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?
 
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 🙁

Same here. I'm at at least 2 for sure wrong each in BS and PS. I ended up marking 10+ questions in each, some of which were complete guesses and some of which were narrowed down to 2 options.

Anyone know more about the scoring? Such as, are harder questions worth more points? I saw a thread in which someone said they were, but then someone else called the AAMC and they said they couldn't reveal that information.
 
Same here. I'm at at least 2 for sure wrong each in BS and PS. I ended up marking 10+ questions in each, some of which were complete guesses and some of which were narrowed down to 2 options.

Anyone know more about the scoring? Such as, are harder questions worth more points? I saw a thread in which someone said they were, but then someone else called the AAMC and they said they couldn't reveal that information.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=12782427
 
From what I can interpret from the website info, they say the questions are weighted by difficulty which has been said before. What isn't indicated, is when the weighing takes place. Other people in other threads claim that the weighing is performed before the test is indicated, based on how difficult they feel the question is when they are writing it. Others feel they asses the required weight of each question after a test is administered based on how many people get it right or wrong.

If I were to speculate, I would say they probably do both. They most likely decide what difficulty level questions are before the exam so they can assemble exams with relatively similar difficulty, and then adjust their prediction based on how many people actually got the questions right compared to how many they thought would get it right. This would explain why it takes so long to grade the test (essays shouldn't take that long) and also how they manage to make sure that the percentile and scaled scores are not highly variable from test to test or year to year. Additionally, it would explain how people can still manage to score similar to their AAMC average when they feel they did much worse and had to guess when they normally didn't have to during practice exams.

We shall see.
 
From what I can interpret from the website info, they say the questions are weighted by difficulty which has been said before. What isn't indicated, is when the weighing takes place. Other people in other threads claim that the weighing is performed before the test is indicated, based on how difficult they feel the question is when they are writing it. Others feel they asses the required weight of each question after a test is administered based on how many people get it right or wrong.

If I were to speculate, I would say they probably do both. They most likely decide what difficulty level questions are before the exam so they can assemble exams with relatively similar difficulty, and then adjust their prediction based on how many people actually got the questions right compared to how many they thought would get it right. This would explain why it takes so long to grade the test (essays shouldn't take that long) and also how they manage to make sure that the percentile and scaled scores are not highly variable from test to test or year to year. Additionally, it would explain how people can still manage to score similar to their AAMC average when they feel they did much worse and had to guess when they normally didn't have to during practice exams.

We shall see.

I'm not sure they do this, just based on this paragraph from the AAMC:

"Examinees often ask if earning a high score or higher percentile is easier or harder at different times of the testing year. They ask whether they have a better chance of earning a higher score in April or in August, for example. The question is based on an assumption that the exam is scored on a curve, and that a final score is dependent on how an individual performed in comparison to other examinees from the same test day or same time of year.

While there may be small differences in the MCAT exam you took compared to another examinee, the scoring process accounts for these differences so that an 8 earned on physical sciences on one exam means the same thing as an 8 earned on any other exam. The percentile provided on your score report simply indicates what percentage of examinees from the previous testing year scored the same as you did on the MCAT exam.

How you score on the MCAT exam, therefore, is not reflective of the particular exam you took—including the time of day, the test date, or the time of year—since any difference in difficulty level is accounted for when calculating your scale scores (see above for information about scaling). "

Then again, the AAMC is kind of confusing when wording how they score things. Who knows. I wonder if every mcat question has been administered previously as an experimental? And that's how they might gauge the difficulty?
 
I wonder if every mcat question has been administered previously as an experimental? And that's how they might gauge the difficulty?

To my understanding, this is what happens. That's why there are experimental items. So every question, except for the experimental items, have already been tested by previous MCAT examinees.
 
Yeah I see what you guys are saying but I feel that unless they did some sort of adjusting after they see how everyone did, there is no way to avoid having an MCAT score being reflective of what test you did that day. Buttermellow: the way they say that, it makes me feel more so that they are adjusting based on performance. The logic here is if you took it today, and it was a harder test than last month's test, it wouldn't matter because you will receive the same score. The only way I feel they could truly assess whether questions were "hard" or "easy" is by seeing how thousands of people did on them, not just what they feel is hard or easy.

Warhawk, I could see how the experimental items determined difficulty level in a previous setting, but if that were the case it doesn't make sense to me why they take a month on it. If the score scale is already predetermined, why doesn't it take less time? The essays are pretty much BS and I doubt they take a month to score them all. What could take a month to me would be debating difficulty levels for hundreds of questions based on statistical evaluation of the results for each question.

Either way, if that test was as hard as everybody is making it out to be, the scaling should be favorable. Whether they made the scale favorable before or after the administration of the test is moot in my opinion.
 
I had the same understanding, Warhawk.

Who knows what could take them a month. I know you can write/email the aamc after your exam if you feel a question was flawed or there wasn't a correct answer available. Maybe there's enough people contesting the questions that it takes a month to look into it?

They do say that the question of whether or not it is curved is "based on an assumption that the exam is scored on a curve, and that a final score is dependent on how an individual performed in comparison to other examinees from the same test day or same time of year." To me this is supporting the notion that the difficulty is judged by the test-makers, or by previous administration of the questions as experimental items.

And yeah, you're correct in saying that if it was really that bad the scale should be favorable. I thought my first mcat was relatively easy, and ended up with a very disappointing score.
 
I had the same understanding, Warhawk.

Who knows what could take them a month. I know you can write/email the aamc after your exam if you feel a question was flawed or there wasn't a correct answer available. Maybe there's enough people contesting the questions that it takes a month to look into it?

They do say that the question of whether or not it is curved is "based on an assumption that the exam is scored on a curve, and that a final score is dependent on how an individual performed in comparison to other examinees from the same test day or same time of year." To me this is supporting the notion that the difficulty is judged by the test-makers, or by previous administration of the questions as experimental items.

And yeah, you're correct in saying that if it was really that bad the scale should be favorable. I thought my first mcat was relatively easy, and ended up with a very disappointing score.

Anyone feel as if a question in the first passage was flawed? In that they did not define positive/negative y?

Hope thats not too specific..
 
Anyone feel as if a question in the first passage was flawed? In that they did not define positive/negative y?

Hope thats not too specific..

I know what you mean, but I didn't even consider positive/negative y. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake on my part.

There were some questions in VR I felt were impossible to draw from the passage. Like none of the answers made decent sense.
 
I know what you mean, but I didn't even consider positive/negative y. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake on my part.

i went back and forth because well.. yea.

poorly written question that it didn't even address that distinction.. usually they just throw in "magnitude" to make things clear.
 
anyone else finding it hard not to stress about this exam? i'm not sure any amount of preparation would have been helpful in understanding and answering some of those passages.
 
After getting tanked Saturday night and recovering yesterday, I finally feel much better about the exam. Not that I think I did any better, but that it is completely out of my hands and worrying is a waste of time. I'll either have a score that gives me a decent chance for an interview or I'll be preparing for a retake next year. Either way, I'll cross that bridge a month from now when scores are up.

And I'll echo everyone's sentiments about the PS and that one passage, which I felt was from way out in left field. Other than that I wasn't in too far over my head.
 
anyone else finding it hard not to stress about this exam? i'm not sure any amount of preparation would have been helpful in understanding and answering some of those passages.

Yeah. There were a couple questions where I thought to myself "wow, wish I had studied that more" but most of the ones I marked were "wtf is this question asking?" or "OMG I don't understand this article at all"
 
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.

What school you at? Ole Miss? I'm a Miss. College man myself
 
anyone else finding it hard not to stress about this exam? i'm not sure any amount of preparation would have been helpful in understanding and answering some of those passages.

I can't stop NOT thinking about it. Everywhere. It makes talking to women hard because I'm trying to catch up on lost time by going out but this stupid exam is on my mind ALL THE TIME
 
I can't stop NOT thinking about it. Everywhere. It makes talking to women hard because I'm trying to catch up on lost time by going out but this stupid exam is on my mind ALL THE TIME

I've been reading the threads of people who got their scores back recently. It kind of gave me hope, because most everyone scored better than how they felt they would do. I still feel like I got about a 28. And I put no effort into the writing score, I wouldn't be surprised if I got an M.
 
I have felt this way before about vague/ambiguous questions on some of the non-AAMC practice tests I have taken from TBR and EK. Those are always frustrating :/
 
Sometimes is feel like they word stuff ambiguously on purpose. Even if you complained they would probably say well that's too bad.
 
Sometimes is feel like they word stuff ambiguously on purpose. Even if you complained they would probably say well that's too bad.

Especially in VR. We're supposed to magically extrapolate how the author feels about an unrelated subject, or some other bull****.
 
Especially in VR. We're supposed to magically extrapolate how the author feels about an unrelated subject, or some other bull****.


I honestly think VR is the biggest bull. Sometimes its fair but a lot of times you just look at the questions and its like wtf....specially under the time limit. Its just redic
 
Somebody just say it - what was the "hard" passage in PS? I legit don't know which one everyone means...if we're talking about the hard bio passage on the other hand....
 
I felt OK with the PS, good with the VR, and not too good on the BS when I walked out. Seeing everything that was said on the board made me feel better because it basically reflected exactly how I felt. I'm tossing around the idea of signing up for the August 4th exam and having two scores to choose from (I'm only going for DO, so I'm assuming I could just choose which one to release).
 
I felt OK with the PS, good with the VR, and not too good on the BS when I walked out. Seeing everything that was said on the board made me feel better because it basically reflected exactly how I felt. I'm tossing around the idea of signing up for the August 4th exam and having two scores to choose from (I'm only going for DO, so I'm assuming I could just choose which one to release).

I read the "Judgement Day: May 24th" thread and felt so much better. Almost everyone scored better than they felt they did after the test.
 
Never felt so self-conscious about a test before lol Wow, this waiting period sucks! On the practice exams, I never had to blindly guess on any of the questions during PS, but bc of poor timing on the real deal, i had to blindly guess on like 4 questions. Such a crappy feeling! Hoping for atleast a 10. Did any of you guys have timing issues on the PS?
 
Never felt so self-conscious about a test before lol Wow, this waiting period sucks! On the practice exams, I never had to blindly guess on any of the questions during PS, but bc of poor timing on the real deal, i had to blindly guess on like 4 questions. Such a crappy feeling! Hoping for atleast a 10. Did any of you guys have timing issues on the PS?

Yeah, I felt a little pressed for time. I probably blindly guessed on 2-3 questions, mostly because I just had no idea, not really timing issues. I think I finished VR with 18 minutes to spare, but I needed that to go back to some of the trickier questions. I had some spare time on Bio too, but that was needed for that one passage.
 
Never felt so self-conscious about a test before lol Wow, this waiting period sucks! On the practice exams, I never had to blindly guess on any of the questions during PS, but bc of poor timing on the real deal, i had to blindly guess on like 4 questions. Such a crappy feeling! Hoping for atleast a 10. Did any of you guys have timing issues on the PS?

Ya, I never had problems finishing PS and I usually feel good about my answers but, I felt like I may have rushed through easy questions that I better chances of getting right and I was crunched on time. I was really nervous about the exam because of that stupid hard passage and some really weird discretes that caught me off guard. I've never had to blindly guess on a question either but I did it during the exam too. :scared: 🙁 I really really hope my situation turns out well like it did for people in the other threads.
 
Never felt so self-conscious about a test before lol Wow, this waiting period sucks! On the practice exams, I never had to blindly guess on any of the questions during PS, but bc of poor timing on the real deal, i had to blindly guess on like 4 questions. Such a crappy feeling! Hoping for atleast a 10. Did any of you guys have timing issues on the PS?

agreed, usually if I had to guess it was after eliminating a couple of answers, felt I had to blindly guess on an ochem question and a couple bio/phys discretes
 
Even though each science section had at least 1 really tough passage (and some FSQs) that made you hate life the overall difficulty wasn't too bad. I remember finishing the PS section with 15 minutes left and BS with 12 minute left then spent the majority of that time on those killer passages.

My guess is that if anyone was hoping for 13s and 14s its very unlikely, though this is the case for most tests. All I'm hoping for is to score 10 or above in each section (average AAMC tests was 36). And the sad thing is that even though no one gives a crap about the WS it was probably the best part (i.e. easy) of the whole test.
 
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Even though each science section had at least 1 really tough passage (and some FSQs) that made you hate life the overall difficulty wasn't too bad. I remember finishing the PS section with 15 minutes left and BS with 12 minute left then spent the majority of that time on those killer passages.

My guess is that if anyone was hoping for 13s and 14s its very unlikely, though this is the case for most tests. All I'm hoping for is to score 10 or above in each section (average AAMC tests was 36). And the sad thing is that even though no one gives a crap about the WS it was probably the best part (i.e. easy) of the whole test.

Dannnng! Finishing real deal PS with 15 mins to spare. You're a beast bro! 36 avg is impressive. My practice exams ranged from 28-31, with an avg verbal of 7, which seemed to always prevent me from scoring in the mid 30s. Im just scared that my verbal is going to screw me up. Id be super ecstatic with just an 8 lol. Seriously!:xf:
 
Hey Guys! Im so nervous for this EXAM!!! Why cant August 14th get here faster.....

This was my first time taking the exam and Im 18 and I just graduated high school one month ago..... All of that contributed to my nerves and it was CRAZY,

PS Went pretty good for me. When I first started It was so easy that I literally almost cried. I was questioning if this exam was legit. Then it picked up the intensity. I wasnt able to check and review anything to see if I forgot to answer any question. I believe I answered every question and dont remember guessing or not feeling very confident. If somebody wouldnt min could they give me some hint as to what the BEAST passage was? Usually I avg a 10-11

VR: Verbal is so sketchy for me. I finished with a few seconds to spare but with its ambiguity I feel that I made my best guess on the answer 90% of the time. I only feel super confident about a few of my answers. The passages weren't bad at all but the questions were so ambiguous I was frequently stuck between 2 answers. Usually I avg a 9-10.

Writing: I dont even think it matters but I did pretty good. I made a ROOKIE Mistake hahaha For some reason in my mind I though that The Nazis were in World War 1 AHAHAHAHA NOOOOO!!!! I hope they dont kill me!

BS: Wasnt to bad except for a few questions and that ONE passage :'( FML. I literally felt like all 6 of those questions I could have easily gotten wrong. I took my best guess. After reading it 3X I couldnt do it anymore I wasnt getting anywhere. Most of the questions werent that bad though. We will see I usually AVG 10.

My usual average for the MCAT is a 30-32. Hopefully I at least get a 30. I really hope that I score a 30 or higher but as long as I get a 28 or higher I will not retake. Im just so nervous about Verbal like usually I feel a little more confident but its so ambiguous I never know. I think my beast score on PS might help pick up any verbal slack. Good luck to you all!
 
Hmmmm overall I think I got
10-12 (I felt unusually good about this section, but you never know)
8-12 vr (we all know verbal is an absolute crapshoot, felt good about this too)
9-10 bio (this section was brutal...will be ecstatic with a 10)

So worst case scenario 27, best case scenario 34???
Realistically I predict an 11 10 9 though for a 30. Will be happy with 31+
 
Hey Guys! Im so nervous for this EXAM!!! Why cant August 14th get here faster.....

This was my first time taking the exam and Im 18 and I just graduated high school one month ago..... All of that contributed to my nerves and it was CRAZY,

PS Went pretty good for me. When I first started It was so easy that I literally almost cried. I was questioning if this exam was legit. Then it picked up the intensity. I wasnt able to check and review anything to see if I forgot to answer any question. I believe I answered every question and dont remember guessing or not feeling very confident. If somebody wouldnt min could they give me some hint as to what the BEAST passage was? Usually I avg a 10-11

VR: Verbal is so sketchy for me. I finished with a few seconds to spare but with its ambiguity I feel that I made my best guess on the answer 90% of the time. I only feel super confident about a few of my answers. The passages weren't bad at all but the questions were so ambiguous I was frequently stuck between 2 answers. Usually I avg a 9-10.

Writing: I dont even think it matters but I did pretty good. I made a ROOKIE Mistake hahaha For some reason in my mind I though that The Nazis were in World War 1 AHAHAHAHA NOOOOO!!!! I hope they dont kill me!

BS: Wasnt to bad except for a few questions and that ONE passage :'( FML. I literally felt like all 6 of those questions I could have easily gotten wrong. I took my best guess. After reading it 3X I couldnt do it anymore I wasnt getting anywhere. Most of the questions werent that bad though. We will see I usually AVG 10.

My usual average for the MCAT is a 30-32. Hopefully I at least get a 30. I really hope that I score a 30 or higher but as long as I get a 28 or higher I will not retake. Im just so nervous about Verbal like usually I feel a little more confident but its so ambiguous I never know. I think my beast score on PS might help pick up any verbal slack. Good luck to you all!

Whoa, why are you taking the mcat this early!?

I felt the same way on PS on the first 2 passages, I thought I was on my way to a 13-14. Then it got more difficult...
 
Whoa, why are you taking the mcat this early!?

I felt the same way on PS on the first 2 passages, I thought I was on my way to a 13-14. Then it got more difficult...

well I got to medical school in 2 years. And I finished all my pre reqs Spring 2012. Before graduating HS I completed Bio 1/2 Gen Chem 1/2 Orgo 1/2 Physics 1/2 Anatomy 1/2 all at a local college. I got my AA already. But yea the first wasnt bad then it got a little tougher but PS is always my highest score! Most confident section because I am beast at Gen Chem haha. What do you think about the stupid World War thing?? Kinda worried :S
 
well I got to medical school in 2 years. And I finished all my pre reqs Spring 2012. Before graduating HS I completed Bio 1/2 Gen Chem 1/2 Orgo 1/2 Physics 1/2 Anatomy 1/2 all at a local college. I got my AA already. But yea the first wasnt bad then it got a little tougher but PS is always my highest score! Most confident section because I am beast at Gen Chem haha. What do you think about the stupid World War thing?? Kinda worried :S

So are you completing a bachelor's degree as you're applying? I thought most medical schools required it, except in very special cases.

I wouldn't worry about the writing section, unless you end up with a J or something. I wrote about the civil rights movement on one prompt, and pretty much had no idea what I was talking about.
 
So are you completing a bachelor's degree as you're applying? I thought most medical schools required it, except in very special cases.

I wouldn't worry about the writing section, unless you end up with a J or something. I wrote about the civil rights movement on one prompt, and pretty much had no idea what I was talking about.

no I attend Medical school in 2 years. I just took the exam a little early that way I can retake if necessary. I havent applied yet and wont until probably like another year? I believe. I wrote on that too 😛 haha. Ok thanks =D
 
Do you go to one of the schools that directly accepts undergrads who get accepted in their program?
 
I'm not sure I haven't attended the university yet i will in August. I have some info to figure out. I could only take college classes at a community college while I was in HS. so that's what I did. People can dis CC all they want but I think you learn more most of the time. Statistics prove they are more successful
 
I'm not sure I haven't attended the university yet i will in August. I have some info to figure out. I could only take college classes at a community college while I was in HS. so that's what I did. People can dis CC all they want but I think you learn more most of the time. Statistics prove they are more successful

I took several community college courses while in high school in a dual-credit program (Statistics, history, to name a few). It's just that medical schools seem to look down upon community college slightly. Though, a good mcat score may "prove" you have the same knowledge. Some medical schools don't like to accept dual credit for pre-reqs, though. Just something you might want to look into 🙂
 
Yea well they shouldn't look down on it but they do. IMO you learn more in CC classes. It's legit college credit so they have to accept it. I got As in them all and I hope my MCAT will be high to be representative of my knowledge in those subjects. I hope they look at that and the rigor of classes I took and how I did it so early and choose me. The bad thing is that I have now done 2 years but no research yet or shadowing. I need to race to do that once I start the fall. I have volunteered at a hospital though for like 100 hours
 
Yea well they shouldn't look down on it but they do. IMO you learn more in CC classes. It's legit college credit so they have to accept it. I got As in them all and I hope my MCAT will be high to be representative of my knowledge in those subjects. I hope they look at that and the rigor of classes I took and how I did it so early and choose me. The bad thing is that I have now done 2 years but no research yet or shadowing. I need to race to do that once I start the fall. I have volunteered at a hospital though for like 100 hours

How do you have any opinion regarding what you learn in CC compared to a 4 year college when you've never even taken a class at a 4 year college? bias much?

And they don't have to accept anything, they can decide what they want to do. They can decide not to accept any credits except for Ivy League if they really wanted to..

I would honestly slow yourself down and really make yourself an exceptional applicant. Instead of getting to medical school 2 years early (which honestly is probably not the best thing maturity wise and will probably be viewed as a negative by ADCOMs), take the extra year or so to make your app perfect (research, volunteering, etc.) and give yourself a great chance to hit top tiers.
 
Well I'm going off what I have heard from professors and statistics that show CC students are more likely to succeed. Class size and the teachers priorities are much different at a CC.
Yes that is my biggest worry that I am rushing it too much. I mean I took all the pre reqs so I'm good. I'm gonna apply to start med school fall 2014. I have no doubt I will get in not to sound cocky. But if I dont then I can use the extra year to increase my competitiveness with Extra curricular activities. I mean I'm an honors student in the honors college and they will work with me to build my app and get me plugged in to the university so I can be a competitive applicant. I'm not trying to get into a prestigious medical school. In fact I want to stay right in Florida and even stay right with the medical school of my undergrad college. We will see how everything plays out.
 
Well I'm going off what I have heard from professors and statistics that show CC students are more likely to succeed. Class size and the teachers priorities are much different at a CC.
Yes that is my biggest worry that I am rushing it too much. I mean I took all the pre reqs so I'm good. I'm gonna apply to start med school fall 2014. I have no doubt I will get in not to sound cocky. But if I dont then I can use the extra year to increase my competitiveness with Extra curricular activities. I mean I'm an honors student in the honors college and they will work with me to build my app and get me plugged in to the university so I can be a competitive applicant. I'm not trying to get into a prestigious medical school. In fact I want to stay right in Florida and even stay right with the medical school of my undergrad college. We will see how everything plays out.

What statistics? I find it very hard to believe that CC students are more likely to succeed than 4 year college students.. ESPECIALLY when you compare CC students to students from top 10 schools.. and class size also really varies.

I would really make sure the medical school you're looking into accepts CC prereqs.. especially given the case where you will still be attending a 4 year college right out of the gate.

For example,

Miami-
Can I take all of my premed courses at a junior college near my home?

Most admissions committees feel that there are differences between junior college courses and senior college courses. Whether this view is justified or not, you should contact medical schools in which you are interested to see how they view coursework taken at the junior college level. The Miller School of Medicine will accept junior college courses but much prefers that the premed courses be taken at the senior college level. Perhaps a more important question to ask yourself is how these courses are going to prepare you to take the MCAT and to survive in medical school.


U of F-
Q: Can I take the prerequisite courses at my local community/junior college?

A: In order to create the most academically competitive application you should take all prerequisite courses at the most competitive bachelor degree granting institution where you can gain entrance. You should try to complete your pre-requsite courses at a four-year institute.
 
I transferred from community college to a top 25 university. The problem with the advice from emdical schools is that you cannot get into a 4 year without completeing prerequisites for your major, and if your a Bio major, that means medical school prereqs.

I took Gen bio 1/2 and chem 1 at CC, and Chem 2, physics 1/2 Ochem 1/2 at my 4 year =]
 
I'm seeing alot of misguidance on this thread, tempted to paste alot of it on the misinformed pre-med thread.
 
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