*Official June 2017 MCAT Thread*

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ICUBlue

ICUBlue

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I haven't seen a thread for this month so let's get this one going! Share study plans, questions, and motivation.

My test is June 17th and I started using TBR over winter break and doing ~15 hours each week during the semester leading up to full time studying starting in May.

What's everyone else's plans? Good luck!


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I'm thinking about the June 17th date as well.

I said I was gonna start studying over winter break..that didn't happen lol. Now school has started back and I'm getting back into "school mode" while working 45 hours a week.

I just ordered the official guide from AAMC. I'm trying to see how exactly I can approach content review. Some topics are fresher than others. I just did some practice genetics problems, and that went pretty well, but I'm gonna have to go back and look at some details (for example I forgot about x-linked recessive disorders).

Should I use TPR or TBR for content review? I've also heard good things about EK.

I think AAMC is the best as far as practice questions go, but my main concern is content review.

Also, I haven't taken biochem so I'm trying to self-study biochem as well.
 
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after registering for the exam, the pressure became real!! lol. my test date is june 16th. i started studying like January 2nd. studying for the exam became harder ones school started, plus i have a job (12 hrs/week). i just try to schedule weekly goals for studying and daily chunks of work to do to balance school work studying and mcat studying.

using the EK book btw, and its been really helpful. i do use khan academy videos to supplement the chapters.
Ant helpful tips guys? Good luck to everyone!
 
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If you plan take the exam in June, you should realize that this is probably the latest you can take the exam and still be considered "early" in the admissions cycle. This is assuming you have never taken the exam before and that you submit your primary application once you get your score back.

If you already have an MCAT score and you are deciding to take the June exam, I think you should apply in June when the application opens. This way, when your new score arrives you'll already be verified by the AMCAS.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this! Good luck.
 
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Taking the MCAT June 31st. Have been studying for about a month and half now! I work full-time, so it's been a process gettting used to that + studying. I'm thinking of abandoning content review and instead taking practice test every 2 weeks, reviewing them, reviewing topics I'm obviously weak on. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 
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Endurance1821 said:
I think every person's situation is different. Who recommended 12 weeks? I have been reviewing since early January. I have other responsibilities outside MCAT study (school, family, etc.) so I chose to start earlier than 12 weeks out.
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I have given myself ~ 15 weeks to prep for my June exam. I have not chosen my final date yet, but is this about right? I do not want to have to change it or reschedule down the line. Thank you!
 
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just started studying. holy **** I'm spending about 6-7 hours a day on this.
Is it worth getting a part-time job or just wait after the mcat (June 16,2017)?
 
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Was supposed to test on March 31, Rescheduled to June 17... Doing 6 hours a day, anki, practice questions, and fixing the mistakes that are related to content. Plan on taking another FL the week of spring break to see how much I have improved.
 
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Hey guys! I took the MCAT last September and scored a 505 (126/126/126/127). I am retaking it June 30th. I'm working 40hrs/week and studying ~3-4 hours/day 6 days/week. My position ends the second week of May. After that I will be kicking up my studying time to ~6-7 hours/day 6 days/week. I am using Kaplan for content review and heavily relying on the "AAMC What's on the MCAT?" for the topics that I need to address. I started studying yesterday. I'm looking at about 7 weeks of content review and the remainder of my time will be used for honing my skills and working on my weak points. For full lengths I am looking to purchase NS as I hear they are the closest to the real deal. If you have heard otherwise please let me know! I will be relying heavily on questions from the AAMC as I don't feel that the questions Kaplan supplied me with were helpful my last time preparing. Cheers!


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Coltuna said:
Taking the MCAT June 31st. Have been studying for about a month and half now! I work full-time, so it's been a process gettting used to that + studying. I'm thinking of abandoning content review and instead taking practice test every 2 weeks, reviewing them, reviewing topics I'm obviously weak on. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Click to expand...
I have reached the same conclusion as well. The only thing I think is worth me book reviewing extensively is psyc/soc because I took it as dual credit in high school and don't remember a thing and the experimental design info is important.
 
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docmcstuffins3 said:
I have reached the same conclusion as well. The only thing I think is worth me book reviewing extensively is psyc/soc because I took it as dual credit in high school and don't remember a thing and the experimental design info is important.
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I used khan for psych/soc and scored a 126 in P/S on my first FL without any real studying.
 
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Hello all!

First and foremost, good luck to everyone I hope everyone here kills this test! June 17 is my date. I have been using TBR and the new EK 101 books and have been focusing almost entirely on doing timed practice passages versus content review. However, I have read up on some of my weaknesses such as practically anything in physics. Also, I am taking FL's (TBR and EK) every two weeks. Following each FL, I use one weekend to review (thoroughly) the test and the next weekend to work on weak areas via practice passages. I try to make time to study during the week as well but I am limited due to work.

How is the studying coming along!? Good luck!
 
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DaBong214 said:
just started studying. holy **** I'm spending about 6-7 hours a day on this.
Is it worth getting a part-time job or just wait after the mcat (June 16,2017)?
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If you don't have to get a job I would say wait and devote most your time to the beast of the MCAT. A high score is invaluable compared to weekly pay for a few months. Good luck!
 
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joe_1395 said:
Still doing content review here. Taking AAMC sample test on April 8 as a baseline. Take my cues from there. Then a FL every week until the week before I test.
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I'm pretty sure I'm changing my date to June 17th. These are my plans as well. I've taken my baseline test about a month ago. Going to do another one in about two weks once I finish formal content review. Then I have around 15 FL to choose from for weekly exams.
 
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OchemOficionado said:
I'm pretty sure I'm changing my date to June 17th. These are my plans as well. I've taken my baseline test about a month ago. Going to do another one in about two weks once I finish formal content review. Then I have around 15 FL to choose from for weekly exams.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was supposed to test on March 31.. But I wanted to give myself the time to do well. I want a 510+. I'm using Altius for FLs. Wby?
 
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Still plugging away on content myself... getting plenty of interspersed passage work from TBR and EK 30 min exams though.

Not gonna be able to hit full lengths until ~~ may 12 but it'll be the absolute only thing on my plate from then until June 17 so I think that'll be good for about 8 FL total w two days of review each and every Sunday completely off. Any recommendations? AAMC 1&2, AAMC sample, and what else? Maybe 2 EK, 2 NS and an Altius?


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joe_1395 said:
Yeah I was supposed to test on March 31.. But I wanted to give myself the time to do well. I want a 510+. I'm using Altius for FLs. Wby?
Click to expand...

I heard they have amazing tests! I can't afford anything else at this point though.

Everything I have is from AAMC or Kaplan. I hear Kaplan is too detailed and almost everyone scores higher on the real thing. We'll see. I already have too many exams to be worrying about buying more at this point.
 
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OchemOficionado said:
I heard they have amazing tests! I can't afford anything else at this point though.

Everything I have is from AAMC or Kaplan. I hear Kaplan is too detailed and almost everyone scores higher on the real thing. We'll see. I already have too many exams to be worrying about buying more at this point.
Click to expand...

I've taken Kaplan. not that great tbh... It's all content. No graphs and charts like the real thing
 
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OchemOficionado said:
I'm pretty sure I'm changing my date to June 17th. These are my plans as well. I've taken my baseline test about a month ago. Going to do another one in about two weks once I finish formal content review. Then I have around 15 FL to choose from for weekly exams.
Click to expand...
I changed my date from 4/28 to 6/17, so much information to go over!
 
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Jack Westin said:
Right! But I don't recommend that. It would be wise to have a score or to have a solid idea of where you stand before you apply.
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Hi Jack!

I have heard that you can submit the primary application and include one throw away school so at least your primary application is verified, then after receiving your score you can add on schools or not. Is this possible/advisable?
Thanks!
 
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hayden29 said:
Anyone have any strategies when reading very dense BB passages? Mapping, highlighting?
Click to expand...


From doing bio/biochem passages, you should be able to see that there's two sections essentially. The first section is giving you background information, the second section, the results with graphs. Before reading the graphs, make sure you read carefully the paragraph that precedes the graphs, they are essentially telling you what the results are. Make sure you look at the axis of the graphs. When they throw different pathways, do a pathway map with arrows on a scratch sheet of paper, it's almost impossible to keep track of what they're telling you in your head. Doing the map will save you time when answering questions.
 
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MountainClimber94 said:
What strategy works best for you when it comes to CARS?
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PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. best advice I ever got: Read it once making VERY small notes, mainly so you know what each paragraph is talking about, and high light opinion words/phrases, comparisons, words that indicate change in direction (however, although, etc). DO NOT worry about having a deep understanding of the whole passage. Questions will prompt when a deeper understanding of a single aspect is necessary ONLY THEN do you need to reread anything. This was a main tip for me because I was wasting time trying to understand the whole thing, believe it or not you can answer the question successfully without feeling like you completely know what the author is talking about and in most cases you wont unless your a humanities major who reads very very broadly. i'm scoring very well on this section in my practice.
 
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Hi @hayden29 I like this idea a lot if you already have an MCAT score in. The idea is to apply to one school so you get verified before your second MCAT score comes in. Ideally you would submit your application early June (when applications open up for the year). The one school you chose is used for the purpose of verification of your application. This helps you expedite the time it takes to apply since by the time your new MCAT score comes in, all you would have to do is select the remaining schools you would like to apply to. The reason why you would pick one school initially is because you don't want all the schools to see your first MCAT score (assuming it's not as strong as the second one). This way, you will apply a month or more ahead and nearly every school you apply to will see your most updated MCAT score.
 
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Just popping in to say I'll be doing the June 17th exam as well! About 1/4 done with content review, hope to be done by end of April, then doing 6 weeks of practice tests + questions. This will be my first time writing the exam, and I hope to apply this year!
 
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Endurance1821 said:
I am looking for a serious MCAT accountability partner. Planning to take the 17 June MCAT. We can come up with how we will hold one another accountable, a convenient "check-in" schedule and share ideas/tips, etc. PM if interested in knocking out the MCAT together!

***UPDATE: I found a study buddy! Happy Studying MCATers!
Click to expand...

Is anyone else still looking for a study buddy?! I definitely am looking for something like this! PM if interested...


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joe_1395 said:
Which one did you take?
Click to expand...

NS1.. I'll probly stick to NS and EK. Maybe an altius too as I've heard good things. I want to get some variety. I'll only have time for one more FL before the semester is over then plan on one a week until June 17 for a total of 8, including the AAMCs.


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ICUBlue said:
NS1.. I'll probly stick to NS and EK. Maybe an altius too as I've heard good things. I want to get some variety. I'll only have time for one more FL before the semester is over then plan on one a week until June 17 for a total of 8, including the AAMCs.


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Click to expand...
I took the AAMC sample test, my problem is in "Reasoning the scientific design and problem solving" not so much content. Yeah I have Altius, taking one on Friday. I plan on taking all 10 of them
 
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joe_1395 said:
I took the AAMC sample test, my problem is in "Reasoning the scientific design and problem solving" not so much content. Yeah I have Altius, taking one on Friday. I plan on taking all 10 of them
Click to expand...

Yeah I haven't reviewed my exam fully yet but I believe my weakest points on my breakdown were data analysis and methodology as well and not content. Though it wasn't an AAMC. Is the sample test considered as important to take as the two scored AAMCs?


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ICUBlue said:
Yeah I haven't reviewed my exam fully yet but I believe my weakest points on my breakdown were data analysis and methodology as well and not content. Though it wasn't an AAMC. Is the sample test considered as important to take as the two scored AAMCs?


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Click to expand...
Yes, do all the AAMC Stuff haha
 
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Did you guys just buy the $204 package of AAMC materials? I'm looking to finish up content review in the next two weeks and then do my 7 ish weeks of practice.
 
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Has anyone done the question packs already? I did half of the chem one yesterday and scored around 62% correct and was freaked out since I'm taking it on June 17th
 
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Are you guys doing section bank and q packs timed or are you taking your time with it and showing solutions after the problem to try to capture the reasoning?


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I plan on going through the question packs untimed to see what information I need to review. After this, I plan on doing some more content review, the sections banks (timed) and then re-doing the q packs timed. Hopefully I won't remember the questions from the q pack.
 
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tj123 said:
Is anyone else feeling unmotivated? I've been studying since January and recently I just feel tired. Wondering if there's any easy cure to this
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I'm feel the same. It's even worse when you're doing practice and your score is trash so you feel like your effort is wasted. Ughh.
 
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tj123 said:
Is anyone else feeling unmotivated? I've been studying since January and recently I just feel tired. Wondering if there's any easy cure to this
Click to expand...

Not really. I hardly studied today. Taking Altius FL1 tomorrow. I'm hopeful. But yeah I haven't been hitting the 6 hours a day like I used to. Need to get back on the horse.
 
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Prep has been going well. Still shooting for the 6/30 test date. I did a practice test this week...Altius. It was tough. Thought it was very research heavy. But overall I'm pleased with it.


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