*Official August 2016 MCAT Thread*

[leelee12]

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Hi everyone,

This thread is for everyone that is writing the MCAT on August 4th, 5th, 19th, 20th or on the 25th.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

What I'm doing right now is 2 practice tests a week, with content review/flashcards and passages in between. I think that's the best way to keep everything fresh

 

[DoctorCakes]

Kaplan Quicksheets is the only review you need

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

Kaplan Quicksheets is the only review you need

I made sure to memorize every single thing on that

 

[deleted585480]

Kaplan Quicksheets is the only review you need

what's that?i have the review books.

never mind lol

 

[jahcat]

6 weeks is still plenty of time to prep for the new exam. Hang in there guys, also remember you should be practicing WHILE YOU DO CONTENT REVIEW. Don't wait till after content review and then do all your questions then.

wait really? would you recommend splitting days in half - half content and half practice?

 

[Doremonster]

wait really? would you recommend splitting days in half - half content and half practice?

In essence yes, what I mean by this is after you have reviewed the content do a few practice passages or discrete questions immediately. Don't just do content review for the day, close your book and then go watch tv or whatever you like to do. You need to apply what you learned, it also helps with consolidating what you learned.

 

[Doremonster]

So finished content review a couple days ago... I hope about 2 months of pure practice exams/passages is enough.... Would you guys advice to do minimal content review every day or so? Or would that be just wasting time, and just focus on a crap load of practice passages? Lol

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This will vary by person and how well you know certain material. It's probably good practice to take a quick skim of notes or flash cards daily so they stay fresh. In essence you want spaced repitition, but doing practice passages and reviewing all right and wrong answers is pretty much like content review. Especially if you use a good resource such as TBR.

 

[Jersanta]

This will vary by person and how well you know certain material. It's probably good practice to take a quick skim of notes or flash cards daily so they stay fresh. In essence you want spaced repitition, but doing practice passages and reviewing all right and wrong answers is pretty much like content review. Especially if you use a good resource such as TBR.

Spaced repetition would be less stressful than cramming content 2 weeks prior lol thanks! Unfortunately I'm using kaplan, but I will be practicing off of NS, EK, and AAMC material so hope that's enough!

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[mdwanabe]

Hey ladies n gents. Took the AAMC official test. Score= C/P 56%, CARS 81%, Bio 64% and Psych 68%. My question is: how do we translate these into a score??? These are percentages of questions we answered correctly, NOT our percentile rankings. This is so frustrating, as I was signed up for July 7th and now I am postponing since I feel these are merely mediocre.

 

[agentplayas]

Hey ladies n gents. Took the AAMC official test. Score= C/P 56%, CARS 81%, Bio 64% and Psych 68%. My question is: how do we translate these into a score??? These are percentages of questions we answered correctly, NOT our percentile rankings. This is so frustrating, as I was signed up for July 7th and now I am postponing since I feel these are merely mediocre.

I still have not taken the exam but I would postpone it in your case. You have room for improvement.

 

[Jersanta]

Hey ladies n gents. Took the AAMC official test. Score= C/P 56%, CARS 81%, Bio 64% and Psych 68%. My question is: how do we translate these into a score??? These are percentages of questions we answered correctly, NOT our percentile rankings. This is so frustrating, as I was signed up for July 7th and now I am postponing since I feel these are merely mediocre.

Is that the scored AAMC FL or the sample test FL? I know the sample test gives it in percentages, but I thought the scored FL would give an actual score?

 

[premed1244]

Anyone doing TBR? How are you doing on the practice passages? I'm getting like 60-80% and don't know what to think of that.

 

[Jersanta]

That feeling when you finally break 500

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[jahcat]

Anyone know anything about how representative Kaplan tests are? I got a 503 on one yesterday, and I'm not sure how to feel. My goal is 508+ come test day on August 4.

 

[neurodjent]

Anyone know anything about how representative Kaplan tests are? I got a 503 on one yesterday, and I'm not sure how to feel. My goal is 508+ come test day on August 4.

I've been thinking the same thing as I got a 505 and 504 on 2 Kaplan FL's. From what I've seen on that spreadsheet floating around SDN, a lot of people scored 10 points higher on the actual test than the Kaplans. This data has a lot of bias in them though due to who is choosing to report their scores.

With that being said, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get a 508+ with that Kap score.

 

[neurodjent]

That feeling when you finally break 500

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

Great job! Keep it up, you got this!

 

[jahcat]

I've been thinking the same thing as I got a 505 and 504 on 2 Kaplan FL's. From what I've seen on that spreadsheet floating around SDN, a lot of people scored 10 points higher on the actual test than the Kaplans. This data has a lot of bias in them though due to who is choosing to report their scores.

With that being said, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get a 508+ with that Kap score.

Yeah, not to mention people probably tend to study a lot more after getting low scores on practice tests, resulting in those big jumps on test day. Hopefully we both surpass our goal!

 

[neurodjent]

Yeah, not to mention people probably tend to study a lot more after getting low scores on practice tests, resulting in those big jumps on test day. Hopefully we both surpass our goal!

I know we will! We'll keep working hard and building off of the mistakes we make on these practice tests.

My main motivation: I do NOT want to have to take this test again! 😀

 

[neurodjent]

I finished my last Kaplan test and I think I am going to get the NS FL's. I've heard mixed reviews but you can't beat that price.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I don't understand Kaplan's motivation in deflating their FL scores though? I can understand deflating the diagnostic score (for the higher score guarantee)...

 

[neurodjent]

I don't understand Kaplan's motivation in deflating their FL scores though? I can understand deflating the diagnostic score (for the higher score guarantee)...

I'm assuming it's just because the prep companies didn't really know what the new test was going to be like but they had to have tests available to sell so they just sided with caution and made them really hard. They will make them more representative of the real exam as time goes on but hopefully we'll be done with the MCAT before we can see that happen.

Personally I like that they're really hard. I'd rather practice with the hard stuff so the real thing seems easier.

 

[Dr_Curry]

After thinking about it, as a prep company you don't want to over-predict someones true score. I think they are more meant to precision than accuracy. AAMC exams are the only ones that serve the purpose of accuracy in predicting your score.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I agree that these harder tests will prepare us for the real thing. I just saw data on these forums that told us we can basically add 8-10 points to our full length average to get a better idea of how we'll score.

 

[Dr_Curry]

Kaplan's behavioral Sciences review discusses the 5 components of language (phonological, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics). TPR, KA, nor the AAMC outline mentions this information!! Am I just crazy or does kaplan have an edge on the other resources? Will this be on the MCAT?

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Hey fellow test takers, anyone using NS full lengths? I'm getting kinda nervous taking them. These r my scores.

NS Diag: 501
NS1: 504
NS2: 503

I'm planning to take all 10 FL of NS as well as aamc qbanks and scored tests. Do u guys think that's enough?

 

[neurodjent]

Kaplan's behavioral Sciences review discusses the 5 components of language (phonological, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics). TPR, KA, nor the AAMC outline mentions this information!! Am I just crazy or does kaplan have an edge on the other resources? Will this be on the MCAT?

I just took a look at the AAMC outline and the only elements of language that I see are theories of language development, influence of language on cognition, brain areas that control language, and language in culture. With that being said, if it's not on the AAMC outline than it will not be on the test.

I think that prep companies are including way more behavioral stuff than they have to just to cover all their bases. Because it's a new test, there is still some speculation as to what's been on it and a lot of people haven't taken psych courses so I think the prep companies just include it.

In my 5 practice FL's I have not run across the 5 components of language.

 

[neurodjent]

Hey fellow test takers, anyone using NS full lengths? I'm getting kinda nervous taking them. These r my scores.

NS Diag: 501
NS1: 504
NS2: 503

I'm planning to take all 10 FL of NS as well as aamc qbanks and scored tests. Do u guys think that's enough?

From what I have seen you're doing pretty well, keep at it! Most people score a few points higher than their NS test scores.

I will be starting the NS FL's this week.

 

[Dr_Curry]

Hey fellow test takers, anyone using NS full lengths? I'm getting kinda nervous taking them. These r my scores.

NS Diag: 501
NS1: 504
NS2: 503

I'm planning to take all 10 FL of NS as well as aamc qbanks and scored tests. Do u guys think that's enough?

I think those are solid! especially if you are more than a month out! I've completed NS 1-4 and scored similarly to you, averaging about 503.

 

[neurodjent]

I just took NS-1 and I definitely liked it better than Kaplan's just because it felt more like reading the passages actually meant something. I have a feeling that it's still not as passage-based as the real test will be. Overall, I thought it was a good test and I got a 509 so I am happy!

 

[Dagrimsta1]

I just took NS-1 and I definitely liked it better than Kaplan's just because it felt more like reading the passages actually meant something. I have a feeling that it's still not as passage-based as the real test will be. Overall, I thought it was a good test and I got a 509 so I am happy!

I would recommend skipping NS 2 only b/c the content seems off. It is a very convoluted sample of a FL exam and I dont think it was very representative of the real exam... BTW i have taken the real MCAT so thats my 2 cents

 

[neurodjent]

I would recommend skipping NS 2 only b/c the content seems off. It is a very convoluted sample of a FL exam and I dont think it was very representative of the real exam... BTW i have taken the real MCAT so thats my 2 cents

Thanks for the heads-up! If you don't mind, can you elaborate on the content being off? Overall, how do you feel the NS's compare to the real thing? Easier, Harder, not representative?

I may still have to do it anyways because I am all out of cash and I don't have anymore FL's than the NS's and the AAMC's. I want to take at least 1 every week up until my August 4th test date. I would love to grab a EK but at 50 bucks a pop, I don't think I can do that.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Thanks for the heads-up! If you don't mind, can you elaborate on the content being off? Overall, how do you feel the NS's compare to the real thing? Easier, Harder, not representative?

I may still have to do it anyways because I am all out of cash and I don't have anymore FL's than the NS's and the AAMC's. I want to take at least 1 every week up until my August 4th test date. I would love to grab a EK but at 50 bucks a pop, I don't think I can do that.

So NS2 was very difficult, with questions that i doubt will EVER show up on a real exam. The only useful thing about that exam is learning how to pace yourself to difficult questions and staying motivated in the face of adversity. NS in general seems on par with the real MCAT but with slightly harder questions in terms of calculations and specificity. The real MCAT focuses ALOT of B/C and utilizes real ongoing research in their passages.
For example: The passage could be based off the discovery of a new enzyme (F67S) that has a function X. Function X is vital b/c it shows to suppress Factor VII in clotting formation... Molecule X489F has been hypothesized to show inhibitory affects on this new enzyme, but is reversible. Studies show that Enzyme F67S is in the same protein domain as phyotene synthase which is involved in the biosynthesis of B-carotene in plants, specifically carrots.
Diagram showing the molecule.
Plop a graph showing the formation of Factor VII formation w/ and w/o the inhibitor present in vitro.
A followup study was then conducted using a regioisomer of Molecule X489F. The results are as follows...
Plop a second graph with data showing the formation of Factor VII w/ and w/o inhibitor.

Q1: Which lineweaver burk plot corresponds to the possible inhibition that Molecule X489F has assuming it is mixed?
(Need to know how each of inhibition types affect Km and Vmax!)
Q2: Which functional groups are present on molecule X489F?
(Should be able to identify functional groups)
Q3: Based on the research presented in the passage, which of the following would be the best way to relate Enzyme F67S to phyotene synthase?
(Paralogs, Orthologs, Homologs, Zymogens)

Along the lines of stuff like that. BTW i just made this up on the fly and in no way is this a passage from the real mcat or even NS.

 

[pbpuppy]

Speaking of difficult, non-representative FL to avoid, TPR Demo was a total waste of a day! Been using Kaplan FL last month, (now going thru AAMC) but earlier this week I spent a day on the FREE TPR Demo exam and got 8 points lower than what I've been getting on Kaplan, when its known that even Kaplan is made overly hard... OK 🙁 TPR totally wanted me to feel like I needed their course. AVOID my friends!

 

[neurodjent]

So NS2 was very difficult, with questions that i doubt will EVER show up on a real exam. The only useful thing about that exam is learning how to pace yourself to difficult questions and staying motivated in the face of adversity. NS in general seems on par with the real MCAT but with slightly harder questions in terms of calculations and specificity. The real MCAT focuses ALOT of B/C and utilizes real ongoing research in their passages.
For example: The passage could be based off the discovery of a new enzyme (F67S) that has a function X. Function X is vital b/c it shows to suppress Factor VII in clotting formation... Molecule X489F has been hypothesized to show inhibitory affects on this new enzyme, but is reversible. Studies show that Enzyme F67S is in the same protein domain as phyotene synthase which is involved in the biosynthesis of B-carotene in plants, specifically carrots.
Diagram showing the molecule.
Plop a graph showing the formation of Factor VII formation w/ and w/o the inhibitor present in vitro.
A followup study was then conducted using a regioisomer of Molecule X489F. The results are as follows...
Plop a second graph with data showing the formation of Factor VII w/ and w/o inhibitor.

Q1: Which lineweaver burk plot corresponds to the possible inhibition that Molecule X489F has assuming it is mixed?
(Need to know how each of inhibition types affect Km and Vmax!)
Q2: Which functional groups are present on molecule X489F?
(Should be able to identify functional groups)
Q3: Based on the research presented in the passage, which of the following would be the best way to relate Enzyme F67S to phyotene synthase?
(Paralogs, Orthologs, Homologs, Zymogens)

Along the lines of stuff like that. BTW i just made this up on the fly and in no way is this a passage from the real mcat or even NS.

So it went ahead and took it because you got me curious as to how hard it was.

It. was. IMPOSSIBLE. Incredibly difficult test. I'm glad I took it though because it made me realize that it was important to be able to get through a tough section and not let it get you down for the rest of the test. I came out with a 505 which is way worse than my 509 on the first one but still, since I'm going for a 505 on the real thing, I'll take it.

Also, as far as what I've seen from AAMC material, your example was spot on. Thank you for that, I wouldn't have been able to come up with that lol

 

[neurodjent]

Speaking of difficult, non-representative FL to avoid, TPR Demo was a total waste of a day! Been using Kaplan FL last month, (now going thru AAMC) but earlier this week I spent a day on the FREE TPR Demo exam and got 8 points lower than what I've been getting on Kaplan, when its known that even Kaplan is made overly hard... OK 🙁 TPR totally wanted me to feel like I needed their course. AVOID my friends!

That's crazy, we had completely opposite experiences between those two tests. The TPR demo was my first FL and I got a 503 and I felt great. I went and took Kap FL 1 the next week....497. I was devastated. As long as we all come out on top in the end, that's whats important. A little under a month left 😵

 

[premedkid1994]

after some research
I'm gonna do NS FL #4 and then ~2-3 EK exams
I've only done NS FL #1 and got a 125/125/126/127 (503)

I honestly feel like its pointless do take a lot of exams if your not 100% on content. I'm going to do as many passages as I can from BR for the sciences and do all KA passages for Psych along with reviewing notes for that section. Also doing cars every day.

NS FL 1--> 503
NS FL 4
EK 1
EK 3
EK 4
AAMC qpacks
AAMC section banks
AAMC OG
AAMC ungraded fl
AAMC graded fl

Saving the section bank, ungraded fl, and graded fl for last 15-16 days before exam. 🙂

good luck studying everyone!!


BTW taking exam on Aug 5..
but have nothing going on. Treating mcat as a full time job studying ~8 hours a day now

 

[Ad2b]

FYI - section bank is focused on biochem, psy.soc. While the questions do draw from the other areas, know that they are not consolidated or correlated to the CP, CARS, BB, PS sections.

 

[pbpuppy]

That's crazy, we had completely opposite experiences between those two tests. The TPR demo was my first FL and I got a 503 and I felt great. I went and took Kap FL 1 the next week....497. I was devastated. As long as we all come out on top in the end, that's whats important. A little under a month left 😵

Wow this is odd! Ugh leaving the prep companies behind for AAMC this last month. We got this!

 

[vlad falb]

Hey guys quick question,

I am taking the mcat on August 20. Quick question and I apologize if it is a little off topic, I have a 3.5 undergrade GPA overall and in sciences. I went to the Touro SMP and didn't do so great, as I finished with a 3.2, but it was a full on medical school year so it was great to get exposure to everything, and I feel like I at least proved I can pass my classes in medical school. What do you guys think I need to get on this mcat to get in to D.O school. I applied to 22 schools and I am okay with going anywhere in the country. Again, sorry if I am off topic. Thank you!

 

[Ad2b]

@vlad falb - @Goro has regularly said something like 504 but you might be better off posting in the What are my chances or opening up your own thread; likely, this thread will soon become filled with the "OMFG, I have to take the test in 2 days!!!" kinds of things.

 

[vlad falb]

@Ad2b

lol okay thank you!

 

[tetley]

if you want to use non-AAMC tests, I like NextStep and EK the best, then Kaplan if you want something harder, but stay away from GS - there are a lot of errors

 

[deleted585480]

Where is the best place to purchase FLs? Besides the official AAMC one and the free one I got with Kaplan.. i'm not sure where to take them 🙁

 

[pbpuppy]

Where is the best place to purchase FLs? Besides the official AAMC one and the free one I got with Kaplan.. i'm not sure where to take them 🙁

Google up Next Step's MCAT website. While they aren't "cheap" (doubt any are), they are probably the most affordable. They provide a free half length and 1 free full length also

 

[Ad2b]

i'm not sure where to take them 🙁

Not at home; and take them at 8 AM to simulate test day reality

I have all the Kap FLs, TPR free ones, and the AAMC stuff (oh and EK 1 or something)

 

[bioislife]

Hey guys quick question. I'm about to start studying again to retake the exam.

What materials did you use/are you using to learn the immune system? I found it to be super confusing, even after reading the chapter in the latest Kaplan book.

What material did you use to understand electrochemistry? And fatty acid metabolism/urea cycle?

Any info would help!

 

[Ad2b]

I draw (people laugh at me for this but I do and it helps): Immuno - light v heavy, proline in the middle, the hinge, etc; also did the same for B v T cells (even adding in the different receptors); same for all biochem pathways, and AAs

For electrochem? Gotta hit that next. Just took FL and a few points puts me where I want to be (Kap FL 4, not AAMC)

 

[jahcat]

Google up Next Step's MCAT website. While they aren't "cheap" (doubt any are), they are probably the most affordable. They provide a free half length and 1 free full length also

Have you taken next step full length 1? And if so how did you feel about it?

 

[pbpuppy]

Have you taken next step full length 1? And if so how did you feel about it?

I only took the first full length and half length cus my Kaplan course provides me with more than enough materials. The next step free materials were representative IMO

 

[neurodjent]

I just took the Bio/Biochem Section Bank, oh wow did it beat me up. Time to study up and make sure I know my Biochem for test day.