*Official MCAT January 2017 Thread*

PRIVATE MCAT LESSONS. Click to learn more!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Singerpremed

Singerpremed

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2016
Messages
138
Reaction score
61
Hi, I know there are many people who are also studying for the MCAT in January and I would like to connect with you guys and get insights. I'm currently taking a live online Kaplan MCAT course. I go to the University of Florida.
Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sort by date Sort by votes
Well I have been stressing out and feeling way behind because I still have review to do, but I did the first bio question pack from AAMC today and got an 83%! I am really happy with that. A little upper is nice :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
January 19th and 28th Test Takers:

If you can help us improve our full-length exams by giving honest feedback, we will give you two (2) of our full-lengths to attempt between now and either January 2017 exam. We ask that you report your scores on our two exams, and AAMC PT#1 and #2, along with your real MCAT. You can sign up here if you are willing to help: http://bit.ly/2hvish7
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ended up being pleasantly surprised by my EK 2 test score, 79%. Big improvement from 70% on EK 1 about 10 days ago. Has anyone taken EK 5? I bought the bundle that came with 1-4 and i was wondering if 5 is worthwhile. can't wait to be done haha.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
Hey guys, I dont know if this has been mentioned before or not, but does the AAMC sample test inflate your score by a lot? Is it an actual representation of what your actual score might turn out to be? I went from TPRs to taking the AAMC sample test and my score went up by a lot. Not sure if I can actually count on that jump being an actual improvement or not. Im planning on taking the NS and AAMC 1 and 2 in the next 10 days.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nosh_01 said:
Hey guys, I dont know if this has been mentioned before or not, but does the AAMC sample test inflate your score by a lot? Is it an actual representation of what your actual score might turn out to be? I went from TPRs to taking the AAMC sample test and my score went up by a lot. Not sure if I can actually count on that jump being an actual improvement or not. Im planning on taking the NS and AAMC 1 and 2 in the next 10 days.
Click to expand...

Your score increase is normal. Test companies are notorious for making tests that are harder and/or underscored and/or unrepresentative in comparison to the real MCAT.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nosh_01 said:
Hey guys, I dont know if this has been mentioned before or not, but does the AAMC sample test inflate your score by a lot? Is it an actual representation of what your actual score might turn out to be? I went from TPRs to taking the AAMC sample test and my score went up by a lot. Not sure if I can actually count on that jump being an actual improvement or not. Im planning on taking the NS and AAMC 1 and 2 in the next 10 days.
Click to expand...

If you are using the sample conversion for the sample on reddit be a little wary because it is a little inflated compared to the percentage scores that AAMC FL 1 and 2 give (especially for C/P and B/B). I was plugging in random percentages and I saw they had like 70 - 75% right as like a 128 which is way too high.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
just did FL #2, got another 516. happy about the consistency :)
Click to expand...

Haha that is very consistent! I know some people are freaking out about the scaling of FL 2 is harsher than FL 1 and whether or not it's representative, so it's good to see that it's valid for some people :) I forget, are you Jan 19 or Jan 28?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi guys I just took the aamc full length practice exam and got a 506. Since I want at least a 508 and from now to January 28th might not give me enough time to improve that much would you guys recommend taking it, maybe getting around a 506 and then retaking it later or does that look bad on applications and should I postpone it until march?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
enchantediris said:
Haha that is very consistent! I know some people are freaking out about the scaling of FL 2 is harsher than FL 1 and whether or not it's representative, so it's good to see that it's valid for some people :) I forget, are you Jan 19 or Jan 28?
Click to expand...

Jan 28th! Still have to finish going through a couple of the qpacks and the section bank. I did notice a little inconsistency with the scoring between AAMC FL 1 & 2. On C/P I got the same number of questions correct on both tests (48/59). FL1 scored it as a 128 and FL2 scored it as a 129. So i thought the scaling of FL2 was actually a bit easier.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
Students consistently go up from most of the prep company exams, so you probably are *somewhere* above that in actual performance. Take AAMC PT1 or PT2 and they should get you within 1-3 points of what you'll score on each section on test day. You can also take one of the new Altius full-lengths for free (see my post from a few days ago). We just administered the Altius FLE1/FLE2 to several students who took the exam approx. 9 months ago and had never seen AAMC PT#2 or our exams. Students all scored +/- 1 point on each section when comparing their real MCAT, AAMC FLE2 and the two Altius exams. So, if you want to get an accurate idea of where you're at, but don't want to use both AAMC PT1 and PT2, that may be of help. Most of all, be confident going into the exam. You're better off walking in confident in April than "uneasy" in January.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C/P had some tricky biochem nuggets. Some of the authors of the CARS passages clearly smoke plants. Biology wasnt bad. The P/S section was the most difficult. Too many of those questions I didn't feel good about. Don't even think about walking into the P/S section having only reviewed w/ Kaplan! I also used Khan, the AAMC qbank and youtube. I really saw the power of working practice problems. Hopefully, companies will start writing P/S problems.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Did we all get the same passages?
I thought all three science sections were pretty hard. I had some super super super weirdly detailed question on B/B...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Will the future tests be the same as this one or do they have a different test for each date?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
BWM95 said:
Different
Click to expand...
Not true. The same tests can be administered and are known to be, perhaps at different sites or on different days or in different pieces.

Getting the nuggets out of reaction threads while entertaining, however, isn't really useful for anything other than "I wasn't alone thinking x-y-z section sucked"
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C/P and B/B were quite hard.... I have been getting 130-132 on those two sections from the two AAMC official practice exams when I took them a couple of days ago........ NOT FAIR.... I don't think I did as near well as on my practice ones... fml
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mine felt normal for AAMC FL imo. I was thinking C/P seemed hard, but then I remembered when taking the practice tests it always feel like there's 1 or 2 passages and/or out of nowhere discretes that can really make you feel overwhelmed/rustle your jimmies. Upon review, those passages never seem anywhere near as hard because there is no strict clock, so it's easy to forget how you feel when you took the practice tests (or maybe that's just me).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Altius Premier Tutor said:
Students consistently go up from most of the prep company exams, so you probably are *somewhere* above that in actual performance. Take AAMC PT1 or PT2 and they should get you within 1-3 points of what you'll score on each section on test day. You can also take one of the new Altius full-lengths for free (see my post from a few days ago). We just administered the Altius FLE1/FLE2 to several students who took the exam approx. 9 months ago and had never seen AAMC PT#2 or our exams. Students all scored +/- 1 point on each section when comparing their real MCAT, AAMC FLE2 and the two Altius exams. So, if you want to get an accurate idea of where you're at, but don't want to use both AAMC PT1 and PT2, that may be of help. Most of all, be confident going into the exam. You're better off walking in confident in April than "uneasy" in January.
Click to expand...
Do your exams have solutions for review after taking the test? I plan on taking a practice test tomorrow through Kaplan because I already have those tests.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
enchantediris said:
How are y'all planning on spending the last week studying?
Click to expand...
Section bank & FL2 and reviewing them! Also going through my Anki deck for P/S terms just to keep everything fresh. My test center is 5 hrs from where I live so I plan on listening to KA videos while I drive the day before too :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
enchantediris said:
How are y'all planning on spending the last week studying?
Click to expand...
MCAT tomorrow, then review Sunday. I'm finishing up Biology pack 2 AAMC and I have 3 passages left in CARS qpack 2. Also, I have like 90 questions left in the q bank for behavioral sciences for kaplan. . . IDK how helpful that will be for me but imma do it. For CARS I am going to read ALDaily.com essays to maintain my cognition and not destroy my confidence. Day before the test= no studying at least 8 hours of sleep and carb loading!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i'm so sick of studying lol... just finishing up qpacks and section banks and review my trouble areas.
@ch91 5 hours away!? my god, i can't imagine that! my center is just down the street...
best of luck to everyone, the final push!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
i'm so sick of studying lol... just finishing up qpacks and section banks and review my trouble areas.
@ch91 5 hours away!? my god, i can't imagine that! my center is just down the street...
best of luck to everyone, the final push!
Click to expand...
Luckily I have family that lives literally 10 minutes from the testing center (there was actually a location 4 hours away but staying with fam is free & as it turns out super convenient). I am so over studying too. I can't believe it will be over in a week! Doesn't feel real yet...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
When you did the section banks did you show the answers after each question, or take it with test-like conditions? on the qbanks I was showing the answers but then I spend alot of time after each question I got wrong figuring out why, so I'm wondering if I should hide them for the SB. Any advice on how to approach them?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ch91 said:
When you did the section banks did you show the answers after each question, or take it with test-like conditions? on the qbanks I was showing the answers but then I spend alot of time after each question I got wrong figuring out why, so I'm wondering if I should hide them for the SB. Any advice on how to approach them?
Click to expand...

I have been just doing the "show solutions" option, but I would check the answers to each question after doing the entire passage or 3 or 4 passages, instead ofchecking the answer after every question. Because if you get the first question wrong for a passage, then in my case, my head gets messed up for the rest of the questions
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just finished AAMC #2 got a 517 hell yeah!
Improvement from 512 on AAMC #1
Test in one week, just a little fine tuning
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
ch91 said:
When you did the section banks did you show the answers after each question, or take it with test-like conditions? on the qbanks I was showing the answers but then I spend alot of time after each question I got wrong figuring out why, so I'm wondering if I should hide them for the SB. Any advice on how to approach them?
Click to expand...
i just did show solutions on both qpacks and section banks so i can immediately review why i got it wrong. i don't spend more than a few minutes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took my last kaplan FL today. . . thank the Lord! I like AAMC tests so much more!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
I just took the AAMC FL2 508 (128, 125, 129, 126) (78%, 72%, 86%, 80%). I am wondering about the psych/soc section because I took AAMC FL1 and I had the same score (126) but I only got only 75% correct. Shouldn't the PS score have gone up at least one point, or is it the same because of the scale?

Also, I am very concerned about my CARS sore. I have been able to get 126 (74%) on FL1, 79% on sample test, and 77% in Qpack. Does anyone have any advise? I would be happy with a CARS score of 126 (it isn't my best section.)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just took AAMC FL 2 and basically scored the same as I did in AAMC FL 1, but with different subsection scores. My C/P went down 2 points (whoops), CARS went up 2 points, B/B went down 1 point, and P/S went up 1 point. I guess I just don't know what I should be working on in the last week or so? I'm not unhappy with how I scored, but I mostly focused on C/P and B/B studying in the past couple of weeks since AAMC 1 so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
Took the AAMC Scored 2 pretty pumped! 513
130 (86%) C/P
126 (77%) CARS
130 (90%) BB
127 (81%) P/S

I thought the Psych was pretty hard honestly! The biology section went well after going over the biology section bank I had a 2 point jump from scored 1 (128-130)
Click to expand...

AAMC 2
513
131|126|129|127

High 5!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
shield349 said:
AAMC 2
513
131|126|129|127

High 5!
Click to expand...
Dude High 5! We are like CARS/PS twins! But you have me in Chem gnarly!
The funny thing is yesterday I got a 508 (127/127/127/127) on Kaplan FL 9 and I think I am more proud of the kaplan score than the AAMC score I got last week
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
Dude High 5! We are like CARS/PS twins! But you have me in Chem gnarly!
The funny thing is yesterday I got a 508 (127/127/127/127) on Kaplan FL 9 and I think I am more proud of the kaplan score than the AAMC score I got last week
Click to expand...
Have been stuck around 508 and 507 on Kaplan for the last month, the Bio has been killing me, I find my lack of improvement disturbing, I just hope the actual exam is even easier than the Scored versions.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
shield349 said:
Have been stuck around 508 and 507 on Kaplan for the last month, the Bio has been killing me, I find my lack of improvement disturbing, I just hope the actual exam is even easier than the Scored versions.
Click to expand...
I think I already mentioned that I have already taken the exam last june but when I took it I found that the sciences were easier for me(also very similar to the AAMC FL 1), CARS was harder and P/S was deceivingly short (I went through too fast and finished with 11 minutes). I honestly think you're going to see a 513 +/-2 when you take the exam, a plus 2 is what we hope for haha!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
shield349 said:
Have been stuck around 508 and 507 on Kaplan for the last month, the Bio has been killing me, I find my lack of improvement disturbing, I just hope the actual exam is even easier than the Scored versions.
Click to expand...

That was my last Kaplan score but I literally just finished AAMC #2 and got a 511! I am so happy! I took it under total test conditions too.

126/129/129/127
C/P is my worst, so a 126 is not too distressing to me. I picked out a couple topics I need to review which showed up several times, hopefully that helps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
I think I already mentioned that I have already taken the exam last june but when I took it I found that the sciences were easier for me(also very similar to the AAMC FL 1), CARS was harder and P/S was deceivingly short (I went through too fast and finished with 11 minutes). I honestly think you're going to see a 513 +/-2 when you take the exam, a plus 2 is what we hope for haha!
Click to expand...
Yeah took it in May too... and you're right my score was 2 points below the AAMC 1. I soo want a 515 though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thoth said:
That was my last Kaplan score but I literally just finished AAMC #2 and got a 511! I am so happy! I took it under total test conditions too.

126/129/129/127
C/P is my worst, so a 126 is not too distressing to me. I picked out a couple topics I need to review which showed up several times, hopefully that helps.
Click to expand...
At least you're getting the free CARS points, that's probably the best place to bring up your score.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
shield349 said:
Yeah took it in May too... and you're right my score was 2 points below the AAMC 1. I soo want a 515 though.
Click to expand...
I hear you :( yeah mine was 2 below as well. This time, however, things will be different. Fortunately for us they put chem/phys first, so all we have to do is start out strong and maintain it! In the end honestly all I need is to get into a decent allopathic school, I knew from the get go I was not gonna end up at Harvard Med haha.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
shield349 said:
At least you're getting the free CARS points, that's probably the best place to bring up your score.
Click to expand...

Free points?

CARS is my strongest area. I haven't done almost any work for that. I spend a lot of time in my current job reading professional journal articles on various developments in the science and medical world, so I have already developed those skills.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
My scores:
AAMC FL1 (practice Exam) : 509 (128,127,127,127) 82 percentile
AAMC (practice Test #1): (C/P: 86% CAR:91% B/B:80% P/S:85%)
AAMC FL #2 : 511 ( 128, 126, 128, 129 ) 86 percentile
NS FL: 509

Looks like I am in the range of 513 for 1/28 Exam. CARS bring me down in FL2.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

agentfaithmd
AAMC MCAT Official Prep Complete Bundle Worth It?
Replies
0
Views
380
agentfaithmd
agentfaithmd
T
Study partner for January 2023 MCAT in PA
Replies
0
Views
681
tabush
T
N
Any Non-Traditional Applicants Writing the MCAT this January?
Replies
2
Views
851
omogedoctor
O
A
Study Group Phoenix
Replies
2
Views
430
jhmmd
jhmmd
NoahBerden
  • Question
Can I take the MCAT in January for the 2021-2022 cycle?
Replies
5
Views
3K
Dral
Dral
Top