the practice tests.

At the end of it, I was close to voiding but then remembered that I often feel terrible after exams and then end up doing well. Lets hope that's the case this time. Anyways, experimental for me was EASY and will probably be my highest scoring section...too bad that can't replace PS or BS! I hope people feel the same way i do about this exam. Lets all hope for a generous curve. Fingers crossed!

How people expect a 10 or 11 with missing an ENTIRE passage is beyond me ...
 
How people expect a 10 or 11 with missing an ENTIRE passage is beyond me ...

Considering the feedback on the PS in terms of difficulty and the odds of getting one or two answers correct while guessing on five question passage, I think my chances of getting a 10 or 11 are VERY GOOD. I'm also confident with my other answer choices. I just panicked when I first started and then got into my rhythm but time was already wasted by that point. But to address your comment, its possible.
 
Hello all 🙂

Okay so I took the 1:00pm and I have a slightly different consensus.

PS: It was...okay. I thought it was more theory based, with like 5 questions soley on definition; however, I did do a lot of calculations as well.

VB: I struggled with this the most. Passages were dense and I had a hard time focusing in on them. Glyphs...lol.

BS: Honestly, I thought it was okay. Some very challenging questions though. This is where i've grown skeptical however because I am fairly positive that I didn't have a single passage that had 3 graphs and had only 1 with 2 and the variables were not too similar which made it easier to see distinctions. So perhaps we all had different forms, or my brain melted during the exam (totally possible).

Regardless, we will not know our scores for a bit so we should all just go out, celebrate, and enjoy that it's over.
 
Hello all 🙂

Okay so I took the 1:00pm and I have a slightly different consensus.

PS: It was...okay. I thought it was more theory based, with like 5 questions soley on definition; however, I did do a lot of calculations as well.

VB: I struggled with this the most. Passages were dense and I had a hard time focusing in on them. Glyphs...lol.

BS: Honestly, I thought it was okay. Some very challenging questions though. This is where i've grown skeptical however because I am fairly positive that I didn't have a single passage that had 3 graphs and had only 1 with 2 and the variables were not too similar which made it easier to see distinctions. So perhaps we all had different forms, or my brain melted during the exam (totally possible).

Regardless, we will not know our scores for a bit so we should all just go out, celebrate, and enjoy that it's over.

Didn't you have a BS passage with 4 graphs where the graphs were arranged in 2 by 2? I don't recall a passage with 3 graphs either, but I do recall a passage with 2 graphs
 
I kept on encountering posts where a person thought they did very awful, and ended up getting significantly higher than their predictions (i.e., AAMC avg 35, predicts 32, get 38). Feeling bad after the test, and getting pleasantly surprised on score release day actually seems like the norm. Obviously, I couldn't help but picturing myself in their position, and imagine myself getting surprised by a high score on my score release day, but I just can't logically figure out how that's possible for me...I left like 15 marked questions unchecked for both PS and BS. Even with a super lenient curve, if I get 1/3 of my "marked" ones wrong, and factor in the unmarked ones I could get wrong, the best I could do on both sections is like an 11. Ugh, I'm too worried🙁🙁🙁...
 
No, I definitely did not. My passages were majorily paragraphs with very few graphs. In fact, I'm like 99% sure the only graph passage I had was the one with two and..uhm idk how much I can say without being "in trouble" but it was cardio based. However, the passage you are referring to sounds like something I saw on a previous one..
 
I kept on encountering posts where a person thought they did very awful, and ended up getting significantly higher than their predictions (i.e., AAMC avg 35, predicts 32, get 38). Feeling bad after the test, and getting pleasantly surprised on score release day actually seems like the norm. Obviously, I couldn't help but picturing myself in their position, and imagine myself getting surprised by a high score on my score release day, but I just can't logically figure out how that's possible for me...I left like 15 marked questions unchecked for both PS and BS. Even with a super lenient curve, if I get 1/3 of my "marked" ones wrong, and factor in the unmarked ones I could get wrong, the best I could do on both sections is like an 11. Ugh, I'm too worried🙁🙁🙁...

Summergirl, I feel the same way. Everyone I complain to keeps telling me that I always feel bad after a test, but usually do better than expected. That's true most times but this time isn't a false alarm. Like you, I also was unsure of a lot of questions and had to guess. I'm being very realistic!
 
I kept on encountering posts where a person thought they did very awful, and ended up getting significantly higher than their predictions (i.e., AAMC avg 35, predicts 32, get 38). Feeling bad after the test, and getting pleasantly surprised on score release day actually seems like the norm. Obviously, I couldn't help but picturing myself in their position, and imagine myself getting surprised by a high score on my score release day, but I just can't logically figure out how that's possible for me...I left like 15 marked questions unchecked for both PS and BS. Even with a super lenient curve, if I get 1/3 of my "marked" ones wrong, and factor in the unmarked ones I could get wrong, the best I could do on both sections is like an 11. Ugh, I'm too worried🙁🙁🙁...

Everyone says this too..

No, I definitely did not. My passages were majorily paragraphs with very few graphs. In fact, I'm like 99% sure the only graph passage I had was the one with two and..uhm idk how much I can say without being "in trouble" but it was cardio based. However, the passage you are referring to sounds like something I saw on a previous one..

Lol what? It seems like we had a diff test? Doesnt make sense
 
I expected 52 questions in the BS section of the exam but had only 44 and at the bottom of my last screen on the BS section, the page was numbered 7 of 7 . At first I just assumed that this was part of the changes they made with this exam this year, by making it a shorter test, but now I think I just missed the last set of questions...How many questions in BS did you all have on exam day?
 
I expected 52 questions in the BS section of the exam but had only 44 and at the bottom of my last screen on the BS section, the page was numbered 7 of 7 . At first I just assumed that this was part of the changes they made with this exam this year, by making it a shorter test, but now I think I just missed the last set of questions...How many questions in BS did you all have on exam day?

I had exactly 52 questions...
 
Same 52 questions.. The last passage went up to 49 or something, and the section ended with some discretes. y'all messing up..
 
I expected 52 questions in the BS section of the exam but had only 44 and at the bottom of my last screen on the BS section, the page was numbered 7 of 7 . At first I just assumed that this was part of the changes they made with this exam this year, by making it a shorter test, but now I think I just missed the last set of questions...How many questions in BS did you all have on exam day?

It's always 52 questions for BS and PS, 40 questions for VR. Don't you look at the review screen?
 
It's always 52 questions for BS and PS, 40 questions for VR. Don't you look at the review screen?

Between the tension I had, coupled by the constrained time and the 7 of 7 I saw at the bottom of the screen, I didn't realize until afterwards that the 44 total was not possible. But there's nothing I can do now but accept that I messed up on BS...No I didn't look at the review screen for the BS section cause I was running out of time and spent the remainder of my time on the page that said 7 of 7. The passage questions were very time consuming
 
Between the tension I had, coupled by the constrained time and the 7 of 7 I saw at the bottom of the screen, I didn't realize until afterwards that the 44 total was not possible. But there's nothing I can do now but accept that I messed up on BS...No I didn't look at the review screen for the BS section cause I was running out of time and spent the remainder of my time on the page that said 7 of 7. The passage questions were very time consuming
Many of us were running out of time especially towards the end and if I remember right, the final passage was pretty convoluted so don't feel like you missed simple slam dunks. There were I believe 3 discretes at the end and I know I got one of those wrong as well.

What were your BS averages and when do you plan to apply?
 
There's an organic question that I'm dying to know the right answer to, but I don't know how to ask it without breaking the confidentiality agreement 😏
 
The verbal from this exam still haunts me. It wasn't particularly hard, I just want to know the result. Now. Come on AAMC, we know you know our scores!
 
Are you thinking about the last question on BS?
I can't remember if it's the last question, but it's a discrete, and I think it's the last question in that set of discretes.

Probably impossible unless you search the answer by yourself

Yeah, if you remember the question just look it up on your own.
I can't really google it because it's a question with examples, and they ask you a specific question about that those examples.


Okay, I'm going to try to "hint" the question, and hopefully someone can remember what the question was and let me know what the right answer was.
It's an organic chemistry discrete. I don't think it's a particularly difficult question but I just happen to be weak in that particular area. The question gave you the "drawing" of two examples, and asked you a question about these two examples. All four answers are single words. Actually, I can only recall three of the four options, and while I don't remember exactly what the fourth option was, but given the pattern of the first three options, the last option was probably only one word as well. 😳Did I reveal enough/too much?
 
Between the tension I had, coupled by the constrained time and the 7 of 7 I saw at the bottom of the screen, I didn't realize until afterwards that the 44 total was not possible. But there's nothing I can do now but accept that I messed up on BS...No I didn't look at the review screen for the BS section cause I was running out of time and spent the remainder of my time on the page that said 7 of 7. The passage questions were very time consuming
If it makes you feel better my friend did the exact same thing for both PS and BS.

Also, I'm sure most people completely guessed due to time constraints on those last sets of questions, so even if you did fill it out there would only be a 1-2 question advantage.
 
Oh I remember that one. To be honest, I didn't know the answer either! I used process of elimination for that one to eliminate the answers I knew were wrong for sure....and I hope that left me with the right answers.
 
I can't remember if it's the last question, but it's a discrete, and I think it's the last question in that set of discretes.




I can't really google it because it's a question with examples, and they ask you a specific question about that those examples.


Okay, I'm going to try to "hint" the question, and hopefully someone can remember what the question was and let me know what the right answer was.
It's an organic chemistry discrete. I don't think it's a particularly difficult question but I just happen to be weak in that particular area. The question gave you the "drawing" of two examples, and asked you a question about these two examples. All four answers are single words. Actually, I can only recall three of the four options, and while I don't remember exactly what the fourth option was, but given the pattern of the first three options, the last option was probably only one word as well. 😳Did I reveal enough/too much?

Oh I remember that one. To be honest, I didn't know the answer either! I used process of elimination for that one to eliminate the answers I knew were wrong for sure....and I hope that left me with the right answer...
 
Seeing score release from previous exams makes me feel ambivalent. Seeing people who scored above their average fills me with hope, and seeing people who scored below their average makes me worry.
 
Seeing score release from previous exams makes me feel ambivalent. Seeing people who scored above their average fills me with hope, and seeing people who scored below their average makes me worry.
Yeah, really pulls you both ways, so much depends on that number.
 
I'm kind of scared I never clicked to score my test. Did anyone get that e-mail saying something like "as you wait for your score" yet? Apparently we will get one if it is scored.

Also can someone confirm this? If we do the experimental section that means the test is scored, right?
 
I'm kind of scared I never clicked to score my test. Did anyone get that e-mail saying something like "as you wait for your score" yet? Apparently we will get one if it is scored.

Also can someone confirm this? If we do the experimental section that means the test is scored, right?

You should only have been offered the chance to complete the trial section if you chose to have your exam scored, yes.
 
The wait is now half done. Sometimes I secretly get excited by thinking about scoring above my average. I should stop doing this because this may lead to bigger disappointment when I get my score lol.
 
It feels like it's been forever since I took the test even though Sept 7th was not that long ago. I get excited when I think about finally getting my scores, but then I feel worried/depressed when I remember how I felt when I walked out of that test center.... Like ****. That test was nothing that I was expecting, we probably got the hardest of them all.. :-(
 
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