**Official April 2017 MCAT Thread**

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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!
 
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Joining this because this is what I am signed up for now😱 Best of luck to everyone and looking forward to sharing this journey with you all🙂
 
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Can someone please help me out with a study schedule because I don't know how to start my content review. I'm planning on looking over content this winter break and onwards. thank you 🙂
 
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yogi07 said:
Can someone please help me out with a study schedule because I don't know how to start my content review. I'm planning on looking over content this winter break and onwards. thank you 🙂
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Hey Yogi, I just spent a while making a study schedule that incorporates SN2ed's great study plan for the new Mcat. I've tailored it for the new TBR books with AAMC materials thrown in plus a few other items. I'll post it soon.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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What's everyone's study plan look like? What resources are you using over what sort of schedule?


---
"Jumping from failure to failure with undiminished enthusiasm is the big secret to success."

SDN mobile
 
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stonefawkes said:
What's everyone's study plan look like? What resources are you using over what sort of schedule?


---
"Jumping from failure to failure with undiminished enthusiasm is the big secret to success."

SDN mobile
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Well I unsuccessfully attempted to do content review during this past semester. So my new plan is to hit the books very hard and finish up all my content review by the mid January and then take around 10-12 practice tests. Im using Berkley Review for my content reveiw and also have the TPR box set that I will use to supplement and do more practice problems.
 
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ScribeAfrique said:
Is anyone working full time and trying to study for the MCAT? what's your plan? Pls share because it might help lol


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I've been working full time in bench research and attempting to finish my Master's program, and with such little time to focus I ended up going with a Next Step tutor so that I could have someone do most of the scheduling and keep me on track, and it's really helped! Additionally, being that I can only get on average 3-4 hours of studying each weekday (and the average MCAT prepper might get closer to 10-12 hours/day for a solid 3 months), I figured it would probably take me 3x-4x as long to study, so it's been a year long endeavor and I will be incredibly excited when this is all over lol.
 
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glossymatte said:
Where in NY were you able to change your MCAT test to today?
I've been checking for the past two days-- no luck yet 🙁
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I made the change on 12/27. It's the Queens Blvd site. That day, even April 22nd was filled so had to go for the 28th. I think people start to postpone closer to their test date, so you might have to wait till Fed or even march. Unless, you could sign up in another state.
 
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DexterMorganSK said:
I made the change on 12/27. It's the Queens Blvd site. That day, even April 22nd was filled so had to go for the 28th. I think people start to postpone closer to their test date, so you might have to wait till Fed or even march. Unless, you could sign up in another state.
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Hey again. I did the exact same thing, changed from Jan 28th to April 28th. Plenty of free spaces here in Ohio. Good luck everyone. I ll be working part time and studying for the MCAT.
 
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Trying to register for this date...didn't realize every seat in the entire U.S is taken except Ohio. 3 months prior to testing...didn't think this would be an issue :/....My FAP was just accepted so thus I had a tiny bit of wait.
 
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bricktwelve said:
Can anyone comment as to how many seats are available for April 22 or 28 dates?
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That can vary from second to second (literally). You have to log in and check and then check and check and check. There are ALWAYS seats available on every given day, just perhaps not in your particular state or province.
 
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Every student of mine always worries about getting a seat. Some even register for a seat outside of their state. But that's a waste! Here's the secret to getting any MCAT seat for any date: check the registration site for availability 2-3 days leading up to a refund deadline.

Many students will delay the MCAT because they will find that they are not ready. Thus, they will go onto the site and request a refund (usually a couple of days or a week before the deadline to receive some sort of credit). This is when you can find any seat you want.

I realize that you probably just want a seat set in stone so that you don't have to worry about it. So if you can handle that, you'll get the test center next door instead of the one in the middle of nowhere. Good luck April crew!
 
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I'm taking it on April 22nd. I've been studying for 2 months so far while taking classes and working. I'm studying approximately 30 hours a week. The first month and a half I took 1 full length exam a week, from here on out I'll be taking 2. I'm using Kaplan thus far. Once I finish the Kaplan full lengths I'll begin Princetons and Next step, and then AAMC materials.
 
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I took one Next Step and Kaplan, and like Next Step much much better. But both were a struggle. Also I get real tired on the last section, probably mental thing cause you know you are very close to the finish
 
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How
YaraDelMar said:
I took one Next Step and Kaplan, and like Next Step much much better. But both were a struggle. Also I get real tired on the last section, probably mental thing cause you know you are very close to the finish
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How are you finding the scoring? I took both NS and Kaplan, got wildly different results.
 
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I also took both NS and Kaplan, and Kaplan was much harder, my score reflected that. People usually score higher on the real test
 
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NoPMHx said:
Where do I find NS and EK FLs? I've been trying to purchase them, but couldn't find them anywhere
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On the EK website, if you go to "Online Store", click "Online Prep" in the box on the left that says "Products By". Their website really isn't designed well, took me forever to find the exams. :yeahright:
 
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Has anyone taken an AAMC FL yet? Scheduled to take my first one tomorrow, one month before the test. Wondering what a good score would be to be on track to score 515+ on April 22.
 
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tj123 said:
Has anyone taken an AAMC FL yet? Scheduled to take my first one tomorrow, one month before the test. Wondering what a good score would be to be on track to score 515+ on April 22.
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So I just took the aamc unscored. I scored 73%/83%/80%/75% for a total percentage of 78. The tentative score comes out to about 511-514 using the calculator on reddit. I don't know know how accurate that is, but I'm shooting for a 510+ on April 22nd!

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I did, score 60% average, about 502. Which is OK with me, it will get me in the school I want. I'm not shooting for top schools.
 
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tj123 said:
I'm taking it on April 22nd. I've been studying for 2 months so far while taking classes and working. I'm studying approximately 30 hours a week. The first month and a half I took 1 full length exam a week, from here on out I'll be taking 2. I'm using Kaplan thus far. Once I finish the Kaplan full lengths I'll begin Princetons and Next step, and then AAMC materials.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend that you take at least a peek at a real AAMC exam earlier on; rather than leaving all AAMC to the very end. It is very helpful to see what real AAMC authors are doing before you get too late into your studies. The Section Bank or unscored AAMC Practice Test are good for that because they aren't scored full-lengths.
 
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tj123 said:
Has anyone taken an AAMC FL yet? Scheduled to take my first one tomorrow, one month before the test. Wondering what a good score would be to be on track to score 515+ on April 22.
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I got about 84% overall on the unscored, (80%/90%/85%/80%) and that came out to be around 514. So I'd say anywhere around 85%+ would be a good sign that you're on track.

If you're taking FL 1 or 2, you should be aiming to get around a 515 or higher, because AAMC FL's are highly predictive of your actual mcat score.
 
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Has anyone taken EK exams? Took EK1 last weekend and got 60% overall (46%/66%/52%/77%), yesterday took EK2 and got 70% overall (50%/71%/79%/77%). My goal is a 512 on my April 28th test date. B/B and P/S are solid for me, but I really need to work on C/P to get that score (the calculations on EK2 killed me...)
 
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Does anyone want to share their equation sheet in progress? Obv, it will vary by each person depending on your background knowledge and comfort level with different subjects. For me, physics is my weakest and I have few equations internalized/reflexive... Nevertheless, would love to hear what others plan to do or include 🙂

I'm planning to brain-dump an equation sheet in the first 10 minutes during the tutorial.

It has to be concise, because I don't have a photographic memory. So far, I am definitely including:

Michaelis-Menten eq.
Henderson-Hasselbach eq.
Q=mc <delta>T
v= f * lambda
1/f = 1/o + 1/I
ΔG = ΔH - TΔS


Alternatively, if you know of a link or pdf of a good equation sheet, please share! I'm testing Apr 28, so I want to practice writing my eq sheet this weekend and do it every day a few times...

What else are April testers doing this final week(s)?

Thanks!
 
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ED-RN2MD said:
Does anyone want to share their equation sheet in progress? Obv, it will vary by each person depending on your background knowledge and comfort level with different subjects. For me, physics is my weakest and I have few equations internalized/reflexive... Nevertheless, would love to hear what others plan to do or include 🙂

I'm planning to brain-dump an equation sheet in the first 10 minutes during the tutorial.

It has to be concise, because I don't have a photographic memory. So far, I am definitely including:

Michaelis-Menten eq.
Henderson-Hasselbach eq.
Q=mc <delta>T
v= f * lambda
1/f = 1/o + 1/I
ΔG = ΔH - TΔS


Alternatively, if you know of a link or pdf of a good equation sheet, please share! I'm testing Apr 28, so I want to practice writing my eq sheet this weekend and do it every day a few times...

What else are April testers doing this final week(s)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you have Kaplan, it as an equation sheet for physics.
 
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No, I thought they were both equally challenging. I would definitely recommend doing both. The MCAT has the same percentage of biochem, organic, etc. questions. It isn't supposed to vary. There isn't much orgo on it anymore... I can't remember if there was much metabolism. That's one of my stronger areas... good luck whichever one you choose!
 
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ED-RN2MD said:
Alternatively, if you know of a link or pdf of a good equation sheet, please share! I'm testing Apr 28, so I want to practice writing my eq sheet this weekend and do it every day a few times...

What else are April testers doing this final week(s)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I've been using this for physics: http://mcat.prep101.com/wp-content/uploads/ES_MCATPhysics.pdf

I'm 28th as well, trying to do AAMC practice q-packs starting Wednesday (have been using NS and EK until now); will do AAMC 2nd practice exam on Friday to decide if I should cancel last minute or not; and section banks next week. I feel like I'm super crunched for time and that I've hardly done any content review because I've been focusing on practicing only CARS for the last week, but at the same time I've been studying this material for ages so we shall see...

What's your plan?
 
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pewpew95 said:
I've been using this for physics: http://mcat.prep101.com/wp-content/uploads/ES_MCATPhysics.pdf
What's your plan?
Click to expand...

Thanks for that! I'll check it out. I am almost done with all the AAMC stuff and have mostly ignored other companies except I took one Kaplan FL and the free NS FL. I bought the whole AAMC package. I've taken both the FL's, and done 90% of the section banks and Q-packs, which I'm working through very methodically, stopping to spot-study something I didn't already review and meeting with professors or grad student friends/neighbors, whoever will listen, to talk over the passages and anything I don't understand...

For this week, I'm hoping to finish all the question banks and then Re-do FL 1 and FL2 from AAMC Friday-Monday. I'm also making a book of cards boiled down from my extensive review notes that I will just read over and over and over next week. Also my brain-dump equation page should be ready and I'll write that over and over and over.

I am SO ready to get this over with! I definitely won't be postponing insha'allah.

My other plan is to go to bed by 10pm every night and wake up at 6am, to get my body in rhythm for test day, and I'm also eating/drinking caffeine at roughly the same intervals.
 
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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...
 
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I would probably reschedule. In my opinion, the sample was a lot easier than the full lengths. They say your score is about +/- two points of the average of your scored full lengths.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using SDN mobile
 
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To those who completed the exam today:

Congratulations on completion of the exam, I hope it went well! Enjoy your drinks or whatever mind numbing tool you use tonight, you've earned it. I'll be in your boat shortly.

Best of luck with your scores, may the MCAT odds be ever in your favor.

#528
 
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