*Official September 10, 2016 MCAT Thread*

Started by frosted_flake
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I guess I'll be joining you ladies and gentlemen this September. I'm hoping we can be of great help and benefit to each other!

I've started studying about two weeks ago using a version of SN2ed's schedule I modified to better fit my habits.

So far I've been using the 2016 Berkeley Review books for Gen Chem, Orgo, Physics and Bio. I'm actually enjoying the writing style of BR. I thought they would be overkill but they've been very solid so far and I'm enjoying the great amount of practice passages.

I'm wondering what you guys are using for CARS practice and Psychology/Sociology. I'm looking for solid CARS practice material and I'm unsure how to tackle the Psychology section. I took a Psych class in community college ages ago (almost 5 years) so I don't remember much from it and I've never taken a sociology class.
 
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dark_knight said:
I don't know if you looked at the Next Step 1/2 Length Diagnostic. It's free and seems to be similar to the style of the MCAT. Plus you'll only need half a day since it's 1/2 length.
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I did not know about that! Thanks!
Have you taken it? If so, how accurate do you think it is? I have been scoring pretty consistently across all sections using EK/Khan.
 
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StretchDoe said:
What practice exams are you using? Also what practice problem sets are you using? Any specific goal for a score on the real thing?

I'm so far away from taking a practice test. Feel like I will start doing them in a month.
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I'm using the Kaplan full lengths as well as AAMC. Also using the section tests from AAMC. My goal is to score 514+, really would like 518 but I'd be happy with anything in that range.
 
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How are you guys memorizing all these psychological disorders and all the different types of disorders

There's so many and it feels especially overwhelming for me because I have never taken a Psych course. Interesting stuff to read though.
 
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Jumping in on the discussion.
I took the mcat may 20 and unfortunaetly got a 495 (125,122,125,123). I'm retaking Sep 10, study wise I'm using Kaplan live online + khan academy. Good luck everyone!
 
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I have not taken a Kaplan FL yet. I am considering pushing my exam back.

Did you purchase the Kaplan FL individually? Or did you have access to them from purchasing a Kaplan book?
 
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frosted2 said:
I have not taken a Kaplan FL yet. I am considering pushing my exam back.

Did you purchase the Kaplan FL individually? Or did you have access to them from purchasing a Kaplan book?
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I got them with the kaplan course which comes with a diagnostic, 11FL and 2 aamc exams. I will probably only complete 6 or so. Why push back? You still got a lot of time to review content and practice.
 
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whatfield131 said:
I got them with the kaplan course which comes with a diagnostic, 11FL and 2 aamc exams. I will probably only complete 6 or so. Why push back? You still got a lot of time to review content and practice.
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I am taking organic 2 (in order to complete degree requirements) which won't finish until August.
Thankfully I am done with content review.
 
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Hey guys I'm about 5 weeks into my studies and also taking it on 9/10. I am concerned however that I'm scoring 4/7 on about 70% of my passages and the ones I get wrong is the difference between me deciding between two answer choices. Is this normal or should I be ramping up my practice passages and studying as this is not a good point to be at after studying for 5 weeks. Using TBR books btw.
 
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Tinsanity13 said:
Hey guys I'm about 5 weeks into my studies and also taking it on 9/10. I am concerned however that I'm scoring 4/7 on about 70% of my passages and the ones I get wrong is the difference between me deciding between two answer choices. Is this normal or should I be ramping up my practice passages and studying as this is not a good point to be at after studying for 5 weeks. Using TBR books btw.
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I am/was having the SAME issue.... please let me know if you find any fixes, tips or advice.
 
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Tinsanity13 said:
Hey guys I'm about 5 weeks into my studies and also taking it on 9/10. I am concerned however that I'm scoring 4/7 on about 70% of my passages and the ones I get wrong is the difference between me deciding between two answer choices. Is this normal or should I be ramping up my practice passages and studying as this is not a good point to be at after studying for 5 weeks. Using TBR books btw.
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frosted2 said:
I am/was having the SAME issue.... please let me know if you find any fixes, tips or advice.
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Both EK and Kaplan talked about this in their books. Out of the four answer choices you can usually eliminate two (both are either completely wrong, or one is completely wrong and the other is significantly wrong). You are usually left with two choices that can be hard to decide between. Often there is some technicality (maybe a key word/phrase in the question stem like "most/least likely" or "all"). This could also mean exceptions to rules/concepts or needing to know the difference between two very related concepts (like belief perseverance and overconfidence; or galvanic vs electrolytic cell, etc.)
I was in the same boat when I studied my first time through but I started making flashcards for important details (not every single little thing, but things that were exceptions to rules and what not) Don't let it discourage you but make sure you understand where your gap in knowledge was or where your reasoning was wrong!
 
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frosted2 said:
I have not taken a Kaplan FL yet. I am considering pushing my exam back.

Did you purchase the Kaplan FL individually? Or did you have access to them from purchasing a Kaplan book?
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When do dates even open up for the next set of exams? And when are those exams? I'm going to keep studying like I'm going to take it in September, but I think it would be best for me to take it in January since I'm applying next cycle anyway.

Also would you guys still show up for the exam and just void it as a practice run? I remember a discussion on SDN how they never specifically state schools can't few your voids. Supposedly they can if they want to.
 
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StretchDoe said:
When do dates even open up for the next set of exams? And when are those exams? I'm going to keep studying like I'm going to take it in September, but I think it would be best for me to take it in January since I'm applying next cycle anyway.

Also would you guys still show up for the exam and just void it as a practice run? I remember a discussion on SDN how they never specifically state schools can't few your voids. Supposedly they can if they want to.
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Heck no! It was difficult enough to shell out the money for one run of this thing. I will be taking it once, crushing it and calling it a day.
 
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Hello SDN members
I'm also writing it in September, and will be finished with my content review by July. Do you think all of august is good enough for practicing and doing FLs?
Thanks
 
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Started doing full-on practice problems and I keep getting destroyed on the bio passages T.T

There just seems to be so much information in the passages and I get overwhelmed by trying to understand all of it... Anyone got tips on attacking bio passages?
 
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Harrybean said:
Started doing full-on practice problems and I keep getting destroyed on the bio passages T.T

There just seems to be so much information in the passages and I get overwhelmed by trying to understand all of it... Anyone got tips on attacking bio passages?
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What practice material are you using? That happened to me when I was using Kaplan, but when I started using EK, I improved significantly!!
 
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Did anyone else take NS 1 practice test? I just finished a few minutes ago and got a 507 ( 128,124,127,128) Not sure how this score translates to tho..
 
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Advice on my situation?

I spent around 3 months (about 300 hrs) studying for my May 6th exam, practice scores were 504 on scored and 507ish on unscored. Got a 497. However, because of family issues, I have only been able to put in around 15 hrs since June to study. Starting today I can begin studying in earnest.

Do people think there is time to legit hit a 500? My practice scores on my TPR FLs all hovered around 498 to 499. Never got a 500 once. But once I did the AAMC tests, I felt a bit more confident. I mean, my very first TPR FL I got a 499 and then after 3 months I get a 497 on the real thing? I think I can improve, but with one month left, I need to just get back to my baseline that was before May 6th.

Thoughts? I am applying to DOs this cycle, have one interview this Friday actually, otherwise everything else I have yet to hear back. Today is the deadline for the refund, so i am really stressed. I am gonna do the e practice version of the MCAT (basically the 3 hr version) and see what that yields...

Personally, if I can get a 500, I would be in fantastic shape considering my GPA, etc.
 
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Doctor_Strange said:
Advice on my situation?

I spent around 3 months (about 300 hrs) studying for my May 6th exam, practice scores were 504 on scored and 507ish on unscored. Got a 497. However, because of family issues, I have only been able to put in around 15 hrs since June to study. Starting today I can begin studying in earnest.

Do people think there is time to legit hit a 500? My practice scores on my TPR FLs all hovered around 498 to 499. Never got a 500 once. But once I did the AAMC tests, I felt a bit more confident. I mean, my very first TPR FL I got a 499 and then after 3 months I get a 497 on the real thing? I think I can improve, but with one month left, I need to just get back to my baseline that was before May 6th.

Thoughts? I am applying to DOs this cycle, have one interview this Friday actually, otherwise everything else I have yet to hear back. Today is the deadline for the refund, so i am really stressed. I am gonna do the e practice version of the MCAT (basically the 3 hr version) and see what that yields...

Personally, if I can get a 500, I would be in fantastic shape considering my GPA, etc.
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I think it's VERY doable to get a 500 in a month, even if you've done zero studying so far (which obviously doesn't apply to you).

I would suggest you focus on any content gaps because scoring below 500 most likely indicates some content issues. I would suggest taking practice exams and use those to fill-in gaps. Obviously this depends on your work ethic and focus but a month is more than enough time to raise your score.

Do you think that you had any anxiety or similar issues on your test date? Considering you got a 504 on the Scored which is usually correlates very well with actual score.
 
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Hey Everyone,
Will be taking the September 10th MCAT, started studying 3 weeks ago and have taken the Next step Diagnostic and their first FL.

Diagnostic:
C/P: 123
CR:126
B/B:120
P/S:125

NS 1:
C/P: 125
CR: 124
B/B: 126
P/S: 126

Trying to get these score totals to 508+, nervous I will not be able to.
 
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CJhooper123 said:
Yes, now would be an appropriate time to take the aamc practice tests.


Looking for advice myself.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-advice-for-september.1218034/
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I will probably take the unscored some time this week, you should as well.
Your Next Step scores are good, most people that I have seen do at least 3 points better on the actual exam, but the scored is the best indicator. I will take that a week before the exam since I still have 2 Kaplan tests left.

Have you done Section Banks?
 
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motheshow1212 said:
I will probably take the unscored some time this week, you should as well.
Your Next Step scores are good, most people that I have seen do at least 3 points better on the actual exam, but the scored is the best indicator. I will take that a week before the exam since I still have 2 Kaplan tests left.

Have you done Section Banks?
Click to expand...

That seems reasonable. Kaplan tests are difficult. From reading SDN, it seems that peoeple score ~8-10 points higher than their Kaplan scores. Could be wrong.

I thought the section banks were difficult. I haven't done the behavioral sciences one yet.... CP (61%) and BS (66%). Depending my aamc score this week I may back out of the exam until January. Just not sure if more practice exams will help... .. ..
 
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Taking this test date as well!

Kaplan Diagnostic test I took in June was 499 (123/125/125/126). Few weeks of content review and went up to a 504 (126/127/125/126) on FL 4.
I've taken a bunch of NS exams out of order every week since then as well, filled with weekly content review, and I've scored the following:
NS 10: 506
NS 9: 503
NS 1: 509
NS 2: 507
NS 3: 505
NS 4: 506

I'm getting such mixed results, because I thought Kaplan was supposed to be harder yet I'm scored around my NS scores. Plus, I basically keep fluctuating between 126-128 for each section and cannot improve on any for the life of me. Do you guys think I can score a 510+ on the real test?
 
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