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Hey Everyone! This is for those taking the April 2017 MCAT on April 22 or April 28. Feel free to post any questions, concerns, advice, or support to your fellow SDNers.
GOOD LUCK!
GOOD LUCK!
Just a few more days for 4/28'ers. Who's with me? What is anyone's strategy for the last 5 days?
I'm nervous and excited and relieved that it's almost over. I'm jealous of anyone who got it done 4/21. How did it go for anyone who just took it?
Hey! There's a readdit thread about the 4/22 exam with more detail if you're interested; overall I thought the exam wasn't bad. There were some random discrete questions and maybe one section bank level passage (honestly I can't remember, it's all a blur now lol). Also CARS was really straight forward.
For the last four days before the exam I reviewed my Anki notecards, did CARS passages for 2 hours per day, and reviewed the Khan Academy psych notes (my weaker areas). I didn't do any practice exams because my Kaplan instructors had suggested not to do so. The day before the exam, I did a quick review in the morning for two hours and a CARS passage or two. After 12pm, I stopped studying and just hung out with friends/family. I think relaxing before the test was a great idea because I felt refreshed and ready to go on test day. Good luck on your exam! You're almost done!
ALSO I usually get pretty bad testing anxiety but I followed a great piece of advice: don't talk about the test the day before. I found it really motivating because it reminded me of what life will be life after I finished the test!
@_NM_ Congrats! Did you write down any equations on your scratch paper before your test started? Do you recommend doing that?
I will try to look at the reddit thread
I'm a 4/28 examinee, just wanted to wish everyone else good luck!
edit: I can not read any more of that reddit thread! Geez! So much profanity and makes me really nervous.
@_NM_ Congrats! Did you write down any equations on your scratch paper before your test started? Do you recommend doing that?
I will try to look at the reddit thread
I'm a 4/28 examinee, just wanted to wish everyone else good luck!
edit: I can not read any more of that reddit thread! Geez! So much profanity and makes me really nervous.
I Just took the 4/22 test and took the 10 minutes to write down equations and the exact structures of the five nucleotides. I found it helpful just because it gave me 10 minutes to kind of get into the "groove" of the test. I find the first 15 minutes of an exam - ANY exam - is a kind of throwaway time when I can't concentrate and the simplest questions look like gibberish. So taking that time to write something down - anything down - was helpful. I would be more than happy to send all the equations on. Didn't use most of them, but I think they were a really good sample from all the practice tests I took and you just don't know what will show up on your exam.
As far as the exam went, I thought C/P was fair, but had a ton of calculations and was heavier on orgo than I was expecting. I only outright guessed on one problem, but I did find it a lot more time consuming than the aamc FL practice tests. I was scoring 132s on the last few practice exams I took, so this is the section I have the most confidence in.
CARS seemed maybe a bit more straightforward than usual. Or I was just in a daze and trying to get through so quickly that I didn't really rethink much.This is the section where my score ranged anywhere from a 127 to a 131. I have NO idea what I got on this. It seemed too straightforward in a way. At least one vague question per passage and one passage that was a little odd, but nothing that stood out.
B/B. I came back in from lunch just in time and that kind of frazzled me. got through 30 questions in 29 minutes then blanked on question 30. Had a really rough time with that one (it ended up being fairly easy, but I was blanking), so I went on. I figured out how to do it and kept trying to get it out of my mind, but finally gave in and went back to fix it instead of fixate on it. What screwed me up was that I decided to Skip BACK to the last 6 to 8 questions by clicking on "review incomplete" - DO NOT DO THIS. It will not let you go back to recheck any answers you complete. That really threw me off, so I have no idea how this section went. THere seemed to be a LOT Of straight-up memorization. Really, really specific enzyme stuff. Some really specific physiology stuff. I took advanced biochemistry and there were concepts that we haven't covered. I feel like it was a mix of straight memorization and a few section bank level sections mixed in. The general reaction seems to be that this section was fairly doable, but it definitely played to my weakness (memorization) and NOT to my strength (analysis). I was kind of bummed as I was looking forward to more analysis. I finished with about 6 minutes to spare after completely freaking out, so I tried to recheck answers. If I don't hit my goal score, this section will be to blame (really, I will be to blame).
P/S - This seemed like the most random section I've seen. Some completely foreign terminology, and an odd passage that looked like it was written by someone in an intro to psych class who was told to put absolutely everything they had learned into one passage. They also included a few other big-picture concepts. By the time i got to this I was pretty burnt out and thrown off by "screwing up" my bio section. I finished with something like 35 minutes to go, and I tried to use that time by going over everything. That was somewhat pointless since I don't have a background in psych or sociology, so I was trying ot remember everything from my prep, which was only so helpful. I am glad that most other people thought it was random as well.
I should add some background: I graduated from high school in the 90s and skipped out of biology (ap credit from 1996) and general chemistry (ap credit 1998). I took physics in 2000. I just took orgo 1 & 2, Cell Bio, Genetics, and Advanced Biochem 1 & 2 this year. So I'm a little hazy on physics, general chemistry, and general biology. I had to play some major catch up this year.
@_NM_ Congrats! Did you write down any equations on your scratch paper before your test started? Do you recommend doing that?
I will try to look at the reddit thread
I'm a 4/28 examinee, just wanted to wish everyone else good luck!
edit: I can not read any more of that reddit thread! Geez! So much profanity and makes me really nervous.
Quick question: what do you mean by "it will not let you review any answers you complete"?
Does that mean I can't go back?
Do you mind clarifying this statement please?
Thank you!
I Just took the 4/22 test and took the 10 minutes to write down equations and the exact structures of the five nucleotides. I found it helpful just because it gave me 10 minutes to kind of get into the "groove" of the test. I find the first 15 minutes of an exam - ANY exam - is a kind of throwaway time when I can't concentrate and the simplest questions look like gibberish. So taking that time to write something down - anything down - was helpful. I would be more than happy to send all the equations on. Didn't use most of them, but I think they were a really good sample from all the practice tests I took and you just don't know what will show up on your exam.
As far as the exam went, I thought C/P was fair, but had a ton of calculations and was heavier on orgo than I was expecting. I only outright guessed on one problem, but I did find it a lot more time consuming than the aamc FL practice tests. I was scoring 132s on the last few practice exams I took, so this is the section I have the most confidence in.
CARS seemed maybe a bit more straightforward than usual. Or I was just in a daze and trying to get through so quickly that I didn't really rethink much.This is the section where my score ranged anywhere from a 127 to a 131. I have NO idea what I got on this. It seemed too straightforward in a way. At least one vague question per passage and one passage that was a little odd, but nothing that stood out.
B/B. I came back in from lunch just in time and that kind of frazzled me. got through 30 questions in 29 minutes then blanked on question 30. Had a really rough time with that one (it ended up being fairly easy, but I was blanking), so I went on. I figured out how to do it and kept trying to get it out of my mind, but finally gave in and went back to fix it instead of fixate on it. What screwed me up was that I decided to Skip BACK to the last 6 to 8 questions by clicking on "review incomplete" - DO NOT DO THIS. It will not let you go back to recheck any answers you complete. That really threw me off, so I have no idea how this section went. THere seemed to be a LOT Of straight-up memorization. Really, really specific enzyme stuff. Some really specific physiology stuff. I took advanced biochemistry and there were concepts that we haven't covered. I feel like it was a mix of straight memorization and a few section bank level sections mixed in. The general reaction seems to be that this section was fairly doable, but it definitely played to my weakness (memorization) and NOT to my strength (analysis). I was kind of bummed as I was looking forward to more analysis. I finished with about 6 minutes to spare after completely freaking out, so I tried to recheck answers. If I don't hit my goal score, this section will be to blame (really, I will be to blame).
P/S - This seemed like the most random section I've seen. Some completely foreign terminology, and an odd passage that looked like it was written by someone in an intro to psych class who was told to put absolutely everything they had learned into one passage. They also included a few other big-picture concepts. By the time i got to this I was pretty burnt out and thrown off by "screwing up" my bio section. I finished with something like 35 minutes to go, and I tried to use that time by going over everything. That was somewhat pointless since I don't have a background in psych or sociology, so I was trying ot remember everything from my prep, which was only so helpful. I am glad that most other people thought it was random as well.
I should add some background: I graduated from high school in the 90s and skipped out of biology (ap credit from 1996) and general chemistry (ap credit 1998). I took physics in 2000. I just took orgo 1 & 2, Cell Bio, Genetics, and Advanced Biochem 1 & 2 this year. So I'm a little hazy on physics, general chemistry, and general biology. I had to play some major catch up this year.
If you've taken an AAMC FL practice exam and reviewed your marked questions, you can go back and forth between them as long as you don't unmark them. When you click on "Review incomplete" you cannot go back to the question you just answered because it is no longer "incomplete". You could of course get to the end of the exam and click on "Review all" to check your answers, but you cannot go back to them while reviewing your incomplete answers. This completely freaked me out.
Yes but to review any item just click at the bottom Review All then it shows a grid of every item and if you double click any cell, it takes you directly to that item. That saves you having to click next 49 times to get to number 50. If you know you want to see an item toward the last third, but you donte remember what number at least you can double click "Question 40" and then look for it from there.
Would you mind PM'ing me the list of equaltions you wrote down please?
I would be more than happy to send all the equations on.
Wtf
C/p: lots of chem harder than aamc 2 FL and more mathematical relationships
Cars: straightforward but I had to take a dump in the middle and lost time for the last passage
B/b: lots of experimental procedures which is my strong suit, but also random discrete q's about physiological things that i had to guess on
P/s: completely clocked out by this point and finished with 26 mins to spare
Left this exam feeling awful. I'm treating myself to a makeover, cake, and alcohol (in that order) tonight to repress my feelings of inadequacy........
Hope everyone else felt much better than myself!
I Just took the 4/22 test and took the 10 minutes to write down equations and the exact structures of the five nucleotides. I found it helpful just because it gave me 10 minutes to kind of get into the "groove" of the test. I find the first 15 minutes of an exam - ANY exam - is a kind of throwaway time when I can't concentrate and the simplest questions look like gibberish. So taking that time to write something down - anything down - was helpful. I would be more than happy to send all the equations on. Didn't use most of them, but I think they were a really good sample from all the practice tests I took and you just don't know what will show up on your exam.
As far as the exam went, I thought C/P was fair, but had a ton of calculations and was heavier on orgo than I was expecting. I only outright guessed on one problem, but I did find it a lot more time consuming than the aamc FL practice tests. I was scoring 132s on the last few practice exams I took, so this is the section I have the most confidence in.
CARS seemed maybe a bit more straightforward than usual. Or I was just in a daze and trying to get through so quickly that I didn't really rethink much.This is the section where my score ranged anywhere from a 127 to a 131. I have NO idea what I got on this. It seemed too straightforward in a way. At least one vague question per passage and one passage that was a little odd, but nothing that stood out.
B/B. I came back in from lunch just in time and that kind of frazzled me. got through 30 questions in 29 minutes then blanked on question 30. Had a really rough time with that one (it ended up being fairly easy, but I was blanking), so I went on. I figured out how to do it and kept trying to get it out of my mind, but finally gave in and went back to fix it instead of fixate on it. What screwed me up was that I decided to Skip BACK to the last 6 to 8 questions by clicking on "review incomplete" - DO NOT DO THIS. It will not let you go back to recheck any answers you complete. That really threw me off, so I have no idea how this section went. THere seemed to be a LOT Of straight-up memorization. Really, really specific enzyme stuff. Some really specific physiology stuff. I took advanced biochemistry and there were concepts that we haven't covered. I feel like it was a mix of straight memorization and a few section bank level sections mixed in. The general reaction seems to be that this section was fairly doable, but it definitely played to my weakness (memorization) and NOT to my strength (analysis). I was kind of bummed as I was looking forward to more analysis. I finished with about 6 minutes to spare after completely freaking out, so I tried to recheck answers. If I don't hit my goal score, this section will be to blame (really, I will be to blame).
P/S - This seemed like the most random section I've seen. Some completely foreign terminology, and an odd passage that looked like it was written by someone in an intro to psych class who was told to put absolutely everything they had learned into one passage. They also included a few other big-picture concepts. By the time i got to this I was pretty burnt out and thrown off by "screwing up" my bio section. I finished with something like 35 minutes to go, and I tried to use that time by going over everything. That was somewhat pointless since I don't have a background in psych or sociology, so I was trying ot remember everything from my prep, which was only so helpful. I am glad that most other people thought it was random as well.
I should add some background: I graduated from high school in the 90s and skipped out of biology (ap credit from 1996) and general chemistry (ap credit 1998). I took physics in 2000. I just took orgo 1 & 2, Cell Bio, Genetics, and Advanced Biochem 1 & 2 this year. So I'm a little hazy on physics, general chemistry, and general biology. I had to play some major catch up this year.
I'm glad that it well for you! Especially since you took the MCAT after taking the required classes so long ago! The wait is killing me I really wish it didn't take a month to get our scores back haha
I definitely get that. I'm trying to just not think about it since there's nothing I can doIs anyone else feeling worse as time goes on? I feel like as I get farther from my test date, I become less and less sure of my possible answers compared to answer choices given. Specific questions are very fuzzy at this point, which I think adds to my anxiety of not knowing.
every hour of every day passes by like a grain of sand in a neverending hourglass...
How'd it go? Did you complete your exam?I took the scored FLs In the first and second weekends of the month and I made 500 on both (though CARS is my strength, the CARS section on the 2nd one smashed me so my score didn't change despite improvement). I took the unscored FL from AAMC last weekend and according to some score converter on here I made a 509 with drastic improvement in all sections. But I do not feel ready at all. I am relearning all the stuff from content that I forgot and I just don't know. I feel like I am gonna go in and void my exam, because I want a 512... I have been studying all day the past 2 weeks to review all my weak spots but I just don't feel ready... does anyone else feel this way... should I reschedule...
Thought I would update my original thoughts now that I received my scores:
131/128/132/131 -- 522 total
I'm completely bewildered at my CARS score as that is lower than my practice exams and I felt better about it than some of the other sections. On the other hand, I thought I would help everyone out by saying that yes, you, too, can get a perfect Bio score even when you are absolutely sure you completely bombed it. (ie, don't guess your score by how you feel). I completely messed up my bio section with a lot of test-taking errors (see above) and I'm shocked that I did that well. Perhaps totally screwing up put my adrenaline over the edge and helped me find the right answers quickly and accurately. I can't ever seem to guess what my score will be based on how I feel, so this is par for the course. I also tended to poop out on the second half of ALL of my practice exams, so I'm surprised I had a better second half than first. I'm relieved about the TOTAL score, but still weirded out by the spread and have considered taking it again just to even things up. I wish I had the 128 in psych and not CARS. We can wish all sorts of things, but I keep reminding myself that I exceeded my own expectations - I'm just focusing too much on my CARS score.
Thought I would update my original thoughts now that I received my scores:
131/128/132/131 -- 522 total
I'm completely bewildered at my CARS score as that is lower than my practice exams and I felt better about it than some of the other sections. On the other hand, I thought I would help everyone out by saying that yes, you, too, can get a perfect Bio score even when you are absolutely sure you completely bombed it. (ie, don't guess your score by how you feel). I completely messed up my bio section with a lot of test-taking errors (see above) and I'm shocked that I did that well. Perhaps totally screwing up put my adrenaline over the edge and helped me find the right answers quickly and accurately. I can't ever seem to guess what my score will be based on how I feel, so this is par for the course. I also tended to poop out on the second half of ALL of my practice exams, so I'm surprised I had a better second half than first. I'm relieved about the TOTAL score, but still weirded out by the spread and have considered taking it again just to even things up. I wish I had the 128 in psych and not CARS. We can wish all sorts of things, but I keep reminding myself that I exceeded my own expectations - I'm just focusing too much on my CARS score.
How'd it go? Did you complete your exam?
Be careful on how you interpret your new FL1 score. If I remember correctly, you only took it like a month and a half ago. You could potentially remember answers to questions that would falsely improve your score. Keep studying and rock it in June!I went in to take it but a lot of stuff happened the day before (I traveled to another state for mine and let's just say the entire day before the exam was suuuuuper stressful for several unexpected reasons), I only slept 2 hours despite taking melatonin to try and sleep (2 hrs of sleep for a 7.5 hr exam just doesn't work)... but I still went in but got sick and delirious before lunchtime, especially after lunchtime, and I knew that at the end of the exam, this score (a) wasn't going to represent me at all and (b) could be improved on if I wait until school is over to study; studying during the semester was hell for me. So I voided it. However, I am taking in June. It's for the better. I took FL-1 last weekend and it was a 508, as opposed to a 500 the first time I took it. So I know it's in me to do very well on this exam, but I needed to wait until the circumstances were in my favor. Needless to say, I am testing in my state this time around.
Be careful on how you interpret your new FL1 score. If I remember correctly, you only took it like a month and a half ago. You could potentially remember answers to questions that would falsely improve your score. Keep studying and rock it in June!
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Not allowing room for error, so I will be careful, don't worry. Thanks.
Best of luck man, you seem confident and you have a plan moving forward which is awesome. Keep your head up and keep pushing through, we've got your back!!
Meanwhile I'm absolutely dreading the 30th when I see my score.. but hey.. yeah.. confidence.....
Dude effin killer score!!!!! We're always our worst critics but I hope you don't linger on the CARS score too much
Holy cow! Congratulations!!! And for not having so many if the pre-reqs in so long, you must be extremely brilliant! You should definitely share your study plan, esp w non trad folks who need to play catch up like you mentioned. Good luck with AMCAS!!! Are you applying now?
Thanks so much - I was hoping for a 520 or above, and I got that. On the other hand, I was hoping for a higher score in CARS and assumed I'd get a lower score in Psych. In fact, I just stopped studying psych over the last two weeks because I gave up on raising my score in that section.
On the other hand, I went through the new MSAR last night and it looks like most schools have a lower median CARS score than any other score. Which begs the question - are people scoring well in C/P and B/B scoring worse in the CARS section on average? I'm not sure, but I guess it will work just slightly in my favor.
So ... My last general biology class was AP Bio - 1996 (not exaggerating), AP Chem - 1998, Physics freshman year in 2000. That was all I had as pre-reqs so I had a LOT of catching up. Also, my GPA needs some help (3.43 WITH postbac - but my freshman year (1999-2000) was a 2.2 and there were extenuating circumstances, so I'm hoping this won't kill my chances)
I majored in Engineering at Princeton, and have been in the engineering field over the past 11 years. I planned to get a PhD, but decided I didn't want to do it in my current field. I met another engineer who went into medicine at the ripe age of 45, so I started looking at PhDs in biomedical engineering and other engineering fields and possibly medical school (this is one year ago). I realized Organic Chemistry was the gateway to all the programs I was interested in, so I tried to sign up at the local university, but they were full. My extended family - 2.5 hours away - agreed to host me during the week for the summer for two semesters of organic chemistry at the university in their area, so I spent the summer driving up and back each week and trying to work part time (this only kind of worked out). I tried to sign up for Biochem, Biology, and genetics at the local university and couldn't, so I signed up, again (Advanced Biochem 1, Cell Bio, Genetics), at the school 2.5 hours away and started undergraduate research. Once those classes were complete, I signed up for Advanced Biochem 2 during the spring semester and studied for the MCAT while on campus.
My study materials were primarily older version of TBR - I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend them, but would purchase the new versions if I could. I did 7 weeks of content review, going through one chapter a day and doing 3 to 5 passage based problems right after. I tried (and usually failed) to review previous passages during the week as well. I then did 7 weeks of content re-review and started practice exams (2 a week on campus) - NS 1-4, EK 1, 3, 4, and AAMC materials. I also listened to the Khan Academy videos on the way up and back from home. I used Kaplan, EK, TPR for psych and listened to the Yale Psych 101 podcast on itunes academy. It became clear that physiology and physics were going to be my nemesis, so I started listening to UC San Diego podcast classes during my runs and on my drives. Did you know that when you order skirt steak, you're ordering the diaphragm? I didn't know that until I listened to those podcasts. That's one example of some completely random tidbits I learned.
I think the most helpful thing was practicing passage based questions and taking Advanced Biochemistry. I wish I could have taken more timed exams- nearly all of mine were untimed because I took them at school and, let's be frank, there are too many distractions there. My final timed exam was AAMC FL 2 one week before the exam - I got a 521, so I was hoping for something between 519-523. Driving back and forth really started to wear on me, but it also gave me a lot of time to listen to classes and podcasts in the car. I recommend Khan academy, BUT - they are really slacking on biochem. You need to know a LOT more than what they go over in their lessons. I would volunteer to make a few more in-depth videos for them. And I honestly have no idea what books cover those concepts. We had graduate level biochemistry questions on our exam - how do you prepare for that?
I am preparing my application for this cycle. I was blessed with some absolutely excellent clinical volunteering opportunities this year and an excellent 3-month shadowing experience with an oncologist. In fact, I shadowed once a week on my way up to school, even the week I took the MCAT. It kept me grounded and reminded me that my score was not the be all and end all, During the week of the MCAT, we saw a patient who we knew was not coming back - she would not make it. THAT is the reason I'm going into the medical field and that reminded me that the goal is to get in, not get a perfect score. I kept that in mind during my studying. Study hard, review what you're not good at. But most of all, remember why you're doing this.
6 more days............
Wow way to go on those scores you guys!!
I only got 504 :-///// darn. 125/126/125/128
I was scoring 130 on practice exams in CARS, so I am really disappointed I didn't get at least 508. But I ran out of time at every section except P/S, which I did the best in. On AAMC 1 and 2 I got 508 and 512..... I had accommodations in undergrad for ADD, so I wonder if I have time to get that from AAMC and test in July........
Now I'm at the position of considering a retake :-( I really only want to go to allopathic...
My GPA is 3.75c and 3.9 bcpm. And I have stellar EC's. Any advice? Maybe I should make a wamc post....
If it's your first time taking then I think you should retake with a new studying strategy. Your GPA's are great so if you can get at least a 508 the next time around you will definitely be competitive for allo
The first time around is always rough because you don't know what you're getting into. And you have a solid foundation to build upon (nothing less than a 125). Don't be discouraged!
Idk the answer exactly, but 504 to 508 is going from 67th 80th percentile! How are your other stats?Thanks for the encouragement. Do you reallly think that paying $310 to take it again and studying for another block of time is worth it if I can only get a 508???
Is a 508 so much better than a 504?
Idk the answer exactly, but 504 to 508 is going from 67th 80th percentile! How are your other stats?
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With your practice exam scores I think it could have been a fluke, but I would post a what are my chances and have goro/gyngyn answer3.75 cgpa and 3.9 sGPA. Stellar service oriented and clinical EC's (weak research but some).
Thanks for the encouragement. Do you reallly think that paying $310 to take it again and studying for another block of time is worth it if I can only get a 508???
Is a 508 so much better than a 504?