*Official June 2016 MCAT Thread*

Started by aalamruad
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aalamruad

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Hey there everyone! Figured I'd start this thread since I recently started preparing for the June 18th MCAT. For those of you who are taking the June 2nd MCAT, June 18th MCAT, or still considering one of those two dates, feel free to post here with any questions, comments, concerns, or support you have to offer!

Good luck to you all! Let's crush it.
 
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Iz_FtB said:
Hi guys.

A little late, but checking in. Writing on June 2nd.

Managed 525 on the scored test about a week and a half ago, 91/91/98/87 on the sample (or something like that) a month ago, and something similar on the OG.

Happy to answer questions if anyone needs.
Click to expand...

That's very very impressive, any general overall tips for attacking the exam?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Iz_FtB said:
Hi guys.

A little late, but checking in. Writing on June 2nd.

Managed 525 on the scored test about a week and a half ago, 91/91/98/87 on the sample (or something like that) a month ago, and something similar on the OG.

Happy to answer questions if anyone needs.
Click to expand...

That's great! I'm jealous! haha
 
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For b/b passages with lots and lots of interactions, its usually easiest to remember that for any given interaction you can only have 3 possible outcomes: promotion, inhibition, or neutral (this doesn't often come up). When going through a passage I keep in mind an image of pluses and minuses that link the different players. The trick is not to get overwhelmed with so many different proteins and genes thrown at you, and just remember that the fundamental consequences of the interactions are easy: things go up, down, or sideways.

Another thing that comes up: Removing a negative regulator of a negative regulator leads to a negative outcome, but adding a negative regulator of a negative regulator leads to a positive outcome. That probably sounds like nonsense, but if you can make that make sense to you, you'll be able to run through questions that highlight these types of interactions much more quickly.

For theories of emotion, it's usually easiest to think in terms of causation:

JL: Physiological response to an event causes emotion.

CB: Physiological response and emotion occur simultaneously downstream of an event.

SS: An event causes a physiological response which is put in context by cognitive processes. Meaning a similar physiologic response (elevated heart rate) is followed by a cognitive interpretation of the situation (is it a bear that's causing the heart rate elevation, or did I see a pretty girl), which is then followed by the emotion.
 
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Iz_FtB said:
For b/b passages with lots and lots of interactions, its usually easiest to remember that for any given interaction you can only have 3 possible outcomes: promotion, inhibition, or neutral (this doesn't often come up). When going through a passage I keep in mind an image of pluses and minuses that link the different players. The trick is not to get overwhelmed with so many different proteins and genes thrown at you, and just remember that the fundamental consequences of the interactions are easy: things go up, down, or sideways.

Another thing that comes up: Removing a negative regulator of a negative regulator leads to a negative outcome, but adding a negative regulator of a negative regulator leads to a positive outcome. That probably sounds like nonsense, but if you can make that make sense to you, you'll be able to run through questions that highlight these types of interactions much more quickly.

For theories of emotion, it's usually easiest to think in terms of causation:

JL: Physiological response to an event causes emotion.

CB: Physiological response and emotion occur simultaneously downstream of an event.

SS: An event causes a physiological response which is put in context by cognitive processes. Meaning a similar physiologic response (elevated heart rate) is followed by a cognitive interpretation of the situation (is it a bear that's causing the heart rate elevation, or did I see a pretty girl), which is then followed by the emotion.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, that is quite helpful! I think not getting so caught up in the convoluted terminology and abbreviations of the B/B, is something I definitely need to work on. Similar to keeping track of key words and tones in CARS, keeping track of the effect A has on B and B has on C, etc would help keep things straight and help anticipate questions.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Aristeidis said:
I'd say from my experience I found there to be a lot of convoluted experiments as the SB has which is where my hard interpretation is coming from. It was nothing like the scored in terms of difficulty. I seriously expected it to be on that level. But I see what you're saying, just try not to go in with the wrong mentality and expect it to be easier than it is was what I was advising at! AAMC got the best of me last week but I'm ready for June 2nd. I think next step and section bank difficulty is the most comparable to what I got on the real test last week.
Click to expand...


Hey Aristeidis I'm sorry to hear the May 20th one did not go as planned. Do you think you can give us some tips to enlighten the rest of us facing fear on the exam?

What about the C/P section was similar to the section bank?
How was it different? More convoluted?
Were there more formulas you needed to remember? Or anything the AAMC focused on more heavily?

I understand if you don't wanna answer these, but I feel we would all greatly appreciate any help!
 
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Scrubs 101

one technique that I use is I try to map the major points of B/B and am usually able to understand the passage a lot better in terms of what they heck they're actually looking for. Also review examkrackers method on trying to review research articles...I found it very helpful...obviously with the scores Iz is getting take my opinion with a grain of salt but maybe he/she can back me up
 
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Mapping out a b/b passage can be good to visualize things, but it can also take time. So if that is your strategy, get good at picking out the relevant players and mapping it out quickly. Create a notation to show positive and negative effects simply would become a good idea. Something like this https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/imgs/512/317/3238392/PMC3238392_JST2011-894510.003.png, where arrowheads are positive interactions and hammerheads are negative interactions.

Try putting yourself in the scientist's shoes when analyzing a figure. Imagine the poor grad student immediately before running the experiment, (s)he was thinking "I have this prediction in mind based on all this previous rationale, but how do I test it"? Like GRACE says, begin with whatever question the author is trying to answer, and use that context to interpret the figure.
 
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bYGODSGRACE said:
Hey Aristeidis I'm sorry to hear the May 20th one did not go as planned. Do you think you can give us some tips to enlighten the rest of us facing fear on the exam?

What about the C/P section was similar to the section bank?
How was it different? More convoluted?
Were there more formulas you needed to remember? Or anything the AAMC focused on more heavily?

I understand if you don't wanna answer these, but I feel we would all greatly appreciate any help!
Click to expand...


Yeah, I dont mind helping out. Let me try my best to enlighten you on my experience.

Going in, C/P is my favorite section and its probably my best. I enjoy it as I am a tutor for chem and aced those classes. I usually do well on it and it sets the confidence as I move forward through the mcat. I found myself spending so much time on understanding the passages and the experiments they described. The first two passages I got were so convoluted. I spent almost 20+ minutes just on the first two passages. I was able to pace myself and still finish with about 5 minutes but I legitimately found myself just going with my gut feeling and selecting an answer as I didn't feel confident in almost 50% of my answers due to them asking such discrete and detailed questions. VERY heavy on gen chem. I didn't find too much direct biochem on there during this section which was surprising. I think if you threw passages from the SB and from the test I took 5/20 at me, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. I usually find a way to reason through questions but I had just never been that stumped before. Heavy calculations that wasted a lot of my time as well. Two big things I guess hammered me. Heavy calculations and convolution. That really hurt me for cars which is my worst section. I legitimately found myself reading the passage but working through the chem questions in my head, or thoughts of the chem section just roaming my mind. I'm mad that I even let it get to me, but I think if I had not been hit that hard mentally on the chem section, I would've been okay. I wrote down all my formulas, wrote out the unit circle and all those dumb little things they tell you to write during the tutorial period. I don't think I used any of them. Maybe very SIMPLE formulas that I think are so common sense but no derivation of anything crazy. I was surprised how minute the physics was. Nothing like the AAMC scored. I cant stress it enough. AAMC Scored, even if you did bad on, once you went through your mistakes, you have like an ah-ha moment. I don't think there was a clear cut answer on a lot of questions. I usually mark 5-10 questions. I marked 20 questions last week. That was extensive for me. Im no genius I promise but if you mark 20 questions, and it impacts you mentality its a no-brainer to void if you can take it in 2 weeks at optimal level mentally. I don't think there would have been any way my score would decrease by studying an extra 2 weeks, which is why I didn't get to caught up in the idea that I had to study an extra 2 weeks.

Cars, I thought was bad because I was thinking about chem so much, but the passages were easy reads. Nothing highly intense.

Bio was MUCH easier than chem. No where near section bank difficulty. Very biochem heavy but I did not have to apply anything I memorized from any biochemical pathway.

Psych- at this point after feeling so good about bio, I decided to void because I knew I didn't perform optimally on chem- hurting my cars, I skipped through this section and voided after reading the first two passages.
 
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bYGODSGRACE said:
Scrubs 101

one technique that I use is I try to map the major points of B/B and am usually able to understand the passage a lot better in terms of what they heck they're actually looking for. Also review examkrackers method on trying to review research articles...I found it very helpful...obviously with the scores Iz is getting take my opinion with a grain of salt but maybe he/she can back me up
Click to expand...

Hmm interesting, so like understanding the goal of the experiment in reference to the details?! I definitely find I have trouble with that in CARS when the passage is about something artistic or philosophical. And where do I find EK methods are they publicly shared? EK is actually like the only test prep company I didn't get any material from ahah


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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zax said:
According to a formula I found on one of these threads awhile back your actual score would be around a 513, your decreased score would be a 508
Formula was y=.7133x+451.051 x being your percent correct.
Wish I could give credit to who came up with it but I dont have the time to look through the threads. Congrats on your scores!!
Click to expand...
I think you're referring to the thread called "Charts predicting MCAT Scores"
and I think you missed one step in the calculation. You used the right formula, but you're supposed to add 6.22 to the 513, so @believe <3 would actually have a predicted score of 519.
 
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Reporting back after NS2 today.. I'm so jealous of your guys' next step scores! Good job!! Anyway, I ended up with a 500 (124-126-125-125):arghh: I will go ahead and attribute it to all the random health/car/family issues I had to deal with this past week lol. The bio passages were so ridiculous to me that I am grateful that I ended up with 125. Psych I haven't even studied since last summer so I expect some improvement after theory/terms review. I'm signed up for the 18th, but if I can't get my practice test scores up to at least 505 then I don't think it would be a good idea to retake yet...
 
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upload_2016-5-27_22-0-20.png


To everyone trying to understand what their practice scores mean, check out this amazing thread made by a fellow pre-med who's an accountant: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/charts-predicting-mcat-scores.1176218/

Fantastic formulas/statistics/etc. that will help you predict your actual score based on your practice test performance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Aristeidis said:
Yeah, I dont mind helping out. Let me try my best to enlighten you on my experience.

Going in, C/P is my favorite section and its probably my best. I enjoy it as I am a tutor for chem and aced those classes. I usually do well on it and it sets the confidence as I move forward through the mcat. I found myself spending so much time on understanding the passages and the experiments they described. The first two passages I got were so convoluted. I spent almost 20+ minutes just on the first two passages. I was able to pace myself and still finish with about 5 minutes but I legitimately found myself just going with my gut feeling and selecting an answer as I didn't feel confident in almost 50% of my answers due to them asking such discrete and detailed questions. VERY heavy on gen chem. I didn't find too much direct biochem on there during this section which was surprising. I think if you threw passages from the SB and from the test I took 5/20 at me, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. I usually find a way to reason through questions but I had just never been that stumped before. Heavy calculations that wasted a lot of my time as well. Two big things I guess hammered me. Heavy calculations and convolution. That really hurt me for cars which is my worst section. I legitimately found myself reading the passage but working through the chem questions in my head, or thoughts of the chem section just roaming my mind. I'm mad that I even let it get to me, but I think if I had not been hit that hard mentally on the chem section, I would've been okay. I wrote down all my formulas, wrote out the unit circle and all those dumb little things they tell you to write during the tutorial period. I don't think I used any of them. Maybe very SIMPLE formulas that I think are so common sense but no derivation of anything crazy. I was surprised how minute the physics was. Nothing like the AAMC scored. I cant stress it enough. AAMC Scored, even if you did bad on, once you went through your mistakes, you have like an ah-ha moment. I don't think there was a clear cut answer on a lot of questions. I usually mark 5-10 questions. I marked 20 questions last week. That was extensive for me. Im no genius I promise but if you mark 20 questions, and it impacts you mentality its a no-brainer to void if you can take it in 2 weeks at optimal level mentally. I don't think there would have been any way my score would decrease by studying an extra 2 weeks, which is why I didn't get to caught up in the idea that I had to study an extra 2 weeks.

Cars, I thought was bad because I was thinking about chem so much, but the passages were easy reads. Nothing highly intense.

Bio was MUCH easier than chem. No where near section bank difficulty. Very biochem heavy but I did not have to apply anything I memorized from any biochemical pathway.

Psych- at this point after feeling so good about bio, I decided to void because I knew I didn't perform optimally on chem- hurting my cars, I skipped through this section and voided after reading the first two passages.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this! You said the C/P section was calculation heavy, but you said you didn't use any of your formulas. So it was all simple formulas? What about the calculations made it difficult in that case?
 
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When it comes to practice test conversions I'm iffy about it. I could convert my EK scores, but EK had NO Biochem. I forgot there was biochem on the test while I was studying their books. I find a lot of the practice exams good content reviews, but poor representations of the actual exam, which is why I never converted my practice scores besides the scaled AAMC.
 
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Aristeidis said:
Yeah, I dont mind helping out. Let me try my best to enlighten you on my experience.

Going in, C/P is my favorite section and its probably my best. I enjoy it as I am a tutor for chem and aced those classes. I usually do well on it and it sets the confidence as I move forward through the mcat. I found myself spending so much time on understanding the passages and the experiments they described. The first two passages I got were so convoluted. I spent almost 20+ minutes just on the first two passages. I was able to pace myself and still finish with about 5 minutes but I legitimately found myself just going with my gut feeling and selecting an answer as I didn't feel confident in almost 50% of my answers due to them asking such discrete and detailed questions. VERY heavy on gen chem. I didn't find too much direct biochem on there during this section which was surprising. I think if you threw passages from the SB and from the test I took 5/20 at me, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. I usually find a way to reason through questions but I had just never been that stumped before. Heavy calculations that wasted a lot of my time as well. Two big things I guess hammered me. Heavy calculations and convolution. That really hurt me for cars which is my worst section. I legitimately found myself reading the passage but working through the chem questions in my head, or thoughts of the chem section just roaming my mind. I'm mad that I even let it get to me, but I think if I had not been hit that hard mentally on the chem section, I would've been okay. I wrote down all my formulas, wrote out the unit circle and all those dumb little things they tell you to write during the tutorial period. I don't think I used any of them. Maybe very SIMPLE formulas that I think are so common sense but no derivation of anything crazy. I was surprised how minute the physics was. Nothing like the AAMC scored. I cant stress it enough. AAMC Scored, even if you did bad on, once you went through your mistakes, you have like an ah-ha moment. I don't think there was a clear cut answer on a lot of questions. I usually mark 5-10 questions. I marked 20 questions last week. That was extensive for me. Im no genius I promise but if you mark 20 questions, and it impacts you mentality its a no-brainer to void if you can take it in 2 weeks at optimal level mentally. I don't think there would have been any way my score would decrease by studying an extra 2 weeks, which is why I didn't get to caught up in the idea that I had to study an extra 2 weeks.

Cars, I thought was bad because I was thinking about chem so much, but the passages were easy reads. Nothing highly intense.

Bio was MUCH easier than chem. No where near section bank difficulty. Very biochem heavy but I did not have to apply anything I memorized from any biochemical pathway.

Psych- at this point after feeling so good about bio, I decided to void because I knew I didn't perform optimally on chem- hurting my cars, I skipped through this section and voided after reading the first two passages.
Click to expand...

Do you think that if you had more time for the C/P section you would have felt better? I know that I always feel rushed in that section bc if I had more time I could better understand the experiments cause they're so convoluted. And do you think you still might have done decent on the C/P even though you thought it hard? I always feel like I fail every time I take a practice test haha
 
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Lola222 said:
When it comes to practice test conversions I'm iffy about it. I could convert my EK scores, but EK had NO Biochem. I forgot there was biochem on the test while I was studying their books. I find a lot of the practice exams good content reviews, but poor representations of the actual exam, which is why I never converted my practice scores besides the scaled AAMC.
Click to expand...
The correlations are pretty strong and the standard deviation is only around 2.5, which is extremely small
 
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aalamruad said:
The correlations are pretty strong and the standard deviation is only around 2.5, which is extremely small
Click to expand...

Idk I just found the practice tests that I took not to be very representative of the AAMC practice exam, so that's why I never looked up a conversion. But I haven't taken every practice test, so there def could be more representative ones!
Although I just looked at that link- and apparently based on the statistics I could score up to a 514 on the exam which is kinda exciting :soexcited:
But then I wonder about sampling bias, because although over 90% of the people surveyed did better on their real MCAT, I have to wonder how many people didn't reply due to doing worse.
 
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Lola222 said:
Idk I just found the practice tests that I took not to be very representative of the AAMC practice exam, so that's why I never looked up a conversion. But I haven't taken every practice test, so there def could be more representative ones!
Click to expand...
You might be right, but I can't stand not knowing where I stand haha, I need the peace of mind
 
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aalamruad said:
You might be right, but I can't stand not knowing where I stand haha, I need the peace of mind
Click to expand...

I totally get you! Which is why the possibility of getting a 514 made me happy haha. Although, like the poster said above, i'm super worried the C/P section will be harder than the section bank and demoralize me! Ugh this test is a killer
 
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Lola222 said:
I totally get you! Which is why the possibility of getting a 514 made me happy haha. Although, like the poster said above, i'm super worried the C/P section will be harder than the section bank and demoralize me! Ugh this test is a killer
Click to expand...
Just saw the part of your other post about sampling bias, and I actually think it's a pretty minor factor, because although people who scored well on the real thing are obviously much more likely to post their scores, they're also much more likely to have very high practice scores, so since both are artificially inflated, it should largely even out.
 
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aalamruad said:
Just saw the part of your other post about sampling bias, and I actually think it's a pretty minor factor, because although people who scored well on the real thing are obviously much more likely to post their scores, they're also much more likely to have very high practice scores, so since both are artificially inflated, it should largely even out.
Click to expand...

That's a good point! I got a 508-510 on my unscored and I was feeling kind of bummed, but this cheered me up haha
 
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Dolly96 said:
Reporting back after NS2 today.. I'm so jealous of your guys' next step scores! Good job!! Anyway, I ended up with a 500 (124-126-125-125):arghh: I will go ahead and attribute it to all the random health/car/family issues I had to deal with this past week lol. The bio passages were so ridiculous to me that I am grateful that I ended up with 125. Psych I haven't even studied since last summer so I expect some improvement after theory/terms review. I'm signed up for the 18th, but if I can't get my practice test scores up to at least 505 then I don't think it would be a good idea to retake yet...
Click to expand...

I'm a June 18th exam taker hoping for a 4-5 point imptovement as well... 21 days left, we can definitely do it!

aalamruad said:
View attachment 204383

To everyone trying to understand what their practice scores mean, check out this amazing thread made by a fellow pre-med who's an accountant: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/charts-predicting-mcat-scores.1176218/

Fantastic formulas/statistics/etc. that will help you predict your actual score based on your practice test performance.
Click to expand...

I have this thread bookmarked in my laptop, great information.
 
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I'm seriously considering postponing my test to July 8th or whenever. I've done fine on my practice tests, but working through question banks and other review problems, I just feel so weak in chem/physics and don't know if I'm going to be able to get all of my reviewing done in time. I have a low GPA (3.5) and really need to do well on this, but also want to apply early. Idk what to do.

I think I'll take the scored aamc full length tomorrow and then decide based on my score, but then that sucks because I'll have used it earlier than I wanted.
 
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Scrubs101 said:
Hmm interesting, so like understanding the goal of the experiment in reference to the details?! I definitely find I have trouble with that in CARS when the passage is about something artistic or philosophical. And where do I find EK methods are they publicly shared? EK is actually like the only test prep company I didn't get any material from ahah


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
You're on the right track for sure! Let me just showcase my thought process in BB articles...which can usually be applied to C/P sections as well.

The first thing you notice about these passages are that they always start with some sort of background information. For example, an enzyme that has been linked to mitochondria, but recently evidence has provided that it can perform mitochondrial apoptosis....Great so within the first three lines I can most likely deduce that the entire experiment is about to be these researchers studying this enzyme, most likely its variants, and its catalytic domain (maybe?) on mitochondrial apoptosis.

Once you find this, find the hypothesis. "The researchers are trying to study...the hypothesis is...etc."

When you get to the data FIRST read the description of it at the bottom or top. Then look at the independent and dependent variables...Finally look at the data? Are there any crazy things going on? I bet there is...otherwise this passage wouldn't exist. What does it say? For example this variant caused more apoptosis then an another variant. (Maybe this can be used in cancer?) This catalytic domain showed stronger affinity to this...OK.

Do this for any other remaining graphs....

This should take about 5 mins. And the other 5 I use for questions...
Most of the mistakes I make in these questions are for stupid reasons such as not knowing the nucleotide structure of a cytosine molecule...or sometimes I rush/get tired....

But maybe this can serve as a general outline....idk just showing A thought process?
 
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Aristeidis said:
Yeah, I dont mind helping out. Let me try my best to enlighten you on my experience.

Going in, C/P is my favorite section and its probably my best. I enjoy it as I am a tutor for chem and aced those classes. I usually do well on it and it sets the confidence as I move forward through the mcat. I found myself spending so much time on understanding the passages and the experiments they described. The first two passages I got were so convoluted. I spent almost 20+ minutes just on the first two passages. I was able to pace myself and still finish with about 5 minutes but I legitimately found myself just going with my gut feeling and selecting an answer as I didn't feel confident in almost 50% of my answers due to them asking such discrete and detailed questions. VERY heavy on gen chem. I didn't find too much direct biochem on there during this section which was surprising. I think if you threw passages from the SB and from the test I took 5/20 at me, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. I usually find a way to reason through questions but I had just never been that stumped before. Heavy calculations that wasted a lot of my time as well. Two big things I guess hammered me. Heavy calculations and convolution. That really hurt me for cars which is my worst section. I legitimately found myself reading the passage but working through the chem questions in my head, or thoughts of the chem section just roaming my mind. I'm mad that I even let it get to me, but I think if I had not been hit that hard mentally on the chem section, I would've been okay. I wrote down all my formulas, wrote out the unit circle and all those dumb little things they tell you to write during the tutorial period. I don't think I used any of them. Maybe very SIMPLE formulas that I think are so common sense but no derivation of anything crazy. I was surprised how minute the physics was. Nothing like the AAMC scored. I cant stress it enough. AAMC Scored, even if you did bad on, once you went through your mistakes, you have like an ah-ha moment. I don't think there was a clear cut answer on a lot of questions. I usually mark 5-10 questions. I marked 20 questions last week. That was extensive for me. Im no genius I promise but if you mark 20 questions, and it impacts you mentality its a no-brainer to void if you can take it in 2 weeks at optimal level mentally. I don't think there would have been any way my score would decrease by studying an extra 2 weeks, which is why I didn't get to caught up in the idea that I had to study an extra 2 weeks.

Cars, I thought was bad because I was thinking about chem so much, but the passages were easy reads. Nothing highly intense.

Bio was MUCH easier than chem. No where near section bank difficulty. Very biochem heavy but I did not have to apply anything I memorized from any biochemical pathway.

Psych- at this point after feeling so good about bio, I decided to void because I knew I didn't perform optimally on chem- hurting my cars, I skipped through this section and voided after reading the first two passages.
Click to expand...


I completely understand the frustration of this situation and I am really sorry to hear this. A frustrating section can impact the rest of the test. Were the calculations in terms of trying to analyze the data which was causing the problems? There were some questions on section banks that were just awful in terms of the detail you had to know but maybe your entire section was like that...
 
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bYGODSGRACE said:
You're on the right track for sure! Let me just showcase my thought process in BB articles...which can usually be applied to C/P sections as well.

The first thing you notice about these passages are that they always start with some sort of background information. For example, an enzyme that has been linked to mitochondria, but recently evidence has provided that it can perform mitochondrial apoptosis....Great so within the first three lines I can most likely deduce that the entire experiment is about to be these researchers studying this enzyme, most likely its variants, and its catalytic domain (maybe?) on mitochondrial apoptosis.

Once you find this, find the hypothesis. "The researchers are trying to study...the hypothesis is...etc."

When you get to the data FIRST read the description of it at the bottom or top. Then look at the independent and dependent variables...Finally look at the data? Are there any crazy things going on? I bet there is...otherwise this passage wouldn't exist. What does it say? For example this variant caused more apoptosis then an another variant. (Maybe this can be used in cancer?) This catalytic domain showed stronger affinity to this...OK.

Do this for any other remaining graphs....

This should take about 5 mins. And the other 5 I use for questions...
Most of the mistakes I make in these questions are for stupid reasons such as not knowing the nucleotide structure of a cytosine molecule...or sometimes I rush/get tired....

But maybe this can serve as a general outline....idk just showing A thought process?
Click to expand...

I like it, thank you!!! Definitely helps with not getting overwhelmed, I think I subconsciously get in that sort of rhythm during the B/B section since they all usually do look so similar and that first paragraph is alllllways just extra information(there's usually one question about something in there so I try and pay attention to key describing words). The one thing I haven't really been doing which I think slows me down is not really analyzing the data points until I see a question that requires it, if probably be a lot faster if I just looked for the trends while reading.

Also for some reason I struggle using this method in C/P and I'm convinced it's because it's the first section, I really have to get into it before I can start cranking them out. I alwayyssss get overwhelmed the first couple passages(or the whole section) in C/P. Any advice for coming out of the gates hot? Lol


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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theonlytycrane said:
EK full lengths- hard but worth doing? Or just hard and not as representative?
Click to expand...

I think they're worth doing, just don't get discouraged because your score will definitely be lower than AAMC or NS. Can't speak for other tests.

Someone in this thread posted a nice score converter you can use for EK and AAMC unscored to gauge on how you'll actually do. This will make you feel better after EK bends you over:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/charts-predicting-mcat-scores.1176218/
 
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I'm crying..seriously lol I'm so happy! I know it's just a practice test but I scored a 522. No idea how 'cause I was scoring in the low 500s just a few weeks ago. I've done nothing but practice, practice, practice and review this whole time buried in my house :scared: Only left for workout, groceries or other necessary errands lol creepy, I know. But it was worth it!!!
 
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MrsSheperd said:
I'm crying..seriously lol I'm so happy! I know it's just a practice test but I scored a 522. No idea how 'cause I was scoring in the low 500s just a few weeks ago. I've done nothing but practice, practice, practice and review this whole time buried in my house :scared: Only left for workout, groceries or other necessary errands lol creepy, I know. But it was worth it!!!
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You deserve it. Keep it up! Which books did you use?
 
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Ryomagoku said:
You deserve it. Keep it up! Which books did you use?
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I started with Kaplan only but my score didn't improve so I got Examkrackers and just started doing all their practice stuff and did content review for topics where I got wrong questions. I really really recommend EK material for practice and Kaplan for content review.
 
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MrsSheperd said:
I'm crying..seriously lol I'm so happy! I know it's just a practice test but I scored a 522. No idea how 'cause I was scoring in the low 500s just a few weeks ago. I've done nothing but practice, practice, practice and review this whole time buried in my house :scared: Only left for workout, groceries or other necessary errands lol creepy, I know. But it was worth it!!!
Click to expand...

You got a 522 on the AAMC scored? Congrats!!
 
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Hey Everyone, I tried to cancel my June 2nd exam but unfortunately last day to cancel was the 26th. I was wondering if a "no show" would count as an attempt? or what should I do in this case?
 
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