**Official September 9 2016 MCAT Thread**

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stgt9202

stgt9202

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Starting one for all my Sept 9 homies!!!
I recently took the MCAT on July 22nd and got my score back and decided that I could do better so I'm here again.

Best of luck and let's show some wonderful support!!
 
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Im taking it too! What practice exams are you guys planning on taking leading up to the exam?
 
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So I'm retaking from July and over the last three months I've done TPR, NS, EK and AAMC I feel like each company is useful in that they're all hard and give you different perspectives on what you might get on the real deal


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I think NS and EK are the most similar difficulty and passage length-wise to the real MCAT...the scored and unscored AAMC were way easier compared to the real exam that I took and I think there's a consensus that the exam has gotten harder in the last two months


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Today was probably my worst day studying wise. I think the burn out caught up to me. Had to quit early. I definitely need to work on physics especially formulas,endocrine system/hormones/ and pathways...

Plus a couple more full lengths... Meh
 
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JPS398 said:
Today was probably my worst day studying wise. I think the burn out caught up to me. Had to quit early. I definitely need to work on physics especially formulas,endocrine system/hormones/ and pathways...

Plus a couple more full lengths... Meh
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dude I feel you! i tried taking a FL last friday after taking two in a row (mind you that I learned about my MCAT score last tuesday and was still a little upset so emotions was haywire) and had to quit right in the middle of C/P....we're going to get through! Is this all of you guys's first time writing the exam?
 
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stgt9202 said:
dude I feel you! i tried taking a FL last friday after taking two in a row (mind you that I learned about my MCAT score last tuesday and was still a little upset so emotions was haywire) and had to quit right in the middle of C/P....we're going to get through! Is this all of you guys's first time writing the exam?
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Yes this is my first time and hopefully last. Shooting for a 500+ anything above I'd be estatic.

I had to quit early because I was missing easy P/S questions and psyc was my major..

Might do a full cars section and light studying today..

I can't do too much today either. Need a break!!
 
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Just got destroyed on NS 4 CARS. 123.

actually ran out of time, first time thats ever happened to me. had to guess on the last two passages really. spent so much time on a Leonardo Art passage in the middle and it screwed me lol.
 
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What have you guys been using to practice CARS? Ive been using EK101 but now I don't know whether to buy the AAMC Question Pack or not, just to get more CARS passages. I want to do a CARS test everyday leading up to the exam.
 
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RMedin said:
What have you guys been using to practice CARS? Ive been using EK101 but now I don't know whether to buy the AAMC Question Pack or not, just to get more CARS passages. I want to do a CARS test everyday leading up to the exam.
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From what I have been told.... AAMC CARS questions are the best to practice with.
 
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I agree...I'm using AAMC question packs for CARS as well as the old AAMC exams to practice...this is my worst section ugh and I'm never consistent bleh.
 
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JPS398 said:
Just got destroyed on NS 4 CARS. 123.

actually ran out of time, first time thats ever happened to me. had to guess on the last two passages really. spent so much time on a Leonardo Art passage in the middle and it screwed me lol.
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I keep hearing that the NS exams keep getting harder and harder as you go through them....don't worry about it too much though.. based on my experience with the practice exam scores and the real deal, there's no real way to compare your scaled scores since the real exam has gotten a bit harder and each company arbitrarily comes up with their own scaling system....just take each practice exam just like it's name...practice and do as many problems as you can so you can become more familiar with the obscure that you might see on test day...and go over each question to see how you can improve your thought process and test taking skills.
 
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also I feel like there aren't a lot of people taking the test in september? is that usually the case? only wondering because all these threads have been quieter than the July/August threads (hopefully that's to our advantage!)
 
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stgt9202 said:
also I feel like there aren't a lot of people taking the test in september? is that usually the case? only wondering because all these threads have been quieter than the July/August threads (hopefully that's to our advantage!)
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I would bet that that is the case. Not many kids applying this cycle would wait till Sept. to take the test. I would think its mostly rising juniors who finished prereqs early, or seniors taking a gap year would take a fall exam. I doubt its of any advantage/disadvantage other than probably being able to get a seat easier than in the spring/early summer.
 
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DrHart said:
I would bet that that is the case. Not many kids applying this cycle would wait till Sept. to take the test. I would think its mostly rising juniors who finished prereqs early, or seniors taking a gap year would take a fall exam. I doubt its of any advantage/disadvantage other than probably being able to get a seat easier than in the spring/early summer.
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I don't think the fall exam is too late for the DO cycle, but it definitely is for MD
 
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JPS398 said:
Anyone else here who never took biochem? thinking I'm going to focus on a lot of that the next couple days.
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what sources are you using? I'd focus on knowing your amino acids like the back of your hand, structures of nucleic acids and sugars, and metabolism a lot...I keep seeing passages and questions on glycolysis, ETC, Krebs etc. don't worry too much about not having taken biochem before, if you took orgo you use that knowledge to help you get to the answer to the more unusual biochem questions.
 
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ugh CARS is killing me now....im still not confident enough that I can guarantee over 127 (got 125 when I wrote in July which is ok but my advisor thought it best to retake bc of CARS)
 
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stgt9202 said:
ugh CARS is killing me now....im still not confident enough that I can guarantee over 127 (got 125 when I wrote in July which is ok but my advisor thought it best to retake bc of CARS)
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I'm right there with you. CARS is really the only section hindering my MCAT.

Just continue doing daily passages. I'm trying to do ~5-6 CARS passages per day until the real deal.
 
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JPS398 said:
Just got destroyed on NS 4 CARS. 123.

actually ran out of time, first time thats ever happened to me. had to guess on the last two passages really. spent so much time on a Leonardo Art passage in the middle and it screwed me lol.
Click to expand...

well.. I just took the unscored Cars and got 81%.. CARS is such a weird section lmao
 
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so worried about CARS! hoping we'll be spared misery next week...apparently today's MCAT had a tough CARS section. I'm sticking to anything AAMC has to offer in terms of practice questions and will be finishing up the last few NS FLs I have left...also since the deadline to cancel registration for Sept 9 is tomorrow I'm debating if I should go through with it or not. friends any advice? I got 507 when I took it in July (C/P 126, CARS 125, B/B 128 P/S 128)...was hoping for 510+ especially since I score 85% on unscored and got a 512 on AAMC scored.
 
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stgt9202 said:
so worried about CARS! hoping we'll be spared misery next week...apparently today's MCAT had a tough CARS section. I'm sticking to anything AAMC has to offer in terms of practice questions and will be finishing up the last few NS FLs I have left...also since the deadline to cancel registration for Sept 9 is tomorrow I'm debating if I should go through with it or not. friends any advice? I got 507 when I took it in July (C/P 126, CARS 125, B/B 128 P/S 128)...was hoping for 510+ especially since I score 85% on unscored and got a 512 on AAMC scored.
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I just think CARS has so much to do with the passages you are given.. it seems like such a crapshoot. i've scored anywhere from 123-128 doing practices... so variable. It has been the one section i have neglected because studying for it seems so pointless. a lot of the questions I miss are from careless errors, just have to find out how to cut those down! I think fully understanding the question is the most important thing. Are they asking for us to infer something from the passage or are they asking for something explicitly in the passage..

good luck. I'd go ahead and take it. But that's just me.
 
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then again you're scoring way higher than me. so take that into consideration when looking at my advice. I'm just hoping for a 500+.. I don't need 510+
 
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JPS398 said:
then again you're scoring way higher than me. so take that into consideration when looking at my advice. I'm just hoping for a 500+.. I don't need 510+
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ahhh truth in everything you've said..bleh will take another exam tomorrow and decide then...good luck though! I'm sure you will do great and do better than your target
 
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stgt9202 said:
ahhh truth in everything you've said..bleh will take another exam tomorrow and decide then...good luck though! I'm sure you will do great and do better than your target
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be careful on burnout too.. i've noticed such a huge decrease in scores if I've been going at it for a while. idk. it might not be the best representation if you just took one today and are taking another tomorrow. depends on your mental stamina i guess though. i'm sure you'll make the right decision as well. good luck.
 
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stgt9202 said:
so worried about CARS! hoping we'll be spared misery next week...apparently today's MCAT had a tough CARS section. I'm sticking to anything AAMC has to offer in terms of practice questions and will be finishing up the last few NS FLs I have left...also since the deadline to cancel registration for Sept 9 is tomorrow I'm debating if I should go through with it or not. friends any advice? I got 507 when I took it in July (C/P 126, CARS 125, B/B 128 P/S 128)...was hoping for 510+ especially since I score 85% on unscored and got a 512 on AAMC scored.
Click to expand...


I was just reading over some of those CARS posts
stgt9202 said:
so worried about CARS! hoping we'll be spared misery next week...apparently today's MCAT had a tough CARS section. I'm sticking to anything AAMC has to offer in terms of practice questions and will be finishing up the last few NS FLs I have left...also since the deadline to cancel registration for Sept 9 is tomorrow I'm debating if I should go through with it or not. friends any advice? I got 507 when I took it in July (C/P 126, CARS 125, B/B 128 P/S 128)...was hoping for 510+ especially since I score 85% on unscored and got a 512 on AAMC scored.
Click to expand...


I am kind of in a similar position. I am unsure if I want to proceed. My goal is 508+... took the unscored a few days ago and scored total (70%), CP(73%), CARS(66%), BS(68%), Psych(75%). Worse case scenario I will take and void on 09/09/16.

CARS consistently murders me. I have been doing ~5 passages per day x 3 weeks now. I am seeing progress... but extremely slow.

Also... I never thought I would say this... but I am starting to feel a burnout. I have been going at it x 4 months.
 
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Quick question...... I thought that if an enzyme is classified as a kinase, then it adds a phosphate to the substrate from ATP, thereby producing ADP and the phosphorylated substrate. Just like the first step in glycolysis with hexokinase. So why is it that pyruvate kinase (last step of glycolysis) actually removes a phosphate from the substrate to add to ADP and then produces ATP and the un-phosphorylated substrate???? So confusing!!
 
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stgt9202 said:
so worried about CARS! hoping we'll be spared misery next week...apparently today's MCAT had a tough CARS section. I'm sticking to anything AAMC has to offer in terms of practice questions and will be finishing up the last few NS FLs I have left...also since the deadline to cancel registration for Sept 9 is tomorrow I'm debating if I should go through with it or not. friends any advice? I got 507 when I took it in July (C/P 126, CARS 125, B/B 128 P/S 128)...was hoping for 510+ especially since I score 85% on unscored and got a 512 on AAMC scored.
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When you say "512 scored on AAMC", do you mean the AAMC practice full length gave you that score? Or you translated your raw score into that? I took the full length AAMC and it just gave me my raw score (percentage correct), not an actual MCAT score (500 or something).
 
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BestICanBe_doc said:
When you say "512 scored on AAMC", do you mean the AAMC practice full length gave you that score? Or you translated your raw score into that? I took the full length AAMC and it just gave me my raw score (percentage correct), not an actual MCAT score (500 or something).
Click to expand...

There are two FL exams from AAMC one that's unscored (will give you only raw score) and one that gives you a scales score... The 512 I got is from the scaled scored one


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BestICanBe_doc said:
Quick question...... I thought that if an enzyme is classified as a kinase, then it adds a phosphate to the substrate from ATP, thereby producing ADP and the phosphorylated substrate. Just like the first step in glycolysis with hexokinase. So why is it that pyruvate kinase (last step of glycolysis) actually removes a phosphate from the substrate to add to ADP and then produces ATP and the un-phosphorylated substrate???? So confusing!!
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hmmm I think it's called that to differentiate the enzymes used in glycolysis vs gluconeogenesis (where pyruvate carboxylase is used to turn pyruvate into phosphoenolpyruvate which is also a misnomer now that I think about it lol) ? But yea in general a kinase adds a phosphate group to the substrate and just like everything in science there are a billion exceptions. I wouldn't worry too much about pyruvate kinase, actually it can be easier to remember what it does since it seems so illogical!
 
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I don't like the scale for CARS. That's what worries me.
Apparently a 50 percentile is a 124 🙁
a 61 percentile is a 125
 
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premedkid1994 said:
I don't like the scale for CARS. That's what worries me.
Apparently a 50 percentile is a 124 🙁
a 61 percentile is a 125
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Yea it sucks...I feel like it's no use trying to figure out all these weird scales and percentiles since it's so different every exam...I'm just going to keep pushing and hopefully gauge my performance on test day to help me decide to void or not..taking NS FL 5 today good luck studying friends!


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stgt9202 said:
Yea it sucks...I feel like it's no use trying to figure out all these weird scales and percentiles since it's so different every exam...I'm just going to keep pushing and hopefully gauge my performance on test day to help me decide to void or not..taking NS FL 5 today good luck studying friends!


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Click to expand...


Completely agree. Just gotta finish strong this week.... focus on sleep, content review, and section bank practice.
 
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stgt9202 said:
Yea it sucks...I feel like it's no use trying to figure out all these weird scales and percentiles since it's so different every exam...I'm just going to keep pushing and hopefully gauge my performance on test day to help me decide to void or not..taking NS FL 5 today good luck studying friends!


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Click to expand...

Good luck!! 🙂
 
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Hey guys so I will be taking the MCAT next Friday for the second time. The first time was June 2015. It was a very rushed attempt so I shouldn't have been surprised by my score. Today I took the AAMC test and my percentage scores was 65% for Physics, 63% for CARs, 60% for Bio and then 81% for Psychology. However I feel like I can do so much better. I had 20 minutes left for both Physics and CARs, 30 minutes left for Biology and a whopping one hour left for Psychology. Does anyone have any advice on what to do with the time left? I know going back over the marked questions is one of them, but my biggest fear is that I'm going to change my answer which is right, to the wrong one. So I want to focus more on pacing and stuff. Do you guys have any pacing advise to where I don't have all that time left in each section? My biggest fear is running out of time which happened to me last time I took it so I feel like I'm rushing at times.
 
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NovaPreMed23 said:
Hey guys so I will be taking the MCAT next Friday for the second time. The first time was June 2015. It was a very rushed attempt so I shouldn't have been surprised by my score. Today I took the AAMC test and my percentage scores was 65% for Physics, 63% for CARs, 60% for Bio and then 81% for Psychology. However I feel like I can do so much better. I had 20 minutes left for both Physics and CARs, 30 minutes left for Biology and a whopping one hour left for Psychology. Does anyone have any advice on what to do with the time left? I know going back over the marked questions is one of them, but my biggest fear is that I'm going to change my answer which is right, to the wrong one. So I want to focus more on pacing and stuff. Do you guys have any pacing advise to where I don't have all that time left in each section? My biggest fear is running out of time which happened to me last time I took it so I feel like I'm rushing at times.
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I really think you should take it a little slower on CARS...you have 9 passages to complete in 90 min, so 10 per passage is more than enough even with passages that come with 7 questions. But at the same time know that CARS passages are longer than the ones in the unscored and scored FLs so I suggest going through TPR Hyperlearning verbal passages and taking NS FLs to get the idea of passage length and difficulty.
 
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I don't even think I lack that much content knowledge maybe less in biochemistry but it's understanding the damn passages my mind drifts when it's full of acronyms and bs
 
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stgt9202 said:
I really think you should take it a little slower on CARS...you have 9 passages to complete in 90 min, so 10 per passage is more than enough even with passages that come with 7 questions. But at the same time know that CARS passages are longer than the ones in the unscored and scored FLs so I suggest going through TPR Hyperlearning verbal passages and taking NS FLs to get the idea of passage length and difficulty.
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Thank for the response. I agree about pacing myself in the CARs section. I was going to do just content review this weekend but I'm going to add in 3 CARs sections from the NS CARs book and then take an NS FL on Monday to focus on pacing for all four sections. Hopefully I get it down by next Friday.
 
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CARS is just so unpredictable. It's literally based on if you're lucky and get a passage you enjoy that makes sense and isn't too artsy with the vocabulary. I started out in the beginning of summer averaging 80% on all CARS questions and then I got killed by the first half of the CARS 1 question pack like two weeks ago. Then Raised my confidence a little by getting 83% on the second q pack. But since then I've been inconsistent a lot more on Kaplan's FLs getting like anywhere 8 to 18 questions wrong in a section. Just hoping for something comprehensible on the real thing that doesn't rush me on time.

But yeah goodluck to everyone on September 9th!
 
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Just took a half-exam. CP and CARS for NS FL4. Got destroyed in both sections... CP (55% -126) CARS (50% 123). By far my worst scores for both sections. Hopefully turn it around on Monday with the AAMC scored
 
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NS C/P in general gets me in a nervous wreck...id be able to finish that section with at least fifteen minutes to spare on other exams but with NS I barely finish on time...I really don't like how obnoxiously long the passages are in the science sections..definitely not representative of the real deal


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