really depressed

[misscalipig]

hi everyone!

i'm sooooo sad...i got a 30Q (V-8 P-11 B-11) and i was getting 35-36 on the practice tests...what happened! should i retake the test? i really want to go to a cali med school (anyone would be lovely)....but i feel like i have NO chance now. please help =(

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[14931]

i dont even know where to start, u got 30 and u want to retake?

may be i am missing something here, i think 30 is a great score and its really nothing to be 'really depressed' about, u did a great job, now if u get admitted to other schools but u really want to go to a california school, then retake it and reapply next year.

and i am sure the california scools will consider other things apart from ur mcat scores, are u a cali resident? i think thats a big factor, well this is just my opinion, good luck

 

[SuzyQ]

Originally posted by misscalipig
hi everyone!

i'm sooooo sad...i got a 30Q (V-8 P-11 B-11) and i was getting 35-36 on the practice tests...what happened! should i retake the test? i really want to go to a cali med school (anyone would be lovely)....but i feel like i have NO chance now. please help =(

I would drink cod liver oil and eat cows toungue for that score.

 

[Street Philosopher]

well you have to look at her past scores and put that into perspective.

you should examine why you think you did poorer than you expected. maybe nervousness, poor testing conditions, trouble concentrating, not enough sleep...

if you think you can improve, then you should seriously think about taking the test over. a 30 is a good, solid score, but needless to say, if you can pull off a 35-36 like you did on your practice tests, you will have a much greater chance at getting into UC schools.

 

[conure]

MissCali,

I feel your pain. I too was getting 33 and 34 consistently on my practice tests. I knew verbal would be my downfall but figured I could pull a 9. I didn't I got an 8 and my combined was 30.

I know it seems like whining since people below 30 have more right to be depressed but the bottom line is if you didn't do as well as you felt you prepared to do then you have a right to be depressed about it.

I'm coming to terms with it, albeit very slowly. I think we both should be proud of our science scores, there are 11 verbals out there with 9 bios. So any science score above 10 is very good.

As I see it the biggest dilema to the retaking question is that we won't have a good idea of how likely we are to be admitted until about Feb. But we need to start studying for april in Dec. and Jan. How can I commit to studying while I'm still in the process?

 

[misscalipig]

Originally posted by conure
MissCali,

I feel your pain. I too was getting 33 and 34 consistently on my practice tests. I knew verbal would be my downfall but figured I could pull a 9. I didn't I got an 8 and my combined was 30.

I know it seems like whining since people below 30 have more right to be depressed but the bottom line is if you didn't do as well as you felt you prepared to do then you have a right to be depressed about it.

I'm coming to terms with it, albeit very slowly. I think we both should be proud of our science scores, there are 11 verbals out there with 9 bios. So any science score above 10 is very good.

As I see it the biggest dilema to the retaking question is that we won't have a good idea of how likely we are to be admitted until about Feb. But we need to start studying for april in Dec. and Jan. How can I commit to studying while I'm still in the process?

Thanks guys for all your support =D I feel a little better. Conure, we are in the same boat =( are you applying now? do you think we should rescore our mcats? i NEVER scored that low on the practice science mcats....<sigh>

 

[conure]

Cali,

No I'm not going to rescore it, I think its what I got and thats it. I'm not very proficient at verbal reasoning and I certainly didn't feel good about it at the end of the test. Verbal is a bitch, no two ways about it.

I am in the process now and have a bunch of secondaries ready to go, I was just waiting for the scores to come in to solidify some things for me. But now I think I need to change my strategy a bit. Like now I'm not gonna waste my energy on Duke's secondary. I really need to focus on my state and a few rivates where I think I have a good chance.

Another way to keep it in perspective is to think like this. This one subtest shows that you are average (8 is average) at that particular thing. If the rest of your application shows your above average, ie grades, LORs, and ECs then we should be worth a second look at least.

 

[conure]

Oh yeah 11s on the sciences is very good. Don't for one minute knock that.

 

[BananaSplit]

I think you still have a chance at the Cali schools. I had a 31O (11 V, 10 B, 10 P) going into this year's application cycle and I got a secondary from UCSF, so it appears that they looked beyond my MCAT score.

I had a horrible administration experience on my first MCAT day...I was really nervous, and the proctor accidentally shorted us 1 min on the Verbal, and 5 minutes on the Bio, which she later gave back, but I was already so flustered that I couldn't concentrate for those 5 minutes. So I decided to retake them...and I knew it was going to hard because the learning curve pretty much evens off after 30's.

New score: 35O. If you decide to retake, I'm sure you can do it...but you have to go in having no doubt that you can score a few points higher. Once you make your decision, stick with it. While I was studying for it the second time, sometimes my heart wasn't in it, and I regreted deciding to try again, and I think I could have done better if I didn't try to second guess whether my decision was the right one...so once again, make a decision, and stick with it.

Good luck!

 

[Su4n2]

i would eat sh#t for that score. honestly.

 

[souljah1]

Originally posted by Su4n2
i would eat sh#t for that score. honestly.

thanks for sharing that with us.

not doing as well as you have done on previous practice exams is upsetting. a 30 is a solid score, but when you are used to getting 36's on your practice exams...a 30 is not so pleasing. it is a valid disappointment. misscali, a 30 won't keep you out of medical school, as long as the rest of your application is very good. remember this...when you see that the average stats for schools shows an mcat of 34 or something...that usually means that there are 30s and 38s, 34s, 32s and 36s, and maybe a few 28s and 40s. it is just an average. it is NOT a cut-off. that is really important to remember. yes, a 36 would have been better..but a 30 isn't bad at all.

a similar thing happened to me. i was scoring 36+ on the pr practice tests and got a 32 on the real thing (my verbal went down 2 points, my bio went down 2 points). i wasn't thinking that the 32 was bad at all, but i was frustrated b/c i was used to doing better. the real test is a different environment. more is on the line, and i think that brought about some nervousness in me that made me second guess myself at times.

as far as eating doo doo or anything else for a 30..i would never. why? b/c i found out that the application process was about a lot more than numbers.

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by misscalipig
hi everyone!

i'm sooooo sad...i got a 30Q (V-8 P-11 B-11) and i was getting 35-36 on the practice tests...what happened! should i retake the test? i really want to go to a cali med school (anyone would be lovely)....but i feel like i have NO chance now. please help =(

The first question I have is what practice tests listed you as 35-36? Second, as someone mentioned, did the stress of the event have an impact on your score. Both of these need to be answered before you should reconsider taking the exam. If the initial scores were AAMC practice exams and you felt stressed out on the actual test day, by all means retake the exam. Your scores should improve if that's the case. And despite the great advice listed here so far, the basic fact is that a better MCAT score will increase you chance of getting into medical school, especially in California with the score you currently possess. It is worth the effort if you improve to a 33 or higher.

The flip side of the coin is that if you prepared with some fervor, used a solid preparation regimine, and the 35-36 is based on a less reliable source (prep course numbers), then in all honesty, it is satistically unlikely that you'd improve your MCAT enough to warrant spending time on the MCAT that could be spent augmenting other areas of your application. It's a tough decision to make and only you can make it. Don't feel guilty about being disappointed with a 30, no matter what people offer to eat to get that score. You have every right to have expectations and feel emotional when scores come back.

Under the circumstances you described, I think nearly everyone would be disappointed initially. Just take time to think rationally before opting to retake. What did you do to prepare the first time?

 

[misscalipig]

Originally posted by Mudd
The first question I have is what practice tests listed you as 35-36? Second, as someone mentioned, did the stress of the event have an impact on your score. Both of these need to be answered before you should reconsider taking the exam. If the initial scores were AAMC practice exams and you felt stressed out on the actual test day, by all means retake the exam. Your scores should improve if that's the case. And despite the great advice listed here so far, the basic fact is that a better MCAT score will increase you chance of getting into medical school, especially in California with the score you currently possess. It is worth the effort if you improve to a 33 or higher.

The flip side of the coin is that if you prepared with some fervor, used a solid preparation regimine, and the 35-36 is based on a less reliable source (prep course numbers), then in all honesty, it is satistically unlikely that you'd improve your MCAT enough to warrant spending time on the MCAT that could be spent augmenting other areas of your application. It's a tough decision to make and only you can make it. Don't feel guilty about being disappointed with a 30, no matter what people offer to eat to get that score. You have every right to have expectations and feel emotional when scores come back.

Under the circumstances you described, I think nearly everyone would be disappointed initially. Just take time to think rationally before opting to retake. What did you do to prepare the first time?

Hi mudd, thanks for caring about me=D
well, amcas III-VI i was getting 12-13 on bio, 13-14 on physics, and 8-10 on verbal. on princeton review tests, i got 12s on sciences and 10s on verbal. verbal was bad for me the last week and i freaked out and couldn't sleep. i took a princeton review course...but it didn't help i think. i was working while i was studying...and i didn't really study too much..maybe 4 hours per day? i don't really enjoy reading novels or such...but i feel like i really need to improve on my verbal skills...what do you recommend?

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by misscalipig
Hi mudd, thanks for caring about me=D
well, amcas III-VI i was getting 12-13 on bio, 13-14 on physics, and 8-10 on verbal. on princeton review tests, i got 12s on sciences and 10s on verbal. verbal was bad for me the last week and i freaked out and couldn't sleep. i took a princeton review course...but it didn't help i think. i was working while i was studying...and i didn't really study too much..maybe 4 hours per day? i don't really enjoy reading novels or such...but i feel like i really need to improve on my verbal skills...what do you recommend?

It sounds like stress hurt you on the verbal section and then lingered in the two science sections. If you want, you can roll the dice in a semi-safe manner. Retake the MCAT in April, but don't release your scores. Send your application in early (as close to June 1 as they'll let you do it) and then once you see your April scores (probably around June 10), release them if they are what you want (32 or above). This should help to reduce the stress of your second exam, because in your mind you'll know that it can only help you.

As far as getting ready for verbal reasoning, I have heard good results from people who take philosophy classes that emphaize sifting through minutiae to get to the crux of a paper. In essense, that is what the MCAT is about. Also, with five less questions and the same amount of time, verbal pacing just got a bit easier, so you might be the person that benefits by not feeling as rushed. Perhaps the biggest thing is to get tons of verbal passages from anywhere you can find. Ebay always has something for sale (always has Kaplan stuff at least, but Berkeley and EK materials are rare there). Personally, I don't believe that any course (Kaplan, Berkeley, Princeton, or EK) has any secret bullet for verbal. It's just a matter of reading fast and thoroughly and learning to think like the exam writer when you answer their questions. Maybe you need to study in a coffee shop, become a chain smoker, attend protests once a week, live like a beatnik, and cut down on hygeine to fully understand the verbal writer's perspective.

Seriously though, this may sound crazy, but it has worked in the past. Using AAMC exams as a template, try writing seven questions for the editorial articles in the Sunday paper. Be sure to write four answer choices and an explanation of why the correct answer is correct and the other three are wrong. It sounds time consumming (because it is), but I have seen this work well for the people willing to work at it. Over time, the goal is to just see questions as you read (hopefully AAMC-style questions) and to recognize question types and potential trick answers.

Do NOT take a prep course, because your scores reflect that you have the ability and knowledge to do well. And from the sound of things, taking a prep course the first time didn't help you that much. $5/month for the Sunday paper, $50 for an EK book, $50 for a Berkeley book, and $25 for Kaplan stuff from Ebay and you've spent all the money you need to spend. Good luck getting back on the horse. Despite the fact that you've probably just recovered from the saddle sores of the first exam, it's time to mount up again.

 

[misscalipig]

Originally posted by Mudd
It sounds like stress hurt you on the verbal section and then lingered in the two science sections. If you want, you can roll the dice in a semi-safe manner. Retake the MCAT in April, but don't release your scores. Send your application in early (as close to June 1 as they'll let you do it) and then once you see your April scores (probably around June 10), release them if they are what you want (32 or above). This should help to reduce the stress of your second exam, because in your mind you'll know that it can only help you.

As far as getting ready for verbal reasoning, I have heard good results from people who take philosophy classes that emphaize sifting through minutiae to get to the crux of a paper. In essense, that is what the MCAT is about. Also, with five less questions and the same amount of time, verbal pacing just got a bit easier, so you might be the person that benefits by not feeling as rushed. Perhaps the biggest thing is to get tons of verbal passages from anywhere you can find. Ebay always has something for sale (always has Kaplan stuff at least, but Berkeley and EK materials are rare there). Personally, I don't believe that any course (Kaplan, Berkeley, Princeton, or EK) has any secret bullet for verbal. It's just a matter of reading fast and thoroughly and learning to think like the exam writer when you answer their questions. Maybe you need to study in a coffee shop, become a chain smoker, attend protests once a week, live like a beatnik, and cut down on hygeine to fully understand the verbal writer's perspective.

Seriously though, this may sound crazy, but it has worked in the past. Using AAMC exams as a template, try writing seven questions for the editorial articles in the Sunday paper. Be sure to write four answer choices and an explanation of why the correct answer is correct and the other three are wrong. It sounds time consumming (because it is), but I have seen this work well for the people willing to work at it. Over time, the goal is to just see questions as you read (hopefully AAMC-style questions) and to recognize question types and potential trick answers.

Do NOT take a prep course, because your scores reflect that you have the ability and knowledge to do well. And from the sound of things, taking a prep course the first time didn't help you that much. $5/month for the Sunday paper, $50 for an EK book, $50 for a Berkeley book, and $25 for Kaplan stuff from Ebay and you've spent all the money you need to spend. Good luck getting back on the horse. Despite the fact that you've probably just recovered from the saddle sores of the first exam, it's time to mount up again.

hey mudd,
ok, i'm gonna retake it...=D one question though..i didn't release my august scores ...should i release them now?