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Official August 27th 2014 MCAT Thread
Started by HaitianMD
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Nice work man! Electrochemistry is still my Achilles heel, that's what dropped my PS score relative to the last test. Keep it up!
Quick question; how many people are devoting the summer to just studying and who's working/volunteering/etc?
37 on AAMC #5 (14/11/12)
AAMC 3 was my first full length verbal test, so it was a new experience. AAMC 4 is probably the high end of my verbal performance with a 13- took 5 today and got an 11. I feel like my "average" VR score hovers between an 11-12, if i get some passages im especially comfortable with i do a little better. Those exams were taken only a couple days apart, so i doubt the couple TPRH and EK101 passages i did in between really made that much of a difference.
Working part time (~10-18hrs/wk) at my lab this summer. Last summer they had me full time and I do research for credit during the semester, so im basically in full control of my work schedule
AAMC 3 was my first full length verbal test, so it was a new experience. AAMC 4 is probably the high end of my verbal performance with a 13- took 5 today and got an 11. I feel like my "average" VR score hovers between an 11-12, if i get some passages im especially comfortable with i do a little better. Those exams were taken only a couple days apart, so i doubt the couple TPRH and EK101 passages i did in between really made that much of a difference.
Working part time (~10-18hrs/wk) at my lab this summer. Last summer they had me full time and I do research for credit during the semester, so im basically in full control of my work schedule
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Where did my summer go
Look into beta block receptors if nothing else works. Whether or not you think its ethical or not is up to you to decide, I just know people use it a lot to calm down nerves, personally never taken it.
CHECKING IN!
I was scheduled for the August 7th MCAT tomorrow but canceled after not hitting the marks I know I can.
My PS & BS content is solidified... I just can NOT get my verbal up for the life of me!
I was scheduled for the August 7th MCAT tomorrow but canceled after not hitting the marks I know I can.
My PS & BS content is solidified... I just can NOT get my verbal up for the life of me!
I finished content review and wrote AAMC 3 FL - scored 8/6/9 🙁
What should I do?
I am re-writing it this summer. I wrote it 2 summers ago and scored 9/6/10 on the real thing. This summer, I have gone through all my science notes to refresh my memory and have been doing passages in sets (3-4 per sitting). I am doing the Kaplan FL tests. Some passages I do well on and others I get them all wrong becasue I missed the main point of the passage. Can I ever improve my VR score?.....feeling very disappointed and helpless 🙁
What should I do?
I am re-writing it this summer. I wrote it 2 summers ago and scored 9/6/10 on the real thing. This summer, I have gone through all my science notes to refresh my memory and have been doing passages in sets (3-4 per sitting). I am doing the Kaplan FL tests. Some passages I do well on and others I get them all wrong becasue I missed the main point of the passage. Can I ever improve my VR score?.....feeling very disappointed and helpless 🙁
GGAAAAAHHHHDDD. I know we got three weeks but mannnnn I am freaking outtttt/excittteeed. Can't wait to get it over with. Started studying May 12th. Started with just EK books realized how incomplete they made me feel. Started using a combo of EK and TPR and that went much better. Then, around end of july, finished content, thought I was the BOMB took AAMC 5 and BOMBED IT, got mid 20's (GAAAAHHHH). Knew had to change something. Started going to the gym (lol) AND doing TBR passages, every section has about 15 passages and I started with 2 sections per day (~30 passages per day (shoot me)). Took AAMC 7 today got closer to my goal of at least 30!! Definitely gave me motivation to continue with TBR. 3 MORE WEEKS!!!!
DO you guys think it'd be more worthwhile to redo the TBR passages I did poorly on, now that I've done them all, (recorded all those i got more than 2 wrong on) or just do TPRH passages and not redo those I did poorly on. Leaning towards the latter but thought I'd see what others think.
I think it's better off you do TPRH. My friend is doing TPRH and he has been telling me it's as difficult as TBR. Plus, you already know some of the answers from TBR even if you don't realize it.
DO NOT GIVE UP. I recommend doing all the passages for TBR, EVERY SINGLE ONE. I recommend not timing for the first 2 or 3 passages per section then timing everything after.
Verbal is not easy, but it's doable. I have been somewhat following EK's advice on concentrating on the main idea. I started off horribly on verbal two and a half months ago (got a 5 on a Kaplan full length). Since then, I did verbal ever single day, started with 2 passages per day with 17 minutes for the two passages and then I would grade them the next day. Grading and reviewing is the most important part. It would usually take me around half an hour and plus to grade it. I have my own notebook of verbal. What I would do is reread the passages from the previous day and then write out a main idea (usually one sentence long. YOU CANNOT SKIP THIS STEP.) Then after writing the main idea I would look at the questions I got right and wrong and see why i got it wrong. I would write down the exact reason why I got it wrong. Every so often I would read the notebook to see exactly where/why I was getting things wrong. After doing that for about 2 weeks I increased my passages to 3 per day (25.5 minutes for the three passages). It's been exactly two and a half months and my last AAMC exam my verbal went to a 9. It's not amazing but with hard work there is definitely going be a boost. I am hoping by 27th it can go to a 10. Hope I helped, BEST OF LUCK.
If that's the score you get when horribly behind, what are you gonna show once you're done with content review?!
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test date is almost here boys
I dunno, but I'm determined to find out! Hopefully if I can crank those chapters out (I'm not even gonna do TBR, just Anki 'em and go) I'll start hitting my goal score!I got lucky, though, there weren't that many questions on the stuff I haven't covered, so it didn't hurt me except on 2-3 questions (the rest I puzzled out on the go with what I remembered from highschool/college).
So what's your goal? I'm shooting for 36 but would definitely be happy with a 34
I got lucky, though, there weren't that many questions on the stuff I haven't covered, so it didn't hurt me except on 2-3 questions (the rest I puzzled out on the go with what I remembered from highschool/college).
My pipe dream before starting was "42, happy with 38" though I figured I'd more realistically end up in the 34-36 range.
Now my idealistic visions of 38+ are back with a vengeance, though I know #3 is the easy one.
Actually going to take AAMC4 tomorrow and do a few chapters tonight, try to minimize my deficit.
I'm doing a bunch a passages and catching up on Anki cards tonight, taking AAMC 8 tomorrow. Really want to break a 37 with this one
Got 13/11/11 on #8, my lowest yet. Kind of disappointed
No I did seven last week and four before that. I have some exams that are expiring soon so I cant do them in order
Lol, I was talking to s3rr8s, because I didn't see his scores from #7, but did see from #3, 4, and 5.
I thought you quoted me for some reason. Probably a sign that I need to take a little break
sorry i guess i never checked in for that one-
15/11/13 for a 39 on AAMC 7, pretty happy with it
Taking 5 tomorrow. The 27th is coming up so fast
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S'not curved, so no worries if they do!
That's funny - I was under the impression this entire time that when people talked about the MCAT being curved they also meant it was standardized across the writers. Thanks!
It's standardized across previous writers, though.
Did you guys find AAMC 5 and 7 harder/easier than the rest of the AAMCs?
Those are the only 2 AAMCs I saved for my retake and want to know if you guys scored higher/lower than your average on those?
Those are the only 2 AAMCs I saved for my retake and want to know if you guys scored higher/lower than your average on those?
I just did 5 and got 13/10/11 which is my lowest yet (getting kind of pissed that my score keeps going down from my first tests). I thought verbal was tough and biology was kind of hard (I mostly just made stupid mistakes)
Exactly...it's not curved (compared against the others taking the test the same day), it's standardized (based on a large, large number of samples from when the passages were in prior tests as 'experimental' passages.)
The general consensus seems to be that scoring <10 in a section means you aren't solid on your content. You should do the self assessments and review the areas you're weak in. I'd get on that asap
Thought I'd join y'all. I've been studying all summer (TPR + EK + AAMCs) and am pretty excited for Aug 27 ~5pm 🙂
2 WEEKS OUT!!!
Taking AAMC 8 in a couple days! I'll post the results.
Taking AAMC 8 in a couple days! I'll post the results.
AAMC Self-Assessment Package: https://www.aamc.org/students/apply...theofficialmcatselfassessmentpackagepage.html
No, see the above response.
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When do y'all have your very last FL scheduled?
I'm taking #10 on the 24th. Figured I'll review it that day/ a little bit the following day, and do a couple passages on subjects I missed questions on. Then the day before I'm gonna do a couple verbal passages, my Anki cards, and condense all the post-test notes I took for each exam into a couple pages. Probably look over those notes the morning of the exam too. What's your plan?
I would suggest just taking the day before off... I highly doubt that one day will make a big difference if you spend it studying - but if you go into your exam more mentally rested it sure will.
I think it really depends on individual preferences. The point you are making makes sense of course but I personally prefer to do a light content review the day before - this doesn't tire but actually help me remain calm and feel more prepared.
I remember for my first MCAT I spent the last 2 days before the test doing content review and it helped me tremendously (I got at least 4-5 questions right) and I was glad that I did review my notes the day before.
