Official 7/14/2012 MCAT Thread

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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?
 
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Here we are 24 hours post, I'll throw my analysis into the fray for you:

PS: This is my worst subject, but I found this section to be pretty fair; There was one difficult passage as has been discussed, but honestly I felt that this section was significantly easier then AAMC 11's. A few tricky problems, but nothing unfair.

VR: I think a lot of individuals will be surprised by their VR score. While the reading was relatively concise and interesting, a number of the questions had counter intuitive answers that wouldn't be picked off of a standard read through. I can think of one passage in particular where this was rampant. Otherwise good.

Writing: Hahaha. I actually did no prep for writing except the day before (break day) I read a blog by some random person who said a good strategy was look at the rule you want to use to distinguish when the quote is appropriate vs. not and that made both of these topics a piece of cake.

BS: This was my best section coming into the test by about 1-2 points usually so I didn't find this section to be horrible either. It was clear that their intent was on that particular passage but a couple years reading Immunology research reviews for my lab made it a lot easier I think.

Overall: I'll probably due slightly above my average, unless the PS murders me. Even though my worst subjects were covered in all of the sections, I'm fairly happy with the result.
 
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tenksreaction said:
Here we are 24 hours post, I'll throw my analysis into the fray for you:

PS: This is my worst subject, but I found this section to be pretty fair; There was one difficult passage as has been discussed, but honestly I felt that this section was significantly easier then AAMC 11's. A few tricky problems, but nothing unfair.

VR: I think a lot of individuals will be surprised by their VR score. While the reading was relatively concise and interesting, a number of the questions had counter intuitive answers that wouldn't be picked off of a standard read through. I can think of one passage in particular where this was rampant. Otherwise good.

Writing: Hahaha. I actually did no prep for writing except the day before (break day) I read a blog by some random person who said a good strategy was look at the rule you want to use to distinguish when the quote is appropriate vs. not and that made both of these topics a piece of cake.

BS: This was my best section coming into the test by about 1-2 points usually so I didn't find this section to be horrible either. It was clear that their intent was on that particular passage but a couple years reading Immunology research reviews for my lab made it a lot easier I think.

Overall: I'll probably due slightly above my average, unless the PS murders me. Even though my worst subjects were covered in all of the sections, I'm fairly happy with the result.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. While the passages were surprisingly easy to read, there was 1 question I spent at least 4 minutes on at the end, and switched my answers between all 4 options. I couldn't even narrow it down. Some of those questions were fairly ambiguous and difficult to answer.
 
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tenksreaction said:
Here we are 24 hours post, I'll throw my analysis into the fray for you:

PS: This is my worst subject, but I found this section to be pretty fair; There was one difficult passage as has been discussed, but honestly I felt that this section was significantly easier then AAMC 11's. A few tricky problems, but nothing unfair.

VR: I think a lot of individuals will be surprised by their VR score. While the reading was relatively concise and interesting, a number of the questions had counter intuitive answers that wouldn't be picked off of a standard read through. I can think of one passage in particular where this was rampant. Otherwise good.

Writing: Hahaha. I actually did no prep for writing except the day before (break day) I read a blog by some random person who said a good strategy was look at the rule you want to use to distinguish when the quote is appropriate vs. not and that made both of these topics a piece of cake.

BS: This was my best section coming into the test by about 1-2 points usually so I didn't find this section to be horrible either. It was clear that their intent was on that particular passage but a couple years reading Immunology research reviews for my lab made it a lot easier I think.

Overall: I'll probably due slightly above my average, unless the PS murders me. Even though my worst subjects were covered in all of the sections, I'm fairly happy with the result.
Click to expand...
That's word for word what I did, same blog, 30 minutes before I got there. Hilarious.
 
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For those of you who are pretty sure you got a 30+...how did you study?? It seems like it didn't matter what approach I took..I still couldn't break 29 with the practice tests. Also how long did you study?
I'm pretty sure I'll have to retake 🙁
 
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Leigh114 said:
For those of you who are pretty sure you got a 30+...how did you study?? It seems like it didn't matter what approach I took..I still couldn't break 29 with the practice tests. Also how long did you study?
I'm pretty sure I'll have to retake 🙁
Click to expand...
How many practice tests did you take ?
 
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How do the experimental questions work exactly? I am hoping the entire passages for the beastly PS and BS passages everyone is talking about were experimental...
 
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ozzi22 said:
How many practice tests did you take ?
Click to expand...

I took 6 of the practice tests, and then several Kaplan section tests...I get tripped up on the passages for some reason. I know the information, and when I look at the answers afterwards I feel so stupid. I just fall for all of their tricks!
 
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I think AAMC11 was a lot easier than our test. I've gotten a 14 on the PS of the last 3 aamc's I;ve taken 9,10,11 and felt much more defeated but maybe it is just due to that 1 passage since I kind of guessed on 3 questions on it and I know for sure 1 was wrong (pseudiscrete 😛)

bio = same I know for sure I got one wrong and had to completely guess on 2 more :/
 
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nabilesmail said:
I think AAMC11 was a lot easier than our test. I've gotten a 14 on the PS of the last 3 aamc's I;ve taken 9,10,11 and felt much more defeated but maybe it is just due to that 1 passage since I kind of guessed on 3 questions on it and I know for sure 1 was wrong (pseudiscrete 😛)

bio = same I know for sure I got one wrong and had to completely guess on 2 more :/
Click to expand...

PS was more difficult than AAMC 11 imo but VR was easier (passage wise) and BS was on par I think.. some discretes and that one passage stick out as harder but otherwise same difficulty.

Can it be August 14th already?
 
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Yeah I agree, the VR passages were easier but the questions were tough. Ugh I really hope I do good in verbal, my last scores have been


8
10
8
10

lol

Bio I agree, but I did think the O-chem was a bit tougher too and yeah a few mean discretes
 
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somefun said:
i can't recall exactly - were there 4 bio passages and 3 orgo passages?

Either way, I was surprised at how even the subject distribution was, seeing how other takers on different dates commented on how there was much more emphasis on general chem and biology for PS and BS respectively.
Click to expand...

I think 2 orgo passages and yea, lots more Physics than gen chem.. I think I remember 2-3 Gen chem passages.
 
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nabilesmail said:
Yeah, man i was hoping for a stronger gen chem emphasis
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Same, considering physics is my worst subject and gen chem one of my strongest.

Oh well.. I think I did well enough to not consider taking it again but don't think I did as good as I could.

If I were to take it again tomorrow, odds are I'd do better simply because I wouldn't have so many passages on my weaker topics :laugh:
 
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Ya I only remember 2 Orgo passages as well. The last two bio passages were hard to comprehend. Ugh I'm regretting not making enough time to complete it with the best of my ability.
 
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First official MCAT take. The only thing that felt good about the exam was leaving the center and being done with the thing, at least for a few days until I need to start studying again for next yr's inevitable re-take :/

PS: Pretty difficult I thought, especially that passage. Maybe 4 or 5 complete guesses and they were almost all on the passage from hell.

VR: I thought it was kinda standard as far as verbals go. I felt good and didn't see any especially "tricky" or difficult type questions, which means I fell for the AAMC's sick sense of humor and completely messed those ones up.

Writing section was confusing because I couldn't decide if I wanted to eat lunch after the exam was over or if I should go back and eat the breakfast I missed earlier in the day. I went with lunch, and I think it was the correct decision. Some kind of miso hamburger and seasoned fries my dad had made. Overall pretty tasty.

BS: Didn't study for organic at all, and I missed a few I probably should have gotten. Bio was almost decent except for the one passage.

I wanted to void, but I couldn't justify at least not allowing god to work a miracle on my behalf. Oh, also it was really expensive and it's probably too late to get a decent amount of studying in and then re-taking. So we'll see, but I'm not optimistic at all :/
 
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How funny would it be if we were all referring to different passages when we were talking about that one hard one in PS. lawl
 
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Have to decide whether I want to sign up for a retake in the next day or so..

Would have to be the late August dates which would be a huge problem with application season.

Ughh.. may just sign up and hope to have to cancel.

Why couldn't we just get a normal PS??
 
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Yeah. Thirty days is so long :/ My take on it (by all means, I could be very very very wrong) is that the curve will adjust for some of the "wtf"-ness, so it should still come down to how well prepared a person is and how they are able to reason stuff out. So I'm not considering a retake this year because I would have almost no time to improve my preparedness unless I retook it in September, which just seems too late for me.

Just my take on it. Absolutely do what you think is best.
 
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What is the point of the online AAMC full lengths and the other materials available for purchase online if they are nothing like the actual test? This test was much harder than any full length test or set of questions available online (and in most preparation books). In almost all of the AAMC full lengths, there were a few passages per test that were difficult and required more time to understand and answer. In this exam, the majority of the passages were difficult. If we develop a sense of timing based on the difficulty of the available practice tests and are then given a test where the passage difficulty is much, much higher, how can we be expected to perform well under the same time restrictions?
 
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I wonder if what you say is true (that this test really is so far above and beyond in terms of difficulty).
I never took any of the AAMC exams but I did some EK and TPR practice exams so I really have no true comparison.

What do other people think?
 
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RedSox1804 said:
I wonder if what you say is true (that this test really is so far above and beyond in terms of difficulty).
I never took any of the AAMC exams but I did some EK and TPR practice exams so I really have no true comparison.

What do other people think?
Click to expand...

PS was harder (that one passage + some of the random physics discretes)
VR was slightly easier (straightforward passages but some tricky questions)
BS was the same (mostly striaghtforward passages, one difficult passage but there were some discretes that were much harder)

IMO at least
 
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I'm definitely thinking about doing the same. I'm hoping I will cancel it too but until then, gotta keep up the mcat training.
 
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The exam was really hard. Did anybody notice that other people had different exams? I was just peeping during my breaks and people were doing different passages than what I had. Not sure, anyway I remember 3 orgo passages and I know factually I got at least one wrong in PS and one wrong in BS. FML. I'm so scared, this was my second time taking it and I just can't even muster the strength to do anything but just play Demon's Souls and I keep dying so it just adds to my frustration
 
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icevermin said:
The exam was really hard. Did anybody notice that other people had different exams? I was just peeping during my breaks and people were doing different passages than what I had. Not sure, anyway I remember 3 orgo passages and I know factually I got at least one wrong in PS and one wrong in BS. FML. I'm so scared, this was my second time taking it and I just can't even muster the strength to do anything but just play Demon's Souls and I keep dying so it just adds to my frustration
Click to expand...

Not something you want to admit to dude.
 
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icevermin said:
The exam was really hard. Did anybody notice that other people had different exams? I was just peeping during my breaks and people were doing different passages than what I had. Not sure, anyway I remember 3 orgo passages and I know factually I got at least one wrong in PS and one wrong in BS. FML. I'm so scared, this was my second time taking it and I just can't even muster the strength to do anything but just play Demon's Souls and I keep dying so it just adds to my frustration
Click to expand...

I'm factually at 1 wrong PS and 3-5 wrong in BS! SO PSHH!
 
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That self-respect passage spoke to me on a spiritual level haha. I just have no words for how I feel about this test. Studying for the re-take..
 
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The test was way worse than expected!
Physics- hard but not unusually so
Verbal- way tooo easyy!! that is never good for the curve
Bio- really difficult. I already know i messed up on 3 questions (put the right answer and changed it last minute...then I looked it up and I had it right the first time!).

Anyway Im pray for a 30+. Been getting 31/32 average on my tests so far!
Can they give us our scores already!!!!!!!:scared::scared::scared:
 
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Just to put a different spin on this thread, what's the average MCAT score for your school of choice? 27 here, over at UMC in Jackson, MS.
 
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chaser676 said:
Just to put a different spin on this thread, what's the average MCAT score for your school of choice? 27 here, over at UMC in Jackson, MS.
Click to expand...

UMC for me as well. Last year, a 27 was enough to get me a postponed decision that finally led to rejection. I took that as a positive sign. I think I did better on this one than last year's. I went in there wanting about a 35 or so, and now I just hope to have gotten a 30.
 
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ilovemedi said:
what FL's did everyone do? TBR CBT or AAMC? I don't know if tbr's worth it.
Click to expand...

Definitely do all the AAMCs.

AAMC FLs + self assessment package >>>>>>> any other practice material.

Do TBR if you have time but make sure you leave time for all the AAMC material.
 
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So it looks like I'm a little late to the party. Right after the test I had to drive 2 hours to a soccer tournament that lasted the rest of the weekend. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

PS: I felt it was tough but fair for the most part, though I did get a little lucky in this section. I'm taking Physics III this summer and we just had a test on the same material that that passage was on. Even then, I made mistakes on a couple questions from that passage the first time through, and only caught them when I reviewed my answers.

VR: Yep, what everyone else has said. The passages were interesting and very straightforward for an MCAT VR. Some questions were tricky, of course, and required some leaps in logic, but that's to be expected. I agree with tenks that some (including myself) might be surprised by their score because of the traps disguised as correct answers, but this section could've been a helluva lot worse.

WS: I'm pretty sure my score will be terrible for this because I, like virtually all American medical schools, don't give a **** about this section.

BS: Hard. A couple passages in particular were exceptionally difficult (we all know which ones those were). I was actually planning on a BS section like this, and prepped by reading several dense, difficult research articles dealing with molecular biology. That was certainly helpful on the really dense passage, yet I still had to read and reread it about 3 times before it made sense.

Overall, though, this MCAT kinda suited me. Verbal is easily my worst section and this one definitely wasn't the slobber-knocker it could've been. I feel comfortable with my answers for PS (which doesn't imply I got them all right, just that I don't think I did anything too stupid), and while BS probably could've gone better, I don't think I got steamrolled either.

Here's to hoping that in about 31 days, everybody finds out they did as well as they wanted.
 
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Guys, FYI, our scores are not up. Checked a few times this morning just to make sure.

gonna be a long 28 days.

oh and my current wrong/guessed chart:
PS- 1 wrong, 3 guessed
BS- 1 wrong, 2 guessed

after not having to guess on any in AAMC FLs, that scares me 🙁
 
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Jepstein30 said:
Guys, FYI, our scores are not up. Checked a few times this morning just to make sure.

gonna be a long 28 days.

oh and my current wrong/guessed chart:
PS- 1 wrong, 3 guessed
BS- 1 wrong, 2 guessed

after not having to guess on any in AAMC FLs, that scares me 🙁
Click to expand...

Definitely misread that as our scores ARE up, and had a minor heart attack.
 
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Jepstein30 said:
Guys, FYI, our scores are not up. Checked a few times this morning just to make sure.

gonna be a long 28 days.

oh and my current wrong/guessed chart:
PS- 1 wrong, 3 guessed
BS- 1 wrong, 2 guessed

after not having to guess on any in AAMC FLs, that scares me 🙁
Click to expand...

Im in the same position. This morning just realized that I got two fairly easy questions incorrect, and I also know I guessed a lot on the brutal passage on PS. Also for BS i guessed some places in the wall of text and the other passage. Now I keep thinking I cant get any sort of 90th percentile score 🙁
 
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