September 10th, 2009 MCAT club

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unDRdog

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Alright everyone...I know its early but 3 months will blow by very quickly!!! Hope everyone is reaching their study goals and finding their own rhythm during this marathon!!!... Thought i would create this to track our progress/hold each other accountable/share thoughts leading up to our exam...time to narrow our scope of focus and kill this freakin thing!!!!:diebanana:

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Yeah, I'm freaking. Anyone else taking it in ATL. I'm going to drive to the testing center tomorrow morning since I didn't get to do a trial "run" before. ATL traffic is unpredictable.

I'm actually getting super nervous about the WS. (this is my first by the way... post and MCAT) ((be gentle)) :laugh:
 
Anyone concerned about the WS? I write pretty well, but 30 mins is not alot of time for me, anyway. Didn't do so hot on the WS the first time around, but didn't work on it too much because I was busy with all the science sections. How important do you guys think the WS is?[/QUOTE]



Haha, I just said I was worried about that in my post. I practice them but I find I freeze up. ugh It isn't all that important... some schools give it more weight than others (as with everything). But it can be a big factor if you're application looks just lime another and one of the two needs to be eliminated.

:oops:
 
Yeah, I'm freaking. Anyone else taking it in ATL. I'm going to drive to the testing center tomorrow morning since I didn't get to do a trial "run" before. ATL traffic is unpredictable.

I'm actually getting super nervous about the WS. (this is my first by the way... post and MCAT) ((be gentle)) :laugh:
Tell me your kidding ab the WS.....I'm guessing you one of those 14,13,14 kids that freaks out over something like the WS...LOL...anyway good luck no matter what!! Have you taken any practice test bc seriously, the WS should be the least of your worries unless you some BS,VR,PS superstar!! :laugh:
 
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Good luck to everyone taking the september 10th exam... I wish you all the best... and hope you all do very well :)
 
unDRdog, I wish... no... I just generally freak out over everything.


Pirate Butterfly,
don't freak out about the WS.... google the "TAS structure for the mcat" and just follow the formula. (thesis, antithesis, and synthesis)... you got this!
 
unDRdog, I wish... no... I just generally freak out over everything.

I worried about it my first time as well... I'm in Canada though.... so WS actually matters... Q or better needed.

If you do this and write well you will score Q or higher

3 Paragraphs

Paragraph 1: Explain any ambiguous words in the prompt + example where the prompt is true.

P2: Example where the prompt is false

P3: Acknowledge prompt is true sometimes, false others and sum it up by saying the "When X happens, the prompt is the case, but when Y happen the prompt is not the case"

Throw in some half-decent writing... and kapow R and S the two times I've written the MCAT...

3 paragraphs with 2 clear examples and logical stated conditions and you'll be home free.
 
just finished aamc # 10. Final full length!!! (dont have any more left anyway)

Did every kaplan,
Every AAMC
free gold standard :thumbdown:
free princeton review :thumbdown:

original average was terrible, but steadily increased to around 30 with a lot of hard work. I'm ready to have this experience behind me.

good luck everyone, get some sleep and dont freak out.
 
Ugh, I'm suddenly starting to freak out thinking that I'm forgetting everything. I'm pretty sure I'm not though but this feeling blows! I just want to get this over with so badly so I can go get drunk dammit! :D

I've been skipping WS on all the practice exams; I've just done it on two of them. I think I'll just look over what the general outline of your essay should be like tomorrow night or something and I'm pretty sure I won't get a J then heh.
 
i was able to keep my calm most of the day today, but now im getting very fidgety and nervous...

anyways, good luck everyone :)
i know i definitely need it

see ya on the other side, tootles
:xf:
 
the anxiety is sure setting in!! i cant wait to be done with this and hopefully never have to do it again!!!!!!

u guys lets do a list of formulas we need to know!!
P=desntiy(g)(h)
 
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Man i feel Great!!!!! Staying calm and acutally becoming more and more calm as the day is going on!! There is nothing to worry about unless you didnt prepare adequetly...if you didnt, o well, do you best and take it again.
 
You guys can do it! :luck:

No matter what, walk out of the testing center confidently because hey... you just finished the MCAT. :cool:

:luck::luck:
 
You guys are great!!! Thanks for all the encouraging words!!! keep em coming!!! Thank you all!!!! This is awesome!!
 
Does anyone know of that one flash thing where you type in your name and it plays this awesome thing about how awesome you are with some intense music (think of the Planets type) playing in the background? I think I'll need to look at that in the morning before I head out. All I remember is that it had a black background and great music heh.
 
Words of wisdom from an 09/04/09 vet...


YOU CAaN DO EeiiT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(think waterboy...but sexier)

In all seriousness, good luck kids. The test is a beast.
 
ok so i just got back, iw as there early so finished first.

physical science- was ok the first passage on shooting atoms was kinda weird and didnt like the rotational equilibirum passage. other than that it was faily ok.

verbal- passages were looong. didnt have a problem up until the end where it was just getting confusing, and i really had to go to the bathroom badly lol

bio-dont wanna sound stupid but didnt anyone think this was like the easiest bio section ever. i was so pumped and walked out of there so happy.

i cant really predict my score but well see. thank god its over!

will post more detail later
 
I really think that our exam was VERY different from those that were offered throughout the summer. I think most of them were genetics/biochem heavy. Our exam had 3/4 genetics experimental questions (Pacemaker Cells passage) and thats it. It was heavy on Female Reproductive System and the Endocrine System.

Biological Sciences WAS NOTHING like Verbal

Btw, I did void the exam.
 
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i know there's a weighted scale for each test day but i was just wondering if anyone knew a range for getting 10+ in each section? what is the most you can miss and still get at least a 10 is my question (i'm aiming low)?
 
Whoo it's over!! I'll post more later. Hope it went well for everyone!

PS. Now that it's over, is anyone freaking out whether they chose to score it or not? I'm 99.99999999% sure I choose "Score it" but that little doubt is picking at the back of my brain! :scared: I should've spent more time on that screen ugh. Guess I'll find out in 30 days.
 
It was pleasantly surprising that the question stems referred to the specific paragraph of a quote more often than the AAMC passages. And bio was MUCH easier than any other practise test I've done. PS and VR were on par with the AAMC difficulty.
 
Bio was definitely very easy. Almost easier then some AAMC full lengths.

The PS ranged from stupid easy to hard, I dont know how i did.

The verbal was slightly longer, some of the questions were tricky, i have absolutely no idea what I got. The writing sample was easy.

All in all, i felt it wasnt too much more difficult then an AAMC. I hope there's a nice curve in physics. 30 days is going to take forever.

hope it went OK for everyone else!
 
Why are you guys here? Go take a nap or something. :cool:

Can't resist SDN right now - waiting for a class to start so can't really do anything else :D

I did not have torque /termite/glucose oxidation in PS had Antimony SbO3 oxidation /Cardiac defrillator capacitance passage and did not have depression female passage either...did have 2 orgo passages though cant remember the the other orgo passage it had 4 qns.

Overall it was just like giving another AAMC to me ...I had only 3 min for last passage in verbal so I guess I bombed it....but then I suck in verbal anyways..gosh we have to wait so long.......... :xf:

Thanks for reminding about the SbO3 oxidation passage.. I think I saw some termite... in that passage

Btw, I couldn't resist :laugh: at that optics question in the bird flight passage... it was like out of no where
 
I voided....lol....trust me it was a very difficult desicion but in the end a very wise calculated retreat. I cannot afford with my gpa to land below thirty bc my state "averages" each attempt...PS sucked crazy calculation intensive (was not expecting the amount of calcualtions required..i i guessed and didnt have a clue on 15 question..way to many)....VR...very long, was my strongest on the practice so i felt "ok" with it... BS...easy however i had 3 orgo passages...1 genetics..the rest was physio..
going to watch a movie and fight off the discouragement...i'm proud of all of you guys/girls who took this exam and wish you all the best...as for me :(
 
did anybody else not finish the entire PS section? I spent way too much time reading and struggling on the defibriillator passage and it through me way off :(

i find it surprising that everyone is so happy with the content and format of the test today.
 
did anybody else not finish the entire PS section? I spent way too much time reading and struggling on the defibriillator passage and it through me way off :(

i find it surprising that everyone is so happy with the content and format of the test today.
I am not happy at all.. The BS was representitive of the real thing but PS was so screwy and polluted with random stuff i struggled with the timing which is and has never been an issue for me. On the AAMC test you can tell a physics passage from a chm passage but the line was blurred on todays test and the freaking calculation on my test were extremely difficult.....I voided and am very happy with that choice although i do feel discouraged...lol my emotions are screwed up
 
Hey, just got home from my exam.

The PS was a bit weird...the VR was alright and BS was actually okay. I only had 2 organic passages and the first one was pretty easy (although, I won't actually know until scores come out!).

did anybody else not finish the entire PS section? I spent way too much time reading and struggling on the defibriillator passage and it through me way off :(

i find it surprising that everyone is so happy with the content and format of the test today.

For PS, I had the defibrillator passage...I think I ended marking like 3 Q's on that passage alone.

Last passage for VR was weird - was about oral representations and stuff like that - I don't think I really got it, but I think it was just 4 questions.
 
did you guys think it was similar to the practice aamc exams?

hope everyone did well!

i am taking mine this saturday! :)
 
wow, can't believe it's over. haha, don't worrry--i'm definitely not happy!
i'm shocked people are saying BS was easy--i found it so frustrating, maybe because I was very weak in female reproductive system stuff and bizarrely that was like 25% of it! (or at least it felt that way.) defibrillator passage in PS also threw me. I'm mainly bummed because Verbal is always my strongest and I felt very rushed and unsure of many answers.

I didn't void but am already counting up the number of wrong answers I *know* I had....which leaves anyone's guess as to the ones I have yet to find out about.....

Sigh. I don't think I will retake if I get a score I don't like. I'm considering other options anyway, and I literally cannot imagine going through this hell again. I've been studying since February, and felt so strong on a lot of stuff that just didn't even appear on the exam. I don't know if I went about studying wrong, or if I should have taken a course, or whatever, but I just did not come out of there with any good feelings.

Glad to hear it went well for some at least!
 
did anybody else not finish the entire PS section? I spent way too much time reading and struggling on the defibriillator passage and it through me way off :(

i find it surprising that everyone is so happy with the content and format of the test today.


Oh defribillator passage was tough I spent like 10 min on it trying to figure stuff out...beside I had no clue how to find capacitance from energy and volts. I was working on my last qn. till the end ...I made atleast 5 guesses total in PS section ...but thats how my experience is with PS at home too...I did not like that CD4 CD8 passage in bio either I just could not get everything in line in that one...it felt like it was more of an infrence verbal passage :mad:.... ...


I felt it was like AAMC SERIES becus there were always few passages in AAMC practice that would throw me off...

I am anticipating a retake.... though becus of verbal:(
 
Okay gang, i am back. Yes, took my little longer to get back home for 2 reasons.

1) Stopped for Chinese food on my way.
2) I was trying to catch a last glimpse of test center chick..I think she was in her early 20s. She is pretty hot (brunette)..ahhhh



Anyway, I thought Physical sciences was pretty tough. Tougher than AAMC practice tests. I kind of struggled with 1st passage regarding magnetic field. defibrillator passage was pretty easy to understand but the questions were tough. I couldn't solve most of them. I tried to think and use different equations but couldn't think of which equation to use so i ended up guessing on most of the question in that passage. it was very frustrating my those calculations suppose to be easy but they were not straight forward. Like use this equation to find this. It was more like use these values and to solve for something and then use that answer to solve for something else. Didn't feel comfortable with it. Antimany passage was pretty tough too...



Verbal:
passages were long and hard to understand completely. I kind of ran out of time on last passage which had 5 question (Oral presentation, i think). I had 4 minutes and kinnda tried skimming the passage and tried to use question stem and eliminate answers. But not sure how that worked.


BS:

Was much easier than i expected. One experimental passage about Osteoblast. I had to guess on few questions on 7th passage (organic chemistry, Compound A and B, methly propinate etc). Not too happy about that. But overall, BS was pretty similar to AAMC


I am worried overall.. I don't know (but that chick was smokn:laugh::love::love::love:
 
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