- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 5,786
- Reaction score
- 912
Hey all. Let's keep our post-MCAT discussions and rants quarantined to one thread. Also, try to indicate the form you had in discussions, and perhaps give a little review of the test?
Form: FH
PS: I thought the PS section for FH was a little more difficult than the AAMC exams. FH was very, very calculation and physics heavy -- I was expecting mostly concept and graph interpretation. I also had a lot of stuff dealing with electromagnetism and circuits -- at least three or four passages worth. I also got the fabulous passage about the electrician, which ended up having questions regarding circuits and rotational motion! (The guy drops his Volt-Ohm Meter into a bucket of water and swings it around by its cord to dry it off. I thought whoever wrote the passage was insane after seeing all the excess information I was getting). Whoever wrote that passage deserves a raise, as it was very entertaining.
I don't think I did as well as I predicted on the prediction thread. I think I guessed an 8-10 (don't remember), but I feel more like a 6-9.
VR: This was pretty typical of the AAMC exams. I had one passage about evolution that was very similar to a passage on 4R, something about art critics, and some boring passages I can't even remember now. I think I did decent, somewhere between an 8-11.
Writing: I had form 057. I remember what my topics were, but I don't think I'm supposed to say anything. Both were basically the same thing. What a waste of time.
BS: I think I did very well on BS, which is suprising because I figured it would be my lowest section. I had just a handful of organic-related questions, most of which were based on something I could derive from the passage. All the other passages were either molecular or population genetics, cell biology, or microbiology, most of which was graph or table interpreation. I feel I utilized the graphs and information in the passage well, and caught most of the "tricks" and will end up with a relatively decent score between 9-12.
Overall Experience: Overall, I would say I had a good experience. I got a good chuckle from the people who thought they could learn something studying in the hall outside of the test room in the 30 minutes before the exam. I got a laugh out of the people who whipped out notebooks to study during the 10-minute breaks. The room was very familiar, as I took the exam in a building I have had many classes in. The room was a bit chilly, however, but that probably kept me awake during the writing section. The proctors were very friendly, and I didn't have many distrubances. 23 of us were situated in a room designed for 60, and there were only 6 guys.
I did notice, however, that many people had problems with the timing. I somehow managed to finished always at least 20 minutes before the time was called. PS I finished about 40 minutes early and VR was around 30. The poor girl seated in front of me (we had stadium-style seating) always had an entire column of blank answers at the 5-minute call in every section. I feel bad for her.
I figured things wouldn't work out for me, as I didn't get much sleep (maybe 4 hours total) and my car failed to start this morning (I had to borrow a parent's). I decided to talk to God about it on the way to the exam, and not five minutes afterwards a white dove flew by the car at a stoplight. I ended up doing well and the day went smoothly, with no storming as was predicted. I'll let you decide for yourself if it was coincidence or not, but it was still pretty cool, especially to someone struggling with faith
Final Score: Honestly, I think I did, "good enough". My overall score I expect to be somewhere between 24-30, possibly higher. I do NOT expect to have to take it again in April.
Of course, October 14 may have other plans...
Form: FH
PS: I thought the PS section for FH was a little more difficult than the AAMC exams. FH was very, very calculation and physics heavy -- I was expecting mostly concept and graph interpretation. I also had a lot of stuff dealing with electromagnetism and circuits -- at least three or four passages worth. I also got the fabulous passage about the electrician, which ended up having questions regarding circuits and rotational motion! (The guy drops his Volt-Ohm Meter into a bucket of water and swings it around by its cord to dry it off. I thought whoever wrote the passage was insane after seeing all the excess information I was getting). Whoever wrote that passage deserves a raise, as it was very entertaining.
I don't think I did as well as I predicted on the prediction thread. I think I guessed an 8-10 (don't remember), but I feel more like a 6-9.
VR: This was pretty typical of the AAMC exams. I had one passage about evolution that was very similar to a passage on 4R, something about art critics, and some boring passages I can't even remember now. I think I did decent, somewhere between an 8-11.
Writing: I had form 057. I remember what my topics were, but I don't think I'm supposed to say anything. Both were basically the same thing. What a waste of time.
BS: I think I did very well on BS, which is suprising because I figured it would be my lowest section. I had just a handful of organic-related questions, most of which were based on something I could derive from the passage. All the other passages were either molecular or population genetics, cell biology, or microbiology, most of which was graph or table interpreation. I feel I utilized the graphs and information in the passage well, and caught most of the "tricks" and will end up with a relatively decent score between 9-12.
Overall Experience: Overall, I would say I had a good experience. I got a good chuckle from the people who thought they could learn something studying in the hall outside of the test room in the 30 minutes before the exam. I got a laugh out of the people who whipped out notebooks to study during the 10-minute breaks. The room was very familiar, as I took the exam in a building I have had many classes in. The room was a bit chilly, however, but that probably kept me awake during the writing section. The proctors were very friendly, and I didn't have many distrubances. 23 of us were situated in a room designed for 60, and there were only 6 guys.
I did notice, however, that many people had problems with the timing. I somehow managed to finished always at least 20 minutes before the time was called. PS I finished about 40 minutes early and VR was around 30. The poor girl seated in front of me (we had stadium-style seating) always had an entire column of blank answers at the 5-minute call in every section. I feel bad for her.
I figured things wouldn't work out for me, as I didn't get much sleep (maybe 4 hours total) and my car failed to start this morning (I had to borrow a parent's). I decided to talk to God about it on the way to the exam, and not five minutes afterwards a white dove flew by the car at a stoplight. I ended up doing well and the day went smoothly, with no storming as was predicted. I'll let you decide for yourself if it was coincidence or not, but it was still pretty cool, especially to someone struggling with faith
Final Score: Honestly, I think I did, "good enough". My overall score I expect to be somewhere between 24-30, possibly higher. I do NOT expect to have to take it again in April.
Of course, October 14 may have other plans...
