Official 7/14/2012 MCAT Thread

[rjosh33]

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I haven't seen this date posted yet, but I know I can't be the only one taking it on this day. It's almost exactly two months away, and hopefully everybody's prep is productive so far. I've been doing a lot of practice tests, and, at the advice of others, ordered a quarterly subscription to The Economist to try and help out with Verbal (jury's still out on that one). My target score is going to be tough to reach, and I still have a lot of work to do to get there. We'll see how it goes in about 60 days.

Any other "7/14ers" out there?

 

[Ineedhopenow]

I seem to do better on the free standing questions on the physical section. Finishing the free standings give me a sense of peace with my timing for some reason. I guess I get a better feel for where in the exam I should be.

If anyone is looking to purchase the self-assessment, you should know that you can only do the problems once. However you can go back and check the answers. It's great for extra mcat passage practice, and getting a sense of where you'll score. I took the biology assessment and scored an 83%.

AAMC 3 BS 10
AAMC 11 BS 12

So 11 suits me. The questions and passages are from old mcat exams like AAMC 6 that they retired.

 

[pure skill]

I had thought about buying that self-assessment, but I don't really have enough time left to get my use out of it. It would of probably been a definite buy had there been more time.

I took AAMC #11 today and got a 33. My blood sugar got into a swing, and I had a meltdown during the PS section. It was bad. After a peanut butter sandwich, I straightened out for the rest of the test. I thought I had made about 20 though. I never thought I'd make a 33. I can probably do even better than this. Tomorrow I go back to work and won't be off until next Wednesday afternoon. I guess I'll take AAMC #8 then.

My track record so far:

AAMC 11: 10/12/11 = 33 on 7/4/2012
AAMC 10: 11/11/9 = 31 on 7/1/2012
AAMC 9: 10/11/10 = 31 on 6/17/2012
AAMC 3: 10/10/8 = 28 on 4/8/2012

Just a little bit of time to go. I think we can make a lot of progress in that time though.

 

[480225]

Hello fellow 7/14 MCAT takers,

What have you found most effective in improving your score? We are just under 10 days away and I'm unhappy with the scores I'm getting (usually 10s, but 8-12 range). I have 5 more AAMC tests left to take, but I'm hoping for large strides forward in those times. I've been following SN2ed's Schedule almost to the note (minus the hat trick) and am becoming increasingly panicked. Help?

 

[Jepstein30]

Hello fellow 7/14 MCAT takers,

What have you found most effective in improving your score? We are just under 10 days away and I'm unhappy with the scores I'm getting (usually 10s, but 8-12 range). I have 5 more AAMC tests left to take, but I'm hoping for large strides forward in those times. I've been following SN2ed's Schedule almost to the note (minus the hat trick) and am becoming increasingly panicked. Help?

Chill out, identify weaknesses and make them into strengths.

5 tests left is alot though, you're gonna manage to finish them all?

I have two left.. one for Saturday, one for Tuesday.

 

[480225]

Thanks; I'm actually improving significantly (but also have major content weaknesses apparently). Just took AAMC7 and got a 34 (10/11/13) which was a significant confidence boost. Now I just need to focus on my PS (physics specifically) for the next couple of days. And yes, I plan to do all of them but with only 7 actual days left to study (I'm taking the day before off as everyone has said to do as such), I'll probably only get through 3 (1 every other day). Who knows though?

 

[Mar3]

hello fellow 7/14'ers. so here my situation.

Sooo just got a call from aamc in Maryland...they said their system was down and i would have to reschedule!!!! Im so confused right now... they Lady didnt understand how far away testing sites are in Canada and was trying to reschedule me at another province 15 hrs away... but finally managed to get me an 8am seat in my own city for July 14...

so that is how I got here.

 

[pure skill]

hello fellow 7/14'ers. so here my situation.

Sooo just got a call from aamc in Maryland...they said their system was down and i would have to reschedule!!!! Im so confused right now... they Lady didnt understand how far away testing sites are in Canada and was trying to reschedule me at another province 15 hrs away... but finally managed to get me an 8am seat in my own city for July 14...

so that is how I got here.

Yeah, that's ridiculous. They don't seem to understand that giving you a new test date doesn't make up for missing this one. Sorry about your luck. Maybe another week will do you good though.

 

[Mar3]

Yeah, that's ridiculous. They don't seem to understand that giving you a new test date doesn't make up for missing this one. Sorry about your luck. Maybe another week will do you good though.

Has this happened before? I have literally never of head of anything like this happening... A friend of mine had to drive 3 hrs to the next city for the 1pm exam with like a 5 hr notice because they had a flight to catch tomorrow..

Yeah I hope this extra week will help. But now I feel like I wasted a whole week that i could have used to study. I took the Kaplan course and the recommend not doing FlLs when oyue have a week left so I didnt..

but now Im thinknig maybe I will take 2 or 3 more up until wednesday then nothing till saturday.. does that sound reasonable?

 

[pure skill]

Has this happened before? I have literally never of head of anything like this happening... A friend of mine had to drive 3 hrs to the next city for the 1pm exam with like a 5 hr notice because they had a flight to catch tomorrow..

Yeah I hope this extra week will help. But now I feel like I wasted a whole week that i could have used to study. I took the Kaplan course and the recommend not doing FlLs when oyue have a week left so I didnt..

but now Im thinknig maybe I will take 2 or 3 more up until wednesday then nothing till saturday.. does that sound reasonable?

See the 2nd page of this thread. A similar thing happened to Lactobacillus.

I intend to take a FL on Thursday. Some worry about burnout, but I want to go in Saturday hot rather than having been a week without being in testing mode. I've always been like this though. In college I always tried to schedule my math and physics classes for noon or 1 pm or so. On test day, I would get up about 6 and skip all my other classes. Then I would just work problems all day long and only take a break to eat. When the test came, it was like I had been taking the thing all day long. In my mind, it was like one long test. Burnout has never been a problem for me. Everybody's got a way that's best for them though.

 

[xcleex]

Taking mine in NYC on 7/14 in the morning. So how is everyone spending this last week? I'm just doing more practice problems in the area i'm weak at and just listen to Exam Krackers audio osmosis.

 

[Jepstein30]

Taking mine in NYC on 7/14 in the morning. So how is everyone spending this last week? I'm just doing more practice problems in the area i'm weak at and just listen to Exam Krackers audio osmosis.

AAMC 10- tomorrow morning
AAMC 11- Tuesday night

Rest of time will be randomly picking topics (like, random generator randomly) and doing 1/3 of the problems in EK 1001. Will likely get through all the books.

I also still have the verbal self assessment which I think I will do Thursday afternoon to just keep in test mode.

Topics I'm still kinda iffy on (like, usually have a fighting chance but these are the topics I usually will get wrong on FLs)

Physics- Specific gravity, Periodic motion, hydrostatic pressure, diffraction (not going to focus much on diffraction, doesn't seem to ever come up)
Gen. Chem- Thermodynamics (specifically, PV work), acidic/basic salts, BUFFERS
Orgo- Nothing really, but considering many of the recent tests have been orgo heavy, going to make sure I know some of the big mechs down pat (Aldol, hoffman, etc.).
Bio- Nothing really here either.. vasodilation/vasoconstriction maybe

Excited to get this thing over with!!

 

[K M R]

Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

 

[Mar3]

See the 2nd page of this thread. A similar thing happened to Lactobacillus.

I intend to take a FL on Thursday. Some worry about burnout, but I want to go in Saturday hot rather than having been a week without being in testing mode. I've always been like this though. In college I always tried to schedule my math and physics classes for noon or 1 pm or so. On test day, I would get up about 6 and skip all my other classes. Then I would just work problems all day long and only take a break to eat. When the test came, it was like I had been taking the thing all day long. In my mind, it was like one long test. Burnout has never been a problem for me. Everybody's got a way that's best for them though.

Thank you soo much for the response! i really feel Im like that myself! I just felt compelled to follow Kaplans advice. My instructor repeatedly reminded us that the reason they tell you to do that is because it works.. but your right everyone is different! i did feel like I was in much better shape for the exam when i was doing FLs every day or every other day! it kept me in exam mode and reduced my anxiety about the exam.
Thanks yuo so so much! you have no idea how much you have help me! lol.

Also I have this problem where I literally cannot sleep the night before an exam.. like Ill just toss and turn in bed, just cannot get to sleep! That is what happened to me last night ( i was awake in bed when aamc called around 7 am).. Im worried ill be tired during the exam and I wanted to try taking something to help me sleep.. but I also do not want to groggy in the morning..
I was thinking i world take it around 6pm the night before that way itll have about 14 hrs to get out of my system.

Any advice?

 

[Ineedhopenow]

I'm also worried about getting quality sleep. I'm planning to wake up at 2 a.m. on Friday, and review material (notes and Audio Osmosis) until 7 p.m. and hope to crash until 5 a.m. for the 8 a.m. exam.

 

[pure skill]

Thank you soo much for the response! i really feel Im like that myself! I just felt compelled to follow Kaplans advice. My instructor repeatedly reminded us that the reason they tell you to do that is because it works.. but your right everyone is different! i did feel like I was in much better shape for the exam when i was doing FLs every day or every other day! it kept me in exam mode and reduced my anxiety about the exam.
Thanks yuo so so much! you have no idea how much you have help me! lol.

Also I have this problem where I literally cannot sleep the night before an exam.. like Ill just toss and turn in bed, just cannot get to sleep! That is what happened to me last night ( i was awake in bed when aamc called around 7 am).. Im worried ill be tired during the exam and I wanted to try taking something to help me sleep.. but I also do not want to groggy in the morning..
I was thinking i world take it around 6pm the night before that way itll have about 14 hrs to get out of my system.

Any advice?

I'm the same with way with pretest anxiety. I have a tough time sleeping. I intend to take a melatonin about 8 pm on Friday night and wake up at 5 am. I never have any grogginess issues with it. I'm staying at a hotel the night before so I have a strange place in addition to being worried about the test. I imagine it will help me though (it always has in the past). If I wake up at 5, I figure that'll be plenty of time to become awake and alert by test time. That's the best plan I've come up with.

I'm also worried about getting quality sleep. I'm planning to wake up at 2 a.m. on Friday, and review material (notes and Audio Osmosis) until 7 p.m. and hope to crash until 5 a.m. for the 8 a.m. exam.

I don't know how much I would want to change my sleep schedule before this thing. If you think that'll work for you, that's great. I have a hard time adjusting my sleep schedule though, so I imagine that would be a surefire way to ruin my score.

 

[05silvergt]

Physics- Specific gravity, Periodic motion, hydrostatic pressure, diffraction (not going to focus much on diffraction, doesn't seem to ever come up)
Gen. Chem- Thermodynamics (specifically, PV work), acidic/basic salts, BUFFERS
Orgo- Nothing really, but considering many of the recent tests have been orgo heavy, going to make sure I know some of the big mechs down pat (Aldol, hoffman, etc.).
Bio- Nothing really here either.. vasodilation/vasoconstriction maybe

Excited to get this thing over with!!

Those are pretty much my weak areas as well. I'll be reviewing them heavily the rest of the week.

For those of you who have take multiple FLs, how have you minimized the careless/stupid mistakes on your exams? I was going over aamc 10 that I took yesterday and found a few careless mistakes that probably cost me 3 points. I finish with plenty of time, although I don't feel as if I rush through anything.

 

[Barley426]

Gah! One week left! How's everyone holding up?

I did AAMC 10 and updated my score above, but it was 37 13P,11V,13B. I feel like that is very representative of my skills, I just hope to have the same performance on the exam.

I plan on doing AAMC 11 on tuesday or wednesday, while steadily reviewing missed problems and noting trends. Then using those trends and my current areas of concern and challenging myself with harder problems & passages related to those areas.

I plan on taking it easy the night before. I may review some formulas but I plan on keeping my body & mind rested. I can live with hitting a problem I can't remember exactly how to do it, but I fear running out of mental energy much more.

05silvergt, I know what you mean about careless mistakes. They happen. Minimizing it is clearly the goal, but how to get that goal is not so clear.

For me what helped was (especially on a seemingly facile question) taking a second and looking back at the question, was there a "not", "wouldn't", "weaken", or "least likely" that I overlooked? It only takes a second and has saved me a couple points. If you have plenty of time at the end, you've made sure you didn't leave any unanswered and gone over all the "questionable" problems: just start reading through problems beginning to end (if you can stand it) until time runs out, seeing if you would answer the same way.

 

[Jepstein30]

Gah! One week left! How's everyone holding up?

I did AAMC 10 and updated my score above, but it was 37 13P,11V,13B. I feel like that is very representative of my skills, I just hope to have the same performance on the exam.

I plan on doing AAMC 11 on tuesday or wednesday, while steadily reviewing missed problems and noting trends. Then using those trends and my current areas of concern and challenging myself with harder problems & passages related to those areas.

I plan on taking it easy the night before. I may review some formulas but I plan on keeping my body & mind rested. I can live with hitting a problem I can't remember exactly how to do it, but I fear running out of mental energy much more.

05silvergt, I know what you mean about careless mistakes. They happen. Minimizing it is clearly the goal, but how to get that goal is not so clear.

For me what helped was (especially on a seemingly facile question) taking a second and looking back at the question, was there a "not", "wouldn't", "weaken", or "least likely" that I overlooked? It only takes a second and has saved me a couple points. If you have plenty of time at the end, you've made sure you didn't leave any unanswered and gone over all the "questionable" problems: just start reading through problems beginning to end (if you can stand it) until time runs out, seeing if you would answer the same way.

Also just took AAMC 10, got a 12/10/12.. which is under my average so slightly disappointing but a good score nonetheless. Of course, only 1 question away in each category from the next mark.

Not sure what's happening with my verbal. Has been steadily decreasing from 2 wrong to 4 wrong to now, 8 wrong.. If I can bump this back up to a 12, I'll be very happy come test day. Went from a high of 14 to a low of 10 now, steadily decreasing by one every practice test.

Still shooting for that 12/13/13 but we'll see.

Here's my AAMC 10 impressions:

PS - the physics wasn't hard at all, mostly chem stuff. Got 4 questions wrong:
1) Overthinking the solid nitrogen bonding question.. I still don't really get it. The question seems to propose N has STRONGER bonds but the correct answer doesn't support that fact. Had this one right and kept changing it.
2) Relationship between K and spontaneity.. gotta remember to do a concise job of thinking through all possible equations.
3) Neutron and ionization.. still don't understand how B and D aren't the same answer.. switching between both, ended up sticking on D.
4) Curved projectories.. I knew this fact but since it wasn't mentioned AT ALL in the passage, I didn't want to assume anything of the experiment. Bah.

VR- I thought these passages were all pretty good and straightforward.. guess I wasn't focusing enough since this has been my worst VR performance yet.
2 wrong on writer's block passage
2 wrong on tortoise passage
2 wrong on mythology passage
2 wrong on concepts passage

I only get things wrong in 2s.. bah. Few stupid mistakes in there, few things I just didn't pick up on.

BS- SHOULD BE MY STRONGEST SECTION!! 🙁 Didn't think it was hard at all, I like the o-chem stuff and got 100% on it..
1) Calcium in shells.. picked it, changed it to a safer answer.
2) reading that stupid pulmonary function graph.. gahhh.. i always make a stupid mistake interpreting graphs
3) Why am I supposed to know what a vole is?
4) Misread "nerve terminal" for "receptor" bah
5) Didn't know what diabetes mellitus meant..mellitus?? if it just said diabetes.. prob would have picked it
6) Sperm pathway.. URETHRA not URETER!!

Well, rant over. 18 total wrong which has been a weirdly consistent number for me on the past few tests.. except that 18 wrong went from being 37s to 34s 🙁

 

[xcleex]

I cant believe I make so many careless mistakes in my tests. As I go over them I dont look at the answers and just answer them again then check the answers. But as I check whether I got questions right or wrong, I notice that I get a lot of problems wrong on the first time. Then I'm wondering why did I even choose that answer during my first time taking. Maybe I'm thinking that aamc FL are not real test and not focusing hard enough.

 

[adrogen]

Took Kaplan # 5 today and scored 11/10/13. Seems like I am regressing!

Worst score of my recent efforts, although I'm not so bothered (I only set out with a goal of 31+)

Is it just me or is the PS on this one just harder?

How is everyone?
I'm personally feeling a little burnt out. Anyway here's an update on my scores

Kap 1 10/7/10 - 27
Kap 2 13/10/13 - 36
Kap 3 12/11/13 - 36
AAMC 8 14/9/13 -36
Kap 4 11/10/13 -34
AAMC 9 11/11/13 -35
AAMC 10 12/10/11 - 33
Kap5 12/10/13 -35

Weird that my scores have taken somewhat of a downward trend. PS and verbal has been jumping around but bio seems pretty consistent. Going to try squeeze in the remaining AAMCs and the rest of EK next week.

 

[adrogen]

Androgen, I'd stop doing Kaplans if I were you. Time to move solely to AAMCs as they will be more like the real thing as far as content and difficulty.

Well here we are guys, less than 2 weeks!

I slipped a little on today's test down to a 35 (updated above), but the good news is I finally got my sleep schedule in order. Today was able to get up, get ready, provide time for driving, and then start AAMC9 at 8am, which is my scheduled time come test day. Now to keep the sleep cycle and also work a little harder on verbal.

Good luck on the last leg of studying guys.

I've heard from people that the early AAMC's (3-7) are not really representative of the real thing given that they are too easy. I've been told that 8-11 are closest to the real deal, while the difficulty of the Kaplan exams will help prepare for the harder passages on test day. Will still try get the old AAMC's in before next saturday though.
Good luck! Your scores look great

 

[AA|FCB|DOC]

I cant believe I make so many careless mistakes in my tests. As I go over them I dont look at the answers and just answer them again then check the answers. But as I check whether I got questions right or wrong, I notice that I get a lot of problems wrong on the first time. Then I'm wondering why did I even choose that answer during my first time taking. Maybe I'm thinking that aamc FL are not real test and not focusing hard enough.

i think i share your problem

 

[Sports Junky]

i think i share your problem

This happens to me sometimes as well, mostly in Verbal

Here's to the adrenaline rush that will keep us focused on Test Day 😎

 

[Ineedhopenow]

Hey guys, I posted a problem I'm having on physics in the Q&A. If possible, please take a look. The title is under "Which power equation to use???".

 

[Ineedhopenow]

Yeah, my sleep schedule for the last month and a half has been messed up. I've been 100% focused on the MCAT for that period of time, so I study as soon as I wake up. Sometimes I take naps in the middle of the day, so I don't go back to sleep until 5 a.m. Right now, I'm sleeping at 8 a.m. It always changes...but I'm doing it to hyperfocus when I study and to prevent drowzing when studying.

Crossing my fingers that this won't negatively affect me.

 

[Jepstein30]

Yeah, my sleep schedule for the last month and a half has been messed up. I've been 100% focused on the MCAT for that period of time, so I study as soon as I wake up. Sometimes I take naps in the middle of the day, so I don't go back to sleep until 5 a.m. Right now, I'm sleeping at 8 a.m. It always changes...but I'm doing it to hyperfocus when I study and to prevent drowzing when studying.

Crossing my fingers that this won't negatively affect me.

Same here.. I'm going to 'reset' my sleep schedule next week by forcing myself to get up really early Friday morning and tiring myself out so I fall asleep early Friday night.

I want to get up a few hours before the test so I can get my mind going.

 

[Barley426]

I've heard from people that the early AAMC's (3-7) are not really representative of the real thing given that they are too easy. I've been told that 8-11 are closest to the real deal, while the difficulty of the Kaplan exams will help prepare for the harder passages on test day. Will still try get the old AAMC's in before next saturday though.
Good luck! Your scores look great

I've heard that about the early AAMC's but I really havent noticed much of a difference myself, there were a couple tricky passages on AAMC 9 and 10 but I felt they all had a tricky passage or two. The key to me was not getting bogged down on a couple questions on one passage.

The kaplan full lengths I took went WAY too far into detail on nuances and complex calculations. I was doing ok because of the HUGE curve, but now I realize I was wasting my time preparing for those since AAMC is a different beast. It's not "easy" because the curve is more unforgiving but the questions are less convoluted and more-importantly, more like the real MCAT.

 

[BurntFlower]

Well, I'm doomed. I got a 17 on AAMC 3.

4/9/4.

The worst part is I can't reschedule! Unless a miracle happens, I don't know how I'll improve in a week in order to get a 27+ score. 🙁

 

[Ineedhopenow]

OOOMMMGGG!!!! E-mcat site is down...or it won't work with my account. It gives me:

Error
Security validation failed

I know I have the password and email right. Is this happening to anyone else?

 

[Ineedhopenow]

Nevermind it's back up...

 

[ShoTyme]

OOOMMMGGG!!!! E-mcat site is down...or it won't work with my account. It gives me:

Error
Security validation failed

I know I have the password and email right. Is this happening to anyone else?

It did that to me for an hour and a half on Thursday. I was on question 141 at the time also. It was an excruciatingly frustrating experience.

 

[nabilesmail]

Gah! One week left! How's everyone holding up?

I did AAMC 10 and updated my score above, but it was 37 13P,11V,13B. I feel like that is very representative of my skills, I just hope to have the same performance on the exam.

I plan on doing AAMC 11 on tuesday or wednesday, while steadily reviewing missed problems and noting trends. Then using those trends and my current areas of concern and challenging myself with harder problems & passages related to those areas.

I plan on taking it easy the night before. I may review some formulas but I plan on keeping my body & mind rested. I can live with hitting a problem I can't remember exactly how to do it, but I fear running out of mental energy much more.

05silvergt, I know what you mean about careless mistakes. They happen. Minimizing it is clearly the goal, but how to get that goal is not so clear.

For me what helped was (especially on a seemingly facile question) taking a second and looking back at the question, was there a "not", "wouldn't", "weaken", or "least likely" that I overlooked? It only takes a second and has saved me a couple points. If you have plenty of time at the end, you've made sure you didn't leave any unanswered and gone over all the "questionable" problems: just start reading through problems beginning to end (if you can stand it) until time runs out, seeing if you would answer the same way.

Also hit a 37 on AAMC-10 14-8-15 lolsverbal, gonna spend this week doing 2 hrs/day on verbal, aamc11 on thursday, read notes some scientific journals, and do the rest of the tprh swb biology/physics passages.

 

[rjosh33]

OOOMMMGGG!!!! E-mcat site is down...or it won't work with my account. It gives me:

Error
Security validation failed

I know I have the password and email right. Is this happening to anyone else?

For some reason, this happens to me just about every time I try to log in. I usually end up having to click on "SIGN OUT" and then retype my password extremely slowly, which usually then works.

Sometimes I'll try to type it in slowly the first time and it still won't work. It's weird, it always makes me go back and do it a second (or third, or fourth...) time before I can get access. I think the MCAT gods are just screwing with me.

 

[Jepstein30]

For some reason, this happens to me just about every time I try to log in. I usually end up having to click on "SIGN OUT" and then retype my password extremely slowly, which usually then works.

Sometimes I'll try to type it in slowly the first time and it still won't work. It's weird, it always makes me go back and do it a second (or third, or fourth...) time before I can get access. I think the MCAT gods are just screwing with me.

Ugh this happens every time also. I just recover my password every single time and then can log in immediately (without waiting for the email or anything).

annoying but whatever.

 

[rjosh33]

Ugh this happens every time also. I just recover my password every single time and then can log in immediately (without waiting for the email or anything).

annoying but whatever.

Yep, it's one of those First World problems. Like the other day when it was 100 out and I had to roll the window all the way down to punch in the code to my gated community.

http://www.reddit.com/r/firstworldproblems/

 

[Mar3]

Yep, it's one of those First World problems. Like the other day when it was 100 out and I had to roll the window all the way down to punch in the code to my gated community.

http://www.reddit.com/r/firstworldproblems/

hahaha that site it ridiculous. but whats even wprse is that i just spent 30 mins on it.. AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! lol

 

[rjosh33]

hahaha that site it ridiculous. but whats even wprse is that i just spent 30 mins on it.. AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! lol

My apologies kind sir.

But look at the bright side. If the MCAT ever asks you about potential downfalls to remodeling your bathroom, you'll be ready to roll. 👍

 

[Mar3]

My apologies kind sir.

But look at the bright side. If the MCAT ever asks you about potential downfalls to remodeling your bathroom, you'll be ready to roll. 👍

kind ma'am actually. But yeah and some great words of wisdom and just hear breaking stories..🙄

 

[Jepstein30]

What's everyone's plans for the final stretch?

My schedule (I work in a lab so this is just what I'll definitely be doing everyday, should have time to squeeze in extra studying between experiments and stuff).

Sunday (today)- Going through old practice exams and redoing each problem.. focusing on ones I got wrong.
Monday- Verbal self assessment + continue review of other self assessments.
Tuesday- Taking AAMC 11.
Wednesday- Review AAMC 11 + review topics I got any questions wrong in.
Thursday- Hardcore studying, going to hit every topic one last time and do some practice problems (EK 1001) with whatever I feel uncomfortable with. Taking the day off, I think, so should have lots of time.
Friday- No studying. Light review maybe early Friday morning but taking the day off and relaxing.

We got this!!

 

[Mar3]

What's everyone's plans for the final stretch?

My schedule (I work in a lab so this is just what I'll definitely be doing everyday, should have time to squeeze in extra studying between experiments and stuff).

Sunday (today)- Going through old practice exams and redoing each problem.. focusing on ones I got wrong.
Monday- Verbal self assessment + continue review of other self assessments.
Tuesday- Taking AAMC 11.
Wednesday- Review AAMC 11 + review topics I got any questions wrong in.
Thursday- Hardcore studying, going to hit every topic one last time and do some practice problems (EK 1001) with whatever I feel uncomfortable with. Taking the day off, I think, so should have lots of time.
Friday- No studying. Light review maybe early Friday morning but taking the day off and relaxing.

We got this!!

Well my day today turned out to be very unproductive.. for some reason I was extremely tired and therefore ended up not doing a FL. I was planning on doing on every other day until thursday but then I remembered I have summer classes starting tomorrow..

soo now the plan is to AAMC 5 on thurday (done all the others already). a kaplan FL tuesday. and kaplan section tests in between. Especially VR. that seems to be a very random section for me.

yes almost done! ( I think that is the bright side ..)

 

[Ineedhopenow]

My plan.

Review AAMC exam questions for all the ones I've done. Take my final FL on Tuesday. Finish verbal assessment. Review all other test prep problems.

Friday- Review my notes and EK books.

...I hope all this can be done on time.

 

[Jepstein30]

My plan.

Review AAMC exam questions for all the ones I've done. Take my final FL on Tuesday. Finish verbal assessment. Review all other test prep problems.

Friday- Review my notes and EK books.

...I hope all this can be done on time.

Very similar plan here.. but I'm sorta leaning towards taking it easy for the next few days.

I'm pretty confident in my studying and don't really think I have any major weaknesses to fix right now..

I think I'm just going to review the last few FLs I haven't yet.. do the verbal assessment over a few days to get some verbal juices going and then take my last FL Tuesday.

So probably will finish verbal assessment Thursday and do some major review Thursday before taking Friday off (I think I'm just going to give my notes a one over.. that's all).

I wish I could just take it tomorrow!

 

[Buttermellow]

Hey everyone! I'm kinda late on the thread here, but I'm a reapplicant retaking on the 14th! My first test was in May 2011, I sort of decided at the last minute to retake (I didn't want to have to go through this awful test again!).

 

[jcarlier2113]

I agree with you there.

I am taking a TPR exam tm and AAMC 10 Wednesday and review through it Wednesday evening. Thursday I plan on going through all of my notes and making hitting some EK 1001 questions.. Friday I was gonna give myself 2-3 hours in the morning to do a quick review through everything then taking the rest of the day off and golfing..

The day is finally approaching can't wait for it to be over!

 

[icevermin]

What do you guys think? I don't have my breakdown from prior tests but

AAMC 3: 30
AAMC 4: 32
AAMC 5: 28
AAMC 7: 34
AAMC 8: 30 (PS: 12, VR: 8, BS: 10)

For AAMC 8 I started falling asleep during VR. I was absolutely exhausted and I attribute my score to that. Should I postpone or should I keep going? I also acquired AAMC 6 from a friend and I got a 32 on that as well.

My plan for this week: Tonight Review exam 8 (Just took it), tomorrow exam 9 + review, wednesday 10 + review. Thursday is just review everything and Friday is light review, stop by a friends' Bday party and then lots of sleep... any good???

 

[farnell]

I work full time so my schedule for this week is;

Monday: review bio
Tuesday: review Ochem
Wednesday: verbal practice and more Ochem
Thursday: practice kinematics (I find that this is the only ps topic I need to stay fresh on
In order to be confident)
Friday: chill
Saturday: test 8am

I have been breaking 30 on my fl aamc's....had a 24 on my first take. Will be content with anything over 30, would piss my pants if I got 32+

 

[Ineedhopenow]

Here are my stats. What do you predict for me?

(Chronological order PS/VR/BS)

AAMC 11- 7/7/12 - 26(ran out of time on PS...restructured strategy)
AAMC 3- 12/10/10 - 32
AAMC 4- 12/8/10 - 30
AAMC 5- 10/5/13 - 28
AAMC 7- 13/9/10 - 32
AAMC 8- 12/10/11 - 33
AAMC 10- 11/7/10 - 28
AAMC 9- 12/7/13 - 32

Physics Assess- 77% Chem Assess 87%
Biology Assess- 83% O.Chem Assess- 85%

Overall avg. (includes Assess)

PS- 82.38% VR- 62.63% BS- 83.19%
PS (without AAMC 11- 84.38%)

I still need to take the VR Assess...

 

[rjosh33]

Here are my stats. What do you predict for me?

(Chronological order PS/VR/BS)

AAMC 11- 7/7/12 - 26(ran out of time on PS...restructured strategy)
AAMC 3- 12/10/10 - 32
AAMC 4- 12/8/10 - 30
AAMC 5- 10/5/13 - 28
AAMC 7- 13/9/10 - 32
AAMC 8- 12/10/11 - 33
AAMC 10- 11/7/10 - 28
AAMC 9- 12/7/13 - 32

Physics Assess- 77% Chem Assess 87%
Biology Assess- 83% O.Chem Assess- 85%

Overall avg. (includes Assess)

PS- 82.38% VR- 62.63% BS- 83.19%
PS (without AAMC 11- 84.38%)

I still need to take the VR Assess...

Whatever you did, I'd say it worked! 👍

It's tough to predict someone else's score, but I'd say you have a good shot at 30+. Stick to your plan, work through the VR Assessment as soon as you can, and try to formulate an effective strategy for that section as well. If you can bring that up into the double digits, then you should be able to notch a solid score.

 

[pure skill]

Here are my stats. What do you predict for me?

(Chronological order PS/VR/BS)

AAMC 11- 7/7/12 - 26(ran out of time on PS...restructured strategy)
AAMC 3- 12/10/10 - 32
AAMC 4- 12/8/10 - 30
AAMC 5- 10/5/13 - 28
AAMC 7- 13/9/10 - 32
AAMC 8- 12/10/11 - 33
AAMC 10- 11/7/10 - 28
AAMC 9- 12/7/13 - 32

Physics Assess- 77% Chem Assess 87%
Biology Assess- 83% O.Chem Assess- 85%

Overall avg. (includes Assess)

PS- 82.38% VR- 62.63% BS- 83.19%
PS (without AAMC 11- 84.38%)

I still need to take the VR Assess...

Could you be over-thinking the VR? If you got a 9 and two 10's, I would think you'd be able to do it again. I know I thought there was some arcane art to VR when I first started, but after just thinking logically rather than assuming everything was a deep, tricky question, my score immediately improved. EK also helped with eliminating answer choices. It seems two options on each question are either ridiculous or say the opposite of what the question is asking. Then there is one that is somewhat plausible and of course, you have your answer. If on each question you can get to where there are only two choices that you would even consider, you're doing quite well. This is how I operate. I aim to strike through two answer choices immediately after reading the question. Then choose the more logical of the two remaining.

If I had to give a prediction, I say 35 because I know you can throw down a 10 on VR because you already have twice.

 

[Ineedhopenow]

Thanks for the responses guys, but you're being way too kind. I'll be ecstatic with a 30. I was hoping someone would notice how poorly I did with AAMC 10 and 11. Even though I screwed up the PS on AAMC 11, I'd still only get a 29 if I got a 10 on PS. This really worries me because both my AAMC 10 and 11 are sub-30....and they're suppose to be representative of the final score. Now, I really have to pull a miracle for verbal, which isn't easy for me.

Lately, I've been having major problems with VR. When I read the passages, they hardly make sense. I'm having a difficult time extracting the main ideas. This really hit me hard with AAMC 9 and 10. I swear the passages are harder there.

For VR, I try to highlight "important" facts like nouns, concepts, and dates. Although I don't have time to refer back to them, it helps me remember them SLIGHTLY better, however this is not good enough. I also try to narrow the answers down to two questions, which is a lot easier when I've got the concept down; but when I don't, things go downhill fast...

Maybe I just need to solely focus on VR from now until saturday. AND pray in between...

I'll just try to practice, and see where things go...