*Official June 2016 MCAT Thread*

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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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wildabeastkoala said:
I can't believe I am JUST finding this thread! I sooo do not feel ready for this exam! 510 on AAMC practices test but am BOMBING these Section Bank questions, like 50-60%. ARG!
Click to expand...

Don't let it get to you, the section banks are uber hard on purpose (I got 57% and 58% on c/p and b/b section banks and 72% on p/s). Make sure to review them - you'll learn so much!!
 
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maheenk said:
Don't let it get to you, the section banks are uber hard on purpose (I got 57% and 58% on c/p and b/b section banks and 72% on p/s). Make sure to review them - you'll learn so much!!
Click to expand...
Mucho Gracious! So good to know! I do hope to get to the real exam and not be so much like WTF am I reading??
 
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wildabeastkoala said:
I can't believe I am JUST finding this thread! I sooo do not feel ready for this exam! 510 on AAMC practices test but am BOMBING these Section Bank questions, like 50-60%. ARG!
Click to expand...

SAME. I think the consensus in this thread has been it's a learning experience and harder than what you might see on the MCAT.

I searched for how people did on the real exam in comparison to the section banks and I found a few advocating if you get 70%+ you're highly likely to hit a minimum (key word) 510 on the exam. But there's obviously no way of really knowing. It doesn't seem to be the best predictor.

Your AAMC score was awesome and that is the best representation of the real thing. Don't sweat it!
 
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Can anyone explain mass spec? EK didn't go into detail, and we basically skipped it in my orgo class.
 
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NecrotizingFascitis said:
SAME. I think the consensus in this thread has been it's a learning experience and harder than what you might see on the MCAT.

I searched for how people did on the real exam in comparison to the section banks and I found a few advocating if you get 70%+ you're highly likely to hit a minimum (key word) 510 on the exam. But there's obviously no way of really knowing. It doesn't seem to be the best predictor.

Your AAMC score was awesome and that is the best representation of the real thing. Don't sweat it!
Click to expand...

For a second there i thought you wrote MAXimum 510 and i was like welp guess it's time to give up
 
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maheenk said:
Oh my godfdd i'm on the silent floor of the library and there's a huge group of people socializing and some random thing beeping for the last 5 mins. I'm bout to splode
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This is preparing you well for distractions that may occur on saturday... I'm literally trying to view everything as a learning experience now bahaha.
 
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MI2015 said:
I really believe that the MCAT is half preparation/knowledge and half luck. It's really just luck if you get stuff you are good at on your test day. I also noticed that many people esp on reddit were saying that the May 6th test was hard, while the May 14th was a little less arduous. That may not mean anything, but I guess the curve can mess things around.
Click to expand...
That's why most take it at least twice!
 
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wildabeastkoala said:
I love AAMC rationales for answers. Various forms of "The answer is D because that is the answer to the question stated"
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or more like

"The correct answer is D because the passage says so. If you didn't get the answer, you are an idiot"

Truth to be told, I still feel like I do not know a thing, but one can get a lot out from reading the passage by itself. Yet, I still do not like how AAMC explains the answers hahahahaha...... -______-
 
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wildabeastkoala said:
MOST?? Noooooooooo!!! When would be the best time to retake if I am applying this cycle?
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Don't go into it with that mindset right now. If you've studied well you likely won't need to take it again. This is my second time taking it, but I definitely didn't study enough the first time (and knew i didn't, just didn't have the time/energy to do more). this time around i'm going into it with confidence.
 
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wildabeastkoala said:
MOST?? Noooooooooo!!! When would be the best time to retake if I am applying this cycle?
Click to expand...

Depends on which school you're applying to and what yoru GPAs are.

If you have high GPA and see yourself as a DO, then you can take Augut test latest to apply.

For MD, I would try to get this done latest July.
 
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I got a 504 on scored 🙁 Compared to unscored, my percentages went up on both C/P (58-->71) and B/B (63-->71) but my P/S percentage dropped (84-->76). Not sure what to make of this since my estimated unscored score was 507. I am significantly tired/brain-dead today, so I'm factoring that into my poor score. But I still feel like sh** because I really want a 510+ on the real thing.

Breakdown:
C/P --> 126
CARS --> 125
B/S --> 126
P/S --> 127
 
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maheenk said:
I got a 504 on scored 🙁 Compared to unscored, my percentages went up on both C/P (58-->71) and B/B (63-->71) but my P/S percentage dropped (84-->76). Not sure what to make of this since my estimated unscored score was 507. I am significantly tired/brain-dead today, so I'm factoring that into my poor score. But I still feel like sh** because I really want a 510+ on the real thing.

Breakdown:
C/P --> 126
CARS --> 125
B/S --> 126
P/S --> 127
Click to expand...

Would defiantly take Friday completely OFF and do something fun to avoid brain deadness on Saturday.
 
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maheenk said:
I got a 504 on scored 🙁 Compared to unscored, my percentages went up on both C/P (58-->71) and B/B (63-->71) but my P/S percentage dropped (84-->76). Not sure what to make of this since my estimated unscored score was 507. I am significantly tired/brain-dead today, so I'm factoring that into my poor score. But I still feel like sh** because I really want a 510+ on the real thing.

Breakdown:
C/P --> 126
CARS --> 125
B/S --> 126
P/S --> 127
Click to expand...
What percent correct was that on CARS? The P/S curve seems really sensitive. that's really nice improvement on C/P and B/B though!
 
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maheenk said:
I got a 504 on scored 🙁 Compared to unscored, my percentages went up on both C/P (58-->71) and B/B (63-->71) but my P/S percentage dropped (84-->76). Not sure what to make of this since my estimated unscored score was 507. I am significantly tired/brain-dead today, so I'm factoring that into my poor score. But I still feel like sh** because I really want a 510+ on the real thing.
Breakdown:
C/P --> 126
CARS --> 125
B/S --> 126
P/S --> 127
Click to expand...

I'm so glad I'm not alone on this! Just finished mine and my spirit drained out of my open mouth. Worse fear come true
503 (63%): 127/124/127/125
P/S is usually my best section. 3 of my wrong answers were flat-out no knowledge of the definition.
CARS is the lowest ever! 66% correct.
I am extremely happy with B/B and C/P though!
I guess my good news is that I just need to cram P/S tonight and practice CARS tomorrow. Trying to be positive about the review, because I'm glad I can go over my faults now.
 
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I'm really starting to think that the AAMC scored is giving a lower prediction of what your actual score will be because the curve on it is ridiculous, especially P/S.

TXhopeful said:
I'm so glad I'm not alone on this! Just finished mine and my spirit drained out of my open mouth. Worse fear come true
503 (63%): 127/124/127/125
P/S is usually my best section. 3 of my wrong answers were flat-out no knowledge of the definition.
CARS is the lowest ever! 66% correct.
I am extremely happy with B/B and C/P though!
I guess my good news is that I just need to cram P/S tonight and practice CARS tomorrow. Trying to be positive about the review, because I'm glad I can go over my faults now.
Click to expand...

I would be stoked about those science scores -- I am certain with your prior scores that you will get 127 or above on those sections on the real deal. P/S curve is insane as I mentioned, so you are probably more around the 505 range. Just remember, all of your practice will pay off -- many people go into the test without having taken near as many tests as you. You'll get questions that you breeze through and some people get stuck. People will freak out on some passages, but you won't because you've seen the crazy **** from EK. You got this!

If you need CARS practice, there's a free full-length CARS section from testingsolutions on their website. Might be ridiculously hard, but still good prep (http://www.mytestingsolution.com/quizzes/t1-mcat-cars-practice-test/) I actually bought their 8 tests and plan on doing them during the 2 weeks leading up to my test. Edit: also KA has like 35 verbal passages if you haven't done them.
 
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Hospitalized said:
I'm really starting to think that the AAMC scored is giving a lower prediction of what your actual score will be because the curve on it is ridiculous, especially P/S.



I would be stoked about those science scores -- I am certain with your prior scores that you will get 127 or above on those sections on the real deal. P/S curve is insane as I mentioned, so you are probably more around the 505 range. Just remember, all of your practice will pay off -- many people go into the test without having taken near as many tests as you. You'll get questions that you breeze through and some people get stuck. People will freak out on some passages, but you won't because you've seen the crazy **** from EK. You got this!

If you need CARS practice, there's a free full-length CARS section from testingsolutions on their website. Might be ridiculously hard, but still good prep (http://www.mytestingsolution.com/quizzes/t1-mcat-cars-practice-test/) I actually bought their 8 tests and plan on doing them during the 2 weeks leading up to my test. Edit: also KA has like 35 verbal passages if you haven't done them.
Click to expand...

This is the section I have 0 idea what to do LOL.

I saw this post that cambridge learning verbal tips helped, but I find that not much helpful. The only problem I have is the endurance. I just get so bored and go like idgaf about this mode as I read.. Sigh.... God help me. Let me just get at least 508 so I can apply for some post bac or UQOchsner.
 
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Woah, so I typed my scores into that "Practice Test" converter from the other thread and it said 508 with a breakdown of 129/124/128/127.
My overall correct percentage is 71%, but my percentile rank is 63%so I messed that up on my previous post, too.
I'm reaching so hard right now to figure out the harsh AAMC Scored scaled and justify my bombing. HELP
 
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TXhopeful said:
Woah, so I typed my scores into that "Practice Test" converter from the other thread and it said 508 with a breakdown of 129/124/128/127.
My overall correct percentage is 71%, but my percentile rank is 63%so I messed that up on my previous post, too.
I'm reaching so hard right now to figure out the harsh AAMC Scored scaled and justify my bombing. HELP
Click to expand...

from reddit?

I got 503 :/ and that was my first official FL....


I actually found another.

With that, I got 506-507. Hm......
 
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TXhopeful said:
Woah, so I typed my scores into that "Practice Test" converter from the other thread and it said 508 with a breakdown of 129/124/128/127.
My overall correct percentage is 71%, but my percentile rank is 63%so I messed that up on my previous post, too.
I'm reaching so hard right now to figure out the harsh AAMC Scored scaled and justify my bombing. HELP
Click to expand...

I honestly think you are in good shape. Unless you are aiming for 510+ (I know we all would love that, but realistically only 15% of people get that...), I would feel confident. I've always been under the impression that a total of 70%+ is good enough for low-tier MD (with an otherwise well thought out application), i.e 506+. 129/128 on C/P and B/B is freakin' killer, seriously.
 
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Hospitalized said:
I honestly think you are in good shape. Unless you are aiming for 510+ (I know we all would love that, but realistically only 15% of people get that...), I would feel confident. I've always been under the impression that a total of 70%+ is good enough for low-tier MD (with an otherwise well thought out application), i.e 506+. 129/128 on C/P and B/B is freakin' killer, seriously.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the encouragement! I felt more confident answering questions in C/P and B/B than I usually am, which is nice, but I need to cram some info in on P/S. We shall see how the cards play out.
What's sad is that I would have been so happy to have 63 percentile= 28 on the old MCAT. My HPAC advisor suggests that I have "at least 85 percentile" to be competitive with my poor undergrad GPA, but I would be so happy with a 507-508+
 
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TXhopeful said:
Thank you for the encouragement! I felt more confident answering questions in C/P and B/B than I usually am, which is nice, but I need to cram some info in on P/S. We shall see how the cards play out.
What's sad is that I would have been so happy to have 63 percentile= 28 on the old MCAT. My HPAC advisor suggests that I have "at least 85 percentile" to be competitive with my poor undergrad GPA, but I would be so happy with a 507-508+
Click to expand...

I personally believe the HPAC advisors are not as good as the people (like faculty members of med school) you find on this forum. I don't know what your GPA is, but based on your name, with 507-508 and 3.25+ you can get into DO schools considering you have decent EC and LOR.
 
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TXhopeful said:
Thank you for the encouragement! I felt more confident answering questions in C/P and B/B than I usually am, which is nice, but I need to cram some info in on P/S. We shall see how the cards play out.
What's sad is that I would have been so happy to have 63 percentile= 28 on the old MCAT. My HPAC advisor suggests that I have "at least 85 percentile" to be competitive with my poor undergrad GPA, but I would be so happy with a 507-508+
Click to expand...

I have the same issue...good cGPA but sGPA not THAT great, so i was aiming for 85% or higher on the real thing 🙁 oh well, we'll all hold hands, take a deep breath and plunge right it in! Whatever happens, happens but we're determined to do the best we can
 
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Also, I saw this mentioned somewhere else but I think a true conversion of the old mcat 30 ("magic score" to get into good schools) to new mcat is 508, but for some reason people are now saying that the magic score 510 or 512 and above. Not sure what to make of this tbh
 
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maheenk said:
Also, I saw this mentioned somewhere else but I think a true conversion of the old mcat 30 ("magic score" to get into good schools) to new mcat is 508, but for some reason people are now saying that the magic score 510 or 512 and above. Not sure what to make of this tbh
Click to expand...
Yeah, not sure about that either.
It does make it harder when you have to get this "amazing" score to balance out a poor GPA. It's not that 500-506 are just terribly awful scores, it's just that we need a much better one to compensate. I struggled with my HPAC advisor over this because he is a "box-checker" and works much better with traditional pre-med students.
 
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Does anyone have any good memorization tricks for derm layers? No matter how many times I review them, I can't memorize them. Same with nucleotide structures (like specific structures, not just which are pyrimidine/purine which i have no problem with)....
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
might also want to bring food and i'd leave your cell phone in your car after seeing people get in trouble for glancing at it during a break.
Click to expand...

Absolutely phone in glove compartment and no papers other than your confirmation. And bring water/gum/candy and maybe a snack to boost half way through. You want to make sure that you're not letting your body fall in to gloconogenesis because that takes up energy.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
Does anyone have any good memorization tricks for derm layers? No matter how many times I review them, I can't memorize them. Same with nucleotide structures (like specific structures, not just which are pyrimidine/purine which i have no problem with)....
Click to expand...

For nucleotides, I look at bonding groups and I can figure out what is what. And then use context to confirm


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Hey guys, on the scored test, (sorry if you haven't done it , spoiler!), there was a question about binding the nucleotides, like the 5 of one end binds the 3 of the other end. How do you know which nucleotide has the 5 binding and which has the 3 binding?
 
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TXhopeful said:
Yeah, not sure about that either.
It does make it harder when you have to get this "amazing" score to balance out a poor GPA. It's not that 500-506 are just terribly awful scores, it's just that we need a much better one to compensate. I struggled with my HPAC advisor over this because he is a "box-checker" and works much better with traditional pre-med students.
Click to expand...

At least your advisor isn't fake af like my pre-med advisors :meh: they'll be telling people "oh you have a 3.1 gpa and a 498 on the mcat and 20 hours of clinical experience? you can totally make it in!!"
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
Does anyone have any good memorization tricks for derm layers? No matter how many times I review them, I can't memorize them. Same with nucleotide structures (like specific structures, not just which are pyrimidine/purine which i have no problem with)....
Click to expand...

I assume you mean epidermis! I can remember this one because sunburn has to do with skin. It's also nice because it goes from superficial to deep. Just beware that this is only for thick skin (palms/soles, probably what you will be asked about on MCAT). Thin skin has 4 layers, and lacks the lucideum.

Come, lets get sun burned!

Stratum corneum
Stratum lucideum
Stratum granulosum
Stratum spinosum
Stratum basale
 
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maheenk said:
At least your advisor isn't fake af like my pre-med advisors :meh: they'll be telling people "oh you have a 3.1 gpa and a 498 on the mcat and 20 hours of clinical experience? you can totally make it in!!"
Click to expand...

at least it isn't like one advisor i spoke to who said that a bioengineering graduate degree from one of the top 10 programs in the country was just an "extracurricular" because it wasn't an SMP.

I ended up doing an SMP anyway, but I never told him.
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
Does anyone have any good memorization tricks for derm layers? No matter how many times I review them, I can't memorize them. Same with nucleotide structures (like specific structures, not just which are pyrimidine/purine which i have no problem with)....
Click to expand...
Purines: Guanine = Guan-"O" (bat poop) because it has an "O"xygen double bonded to it and adenine doesn't.
Pyrimidines: Cyt"O"sine has One oxygen bond, and Thymine has Two
This is helpful mainly for distinguishing them from one another, not straight up recall. And I'm not paid by a prep company to make these up, so forgive me
 
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TXhopeful said:
Purines: Guanine = Guan-"O" (bat poop) because it has an "O"xygen double bonded to it and adenine doesn't.
Pyrimidines: Cyt"O"sine has One oxygen bond, and Thymine has Two
This is helpful mainly for distinguishing them from one another, not straight up recall. And I'm not paid by a prep company to make these up, so forgive me
Click to expand...
Woah my husband suggested guano last night and I thought he was crazy for it. Now I realize I'm the crazy one! Haha hopefully this will stick, thanks for the help!
 
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Hospitalized said:
I assume you mean epidermis! I can remember this one because sunburn has to do with skin. It's also nice because it goes from superficial to deep. Just beware that this is only for thick skin (palms/soles, probably what you will be asked about on MCAT). Thin skin has 4 layers, and lacks the lucideum.

Come, lets get sun burned!

Stratum corneum
Stratum lucideum
Stratum granulosum
Stratum spinosum
Stratum basale
Click to expand...
I actually meant what organs come from ectodern/mesoderm/endoderm but this was helpful too! Have any for these differentiation ones?
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
Does anyone have any good memorization tricks for derm layers? No matter how many times I review them, I can't memorize them. Same with nucleotide structures (like specific structures, not just which are pyrimidine/purine which i have no problem with)....
Click to expand...

Guanine and Thymine have similar structures and so do Cytosine and Adenine. I remember it by thinking: Guanine and Adenine are adopted by the purine family (parents) and Guanine and Thymine are genetically related but were separated at birth.. It's weird but I never forget it lol. At least in my head the G/T and the A/C seem similar...

The carbonyl on top for the G/T and the amine on top for the C/A. After that they are similar to the other nucleotide in their respective groups (or in my case, adopted "family.")

For the molecular weights I use: GATUC. You have to say it like a Hungarian warrior though:

"GAAAA-TOOK" (spelled phonetically)

It's weird but it works.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
 
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NecrotizingFascitis said:
Guanine and Thymine have similar structures and so do Cytosine and Adenine. I remember it by thinking: Guanine and Adenine are adopted by the purine family (parents) and Guanine and Thymine are genetically related but were separated at birth.. It's weird but I never forget it lol. At least in my head the G/T and the A/C seem similar...

The carbonyl on top for the G/T and the amine on top for the C/A. After that they are similar to the other nucleotide in their respective groups (or in my case, adopted "family.")

For the molecular weights I use: GATUC. You have to say it like a Hungarian warrior though:

"GAAAA-TOOK" (spelled phonetically)

It's weird but it works.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
Click to expand...
Haha this is awesome, thank you!
 
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sleepyhead22 said:
I actually meant what organs come from ectodern/mesoderm/endoderm but this was helpful too! Have any for these differentiation ones?
Click to expand...

I remember what comes from endoderm/ectoderm and assume anything not included in those two is mesoderm. To differentiate ecto and endo, i say C (eCto) comes before N (eNdo) and skin/hair/mouth are the first things you see before GI and respiratory (doesn't actually make sense but it works for me). I don't have a good way to remember nervous system is ectoderm besides just knowing it lol
 
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maheenk said:
I remember what comes from endoderm/ectoderm and assume anything not included in those two is mesoderm. To differentiate ecto and endo, i say C (eCto) comes before N (eNdo) and skin/hair/mouth are the first things you see before GI and respiratory (doesn't actually make sense but it works for me). I don't have a good way to remember nervous system is ectoderm besides just knowing it lol
Click to expand...
Ectoderm = Attracto-derm, aka the things that make people attractive, beauty (stuff on the outside, i.e. skin) and brains (nervous system)
 
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