Question about MCAT and how you felt afterward

[OptionMD]

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I wanted to ask you guys if anyone had scored higher on the MCAT than expected. I wanted to ask you guys this because I just recently took my MCAT on April 19 and felt like I totally bombed it. I felt kind of disappointed because I studied for it for like a year and kind of scare now. Have you guys felt this?

Thanks.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

sure some ppl did...not me, but some did.

 

[Nonnahs]

I know it's hard... but try not to worry about it.

I felt like I cooooompletely bombed the Physical Sciences section, but when I finally got my score... it was the highest I've ever gotten in it! 😀

It really depends on how everyone else did, too... and you may have done better than you think. So don't sweat it.

 

[Mister Pie]

The way you feel doesn't correlate all the time with how you did. Pretty much all my friends felt "bad" because the real thing felt harder than the practice tests, and pretty much all of them scored well.

 

[TheRealMD]

We are too used to instant gratification.

 

[brianmartin]

felt like you bombed it? Probably means you aced it 🙂

 

[littlealex]

I thought I bombed the PS and I did well, thought I aced the verbal and I got just average.

 

[mdgator]

Yeah, I felt like I bombed verbal. The passages for my tests seemed much harder than all the practice tests I took. I did get a couple of points less on verbal than I'd hoped, but it was nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Overall my score was about what I was hoping for.

 

[MossPoh]

Along those lines of questions. When you guys took practice exams, how accurate were your instincts about your performance before you clicked submit? By the end of my practice mcat regime I could almost always accurately determine what score I got within 1 or 2 points (I was scoring high, so it was kind of variable). That is what made leaving this test so hard. My instincts tend to be right, and I felt like I tanked this thing. I know nearly everyone suspects they tanked it, but it is disheartening when you're so used to knowing what you got in a few seconds!

 

[armybound]

this question is better suited for the MCAT forum

the first time I took the MCAT I felt very bad and expected to do 3-4 points worse than I did.

the second time I took it I was very confident and expected to do 3-4 points better than I did.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I was completely exhausted after I took the test, but I felt like I did well. I knew my bio section was the worst because I got hammered by organic stuff. I had no idea where I'd score, but I was aiming for mid- to upper-thirties going in. I guess I hit my mark. 🙂

 

[[pj]]

I was extremely tired.

On one hand, I felt I did well. But, I felt that way after every practice test and my test scores were pretty average. Crazily, though, I did do pretty well and did much better than any practice test. Go figure.

 

[ilovetoshop]

congrats on being done!
just relax and try to take your mind off things. truth is, you never really know how you did until you get your score

i thought i did HORRIBLE on the Physical section. It was so hard and I had no idea what I was doing. I also ran out of time, so I had to bubble in the last 2 passages without reading them.

I didn't do great but I also got a better score than I expected

 

[yaba]

congrats on being done!
just relax and try to take your mind off things. truth is, you never really know how you did until you get your score

i thought i did HORRIBLE on the Physical section. It was so hard and I had no idea what I was doing. I also ran out of time, so I had to bubble in the last 2 passages without reading them.

I didn't do great but I also got a better score than I expected

If you dont mind can you elaborate on "not great but not so bad", thanks

 

[bodonid]

Probably more than half the people I have talked to felt moderately disappointed with themselves after the test, but most were quite happy with their actual scores.

I think the disappointment is just the thought that it's all over... a load lifted, but a feeling of anxiety nonetheless... it is bound to make anyone feel let down for a little while.

 

[Tally]

I went into the test scoring between 32-35 on AAMC the last few weeks before the test. Coming out of the test, I was sure that I scored about a 28. I got a 33 on the test...

 

[SN2ed]

Thought I did horribly on verbal (7 or 8), but I got a 10. Did worse in BS than I thought, but still a decent score. Still I only thought about the test shortly after I took it then once the score release was close. My main feeling after I took the test was, add curse words here done with the test! I was too happy with that fact to care about whatever score I would get.

 

[stephm85]

In my experience, whenever I feel really bad about the test I just took, I end up doing better. I hate to think, "man, this test sucked. Maybe I broke 30!" because I'm afraid I'll jinx myself.

What you have to remember is that your score also depends on how well everyone else did. There are lots of people out there that didn't study, don't understand the material (you know, those people you're praying don't get into med school because you know they'll kill somebody), or are taking it the for the first time ever just to get one under their belt. If this was a concentrated effort, I'm sure you'll do better.

I wish I could stop thinking about it. Usually I'm very good about putting things out of my mind, but no luck this time. Maybe it's because SDN's sitting up there under my toolbar...