Official 8/5/09 MCAT thread

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Hi everyone!!

August 5th is comming up soon! 2 months away!!! hope everyone has started reviewing!

This will be my third and final time...the first time i was expecting a lowins score and got a 24...the second time i was hitting 28 on the practice tests from aamc (practice tests 8,9 and 10)....but totally blew it on the exam and got a 22....so i have 1 FINAL shot....im not too nervous because i do know most of the material......thats my story!

good luck everyone!!!!!!
 
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Just don't freak out, keep your composure, approach the test with the knowledge that you can take it as many times as you want (3 times a year, but as many times in your lifetime lol). Anyways, having this state of mind will reduce anxiety. We all do not want to be studying for this test again (Im sure I want to put this phase of my life behind me). My whole summer is gone!😡
 
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Good luck guys/girls...however its all instinctive now...just pull the trigger...aim and shoot...aim and shoot.....
 
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quynhhuong said:
Good luck everyone! n to me too...kekeke

does any of you plan to review during the 10 mins breaks?
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That's not allowed and it's definitely not worth the risk! Good luck to you all 🙂
 
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alright just got back. my initial impressions on the 8/5/09 mcat:

PS: Harder than I thought it would be but not impossible. No circuits or mirrors/lenses so that was good. no extractions or rate laws either.
Verbal: Seemed OK, passages were intersting at least
Writing: easy pleasy
BS: easier than I thought it would be, meaning that the curve will be really small..lol

What did everyone else think?
 
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yea i just got in from writing the mcat.

i felt extremely terrible about the physics section. it kinda took me by surprise but i was able to recover for the rest of the sections. I thought VR and BS were relatively easy and the writing samples went well. Just that physics im soooo worried about it now. :S
 
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physics DESTROYED me. the passages were long, but most of the questions had nothing to do with the passage..i should've just read the damn questions and skipped the physics passages.

verbal i know i missed at least three cause i was rushed at the end for the last passage

bio, i only know of one question i screwed up in, but the rest wasn't bad at all. however given what everyone else is saying here, i'm sure the curve will be really small.

projected score
physics 8 verbal 9 bio 11= 28. I hate to say it, but this is what i'm fearing the thing is gonna be, which blows and i'm already thinking of a retake.
 
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i'm so glad you guys agree! i totally panicked during the beginning of the physics section. thank goodness for the curve! i feel less doomed.
 
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Wow, it sounds like there has been a weird change on this MCAT relative to the other recent ones. Most have said BS was the killer and PS was easy. Was there a lot of molecular genetics on this bio? Anyone mind sharing the types of topics given on PS? Lots of calculations/outside knowledge required? Emphasis on gen chem?

MCAT is so flakey. I wish they'd be consistent.
 
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it had more to do with time constraints and passage lengths than the actual material. i would try developing an efficient method for speeding through physics passages ignoring the useless info and concentrating more on just the aspect of the passage that is relevant to the questions asked
 
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vandyam said:
Wow, it sounds like there has been a weird change on this MCAT relative to the other recent ones. Most have said BS was the killer and PS was easy. Was there a lot of molecular genetics on this bio? Anyone mind sharing the types of topics given on PS? Lots of calculations/outside knowledge required? Emphasis on gen chem?

MCAT is so flakey. I wish they'd be consistent.
Click to expand...


im not sure how much we are allowed to share about the content and questions? the bio had some background knowledge needed and the genetics were very basic.

the physics i just felt that you read the passage got confused by wat the hec it was trying to say and then the questions almost had NOTHING to do wiht the passage. I just didnt expect those questions it took me by surprise. if it were the last section im sure alot more of us would have felt better about it. it was just tough to do the section when you were tryin to settle in :S IMO
 
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i agreee.. i was caught off guard and also wasted time trying to read the passages. physics is always my best section and now i feel like i don't have that to comfort me about the rest of it.. totally thrown off. the discrete questoins were easy. i love that i spent so much time studying titration calculations and then it was like.. no time to calculate or even check the answers.. just click click click.
on the bio i'm just worried about a couple of questions, and one of the discrete orgo.. i don't know. the orgo passages were easy at least.

i felt like the time was ticking a lot faster than usual.. i always had enough time on the practice to look over everything and this time i went right to the last second. but yay its over.. and who knows maybe the questions i guessed were right! lol.
 
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there was hardly any genetics. a little bit of gene expression stuff in a passage and maybe 1 or 2 discrete genetics questions? that stuff was easy.
 
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I felt the same way...ugh.

PS- first got excited that it wasnt too bad...which caused me to lose track of time. I had around 22 minutes to finish the last 4 passages and now I'm freaking out that I guessed so much I probably really screwed up 🙁 Anyone do well on practices still attempting to do psgs in such little time and guessing?

VR- waaay longer than the passages normally practiced.

BS- much less detailed than the other practices. so happy there werent many orgo questions. the most reasonable of the 3 sections.
 
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Wow, after taking the PS section I felt like crap.
On the Amcas and Kaplan I usually at least got a 10.
3 days ago i took amcas practice test 9 and i got a 13 on the PS, 10 on VR and 10 on BS.
Today I felt like I got a 7.

Verbal i thought was pretty much the same as usual. A little worse than usual. Sometimes the practice tests had passages that I did really well on and knew that I did well on, which was not the case on this test. For example, one of the amcas practice tests had a passage about sports and solar energy which I read through quickly and got all of the answers right.

Today's verbal sucked in that sense. It also sucked in the sense that I was completely demoralized after the PS section!!!!!!!!!!

The Essays weren't too bad. I ran out of time and didn't have time to proofread though. I hope that I at least got 4/6 but whatever, thats the least of my worries.

BS I thought wasn't awful. I actually like Orgo - probably because I was not a bio major, actually the only bios that I took were Intro and A&P II. There wasn't much orgo at all.
The passage about biological molecules gave me trouble, and may have botched my score.

Overall I'm pretty upset about the PS, but hopefully there will be a curve. I actually think I guessed on 20-30 questions. And I said before that PS was my best section on the amcas practice tests..

I also forgot to mention that I was sick and vomited this morning in the parking lot! Don't want to have to retake!
 
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well hmm for me

PS- not too bad
VR- very very long passages
BS- prety tough.. mine had basically all genetics and ochem and one passage on ecology
 
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PS was a killer. usually this is my strongest section. I came out asking a fellow how was her PS n she was like, it was ok, making even more nervous. I felt like crap walking out from that section and now hopefully the curve will be generous on me.

VR usualy my worse section and I thought that it was ok, not too many long tricky questions as I thought. The passages were straight forward.

WS is simple and easy. I actually read about the first promt the other day, but didn't get to use much article example, I just kinda argued my way thru.

BS was ok. only probably 4 genetics questions max. But there was this one lab sep. technique question had me stared at it for 3 mins and not knowing which answer to choose. darn labs. 😕

I'm really hoping for a good score this time cause my first was horrible.
 
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PS was very bad indeed.(What happened to kinematics questions?) I ran out of time on like 3 questions. But the VR and BS were okay.

By the time I got to VR, people around me were starting the WS, tapping away at their keyboards...so distracting. And the earmuffs they provide you produce an annoying echo. Anyway I'm personally looking to retake. Does anyone know when I'll be permitted to register again?
 
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mrlucky0 said:
PS was very bad indeed.(What happened to kinematics questions?) I ran out of time on like 3 questions. But the VR and BS were okay.

By the time I got to VR, people around me were starting the WS, tapping away at their keyboards...so distracting. And the earmuffs they provide you produce an annoying echo. Anyway I'm personally looking to retake. Does anyone know when I'll be permitted to register again?
Click to expand...

Did you void your score?
 
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I'm also thinking of retaking...but a little worried...the last time to take it for this round of applying is Sept 12. The late registration date is Sept 4. So it's still before our scores come out! Otherwise, forget applying this year I guess?

My Kaplan scores were (29-33)
AAMC (28-31)
But today I feel like I made a 6-7 on the PS (rushed with 4 psgs, guessed on 2 psgs), who knows on the VR (8? if I'm lucky), and BS was around a 10 I think.

I really want to apply this year. But I don't know what to do....any advice? It seems like life will be a torturous till Sept 8! ahh!
 
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yeah, you will probably be able to register tomorrow or the next day. I think it was 2 days later when I took it last time
 
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mrlucky0 said:
Nope. I've just read: I can re-register in 24-48 hours. Is this true?
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I believe this is true. You could try registering online tomorrow and if you have an issue, just call amcas.

After freaking out today, I spoke to some of my friends who calmed me down. If what they told me is true, there could be a huge curve.

Good luck with your decision.
 
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twinkle toes said:
what did your friends tell you?
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They just said that they felt like crap after the test, and when they got their score back, it wasn't as bad as they thought it was because there was a huge curve.

Hoping for a similar situation. Also hoping for miraculous guessing.

Also, i was wondering if anyone voided their score today?
 
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yeah, i felt absolutely horrible after i took it the first time. i have no idea how i did as well as i did, but i still wasn't happy with my score. which is why i took it again. now i'm just worried that i got really lucky the first time and that i may have done worse this time! i really think it depends on the curve...
 
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You're done. Hooray! Now stop worrying. Everyone feels horrible after their test. I felt like my PS section destroyed me and I still got a 14. But it's all out of your hands now. Go enjoy your summer. 🙂
 
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So, I am going to keep studying, be proactive about this whole situation. My friend took the test twice. He didn't do well the first time, but got 35+ the second time, so I am kind of optimistic. The MCAT test is supposed to be hard, so I don't know why you guys have to keep saying "this section killed me." Your supposed to come away feeling like ****. Thats the way they want it.
 
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seriously the more and more i try not to think about the PS section, the more I encounter everyday life situations that harken my memory back to it. for example my mom told me right after the exam to eat a banana because I need more potassium in my system..this led me to think of the periodic table which led me to physics. I was watching a tv show after the exam and something about gas and pressure came up and i thought about the ps section and how i screwed up some of the gas problems. then i heard the EXACT number 22.4 and it reminded me that a gas occupies 22.4 L at STP and then i just decided to stop watching tv, stop talking to ppl and going to bed. that didn't work because i started having a nightmare about the mcat. i got up hit my punching bag a couple of times and then started thinking about the force generated with my fists and the force normal generated back by the bag and just basically started shouting at the bag and myself for being so stupid. seeing as to how much you guys hated that section as well is prolly the only thing that has calmed my nerves, although i'm gonna look to take some painkillers right now cause my fist is so sore from all that hitting.
 
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stockraider said:
seriously the more and more i try not to think about the PS section, the more I encounter everyday life situations that harken my memory back to it. for example my mom told me right after the exam to eat a banana because I need more potassium in my system..this led me to think of the periodic table which led me to physics. I was watching a tv show after the exam and something about gas and pressure came up and i thought about the ps section and how i screwed up some of the gas problems. then i heard the EXACT number 22.4 and it reminded me that a gas occupies 22.4 L at STP and then i just decided to stop watching tv, stop talking to ppl and going to bed. that didn't work because i started having a nightmare about the mcat. i got up hit my punching bag a couple of times and then started thinking about the force generated with my fists and the force normal generated back by the bag and just basically started shouting at the bag and myself for being so stupid. seeing as to how much you guys hated that section as well is prolly the only thing that has calmed my nerves, although i'm gonna look to take some painkillers right now cause my fist is so sore from all that hitting.
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Painkillers...ugh reminds me of Aspirin and inflammation on the BS! :laugh:
 
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mrlucky0 said:
Painkillers...ugh reminds me of Aspirin and inflammation on the BS! :laugh:
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dammit i just remembered a question i screwed up on that section as well. i KNEW the answer and could come up with it were it not for that time constraint and my nerves popping out of my skull.
 
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I guess my opinion of it was slightly different than most people's.

I thought the PS was very hard, harder than the practices I'd tried, but I thought BS was hard as well, maybe just as much so. It just seemed to be all of my worst topics. On the 3 aamc practices I did I got two 14s and a 12, and I feel like I'd be surprised if I got a 12 on this one. I don't think I missed any orgo questions on any practices, but these ones were harder for me for some reason.

The verbal seemed much easier, but that's almost impossible to tell. You can think you did well on the verbal and miss a ton. That said, I was getting 11s and 12s on the practices and wouldn't be surprised if I got a 13 or better on this one (although I also wouldn't be surprised if I got 11 due to how nit-picky they are about VR).
 
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Schemp said:
I guess my opinion of it was slightly different than most people's.

I thought the PS was very hard, harder than the practices I'd tried, but I thought BS was hard as well, maybe just as much so. It just seemed to be all of my worst topics. On the 3 aamc practices I did I got two 14s and a 12, and I feel like I'd be surprised if I got a 12 on this one. I don't think I missed any orgo questions on any practices, but these ones were harder for me for some reason.

The verbal seemed much easier, but that's almost impossible to tell. You can think you did well on the verbal and miss a ton. That said, I was getting 11s and 12s on the practices and wouldn't be surprised if I got a 13 or better on this one (although I also wouldn't be surprised if I got 11 due to how nit-picky they are about VR).
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You're the first person that I've seen who had same exact experience as me. I still have to wait another 13 days for my score.
 
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i didnt have trouble forgetting about the mcat yesterday...me and a few friends went to the liquor store, bought some vodka, and got drunk at home...then went to the bars and got more drunk..it was wonderful

whats not wonderful is that i was supposed to be at work 15 minutes ago but i'm writing on sdn...😱
 
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drzing said:
i didnt have trouble forgetting about the mcat yesterday...me and a few friends went to the liquor store, bought some vodka, and got drunk at home...then went to the bars and got more drunk..it was wonderful

whats not wonderful is that i was supposed to be at work 15 minutes ago but i'm writing on sdn...😱
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haha this is totally me in about 10 hours
 
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does anyone else think applyin to med school is expensive? i got paid last friday like $1200, and after i paid rent and finally submitted my last 10 schools (only did 2 before) to amcas, ive got like $100 left for the rest of august....i need fee assistance
 
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ksmi117 said:
You're done. Hooray! Now stop worrying. Everyone feels horrible after their test. I felt like my PS section destroyed me and I still got a 14. But it's all out of your hands now. Go enjoy your summer. 🙂
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Depends on how lucky someone is 'cause I'm really bad at guessing when it comes down to 2 questions left. n you prob are supper at guessing to get a 14! 🙂
You're rite, there's no point of worrying since it's all done now. But to be on the safe side, I'm gonna continue on studying, just practice tests thou. I'm not gonna review anymore 'cause it seems like they throw anything at us n the only way to be good at this is practice the test taking skill (at least this is wat i learned from this horrible test).🙁
 
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zizou10 said:
anyone here booking an mcat seat for sept12?
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thats a dangerous date too take it...what if you did amazing on this test and you get your scores back? its too late for you to cancel at that point and get some of your $225 back.
 
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drzing said:
thats a dangerous date too take it...what if you did amazing on this test and you get your scores back? its too late for you to cancel at that point and get some of your $225 back.
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I'd rather risk losing $225 bucks than waiting another year.
I think I'm gonna sign up for the sept 12th test. Still giving myself a couple of days to think through.
 
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quynhhuong said:
I'd rather risk losing $225 bucks than waiting another year.
I think I'm gonna sign up for the sept 12th test. Still giving myself a couple of days to think through.
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dont let your initial feelings about the test affect your decision...ppl usually feel either super or awful when leaving. my 1st time i felt like i turned in puke on a cracker and i did alright..29T. this time i feel great about 80% of the test, but you never know..i may have gotten a 20 or i may have gotten a 45. wait like a week or two before you decide
 
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