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?
 
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 think if you do well in higher level science classes at the 4 year, it washes away any worries about CC classes.

But your situation is also very different.. he's ahead of the game and has his full 'college years' while you transferred.

If I were him, I would really slow it down a little bit, maybe graduate in 3 years and start Med school a year earlier which would allow me to stack my ECs and also allow me to enter med school with a little bit more maturity, which I think ADCOMs really do value.

You can have a child prodigy who completed his UG degree at the age of 15.. but is he really cut out for medical school already? I'd say no.. Maturity plays a big role here. Not to say you aren't mature, but there's something about the college experience that really does transform you from a child to an adult..
 
I'm seeing alot of misguidance on this thread, tempted to paste alot of it on the misinformed pre-med thread.

That's cool. Or instead of being a douchebag, you can actually contribute to the conversation to help both the person who is receiving the "misinformed" guidance and those giving it.

But sounds like you'd rather just sit back and laugh that you know better than everyone here..
 
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 =]

👍 That's the way to do cc/university. It's all about proving you can do higher level courses at a more rigorous university (and there's no denying that a university will be more difficult than a community college in almost all cases).
 
I think if you do well in higher level science classes at the 4 year, it washes away any worries about CC classes.

But your situation is also very different.. he's ahead of the game and has his full 'college years' while you transferred.

If I were him, I would really slow it down a little bit, maybe graduate in 3 years and start Med school a year earlier which would allow me to stack my ECs and also allow me to enter med school with a little bit more maturity, which I think ADCOMs really do value.

You can have a child prodigy who completed his UG degree at the age of 15.. but is he really cut out for medical school already? I'd say no.. Maturity plays a big role here. Not to say you aren't mature, but there's something about the college experience that really does transform you from a child to an adult..

You beat me to it! I agree with everything in here. I think adcoms also want to see that you can keep up activities like volunteering for a number of years, more than the 1 year you will have by the time you apply. I matured a **** ton in college, and I was a very mature person before that.

More power to him, though, if he actually manages to get in. No way in hell would I give up the experience of 4 years in college. I just graduated, and I'm sad to see it behind me. It really was an awesome 4 years.
 
That's cool. Or instead of being a douchebag, you can actually contribute to the conversation to help both the person who is receiving the "misinformed" guidance and those giving it.

But sounds like you'd rather just sit back and laugh that you know better than everyone here..

Yes, let's resort to personal attacks and name calling. Grow up.

Personally, I don't see why I need to give advice to someone who has no doubt they will get in, but since I'm being called out as a douchebag I guess I should.

From my own advisors they recommended me to take my O-chem lab at my 4 year university and not at a week long boot camp or separate CC. Why? Because most adcoms can testify or acknowledge the rigor of a 4 year in comparison to a CC. I have no idea where stats saying that people who went to CC are more successful, but most stats are BS anyway.

It's great to get some classes over with during HS by dual enrolling at a CC, but it shouldn't give you the idea that you're suited for high education academics. There is a HUGE difference between a CC class/AP class and a 500-700 level class and since a certain poster has completed a large portion of his requirements, he's going to have to pick some higher classes.

Also I can't really think of any advantage of graduating and applying to med school early other than being extremely young. Yes you can fit in ECs, shadowing and volunteering within that time, but it would almost scream checkboxing.
 
You beat me to it! I agree with everything in here. I think adcoms also want to see that you can keep up activities like volunteering for a number of years, more than the 1 year you will have by the time you apply. I matured a **** ton in college, and I was a very mature person before that.

More power to him, though, if he actually manages to get in. No way in hell would I give up the experience of 4 years in college. I just graduated, and I'm sad to see it behind me. It really was an awesome 4 years.

While I disagree with how he's approaching things, I would love to be in his shoes. To have what will hopefully be a good MCAT score and only 2 years of classes left would have been amazing going into college. I would have likely double majored, graduated in 3 years and probably apply at the end of that third year. Would have so much more time to work on my ECs and do some research since I wouldn't have the MCAT or prereqs to worry about.

That's all I'm saying. You are in a unique position and can really turn your hard work thus far into an overall amazing application. I think if you skip out on two years of college and the maturity, ECs and upper level classes that comes with it.. you'll be hurting yourself in the long run.
 
Yes, let's resort to personal attacks and name calling. Grow up.

Personally, I don't see why I need to give advice to someone who has no doubt they will get in, but since I'm being called out as a douchebag I guess I should.

From my own advisors they recommended me to take my O-chem lab at my 4 year university and not at a week long boot camp or separate CC. Why? Because most adcoms can testify or acknowledge the rigor of a 4 year in comparison to a CC. I have no idea where stats saying that people who went to CC are more successful, but most stats are BS anyway.

It's great to get some classes over with during HS by dual enrolling at a CC, but it shouldn't give you the idea that you're suited for high education academics. There is a HUGE difference between a CC class/AP class and a 500-700 level class and since a certain poster has completed a large portion of his requirements, he's going to have to pick some higher classes.

Also I can't really think of any advantage of graduating and applying to med school early other than being extremely young. Yes you can fit in ECs, shadowing and volunteering within that time, but it would almost scream checkboxing.

You do realize that is exactly what everyone was saying in the past few pages... right? Seemed like you were calling all of us out and disagreeing with what we were saying when you really completely agree.

The only "guidance" you don't agree with is coming from the guy himself..
 
You do realize that is exactly what everyone was saying in the past few pages... right? Seemed like you were calling all of us out and disagreeing with what we were saying when you really completely agree.

The only "guidance" you don't agree with is coming from the guy himself..

I agreed with what you guys were getting at (take your time, CC reputation etc.) but I was amused at how someone can think they're a shoe in for medical school when they haven't even started their undergrad yet.
 
I agreed with what you guys were getting at (take your time, CC reputation etc.) but I was amused at how someone can think they're a shoe in for medical school when they haven't even started their undergrad yet.

Same here.

It was just odd that you posted what you did, attacking those who were giving the guidance (i.e myself and others) when really, you agree with us..

I only see getting into medical school early as a disadvantage as well. The 'perfect' age for medical school is your early to mid 20s IMO. Too far before and you lack the maturity, too far after and you lack the drive.
 
For those saying I haven't even started my under grad yet. I have my AA degree and 85 college credits I have more than enough. I may not have gone to a 4 year university, but none of you have any idea what community college I went to. It's funny that people downplay CC so much without even knowing what they are talking about. It may not look as well but with a stellar GPA and great MCAT score and EC activities I will be good. It took a lot of dedication and hard work to do what I did and nobody can comment on my maturity at all for the record. The good thing is with me is with how far I am ahead I have the opportunity to postpone if needed. I have 2 years technically 1.5 years before my application is due. In that time period I will balance my EC with school and that summer I will have full devotion towards my EC. Anyone with a 3.8 -4 GPA and 30+ MCAT will get accepted in at least one medical school in the USA haha all of the medical schools I am applying to accept CC and I will have 65 hours at a CC of upper level courses and sciences to prove that I will be a successful medical school candidate. And an honors college background never hurts :b
 
Wait are you saying you won't be attending a 4 year. There is no such thing as upper division CC classes. Everything at a CC is considered lower division, NO MATTER WHAT. Examples, I took Genetics at my CC and I have to retake Genetics at my 4 year because anything at a CC is considered lower division, whereas upper division genetics is required to graduate. The same with my friend and his physiology class. My girlfriends physiology class at UCSD went into physics, my friends class at CC did not.

Trust me, I went to 3 community colleges at a time taking 18+ units each semester in order to transfer in the traditional 2 years. Though CC is downplayed, there is a certain truth to the difficulty of classes. Though sometimes some CC classes are tougher than university classes. Also, I don't think CC classes are easier than ANY 4 year university classes. Rather, they may be easier then a "good school"s classes
 
For those saying I haven't even started my under grad yet. I have my AA degree and 85 college credits I have more than enough. I may not have gone to a 4 year university, but none of you have any idea what community college I went to. It's funny that people downplay CC so much without even knowing what they are talking about. It may not look as well but with a stellar GPA and great MCAT score and EC activities I will be good. It took a lot of dedication and hard work to do what I did and nobody can comment on my maturity at all for the record. The good thing is with me is with how far I am ahead I have the opportunity to postpone if needed. I have 2 years technically 1.5 years before my application is due. In that time period I will balance my EC with school and that summer I will have full devotion towards my EC. Anyone with a 3.8 -4 GPA and 30+ MCAT will get accepted in at least one medical school in the USA haha all of the medical schools I am applying to accept CC and I will have 65 hours at a CC of upper level courses and sciences to prove that I will be a successful medical school candidate. And an honors college background never hurts :b

I had a 4.0 and a 29 (yes, I know, not quite a 30) and was not accepted at a single school. Just to play devil's advocate 😛

But you'll be fine if you take upper-level university courses. And even if your mcat isn't fantastic this time, like you said, you have more than enough time to retake.

****, I just don't want my mcat score to drop this time. It's making me so nervous :scared:
 
I only see getting into medical school early as a disadvantage as well. The 'perfect' age for medical school is your early to mid 20s IMO. Too far before and you lack the maturity, too far after and you lack the drive.
Just to nitpick on what you said there, what do you say to all the non-traditional applicants that put aside years of experience, and with great risks, to start something new? I think they have to have a huge amount of drive.
 
Just to nitpick on what you said there, what do you say to all the non-traditional applicants that put aside years of experience, and with great risks, to start something new? I think they have to have a huge amount of drive.

I just graduated college and I already feel like I'm losing drive! It's hard when all your friends have their teaching degrees and now have "real" jobs.
 
I had a 4.0 and a 29 (yes, I know, not quite a 30) and was not accepted at a single school. Just to play devil's advocate 😛

But you'll be fine if you take upper-level university courses. And even if your mcat isn't fantastic this time, like you said, you have more than enough time to retake.

****, I just don't want my mcat score to drop this time. It's making me so nervous :scared:

Jw how many other schools did you apply to and were they tough schools? Did u have a good EC background? A 4.0 and a 29 and no acceptance is wrong :/ did you get secondary apps? One of the schools in Fl near has a median MCAT of like 29 and the 10th - 90th percentile goes from a 25 - 33
 
Jw how many other schools did you apply to and were they tough schools? Did u have a good EC background? A 4.0 and a 29 and no acceptance is wrong :/ did you get secondary apps? One of the schools in Fl near has a median MCAT of like 29 and the 10th - 90th percentile goes from a 25 - 33

I applied to 10 (well, I completed 10 secondaries) and had 3 interviews. Rejected at 2, waitlisted at 1. My EC's are maybe slightly lacking, but nothing glaringly missing.
 
I applied to 10 (well, I completed 10 secondaries) and had 3 interviews. Rejected at 2, waitlisted at 1. My EC's are maybe slightly lacking, but nothing glaringly missing.

Aww man that stinks :S you were robbed. Even if your scores stay the same I think you got it. And after you were denied you used the extra time to beef up you EC? You got this we all do. I always see on these most people worry so much then they get great scores!!
 
Just to nitpick on what you said there, what do you say to all the non-traditional applicants that put aside years of experience, and with great risks, to start something new? I think they have to have a huge amount of drive.

Yep, beat me to it. I agree with Jep that the ideal age is early to mid 20s, but not because when you're older you lose drive. I'm a non-trad in my late 20s and am infinitely more driven now than I was when I was younger -- as are most other non-trads as well.

I think it's better to start med school as a younger 20-something than an older one not because of motivational factors, but for financial reasons. The six or seven year gap between me and a traditional MS-1 can be the difference in roughly $1 million in gross earning potential.

Of course, taking the long and circuitous path I did has offered me a lot of experience and maturity along the way, and it's definitely helped mold me into a better, more responsible person. But, yeah, if I could, I'd definitely go back and start this whole process a lot sooner. I cost myself a lot of financial security by taking the route I did.
 
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Yep, beat me to it. I agree with Jep that the ideal age is early to mid 20s, but not because when you're older you lose drive. I'm a non-trad in my late 20s and am infinitely more driven now than I was when I was younger -- as are most other non-trads as well.

I think it's better to start med school as a younger 20-something than an older one not because of motivational factors, but for financial reasons. The six or seven year gap between me and a traditional MS-1 can be the difference in roughly $1 million in gross earning potential.

Of course, taking the long and circuitous path I did has offered me a lot of experience and maturity along the way, and it's definitely helped mold me into a better, more responsible person. But, yeah, if I could, I'd definitely go back and start this whole process a lot sooner. I cost myself a lot of financial security by taking the route I did.

drive maybe wasn't the right word.. "fervor" maybe captures what I'm getting at more.. "energy"

and avery, people with 4.0s and 30+ MCATs get rejected every single cycle... https://www.aamc.org/download/157958/data/table25-mcatgpa-grid-white-0911.pdf

and consider that those people for most part spent 4 years in college and have 2 years more time to develop their ECs, I would really suggest taking one more year to matriculate.

End of the day, you'll still be ahead of the game when it comes to medical school.. not necessary to be too far ahead though, enjoy your time as a college age student.
 
I had a ton of mcat dreams before my first mcat, but this was the first one this time around (and it was after I took it, not before!). Good things my dreams the first time weren't premonitions, so I won't feel too worried this time 😛
 
Buttermellow, may i ask what your post mcat feelings were after your first take in comparison to taking it on 7/14?

I felt good (bordering on very good) about my first mcat. I thought it was easy. I'll look up exactly what I said on the mcat thread...

"I don't even know how I feel about that. I think it was about as hard as an average practice aamc test. Some problems were totally wtf, some I definitely should've known but didn't, some were easy. I would say I had my average number of "ehhh, I can't decide between two answers" kind of questions."

Other people were saying PS and BS were the hardest they've ever taken. I do remember that I got an organic-heavy BS section.

I felt like this test was more difficult, but I think that's because last time I didn't even realize I was getting questions wrong.
 
did anyone else feel that the bio passages on this test were very difficult to read and as a result, very hard to answer?
 
on the aamc practice tests, i was able to understand the passages and thoroughly reason out why I chose a certain answer. on this test, i felt like after reading the passage and only having a vague idea of what was going on in the experiment, i had to read the questions and search the passages for small pieces of relevant information and make my best guess. How did you end up answering the questions in those passages?
 
I pretty much did the same thing. I ended up reading the passages many times in order to get little bits of information. I pretty much felt like I was guessing on most of them. I had to go back and forth between each answer and the passage to see if anything contradicted, eliminated what few options I could, then guessed.
 
on the aamc practice tests, i was able to understand the passages and thoroughly reason out why I chose a certain answer. on this test, i felt like after reading the passage and only having a vague idea of what was going on in the experiment, i had to read the questions and search the passages for small pieces of relevant information and make my best guess. How did you end up answering the questions in those passages?

Anyone find it strange that the practice tests reflect actual mcat difficulty less and less?
 
i guess what makes me nervous is that there is a majority of people out there who were able to easily comprehend the passage and answer the questions accordingly. in that case, im not quite sure what was wrong with my preparation and how i am supposed to improve especially since my aamc practice scores made me think there weren't any glaring weaknesses.

@raiden2012- did you have to answer some bio passages on that test by making your best guess as well?
 
i guess what makes me nervous is that there is a majority of people out there who were able to easily comprehend the passage and answer the questions accordingly. in that case, im not quite sure what was wrong with my preparation and how i am supposed to improve especially since my aamc practice scores made me think there weren't any glaring weaknesses.

I seriously doubt that. I planned for a BS section like this and actually read up on numerous research articles as difficult and dense as the one we were confronted with. Yet, despite that, I had to read and reread that one passage at least three times before I could piece together what it was saying.

I'd say there are very, very few test-takers who easily understood and answered questions on that passage, if any at all. There were too many acronyms and unfamiliar parts to easily comprehend it on the first pass.

If you're planning on a retake and want to improve your chances on the BS section, I highly recommend doing what I did. I don't think I would've ever been able to get that passage if it weren't for the preparation I had from reading the research articles. It was time-consuming and a pain in the ass, but I feel like it paid dividends in the end.
 
I seriously doubt that. I planned for a BS section like this and actually read up on numerous research articles as difficult and dense as the one we were confronted with. Yet, despite that, I had to read and reread that one passage at least three times before I could piece together what it was saying.

I'd say there are very, very few test-takers who easily understood and answered questions on that passage, if any at all. There were too many acronyms and unfamiliar parts to easily comprehend it on the first pass.

If you're planning on a retake and want to improve your chances on the BS section, I highly recommend doing what I did. I don't think I would've ever been able to get that passage if it weren't for the preparation I had from reading the research articles. It was time-consuming and a pain in the ass, but I feel like it paid dividends in the end.

Where did you look up the research articles? I will try and read some of them.

Did you feel confident with most of your answers or did you still have to end up giving your best guess on most of them?
 
Where did you look up the research articles? I will try and read some of them.

Did you feel confident with most of your answers or did you still have to end up giving your best guess on most of them?

Wiley Open Access is a decent place to start. This link should help:

http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/view/searchResults.html?o=score&q=molecular+biology&jsearchType=AR%2CLI%2CJA

However, you should have free access to all kinds of online articles through your university. Do a little digging and you can probably get in to several journals Wiley won't allow (at least not for free).

As for confidence, well, it's tough to say. I outright guessed on one question, and there were a few others where I think my answer was right, but I wouldn't swear to it. And that's kinda how the MCAT rolls. I spent several hundred hours preparing for this exam and had virtually all the content down. But the MCAT isn't an exercise in regurgitation of trivia. How you assimilate new information and are able to logically reason through unfamiliar situations is just as important as your knowledge base. And, just like all other skills, your critical reasoning needs to be developed through hard work and practice.

In short, I certainly didn't get everything right and I'm not even particularly confident I got a high score. But I know I did what I could to give myself a shot at my target score. And, in the end, that's about all you can really do.
 
It's a conspiracy to sell us more aamc practice material in the future lol

It probably is! After I got my first mcat score, I seriously expected the aamc would call and say my score was switched with someone else's or something. Maybe they take a few random people and jack their scores lower so they have to buy more...
 
Bahahahaha that's terrible. You know you will do way better than that. My dream was that I got a 40 haha

I sure hope so! You know what will probably happen? I'll get a decent score, but like a K on the writing section. Not that that section actually matters, though.
 
It probably is! After I got my first mcat score, I seriously expected the aamc would call and say my score was switched with someone else's or something. Maybe they take a few random people and jack their scores lower so they have to buy more...

Or force them to retake the mcat haha. I wished I had founded aamc, would have been set for life
 
Wiley Open Access is a decent place to start. This link should help:

http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/view/searchResults.html?o=score&q=molecular+biology&jsearchType=AR%2CLI%2CJA

However, you should have free access to all kinds of online articles through your university. Do a little digging and you can probably get in to several journals Wiley won't allow (at least not for free).

As for confidence, well, it's tough to say. I outright guessed on one question, and there were a few others where I think my answer was right, but I wouldn't swear to it. And that's kinda how the MCAT rolls. I spent several hundred hours preparing for this exam and had virtually all the content down. But the MCAT isn't an exercise in regurgitation of trivia. How you assimilate new information and are able to logically reason through unfamiliar situations is just as important as your knowledge base. And, just like all other skills, your critical reasoning needs to be developed through hard work and practice.

In short, I certainly didn't get everything right and I'm not even particularly confident I got a high score. But I know I did what I could to give myself a shot at my target score. And, in the end, that's about all you can really do.

I could not agree more with what you said! I'm just hoping to hit my target score
 
Been following this thread since test day:

I agreed with the dreaded PS passage, it ate up way too much of my time and I had to rush through the last few problems (even flat-out guessing on 3).

I don't remember VR that much. Probably due to PS aftershock and/or no glaring passages.

WR had some surprisingly easy/relevant topics.

I didn't think BS was bad at all, with the exception of the above mentioned passage there. I read that one a good 3 times over before moving on.

Average practice AAMC/TPR test score: 28

Like so many of you, I too felt demolished leaving the test center. I hear that's a good sign lol. I just wish I had more time to review instead of 1 week after my TPR class ended. It will probably all work out in the end 🙂 See you all on Aug 14th lol.
 
I dont think the BS was too bad except that one passage. I think TBR bio passages hecka helped me prepare well for BS. After doing tons of biol passages, i have never come aross a passage that gave me so much trouble. That passage made aamc 11's ebola passage look like cake.
 
How are you all gonna look at your scores? Have somebody else do it for you and tell you? I honestly might have a heart attack waiting for them to appear.
 
I was thinking of having my mom look at it for me lol idk im so anxious and nervous for that day

Yeah, I'm already so nervous now I can't imagine how I'll be on the actual score release day :scared:

Last time my scores came up earlier than I expected, and I had had the page auto-refreshing every 30 seconds (yeah, I'm that neurotic), and it just popped up as a surprise.
 
Yeah, I'm already so nervous now I can't imagine how I'll be on the actual score release day :scared:

Last time my scores came up earlier than I expected, and I had had the page auto-refreshing every 30 seconds (yeah, I'm that neurotic), and it just popped up as a surprise.

Oh man I know I'm guessin they'll be out around 330pm from what I've been reading
 
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).
Are you able to choose which mcat score to release to DO schools or do you have to release all of them? What did you end up choosing?
 
How likely is it that you get your scores early? Like 3 weeks after instead of a month?

I've never heard of that happening. The most they ever release it early is a couple hours (3pm instead of 5pm).

I swear they make us wait just for fun.
 
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